The cold inner wall of the concrete pipe pressed tightly against Lin Xiao's back, its rough grit rubbing painfully through his thin clothes.
Lin Xiao crouched in the absolute darkness like a stone carving, forcing even his breathing to a near standstill.
Every heartbeat was heavy and slow, pounding dully like a war drum deep in his chest. The sound of blood rushing against his eardrums was magnified endlessly in the deathly silence.
Source Energy Points: -0.069 (moderate overdraft)
The ghostly blue screen in his mind had dimmed slightly from the overdraft. The core's pulsation carried an almost imperceptible sluggishness, and every cycle tugged at the emptiness and needle-like pain deep within his soul.
Yet its "vision" was like the sharpest compound eyes, piercing the heavy darkness and the obstruction of steel to lock firmly onto the ventilation shaft to the southeast.
Warning! Target has infiltrated! Codename: Viper (Threat Level: Extremely High)! Target Status: Breath Concealment 97.8%, Energy Fluctuations Suppressed to the Limit (Suspected Special Breath-Concealing Technique), Movement Pattern: Ultra-Low-Friction Ground-Level Glide (Snake-Like), Speed: Stable, Direction: Core Area! Weapon Scan: Dual-wielded alloy spikes (Model: Venomous Kiss-3), Compound neurotoxin residue detected on blades (Powerful Paralysis + Hemolysis)... Threat Assessment: Lethal!
The cold prompt echoed through the depths of his consciousness like a death sentence.
There were no footsteps, no breathing, not even the sound of clothes cutting through the air!
Only the Modifier's superhuman scan outlined a deadly shape silently "flowing" through the darkness!
That tangible, viscous, icy killing intent was like a cold viper, already coiling around Lin Xiao's neck from dozens of meters away!
It was here! The real viper! Even stranger and deadlier than he had expected!
Every muscle in Lin Xiao's body tensed to its limit in an instant, then relaxed like a spring compressed to the extreme.
Sweat slid soundlessly from his temple, soaking his sideburns.
The wound on his right shoulder and back gave a faint stab of pain under the intense tension, as if reminding him of the price he had paid the last time he brushed past death.
Don't move! Absolutely do not move first!
To hunt a viper, his only chance of victory was to wait for it to enter the trap and reveal its fangs!
The Viper's movement trajectory was like precise navigation. It avoided the sharp metal scraps scattered across the floor, skirted oily puddles that might make a sound, and glided toward the area Lin Xiao had designated as the trap—the space beneath the base of the enormous stamping machine—with a fluidity and silence that defied the laws of physics!
Now!
Lin Xiao's intent was like a red-hot steel needle, stabbing viciously into the ghostly blue screen!
"Detonate! Base trap! Target: Support Point C!"
Command received! Source Energy Points deducted: 0.03 (Preset trap activated)! Source Energy Points: -0.069 - 0.03 = -0.099! Trap triggered!
Buzz!
An even more intense dizziness and sensation of his soul being torn apart surged through him!
But in the real world, the change was even more horrifying!
At the instant the Viper's ghostlike figure slid into the shadow beneath the stamping machine's base—
Crack! Snap—!
A terrible, teeth-grating sound, like rotting wood breaking mixed with steel bars snapping, suddenly erupted from the base's southwest corner!
Support Point C, whose metal fatigue accumulation rate had been forcibly amplified by the Modifier, instantly reached its collapse threshold under the slight pressure of the Viper's body weight!
Boom!!!
The stamping machine base, weighing several tons, tilted and collapsed violently toward the southwest like a beast whose legs had been severed!
The massive metal block came crashing down with terrifying weight and speed!
Dust and rubble erupted into the air!
The smoke and dust instantly spread everywhere!
"Hm?" A faint muffled grunt, filled with astonishment and fury, sounded from within the dust!
It worked! Lin Xiao's heart tightened!
But then the Modifier's warning poured over him like icy water!
Warning! Target evasion successful! Speed reduced by 15%! Minor abrasion to right arm! Threat not neutralized! Target has locked onto host's position! Direct advance!
Damn it! The Viper's reactions and speed were terrifying!
He had actually avoided the vital point at the last possible instant!
Before the dust had even settled, a black streak darker and swifter than the dust itself shot toward the concrete pipe where Lin Xiao was hiding, like a death arrow tearing through the night. It ignored the swirling obstacles and carried bone-chilling killing intent!
It was so fast that only a blurred afterimage remained on his retinas!
So fast! Far beyond the limit of a One-Star Martial Artist!
Strength approaching two stars was fully revealed!
Lin Xiao's pupils contracted sharply, and every hair on his body stood on end!
A lethal sense of danger pierced through his entire body like high-voltage electricity!
Without the slightest hesitation, his body sprang out of the concrete pipe like a spring compressed to its limit!
He rolled desperately toward the rear side!
Sshk—!
At the instant his body left the pipe, a cold gleam carrying a pungent, sweetly fetid scent stabbed silently past the place where he had just been curled up, like a viper's fang!
The alloy spike sank deep into the concrete pipe wall with a dull "thunk"!
The hard concrete was pierced as easily as tofu!
The dark-green venom remaining on the spike's tip sizzled at the edge of the hole!
Cold sweat instantly soaked Lin Xiao's back! It had missed him by a hair!
He had no time to feel afraid!
His body was still rolling, but the five fingers of his left hand had already spread open. He reached toward the discarded oil drum marked with a corrosion symbol and grabbed hard at Drum D!
His intent was like a burning meteor, crashing into the ghostly blue screen once more!
"Detonate! Poison mist! Target: Drum D!"
Command received! Source Energy Points deducted: 0.02 (Preset trap activated)! Source Energy Points: -0.099 - 0.02 = -0.119! Trap triggered!
Boom—!
Drum D shook violently!
The drum itself did not explode, but the connection around its lid let out an overwhelmed groan!
A dense yellow-green smoke carrying a pungent, sour, rotten stench erupted like a poisonous spring from the gap around the lid and the tiny cracks the Modifier had deliberately enlarged earlier!
It spread instantly, blanketing the space within several meters!
"Hiss..." A breath filled with fury and disgust came from within the dust and poisonous mist!
Clearly, this sudden, intensely irritating and corrosive unidentified poison mist had caught the stealth-loving Viper off guard!
His forward momentum visibly faltered!
An opportunity! Riding the momentum of his roll, Lin Xiao slammed both feet against the ground!
"Surging Waves Art" True Qi erupted without restraint!
His body shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, racing desperately toward the depths of the factory, where a complex area was piled high with discarded machinery and oil drums!
Every step landed on scattered metal scraps and oily stains, producing shrill noises, but he could not care anymore! Run! Open the distance!
"Trying to run?" From within the poisonous mist came the Viper's hoarse, icy growl, like metal scraping against metal!
It was filled with rage at having been toyed with!
A black shadow tore through the yellow-green poison mist and pursued him like a parasite clinging to bone!
Although his speed had been affected by the poison mist and his earlier abrasion, it remained astonishingly fast!
The distance between them rapidly shrank!
Lin Xiao could even sense the cold killing intent behind him and the faint whistle of the spike cutting through the air!
He suddenly made a sharp turn and crashed into a pile of severely rusted empty oil drums!
Clatter—!
The oil drums toppled and rolled toward the pursuing shadow, trying to create an obstacle!
The Viper's figure swayed left and right like a ghost, effortlessly avoiding the rolling drums without losing much speed!
The cold spike in his hand rose again, stabbing straight toward Lin Xiao's heart!
"Above me! Steel beam! Break for me!"
Lin Xiao's soul nearly flew from his body! In desperation, his intent let out one final roar!
This was the last killing move he had prepared! It was also the most costly one!
Command received! Source Energy Points deducted: 0.04 (Preset trap activated)! Source Energy Points: -0.119 - 0.04 = -0.159! Trap triggered! Warning! Core stability rapidly declining!
Boom—!!!
A pain like his soul being forcibly torn apart, along with an immense sense of emptiness, swallowed Lin Xiao in an instant!
His vision suddenly went black, and the edges of his sight were instantly covered by thick, blood-red garbled characters!
A sweet metallic taste surged into his throat, but he forcefully suppressed it!
His body lurched violently, nearly sending him sprawling!
In the real world, just as the Viper's spike was about to touch the clothes on Lin Xiao's back—
Above them, the enormous I-beam whose rust and metal fatigue the Modifier had already amplified to the critical point finally let out an unbearable, scalp-crawling groan at Connection Point A!
Crack! Snap—!
The thick bolts instantly broke! The rusted steel frame tore apart like rotten wood!
Rumble—!
The steel beam, weighing several thousand pounds, crashed down like a collapsing mountain, carrying destructive weight and incomparable impact force. With a terrifying shriek that tore through the air, it smashed toward the two fighting below!
Its momentum was even more frightening than before!
"Bastard!" For the first time, clear shock and panic appeared in the Viper's icy voice!
This was completely a suicidal fighting style!
He no longer had the luxury of stabbing Lin Xiao. His instinct to survive instantly overwhelmed everything else!
He forcibly twisted his body, crossed the spikes above his head for protection, and unleashed astonishing power through his legs, blasting diagonally backward like a cannonball!
Boom—!
The enormous I-beam smashed into the spot where the Viper had stood moments earlier!
The concrete floor cracked and collapsed like paper!
Fragments of stone shot out like bullets!
The violent shockwave mixed with the dust and rust filling the sky, sweeping outward like a tsunami!
Pfft!
Although Lin Xiao had evaded ahead of time, he was too close and was still struck hard in the back by the violent shockwave!
The wound that had already split open tore with searing pain once more. His throat turned sweet, and he could no longer suppress the mouthful of blood that sprayed out!
His body was flung away like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into a pile of twisted metal scrap more than ten meters away with a dull boom!
Dust billowed, obscuring everything!
"Cough, cough... ngh..." Lin Xiao struggled to raise his head from the metal heap. His mouth was full of the taste of blood, his back burned fiercely, and his vision repeatedly went dark.
Deep within his soul, the exhaustion brought by -0.159 surged against his tottering consciousness like a cold tide, wave after wave.
The ghostly blue screen in his mind had dimmed to its absolute limit. The core's pulsation was faint and hurried, like a guttering candle in the wind!
Fine black cracks appeared once more along the edges of the pale-silver patterns!
The price was enormous! But... had he succeeded?
Warning! Target life signs detected! Energy fluctuations intense! Threat Level: High! Position: Edge of fallen steel beam! Status: Lightly injured! Rage: MAX!
The cold prompt sounded like a funeral bell!
Within the spreading dust, a figure covered in grime and looking somewhat disheveled slowly rose from the edge of the collapsed pit!
The alloy spikes in his hands still gleamed with a chilling light. Beneath the hood, his dark-green eyes burned with fury powerful enough to incinerate everything, like an evil spirit crawling out of hell. They locked firmly onto Lin Xiao struggling in the ruins!
"Little... bastard!" The Viper's voice warped from extreme rage, hoarse as sandpaper scraping against bone. "I'll... flay you... piece by piece!"
He took one step forward, and the rubble beneath his feet instantly turned to powder!
His speed was slightly unsteady because of his injury and fury, but his killing intent had become even more condensed and crazed!
It stabbed toward Lin Xiao like a tangible ice pick!
Run! He had to run! Fighting head-on meant certain death!
His instinct to survive overwhelmed the pain and exhaustion!
Lin Xiao suddenly bit through the tip of his tongue. The intense pain brought a sliver of clarity to his dazed consciousness!
He endured the agony that made his entire body feel shattered, crawling out of the metal heap with both hands and feet. He desperately rolled and crawled toward a narrow ventilation duct half-buried beneath a huge piece of discarded equipment deep inside the factory!
That was the final escape route he had prepared! It led to the maze-like old-city streets behind the factory!
"You can't escape!" The Viper's roar pursued him like a parasite clinging to bone, filled with murderous fury!
The cold gleam of the spike flashed through the dust, drawing closer and closer to Lin Xiao's back!
Lin Xiao unleashed his last bit of strength and lunged toward the pitch-black ventilation opening like a moth rushing into flames!
At the instant his upper body entered the duct—
Sshk—!
A bone-chilling pain suddenly tore through the outside of his right calf!
The Viper's spike had finally caught up to him like a viper's fang!
Although Lin Xiao's lunge had allowed him to avoid the vital point, the sharp blade still cut deeply through his flesh!
The dark-green toxin instantly entered through the wound!
"Urgh!" Lin Xiao let out a muffled cry of pain, feeling his entire right leg go numb in an instant, as heavy as if it had been filled with lead!
A searing heat and icy numbness surged from the wound, rapidly spreading upward!
Deadly poison!
He gritted his teeth against the soul-piercing pain and rapidly spreading paralysis, desperately crawling forward through the narrow, greasy pipe with his left leg and both hands!
The pipe was filled with a heavy stench of rust and mildew. Sharp metal edges repeatedly scraped across his body, leaving streaks of blood!
Behind him, the furious roar of Viper and the ear-piercing sound of metal being violently hacked apart came from beyond the ventilation opening!
His body was too large to crawl inside, so he was frantically destroying the pipe entrance!
Faster! Just a little faster!
Under the triple torment of agonizing pain, paralysis, and exhaustion, Lin Xiao's consciousness flickered like a candle guttering in the wind.
The light screen in his mind flickered weakly, while the core's pulsing came and went.
He was relying entirely on his tenacious will to survive!
The pipe seemed endless!
The sounds of destruction behind him drew closer and closer!
The numbness in his right leg had already spread to the root of his thigh!
Just as Lin Xiao was on the verge of despair—
Ahead! A faint glimmer appeared, like starlight!
The exit!
The flame of hope ignited instantly!
Lin Xiao unleashed the last of his remaining strength. Howling like a wounded beast, he threw himself forward on all fours, charging frantically toward that point of light!
Crash!
He slammed through a rotten wooden board blocking the exit and rolled out of the pipe like a cannonball!
The cold night wind and air tainted with the stench of rotting garbage rushed into his nostrils!
Before him lay the old city's back alley, narrow and filthy, crisscrossed with passageways and piled high with garbage and discarded refuse!
It was like a dark labyrinth!
"Bastard! Let's see where you can run!"
Behind him came the deafening sound of the ventilation pipe being ripped apart completely!
Viper's figure, resembling a demon and radiating a savage killing intent, lunged out through the breach!
Lin Xiao had no time to identify the direction. Enduring the poisonous paralysis in his right leg and the bone-shattering pain throughout his body, he dragged his nearly numb leg and desperately crawled and rolled toward the darkest, most complicated corner deep within the alley!
With every step, his numb right leg felt like it was dragging a thousand-kilogram weight, while the poison's searing heat tore at his nerves!
The number Source Energy Points:-0.159 flickered dimly in his mind, like a death warrant urging him onward.
Behind him, Viper's cold aura, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, clung to him like a parasite burrowing into his bones, locking onto him as it drew ever closer!
A desperate race for survival unfolded within this labyrinth made of garbage, darkness, and despair!
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