248: You've really angered me.

Facing this frenzied Sentry Dog, which had its chest pierced yet weirdly regenerated and grew four thick arms, Wei Ziqing remained calm despite his surprise.

The speed granted by his armor was enough for him to handle this simple enhancement of strength and speed.

He no longer tried to meet it head-on, instead using more sophisticated footwork to maneuver around it. His bone sword was like a venomous snake's tongue, leaving deep wounds that reached the bone on its new arms and legs during the gaps in its lunges, weakening its mobility.

After throwing the Sentry Dog and creating this minor trouble for Wei Ziqing, the Hanfu Immortal stopped looking at him.

His true objective was revealed—the skin on his arms writhed again, and those dozen or so long, thin Centipedes bored out once more. However, they did not attack Wei Ziqing; instead, like living fishing lines, they shot out with precision toward several other ordinary Sentry Dogs wandering or trying to approach nearby!

The Centipedes' sharp mouthparts easily pierced the Sentry Dogs' fur, burrowing deep into their bodies.

In the next second, a tooth-gritting 'chi-chi' sucking sound rang out. The parasitized Sentry Dogs let out short, shrill wails as their bodies shriveled at a visible rate, as if their flesh and essence were being rapidly drained away!

The Centipedes, now satiated with flesh and blood, had segments that swelled slightly, their color turning a shiny jet-black. The burn marks from the previous powder were also rapidly repairing.

Meanwhile, the fierce battle with the Prometheus youth grew increasingly white-hot, with verbal exchanges interspersed between fists, kicks, and bullets.

Lu Jianchuan had successfully closed the distance, his gauntlets colliding at high speed with the other's pair of cold, glinting metal claws, sending off a series of sparks.

The gun barrels on the youth's shoulders still tried to lock on at point-blank range, but Lu Jianchuan's dodging was as fast as a ghost; several bursts of fire grazed past his armor.

"Trying to find our purpose from me? To dig out the mole?"

In the gap while blocking one of Lu Jianchuan's heavy punches, the youth's voice remained unpleasantly calm, even carrying a hint of mockery. "I'm afraid it will be very difficult. I don't think... you can win today."

Cynthia launched a fierce attack from the flank, her mechanical exoskeleton gauntlets humming as they smashed toward the youth's temple with full force!

The youth reacted extremely quickly, his left arm's blade snapping back in a lightning-fast defense. "Clang!" With a loud crash, he forcibly blocked the heavy, powerful punch. The gauntlet and metal claw collided, producing a tooth-gritting sound of twisting metal.

Cynthia bombarded him with a series of double-fisted strikes, while the youth brandished his twin blades, using exquisite close-combat techniques to block, deflect, and counter. For a time, the clanging of metal was incessant.

Lu Jianchuan took advantage of the opening created by Cynthia's aggressive assault to close in again. Dazzling blue electricity suddenly erupted from his right gauntlet as he punched toward the youth's chest!

The youth's pupils constricted slightly. Two sharp metal probes suddenly popped out from the bottom of the mechanical backpack on his back, stabbing deep into the stone slabs beneath his feet with a 'puchi' sound!

Almost at the same moment Lu Jianchuan's lightning punch connected, he crossed his arms in front of him. The current flowed along his arms and body but was rapidly channeled into the earth by the two grounding probes, leaving only a few scorch marks and crackling arcs on his skin, failing to cause the intended paralysis.

Using this moment of tanking the hit and the grounding buffer, the youth leaned back, kicked off the ground with force, and delivered a fierce, self-sacrificing flying kick straight into Lu Jianchuan's chest and abdomen!

Lu Jianchuan crossed his arms to block. "Bang!" With a dull thud, the massive force sent him sliding back several meters, leaving two shallow ruts in the ground.

"Do you see?" The youth landed lightly, his tone still steady, as if stating facts in a classroom.

"The world is like a game of chess; the result is often more important than the process."

"Without power that crushes everything, one inevitably has to dabble in some 'necessary evils' and take paths that aren't so glamorous. This is reality."

"Shut up!" Cynthia's anger nearly broke through her reason. "You monsters! You think you're worthy of talking about reality?!"

Lu Jianchuan steadied himself and shook his slightly numb arms. He didn't respond, but his gaze grew colder as he assumed an offensive stance once more.

The youth seemed to enjoy the pressure exerted by his words. The gun barrels on his shoulders began rotating and preheating again, making a faint 'zizi' sound as he continued:

"Oh, right, about the 'handler' or 'mole' you want to know about... I suggest you don't waste your breath. Even if you capture me alive, it's useless."

He tapped his temple and gave a slightly cruel smile. "The relevant memories in here have undergone a little 'technical processing.' You won't be able to pry them open. Instead of doing useless work..."

He changed the subject as the gun barrels spat fire again, forcing Lu Jianchuan and Cynthia to dodge. His voice came through the gunfire:

"...why not consider my proposal? Join us, and perhaps you'll be able to see for yourself who the 'superior' you want to know about is. After all, we always welcome... capable 'Evolver'."

"Enough."

Lu Jianchuan's icy voice interrupted the youth's mocking 'recruitment'.

Before his voice had even faded, a blazing crimson light suddenly erupted from the gaps in his silver-white armor!

Light flowed and energy surged. Exposed dark-red energy conduits surfaced from beneath the armor like living things, extending outward. Sophisticated vector nozzles at the elbows, knuckles, pauldrons, calves, soles, and back were instantly constructed—Explosive Combustion Form had been switched to in an instant!

A far more violent and scorching aura than before boomed outward.

The Prometheus youth's eyes sharpened, but he still tried to maintain a calm tone, speaking quickly:

"Explosive Combustion Form... mentioned in the intel. Straightforward, known for speed and instantaneous bursts. As long as I predict your attack path, focus on dodging, and maneuver slowly until this brief state passes..."

However, before he could finish his conclusion about 'wearing him down'—

"Boom—!!!"

Where Lu Jianchuan had been, only a ring of expanding hot air and slight cracks in the ground remained. He had already turned into an afterimage of crimson and silver, shooting forward at a speed far exceeding the youth's prediction, punching straight for the other's face!

The youth's pupils shrank. Relying on battle instincts tempered through a thousand trials, he dodged to the left at the limit.

He could feel the scorching wind carried by the fist grazing past his cheek.

But his dodging motion was only halfway complete, and his nerves hadn't even finished transmitting the signal that he had 'dodged'—

The vector nozzle behind the elbow of Lu Jianchuan's right arm, which had grazed past his cheek, suddenly shifted direction and blasted out scorching orange-red flames!

The powerful thrust wasn't used for linear acceleration, but to push his arm into a brilliant, right-angled turn that defied common logic!

The fist that should have missed was corrected by the surging thrust. Like a hammer controlled by an invisible hand, it traced a short, lethal arc and slammed firmly into the youth's left cheek, which was slightly stiff with shock!

"Puh—!"

The massive kinetic energy was poured in without reservation. The youth was sent flying, spinning through the air, spraying a mist of blood from his mouth. Even the preheating gun barrels on his shoulders were knocked askew.

The direction he was flying was exactly toward Cynthia!

Cynthia had long been ready. A cold light flashed in her eyes, and her mechanical exoskeleton gauntlets went to full power. Before the youth could even land, she unleashed a set of incredibly fast close-quarters strikes!

Her fists were like heavy pile drivers, repeatedly slamming into the youth's hastily blocking arms, waist, abdomen, and shoulder blades. The dull thuds of impact sent him reeling like a leaf in a gale, completely unable to fight back.

A final, fierce upward hook struck the youth's chin, launching his already battered body upward once more!

And at this moment, in the air—

Lu Jianchuan, who had taken the opportunity to ascend after switching to Explosive Combustion Form, had finished charging his dive. The thrusters all over his body adjusted their angles slightly, the jet streams steady and terrifying. Like a crimson meteor, he locked onto the target Cynthia had punched upward.

The next moment, he turned into a straight crimson arrow, delivering a full-power flying kick!

"BOOM—!!!!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar and a violent shaking of the ground, the youth's body was like it had been hit head-on by a high-speed train, smashing back into the ground at several times his previous speed!

Dust and rubble mixed with scorching air surged into the sky, forming a brief dust explosion.

When the dust settled slightly, a shallow crater could be seen in the ground.

The Prometheus youth lay in the pit, his black, orange, and white semi-covered armor shattered. His exposed skin was charred and cracked in many places, blood continuously oozed from his mouth, and his body twitched slightly. His eyes were unfocused; he had clearly lost all combat capability and was in a critical state.

Lu Jianchuan slowly landed from the air. The glow of the scorching energy conduits around him gradually faded, and the nozzles shut down one by one. He deactivated Explosive Combustion Form, returning to his basic form. He exhaled a mist of white vapor carrying a hint of heat, looking at the unconscious youth in the pit, his voice still icy:

"It's been a while since I used this form... You've really pissed me off."