35: Chapter 35 is too fragile; let's offer some incense to Absolute Defense!

The crowd around them grew larger and larger; some people even started live streaming.

"Hey brothers, look, there's a high schooler here channeling his power."

"Does he think this light shield is a touch screen? He's been touching it for ages."

"Get down, kid. Don't make a fool of yourself. The max-level Berserker from earlier nearly had his hand bones shattered by it."

A wave of jeers erupted.

Zhang Wei covered his face and crouched in the corner, wishing he could crawl into a crack in the ground.

He shouldn't have brought Brother Qi to a place like this.

This wasn't accepting a mission; it was clearly here to trash the establishment.

If they annoyed the old man who issued the mission, how would they survive in the Gray Zone in the future?

Lin Qi ignored the noise behind him.

In his world, only the layer of blue light film before him remained.

The vibration frequency transmitted through his fingers was getting faster and faster.

That was a certain specific pattern.

Data is also energy, and as long as it is energy, it must follow the Law of wave propagation.

Since it is a wave, there is no such thing as an absolutely perfect closed loop.

Every three seconds, that energy node in the bottom left corner would experience a barely perceptible pause.

That was the breathing interval when the energy completed a cycle, the old force exhausted and the new force yet to be born.

Now is the time.

Lin Qi opened his eyes.

He withdrew his finger and took half a step back.

"Old man." Lin Qi didn't turn his head, but his voice pierced through the noisy crowd, "Get the tiger bones ready."

The old man wearing a monocle was just about to call security to chase them away, but he froze when he heard this.

"What did you say?"

"I said, get ready to inspect the goods."

Before the words faded, Lin Qi moved.

There was no buildup of power.

Nor were there any of those flashy skill wind-ups.

Even his loose school uniform didn't billow.

He just sent his right fist forward very casually.

The movement looked soft, just like an old man in the park doing push-hands during morning exercises.

"This posture... is he swatting a mosquito?"

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

But the next second, the laughter stopped abruptly, like a duck being throttled by its neck.

Snap.

A crisp sound rang out.

It was as if someone had forcefully smashed a ripe watermelon.

The moment Lin Qi's fist made contact with the light shield, his wrist vibrated three times in a highly peculiar manner.

This wasn't brute force; it was technique.

The first vibration, Listening Strength.

His muscles vibrated at an extremely high frequency, forcibly syncing with the fluctuations of the light shield, directly neutralizing that terrifying repulsive tension.

The second vibration, Disruption.

A burst of Spiral Force drilled in along the tip of his fist, like a mixing rod inserted into a precision gearbox, directly disrupting the arrangement of the energy nodes.

The third vibration, Penetrating Force.

This was the true killing blow.

The power of his entire body was compressed into a needle, thrusting fiercely into that 0.1-second vacuum period.

Then it exploded from within.

Hum—

The blue light shield, which had been running smoothly, emitted a piercing, mournful sound.

The sound set one's teeth on edge, like metal scraping hard against glass.

The flowing blue light bands came to a standstill.

Everyone could clearly see that, centered on Lin Qi's fist, a dense network of cracks was forming.

Crack.

The cracks spread frantically in all directions like creeping vines.

In just half a second, the entire semi-circular shield was covered in white marks resembling a spider web.

"It... it cracked?"

The mage who had mocked Lin Qi earlier had his eyes wide open, not even noticing the cigarette in his mouth fall to the ground.

"This is impossible!"

The old man's cane clattered to the ground.

He watched the scene, feeling his worldview collapsing.

This was the highest-level security System of the Federal Bank.

The System panel clearly stated [Indestructible].

Physical immunity, energy reflection.

This is the rule of this world.

But now, someone was telling him with a fist that rules are meant to be broken.

Lin Qi maintained his punching posture, frowning slightly.

"A bit harder than I imagined."

He was telling the truth.

If those three forces just now had hit a tank, the tank would have been scrapped long ago.

This light shield could actually still maintain its frame; it was worthy of being called the so-called Absolute Defense.

"But only a bit."

Lin Qi withdrew his fist, his body sinking slightly.

This time, his spinal Dragon shook violently, and all the joints in his body emitted a series of explosive cracks.

The sound was as dense as roasting beans.

Half-Step Crushing Fist.

Thud!

This strike was no longer a light probe, but a solid, heavy blow.

The air was struck, creating visible ripples.

The fist struck precisely at the center point where the cracks were densest.

Crash!

The blue light shield, which claimed to be able to withstand forbidden spell attacks, completely disintegrated like a mirror smashed by a mischievous child.

Countless blue light particles exploded in the air, as gorgeous as a fireworks display.

But these fireworks were not only beautiful, they also carried a deadly shockwave.

Several people standing in the front row watching the spectacle were knocked to the ground by the blast wave, rolling into a heap.

The light particles dispersed.

That heavy vault door was now exposed nakedly before everyone.

No obstacles, no defense.

One could just reach out and push it open.

The underground Gray Zone fell into an eerie silence.

Hundreds of people stood there; one couldn't even hear their breathing.

Everyone looked as if they were staring at a monster.

Is this a bug?

Even if the GM came, they wouldn't dare to play like this!

Is this a pure physical attack?

Are you kidding me!

Zhang Wei poked his head out from the corner, looking at the mess, his mouth open wide enough to fit a light bulb.

"Qi... Brother Qi is awesome!"

His shout broke the silence.

The crowd exploded into an uproar with a roar.

"I remember now! Isn't this the ruthless guy who crushed a stainless steel tray with his bare hands in the school cafeteria?"

"What tray? You didn't see that punch just now; that was the 'Star Shield'!"

"This person is definitely not a high schooler; he must be some old monster in disguise!"

Discussions rose and fell, and the eyes looking at Lin Qi shifted from mockery to fear and awe.

This is the black market.

This is the apocalypse.

Whoever has the bigger fist is the truth.

Lin Qi withdrew his stance and straightened his body.

He looked down at his fist; his knuckles were a bit red, but that was all.

The counter-shock force had been 99% dissipated by his technique just now.

This fighting style is very mentally taxing, but it feels great.

That feeling of one force breaking ten thousand Laws is more real than any data panel.

Blowing off the non-existent dust on his knuckles, Lin Qi turned around.

He walked past the stunned passersby, his gaze locked directly onto the old man who was still trembling.

"The door is open."

Lin Qi extended his hand, palm up, his tone as casual as if he were buying groceries at a market.

"Pay up."