66: Chapter 66 The Knight Arrives

"The answer will be here soon."

The answer came faster than Yan Zheng had anticipated.

The moment the Photon Ray was released from the Undead Knight's palm, the entire corridor was flooded with golden light, illuminating even the dust particles in the crevices of the wall tiles with absolute clarity.

However, the reaction speed of those two Red-Armored Elite Ninjas exceeded his calculations.

In the 0.3 seconds before the ray was released, the two had already slid along the ground, their bodies pressed to an unnaturally low angle, sliding across the stone slabs using almost nothing but their elbows and knees.

The golden beam of light cut between them, and the industrial Laundromat machine behind them was scorched into a lump of twisted metal slag, the acrid smell of burnt rubber instantly filling the entire space.

A near miss.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ͈ ᗝ ˘ ͈ )

"Missed."

He clicked his tongue inside the pipe and accessed the Undead Knight's first-person perspective via the Mental Link.

The two Red-Armored Elite Ninjas completed a tactical switch the moment the light beam dissipated, closing in on the Undead Knight's flanks from the left and right, the Dark Energy on their short blades thicker than before.

"Twenty-second cooldown; they won't give you any time to catch your breath."

"Undead Knight, take the hits with your body, don't retreat."

The Undead Knight's phosphorus fire flickered, and its 2.5-meter frame stood firm in the center of the corridor.

The Red-Armored Elite Ninja on the left attacked first, the Dark Energy short blade cutting into the gap in the Undead Knight's scale armor at the left rib. The buzzing sound of high-frequency vibration was completely different from the one in the secret chamber—sharper, denser, like a chainsaw moving in a straight line across a metal plate.

A white mark was cut into the surface of the scale armor.

The ninja on the right attacked simultaneously, targeting the Undead Knight's right knee joint, where the scale armor coverage was thinnest.

Both blades hit at the same time.

"Mr. Brute, how are things on your end?"

Yan Zheng switched to the Brute's perspective.

The scene wasn't looking good.

The Brute was leaning against the corridor wall, five new wounds on its petrified torso, adding to the previous seven for a total of twelve. Stitched culture fluid seeped from the cuts, pooling into a small dark puddle at its feet.

[Stitched Brute structural integrity: 61%. Regeneration rate: 1.2%/minute. Cumulative repair time required: approximately 32 minutes.]

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ⌓ ꐦ )

"Sixty-one percent. If it drops any further, it'll hit the danger zone."

"Mr. Brute, don't move for now. Just lie where you are if you have to; don't push yourself."

The Brute's two-colored phosphorus fire flickered heavily, like an engine hiccuping.

Over in the corridor, the two Red-Armored Elite Ninjas' coordination became increasingly seamless; the interval between their alternating left-and-right attacks on the Undead Knight had been compressed to under a second.

The Dark Energy short blades left white marks on the scale armor one after another. Although the cutting depth of each blade didn't exceed half a centimeter, they added up.

Fifteen seconds passed, and eight new scratches appeared on the Undead Knight's body.

"Five more seconds."

Yan Zheng silently counted down the cooldown time inside the pipe.

"Undead Knight, when the cooldown ends, don't use just one hand."

"Charge up with both hands simultaneously."

The Undead Knight's phosphorus fire flared up for a beat.

"I know that charging with both hands consumes three times as much energy as one hand, and the cooldown time doubles to forty seconds."

"But this corridor is too narrow, and they are too fast and slippery; a one-handed ray won't hit them."

"Fire both at the same time; the coverage area will directly seal off the entire width of the corridor. Let's see where they can dodge to."

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ✧ ω ✧ ˵ )

The twenty-second cooldown ended.

The Undead Knight's two palms opened simultaneously.

A double golden halo rapidly condensed in the cramped space. Within three seconds, the temperature soared to the point where the air became visibly distorted, and the heat wave caused the dust on the walls on both sides of the corridor to shower down.

The two Red-Armored Elite Ninjas saw the golden light in the Undead Knight's palms the moment they rushed up, and their footsteps faltered for a half-beat.

That half-beat was enough.

The Undead Knight's left palm moved first, and the Photon Ray swept toward the ninja on the left.

The ninja dodged to the right; just as their center of gravity shifted, the Undead Knight's right palm followed.

With a time difference of less than 0.5 seconds, the second ray intercepted the ninja's path of evasion.

The ninja on the left was hit head-on in the left shoulder by the beam of light.

The dark patterns on the inscribed breastplate pulsed frantically, attempting to neutralize the energy Impact; the hissing sound of melting was like pressing a branding iron onto a wet cloth.

It neutralized most of it.

But the left half of the shoulder armor was still burned through, exposing the charred flesh underneath and the edge of the scapula emitting white smoke.

The ninja squeezed a short, muffled grunt from their throat, and was sent flying five meters by the residual energy, crashing through the glass door of the Laundromat and tumbling into a pile of shards with a clatter.

"One."

Yan Zheng held up one finger inside the pipe.

"And the second one?"

The Red-Armored Elite Ninja on the right made a choice that exceeded Yan Zheng's expectations.

No dodging, no retreating; they charged straight up.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ͈ ‸ ˘ ͈ )

"Taking advantage of the three-second window after the double-handed charge where the scale armor's defense drops by forty percent."

"Good courage, but you might have a misunderstanding."

"The scale armor at full defense can withstand continuous fire from medium-caliber rifles. What about after a forty percent drop?"

"It's still harder than that blade of yours."

The ninja's Dark Energy short blade, carrying all its reserves, struck the Undead Knight's chest. A ripple of black airflow exploded at the contact point between the blade and the scale armor, the tip cutting in about five centimeters.

It was deeper than any previous strike.

But it didn't reach the core.

Because the Undead Knight's right hand was already pressed against the ninja's head.

The black bony fingers latched onto the ninja's skull one by one, the petrified knuckles tightening, emitting a creaking sound of metal squeezing bone, like tightening a rusty screw.

The ninja's hands were still pushing the blade in, but their head was already being pressed down toward the floor.

"Undead Knight, don't crush it; that skull has research value."

The Undead Knight slightly reduced its strength, but it was enough to press the Elite Ninja face-down onto the stone floor.

The ninja's mask shattered on the floor, revealing a young face covered in inscribed tattoos, the eyes filled with bulging blood vessels.

Dark Energy surged through their body, attempting to form an Impact to shake off the Undead Knight's hand.

The black airflow pushed the Undead Knight's bony fingers back by a fraction of a millimeter.

Then, the Undead Knight's other hand pressed down as well.

Both petrified bony palms pressed down on the back; the struggle ceased—not because they had breathed their last, but because they were completely drained of strength.

The ninja at the door with the melted shoulder armor crawled up from the broken glass, left arm hanging completely limp, the tip of the short blade propped against the ground like a cane, their legs trembling.

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ≖ ω ≖ ˵ )

His movement crawling up from the pipe opening couldn't be called elegant; the knees of his work coveralls were coated in dust, and his goggles were tilted up onto his forehead.

But the moment he stood straight, brushed the debris off his chest, and took his gold-rimmed glasses out of the hard case to put them back on, all the dishevelment was masked by that gentle, refined face.

He stepped over the broken stone slabs and scattered ninja equipment, walked through the chaotic corridor, and entered the business area of the Laundromat.

The Undead Knight knelt on one knee, holding the Red-Armored Elite Ninja pinned to the ground in a spread-eagled position with both hands.

The other Red-Armored Elite Ninja knelt halfway in the pile of broken glass at the door, the charred wound on their left shoulder emitting white smoke; they were still holding the short blade, but the tip was drooping.

Yan Zheng stood still between the two, the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting the residual golden halo on the Undead Knight's metacarpal bones.

"Gentlemen, the battle is over."

He crouched down, looking at the face of the ninja pinned to the ground, and pushed up his glasses with his finger.

"The inscribed tattoos on your face are very interesting. Were they carved at birth, or are they a ritual from adulthood?"

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ˘ ꈊ ˘ ˵ )

Neither ninja answered.

Yan Zheng's smile didn't change; he pulled a scalpel from his pocket with his fingers and spun it half a turn in the dim light of the Undead Knight's shoulder armor.

"It's fine, you don't have to talk if you don't want to."

"After all, the next procedure will be much easier to talk through."