"That powerful?"
Huai Shi was stunned for a moment before a wide smile spread across her face, her confidence swelling. This time, without waiting for the enemy to attack again, she launched an offensive of her own.
The Sacrificial Knife wasn't excessively long, only slightly longer than an ordinary dagger, which suited Huai Shi's Dagger Combat perfectly.
The Rome Dagger Boxing Technique, at LV8, was no longer inferior to the once-famed Red Gloves, having reached the upper echelons of professional skill. It could be said there wasn't a hint of ostentation left; it had transformed into an out-and-out killing art.
Instantly, Crying Snake felt a wave of wretched, indignant despair.
He had barely survived the bombardment, only to be surrounded before he even had time to react.
He had originally wanted to reclaim the Sacred Relic gifted by the Lord. Incidentally, he'd hoped to find some newbie to trample on to vent his frustration. Who could have anticipated that his own strike would be akin to stirring up a Peppa Pig's hornet's nest?
Where did this freak jump out from? Oddly reactive, unaffected by snake venom, and her Sword Technique is so fierce it's frightening! Without any Stigma, she jumped two levels and beat me like I was her grandson...
"Get lost!"
He howled with all his might, his Bone Blade parrying Huai Shi's knife as he turned to flee. But then he saw that a line of people had already taken positions behind him at some point. Seeing him trying to escape, they greeted him with a volley of bullets, clearly intending to force him into a head-on confrontation with Huai Shi to capture him alive.
Crying Snake was so incensed he almost laughed out loud.
Even if I'm outmatched in blade combat, am I, a Second Stage·Gold Sublimator, really afraid of a newbie without even a Stigma? First, I'll take a hostage!
Ignoring Huai Shi's ferocious assault, the teeth in his mouth suddenly elongated, spewing a stream of venom that looked like clear water. The venom quickly evaporated in mid-air, transforming into wisps of white mist. Wherever it passed, even stones were corroded, leaving pitted holes.
Huai Shi was startled and hurriedly retreated. He seized the opportunity, regaining the initiative. One hand shot out recklessly, grabbing the blood-sucking blade, while the other reached for Huai Shi's neck.
Then, darkness enveloped his vision, and he heard the incessant roar of gunfire.
Knife in one hand, Huai Shi had already drawn the pistol from her vest with the other and pressed it against his forehead, repeatedly pulling the trigger.
The small-caliber bullets couldn't even penetrate his skull, but their impact was no less devastating than a penetrating injury. He was instantly stupefied, uncertain if his brains had been rattled loose.
"Let go!"
Huai Shi wrenched the Sacrificial Knife from his grasp and chopped down powerfully. As the blade cleaved through the air, she ignited the pale Source Substance fire in her hand, adding the weight of an Axe to the blade. With one swift cross-cut, she hacked off one of his arms. Then, she withdrew the blade and struck again.
She cleanly severed both of his arms.
After absorbing enough blood, the damaged Sacrificial Knife quickly began to repair itself. From shattered bronze debris, it restored itself to its original glossy appearance, as though freshly forged. It even began to misbehave, attempting to absorb Huai Shi's Source Substance.
Absorb my Source Substance? Are you kidding me? Huai Shi was amused. You dare to absorb from me, a Negative Energy Producer? Pal, have you got that wrong?
She directly re-materialized Apocalypse back into Source Substance, then mixed it with a large amount of heart poison, and poured it in, letting the damned thing absorb its fill.
At first, it consumed greedily. When it sensed something was amiss and tried to stop, the Hand of Confinement seized its hilt and forcefully fed it more, like being made to gulp down chili water. It drank its fill.
In the end, the blade trembled violently, emitting a mournful cry, as if begging for mercy.
The pure Negative Energy and an even purer death poison had truly tormented it enough, turning it back into a dull, gray thing, held in Huai Shi's hand as docile as a chastened child.
With the internal matter settled, it was time to deal with the external one.
Huai Shi picked up the Sacrificial Knife, reversed its edge, and advanced on Crying Snake, unleashing a fierce barrage of chops. The terrifying weight bestowed by the Hand of Confinement made each blow as heavy as an Axe. Soon, Crying Snake, lying on the ground, twitched a few times and then stopped moving altogether.
It could only be said that a tiger stranded in the lowlands can be bullied by dogs. The Gold-Stage master, who could have easily beaten Huai Shi in a direct confrontation, had first been battered by missiles and Incendiary Bombs. Now, he was being thrashed by Huai Shi. Egged on by Raven's sly instigation, Huai Shi even hacked off the three horns on his head.
That stuff was valuable.
The essence of the Crying Snake Stigma's toxin was concentrated in them. With a little refinement, it could be made into an antidote for most neurotoxins.
"They should fetch tens of thousands, I guess," Raven remarked, then paused before adding, "per gram."
Hearing this, Huai Shi, who had been slightly hesitant, decisively took the risk.
Such good stuff! These High-Stage Sublimators are truly walking treasure troves!
After Huai Shi was finished, the Suppression Troops, who had been waiting for some time, rushed over. They bound the barely alive Crying Snake on the ground with layer upon layer of shackles.
First came manacles to bind his flesh, then an Explosion Collar to block his Stigma. After that, several Potions—red, green, and other colors—were shot directly into his carotid artery via an Injection Gun. Finally, a seven to eight-centimeter-long nail was hammered into the base of his neck, making Huai Shi's eyes twitch uncontrollably.
Is that really necessary?
The burly men of the Suppression Troops all looked unfazed, indicating with a wave of their hands that this was merely standard procedure. Huai Shi wondered if Director Fu was trying to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys—a subtle warning for her not to stir up trouble in the Current Circumstances.
It seemed only one fish had escaped the net. Huai Shi searched the ruins again, but this time, nothing jumped out to backstab her.
Unfortunately, she found no trace of King Ocean, not even a body.
Logically speaking, someone as weak as him, not even a Sublimator, should have died instantly in the missile explosion. But Huai Shi still harbored doubts. That guy was incredibly hard to kill; even Red Gloves hadn't managed it. Now, with no corpse visible, there was no guarantee he wasn't hiding somewhere, plotting trouble.
From the distant woods, Raven whistled, looking toward another hill.
As soon as the missiles began to fall, the figure lurking there had turned and fled. He ran like an old farmer who, having stolen a watermelon, found himself under artillery fire—abandoning his companions and fleeing frantically without a backward glance.
It had to be said that King Ocean's knack for sensing danger and fleeing swiftly was far more developed than his virtually nonexistent talent for scheming.
Watching from the sidelines the whole time, Raven saw everything but said nothing. It simply shook its wings, and a feather drifted down.
The feather drifted down, landing on the exposed nape of King Ocean's neck. It dissolved like diluted ink, transforming into something like a sunburn mark.
What kind of fish can be caught with such bait in this quagmire? It was very curious.
***
"Well done." Ai Qing glanced at Crying Snake, trapped in the cage, her gaze calm. "No," she corrected herself, "I should say, we caught a big one."
Director Fu looked at the charred white ruins and sighed helplessly. The Astronomical Society's airstrike might have been satisfying for them, but it was the Special Affairs Department that had to clean up the mess.