82: A shocking conspiracy! They are actually a living array!

"Scatter! Two by two, free attack!"

Su Wanqing's order was given as the enemies dispersed.

She knew that facing such well-trained enemies, being led by their rhythm was the most foolish act.

They had to be disrupted!

"Understood!"

Liu Yan was the first to respond. A fierce wind rose, and two wind blades howled as they slashed towards the two closest Black-Robed Persons.

Shi Lei let out a low roar, pressing his hands to the ground. Two thick earthen walls rose from the earth, directly colliding with two other enemies attempting to flank them.

The battle erupted instantly!

The entire abandoned steel factory was immediately filled with frost, wind blades, earth and rocks, and various unknown energy lights.

Explosions resounded one after another.

Su Wanqing and the others were indeed elites of the Dragon Shield Bureau.

Even with significant energy consumption, they still displayed astonishing combat prowess.

Su Wanqing moved like lightning, her ice sword dancing with a cold gleam. Each strike aimed at her opponent's vital points, forcing the Black-Robed Person to retreat steadily.

Liu Yan and Shi Lei's coordination was even more seamless; one attacked, one defended, steadily suppressing four enemies.

The battle... seemed to be going smoothly.

"Is that all?"

Liu Yan, while brandishing her wind blades, even had time to taunt.

"I thought the Apocalypse Society was so powerful, but they're just a bunch of rats hiding their heads and tails!"

However, Lin Yuan, standing in the center of the battle, did not relax in the slightest.

His gaze was fixed on the leader from beginning to end.

To catch the bandits, first catch the king.

He understood this principle better than anyone.

"Hey, masked man."

Lin Yuan beckoned to the other party with his finger.

"Don't just watch, come down and play?"

"Your opponent is me."

The masked man slowly raised his hand, and a deep purple energy condensed in his palm, emitting an ominous aura.

"As you wish, perfect 'vessel'."

Before he finished speaking, his figure vanished from its original spot.

So fast!

Lin Yuan's pupils constricted. Almost instinctively, he pushed his Lightning Step to its limit, shifting half a meter to the side.

"Sizzle!"

A deep purple energy ray grazed past his nose, leaving a hole in the steel plate behind him.

"Good reaction."

The masked man appeared ten meters away, a hint of approval in his tone.

"Unfortunately, in the face of absolute power, struggle is meaningless."

"Is that so?"

Lin Yuan grinned, and golden electric light crackled in his right hand.

"I think so too."

The next second, he transformed into a bolt of lightning, advancing instead of retreating, actively charging towards the masked man!

"Palm Thunder!"

Simple, brutal, direct!

Facing this violent strike, the masked man did not dodge, but simply extended one hand.

That hand was covered with a thin layer of purple energy film.

"Boom!"

Lightning and purple energy collided with a roar!

The violent energy impact even lifted a layer of the surrounding ground!

Liu Yan and the others were affected by this shockwave and had to temporarily halt their attacks to steady themselves.

The dust settled.

Lin Yuan maintained the posture of pushing his palm forward, but his brow was tightly furrowed.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

His Palm Thunder had solidly hit the opponent's hand.

But the feedback felt like hitting a sponge.

"Do you see?"

The masked man slowly withdrew his hand, the purple energy in his palm seeming to become a few shades denser.

There was a hint of pleasure in his voice.

"Your power will only become my nourishment."

"Your struggle will only make me stronger!"

"Damn it!"

Lin Yuan cursed inwardly.

"What kind of ability is this? A human power bank?"

"Or the kind that can only take in, not give out?"

Just then.

An anomaly also appeared in the other battle zone.

"What's going on?!"

Liu Yan let out an exclamation.

"My wind blades... they can't cut through anymore!"

The two Black-Robed Persons in front of her were now covered in a layer of energy film.

When her wind blades struck it, it only increased the energy fluctuations on their bodies!

"Same here!"

Shi Lei's roar came through.

His earth spikes were directly shattered by the energy emanating from the enemy's body before they even made contact!

The battle situation took a sharp turn for the worse!

The Black-Robed Persons, who were originally being suppressed, now began to take the offensive!

Their attacks became increasingly wild and dense!

"Pfft!"

Su Wanqing failed to dodge in time, and a ray grazed her arm, leaving a scorched wound.

"Captain!"

Mo Chen cried out in alarm.

"Watch out!"

Shi Lei roared, pouncing towards Mo Chen, taking a sneak attack squarely on his back!

"Pfft!"

Shi Lei spat out a mouthful of blood, kneeling on one knee.

"Shi Lei!" Liu Yan's eyes were bloodshot.

It's over.

A shadow fell over everyone's hearts.

Their attacks not only failed to harm the enemy but instead became their nourishment.

How could they fight like this?

"Give up."

The masked man looked at Lin Yuan, spreading his arms like a deity awaiting the embrace of believers.

"Join us, and you will be reborn."

"Becoming part of 'Apocalypse' is your supreme glory."

Lin Yuan ignored him, his gaze fixed on the battlefield.

He looked at the injured Su Wanqing, at the blood-spitting Shi Lei, and at the pale-faced Liu Yan and Mo Chen.

His expression was grimmer than ever before.

Damn it.

Why should the electricity I painstakingly saved up be used as nourishment for you all?

Lin Yuan slowly closed his eyes, pushing his Electromagnetic Induction to its limit.

Su Wanqing's frost, Liu Yan's fierce wind, Shi Lei's earth power... these energies, after hitting those Black-Robed Persons, did not completely dissipate.

Instead, they were transformed, absorbed... and then... wait!

Lin Yuan "looked" at the feet of those Black-Robed Persons.

Their positioning!

From the beginning of the battle, those dozen Black-Robed Persons had maintained a strange formation.

Now, in Lin Yuan's perception, the positions of these people seemed to be connected by invisible threads!

The energy they absorbed was not entirely digested by themselves.

Instead, through these threads, it was continuously... converging on the masked man's body!

These Black-Robed Persons were not independent combat units at all!

They were a whole! A huge, living, energy-absorbing... formation!

And that masked man was the core of this formation!

"I understand..."

Lin Yuan opened his eyes, muttering to himself.

"It wasn't a one-on-one after all."

He looked at the masked man, then at the Black-Robed Persons who were like "charging stations."

"You guys are... using my teammates as chargers to gang up on me!"