Punch First, Solve the Problem While You're At It

Iterative Movement

Li Aoz's figure rapidly elongated, his body molecularized, and the scarlet burst laser mercilessly engulfed his shadow as he dodged behind the door.

"This guy has never been on the battlefield, yet his tactical awareness is surprisingly sharp! And he even has Anti-Gravity System. Tsk, we really can't underestimate this kind of person."

At this point, there's nothing more to discuss.

"The only way is to wipe out all the agents of Law Enforcement Division Three and leave Du Zexin behind."

Just as Li Aoz drew his longsword, the system immediately popped up a notification: [You have triggered an emergency event - "Armored Assault"]

[Type]: Event [Duration]: 20 minutes (countdown begins after participating in the battle) [Difficulty]: B [Description]: People who shouldn't be fighting are forced into a battle that shouldn't be happening—it sounds ridiculous, but in reality, there are many cases of two birds fighting and a third party reaping the benefits.

That's just how the world is sometimes; you can't choose your enemy, and even if they don't want to fight, they have to.

The good news is that even if you can't convince each other, you at least have the ability to persuade the other person.

Be careful not to let the oriole fill its belly.

[Settlement Conditions]: A - Subdue Du Zexin without killing the opponent, reward 10,000 experience points; B - Eliminate all Law Enforcement Division Three Agent, each Law Enforcement Division Three Agent will grant an additional 4,000 experience points, current progress: 0/25;

C - Capture Professor Anna alive, interrogate her and obtain permission to pass, rewarding you with one random [Artistic] basic knowledge item.

The reward wasn't very generous, and it seems that Du Zexin had only recently advanced to the Beta-rank, so his threat level was not as high as that of the Infant Eater.

Is he really Mouldy Crotch? Normally, newly promoted superhumans need a few months to adapt and stabilize their realm. It seems like Du Zexin was just conscripted and dragged over directly.

"Quick, hide!"

Li Aoz glanced at the panel and then called out to Qiu Ran and Jian.

Boom! Before he finished speaking, Du Zexin, clad in the full-coverage armor of [Beautiful Wish], rushed into the hall instantly, propelled by a rocket. The pale armor resembled that of a noble knight from ancient times, and the blade-shaped antenna on his head subconsciously reminded people of a unicorn.

"That is..."

Qiu Ran was awestruck by the stunning mechanical industry.

Without any superfluous decorations, the sharply defined armor is left unpainted, which only highlights the pure industrial aesthetic. Combined with the bulging outline of the electronic muscles, Du Zexin looks like a steel angel, majestic and holy.

Beep beep beep—

The Magnum Plasma Gun was once again aimed at Li Aoz, Du Zexin pulled the trigger without hesitation. The red laser blast electrolyzed the internal metal projectile into a metal jet, which was then propelled to four times the speed of sound and arrived in an instant!

Bang bang!

The alloy wall was instantly smashed, leaving a molten dent. The residual heat of the metal sent chills down Qiu Ran's spine, and she quickly hid behind her.

Jane Nelia's eyes flickered slightly, and she silently hid in the passageway to observe what would happen.

Whoosh—whoosh—

Du Zexin was an excellent marksman. He didn't care that the reactor was right next to him and easily fired at Li Aoz.

Li Aoz defied gravity, using his agile skills to leap off the wall, changing direction again in mid-air to evade the Magnum Plasma Gun. His longsword swirled with murderous aura as he instantly pounced on his opponent.

Du Zexin reacted extremely quickly, his waist thrusters suddenly shut off, and he landed rapidly, simultaneously firing an impact grenade at the ground. The violent shockwave exploded instantly, forcing Li Aoz to move away to avoid being injured by the shockwave.

Using the shockwave from the explosion, Du Zexin instantly distanced himself from Li Aoz. He lowered his left shoulder and released a triple flashbang. Li Aoz had just landed when he had to duck and lower his head, while simultaneously pulling down his goggles.

Ping pong ping pong pong—

The extremely crisp, continuous flashes of light, mixed with the sonic booms of stun grenades, created a terrifying sound and light effect that made Qiu Ran, who was hiding nearby, scream in fright.

"Ah--"

As an ordinary person with no combat experience, Qiu Ran was completely unable to cope with such a shocking blow.

"A woman's voice—is it this guy's comrade? Or a survivor?"

Du Zexin was slightly surprised, but his movements were not hindered at all. He landed with both feet and slid backward, firing all the rockets on his shoulders.

"FOX-3, launch all missiles!"

The active radar warhead immediately locked onto Li Aoz's figure and accelerated toward him.

Li Aoz didn't hesitate to deal with this weapon. He lowered his head, sheathed his sword, activated Iterative Movement, and created a series of silhouettes in the air before sliding in and hiding in the bio-chamber that had previously housed the Esha Armed.

Bang bang bang bang!

The Rocket Shell exploded, creating a shattered mess and filling the air with smoke.

"This guy is really bold; I wouldn't dare to blow up anything."

Li Aoz couldn't help but admire how confident the "Master of Arts" was in his work.

Players are afraid of blowing up the reactor; this thing is going all out! Swoosh

Magnum Plasma Gun ejected its empty magazine, Du Zexin cleanly and efficiently reloaded it, patted the receiver, and replaced the operating system.

[Suppression Mode] Buzz—Da da da da da da! He picked up the blaster with one hand and fired at Li Aoz as he approached, while his other hand popped up a virtual screen.

"The network defenses of the Nethermark Humanity are practically non-existent. With just a slight adjustment, I can gain access to all the cameras..."

Li Aoz's teleportation posed a significant obstacle to him, and as for the trajectory of his mid-air change of direction, he chose to leave it to his assistant AI for deep learning analysis.

He is, after all, just a [Mechanic], Primary Attribute is [Intelligence] rather than [Strength] and [Dexterity].

No matter how accurate a marksman's marksmanship is, without the aid of physical strength, a human cannot compete with the calculations and pre-aiming of a computer.

In this way, he could multitask and begin hacking into the network of the Nethermark Humanity.

Li Aoz's performance was exactly what he expected. As long as he continued to suppress him like this, he could steadily wear down his opponent's stamina and win steadily, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Like Li Aoz, he didn't want to kill the other person directly.

As an ordinary head of the Law Three Special Agent, not many people knew him, and several of Li Aoz's attacks were made with the back of his knife, which was a clear act of holding back.

This obvious leniency led Du Zexin to wonder: 'Could he be one of me, siding with Dai Weilin Faction?'

If he really is an accomplice of the Dai Weilin Faction —this would be even more troublesome.

The fact that the research institution, Nethermark Humanity, was involved was taken very seriously by the important figures in Frostplate, making Du Zexin dare not take it lightly.

The professor from the Nethermark Humanity had just died, Gemini City already knew that she had been 'accidentally killed' by Anna. It's likely that the surveillance system here had already been infiltrated by a powerful figure's informant.

Even he couldn't be sure how much the big shots in Frostplate knew about the situation here, after all, those people had far more top-notch hackers under their command than idle social hackers.

The other party probably thinks the same way; one of them has to lose, at least to make it look like a loss.

The conjecture was just a thought; although his mind wavered, he couldn't hold back with his actions.

"You really are a potential beta."

Du Zexin's synthesized electronic voice came out, offering a faint compliment.

Bang! Li Aoz dodged a grenade. The enemy had Anti-Gravity System, so gravity had no effect on him. He could only take this detour to deplete the enemy's ammunition reserves.

He raised his hand and parried with his sword, deflecting the dotted metal jets. The force of the impact sent him back three steps, just avoiding Du Zexin's Rocket Shell hitting the ground.

[Having gained access to the camera] Du Zexin was adept at controlling the distance, trying to force Li Aoz to dodge using shrapnel and explosive impact.

"In that case..."

Li Aoz used a feint to advance, instantly activating [Iterative Movement], his body trajectory bypassing his opponent and appearing behind Du Zexin.

All of this was observed by the cameras of the Nethermark Humanity.

He's taken the bait! Du Zexin was overjoyed. He had deliberately created an opening to lure Li Aoz closer.

As Li Aoz forward with his sword, he patted his belt, and the electric current activated the Bionic Muscle in his legs. The armor instantly cracked open, forming spikes, and at the same time, it rapidly dissipated heat, stirring up dazzling electric sparks.

[Blessing Stomp] Du Zexin instantly twisted his waist and lifted his leg, slamming it cleanly and decisively onto the back of the knife that Li Aoz, as if it were a counter-clockwise motion!

Bang! The current was absorbed by the garbage collector's insulated gloves, but the immense kinetic energy instantly sent Li Aoz flying backward. His body spun three times in the air before adjusting to gravity and landing safely on the ceiling.

"Whoa..."

Li Aoz glanced at the trembling blade; the guard was even slightly loose.

The force of that kick was at least five tons, yet it still managed to cause such damage.

This was after he managed to weaken most of the impact by adjusting gravity.

"—You're not bad either."

Mouldy Crotch his Mouldy Crotch, he's still quite strong, almost injuring himself as he enters battle mode.

Du Zexin's suppressive power was terrifying; his precise firepower coverage greatly suppressed Li Aoz's movement space.

Moreover, the entire set of [Beautiful Wish] he wore was of [Perfect and Flawless] quality, and the Magnum Plasma Gun was even a [Transcendent and Refined] level of powerful equipment.

Li Aoz estimated that the armor value of this set of equipment was at least 3,000 points, making it even more difficult to deal with than the Infant Eater.

"That's why I hate those geniuses who are smarter than me the most..."

Li Aoz muttered to himself.

Du Zexin found it truly exhilarating to fight him. Although his skills were still somewhat inferior to those of professional players who had honed their skills over the years, the two were essentially evenly matched thanks to their equipment and combat awareness.

This is interesting... Li Aoz estimated that Mouldy Crotch's level should only be around 40, his [Intelligence] should be similar to the professor's, and his secondary attribute should be [Dexterity], otherwise he wouldn't be able to compete with him in reaction speed.

His knowledge and skills were lacking—but this armor could boost his strength to a level comparable to that of Infant Eater.

However, compared to the incredibly disgusting self-healing ability of the [Infant Eater], Du Zexin is relatively easy to deal with.

The agents of Law Enforcement Division Three were very shrewd and never showed themselves, only occasionally firing a few shots from the shadows, like mosquitoes, which annoyed Li Aoz.

"Shut up—I was originally thinking of leaving some room for negotiation, but now I might as well just fulfill settlement condition B first!"

Li Aoz feigned an advance, charging forward despite the suppressive fire, and suddenly released a burst of intense white light from his raised palm.

[The Polar Day Radiance]

The dazzling, high-brightness white light instantly burned out the camera on Du Zexin's armor. While he was activating the secondary monitor, Li Aoz had already changed direction several times in mid-air, turning his head and rushing towards the tunnel where he was hiding.

Gegugagagag...

Su Zhan let out a low groan, yearning for slaughter and carnage. The fierce aura of the war demon enveloped the longsword. Li Aoz's eyes lit up with a dark purple, and in an instant, he slashed down fiercely at the agent of Law Enforcement Division Three!