Let's Begin the Second Round

A Zhu Yan Heavy Punch sent the Zhu Yan Mech's hands flying high into the air.

Mom, look! I actually made a mech raise both hands, leaving its center wide open. I've really made something of myself!

That was what Li Ming thought, but he was not actually surrendering without a fight. Once he saw the mech's movements clearly, the suction it emitted gradually weakened. Though his body had not fully escaped its range, Li Ming was ready to change his approach.

With Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds, he lunged forward. The armor he had chosen was already on the lighter side, and it still expected him to take hits head-on? What did it think he was, some Body Refining prodigy with Golden Bell Shield Iron Cloth Shirt?

Using offense as defense was the wiser choice. At worst, he could trigger a buff while on low health.

The second engraved rule, Do Not Deceive, had already activated when the battle began. It added 5 Admonition stacks every second during combat, up to a maximum of 200. Total damage reduction increased by 0.3% per Admonition stack. Using a summon deducted 50% of current Admonition stacks.

More than a minute had already passed since Li Ming descended from the sky and began fighting the Zhu Yan Mech. The buff had long since reached 200 stacks, and 60% total damage reduction now covered his body.

If he had comprehended Enlightened Heart, Hollow Heart, Inch Heart, or Red Sparrow Chasing the Sun, dealing with that turtle shell across from him would have been much easier.

Li Ming clenched his hand around Inch Strength and swung his arm. He felt like he was in peak condition. The Zhu Yan Mech's arms suddenly hammered downward, but its braking system would surely prevent it from harming itself. So Li Ming rushed beneath Zhu Yan with all his might.

Of course, getting underneath it did not mean he would do nothing. He struck six more times, all against its left leg. Breaking the surface with a single point, dripping water piercing stone—Li Ming believed he would eventually cripple that leg.

But the Zhu Yan Mech did not remain unresponsive, nor did it stupidly abandon its balance to stomp on Li Ming. Instead, when its arms were aimed at the ground, the cannon in its right hand launched a rocket.

A violent explosion shook the ground. Standing beneath the titan, Li Ming took the blast at point-blank range and was sent flying five or six meters. The armor system reported the damage in his ears.

"Warning. Armor damage exceeds 15%. Warning. Armor damage exceeds 15%..."

Li Ming shook his head, and only then did the ringing in his ears ease somewhat. Looking over his armor, he found minor damage to the left arm guard, left leg guard, and right leg guard. It was probably from the bombardment.

Although the armor's warnings had not stopped, Li Ming only felt some internal bruising, ringing ears, and a sore waist. Otherwise, he seemed fine. Then he checked the panel and discovered: Shield: 245, HP: 890, SP: 25.

Even Annihilation had triggered one stack. This Zhu Yan had some real bite. Still, Valkyrie armor really was impressive. Never mind its abilities—the shock absorption alone was excellent.

But it probably could not take many more hits. One cannon shot had removed 45 Shield. That was because the Zhu Yan Mech was relatively weak when using Sky-Shattering Strike, and because Li Ming had almost taken the explosion head-on but was only hit by the shockwave and shrapnel.

If he took a direct hit, Li Ming figured he would lose even more. Still, he was not worried. No matter how strong Zhu Yan was, it relied on energy. It could not have unlimited power forever.

Besides, could Zhu Yan really be stronger than Canned Food?

Even though he had never beaten Canned Food.

But was he not allowed to brag a little? Didn't Kakuzu throw one shuriken and dare claim he had fought the First Hokage? It was the celebrity effect, the celebrity effect. Did they get it?

Still, Li Ming definitely would not go all out like he did when fighting Canned Food. If he exhausted himself here, he would probably be swallowed by a barrage of fire immediately, perhaps even surrounded by a searing force field.

After catching his breath, Li Ming clenched his hands. The Protective Bracers in his hands had only suffered a few scratches in the paint. Compared to the damage on his armor, their quality was far superior.

The Zhu Yan Mech's earlier move was clearly an emergency measure. Otherwise, it should have pulled its target in, burned them with the flamethrower, then fired a cannon shot while they were caught off guard.

Firing a cannon at the ground from point-blank range was truly absurd.

Still, it seemed effective. That kid's hands looked seriously injured too.

"Ha ha ha, kid! Did that cannon shot feel good? Next, you'll witness the Zhu Yan Heavy Cannon!"

Li Ming stared at him with dead fish eyes. Was he playing Landlord? Did every move need a name?

Just fire the cannon. Why give it a name like Zhu Yan Heavy Cannon? Was that not embarrassing?

Still, complaints were complaints. When he saw the cannon barrel aiming at him, Li Ming became serious. After all, nobody wanted to be blasted by artillery.

These things were usually equipped with radar, capable of predicting movement. The pilot was not completely stupid either; he waited until the system had aimed for a while before firing, maximizing his accuracy.

But once Li Ming saw where the cannon barrel was aimed, he advanced instead of retreating. He used Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds to evade the shell, then borrowed the momentum to launch a strike straight ahead. A faint glow appeared around Li Ming's neck, left hand, and right cheek.

Engraved Moment had triggered: after an extreme evasion with Chaotic Hundred Flowers Plum, attack speed and movement speed increased by 40% for eight seconds.

His earlier injuries had also triggered Engraved Annihilation: Sword Edge · Sword Tomb · Sword Scar. The lower his health, the higher his total damage. Every 100 HP lost increased total damage by 1.0%, up to 180%.

Thus, Li Ming's total damage had increased by 41%, as had his speed. With only a twist of his feet, he instantly crossed the five or six meters between them and appeared before Zhu Yan.

Energy gathered in his hand, forming a small golden orb in his palm. It was not Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt, but the ordinary Inch Punch: Thunderbolt. Even so, it consumed all 25 of Li Ming's SP, leaving him feeling hollow inside.

Still, it did work. Though it was only a weakened version of Thunderbolt, it still had considerable damage. Together with the enhancement from his engravings, that single Thunderbolt smashed through Zhu Yan's chest armor.

The energy shield was directly blasted open with a large hole. Though it was slowly healing, the damage was real.

The Zhu Yan Mech still seemed not to have reacted.

Li Ming flipped over and kicked off its body, quickly widening the distance. The Zhu Yan Mech seemed to finally react, firing both its cannon and flamethrower as though energy cost nothing.

Unfortunately, with Chaotic Hundred Flowers Plum's 40% movement speed bonus for eight seconds, it had been unable to even touch Li Ming before. Now, it could forget about even brushing his backside. Of course, he could still get caught in explosions.

Yet as Li Ming sprinted wildly, he suddenly felt a realization stirring in his heart, though he did not know what it was. He wanted to focus and grasp it properly, but the tactless Zhu Yan kept firing at him. He was blasted every so often, making the feeling unbearably frustrating. He had no chance to comprehend it.

There was no helping it. It seemed this realization would have to depend on fate.

But he was still really annoyed. After thinking it over, Li Ming decided to beat Zhu Yan up first. He pulled far away from Zhu Yan, and those several cannon shots had no accuracy at all. The pilot was probably furious.

But that mindset was deadly in a real battle. Li Ming watched as the Zhu Yan Mech stopped firing midway, as though it had realized something was wrong.

In the end, it merely activated its shield and stopped attacking proactively. It only bombarded other areas from time to time. As for Li Ming, it mostly just harassed him with barrages.

Seeing that the Zhu Yan Mech was ignoring him, Li Ming caught his breath and crouched in a crater created by an explosion. After finding barely adequate cover, he pulled Moon God's Protection from his equipment and hesitated for a long while before deciding to equip it.

Yet when he equipped Moon God's Protection, the Protective Bracers in his hands did not disappear. Instead, they remained firmly on his hands.

"Why is this happening? Can one character equip two pieces of equipment? Or is it because the Protective Bracers aren't mine, so they aren't put away with my equipment?"

Li Ming pondered for a long time without figuring it out. But he could not solve anything by just thinking, so he finally turned his attention back to dealing with Zhu Yan.

He had only stayed hidden for a short while, yet Zhu Yan had already begun slaughtering indiscriminately outside, suppressing the combat teams that had come to reinforce them.

Those people were not incapable of fighting back, but they could not exert much pressure on the Zhu Yan Mech.

Li Ming emerged from behind cover. Moon God's Protection in his hands immediately fired a barrage. Though its range was only short to medium, the Zhu Yan Mech was less than ten meters away. Li Ming raised his twin pistols.

With the critical bonuses from the Protective Bracers, Moon God's Protection, and the armor itself, Li Ming's critical rate was close to forty. This allowed him to clearly see the wound in the Zhu Yan Mech's abdomen and the cracks in its left leg armor.

Furthermore, with the aid of his critical armor, eight out of every ten shots Li Ming fired struck true. And because of the energy bullet design, he did not need to reload.

Then Li Ming forcibly endured the barrage with his armor while continuously picking off the enemy forces that had not yet fully entered the airport. Though he did his best to evade, he was still hit by two of Zhu Yan's cannon shells. After this intense assault, Li Ming's Shield had dropped to 106. At most, he could take two more cannon shots before his armor was scrapped. His HP had also fallen to 700, but his SP had filled completely, a golden bar. Li Ming felt brimming with energy.

Seeing someone lead the counterattack, the combat teams were also fired up. They had never been weaker than the organization; it was only the Zhu Yan Mech's defenses that had prevented them from properly deploying their defensive line.

The combat teams raised heavy armored shields, carried cannons, and charged alongside Li Ming. They tried bombarding the Zhu Yan Mech, but its energy shield could not be broken. The blasts merely dimmed the outer layer of its energy shield slightly and had no real effect.

Meanwhile, they themselves would take a Zhu Yan cannon shot and die from the shock even behind heavy armor. So they simply matched soldiers against soldiers and generals against generals, except their own general first cleared out the foot soldiers.

Was there a problem with that? No problem at all.

Li Ming had taken those two cannon shots because he feared the fearless guards would suffer heavy losses if he did not step in. As a result, nearly all the organization members outside were wiped out by Li Ming and the guard team. Even those who survived under the Zhu Yan Mech's protection had been frightened out of their wits and posed no threat. The moment they fled Zhu Yan's protective range, they were swiftly eliminated. In the end, they were all wiped out.

The guard team also seemed to understand that they could not contribute much here, so their captain led them toward the organization members who were gradually approaching the safe zone.

Outside, it had become almost entirely a battle of mechs against Valkyries, mechs against mechs, mechs against Li Ming, and mechs against trash.

Li Ming rubbed his somewhat stiff face, gripping his twin pistols as he watched the Zhu Yan Mech in the distance raise its flamethrower again. A smile spread across his lips. "Now, let's begin the second round. I'll give you one minute to pick out your urn."