Chapter 39: Desperate Situation |
Chapter 39 Desperate Situation 15
"Where are you driving to? Toward Brother Xia and the others!" Wu Zhong weakly demanded from inside the car.
At this moment the car was heading in the exact opposite direction of Xia Heng and the others, growing farther away.
Yang Chunsha shouted, "Why didn't you say so earlier!"
"Isn't that side more dangerous? There's even a team leader there."
She had already been driving, so Wu Zhong stopped arguing. He leaned out the window, arm pointing toward their pursuers.
Two mercenaries were chasing them.
Feipeng's eyes bulged, his face reddened, he laughed wildly with a feral grin, stuck his butt out, and charged like a cannon leaping through the air!
"Oooh ha hohoho… stop, pull it out for me… ugh yue…"
The manic laughter clearly ruined his mobility, making him prone to side stitches, and with his butt sticking out he couldn't run smoothly.
So he hopped instead.
He leapt forward in bursts, then fell and panted between bouts of laughter.
This ruined his previously nimble footwork, and he couldn't keep up with the car.
"Ya Bai… can't let them get away hahahaha…"
Feipeng fell farther behind, unable to catch the car.
Unexpectedly, Ya Bai was right behind the vehicle, relentlessly chasing, and the car couldn't turn around.
That guy ran incredibly fast. Even before the car reached full speed, he suddenly leapt, plunged his fingers into the trunk lid, and clawed onto the rear of the car.
"Bang!"
Wu Zhong grit his teeth, pulled out his pistol and fired at his head. His purple-melt ordnance wouldn't deploy, so the pistol was better for now.
Ya Bai hurriedly let go as the bullet whizzed past his shoulder, and he rolled off the car.
But such wounds didn't faze him; it merely tore his clothes.
"Shh…" steam hissed from his mouth.
He sprang up, legs launching like pistons, and chased on with terrifying speed!
"Bang bang bang!"
Wu Zhong kept firing, Ya Bai didn't dodge, he simply gathered a bulk of blood qi around his head and let it smash through the rounds.
He paid no heed to the bullets in his body.
Running with gaping, unhealable holes only stoked his blood frenzy.
Sparks of electricity crackled along Ya Bai's body, flashing through the blood qi with a crackling sound.
This made his hair stand on end and increased his speed.
No one knew exactly what system Ya Bai belonged to, but the more damaged he was, the more ferocious he became.
By comparison, Feipeng seemed almost normal; his combat power probably depended heavily on inner energies, while his physical constitution wasn't that different from a regular person.
Ya Bai, however, was a physical monster — his vitality unlike ordinary men. If not for purple-melt ordnance suppressing biological energy, that guy wouldn't fear ordinary firearms.
Wu Zhong finally understood: Ya Bai and Feipeng were peers, but one was berserk when injured, the other simply at full strength. No wonder they had opposite personalities and still teamed up.
"Drive faster!" Wu Zhong's scalp tingled as he frantically urged the driver.
Yang Chunsha stared ahead, "I'm already at full speed!"
Wu Zhong looked and realized she was right. How could they go faster on this terrible road?
They weren't on a proper road at all, but riding over dirt mounds and ridges, even crossing rocks and tree obstacles.
Yang Chunsha drove while casting spells intermittently to hinder Ya Bai.
But the interference was just that—his rock spikes hitting were like being lightly scratched.
Creating big pits and soft mud would have been far more effective.
Wu Zhong weakly said, "Is he just too strong, or are you too weak? Can you exert more power to control the rocks?"
Yang Chunsha explained, "This isn't an attack spell. I can control soil and rock to soften or move it, make big pits, or form stone slabs and earthen walls, but they don't have much impact!"
"The only thing that can kill someone is burying them in rock and soil and slowly crushing them to death."
Wu Zhong was speechless, but said nothing more.
She'd always been a mediocre mercenary, seven years without a real fight.
If bad luck hadn't dragged her into accepting his and Xia Heng's mission, she'd probably still be living peacefully in Gan Province.
Yang Chunsha added, "Honestly, this guy should be done for; he keeps running even with organs missing. He must be using some forbidden move."
Hearing that, Wu Zhong calmed down, holstered his gun, and simply raised his right symbiote arm armor to intimidate Ya Bai, forcing him to keep some distance and not get too close.
At the same time the pain and itching at his severed arm grew — it was clearly slowly recovering, the stump reconnecting.
He focused on enduring the bumps, keeping the arm aligned.
He thought: sharpening the blade doesn't waste time — if Ya Bai can't catch up for now, drag it out until my arm control is more nimble; then it'll be his end.
Maybe if it dragged on long enough, the guy would bleed out on his own.
His plan sounded good, but a few minutes later, just as his arm barely healed enough not to need support,
Yang Chunsha suddenly shouted, "We're entering the village."
"What?" Wu Zhong turned to look.
Ahead lay a scatter of low buildings. The car sped in, entering village dirt lanes.
Chickens and dogs scattered in panic, luckily no people were in the immediate lane, but obstacles increased.
The roads were narrow with sharp turns. Yang Chunsha had to make two bends, and speed dropped instantly.
"Not good."
Wu Zhong spun to fire a cannon, but the car suddenly cut into an alley. He was forced back into the cabin or his upper body would be scraped off.
"How are you driving! Aim for open ground!"
Yang Chunsha protested, "How would I know the way? I just drove straight! We went over a bump and plunged right into the village."
"Thunder shock!"
Ya Bai sneered, arcs of electricity exploding again, his linear speed skyrocketing.
He smashed into the car trunk like a locomotive and heaved it with one arm!
The two inside were tossed and tumbled.
By the time they recovered, the car had flipped.
"Damn…" Wu Zhong tasted blood and writhed in pain, his body in a grotesque twisted position inside the wreck.
Yang Chunsha fared better; she was still in the driver's seat with her seatbelt fastened.
She unbuckled and crawled out.
"Earth array wall!"
Yang Chunsha cast and raised an earthen wall, blocking the alley entrance.
Wu Zhong struggled and finally smashed the door open with a last desperate blast, crawling out painfully.
His whole body ached, especially his soft waist, stabbing pain in his spine as if it were injured.
"Boom!"
The earth wall was smashed again; Ya Bai plowed through the obstruction.
He was covered in dirt, electricity crackling, radiating murderous intent.
Because of the commotion, villagers began to emerge — mostly the old, weak, and women.
They saw the carnage of torn earth and bloodied flesh and screamed, panicking and fleeing.
"Run!"
Wu Zhong shouted, ignoring his pain as he and Yang Chunsha bolted.
Yang Chunsha kept creating obstacles, but Ya Bai closed in and punched.
With no option, Wu Zhong turned and braced his arm across to absorb the blow: "Bang!"
"Ugh…" Wu Zhong was slammed away, spat blood, and felt electric numbness across his body.
Even though his left hand clutched his right arm, the barely healed stump tore open again, nearly ripped off.
"This is it…" He curled on the ground, truly reaching his limit.
Even with double normal physical attributes, he couldn't endure much longer; Ya Bai's previous stomp onto his chest alone was enough to cripple him for months.
He'd been desperately holding on until now.
He hadn't expected the blood-soaked Ya Bai to survive; he felt himself about to die.
Vision dim, breath shallow, stars flickering in his sight, he turned his head and saw an old granny sitting at her doorway in the alley, sunning herself, a kindly face.
Wu Zhong, wracked with pain, wanted to beg for help, but bitterly laughed — what could this village granny possibly do?
So he blurted, "Run… Granny… run…"
The granny, clearly not quite right in the head, watched without alarm. She'd seen people fighting, dirt walls rising, rocks cracking, and simply stayed to watch the show while the other elderly villagers fled. Now Wu Zhong lay before her, bloodied and torn.
The granny bared a few missing teeth and nodded at him with a simple, benevolent look.
"Huh?" She was plainly a bewildered, left-behind elder.
Wu Zhong felt like crying. He tried to stand but his limbs were numb, as if he'd been squatting for hours and the muscles had gone pins-and-needles painful.
"Get up, get up!"
Yang Chunsha rolled and crawled back, Ya Bai close behind, murderous.
Seeing Wu Zhong unable to rise, Yang Chunsha dove past and slipped around the corner, running away.
She left behind, "I'll go get people to save you…"
"…" With her gone, Wu Zhong had nothing to say. Ya Bai wanted his life; if Yang Chunsha abandoned him she could still run.
"Haha, is this your partner?"
Ya Bai mocked as he drew closer and loomed over him.
Wu Zhong weakly said, "She only came with me because she was forced. If she runs then go. Take my life; don't bother chasing her."
Ya Bai paused, "You sure take things lightly."
Wu Zhong replied calmly, "If I'm about to die, what is there to cling to?"
"Feipeng will forever be like that, and you'll be buried with him. Your wounds will never heal."
He deliberately suggested he had a way to deal with Feipeng's problem.
Indeed, Ya Bai hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to kill Wu Zhong at once.
He hated Wu Zhong to his core and wanted to end it, but considering his and Feipeng's conditions, he couldn't decide.
"What kind of property is this? Why can't my wounds heal? And Feipeng — he can't pull out that sword from his ass?"
Wu Zhong rasped, "It's just a little 'incurable' trait. The injuries I inflict cannot be healed by anyone except me, including penetrating wounds like swords stuck inside someone."
Ya Bai frowned, "How do you heal?"
Wu Zhong said, "Any healing effect I use will do. For Feipeng, just let me pull it out and he'll be fine."
"What about me? How can my wounds close?" Ya Bai pressed.
Wu Zhong struggled out, "I… don't know multiversal power… I don't have healing spells. Do you want me to perform surgery?"
"Unless you have some miraculous healing medicine… which I must use."
Ya Bai froze, stomping his foot on Wu Zhong's chest, knocking the wind out of him.
"You're teasing me? You knew I'd used up two bottles of bubble shampoo and have no medicine left!"
Wu Zhong coughed blood. How would he know Ya Bai had no medicine?
He had seen Ya Bai use up two bottles, covering himself in white foam like a bath.
He had assumed at least one bottle remained… of course, if Wu Zhong got it, he'd use it on himself.
He knew Ya Bai was also at the end of his rope; if he could treat his arm a bit and fire his cannon, there'd be a chance.
He hadn't expected the brute to waste all the medicine.
Seeing wounds that wouldn't close and still squandering meds left him speechless.
"Feipeng should still have some… wait for him…" Wu Zhong croaked.
Ya Bai didn't reply. He glanced back toward Feipeng's direction.
Seeing this, Wu Zhong suddenly drew the pistol he had stowed away before.
There were still bullets left.
If Feipeng arrived, they'd be even more hopeless.
"Die!"
Gunfire erupted toward the back of Ya Bai's head.
With his arm armor disabled, the pistol was his strongest weapon.
985 firearms packed a lot of punch; even someone tough would be blown open!
"Bang!"
Ya Bai instinctively tilted his head, and the blood-colored qi shielding his head deflected the bullet sideways.
The round sliced a micro-arc and whizzed past his ear… it missed!
"What!" Wu Zhong's pupils contracted.
He quickly dipped the muzzle and sprayed at Ya Bai's heart.
He hadn't expected the first shot to miss, so he emptied the rounds at the most reliable target, the chest.
"Pt-pt-pt!"
Three bullets hit Ya Bai, shaking him and staggering his stance.
Wu Zhong used the chance to crawl backward, sliding along the alley wall.
"Bang! Crack…"
The magazines emptied — only five rounds total, and they'd been used up.
Luckily, the last bullet finally hit the heart.
From that unhealable wound, blood gushed out abundantly — it had pierced the heart!
"Ugh aaah!" Ya Bai's eyes bulged as his blood qi went berserk.
Wu Zhong, propped against the wall, swung his metallized arm hard, the symbiote iron fist stabbing straight into Ya Bai's heart.
"Clang!"
Ya Bai's remaining arm snatched back like lightning and grabbed Wu Zhong's armored wrist.
A violent shockwave rippled out. Wu Zhong's fist barely reached Ya Bai's chest before being stopped dead in its tracks, unable to force an inch farther!
Meanwhile blood seeped from Wu Zhong's shoulder; the severed arm's wound worsened, nearly tearing open again.
"Cunning bastard… loves… sneak attacks…" Ya Bai's face blurred grotesquely.
"You guys sneaked up on me first!" Wu Zhong's eyes hardened.
His clenched fist suddenly flicked his index finger out, snapping it straight like lightning!
"Bang!"
"Ugh!"
His fist was already inches from Ya Bai's heart. That sudden snap was completely unforeseeable.
The index and middle fingers' combined reach closed the small gap and slammed into the blood hole.
Ya Bai's chest took the brutal strike; a rib cracked with a crunch, and his chest caved inward into a small hollow!
The force from the straightened fingers was so great it pushed Ya Bai's back outward and sent a shockwave rolling off him.
"You…"
Ya Bai had been on guard, but it was all for nothing. He never imagined Wu Zhong had that trick — or rather, 'a finger strike.'
The symbiote arm armor had great strength, but it focused more on wrist grip than on punching.
When Xia Heng introduced it, he only mentioned a two-ton grip, not punching power.
Punching requires whole-body force, not a single arm prosthetic. With a severed shoulder, the lack of a load-bearing point made it even harder.
So Wu Zhong expected his first strike would be blocked.
No matter — he still had the finger snap.
Ya Bai suffered a heavy injury, his heart went into arrest, his palm loosened, and Wu Zhong seized the chance to wrench free, forcing Ya Bai to release his grip.
Wu Zhong staggered and turned to flee, trying to put distance between them until Ya Bai died.
"Sizzle!"
Suddenly a fierce arc of electricity sprang out like a whip.
"Ah!" Wu Zhong was flung sideways, slammed into the wall, trembling and spewing blood.
Looking again, Ya Bai lifted his head and took a step forward.
"Heart shattered… still fighting?"
Wu Zhong was stunned as his keen hearing picked up Ya Bai's heart resuming a pounding like an engine.
Even though the heart was ruptured and the blood hole wouldn't close, its beating only pumped more blood out.
"Shh… absolute power, unconcerned with dirty tricks."
Ya Bai's hair stood on end, arcs of lightning flickering, his chest pumping blood like a demon.
"Ke ke ke…" Wu Zhong's eyes went blank and his throat made meaningless sounds.
He slumped against the wall, pale, resigned.
"No chance left."