There were no Zombies in the sewers, just as he had expected. Apart from a few scattered Charge-class Honkai Beasts along the way, there was nothing else.
After attempting a sneak attack, Su Qing'an successfully determined the visual system of the Charge-class Honkai Beast. If the human eye's visual limits were approximately 150 degrees vertically and 230 degrees horizontally,
then the Charge-class Honkai Beast's field of vision was roughly 360 degrees, similar to that of insects. However, their reaction speed did not reach an insect's level.
Even so, sneak attacks were not completely meaningless against Charge-class Honkai Beasts.
The reason was that although Charge-class Honkai Beasts could see nearly everything around them, they prioritized reacting to Honkai Energy over reacting to living beings.
For example, between a Valkyrie and an ordinary human who theoretically both had Honkai Energy within their bodies, the beasts would most likely focus all their attention on the Valkyrie. It was like the automatic AI programmed by the Honkai Consciousness—there were patterns to their actions.
However, the Honkai Energy controlled by the Void Sword Qi existed between heaven and earth. In other words, he used heaven and earth as his dantian, so Su Qing'an actually had no Honkai Energy within his body.
Taking advantage of this pattern and his own uniqueness, he created a diversion.
He had killed most of the Charge-class Honkai Beasts along the way through sneak attacks, almost without injury.
He was getting closer and closer to his destination, and his physical condition was still good. Although he had encountered many dangers along the way, Su Qing'an had relied on his intelligence and martial strength to fight his way here despite this being his first true struggle between life and death.
As long as he proceeded cautiously for about ten more minutes, he would reach Senba Academy.
But the next second, an accident happened.
A deafening roar filled his ears, and the road ahead was completely blocked by smoke, dust, and shattered building materials.
Before Su Qing'an had time to react, the enormous creature he saw through the smoke made him realize the situation.
This was hell mode on the brink of death.
It was even more terrifying and impossible to defeat than the number-based Charge-class Honkai Beasts and the enormous Temple-type ones.
It possessed power that completely surpassed the lower-ranking Honkai Beasts.
An Emperor-class Honkai Beast—Ganesha.
The creature that had shattered the darkness and silence of the underground sewer was so enormous that it made people incapable of even thinking of resisting.
Its appearance leaned toward a white elephant and a wild boar, but it was far larger than either and much more dangerous.
Amid this dual Honkai outbreak triggered by the activation of the Herrscher Core, it was not difficult to understand how such a monster had been born.
There was no time to lament his luck. An existence of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast's level was far beyond anything he could handle.
Escape. Without the slightest hesitation, the moment the giant beast smashed through the thick, astonishingly sturdy ground above and appeared before Su Qing'an, he turned and fled.
Ganesha's size determined that it could not move very quickly, but at that scale, even its slow speed was far faster than an ordinary human's sprint.
It was like how a human could cross in one step a distance that would take an ant hundreds of steps. The comparison was not quite so exaggerated when applied to Ganesha, but the principle was essentially the same.
Japan was a country plagued by frequent earthquakes, and its long rainy seasons brought abundant flooding. Decades ago, whenever heavy rain arrived, the entire city would become a muddy mess.
Urban flooding would cut off transportation, halt businesses, and, in severe cases, cause serious safety accidents.
For that reason, modern Japan's underground drainage systems were enormous, resembling vast underground fortresses.
Such magnificent engineering projects were standard in every Japanese city.
Changkong City was naturally no exception. Thus, even with Ganesha's size, it could move about freely without restraint. Even with Honkai Energy enhancing his physical abilities, Su Qing'an's speed was still far inferior to that of a Kawasaki H2R.
The human body had its limits. If a Kawasaki H2R had been beside him, he would have had some confidence in shaking off Ganesha by using his understanding of the terrain.
But now, after only a few steps, Ganesha's tusks were already close behind Su Qing'an. With the strength of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, merely touching him would almost certainly mean death.
When size became a disadvantage, the right choice could turn it into an advantage to a certain extent.
Su Qing'an nimbly twisted around a load-bearing pillar, while Ganesha, charging toward him, could not dodge because of the kinetic force caused by its enormous inertia.
Its tusks pierced the load-bearing pillar with ease, and Ganesha's head plunged into it as well. In just a few seconds, it had smashed apart part of this world-class project.
A huge amount of collapsed stone crashed onto Ganesha, but to the terrifying giant beast, it was as though a few specks of dust had landed on its body. It suffered no harm whatsoever.
Su Qing'an, who had anticipated this, had already sprung forward. As he leaped into the air, he turned his upper body sideways and swung the [Calming the Tempest] in his right hand. He used all the Honkai Energy he could control to condense a ring-shaped sword wave.
The sword wave erupted with a vibration, blasting away all the stones that approached him.
"Bang!" The airflow formed by the dissipating kinetic force of the collision became the impetus driving Su Qing'an forward. In the blink of an eye, he had opened up a distance between himself and Ganesha.
This was the Guarding Sword from the Form of the Void Sword Qi.
As he repeatedly controlled Honkai Energy with precision, his sword heart gradually advanced toward the State of Dustless.
At the cost of all this, he could now initially execute the Guarding Sword. He had even rehearsed and calculated in advance the force of the airflow produced by the dissipating Honkai Energy, allowing him to execute it perfectly in reality.
It was not merely control over his body. As ice began to form over his Mind Lake, his control over Honkai Energy became increasingly meticulous.
But that was all it was.
Only the weak needed to carefully budget their strength, like farmers cautiously counting next year's harvest in their fields. It was precisely because they were too weak that they had to control every ounce of strength.
True powerhouses did not need to do that.
They did not even need to think. Merely advancing normally forced the weak to use all their strength in a desperate struggle, carefully calculating every move.
As Su Qing'an exhausted his mental energy and used the Guarding Sword for the ninth time to put more distance between himself and Ganesha, the Emperor-class Honkai Beast seemed to grow impatient.
It lowered its head, and Honkai Energy began gathering rapidly in its mouth.
Sensing the abnormal concentration of Honkai Energy behind him, Su Qing'an understood almost instantly what it intended to do. The moment Ganesha lowered its head, he rolled to the left.
His practiced roll barely allowed him to evade the Honkai Energy shockwave that crashed down like a laser.
This wouldn't work.
As he controlled his body and continued fleeing, Su Qing'an understood that if things continued like this, Ganesha would eventually catch up and kill him.
So annoying, so annoying, so annoying. Why was he so unlucky? Damn it, damn it, damn it.
He was so scared, so scared, so scared. Why had it targeted him? Damn it, damn it, damn it.
With no energy to spare for the emotions surging wildly through him, he desperately racked his brain for a way to escape.
He was very close to the reservoir on the drainage route at the outskirts of Changkong City. If it was the Changkong City reservoir, reputed to be the largest in Japan, could he use it to help himself escape?
All the city's underground water gathered there, and a computer calculated its capacity based on the flow rate.
When the water reached the corresponding level, the computer would automatically activate the water pumps and drain it into the sea.
After calculating the date, if he could lure Ganesha into unleashing an attack like the one before and cause the water inside to surge out, the resulting kinetic force should be terrifyingly immense.
No! He rejected the idea almost instantly. Even such immense kinetic force might not be enough to kill Ganesha, while the city itself would be crushed by the enormous flood, with most of its buildings submerged and destroyed.
Besides, this was a method that would take both sides down. Even if he did not want to live, he still had to consider Kiana and Satou Yunona, who might still be alive.
The information in his mind spun rapidly, and in the end, he finally came up with a plan.
However, the conditions needed to execute the plan completely were not available in the sewers. Therefore, Su Qing'an began consciously constructing a model of his current route and the surrounding space in his mind.
As he ran for his life, his body inevitably suffered injuries from the continuous extreme movements and collapsing structures. Bloodstains of all sizes covered almost his entire body, but thanks to his advanced techniques for dispersing force and his judgment, they were merely ordinary scrapes.
Yet with blood inevitably flowing out, his stamina was also being consumed at a frightening rate.
To successfully escape, he first needed the other necessary conditions.
A flying stone cut across the young man's cheek. Paying no attention to the blood trickling down in his disheveled state, Su Qing'an began adjusting his escape route and headed toward his destination.
Before you continue