34: Chapter 34: Nogami's Counterattack

April 29th, 12:30 AM.

The sixth pruning.

Yan Zheng set up an ambush in a new area of the underground passage, selecting the fourth section of the western drainage main pipe, a remote passage the Ninja had never taken before.

"He changed his old route, so I'll find a new one."

"No. 3, No. 1, enter the preset positions."

"No. 2 and No. 4, stand by on the flanks of the curve."

"Brute, follow me."

The team moved south along the passage for about three hundred meters.

Everything was normal—darkness, stagnant water, rubble, rats.

Then Yan Zheng stopped.

"Wait."

He sniffed the damp air.

Mold, rust, the foul odor typical of drainage pipes.

But beneath these scents, there was a smell that didn't belong in the underground pipes.

Incense.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˙ ꈊ ˙ )

"Who is burning incense in the sewer?"

His hand was already pressed against the scalpel in his pocket, his gaze sweeping across the pitch-black passage ahead.

The system panel popped up a red warning at this moment.

[Warning: High-density occult perception array detected, covering a radius of approximately fifty meters. The host's Undead Creation positions have been marked. Immediate evacuation recommended.]

Yan Zheng's pupils contracted slightly.

"Retreat."

It was too late.

The first black shadow fell from a gap in the pipe above, landing behind the No. 3 Skeleton Soldier, its short blade hacking down.

The second and third flipped out from the maintenance manhole on the left side of the passage, each wielding chains and short blades.

The fourth and fifth charged head-on from the darkness ahead.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth approached silently from the passage behind.

Eight people.

Front, back, left, right, top, and bottom—completely sealed.

Two of them wore dark red leather breastplates; the patterns on the breastplates were identical to the black sky patterns on the Brute, but the colors were deeper and the radiance brighter.

Elite Ninja.

"Eight people set an ambush for me."

Yan Zheng retreated behind the Brute, his back pressed against its cold, scaly surface.

Yan Zheng: ( ≖ ᴗ ≖ )

"Mr. Nogami, your chess moves are quite good."

The first red-armored Elite Ninja's short blade slashed onto the forearm of the Reinforced Skeleton Soldier No. 4.

Crack.

The bone broke directly.

It wasn't a white mark, nor a crack—it was a clean cut.

The Dark Energy light covering the red-armored Ninja's short blade was more than three times more intense than that of a normal Ninja; the dark red light almost condensed into a solid, and a sharp hum could be heard as the short blade sliced through the air.

"Bone-breaking with one strike."

Yan Zheng's mouth twitched.

"The Reinforced Skeleton Soldier's bones, which could withstand three strikes from a normal Ninja without cracking, were severed in one blow."

"This is the full-power output of an Elite Ninja."

Another red-armored Elite Ninja's chain wrapped around the Brute's left arm. The runes on each link of the chain were brighter than the one encountered last time. The moment it tightened, the surface of the Brute's scales hissed, emitting a wisp of white smoke.

The Brute let out a low roar and smashed its right fist at the two Ninjas charging from the front.

The fist crushed the chest bone of one of them, but the other dodged from the side and backhanded a blade into the gap in the scales under the Brute's armpit.

The Brute swayed but did not fall.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ° ᷄ ω ° ᷅ )

Six normal Ninjas surrounded them simultaneously, three tangling with the Brute and three rushing towards the Skeleton Soldier formation.

The skull of Skeleton Soldier No. 2 was crushed on the ground by a Ninja, and its phosphorus fire extinguished.

Skeleton Soldier No. 1 was attacked from front and back by two Ninjas, its spine split in two.

No. 3 Skeleton Soldier bit onto a Ninja's wrist and wouldn't let go; the opponent's companion cut off No. 3's arms at the roots with one blade, then stabbed through No. 3's cervical spine with a backhand.

Within forty seconds, all four Reinforced Skeleton Soldiers were paralyzed or severely injured.

"All four are completely crippled."

Yan Zheng's back was pressed tight against the Brute's scales, cold sweat dripping from his temples and flowing into his shirt collar.

There were still five standing Ninjas in front of the Brute, including two Elite Ninjas.

The Brute's left arm was wrapped in chains, and the wound under its armpit was slowly regenerating, limiting its movement.

"Can't win head-on. Five against one, plus two Elites—the Brute can't hold for three minutes."

"Must run."

"But can't run; both front and back are blocked."

Yan Zheng's gaze swept over the shattered remains of the Skeleton Soldiers on the ground, his brain working at high speed.

"The Skeleton Soldiers are all scrapped, but the skeletons are still there, the materials haven't dissipated."

"System."

He shouted in his consciousness.

"Are the remains of the Skeleton Soldiers still usable?"

The system panel popped up a gold-red notification he had never seen before.

[Emergency function unlocked: Undead Self-Destruct.]

[Description: Can remotely detonate paralyzed/severely injured Undead Creations, releasing all the Undead Energy stored in their bones to form a one-time area Impact.]

[Cost: The target creation is completely destroyed, and all materials cannot be recovered.]

[Currently detonatable targets: Reinforced Skeleton Soldier × 4 (paralyzed). Estimated Impact radius: eight meters.]

Yan Zheng: ( Ծ ‸ Ծ )

Four Reinforced Skeleton Soldiers, twenty-four high-quality materials, the foundation he had spent three weeks accumulating.

All blown up, not even a residue left.

He closed his eyes for a second.

Half a second.

"Detonate."

"Detonate all of them."

The remains of the four paralyzed Skeleton Soldiers lit up simultaneously.

Dark green light burst from the cracks in the bones; the four points expanded simultaneously, converging into an Impact that spread outward in less than a second.

Boom.

It wasn't a fiery explosion, but a pure storm of Undead Energy. The dark green Impact swept through the entire passage, bricks on the walls were shattered, stagnant water was lifted two meters high, and pipes were bent.

Yan Zheng was blocked behind the Brute's body; the Impact slid across the surface of the Brute's scales, and only the aftermath caused his hair to fly up.

The smoke cleared.

There were three Ninja corpses lying in the stagnant water in the passage; the Impact had shattered their internal organs, causing bleeding from their seven orifices.

The remaining five Ninjas were pushed more than ten meters away by the Impact; two normal Ninjas were severely injured and fell to the ground, while two Elite Ninjas and one normal Ninja were still able to stand, but it was obvious they swayed for a few seconds before stabilizing their footing.

Yan Zheng did not hesitate.

"Brute, retreat north, full speed."

The Stitched Brute tore off the chains on its left arm that had been loosened by the Impact, turned, and sprinted towards the northern passage, its giant footsteps making the ground tremble.

Yan Zheng ran behind the Brute, the splashes from his leather shoes in the stagnant water wetting his trouser legs, but he couldn't care about that.

Sounds of pursuit came from the darkness behind; the three Ninjas who could still move were biting at their heels.

But when the Brute sprinted at full speed in the narrow passage, its two-meter-twenty body was a moving wall itself; the pursuers behind were constantly interfered with by the stirred-up rubble and airwaves, and the distance grew larger and larger.

Ran for about two hundred meters.

Yan Zheng's ears caught a sound.

Not footsteps, not breathing.

It was a voice coming from deep within the passage, a cold, male voice with a certain metallic quality.

Japanese.

Yan Zheng couldn't understand Japanese, but the system panel automatically popped up a translation the moment the voice came through.

[Voice recognition translation: "Found you, Necromancer."]

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ꒳ ꐦ )

A chill down his spine.

That voice didn't come from the direction of the pursuers; it came from deeper in the passage, further south, from the direction of The Hand's stronghold.

Across hundreds of meters of dark pipes, the voice was still as clear as if it were speaking right next to his ear.

"Shadow Head, Nogami."

Yan Zheng gritted his teeth, not slowing his pace.

When he reached the first fork, the sound of pursuit finally disappeared; the three Ninjas did not continue to chase outside their range of activity.

Yan Zheng climbed out of the entrance of the abandoned subway station; the cold wind at the end of March poured into his sweat-soaked shirt, making him shiver.

The Brute climbed out behind him, the wound on its left arm still slowly regenerating, and the knife wound under its armpit oozing dark red blood.

Yan Zheng supported himself on the iron fence, panting heavily, his gold-rimmed glasses crooked on the bridge of his nose, the lenses covered in water vapor.

He took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on, his fingers trembling slightly.

Yan Zheng: ( ✦ ω ✦ )

"Four Reinforced Skeleton Soldiers, all blown up."

"Twenty-four materials, back to zero."

"Traded for the lives of three Ninjas and an escape route."

He straightened his body, holding onto the iron fence, and looked back at the pitch-black subway entrance.

"Going from hunter to prey, this experience really isn't very pleasant."

Yan Zheng straightened his crooked tie, tucked his shirt back into his trousers, and turned to walk towards the Antique Shop.

After walking two steps, he stopped, turned back, and said to the dark entrance.

"Mr. Nogami, you won this round."

"But you should have stabbed me to death; leaving me to go back, you will regret it."