5: The final blow in Chapter 5 is my life!

As Brother Dao's fire axe swept down with a whistling sound, Chen Fan's pupils contracted slightly.

He had long noticed the faint red light at the guardian's core—it was the energy overflowing after the Lava Core was damaged, resembling a throbbing bead of blood.

Three days ago, while moving rebar at the construction site, he had seen a similar phenomenon: deformed rebar would emit an almost imperceptible tremor right before snapping—the final sign of metal fatigue.

"The final blow?" A faint sneer escaped Chen Fan's throat as he tightly gripped the third metal shard in his right pocket.

The guardian's lava flow suddenly accelerated, and the veins beneath its skin glowed fiercely red. This was the exact moment he had calculated for the 'Residual Shock' triggered after three critical hits—just like a punching bag that wobbles twice before stabilizing after continuous strikes.

The axe blade was only half an inch from the guardian's head.

The guardian suddenly shuddered violently. The lava armor on its surface peeled away like a receding tide, revealing the grayish-blue muscles underneath.

Chen Fan had been waiting for this 0.3-second defensive vacuum!

The metal shard sprang from between his fingers, its whistling sound sharper than Brother Dao's roar.

"Pfft!"

The shard pierced precisely into the guardian's brow, drawing a few drops of black blood.

Brother Dao's axe grazed the guardian's ear and buried itself in the ground, numbing his own hand up to the webbing between his thumb and forefinger.

[System Announcement: Player [Chen Fan] completes the final kill on the [Furnace Guardian]!]

As the mechanical voice boomed through the instance, Brother Dao's face instantly turned the color of liver.

He staggered around, his fire axe dragging an ear-splitting scratch across the floor: "You son of a bitch, you tricked me?!"

Chen Fan stepped back half a pace, brushing the bloodstain from the corner of his mouth—he had bitten down too hard when the second layer of the corrosion status activated.

But now, looking at Brother Dao's contorted face, his eyes held only cold clarity: "When you swung the axe, the guardian's lava flow was 0.2 seconds slower than the previous two hits.", He licked his lips, "I counted."

The system notification box exploded before his eyes.

First, the basic reward: 500 Experience, Furnace Core, White-grade Heat-Resistant Armor.

The next second, a red pop-up flashed three times, stinging his eyes—

[Critical Hit Judgment Triggered! Experience x 2.6 Multiplier → 1300 Experience!]

Chen Fan felt a warm current rush from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. The bottleneck for Bronze Tier 2 shattered with a 'crack,' and his Stamina value on the attribute panel jumped by 10 points immediately.

[Equipment Drop Critical Upgrade!

Heat-Resistant Armor → [Flame-Patterned Arm Guards] (Blue Grade)!

Defense +25, grants 'Heat Resistance' (Reduces Fire Damage by 50%)]

As the arm guards settled onto his body, Chen Fan could clearly feel his arms enveloped in a warm, flowing energy.

He looked down and tugged at his sleeve cuffs; outwardly, he still wore the washed-out work uniform, and no one could see the luster of Blue-grade equipment hidden underneath.

"Blue grade?" Brother Dao's Adam's apple bobbed twice, then he suddenly roared and charged, aiming his fire axe directly at Chen Fan's throat, "What right does a scavenger like you have to Blue-grade gear? Resources belong to the strong!"

"Strong?" Chen Fan sidestepped the axe blade, his right hand hovering near the arm guards.

He noticed Xiao Lin, standing behind Brother Dao, clutching the corner of his clothes until his knuckles turned white—that was the same posture Xiao Lin had adopted yesterday when begging him to stop the bleeding after his leg was broken by the guardian.

"You couldn't even land the final blow on the BOSS," Chen Fan suddenly lifted his foot and hooked Brother Dao's ankle. As the latter staggered, Chen Fan countered by grabbing his wrist.

Brother Dao's axe handle clattered to the ground. Chen Fan's thumb pressed precisely onto the pressure point on his wrist. "Last time you said 'brothers share hardships,' but when I was tanking the guardian, you were hiding behind the conveyor belt munching energy bars."

Brother Dao's face instantly turned pale.

"Ding—"

The notification sound of a new system quest saved Brother Dao's face.

[Main Quest: Use the Furnace Core to shut down the Main Control Furnace.

Time Remaining: 10 Minutes.]

Chen Fan released his grip; the Furnace Core felt hot in his palm.

As he walked toward the control panel, his peripheral vision caught Brother Dao signaling the blue-haired subordinate—that subordinate had patted his shoulder yesterday saying, 'Brother Fan is reliable,' but now he was clenching a piece of scrap iron and shuffling behind Chen Fan.

"Smack!"

Chen Fan steadily placed his left hand on the control panel while his right elbow shot backward like a mechanical arm.

The moment it precisely struck the soft flesh beneath the opponent's ribs, the system prompt exploded in his ear: [Basic Fist Technique Hit!

Critical Hit x 2.2 Multiplier!]

The blue-haired subordinate curled up on the ground like a shrimp that had lost its spine, letting out a muffled groan.

Chen Fan looked down, inputting the password, his voice as cold as if quenched in ice: "I can save your brother, or I can let you be the only one left alive."

The entire instance suddenly fell silent.

Amidst the roar of the furnace, only Xiao Lin's faint sobbing could be heard—he was secretly tucking the dagger hidden behind his back back into his pocket.

When Chen Fan pressed the 'Confirm' button, the furnace flames began to visibly die down.

The golden light of the system settlement enveloped the area, and the prompt [Hidden Evaluation Triggered!] made everyone's pupils contract—

[Player [Chen Fan] completes the BOSS kill with the lowest starting equipment, triggering the Hidden Evaluation 'Blade of Adversity'!

Visible to all New Players on the server]

At the same time, gasps of surprise erupted in countless novice instances across the server.

Some people held up their phones to film the system announcement, while others frantically forwarded posts on the forum: "The one who got the first kill at the construction site is back again!"

Chen Fan stood at the entrance of the rusted factory, gazing at the hazy gray sky.

The smell of molten slag carried by the wind filled his nostrils as he touched the arm guards—his throat felt tight.

Three days ago, he was being scolded by the foreman at the construction site as 'clumsy,' and now all the novice players on the server were discussing his name.

"Critical hits aren't luck," he murmured softly to the wind, "They are earned by me, one punch at a time."

Before the words faded, a faint sound of swaying lanterns drifted from the distance.

Chen Fan looked up and saw a blurry fox silhouette standing atop the roof ridge at the end of the old street.

The shadow raised a hand to stroke a vermilion lantern, its voice like flower petals scattered by the wind: "An interesting human, worthy of a meeting."

The system's teleportation white light suddenly enveloped him.

Chen Fan's last glance was of the mottled tree shadows on the bluestone slab road of the old street, and the faded golden characters 'frost moon' above the Teahouse doorway.