[Code??? I Clone]

When that clone appeared, the guards, still protected by their hazmat suits, had some resistance to the Honkai Energy. The civilians who didn't manage to escape were unable to escape the Honkai Energy's erosion. In just ten minutes, most of the people on the street had turned into Mantis.

One by one, Mantis holding scythes or long claws appeared by the roadside. Compared to the situation Li Ming experienced at the airport in Qingming City, the transformation rate of these Mantis was unusually fast.

However, the current situation of the Mantis was still somewhat contained. But that bootleg Boss Yang was completely uncontrollable. When the guards opened fire on the bootleg Boss Yang, almost all the bullets were blocked by the energy shield on the bootleg Boss Yang's body.

Seeing this, Li Ming couldn't help but mutter to himself, What is Anti-Entropy up to? How can this clone have such power?

Although the clone's movements were stiff and it appeared very dull, it simply released Honkai Energy, creating a gravity field around itself, leaving the guards completely helpless. Even when the guards pulled out heavy weapons and fired a rocket, its trajectory was directly altered by the gravity field.

When the guards grew disheartened, the bootleg Boss Yang stopped releasing its energy shield. Instead, the clone merely released its core, and from that core, it fired a beam. Everything in the path of that beam seemed to collapse.

A deep trench was carved out by the beam, and even the low-rise buildings behind the guards were cut down by the beam.

With another cloud of dust rolling in, some of the guards couldn't evade in time and were crushed by the debris of the building. Those who could dodge were scattered and forced to engage with the Mantis.

As Li Ming was observing the clone, the bootleg Boss Yang suddenly looked up, a faint glow flickering in its blue eyes, and its stiff facial muscles revealed a terrifying smile.

Li Ming's heart skipped a beat. What's going on? Could it be that Anti-Entropy upgraded this clone's technology in such a short time?

But looking at the bootleg Boss Yang's movements, which were still stiff and slow, Li Ming felt something was wrong. Suddenly, the bootleg Boss Yang raised the core in its hand, and its body actually began to slowly ascend. Although the speed was not fast, it was not slow to reach the top floor.

Li Ming's heart sank. Fighting this bootleg Boss Yang wouldn't be a problem, but fighting on the rooftop? Setting aside the potential damage, Li Ming clearly sensed that as the bootleg Boss Yang ascended, the range of the dense Honkai Energy also expanded, already reaching the third floor.

Li Ming gritted his teeth. The strength of this bootleg Boss Yang was not just a little bit stronger than the one at the airport.

With no other option, Li Ming opened his system and chose the armor [Candlelight Armor: First Light]. After the system confirmed the equipment, a faint blue glow appeared around Li Ming. As the blue glow spread, Candlelight Armor: First Light materialized on Li Ming.

The armor resembled a martial arts uniform. The upper body was a light blue short jacket, with grayish-purple ornaments hanging from the shoulders. A large "Bright" character was emblazoned on the back. Four jet ports appeared on the back, opening and closing, expelling hot air.

The pants were a metallic silver-white, extremely durable. On the sides of the legs and at the cuffs, there were small, scale-like armor plates. The pockets and belt were a mix of blue and red. A holster was designed on the back of the waist, containing the Moon God's Protection.

Looking at the bootleg Boss Yang, Li Ming leaped up. He didn't know why the bootleg Boss Yang was targeting him, but he certainly wouldn't back down. Stepping on the railing, Li Ming jumped directly off.

Using the momentum of his descent and the recoil from the jump, Li Ming was like a heavy hammer. A faint yellow stream of light appeared around him. The veins on Li Ming's forehead bulged, and the scale-like armor on his legs was also dyed with the yellow stream of light, emitting a faint glow.

"Inch Punch: Azure Dragon Emerging from Water: Ascending Kirin!" he roared, his voice like spring thunder, echoing through the street.

Himeko finally recovered and, just as she rushed out of the storage room looking for Li Ming, she heard Li Ming's voice, like spring thunder.

Peeking over the railing to look down, she saw Li Ming, bathed in yellow light, heading towards a blue-haired, blue-eyed man floating upwards.

Li Ming twisted his body and kicked towards the bootleg Boss Yang. However, he didn't actually kick the bootleg Boss Yang. Just as Li Ming's foot was about to connect, a semi-transparent energy shield appeared above the bootleg Boss Yang's head.

The blow, carrying immense force, landed on the bootleg Boss Yang's energy shield. Although it didn't hit the external core as Li Ming had hoped, it did suppress the bootleg Boss Yang's upward momentum, but it didn't bring him down.

Using the recoil, Li Ming pushed off a nearby wall and delivered another heavy blow with his raised hand, energy pouring out like a tidal wave. "Inch Punch: Azure Dragon Emerging from Water: Rock Break!"

With a heavy punch, he pressed against the energy shield, driving the bootleg Boss Yang towards the ground. Li Ming's fist struck the shield, which merely emitted a faint glow. The bootleg Boss Yang was forcibly dragged down with Li Ming and landed on the ground.

As they both landed, Li Ming saw through the transparent energy shield the flash of the dark red, gem-like core. Li Ming's heart tensed. That was the same precursor as the strange beam earlier.

His feet shifted slightly, and with a Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds, he created distance between himself and the bootleg Boss Yang. However, the sense of danger in his heart did not disappear. He saw the bootleg Boss Yang's head stiffly turn, its target unwavering, its hand holding the core aimed at Li Ming.

A flash of dark red light, and a beam as thick as an arm shot directly towards Li Ming. Li Ming had just landed when the beam was upon him. He stomped his foot, executing another Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds, and simultaneously fired an energy bullet with his hand. "Inch Punch: Thunderclap!"

The attack was rushed, and the energy bullet dissipated within a second under the beam.

Li Ming narrowly dodged, but his left side was grazed by the beam. He landed on the ground, clutching his left waist. The area grazed by the beam was strangely injured, as if struck by a heavy blunt object, yet the mark was that of a graze.

But Li Ming didn't have time to think. He had already sustained an injury in his first encounter, nearly losing his waist. He didn't know how the bootleg Boss Yang had so many tricks.

Even though it possessed a bootleg Star of Eden, and was a bootleg at that, this bootleg Boss Yang played completely differently. The other one had only managed to conjure a Pseudo Black Hole before dying, but this one was even more outrageous, directly firing a beam.

"Damn it, has this bootleg Boss Yang been upgraded? How can it be this ridiculous?"

Enduring the pain, the system's combat interface appeared before Li Ming. Perhaps due to the armor, the combat interface had changed. A health bar appeared above the bootleg Boss Yang's head, followed by "*2". Below the health bar was the shield value. The two hits just now, plus the guards' attacks, had only depleted a third of the shield. The health bar had dropped less than three to four percent.

Li Ming twitched the corner of his mouth. This health bar is so thick. I have something to say, but I don't know if I should. Of course, Li Ming held back from cursing and was merely more curious about the name that appeared behind the bootleg Boss Yang's health bar.

[Code??? I Clone]

Huh? What is this?

No, dude, why does your name have a title?

Unfortunately, Li Ming didn't have time to ponder. The [Code??? I Clone] raised its core, and a flash of light passed. The dark red beam shot out, accompanied by dense Honkai Energy.

Two beams shot out, directly slicing the building behind Li Ming in half. Seeing the building collapse, Li Ming was forced to repeatedly dodge. Fortunately, the building behind him was not the one Himeko was in, otherwise Himeko would have been in danger.

But Li Ming now understood. He couldn't keep bickering with this [Code??? I Clone] here. Who knew what would happen later? Moreover, that last attack had further worsened the already precarious situation for the guards. Besides, Li Ming still had some lingering doubts and couldn't quite understand some of the [Code??? I Clone]'s actions.

With his mind made up, Li Ming's feet moved like the wind, constantly using Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds. Seeing Li Ming trying to escape, the [Code??? I Clone] floated up and pursued him.

It wasn't fast, but it occasionally fired two beams. It wasn't like sniping; it was more like an attempt to kill Li Ming. Even when some Mantis blocked its path, the [Code??? I Clone] directly shot them down with its beams, showing no mercy.

"As expected, this thing is targeting me. What the hell? I haven't offended Anti-Entropy, have I? Or is it unrelated to Anti-Entropy?"

Li Ming pondered internally, unable to fathom the [Code??? I Clone]'s strange behavior. He was also suspicious of that peculiar designation.

But one thing was clear: this thing was coming for him. And as the [Code??? I Clone] moved, the range of the Honkai Energy field continued to expand.

Gradually, more people were transformed into Mantis. Those who had been watching the spectacle with amusement now remembered to flee.

Some even pulled out guns to shoot at Li Ming. Clearly, not everyone was foolish. They could see that the [Code??? I Clone]'s target was Li Ming. However, those bullets couldn't even penetrate his armor, as it was made of Fluid Alloy, and thus couldn't be broken by such simple firearms.

But these fly-like bullets were incredibly annoying to Li Ming, and even caused his back to be grazed by the beam.

Several auxiliary jet ports on his back were damaged.

Li Ming was truly furious, but he gritted his teeth. He didn't have time to deal with these people now; taking care of the [Code??? I Clone] was the top priority.

Moreover, as they continued to skirmish, Li Ming had figured out the range of this monster's Honkai Energy influence. It was at most a fifty-square-meter area, and its height was lower, around five meters.

This monster didn't deploy a gravity field, but the energy shield and those bizarre rays made it extremely threatening. However, the rays couldn't extend beyond the Honkai Energy's coverage. Li Ming wondered if it was intentionally suppressed or something else.

Since Li Ming couldn't determine if this monstrosity was truly brainless, he saw that Himeko had moved out of the combat zone. Reassured, he performed an aerial flip, dodging a ray that had just been fired.

He landed in the center of an intersection and looked back at the monster. Surrounding it were over a dozen Mantis. Glancing around again, Li Ming saw that the survivors had already disappeared. He could only curse their luck internally, but his main concern now was how to deal with this huge problem.

He drew Moon God's Protection from his hip. In his opinion, the priority now was to stall for time and see if any reinforcements would arrive from the Americas or, rather, Anti-Entropy.

He checked his own status: HP: 1700/2000, SP: 45/265.

After equipping the armor, Li Ming's HP increased by 1000 points, and his SP increased by 20 points. The system's combat panel had also been optimized.

As soon as Li Ming began engaging the [Code??? I Clone], his Imprints had already started to activate, with [Precept] and [Annihilation] being the first to trigger.

There was no helping it; Li Ming had hit the jackpot right from the start.

[Annihilation]: Sword Edge · Sword Tomb · Sword Scar: The lower the HP, the higher the total damage dealt. For every 100 HP lost, total damage increases by 1.0% (cap of 180%).

[Precept], second effect: Cannot Deceive: Gains 5 [Discipline] counts per second in combat, up to 200 counts. Increases the character's total damage reduction by 0.3% of the [Discipline] count. Consumes 50% of current [Discipline] counts when using summoned units.

After some thought, Li Ming decided it was best to maintain distance from the monster for now. He would wear it down with his stamina first. After all, given the different approach from the Americas compared to Schicksal, Li Ming was reluctant to go all out.

His dual pistols continuously fired. Relying on his footwork and marksmanship, he kept kiting the [Code??? I Clone]. During this time, Li Ming had also tried using Moon God's Protection's skill, [Crescent Strike], to put it into a state of temporal fracture.

However, when the bullets hit the energy shield, not even a ripple appeared. He could only see the shield's value drop bit by bit, causing Li Ming to curse repeatedly.

But there was no other choice. The only way forward was to keep chipping away at it. Li Ming had also noticed that the monster needed to charge up before releasing its rays, and each time it did, the concentration of Honkai Energy around it would decrease.

If only Li Ming's armor had a system that could display energy fluctuations, he would have discovered that the monster's Honkai Energy level was constantly rising over time.

Without any better options, the situation remained in a stalemate for the time being.