24: Wu!

Lin Mo was stunned by Yang Dian's question.

He only realized what Yang Dian meant by “assassin” when he was momentarily dazed.

'This child has such heavy Evil Qi and such strong Killing Intent!'

He muttered to himself, then nodded and shook his head:

"In an emergency, yes."

"But the Infected are, after all, only bodies controlled by Firefly Bugs."

"The Research Institute has already developed a special antidote."

"If possible, it's best not to kill them."

After speaking, seeing Yang Dian nod and head towards the building again, Lin Mo also took a deep breath, unholstered his pistol, gripped it in his palm, and quickened his pace, entering the building ahead of Yang Dian.

Wang Jian, who also drew his pistol and followed Lin Mo into the building, turned to look at Yang Dian as he passed him:

"We don't have a habit of letting young comrades go in front of us."

Yang Dian paused.

He smiled.

"I'm not young."

He mumbled, then quickened his steps and entered the building.

Once inside, he noticed that the other Policemen, under Wang Jian's command, had already drawn their firearms and aimed them at the staircase.

"In an emergency, you are permitted to shoot and kill the Infected!"

"If the higher-ups blame us, I will bear all consequences!"

Looking at Wang Jian, who stood on the front line, Yang Dian smiled again.

This kind of leader truly deserves to be called a leader.

Thinking this, he stepped past the others and stood at the very front.

Listening to the gradually increasing commotion from the staircase, he turned his head and looked at Wang Jian, who had just opened his mouth to say something:

"Director Wang, don't forget, I am a Martial Artist."

With that, Yang Dian slightly bent his body under the strange gazes of the other Policemen.

The next moment, his hands turned purplish-black, the large tendons coiling tightly like threads around his finger bones, which were as hard as copper and iron.

"Holy crap!"

Amidst a national expletive from an unknown Policeman, an Infected, using both hands and feet, rushed down the stairs, its mouth wide open, eyes filled with fanaticism, turning the corner and pouncing towards Yang Dian.

Looking at the Infected suspended in mid-air, with no room to change direction, Yang Dian couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

"Brainless things are just brainless."

"How dare it pounce like that~"

As he dodged the Infected's pounce by sidestepping, Yang Dian's hands, which seemed to have transformed into Dragon claws, were already resting on the Infected's shoulders.

"Dislocate Tendons and Bones!"

Crack~

Amidst a crisp sound of bones, a hint of unnoticed embarrassment flashed across Yang Dian's face.

He had used too much force.

He had originally only intended to dislocate the Infected's joints.

But in reality, it seemed he had crushed it into a comminuted fracture.

"No big deal."

"It's better than being shot directly."

Yang Dian couldn't afford to be soft-hearted.

Noticing numerous sounds coming from the passage again, Yang Dian dodged a tongue that thrust towards his rear, and directly dislocated its legs as well.

Then, he kicked it into the corner.

He didn't want any guy to specifically target his lower body during the upcoming fight!

"Am I seeing things? Why isn't that Infected moving?"

"Who said it's not moving? Aren't its eyeballs still rolling?"

"Is this the Martial Artist the higher-ups mentioned? So abnormal?"

"I've practiced the Five Animal Frolics that the higher-ups distributed, but why is the difference between people so great? I felt nothing practicing Martial Arts, but he directly mutated his hands?"

"What do you mean mutated? Can you speak properly? This is a divine manifestation that occurs after Martial Arts reaches Major Achievement!"

"Did you see those two afterimages just now? Is that human speed?"

"Martial Artist, Awakened, can they still be considered ordinary people?"

"No, when I go home today, I'm going to make my son train harder. I'll sell everything I own to make him a Martial Artist!"

"I don't have a son, but I'm going to let my dad try. He's only over 60, he's at the prime age for struggle!"

"Holy crap, your dad really gave birth to a good son~"

...Yang Dian, whose attention was entirely focused on the stairwell, subconsciously ignored the words of the Policemen behind him.

He didn't want to be licked by an Infected a second time.

As he stood ready, the corner of his eye caught sight of the Infected he had dislocated all four limbs and kicked into the corner.

It was wriggling its body, crawling towards Yang Dian.

'Just as I thought.'

'These Infected are targeting me.'

'So why me?'

'Is it because I underwent Awakening, or because I am a Martial Artist?'

'Probably the latter?'

'After all, Shi Sheng and Lin Mo didn't receive the same treatment as me.'

'It seems the strong body of a Martial Artist is the best 'breeding ground' for parasites.'

Just as Yang Dian was pondering, a second, a third, a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh... more Infected, rolled down the stairs in a cluster.

As soon as they emerged from the stairwell, they fixed their gaze on Yang Dian with clear intent.

"Roar~"

The Infected's mouths, stretched to their limit, split into a bloody line, as if not doing so couldn't prove how cruel they were.

A noxious stench surged from their mouths, gathering above their heads, condensing into a faint green cloud.

Smelling it from a distance, Yang Dian felt a wave of dizziness.

He held his breath and concentrated.

Yang Dian could clearly see that in their festering oral cavities, their tonsils were flashing with a bloody glow.

"Deep-level mutation?"

Looking at the Infected pouncing towards him like zombies, Yang Dian brought his wrists together, forming a 'Xizi holding heart' pose, and slammed his hands fiercely onto the Infected's chin.

"Crack~"

With the sound of a fractured cervical spine, the Infected flew backward even faster than it had approached, knocking into several Infected behind it.

'Uh, I think I hit it a bit too hard again.'

Amidst his thoughts, Yang Dian stepped forward, not retreating but advancing directly into the group of Infected.

His arms moved like afterimages, and every time he touched an Infected, crisp cracking sounds emanated from his hands.

Confirming that his strength far surpassed the Infected, and as long as he wasn't licked by them, they couldn't pose any threat to him, he even had the leisure to price his Moves.

He flicked away an Infected's tongue that was stabbing towards his eyes, then rubbed his hands together and wiped them across the Infected's neck.

"Crack~"

'Double Rubbing Hands, Neck Break, Peanut.'

He swayed his body to dodge the Infected's right hand grabbing at his throat.

Freeing his right hand, he embraced the Infected's right hand, pulling its body forward, causing it to stumble, then kneed upwards.

As he kneed the Infected up, Yang Dian's elbow, which was holding the Infected's right hand, slammed downwards.

'Embrace Hand Twist Arm, Eighty Thousand.'

...'Simultaneous Upper and Lower Strikes, Rubbing and Lifting Front Kick.'

He broke the Infected's hands and sent it flying with a front kick.

'Sixty Thousand.'

...He bent his body, reached out, grabbed the Infected's ankle, and pulled hard, forcing the Infected into a full split. Then, Yang Dian lifted his foot, just about to step on the Infected's knee, when he suddenly paused.

He looked around, and in the first-floor lobby, there were no standing Infected left?

All the Infected, except for the female Infected under his foot that he had forced into a split, had been dislocated and had their joints removed by him.

A few were still lying on the floor, twitching.

He wondered if they would remain like that for the rest of their lives.

He stepped on the tongue that suddenly shot out from the Infected's mouth, stabbing towards his ankle.

Yang Dian turned to look at Lin Mo and the others, who had subconsciously opened their mouths and widened their eyes, staring at him.

"Captain, I have not failed in my duty; the mission has been perfectly completed."

After speaking, Yang Dian was about to deal with the mutated creature under his foot, but a sudden sense of dread made him instinctively abandon his action. He bent down and performed a donkey roll, rolling to the side.

"Boom~"

"Bang bang~~"

At the same time, a sound of the floor cracking and two gunshots simultaneously exploded in Yang Dian's ears...