Chapter 93
Battle Royale
Under the glove on his left hand, the skin was slightly burning, but Shen Zhuo knew that the serum’s effect was almost at its limit.
As soon as he moved, several evolutionists around him immediately closed in, glaring menacingly and blocking his way.
Crumbled stones scattered, and Shunsuke Noda lifted the blood-soaked Yang Xiaodao from the ground with one hand, saying indifferently, “Is that all you’ve got?”
“…” The teenager, drenched in blood and panting heavily, suddenly threw an uppercut, “I think it’s you whose body will be collected!”
When two strong A-class fighters engage in close combat with bladed weapons, it’s like two meat grinders colliding. Shen Zhuo had never seen Yang Xiaodao move so fast before; it was unparalleled, leaving only a few afterimages in the air. Shunsuke Noda dodged twice in a row, and on the third attempt, he locked his arms around Yang Xiaodao’s steel gloves and, with a lightning-fast kick, sent Yang Xiaodao flying, crashing with a bang!
Yang Xiaodao collided with a Land Rover, destroying it on the spot, and the sharp alarm blared into the sky. Shunsuke Noda disappeared from his spot and reappeared in mid-air, punching straight at the teenager’s face!
If this punch landed, half of Yang Xiaodao’s face would be blown off. Gritting his teeth, Yang Xiaodao turned his head to avoid it. The vehicle behind him was blown away, crashing into the guardrail, and the fuel tank exploded with an earth-shattering noise, turning the entire Land Rover into burning scrap metal under the vast sky.
“Shit!”
Yang Xiaodao cursed out loud, while Shunsuke Noda smirked sarcastically, “See? Do I even need to use my ability to deal with this kid?”
In the field of spatial abilities, no one in the world could surpass Shunsuke Noda, but his truly terrifying aspect was that his physical fitness and combat skills were also at their peak.
If a weak S-class couldn’t form a fatal strike, they were no match for Shunsuke Noda in combat; non-combat weak S-classes are almost instantly killed. Among the strong A-class, the only one who could make Shunsuke Noda somewhat wary was Yue Yang, and that’s because Yue Yang’s barrier ability has a certain counter-effect on spatial tunnels. As for combat, the outcome would be uncertain.
As for Yang Xiaodao, the development of an evolutionist’s ability has two major milestones at ages 18 and 26. Only after passing these can they reach their peak. Before age 18, even their physical fitness was in a suppressed state.
“Unfortunately, not every brat has the luck to live to adulthood.” Shunsuke Noda showed a wickedly provocative expression, flexing his wrist and saying, “Go to hell, little bastard.”
He suddenly disappeared, and Shen Zhuo shouted in alarm, “Watch out!”
Yang Xiaodao stepped back quickly, but Shunsuke Noda was faster than him. He punched him in the stomach without even leaving an afterimage. He sent him flying!
The teenager crashed into a rock like a cannonball, causing a shower of rubble.
Blood spurted out, but Yang Xiaodao didn’t have time to wipe it away. At the critical moment, he suddenly tilted his head to avoid a punch from Shunsuke Noda that grazed his ear and struck the rock wall, piercing it!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!!
Each punch was narrowly missed, and the stones rained down. Yang Xiaodao kept dodging rapidly until the final punch shook the earth and half of the rock wall collapsed!
Rocks and rocks fell, the earth shook, the boy’s blood rushed to the top, and he roared at the top of his lungs: “You are the one who is going to die——”
Electricity crackled, and Yang Xiaodao punched Shunsuke Noda’s jaw with a massive force, making him fall backward. In an instant, the two had exchanged more than ten blows, shattering the rocks and felling large trees wherever they went; the torrent of rocks slid down the mountainside as Yang Xiaodao leaped, executing a flying cross armbar. Shunsuke Noda suddenly exerted force with his elbow, breaking free.
The next second, Yang Xiaodao flipped in mid-air and locked his neck, suspending himself in a guillotine choke and putting all his strength into strangling Shunsuke Noda’s windpipe!
Once the guillotine is used, it can quickly suffocate the opponent, not to mention that Yang Xiaodao’s whole body strength was now pressed on the arm that was performing the strangulation—
But it was still not enough.
The technique of strangulation was not completely unsolvable. The only condition for breaking it is the absolute suppression of terrifying power.
With the explosive power of Noda Shunsuke’s muscles, it was like a supercar accelerating to a 100-meter speed. He suddenly pushed his palms outward, the veins in his arms bulged, and the huge force like a mountain pressing down on his head forced the boy to relax and stagger backwards!
In an instant, Yang Xiaodao knew something was wrong, but it was too late, as a punch came towards him through the wind.
—Bang.
The sound of a fist hitting the chest was actually very muffled, but to Yang Xiaodao, it seemed like he could hear every rib breaking clearly.
It was like a slow-motion scene from a movie. Yang Xiaodao spat out a mouthful of blood, flying backward for several meters in the air, crashing through the guardrail, and rolling off the cliff!
“Yang Xiaodao!”
Shen Zhuo rushed forward, only to be blocked by several high-level evolutionists: “Supervisor Shen, please come with us; Mr. Rong wants to see you. Don’t force us to use force!”
Shen Zhuo glanced around, his eyes sweeping over their tense faces, “Well, come on then, try it!”
The air was thick with tension, and no one dared to act rashly.
“Your Mr. Rong said my life is very valuable, right?” Shen Zhuo said coldly, “What? Don’t you dare test how valuable it is?”
“…” Yang Xiaodao’s ten fingers were tightly gripping the edge of the road, his whole body hanging in the air with a steep abyss below.
Footsteps approached from afar, and then Shunsuke Noda’s figure appeared above his head, half-crouching and looking at him contemptuously:
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
Yang Xiaodao gritted his teeth, saying nothing, sweat dripping down his temples.
“When I was your age, I had lost count of how many people I had killed.” Shunsuke Noda raised his blade-like eyebrows, saying, “There’s something I’ve never understood. Why do so many kids think it’s their birthright to live comfortably to adulthood in this world?”
“…”
“Competition, elimination, killing, winning—that’s the process of surviving to adulthood. Unfortunately, most of the self-righteous kids don’t get it.”
He looked down at Yang Xiaodao’s fingers gripping the edge of the cliff, casually grasping one of them, a cruel smile appearing in his eyes, “Don’t worry, you’ll learn the lesson in your next life.”
Snap!
The index finger of his left hand was forcibly broken; the pain was like an electric shock lashing his nerves, making Yang Xiaodao let out a short cry of pain!
Beads of sweat fell into the abyss, Yang Xiaodao’s face paled, and then Shunsuke Noda grabbed his right index finger, slowly exerting force—
At that moment…
Surrounded by enemies, Shen Zhuo suddenly leaped forward, and the dagger slid down the sleeve of his suit into his palm, and a flash of cold light flashed when he swung his hand.
“Don’t move!” “Stop!”
The surrounding evolutionists roared and charged. The one at the front only saw a flash before feeling a knife pierce his shoulder. Blood splattered as Shen Zhuo slid across the ground towards the cliff, not slowing down at all, and collided with Shunsuke Noda like lightning from behind.
With the impact and the surprise, Shunsuke Noda flipped forward, rolling off the cliff along with Shen Zhuo!
“Damn!” Shunsuke Noda only had time to utter one word before grabbing Shen Zhuo with one hand while the other clawed desperately at the cliffside. His steel-like fingers dug deeply into the rock, cracking it and barely halting their fall.
Immediately, Shen Zhuo gave him no time to react and thrust a knife into Shunsuke Noda’s abdomen, twisting the hilt viciously!
This was so vicious that even an experienced killer could not compare to it. However, Shunsuke Noda held Shen Zhuo with one hand and dared not let go. He immediately became furious: “Are you f*cking crazy? Do you want to die?!”
Shen Zhuo sneered, “What’s the big deal in beating up a kid? Go and challenge his father one-on-one if you have the guts, or are you too scared?”
Shunsuke Noda’s rage peaked, but he suddenly sensed a certain energy fluctuation from Shen Zhuo, his eyelid twitching as he realized: This is bad.
This Shen guy is still in the process of evolving!
In the blink of an eye, Shen Zhuo shouted, “Yang Xiaodao!”
Yang Xiaodao released his grip, falling straight down and grabbing Shen Zhuo in the process. Rip! The supervisor’s uniform tore as Shunsuke Noda tried to hold on but failed, watching as Yang Xiaodao and Shen Zhuo plummeted into the gorge—
In mid-air, the S-class gene replication ability was activated.
The space tunnel was successfully replicated, and its effect multiplied tenfold.
A dark, deep tunnel entrance suddenly opened, and Shen Zhuo and Yang Xiaodao fell straight into it, disappearing without a trace!
A strong wind howled past the high cliff; the two had vanished.
Tricked!
Clinging to the cliffside with one hand, Shunsuke Noda clutched his bleeding abdomen with the other, cursing in pain and immediately let go, diving toward where they had disappeared, leaving a trail of blood in the air—
Clang!
At the maze’s crossroads, Chu Yan suddenly turned her head at the sound.
Not far behind her, a little Burmese boy appeared out of thin air, falling to the ground. The space door vanished in mid-air.
The boy cursed viciously and had just gotten up when he suddenly saw Chu Yan not far away. Both were momentarily stunned, then Chu Yan realized something, almost unable to believe her eyes.
—Wasn’t this the boy who had cast the maze spell from the high platform in the square?
Maze Rule No. 3: The maze exists for 7 days, with only two ways to break it: find the route out yourself or have the caster voluntarily lift the spell.
“Stop!”
As the sharp command left her mouth, the boy darted away like lightning, and Chu Yan gave chase without hesitation!
For an unevolved human, a 16-year-old girl chasing a 9-year-old boy should be more than manageable, at least evenly matched. But the boy’s level was higher, and he grew up in a turbulent, drug-dealing region, making him far more agile than his peers, like an arrow that swerved around a corner.
“Ah!” “What are you doing?!”
A group of Burmese civilians trapped in the maze were scattered by the boy, and cries of alarm were rising. Chu Yan, sprinting, shouted in English, “Catch him! Catch him, and we can break the maze! Hurry!”
Unfortunately, most people didn’t understand, and those who did couldn’t keep up. The boy swerved around a corner with a swoosh, and Chu Yan pursued relentlessly. They raced through the complex maze for over a thousand meters, the wind whistling past their ears, and Chu Yan leaped forward!
Clang!
The Burmese boy was tackled from behind, the two rolling and crashing into a wall. Chu Yan gritted her teeth, pinning the boy down to stop him from escaping and taking a few punches in the chaos. She didn’t have time to feel the pain before realizing something bizarre—the boy was using dirty tricks while wrestling.
He was so young, but he had already learned how to take advantage of others and do those dirty tricks!
“F*ck your ancestors!” Chu Yan was furious. She pressed the little boy hard with her elbow and slapped him without mercy, giving him four loud slaps. The little boy let out a hideous and twisted scream like a wild beast and pushed her away!
Before Chu Yan could hit the ground, a gust of air caught her steadily.
The little boy was about to run away, but he bumped into the legs of the person behind him and suddenly felt as if he had hit a steel wall. Before he could turn around in panic, he saw the person raise his foot, easily kick him to the ground, and then pick him up from the ground with one hand.
“@#$%&*!?”
The little boy struggled desperately and uttered rude curses, but was lifted up by the hair by the other hand of the person who came. While struggling, he saw the other person’s eyes, which were slightly peach-shaped but extremely sharp.
“Which hand touched my daughter?” Bai Sheng said indifferently.
“—Mr. Bai!”
Chu Yan exclaimed with joy, barely bothering to smooth her hair as she stumbled up, “Don’t let him go, he’s the caster! Find a way to make him lift the spell, and we can get out of this maze!”
·
Meanwhile, deep in the mountains.
Splash!
Yang Xiaodao tumbled out of the space tunnel, coughing up blood as he tried to get up.
“Endure it; don’t make a sound.” Shen Zhuo clamped a hand over Yang Xiaodao’s mouth, quickly checking his pulse and the most severe injury on his chest. The pain nearly made Yang Xiaodao convulse like a fish out of water.
“Be strong, it’s just a few broken ribs.” Shen Zhuo said sternly, “Stay here and wait for your dad to come out and avenge you.”
Before them was a desolate cave, dim light filtering through the entrance, vaguely revealing the vast, undulating unfamiliar mountains outside. Yang Xiaodao knelt on the ground, convulsing for a moment, then finally suppressed his gasping and hoarsely asked, “Why… did we come here?”
Shen Zhuo replied, “The serum’s effect has expired.”
He removed half of his glove, revealing only an old cross-shaped scar on the back of his left hand; the S-evolution mark was completely gone.
“There’s a backup serum in the car we drove over, but we couldn’t make it in time. We had to find a place to hide nearby.”
Shen Zhuo’s coat was gone, his uniform shirt disheveled and tattered from numerous scrapes during their fall off the cliff. His shoulders and back were covered in fine dust and bloodstains.
Yang Xiaodao, like a wounded little wolf, curled up tightly in a dusty corner of the cave. After a while, he wiped his face hard and hoarsely muttered a few words:
“…I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Shen Zhuo said, intently observing the cave entrance. The dim daylight outlined his firm and sharp profile, and his voice was light but steady. “Shunsuke Noda’s physical evolution has reached its peak. I’ve seen him once at the Quanshan County Hospital. Even without using abilities, he could hold his own against Bai Sheng in pure combat. You’re already impressive.”
“…”
The boy said nothing, stubborn defiance glinting in his eyes. After a moment, he muttered, “I don’t need Bai Sheng’s help to avenge me. Next time, if I encounter him again, I will definitely—”
I will definitely be able to take care of him myself.
I will definitely grow to the point where I can personally wash away this humiliation.
Shen Zhuo casually patted the back of his head, then suddenly paused as if sensing something.
The subtle fluctuation in the air was hard to describe. If one had to, it was like a steel wire suddenly loosening after being stretched to its limit, or like a heavy pressure covering the mountains disappearing without warning, the sense of weightlessness passing in an instant.
“Abilities?” Yang Xiaodao’s perception in this area was much stronger than Shen Zhuo’s. He sensed a certain fluctuation in the air and suddenly looked up, “It’s the maze! The maze has been broken!”
Above the mountains, there was a vast void.
The enormous, invisible maze cracked, collapsed, and fell with a silent, deafening crash, dissolving into countless fragments under the sky and disappearing into the untouchable, high-dimensional universe.
“How did it break?” Yang Xiaodao asked in disbelief, struggling to get up. “Did they… catch that kid?”
Shen Zhuo held him down. “Stay here and don’t move. I’m going out.”
“For what?”
“Bai Sheng and the others must be out already. We need to find a way for him to locate us quickly.”
Shen Zhuo chose to hide in the cave rather than in the city because there were many birds and insects in the mountains. The more animals he encountered outside, the quicker Chu Yan could find him, leading to a reunion with Bai Sheng and the others.
He pulled a gun from his lower back, pressed against the wall, and swiftly moved towards the cave entrance, his movements almost silent. However, just as he was about to step out of the cave, there was a sudden sound from outside—crack.
The light sound of a foot stepping on a dry branch indicated someone was there!
In an instant, Shen Zhuo cocked his gun, but a hand reached in from outside, accurately grabbing the barrel.
Then a voice, full of impatience, said, “Using my ability, you really thought I wouldn’t be able to find where you’re hiding?”
It was Shunsuke Noda!
Shen Zhuo retreated several steps, his pupils slightly contracting.
Shunsuke Noda entered the cave, his face gloomy and one hand covered in blood clutching his abdomen. Not far behind him, another figure emerged from a space tunnel, and the dark rift swiftly closed—it was Su Jiqiao.
“Are you looking for this, professor?”
Su Jiqiao raised a silver refrigerated case in his hand—the very same serum storage case they had left in the supervision office’s car!
“The moment I got out of the maze, I immediately went to the square to find it. I originally planned to stay there and wait for you to come, but… never mind.”
Su Jiqiao glanced at Shunsuke Noda, then said indifferently, “Although there are many people getting in the way, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
_________________
Author’s Note:
If nothing goes wrong, the final boss battle will be Yang Xiaodao and Chu Yan siblings vs. Noda siblings. If something does go wrong, it means either an unavoidable external factor intervened or I couldn’t manage to tie up this plot hook…
In terms of ability settings alone, at the same level, Shunsuke Noda’s space tunnel actually corresponds to Yue Yang’s barrier and Yang Xiaodao’s luck value. But since Yang Xiaodao can’t use his luck value, haha, he can only get beaten up for now~
My poor Yang Xiaodao, got beaten up into a pulp 😭
How dare that japanese guy hurt my baby Yang Xiaodao