33: Chapter 33? That's it? The Despair of the Water-Based Assassin

In the shadows at the deepest part of the alley.

Li Changhe adjusted his collar nonchalantly.

His fingertips brushed across the dark gray B-grade composite waterproof trench coat he was wearing.

Flicking away a few droplets of splashed sewage.

As a somewhat famous Bronze-rank Water-type assassin in Jiangcheng.

He had always believed that killing was an art form that required elegance.

He had just retreated from the southern Source Abyss the day before yesterday.

He had witnessed two Awakened of the same rank torn to pieces by rampaging Source Beasts.

He was inwardly cursing his bad luck.

Upon returning to Jiangcheng, he happened to accept a 100,000-yuan job from the eldest young master of the Zhao family.

The target was Su Ming.

His identity: a third-year student at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School, F-grade talent, terminally ill and dying.

When he first received the profile.

Li Changhe felt this was simply an insult to his career as an assassin.

Killing a high school student for 100,000 yuan?

How is this any different from picking up money on the street?

But just a moment ago.

He watched as Baozi, the Black Iron Rank thug who collected protection money for the Zhao family.

Was slapped by this supposedly terminally ill F-grade trash, sending him embedded into the red brick wall.

One slap, and the wall even collapsed.

Li Changhe's hand, which was adjusting his trench coat, paused, a flicker of astonishment flashing in his eyes.

The profile was definitely wrong.

Is this the kind of strength an F-grade Black Iron Rank can unleash?

Slapping a Black Iron Rank thug flying over a dozen meters.

This level of kinetic energy and explosive power.

It was at least that of a Bronze-rank early-stage Strength-type Awakened.

That idiot Zhao Kuo, he wanted to buy a Bronze-rank life for 100,000 yuan?

Li Changhe cursed inwardly, but he wasn't exactly panicked.

There were levels to the Bronze-rank, and as a Water-type assassin, he specialized in armor-piercing, one-hit kills.

No matter how strong the physical body was, once the carotid artery was severed, it was just a bleeding carcass.

He was guaranteed to earn this 100,000 yuan.

The soles of his shoes crunched softly on the thin frost.

Li Changhe stepped out of the shadows into the dim yellow glow of the streetlamp; the surrounding temperature dropped a few degrees with his appearance.

Hearing the commotion, the four thugs, who had been so terrified their legs were weak, acted as if they had grasped a lifeline.

"Li Changhe!"

"Young Master Zhao actually hired even him!"

The thugs were ecstatic. The leader trembled as he retreated two steps, then shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Brother Changhe! This kid is strange! He's definitely hiding his strength, cripple him!"

Li Changhe ignored the cannon fodder.

His gaze fell condescendingly upon Su Ming.

A mocking sneer curled the corner of his mouth.

Su Ming stood where he was, not moving at all.

Li Changhe felt slighted.

He let out a cold snort, raised his right arm slightly, and clenched his five fingers in the void.

B-grade Water-type talent!

The Frost Trail was his entrance atmosphere technique.

But the High-Pressure Water Blade was his killing technique!

A nearly transparent arc of light instantly formed in Li Changhe's palm.

The high-speed rotating water stream emitted a piercing screech comparable to an aircraft engine.

Even the surrounding air was sliced, causing ripples.

Li Changhe flicked his wrist, and the water blade casually slashed across a rusted sheet-metal streetlamp pole beside him.

Without any resistance, the top half of the streetlamp pole slid off silently, the cut smooth as a mirror.

The thugs were stunned, then erupted into wild cheers.

"It's settled, this round is completely settled."

The High-Pressure Water Blade can slice through steel plates like tofu.

Hacking a flesh-and-blood body is no different from chopping vegetables.

Li Changhe enjoyed this look of awe.

His figure swayed slightly, and he moved like a ghost, leaving behind a watery afterimage.

The tips of his feet tapped repeatedly on the frost, instantly crossing the distance of over a dozen meters to press close to Su Ming.

"Too slow."

Seeing that Su Ming hadn't even adopted a defensive stance, Li Changhe assessed him with disdain.

Just a target with nothing but brute force.

With a piercing screech that could cut gold and jade, the High-Pressure Water Blade drew a deadly semi-circular arc.

It slashed precisely and ruthlessly toward the carotid artery on Su Ming's neck.

"It's over."

In Li Changhe's mind, the image of that fine head flying into the sky had already appeared.

Just at this moment, he heard Su Ming in front of him sigh softly.

"Damn you, the cement bits you splashed have dirtied my last clean school uniform."

Before the words had even faded, the water blade slashed fiercely onto Su Ming's neck.

"Clang!!!"

A blast that could almost pierce the eardrums exploded in the narrow alley.

The expected scene of blood spraying out did not appear at all.

The moment the High-Pressure Water Blade made contact with Su Ming's skin.

It erupted with a harsh grinding sound similar to a large angle grinder struggling against high-carbon steel.

Clusters of bright yellow sparks sprayed wildly from Su Ming's neck.

Unable to withstand the extreme physical counter-force, the water stream shattered on the spot into a sky full of white foam.

Li Changhe only felt a sharp pain shoot through the wrist holding the water blade, the web of his hand instantly split open.

The massive recoil force forced him to stumble back five or six steps before he could barely steady himself.

The alley was deathly silent.

The four thugs' cheers were stuck in their throats, their eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets.

Li Changhe stared fixedly at Su Ming's neck.

No blood, no wound, not even the slightest white mark.

That B-grade water blade from just a moment ago, which was capable of slicing through light armor.

Hadn't even managed to break the skin of the youth in front of him.

"Impossible."

"This is absolutely impossible."

Li Changhe's pride in his rationality collapsed instantly.

He looked Su Ming up and down in terror, suspecting that he had been in the Abyss for too long and was hallucinating.

"Is this f*cking carbon-based life?"

"Is this skin and flesh stuffed with solid tungsten steel!"

Su Ming raised his hand to touch his neck, feeling the lingering dampness, and frowned slightly.

"Is this it?"

"This is not even as good as that hand strike from Shen Hongyuan last night."

"Water-type assassin?"

"Are you playing around with a water gun…?"

Su Ming revealed a slightly "nuclear-friendly" smile.

One ton of True Mass gathered without reservation in his right foot, and the sole of his foot exerted force suddenly.

"Bang!"

The explosion-proof blue bricks laid on the ground instantly cracked and collapsed with a roar, forming a deep pit.

Borrowing this terrifying directional thrust.

Su Ming's entire body was like a dark black solid cannonball.

Appearing in front of Li Changhe like a teleportation, right in his face.

"Too fast."

So fast that only an afterimage remained on Li Changhe's retina.

An extremely dangerous survival instinct made Li Changhe scream.

His Bronze-rank origin surged crazily.

A deep blue high-pressure water shield over a dozen centimeters thick instantly condensed before him.

This was his trump card for survival, which had once helped him block a head-on collision from a Tier 2 Source Beast.

Su Ming didn't even blink, swinging his right hand.

He didn't even use any complex force-generating techniques.

It was just a simple slap.

"Slap!"

Amidst a crisp cracking sound.

That Bronze-rank water shield, claimed to be an absolute defense, was like fragile paper.

It didn't even cause Su Ming's slap to pause, instantly exploding into a sky full of water mist.

The terrifying kinetic energy of the mass plastered onto Li Changhe's face without any obstruction.

In that instant, Li Changhe heard the sound of his facial bones shattering.

His whole body felt as if it had been hit head-on by a high-speed maglev train.

His feet left the ground, and he flew backward at three times the speed he had come.

"Boom!"

The half-ruined wall at the end of the alley, which had just buried Baozi, welcomed its second resident.

Li Changhe was like a poster forcibly pressed onto it.

Embedded deeply into the load-bearing wall.

The surrounding bricks cracked and fell off in large areas; his eyes had rolled back, his life or death was unknown, and he was twitching all over.

The entire scene was deathly silent!

...