Monster? Demon!

"Inch Strength · Azure Dragon Emerging from Water · Soaring Qilin!"

The crimson streams of light around him seemed oddly cold beneath the moonlight. Faint flames flickered beneath his feet as he stomped heavily onto the Zhu Yan Mech, crushing a dent directly into its armored shell.

In Li Ming's field of vision, the Zhu Yan Mech had only a single orange health bar.

With that kick from Li Ming, the Zhu Yan Mech's health bar instantly dropped by half. Though surprised inside, his hands did not slow in the slightest.

The Zhu Yan Mech's system immediately entered an overloaded state, and a faint red shield appeared over the surface of its originally crimson body.

A full six forms of Inch Strength · White Tiger Listens to the Wind successfully finished off the Zhu Yan Mech.

Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds evaded the aftermath of the explosion.

"Inch Strength · Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds · Red Sparrow Chasing the Sun!"

He shot forward and swept in with a sliding kick, sending the group of people ahead of him, who had yet to react, flying!

Li Ming only came to a stop after stepping onto a pile of rubble. For a moment, everyone was sprawled in every direction.

"Bastard, where did this guy come from?!"

"Damn it, he's a monster like the one from yesterday."

"Die for me! Hahahaha!"

"It's a monster! A monster!"

Another burst of gunfire rang out as those people began firing wildly at Li Ming!

Li Ming shifted his footing. Instead of dodging the incoming bullets, he used a broken piece of Zhu Yan Mech armor to shield his head and charged forward.

Sparks flew wildly across the armor, leaving craters of all sizes behind, but it allowed Li Ming to successfully close in on all of them.

Li Ming tossed aside the armor in his hand. His figure moved like a phantom in the night, and after several leaps, he sent every one of them flying without showing the slightest mercy.

The people who flew away were either bleeding from all seven orifices or had caved-in chests. Looking at the last person before him, Li Ming gathered an energy sphere in his hand. The thirty-centimeter sphere swallowed the man whole, blasting a thirty-centimeter hole through his abdomen. His twitching internal organs could even be seen inside.

Shaking the blood from his hand, Li Ming looked toward the passage leading underground. The passage was dark and deep. His expression changed beneath his mask, and he smiled at the entrance, which required an access card.

Li Ming had been searching for an access card when he glanced around and saw one fall from someone's pocket.

However, he did not pick it up right away. Instead, he watched the surroundings as piles of rubble collapsed. Five Zhu Yan Mechs emerged from the ruins, flames spraying from their hands as the firelight turned the entire area as bright as day.

The five Zhu Yan Mechs raised their cannons the instant they saw Li Ming. Shells fired from the barrels and swallowed him whole.

"Damn thing! You dare interfere with our H&K Organization's business? You've got a death wish! Will, Root, clean up those pieces of trash."

"Got it!"

"Understood, Captain."

Two Zhu Yan Mechs stepped forward and engulfed every still-wailing survivor in flames, utterly unconcerned with whether they lived or died.

"That monster isn't ordinary. Be careful. Hris, Ryan, clean up the area. Don't leave any evidence behind. I'll hold the field." After giving his orders, the captain had the remaining two begin clearing the rubble with the flamethrowers in their hands.

Some people spotted the blaze in the ruins from afar, but no one reacted. They merely kept their distance, only daring to call the guard squad after they had gone far enough away.

The two pilots in the Zhu Yan Mechs burned every trace of evidence. Flames soared into the sky and concealed the entire ruin as the captain directed the five mechs to prepare for departure.

Suddenly, laughter echoed through the flames. "Hehehe, you came at just the right time. I wasn't done having fun yet!"

Silver light mixed with crimson as a figure reached the Zhu Yan Mech piloted by Will in an instant. It was Li Ming. Faint flames glowed from the jets on his back, propelling him straight into the mech.

"Inch Punch: Mountain Collapse!"

The armor on his leg collided with the Zhu Yan Mech's thick plating, bursting with blinding sparks that even the towering flames could not conceal.

"Inch Strength · Heaven Render!"

One punch cracked the Zhu Yan Mech's abdominal armor. Li Ming twisted and kicked it into the air, then pushed off the ground and soared upward. Raising his leg, he drove the mech viciously into the ground with a flaming kick. The ammunition bay on its back was destroyed, immediately exploding.

Smoke and dust rose everywhere. A violent gust extinguished the surrounding flames, but what followed was an even fiercer explosion!

The scorching blast and mech fragments slammed against the remaining four mechs with a series of clear clanks.

The people inside the cockpits were not harmed by the explosion, but they were far more terrified by the fact that Will's mech had been instantly destroyed. "What the hell is that thing? Don't hesitate! Open fire together! I refuse to believe concentrated fire can't kill him!"

Countless cannon shells flew toward Li Ming, but he did not passively wait for death. He drew both hands to his waist and charged up for two seconds. An energy sphere over a meter wide appeared and flew directly toward the shells.

"Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt!"

When the energy sphere collided with the shells, they were swallowed before they could even explode. Though some shells still came at Li Ming from other directions, a path had been carved through the curtain of artillery fire.

The energy sphere finally dissipated before the captain. The gale from the explosion blew off Li Ming's mask. Li Ming grinned, and to the captain, that smile looked like a demon crawling out of hell.

His pupils were like a snake's—cold and insane.

His feet launched him forward. With a Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds, he arrived before the captain's mech. Though terrified, the captain reacted immediately and contacted the others. "That monster is already in front of me! Focus fire on me!"

The other team members hesitated, but in that brief instant, Li Ming shattered the shield before him. In the end, the Zhu Yan Mech piloted by the captain caught Li Ming's fist.

Seeing Li Ming reveal himself, the other three mechs no longer hesitated. They decisively opened fire from both sides.

A victorious smile appeared on the captain's lips. The Zhu Yan Mech's armor was thick. Even under such circumstances, nothing serious would happen. At worst, more than seventy percent of the armor would be damaged; it would not suffer fatal damage.

Then he and his teammates could kill this monster in one fell swoop. In truth, Li Ming had scared him badly. The look in Li Ming's eyes was exactly like that monster they had encountered yesterday.

If not for the protection of numerous Zhu Yan Mechs, not many people would have remained at this H&K Organization branch after yesterday. They had returned tonight only after learning that yesterday's monster had been dealt with, intending to clean up the loose ends.

"Monster, whatever the hell you are, die!" The captain's face twisted viciously, but a sudden system report stunned him. "Hand mech damaged. Hand mech damaged. Mech damage exceeds sixty percent. System entering overloaded state."

"What happened?" The captain was still dumbfounded when he saw that the arm section had vanished from the combat display. Then a low voice entered his ears like a ghost.

"Inch Strength · Azure Dragon Emerging from Water · Rock Collapse!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

Three thunderous blasts echoed through the cockpit. The captain watched the armor before him cave inward at a visible speed. A hand suddenly broke through the armor and struck the captain's head, smashing it like a watermelon. He did not even get the chance to say a word.

Li Ming crawled into the cockpit, tossed out the captain's corpse, and sheltered himself from the raging flames outside.

"Hahaha, Captain, that monster should be dead now, right?"

"We've avenged Will too!"

Li Ming, sitting inside the cockpit, curled his lips and smiled. "Yeah. All of you will die."

His voice was low and nearly inaudible. Once their assault stopped, the three Zhu Yan Mechs gathered around the captain's corpse that Li Ming had thrown out, staring at the body burned beyond recognition and twisted beyond all semblance of a human face.

Several mechs focused on the corpse. "Captain, say something!"

Li Ming climbed out of the cockpit and rolled along the ground. Since the battle began, all his Imprints had been triggered.

Imprint Triggered—Instant: Chaotic Hundred Flowers [Plum]. After an extreme dodge, attack speed and movement speed increased by 40% for eight seconds.

Annihilation: Sword Edge · Sword Tomb · Sword Scar: The lower his health, the higher all damage dealt. Every 100 health lost increased all damage by 1.0% (maximum 180%).

Commandment: Second, Do Not Deceive. During battle, gained 5 points of Admonition per second, up to 200 points. All damage reduction increased by 0.3% per point of Admonition. Using a summon deducted 50% of current Admonition points.

Valuable, Shiny: Killing monsters granted extra shiny silver coins. Lower-tier monsters granted five; higher-tier monsters granted 100.

Combined with the passive effect of Black Tortoise Returns to Heart: Cunxin, Li Ming felt better than ever before.

"Hahaha, I'm so damn hyped!" Li Ming laughed wildly and flashed directly before the nearest mech. "Inch Strength · Azure Dragon Emerging from Water · Cloud Mist!"

A left punch, then a right punch—his fists gradually shattered and pierced through the armor. He spun with a sweeping kick, crimson streams of light snapping both arms apart.

After sending it flying with a Rising Dragon Fist, he swung around and slammed it heavily into the ground. Its armor shattered outright. Li Ming casually threw out a chaotic lightning strike, which hit and destroyed the already crumbling armor, erasing both the mech and its pilot inside.

"What the hell? It still isn't dead?"

"Demon! It really is a monster!"

The two Zhu Yan Mechs had completely lost their composure. Li Ming merely blocked the arms of the two mechs, used the force to leap upward, then flipped and descended.

"Inch Strength · Azure Dragon Emerging from Water · Soaring Qilin!"

He dropped directly onto one of the nearby mechs. The heavy strike, faintly wreathed in flames, blasted its armor apart.

The other mech seized the opportunity and launched a surprise attack at Li Ming's back.

But Li Ming merely drew Moon God's Protection from his holster and fired backward. The purple-black bullet struck the Zhu Yan Mech before it could enter an overloaded state, sending it flying.

Purple-black currents swirled around it, and the Zhu Yan Mech seemed to enter a state of frozen time.

Skill [Crescent Strike]: Sends the target enemy airborne and locks it in time and space for 3.3 seconds. Costs 12 SP. Cooldown: 12 seconds.

Li Ming drew both hands to his waist. A small crimson sphere formed in his palms, gradually growing into a crimson energy sphere one meter in diameter that crushed through the armor of the central cockpit.

"Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt!"

Li Ming's voice was like a demon's whisper, all the more chilling in the night. Every part of the Zhu Yan Mech along the path covered by Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt was utterly pulverized by the energy sphere.

The originally silver-white armor had turned a dull crimson, as though scorched black by flames. A faint red glow flickered in his eyes, making him look like a demon reborn from the fire!