316: If you don't see eye to eye, even half a sentence is too much.

Just as Zhao Qifeng was immersed in his tragic pioneer persona, "performing a service for all generations," a sudden change occurred!

A white figure, like a bat hanging upside down, suddenly lunged from the shadows of the laboratory's high ceiling! It was Wei Ziqing!

He had sneaked above at some unknown point, and now he poured all his strength and the momentum of his fall into the poisoned bone sword in his hand, pointing the tip directly at the suspected connection hub behind the neck of Zhao Qifeng's armor!

This strike was ruthless, accurate, and fast, aiming to break through the defense in a single blow!

However, the sensory System of the "corroding abyss" armor seemed to exceed all expectations.

Almost the instant Wei Ziqing broke through the shadows, Zhao Qifeng didn't even turn around; the shoulder blade area of his back split open again, and two metal tail stingers that had previously repelled Golden Bone lashed out from below at an even faster speed and a more cunning angle!

Wei Ziqing was in mid-air and couldn't change his move in time, so he could only twist his body as much as possible and block with his armguards.

"Screech!"

One tail stinger grazed the armguard, but the other stabbed fiercely into his waist! Although the armor wasn't completely penetrated, the massive impact and sharp pain still made him groan, and his movements instantly became distorted.

Before the momentum of the fall ended, Zhao Qifeng, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, suddenly turned around and accurately grabbed the blade of the bone sword Wei Ziqing had thrust with his armored hand! The terrifying grip caused the blade to emit an overwhelmed hum.

"Courting death!"

Zhao Qifeng shouted coldly, exerted strength from his waist, and swung his arm violently, throwing Wei Ziqing—along with his sword—like a sandbag against the alloy wall to the side!

"Bang—!"

With a loud crash, Wei Ziqing slammed hard against the wall, spiderweb-like cracks spreading out before he slid to the ground. He knelt on one knee, panting heavily; bouts of dull pain radiated from where he had been stabbed in the waist. Though the armor wasn't broken, the internal impact was quite severe.

"Cough, cough..." He gritted his teeth and stood up, shaking his dazed head. He looked at Lu Jianchuan and Shen Mingyuan, who were still in an ideological standoff with Zhao Qifeng, and spoke with anger and impatience:

"What the hell are you still talking to him for?! You can't reason with a guy who's this self-absorbed! We're not here for a philosophy debate!"

He gripped the bone sword, the blade trembling slightly from his anger, and pointed it at Zhao Qifeng:

"He says all those big words, like 'service for all generations' and 'survival of the race'... I don't understand it at all, and I don't want to! I only know one thing now—"

A sharp light flashed in his eyes, the pure Battle Intent of a Martial Artist locking onto a target:

"Knock him down, and that's it!"

Hearing this, a very faint sigh seemed to come from under Shen Mingyuan's faceplate, and his tone became blunt: "Alright. I have to admit, Wei Ziqing, although you're blunt, I agree with your current thinking."

Before his voice faded, his arms crossed, and the "twin stars" pistols instantly detached. Amidst dazzling mechanical transformation and biological structural reorganization, they merged and extended in his hands, turning into that slender and dangerous sniper rifle form.

He knelt on one knee, steadying the rifle as dark red energy began to rapidly converge and compress along the weapon's circuitry. A point of light at the muzzle, so intense it was heart-stopping, brightened sharply—he was performing an ultra-high intensity charged snipe!

Simultaneously, Lu Jianchuan took a deep breath, the last trace of hesitation in his eyes vanishing, replaced only by cold determination.

The crimson orb in the center of his left armband glowed brilliantly, and the silver-white basic armor form began to undergo a dramatic change!

The lines became sharper, and several dark red exposed energy conduits surfaced on the armor like blood vessels. vector propulsion nozzles at the elbows, shoulder plates, back, and soles were formed, glowing with a searing orange-red light inside—silver skeleton: Explosive Combustion Form (Super Stats Form), activated!

Scorching hot air currents began to escape from the nozzles around him, the air distorting slightly. His entire Aura surged abruptly, like a volcano about to erupt.

Facing the three who had instantly switched tactics and were now brimming with Killing Intent—especially Lu Jianchuan's markedly more dangerous Aura and the terrifying energy Shen Mingyuan was accumulating—

Zhao Qifeng showed no fear; instead, the light behind his compound eyes flickered even more excitedly. He lowered his stance slightly into a combat posture, his voice coming through the armor with a strong sense of challenge:

"Is that so? Then... come!"

Lu Jianchuan was the first to attack! In Explosive Combustion Form, his speed and strength skyrocketed. An airwave exploded from the ground beneath him as his figure turned into a blur of red and silver, crossing several meters in an instant. His right fist, carrying searing air currents and blinding electric light, smashed toward Zhao Qifeng's face like a meteorite!

Zhao Qifeng reacted extremely quickly, throwing a punch of his own. The right arm of the corroding abyss armor instantly underwent local thickening and structural fine-tuning, attempting a head-on clash.

"Boom—!!"

The fists collided, erupting in a staggering roar! The blaze energy and bio-currents on Lu Jianchuan's fist surged wildly, but the defense mechanism of the corroding abyss armor was beyond imagination—its surface shell was not only hard but also dispersed, guided, and shed the impact through complex geometric deformation and internal fluid buffer layers at the moment of contact!

Zhao Qifeng was knocked back seven or eight meters by the immense force of the punch, his feet plowing two deep grooves into the floor. However, the armor's light did not dim, and no obvious damage feedback came from within.

"It's not over yet!" Lu Jianchuan shouted, his second punch following immediately, striking at the chest and abdomen while the opponent was still unsteady!

Meanwhile, Golden Bone quietly approached from the flank. A high-frequency vibrating narrow monomolecular blade snapped out from his exoskeleton's right arm, its edge glowing with a faint blue cold light. Taking advantage of Lu Jianchuan drawing attention, he silently stabbed toward a seemingly jointed connection on Zhao Qifeng's back!

"Clang—Screech!"

A piercing grinding sound rang out. This strike from Golden Bone, which was enough to cut through specialized armor, only left a somewhat deep white mark and a few flying sparks on the corroding abyss armor, failing to truly break through.

Zhao Qifeng seemed to have eyes in his back; in the gap between blocking Lu Jianchuan's second punch, his left elbow slammed backward at an unnatural angle, aiming straight for Golden Bone's head!

"Don't even think about it!"

Wei Ziqing's figure suddenly intervened! He accurately predicted the counterattack, his bone sword slashing upward. The spine of the blade slammed heavily into the side of Zhao Qifeng's elbow, knocking it off course.

The blade then slid along, like a venomous snake seeking an opening, abandoning the heavy assault on the thick shell and instead launching a storm of continuous stabs at the gaps in Zhao Qifeng's shoulder, elbow, and knee joints! Although those areas were also protected, they were inevitably weaker than the main shell!

Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!

A dense sound of stabs, like raindrops, rang out. Although the bone sword still failed to penetrate completely, each precise point-strike transmitted sharp jolts of pain through the gaps, causing Zhao Qifeng's movements to show obvious lag and irritation.

"Get lost!" He roared, violently shaking off Wei Ziqing.

But Lu Jianchuan's third wave of attacks had arrived! He leaped high, using a brief burst from the blaze thrusters, and clenched both hands into a hammer, smashing down with the force of ten thousand tons!

Zhao Qifeng hurriedly crossed his arms over his head, the corroding abyss armor once again adjusting its structure to concentrate defense at the top.

"Thud—!!!"

Like a heavy hammer striking a giant bell! The specially made alloy floor beneath Zhao Qifeng's feet collapsed, and he was driven halfway into the ground by the terrifying force! Dust filled the air.

"Cough..." Zhao Qifeng groaned; this hit had clearly been quite painful. But as he struggled to free himself, multiple parts of the corroding abyss armor—the back, shoulders, waist—suddenly split open. Over a dozen metal tail stingers, glinting with a cold metallic light, shot out like snakes from a hole, covering everyone around him indiscriminately!

"Watch out!" Golden Bone shouted. He didn't retreat but instead stepped forward, his left exoskeleton arm rapidly transforming. A silver disk-shaped device with sharp edges and a center that vibrated with invisible ripples popped out. He held this "Sonic Shield" in front of him and activated it with full power!

"Hum—!"

The high-frequency sound waves formed a fan-shaped invisible barrier, colliding violently with the incoming metal tail stingers!

Most of the stingers had their trajectories disrupted by the sound waves, either veering off or slowing down significantly to hit the surrounding walls and equipment. Only a few penetrated the sonic attenuation zone, but their power was greatly reduced, and they were easily knocked away or dodged by Lu Jianchuan and Wei Ziqing.

Just as Golden Bone blocked this area-of-effect attack for everyone, Lu Jianchuan seized the opening as Zhao Qifeng struggled to rise from the pit and had not yet fully regained his balance. He burst into another sprint, and a punch burning with orange-red flames slammed squarely into the opponent's chest!

"Puff!" This time, fine cracks finally appeared on the surface of the corroding abyss armor, and Zhao Qifeng was sent staggering back again.

However, the direction he flew back was exactly toward the previously opened nutrient chamber and control console! In the middle of flying backward, he swung his arm and accurately slapped another green button on the console!

"Splash—!"

More thick, emerald-green high-energy nutrient fluid poured down from the pipes in the ceiling, drenching him once again!

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

A hair-raising sound of swallowing and proliferation rang out. Upon contact with the large amount of nutrient fluid, the corroding abyss armor glowed with an intense silver-gray light, like a desert meeting rain!

The fine cracks were instantly filled with newborn bio-metal. The thickness of the entire armor increased at a visible rate, its lines becoming bulkier and more monstrous, and the faint blue energy flows at the joints became brighter and more surging!

"No way... Is he really cheating like this?" Shen Mingyuan watched with a furrowed brow, unable to help but complain.

But the energy in his sniper rifle had already reached its peak!

Just as Zhao Qifeng completed his "second enhancement" and his Aura was at its strongest—but his movements were slightly sluggish due to absorbing energy—

"It's over!"

Shen Mingyuan pulled the trigger.

"Zing—Boom!!!"

A beam of dark red ultra-high heat energy, condensed to the extreme and nearly tearing through space, shot out at a speed beyond visual tracking! Its target was the left shoulder joint, which, despite the enhancement, still showed a slight lack of coordination from the previous attacks!

Zhao Qifeng's compound eyes flashed wildly with warnings, and he tried his best to sidestep at the last second!

"Psh—!!"

The beam grazed the outside of his left arm! Even though it wasn't a direct hit to the joint, the terrifying energy still easily pierced through the recently thickened local shell, tearing a scorched, see-through hole with molten edges in his left arm! Dark red "blood" and tissue fluid sprayed from the rupture!

"Ugh, ah!" Zhao Qifeng let out a cry of pain, his left arm instantly hanging limp. Shen Mingyuan's snipe indeed possessed the greatest single-target piercing power on the field!

However, just as everyone's attention was drawn to this heavy injury—

"Rumble..."

An abnormal, muffled sound—like plant roots drilling frantically through concrete—came from above the laboratory.

Then, before the astonished eyes of the crowd, a small section of a strange "tree trunk"—grayish-brown, with a surface as rough as bark, but bald without any branches, leaves, or flowers—

Suddenly burst out from a crack in the ceiling, hanging down quietly and swaying slightly, emitting an unsettling Aura identical to the "bald tree" Cynthia had left behind when she escaped.