113: Attack

Lu Jianchuan bent his knee slightly and reached out to check the side of Lin Night's neck, confirming she had only fainted rather than died. He picked her up like a piece of luggage and said to Wang Yu:

“Contact headquarters. We've captured an important member of 'Prometheus'; have them send someone immediately to take over. You and the Rabbit King stay here and watch her to ensure she can't wake up or escape.”

“Understood! I'll call for backup right away!” Wang Yu immediately responded and began operating the communicator.

Lu Jianchuan tossed the unconscious Lin Wan at Wang Yu's feet, then turned around, his brilliant white eyepieces scanning the entire cemetery. Those clusters of 'Bursting Crystal Umbrella' spores scattered everywhere, flickering with an ominous light, looked like filth that had to be purged in his eyes.

“I will use fire to thoroughly clean this place.”

He raised both arms, and the pulse vents all over his body began to glow with a blinding light. Massive energy was gathering, preparing for an indiscriminate baptism of flames.

At this moment, the Rabbit King, who had been silently observing from the side, looked up at Lu Jianchuan's Second Form—which was even more ferocious and filled with a sense of destructive power than the first. A thought carrying obvious lingering fear and astonishment was transmitted over:

“...Fortunately, you didn't use this form when we faced off in the warehouse back then.”

It paused, its ruby-like eyes blinking, and added a sentence:

“You were actually hiding a form like this... It's truly... too terrifying, it's scaring the rabbit.”

The mission report and personnel transfer were quickly completed at the edge of the cemetery. The unconscious Lin Wan was fitted with a special suppression collar and energy restraint shackles, then loaded onto a dedicated transport vehicle heading back to the base. Lu Jianchuan, Wang Yu, and the Rabbit King also returned in the vehicle.

The atmosphere inside the car was silent. Lu Jianchuan closed his eyes to rest and silently recover his strength; Wang Yu curiously sized up the tightly bound, unconscious Lin Wan opposite him; the Rabbit King crouched quietly on the seat, its red eyes occasionally scanning the scenery retreating rapidly outside the window.

The vehicle drove smoothly along a remote road leading to the city area.

However, just as they passed through a stretch of road with dense woods on both sides, a sudden change occurred!

“BOOM—!!!”

An invisible yet highly penetrating, powerful sonic wave, like a physical heavy hammer, slammed ruthlessly into the side of the moving vehicle without warning! The bulletproof body let out a twisted groan, the glass was instantly covered in cracks, and the entire vehicle was flipped over by this massive force, rolling half a turn on the road before coming to a stop on its side!

“Ugh!” “What’s going on?!” The personnel inside were tossed about; the ordinary team members and Wang Yu were all left dizzy and blurred-eyed by this sudden attack.

The Rabbit King, whose hearing was far more sensitive than a human's, suffered even more severe trauma under this close-range sonic impact. It curled up in pain, covering its head tightly with its front paws and letting out a faint whimper. Seeing this, Wang Yu hurriedly protected it.

“It’s a sonic attack! Everyone, be careful! Prepare for combat!” an experienced team member shouted, enduring the discomfort and trying to raise his gun to stay alert.

Outside the vehicle amidst the swirling dust, a figure slowly stepped out from the woods by the roadside—it was Bone Chime, who had previously escaped from the Botanical Garden! His arms, mutated into pale biological sonic cannons, were raised again, aimed at the overturned vehicle.

“Is she inside... hand her over!” Bone Chime's voice carried a cold killing intent.

Lu Jianchuan leaped out from the overturned carriage, landing steadily on the road, facing Bone Chime not far away.

“It’s you again!” Bone Chime saw who it was, his voice carrying suppressed rage and a hint of wariness.

“Yeah, it's me again,” Lu Jianchuan replied calmly. Without hesitation, the crimson orb on his left wrist armband glowed, instantly turning a searing orange-red!

“Vwoom—!”

The low, engine-like roar sounded again! Dark red structures covered the silver-white base, the brilliant white eyepieces lit up, and the Second Form · Explosive Combustion Form descended once more! But Lu Jianchuan could feel a faint sense of weakness within his body due to the continuous high-intensity transformations and battles, coupled with insufficient energy replenishment. He couldn't delay; he had to settle this quickly!

“It’s useless! No matter what you turn into, it’s useless in the face of absolute speed!” Bone Chime roared, his arm sonic cannons charging rapidly, aiming at Lu Jianchuan!

The moment before he fired, the thrusters under Lu Jianchuan's feet suddenly ignited!

“Boom!”

The crimson figure retreated rapidly to the side and rear, and the ground where he had originally stood was blasted into a large crater by the invisible sonic cannon.

“Let’s see where you hide!” Bone Chime rotated his arms, locking on again.

“Boom!” Lu Jianchuan used the instantaneous burst of the thrusters to change direction again, narrowly avoiding the second sonic cannon shot. He continuously used short, explosive thruster bursts to leave a Z-shaped trail on the road, like a flickering target, drawing Bone Chime's attacks away from the overturned vehicle.

“Annoying bug!” Unable to land a hit for a long time, Bone Chime became increasingly frustrated, his sonic cannons firing continuously, blasting the road surface until it was riddled with holes.

Just then, after another thruster dodge, Lu Jianchuan didn't land. Instead, he used the momentum to leap violently upward! At the same time, the thrusters on his back and the soles of his feet opened fully, erupting with powerful thrust that sent him shooting into the night sky like a rocket!

“Trying to attack from the sky? Foolish!” Bone Chime immediately raised his arms, his sonic cannons locking onto the searing target in the air as energy gathered rapidly. “Come down!”

However, the instant Bone Chime was about to fire, the thrusters on Lu Jianchuan's back in mid-air suddenly changed angle and fired downward! The powerful counter-force brought his upward momentum to a dead stop, and as if slapped down by an invisible giant palm, he plummeted at free-fall speed!

Bone Chime's prediction missed completely. The sonic cannon grazed the afterimage of Lu Jianchuan's rapid descent and struck the empty night sky.

“What?!” Bone Chime's pupils shrank.

At this moment, Lu Jianchuan had already smashed toward the ground like a meteorite! The instant before he touched the ground, he exerted force with his waist and abdomen, leaning his body forward. The thrusters under his feet erupted violently downward and backward again, not only neutralizing the impact of the fall but also giving him a terrifying forward speed!

Using this combination maneuver of diving, landing, and re-exploding with speed, Lu Jianchuan instantly broke through the blockade distance of the sonic cannons and appeared before Bone Chime like a ghost!

That fist, covered in dark red armor and entwined with brilliant white flames, slammed ruthlessly toward Bone Chime's chest under his horrified gaze, before he could make any effective reaction!

“Bang!!!”

In a heavy, muffled sound, Bone Chime was struck squarely in the chest by Lu Jianchuan's long-prepared Explosive Combustion Form heavy punch! His entire body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, a spray of blood erupting from his mouth; he had clearly suffered significant internal injuries.

However, while flying through the air, a flash of ruthlessness and determination crossed Bone Chime's eyes. Enduring the intense pain, he used a hand that hadn't completely mutated to pull a fist-sized metal sphere covered in tiny holes from his waist. Using his last bit of strength, he hurled it violently toward Lu Jianchuan!

Simultaneously, the sonic cannons on his arms fired a short, specific-frequency pulse at the metal sphere in the air!

“Swoosh—Bang!”

The moment the metal sphere was hit by the sound waves, it disintegrated violently in the air, exploding into hundreds of dense, fingernail-sized sharp steel balls. Like scattered flower petals, they rained down on Lu Jianchuan, covering him from head to toe! The coverage area was extremely wide, making it almost impossible to dodge!

And that wasn't all! While the first batch of steel balls was in flight, they seemed to still contain unexhausted sonic energy. As they neared the ground and Lu Jianchuan, a secondary sympathetic explosion occurred!

“Crackle—!”

The tiny steel balls themselves were like shrapnel, and the secondary explosions gave them chaotic, unpredictable flight paths and extra impact force! It was nothing short of a metal storm!

Lu Jianchuan's (Explosive Combustion Form) pupils shrank. The thrusters under his feet fired frantically as he tried to retreat rapidly, while crossing his arms to protect his head, chest, and other vital areas.

“Clang, clang, clang—!”

Most of the steel balls were deflected by his hard armor, but many still slipped through the gaps. Carrying powerful kinetic energy and explosive impact, they slammed into non-frontal protection areas like his leg and shoulder armor, producing muffled thuds and leaving behind tiny dents and scorch marks. Although they failed to break his defense, the massive impact caused his movements to falter slightly.

In the instant Lu Jianchuan was temporarily blocked by the metal storm, Bone Chime had already landed and rolled to shed the momentum. Without hesitation, he threw two more identical sonic steel ball bombs to block Lu Jianchuan's potential pursuit route, while his other hand tossed out a cylindrical object.

“Puff—”

Thick, pungent-smelling grey-white smoke instantly burst forth, spreading rapidly and obscuring everyone's vision.

By the time Lu Jianchuan forced his way out of the steel ball coverage and dispersed the smoke with a punch, Bone Chime had already vanished from the spot, leaving only a pool of blood on the ground and messy tracks pointing toward the distant darkness.

Bone Chime had escaped once again, relying on his strange and ever-changing methods.