317: Battle ended 1

Lu Jianchuan had just managed to utter, "That's—" when an abrupt mutation occurred before he could finish!

The bizarre remains of the "bald tree" protruding from the ceiling seemed to be injected with a final burst of vitality. It began to extend and swell downward frantically, with even more twisted branches erupting from the thick "trunk."

But this process lasted for less than two seconds before the entire structure reached its limit. With an overwhelmed "crack" of fracturing, it collapsed with a thunderous bang!

It didn't turn into wood chips, but rather resembled a crushed body of flesh and blood—viscous, dark red, nearly black "blood" poured down from the disintegrating remains like a waterfall, instantly staining a large area below red as a thick, metallic stench filled the air.

Amidst this rain of blood, a figure descended from the original position of the "trunk," landing steadily in the center of the pool of blood. It was the missing Cynthia!

She was soaked through with that dark red "tree blood," her long hair clinging wetly to her cheeks, and her combat suit dyed a dark crimson. At first glance, she looked like a vengeful spirit crawling out from a pool of blood in Hell.

However, her eyes were exceptionally bright, burning with cold fury and resolve as they locked onto the severely wounded Zhao Qifeng.

She didn't even spare Lu Jianchuan and the others a glance. When she spoke, her voice trembled slightly with emotion but remained exceptionally clear: "Let's join forces this once. I know you want to capture me, but deal with Zhao Qifeng first—we'll talk after!"

Lu Jianchuan's eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't respond immediately, quickly weighing this sudden "alliance."

Shen Mingyuan was more straightforward. His muzzle adjusted slightly, still locked onto Zhao Qifeng, as he said briefly, "No problem."

Beneath the Golden Bone visor, his gaze flickered. He uttered a single word in a heavy voice: "Fine."

Wei Ziqing pointed the tip of his sword at Zhao Qifeng once more, his tone grim: "I don't care. As long as we can take down this bastard, anything goes."

Having received their tacit consent, Cynthia wasted no more words. With a low shout, she charged at Zhao Qifeng like an arrow released from a bow!

During her charge, the flesh on her right palm bizarrely peeled back and proliferated. A "spike" about a meter long, with an incredibly sharp tip and a woody texture that glinted with a metallic cold light, generated instantly—it was as if an alienated weapon had grown directly out of her bones!

She gripped it tightly like an eerie spear and thrust it directly at Zhao Qifeng's face!

Zhao Qifeng had just suffered a heavy blow to his left arm from Shen Mingyuan's sniping. Seeing Cynthia attacking in such a bizarre manner, he was both shocked and enraged, hurriedly raising his intact right arm to parry.

"Clang!" The spike collided with the corroding abyss armor, actually producing the sound of clashing metal and sending sparks flying.

While parrying, Zhao Qifeng gathered strength in his left fist, enduring the piercing pain to counterattack, aiming straight for Cynthia's chest and abdomen!

But how could Shen Mingyuan give him the chance? Almost the instant Zhao Qifeng raised his arm to block, another gunshot rang out!

The bullet didn't aim for a vital spot, but precisely at the wrist of the left fist he was preparing to swing! If Zhao Qifeng insisted on punching, his hand would likely be shot off. He was forced to pull back his strength and dodge to the side, his offensive interrupted.

In the split second his figure faltered from dodging the bullet, Lu Jianchuan had already closed in from his flank like a ghost! His fist in Explosive Combustion Form was devoid of any flourishes, slamming solidly into Zhao Qifeng's ribs!

Boom!

Zhao Qifeng was sent flying sideways, crashing violently into a nearby alloy wall and leaving a concave crater!

Golden Bone also changed his attack method. His exoskeleton bracers launched several disc-shaped throwing stars with razor-sharp edges. These stars didn't impact directly; instead, they exploded in mid-air as they approached Zhao Qifeng, releasing a wide-range, high-intensity net of blue-white electric arcs that instantly enveloped Zhao Qifeng as he struggled out of the wall crater!

"Snap! Crackle!" The current raged. However, light flickered across the surface of the corroding abyss armor, showing a decent resistance to electrical attacks—

This was perhaps thanks to Zhao Qifeng's in-depth research on the bio-electric System of Lu Jianchuan's "silver skeleton" armor. Although the electric shock caused some interference and stinging pain, it didn't cause actual paralysis.

However, this moment of interference was enough!

Wei Ziqing's figure pounced like a cheetah. Taking advantage of the moment Zhao Qifeng was shrouded in current and his movements were slightly stiff, he closed the distance!

He didn't choose to thrust. Instead, he turned his poisoned bone sword sideways, using the broad and tough blade like an anvil to "press" hard against a spot on Zhao Qifeng's breastplate where the carapace was slightly dull from a previous graze by Shen Mingyuan's sniping!

Just as Zhao Qifeng wanted to exert force to shake off Wei Ziqing, a vicious wind arrived from behind!

Lu Jianchuan's thrusters erupted again, his figure—a weave of silver-white and crimson—closed in instantly. This time, his fist didn't strike Zhao Qifeng directly. Instead, like a blacksmith swinging a hammer, he smashed it with peerless precision and heavy force onto the spine of the bone sword Wei Ziqing was pressing against Zhao Qifeng's chest!

Thump—!!!

It was like a heavy hammer hitting an anvil, or a nail being driven in instantly!

Wei Ziqing let out a muffled groan, his palm going numb, yet he held the blade steady. Having endured this terrifying strike that combined the strength of two people, the corroding abyss armor on Zhao Qifeng's chest finally let out a clear, tooth-aching sound of fracturing!

"Crack!"

The already damaged carapace, under the immense force of the pincer attack from inside and out, was forced inward by the bone sword until it dented and ruptured! A clear fissure appeared, and dark red biological tissue was faintly visible through the crack.

His defense was breached!

The moment Wei Ziqing's bone sword broke the armor and created the fissure, Zhao Qifeng's body inevitably suffered an extremely brief moment of stiffness and imbalance due to the injury to his vitals.

This lightning-fast opening was captured precisely by Lu Jianchuan!

"Now!"

He let out a low roar. His speed in Explosive Combustion Form increased to the limit as his right fist, carrying all his remaining explosive power like a bolt of silver-red lightning, slammed hard into the side of Zhao Qifeng's head, which had turned slightly from the pain!

Bang—Crack!

Even with the protection of the corroding abyss armor, this heavy blow left Zhao Qifeng dizzy and disoriented, his entire body sent flying by the massive force.

Lu Jianchuan didn't linger after the successful strike. His left hand shot out, grabbing the shoulder of Wei Ziqing, who was reeling back from the recoil. The thrusters at his feet fired in reverse, carrying them both back at high speed to establish a safe distance.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Cynthia had finished gathering her strength.

The bizarre woody spike spear in her hand glowed with an eerie light, emitting a faint hum.

Just as Lu Jianchuan sent Zhao Qifeng flying, a fierce glint flashed in her eyes. She didn't charge directly at the target but made an unexpected move—she violently threw the sharp wooden spear like a javelin, hurling it with all her might toward where Zhao Qifeng was falling!

And the moment the spear left her hand, her other hand quickly pulled out a pure, flawless white flower from her person. It emitted a soft, faint glow and was exceptionally beautiful. Without hesitation, she stuffed it into her mouth and swallowed it!

The flying wooden spear seemed endowed with life, drawing a mournful arc in the air, its tip pointing straight at the armor fissure on Zhao Qifeng's chest that had been split open by the bone sword!

Though Zhao Qifeng was dizzy and disoriented, his survival instincts remained. Seeing the spear approaching, he roared and strained to reach out with his intact right hand, grabbing the spear's shaft just in the nick of time before the tip could touch the fissure!

The wood and metal armor grated with a piercing sound. The spear's forward momentum was forcibly checked, failing to fully penetrate.

But Shen Mingyuan's gun had been waiting.

Boom!

Almost at the same instant Zhao Qifeng grabbed the spear and his movement froze, the sniper rifle rang out again! This time, the target was his already injured left arm joint, exposed by his action of grabbing the spear!

Zhao Qifeng's pupils shrank. It was too late to pull his hand back!

Puchi!

The bullet accurately hit the connection of the left arm joint, and the already damaged structure shattered completely!

His left arm, along with part of the shoulder armor, was nearly torn off, left hanging by only a few strands of biological tissue—it was completely useless! The intense pain forced a shrill scream from him, and his right hand, which was holding the spear, involuntarily loosened.

"Now! Maximum output!" Lu Jianchuan's voice rang out. He had already delivered Wei Ziqing to safety and was now charging back like a burning meteor!

This time, he no longer aimed for a single heavy blow. Instead, he completely released the final energy of his Explosive Combustion Form, turning it into a storm of continuous, high-speed strikes!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!

Lu Jianchuan's figure seemed to haunt the pained and stiffened Zhao Qifeng, rotating and flashing around him at high speed. From the front, side, top, and back... the silver-red shadows of his fists nearly connected into one. Every punch was as heavy as a mountain, slamming hard into various parts of the corroding abyss armor, especially those spots where Golden Bone's bomb spikes were still embedded and hadn't been fully expelled!

Ugh, ahhh—!

Under such dense and powerful bombardment, those metal spikes already embedded in the armor's gaps or shallow tissues were forcibly hammered deeper and deeper, bit by bit, into the interior!

Every punch was like a blacksmith using a heavy hammer to drive nails deeper into a board! The spikes gradually broke through the internal buffer layers and pierced into deeper biological tissues, bringing continuously stacking pain and internal destruction!

Finally, after an untold number of heavy punches, Lu Jianchuan squeezed out the last bit of energy from his Explosive Combustion Form. He gave it his all, delivering a skyward uppercut infused with all his remaining kinetic energy, slamming it hard into Zhao Qifeng's jaw from below!

Thump—!!

Zhao Qifeng's massive body was thrown upward by this punch before crashing heavily to the ground, smashing a deep pit into the floor.

He struggled, but because multiple parts of his body had been deeply destroyed by the spikes, combined with the heavy injury to his left arm and the massive consumption of energy, he found it impossible to get up for a moment.

And after throwing this punch, the light from the nozzles all over Lu Jianchuan's body suddenly went out. The crimson energy conduits dimmed, and the silver-white armor rapidly regressed to its basic form.

In the deep pit, the light on Zhao Qifeng's corroding abyss armor flickered unsteadily. The spikes deep within his body severely interfered with his System's operation, making his movements incredibly sluggish.

At that moment, Cynthia moved!

She pounced like a cheetah. Her target wasn't Zhao Qifeng, but the wooden spear that had been knocked to the ground earlier.

She snatched up the spear, her gaze cold and resolute. Taking advantage of the moment Zhao Qifeng was struggling on the ground and his armor was slightly opening and closing due to internal disorder, revealing more cracks, she aimed the spear tip at the chest armor fissure split by the bone sword and thrust down with all her might!

"Wait! Keep him alive!" Golden Bone's shout of restraint came.

But it was too late.

The tip of the wooden spear precisely followed the fissure, piercing into the interior of the corroding abyss armor and coming into contact with Zhao Qifeng's warm blood.

The moment it touched the blood—

A sudden mutation occurred!

The seemingly ordinary wooden spear suddenly erupted with intense biological activity! The shaft of the spear was like a vine coming to life, instantly swelling and branching out. Countless tiny root-like tissues grew frantically from the spear, boring into Zhao Qifeng's body at an alarming speed along the armor cracks and internal gaps! Meanwhile, the shaft itself was rapidly thickening and lengthening, with more branches forcibly bursting out and spreading from the gaps in the armor on Zhao Qifeng's body!

"Ugh, ahhh—!!!" Zhao Qifeng let out an unprecedentedly shrill scream, his body twitching violently.

In just two or three seconds, his body was completely pierced, entangled, and encased by countless frantically growing grey-brown wooden branches!

The corroding abyss armor seemed to lose its power supply. The silver-grey light went out completely, and the carapace made popping and cracking sounds as it peeled off and disintegrated from Zhao Qifeng's body, turning into inactive, curled-up "metal trilobite" prototypes scattered all over the ground.

As for Zhao Qifeng himself, he withered away at a speed visible to the naked eye under everyone's watchful gaze. All the blood, moisture, and even biomass in his body were greedily absorbed and drained by those bizarre branches that had invaded him!

In the end, only a withered corpse covered in tattered clothing remained, tightly encased in a gnarled wooden network.

And at the tip of the thickest main branch growing from the corpse's chest, a pure, flawless white flower with crystal-clear petals, emitting a serene glow, was slowly blooming.