64: Chapter 64 Underground Strangulation

"Sorry, I forgot to account for the other side."

Less than forty seconds after those light words landed, the battle above had already concluded its first round.

Yan Zheng closed his eyes. The images transmitted through the Mental Link were as clear as security footage with low resolution but a stable frame rate.

The moment the Undead Knight vaulted up from the opening, six ninjas rushed in from the north door of the training ground, the short blades in their hands reflecting the red light of the corridor's emergency lamps.

The leader did not hesitate, pointing the tip of his blade at the Knight's faceplate in a standard thrust.

The black short blade struck the Petrified Scales, emitting a harsh scraping sound and sparking, but the scales remained unmoved.

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ˘ ᗜ ˘ ˵ )

"Is that it?"

The Knight's right hand had finished charging, and the golden orb of light in its palm shone blindingly bright in the cramped underground space.

The leader's pupils constricted, and he barked a short Japanese word—probably "Scatter."

It was too late.

The Photon Ray fired from the Knight's palm at a thirty-degree downward angle, precisely sweeping across the chests and abdomens of the three ninjas crowded at the doorway.

Penetration.

The smell of charred flesh could not be transmitted through the Mental Link, but the visual was clear enough: the moment the light passed, a circular, fifteen-centimeter-diameter penetrating wound appeared on the three bodies, the cross-section of the fractured ribs as smooth as a mirror.

The three corpses fell backward almost simultaneously, making a dull thud.

Yan Zheng opened one eye inside the pipe, the corners of his mouth curling up.

"Three to zero. Twenty-second cooldown starting."

The reaction speed of the remaining three ninjas proved that Nogami's training was worth the effort.

They didn't flee or freeze; instead, within the same second their companions fell, they completed a tactical shift.

Two ninjas flanked from the left and right wings, hugging the wall, while the third drew a black chain from behind his waist. The end of the chain was wrapped in dark thread, with the faint glimmer of inscriptions visible on it.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ͈ ꈊ ˘ ͈ )

"Dark Energy chains, standard suppression tools of The Hand."

"Specifically designed to deal with large targets."

"They did their homework well."

The chain carved an arc through the air, wrapping around the Knight's left tibia like a living thing.

The moment it wrapped around, the faint glimmer on the surface of the Petrified Scales on the Knight's left leg dimmed noticeably.

A second chain flew in from the other side, entangling the right knee joint.

The two ninjas each pulled one, exerting force simultaneously.

The Knight's center of gravity was forcibly lowered, and its two-and-a-half-meter frame dropped to one knee on the stone floor of the training ground, the sound of metal colliding with stone booming through the underground space.

The third ninja didn't waste this opening; he stepped on the Knight's shoulder armor and leaped up, holding his short blade in a reverse grip, the tip aimed at the cervical spine connection behind the Knight's faceplate—that was the spot where the Petrified Scales coverage was thinnest on the entire skeleton.

"Tsk."

Yan Zheng clicked his tongue lightly inside the pipe.

"How did he know that spot was thin?"

"So 'well-trained' really doesn't just mean running fast."

But Yan Zheng did not panic.

Because he was clear on the Knight's third ability.

Adaptive Regeneration.

When the ninja's short blade had penetrated about three centimeters into the cervical spine connection, the tip was jammed by a layer of suddenly proliferating bone tissue.

The ninja tried hard to twist the blade, but it wouldn't budge.

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ✧ ꒳ ✧ ˵ )

At this very second, the Knight's right hand had just finished its twenty-second cooldown.

The golden halo in its palm condensed once more, but this time the Knight did not release it forward; instead, it flipped its palm upward, aiming at the abdomen of the ninja riding on its shoulder.

"..."

That ninja had no time to make a sound.

The Photon Ray pierced through his body from bottom to top, leaving an extra smoking circular hole in the training ground's ceiling.

The corpse slid off the Knight's shoulder.

The Knight remained on one knee, its legs still entangled by the chains, but its right hand had already turned toward the two ninjas pulling the chains.

The two men exchanged a glance.

Then they let go, turned around, and sprinted toward the breach.

"Here they come."

Yan Zheng straightened up against the pipe wall, his fingers already gripping the hilt of the ninja short blade in his tool kit.

He retreated to a position two meters to the right of the area directly below the opening, pressing against the pipe wall and controlling his breathing.

The figure of the first ninja appeared at the edge of the opening.

He lay at the opening and looked down, but could see nothing in the darkness, so he turned and jumped down.

The moment he landed, his ankle was tripped by a protruding maintenance pedal in the pipe, causing his body to lurch forward.

During that half-second of forward momentum, Yan Zheng stepped out.

The short blade sliced in from the side at a forty-five-degree upward angle, the entry point being the junction of the neck and collarbone, the tip sliding into the chest cavity along the curve of the first rib.

Clean. Silent.

The ninja's body went limp. Yan Zheng braced the opponent's waist with his knee while pressing his other hand onto the corpse's back.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ‸ ˘ )

A cool pulling sensation came from his palm.

"[Battlefield Corpse Collection initiated. Material Quality: Good. Skeleton added to inventory.]"

Under his palm, the corpse withered at a speed visible to the naked eye; skin, muscle, and blood were all drained within three seconds, leaving behind only a shriveled gray skin shell, like a doll's outfit with the cotton removed.

Then even the skin shell dissolved into black mist and dissipated.

Yan Zheng's palm closed, and it was empty inside.

The second ninja's head poked out from the opening.

The scene he saw was: a young man in gray work clothes standing in the pipe, wearing goggles, holding a blood-stained short blade, with nothing in front of him.

Where was his companion?

Where was the person who had just jumped down?

The person who was alive three seconds ago didn't even have a corpse left?

"Hello."

Yan Zheng looked up at the face partially exposed at the opening, the corners of his mouth beneath his goggles curling into a gentle arc.

"Your colleague just processed his resignation. It was quite fast; he didn't even have time to hand in his ID badge."

An expression Yan Zheng was very familiar with appeared on the ninja's face.

Fear.

Not the fear of facing a powerful enemy, but the fear of facing an "incomprehensible entity."

"Are you coming down?"

Yan Zheng raised the short blade, using the tip to point at the only remaining evidence on the pipe floor—a small pool of blood that was evaporating.

"Or would you rather chat with me from up there?"

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ≖ ᗜ ≖ ˵ )

The ninja chose a third option.

He pulled his head back, turned, and ran toward the upper level of the stronghold.

Yan Zheng did not pursue.

He leaned back against the pipe wall, wiped the blood from the short blade onto the sleeve of his work clothes, and whispered a sentence.

"Run, run upward."

"Mr. Brute is waiting for you up there."

He accessed the information from the perimeter via the Mental Link.

There were still nine heat sources moving rapidly inside the stronghold, three of which were converging toward the ground level.

"Nine people left. Six were cleared on the first floor; I collected one, and one escaped."

"The remaining people are all concentrating toward the main entrance."

"Mr. Brute, get ready to receive guests."