38: Chapter 38 I'll hold back until I get my three punches.

The interior of the furnace was already a rolling hellscape.

The scorching air distorted vision; every inch of steel groaned in agony under the intense heat, glowing so red it seemed ready to melt at any second.

Chen Fan carried the unconscious Xiao Ma on his back. Beneath his feet lay a maze of complex maintenance tunnels. The surrounding flame vents spewed deadly fire haphazardly, like the breaths of giant hellish beasts.

Sweat evaporated the moment it appeared, and his throat felt as if it were on fire.

"Left! The third pipe on the left! It just finished a spray cycle, we can still go through!" Gray Moth's hoarse shout came from up ahead. He flapped frantically in the firelight like a true moth searching for a way out, "—But we only have a thirty-second safety window!"

Thirty seconds!

Chen Fan’s pupils contracted. He suddenly exerted force with his feet. Despite carrying another person, his speed was as swift as a leopard’s.

However, just as he was about to change direction, the communication talisman Su Shuang had given him suddenly lit up in his arms, emitting a cool, faint glow. Su Shuang’s urgent and clear voice sounded like an ice spring directly in his mind: "I drew three fire-avoidance lines on the furnace schematic using fox blood. Don't listen to him! Turn left immediately, then right, then left again! Hurry! Don't stop!"

Before her voice faded, directly above the 'safe' pipe Gray Moth had indicated, a massive steel beam let out an unbearable metallic screech and collapsed with crushing force onto their intended route!

Crimson sparks scattered like a torrential downpour.

Chen Fan’s back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He obeyed Su Shuang’s instructions without hesitation, forcefully twisting his body at an extreme angle and lunging forward.

Even so, a searing jet of flame grazed his shoulder. His combat suit instantly carbonized, and a smell of burnt flesh brought a sharp, searing pain.

On the system panel before his eyes, his health value instantly plummeted below the 30% crimson warning line!

At the critical moment, a faint, almost imperceptible golden light flashed across his shoulder and vanished.

[Defense Critical Hit × 2 Triggered!]

The fatal scorching was instantly negated by more than half, leaving only a charred mark.

"Brother..." Xiao Ma, on his back, slowly woke up amidst the violent jolting. The moment he opened his eyes, he shuddered at the sight of the purgatorial scene. But immediately, he struggled violently and slid off Chen Fan's back.

"What are you doing!?" Chen Fan grabbed him, his brow tightly furrowed. "You just got out of the nutrient tank, don't move around!"

But Xiao Ma forcefully shook off his hand, his pale face showing a resolve unbefitting his age.

He grinned, revealing the gap-toothed smile identical to Old Horse Head's, chuckling—though the smile looked worse than crying: "My dad... My dad always said that us brick movers aren't afraid of hot hands, we're only afraid of lacking guts. Brother, you go blow up the furnace core, I... I'll lead them through the pipes!"

Saying that, he snatched the crude thermometer from the equally battered Gray Moth's hand and waved it forcefully at the group of shivering survivors behind him: "If you don't want to be roasted into charcoal, follow me!"

With that, he was the first to duck into the narrow, dark pipe Su Shuang had indicated.

Chen Fan stared blankly at the thin yet stubborn silhouette, as if seeing the shadow of Old Horse Head from many years ago on the construction site—the man who always offered him a cigarette and cheerfully said, "Kid, staying alive is what matters most."

His heart clenched sharply. On the critical hit system panel, a new line of notification vibrated faintly.

[Emotional Resonance Value + 1!]

Chen Fan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions, his gaze becoming incredibly firm.

He no longer hesitated, turned toward the direction of the furnace core, and charged forward like a cannonball.

The core platform was the hottest spot in the entire furnace.

The air was thick as magma, and crimson flames formed chains that enveloped Mysterious Candle in the center of the platform and the dozen fire banners fluttering before him.

Mysterious Candle spread his arms, his expression manic and intoxicated, laughing loudly: "How many can you save? One? Ten? Today, these three hundred heretics will all become fuel for the coming New Era! Their sins and souls are the best fuel! Hahahaha!"

As he laughed, the flames entwined on the banners gradually twisted and condensed, sketching out a massive, vague, translucent phantom in mid-air.

The phantom had no facial features but exuded a soul-shaking pressure. Waves of non-male, non-female whispers echoed throughout the furnace core.

"...Sacrifice... quantity... met..."

"I'll make sure you meet it!"

A heaven-shattering roar erupted. Chen Fan's figure tore through the curtain of fire, carrying endless rage, and slammed a punch toward Mysterious Candle's face!

[Attack Critical Hit × 3 Triggered!]

The punch wind resembled a dragon; the violent force instantly shattered the flame shield in front of Mysterious Candle!

Mysterious Candle’s pupils shrank drastically. He only had time to cross his fire banners defensively over his chest before being sent staggering backward by the immense force, leaving deep indentations on the metal platform under his feet.

However, Chen Fan did not press his advantage.

That violent power, capable of splitting steles and cracking rocks, was forcibly pulled back into his body in an inconceivable manner just as it was about to leave him!

The dazzling red light receded like the tide, all converging into his right fist.

[Critical Energy Storage × 2!]

"Hm?" Mysterious Candle sensed something was wrong. He couldn't understand Chen Fan's technique, but the contained power that hadn't erupted made him feel an unprecedented threat.

He held nothing back, sweeping his fire banners sharply and shouting fiercely: "Insolent fool! Fire Dragon Devour!"

Flames roared, instantly condensing into a ferocious fire dragon before him, pouncing on Chen Fan with bared fangs and claws.

Facing an attack capable of melting steel, Chen Fan advanced instead of retreating. He merely dodged sideways, rolling away from the direct impact of the dragon's head in an extremely perilous posture.

But the flames swept by the dragon's body still scorched his left arm, instantly curling his flesh, and his health value dropped again.

A warm current surged forth once more, repairing his injuries.

And the critical energy triggered this time was also not used for counterattack, but like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, it settled entirely within his limbs and bones!

The second strike. Seeing Chen Fan looking 'miserable,' Mysterious Candle intensified his assault.

The fire dragon coiled back, striking down with even more scorching heat.

This time, Chen Fan rooted his legs, stiffening his spine, allowing the flames to sweep over his body!

Sharp pain pierced through him, but he gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, staring fixedly at My... sterious Candle.

He could clearly feel the red light accumulating inside him becoming more intense and dense, like a miniature star about to explode.

[Critical Energy Storage × 3 (Full)!]

"You... what kind of evil magic is this!?" Mysterious Candle finally turned pale with shock. He saw clearly: Chen Fan wasn't enduring the attack; he was 'devouring' it!

He was actually swallowing the power of flame, which Mysterious Candle prided himself on, along with the power of heavenly punishment descending from the void, all into his own body!

"You... you dare swallow the power of heavenly punishment?!"

Chen Fan slowly straightened his body. The air around him violently distorted due to the high temperature emanating from within him, emitting a sizzling sound.

He grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, his voice low and hoarse, every word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth:

"I moved bricks at construction sites for three years, and I only learned one thing—"

"You have to save up your strength and only use it at the very last moment."

"Madman! You are a madman!" Fear finally showed in Mysterious Candle's eyes. He roared hysterically, pouring all his strength into the fire banners, "Burn everything to ash for me!"

The fire dragon pounced for the third time. This time, its volume expanded several times over, almost occupying the entire platform, its might capable of destroying heaven and earth.

Chen Fan neither dodged nor retreated.

He merely stood quietly, watching the giant fiery maw, capable of boiling mountains and seas, approach his chest.

Just as the fire dragon's head was about to touch his chest—

His tense body suddenly unfolded. His right fist, charged to the limit, shot out like a cannonball from a barrel!

[Triple Delayed Critical Hit - Released!]

There was no punch wind, no massive explosion.

The moment the fist struck, time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Then, the blinding red light was no longer compressed energy but transformed into a nuclear explosion sweeping over everything, blasting open centered on Chen Fan's fist!

The flames recoiled!

The arrogant fire dragon, without even time to let out a mournful cry, disintegrated inch by inch within the red light, turning into the most primitive sparks.

The dozen fire banners in Mysterious Candle's hands turned into dust like scraps of paper thrown into a shredder.

The giant oracle phantom in mid-air let out a silent wail, and under the illumination of the red light, it disintegrated like a bubble into countless specks of light!

BOOM—RUMBLE—!

The core of the entire furnace let out an unbearable, deafening sound under this single blow, collapsing from the center outwards!

Mysterious Candle was thrown high into the air by the incomparably violent shockwave. With endless terror and disbelief in his eyes, he slammed violently into the rolling, true endless flames beneath the platform.

Chen Fan stood at the center of this great collapse, letting the steel beneath his feet disintegrate, the fierce wind whipping at his clothes.

A series of rapid system notification sounds suddenly rang in his ears.

[Detected new usage method for the player-developed critical hit system, [Charged Critical Hit] module activated, maximum storage capacity: 3!]

[Warning! S-rank Hidden Event Core destroyed, regional scene will undergo permanent changes!]

At almost the same moment, far outside the Rusty Iron Factory, and in every corner of the entire Steel City, the survival bracelets on the wrists of all New Players vibrated violently without warning.

A line of gigantic, blood-red text was forcibly branded onto everyone's retinas.

[Server Announcement: Player [Chen Fan] successfully destroyed the 'Sin-Refining Furnace'; S-rank Hidden Event [New Era Sacrifice] has been forcibly interrupted!]

The Rusty Iron Factory was completely reduced to a sea of fire and ruins, with thick black smoke rising to the sky, darkening half of the heavens.

In that deathly silence, at the edge of the ruins, an inconspicuous exhaust pipe opening, the warped iron grating seemed to be gently... pushed open from the inside.