113: Chapter 113 The Struggle Begins

Liu Meng carried a tactical backpack, his footsteps moving swiftly across the rugged cave floor.

As an Evolver, the darkness could not obstruct his vision.

He had to bring this item back as quickly as possible and inform the Director; the discovery in this cave was enough to change the existing landscape.

Suddenly, Liu Meng's forward momentum stalled, and his footsteps came to a sudden halt.

He snapped his head around, his gaze sweeping toward an inconspicuous side-cave entrance on the left.

"Who's there? Come out!"

Liu Meng barked in a low voice, his right hand already drawing the nepalese kukri knife tucked at his waist.

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure stepped out from the pitch-black side-cave.

It was Song Yang.

Liu Meng's pupils constricted suddenly; he recognized this face—this was someone on the Director's bounty list!

Why was he here?

Moreover, it seemed he wasn't afraid of him at all.

There was no idle chatter, nor any hesitation.

The moment he saw Song Yang clearly, Liu Meng let out a ferocious roar, the muscles in his hind legs bulging.

The rocky ground beneath his feet cracked into a spiderweb pattern as he lunged toward Song Yang like a cannonball!

He knew very well that Song Yang was also an Evolver.

Against an enemy of this caliber, any probing was foolish; only by going all out and killing him with the force of a thunderbolt could he ensure success.

Facing Liu Meng's earth-shattering strike, Song Yang also drew his Blood Fang Blade.

Clang!

An ear-piercing metallic clash exploded in the cave, and Mars flew in all directions.

Liu Meng's determined strike was easily parried by the long blade.

A massive force surged through the blade, numbing Liu Meng's tiger's mouth.

Such powerful strength!

This guy wasn't some novice Evolver!

Before he could think further, Song Yang flicked his wrist, and the long blade shot out like a venomous snake from its hole, slashing back toward Liu Meng's neck at a tricky angle.

Terrified, Liu Meng snapped his waist backward, dodging the fatal blow at an incredible angle; the blade's edge almost grazed the tip of his nose.

"Ah!"

Liu Meng let out a wild roar, his nepalese kukri knife dancing into a screen of light.

This was a combat technique he had created himself.

Song Yang stopped parrying; his body flickered like a ghost, unexpectedly charging directly into the light of Liu Meng's blade.

Liu Meng—

In the next instant, Liu Meng's vision blurred.

As if cutting through tofu, there was no resistance at all.

The nepalese kukri knife was sliced in half; he looked down only to see a line of blood extending from his left shoulder all the way to his right abdomen.

Then, intense pain flooded over him like a tide.

Both his body and his weapon had been cleaved in half diagonally by the long blade.

His upper and lower halves slid apart amidst a fountain of blood.

"This is impossible! The gap in strength shouldn't be this large!"

Liu Meng's wide-open eyes stared fixedly at Song Yang; before he could say another word, the light of life completely faded.

The tactical backpack fell to the ground, and the cloth-wrapped crystal rolled out.

Song Yang leaned over and picked up the crystal that had rolled onto the ground.

It felt slightly cool to the touch, yet carried a trace of strange warmth, as if he were holding a piece of jade containing vibrant life force.

He could clearly sense that some kind of liquid energy seemed to be flowing slowly inside the crystal.

"Good stuff!" Song Yang's eyes lit up.

Just holding it gave him an inexplicable sense of comfort; the stamina he had consumed in the fierce battle just now seemed to be recovering faster.

"If I can absorb it..."

A bold thought surfaced in Song Yang's mind.

Aside from the faint sound of dripping water in the distance, there was no other noise in the cave. Zhang Zhengguo's team shouldn't discover Liu Meng's accident in the short term.

Time was pressing, but this opportunity could not be missed.

"Fortune favors the bold!"

Song Yang no longer hesitated; he immediately sat cross-legged and carefully placed the crystal in his palm.

Almost instantly, the crystal in his palm trembled violently, and a surge of energy—far purer and more vast than he had imagined—poured fiercely into his limbs and bones through his palm and arm, like a flood finding an outlet!

"Ngh!"

Song Yang let out a muffled groan, feeling an indescribable warm current instantly sweep through his entire body.

This energy was pure and gentle, not violent, nourishing every cell in his body.

He could feel his muscles, bones, and even his internal organs greedily absorbing this sudden energy, undergoing some kind of miraculous transformation.

This process was much faster than he had anticipated.

Less than five minutes later.

The light of the crystal in his palm gradually dimmed, and finally, with a "crack," it turned into a handful of fine white powder that slipped through Song Yang's fingers.

Song Yang slowly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them.

He clenched his fists, feeling an unprecedented sense of fullness within his body.

"Whew—"

He exhaled a long breath of turbid air, stood up, and glanced at the hard rock wall of the cave beside him.

Without any fancy movements, Song Yang suddenly threw a punch!

Bang!

A clear and deep fist print was left on the hard rock wall, with stone dust trickling down from the edges.

Song Yang looked at the fist print, somewhat surprised.

"This punch..."

He muttered to himself, carefully sensing the feeling of the punch just now, "My strength has increased by at least three hundred kilograms!"

Just one such crystal had caused his punching power to skyrocket by three hundred kilograms out of thin air!

What a terrifying improvement!

One must know that every previous increase in his strength required arduous training and the accumulation of time.

This was simply a transformative change!

Song Yang's gaze involuntarily turned toward the deeper parts of the cave.

If Du Yaohua were to obtain these things, it would likely be like adding wings to a tiger; at that time, Du Yaohua's strength would reach a terrifying level.

Even he might not be a match.

Song Yang gripped his long blade tightly and chased after the group in the depths of the cave.

Meanwhile, in another branch of the cave, Thunderstorm was cautiously feeling his way forward.

He was tall and large, trying to keep every step as light as possible to avoid making unnecessary noise.

His mind was still reflecting on Song Yang; earlier outside, he had wanted to find an opportunity to exchange a few moves with Song Yang to gauge his worth, but unfortunately, the situation was urgent and there was no such free time.

"That kid is definitely not simple."

Thunderstorm muttered to himself; someone recommended by the Chief certainly wouldn't be bad.

Amidst his thoughts, a faint light shimmered from the corner ahead, accompanied by slight rustling sounds.

Thunderstorm's eyes narrowed; he lightened his steps and approached silently.

Sure enough, two Soldiers in military uniforms were standing with their backs to him, guarding a portable communication device.

"Want to report back?"

A cold light flashed in Thunderstorm's eyes without the slightest hesitation.

He suddenly exerted force with his feet, his whole body shooting out like a cannonball!

Bang!

A dull sound of bone cracking rang out as the head of the Soldier on the left was hit by a punch, instantly bursting open, and his body slumped down.

Just as the other Soldier turned his head in terror, Thunderstorm's right leg had already arrived with a whistling sound of breaking air, kicking him hard in the chest.

His sternum collapsed, and the Soldier flew backward with his body arched, hitting the stone wall and losing all signs of life.

Thunderstorm didn't even look at the two corpses and crushed the communication device into pieces with one foot.

After finishing all this, Thunderstorm had just straightened up when he felt someone approaching.

He snapped his head up and saw a figure walking over.

It was an exceptionally burly man with knotted muscles on his bare arms, like granite; every step he took carried a heavy pressure.

More importantly, Thunderstorm sensed an aura from him that was completely different from an ordinary person's—it was the aura of an Evolver!

The burly man grinned, revealing a row of ivory-white teeth, his eyes staring at Thunderstorm like a wild beast:

"I was wondering why my eyelid kept twitching; after all that trouble, it turns out a rat followed us. Fortunately, the message has already been sent, and the Director will arrive shortly."

Thunderstorm chuckled, took the machine gun from his back, and aimed it at the burly man.

"Kid, let your grandpa see your level first; when that guy surnamed Du arrives, I'll deal with him then."