Vol·22 [JOURNEY]

The Atlantic Ocean roared.

Tiny particles of silver iodide tumbled in the clouds and were swept far away by the gale.

The sparrows burst open a storm eye; the angle at which the missile entered the clouds caused these compounds to scatter wildly within the clouds, followed by a torrential downpour.

Looking up from the docks of Portsmouth Harbor, where Masha Stuart was buried, a giant serpent seemed to writhe rapidly in the quickly cooling clouds.

This extraordinary sight is something that ordinary people have never seen or heard of before.

From Winchester to Chichester, all the residents of this heartbreaking road could feel the thunder and lightning in the clouds, and the cyclones created by the clash of hot and cold air slowly turning into <Tornado> at sea.

At this very moment, Jiang Xueming, far away in the ancient castle of South Sea City, had just pushed open the door of the chapel.

This is the prayer room for high-ranking nobles of the Rose Sect; the quiet room is completely empty.

Xiao Qi followed closely behind, raising his gun in a guard position.

Xue Ming had run out of ammunition. The two-hour-long battle had left him dehydrated and incapacitated, and his supply of Universal Elixir was rapidly dwindling. He only had ten small-dose 25ml ring needle syringes left.

She didn't know how many enemies were left; the number of enemies she had killed in her mind had reached 233. She didn't count the damage from grenades or C4 that she couldn't remember.

The two ruthless courtesans nearly wiped out over a hundred nobles and aristocrats in the castle. The number of top-paid waiters and servants serving the nobles and aristocrats was countless, as were the thirty-one retainers and business partners who were connected with them.

Now they've all died at the hands of Jiang Xueming and Bai Qingqing.

In terms of killing efficiency, Xue Ming personally killed nearly 600 targets within half a year, not to mention high-value targets— Mary Stuart felt the cold spiritual pressure from the Steel Heart, which is quite accurate.

Jiang Xueming is a born killer.

--Whether male or female.

--If you spread these kill counts evenly, it's not an exaggeration to say that Xue Ming needs to kill six monsters every day to get a good night's sleep.

Even high-value targets with Soul Might are nothing more than special combat units with high attack but low health in Xue Ming's eyes. As long as there is Gate of Death, there will definitely be a way to kill them.

Certain special soul powers, such as the [B·SIDE] of the little finger, do not provide a significant boost to combat ability.

Therefore, in Xue Ming's understanding, possessing soul power is not necessarily a good thing. To completely control, manipulate, dominate, and conquer it—just like conquering one's own body—is extremely difficult and requires very strong mental power to control and master this external avatar.

If one is not careful, when the Soul Power is subjected to a strong impact of sound and light, bombarded by the shockwave of a bomb, or punished by mental energy and powerful electric current, the moment it dissipates is also the moment when the Gate of Death.

At this very moment, in front of the altar in the Rose Chapel, there is a severed hand.

Xiao Qi immediately showed a disgusted expression, feeling that these vampire treasures were really perverted.

Xue Ming recognized Bai Qingqing's hand at a glance. "It's your hand."

Xiao Qi: "Huh?! Mine?"

Xue Ming: "Don't you even recognize your own hands?"

The palm had already shown signs of dehydration and shriveling; it had been soaked in preservative solution, Xue Ming could recognize.

Xiao Qi muttered to herself, feeling both puzzled and happy.

"I can't even recognize the hand, how could you?"

Jiang Xueming pulled Xiao Qi to his side, tightly hugged the girl's upper body, and was about to pull the trigger of his gun.

Flames spewed from the muzzle of ASH's gun.

The bullet shattered the altar's foundation piles, and a tripwire jumped out from the timber frame. After it broke, a torrent of flames erupted from the platform.

The explosion made 9527 instinctively pull Xue Ming into his arms.

Listen to the wood chips flying everywhere, the metal scraping past your ears, and the sharp noise of the steel helmet of the Flash Butterfly Armor outfit rubbing against it.

Xue Ming had several wounds on his body, but they were only superficial injuries.

Xiao Qi felt like she had been hit hard by a motorcycle, but her face turned ashen and she caught her breath in about ten seconds.

"Call"

Xue Ming followed the tripwire all the way and retrieved Xiao Qi's severed limb from the metal plate in the corner. She put the arm back into Xiao Qi's backpack.

"Take it with you."

Xiao Qi said disdainfully, "What's the use of this?"

Xue Ming repeated to himself, "Take it with you, it might come in handy."

Xiao Qi: "Okay."

Xue Ming continued exploring behind the altar, and could sense the presence of another pair of rings within the radiant stone.

The tripwire traps on the altar did not escape her notice. It was the keen intuition of a wild beast fleeing its predator and struggling for survival that made this perilous journey seem smooth sailing, with dangers turning into safety along the way.

Indeed, any wrong decision or wrong path would disrupt their kill order. In the castle's interior, which was sometimes spacious and sometimes narrow, and in this complex urban warfare environment, making a mistake was almost tantamount to death.

Behind the prayer altar, in a separate compartment of the Rose Chapel, there is a pool of blood.

This Baptism Pool was where Leah Balasson rested. She appeared to be about six feet tall, with a well-proportioned figure and thick, shiny dark red hair, all hidden under the bishop's hat of her divine robes. A few strands of gray hair could be seen at her temples, as if she had deliberately dyed them in an avant-garde style.

She looked to be no more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a gentle face and round almond-shaped eyes that gave her a kind and approachable look. Her pupils were the same color as her hair.

Her divine robes were designed for ease of movement, but they could not conceal any weapons.

At this moment, Lia sat empty-handed beside the blood pool, guarding the last secret door for the Blessed Mother.

She was the last Blood Prince in the Rose Sect to possess Soul Power.

Wait a moment--

Do you feel like you've missed reading tens of thousands of words?

So, if we count by the number of people, three princes died in Jack Martin's attack.

They died in bathhouses, in restaurants, in their mistresses' beds, silently in the black fog, without even time to react.

A prince harbored illusions, believing he could persuade the 406mm main gun of the Ironclad Warrior with words. He was blasted from a blood-soaked nobleman into a worthless wretch by the scorching shells, but was persuaded by the Warrior's main gun in a different way.

During the landing battle in the ship's cabin, a prince was grabbed by the ankle by Jack Martin and dragged back to the nightmarish ballroom dressing room, where he died from sixty-six sewing needles.

To deal with the prince's disgusting and eerie slime-like spirit, Jack dressed it in a shimmering silver chainmail as a costume, locked onto the prince's form, and finally killed it with a single blow using a meat saw.

Leah is the last fighting force of the Rose Sect.

She was holding a young boy, about half a year old, and was urging him to leave through a hidden door beside the blood pool.

"Hurry, Jiang Xueming is coming!"

"Mama Leah, I'm scared."

"Don't be afraid, I'm here. You'll be alright. I will always protect you, protect Our Blessed Mother."

"The monster is coming! Mommy Leah, will you come with me!?"

Leah gave the eight- or nine-year-old brat a hard time, cursing, "What the hell are you pretending for, Claude! You're forty-two! Get back in the secret passage! Don't cause me any trouble! If it weren't for your cute face, I would have..."

"Bang--"

The sudden burst of gunfire shattered the little boy's head.

9527 adjusted his gun to prepare for a sweeping attack and then moved on, but the Blood Prince was already prepared.

The impeccably dressed and agile Blood Princess bent over, a thick shield stained with blood appearing in her hand—it was her soul power, her armor and sword formed from her spirit.

"You killed my little Claude! My lovely little lover!"

Xiao Qi finished firing ASH's bullets and chatted during a break while reloading.

"Wake up! Young lady! He's already forty-two years old, you said it yourself—I was furious when he first walked in!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Xiao Qi continued to pull the trigger, providing suppressive fire.

The bullets struck the monster's blood-red tower shield as if they had struck thick bulletproof gel. Trying to bypass this eerie spiritual power was probably unrealistic; it had to be broken through head-on.

"Do you know what's bothering me, Leah?"

Xiao Qi strikes up conversations with his friends, trying to get the other person to talk and make them lose their strength to breathe and speak. This kind of trash talk is common, especially in less formal boxing matches.

"I thought this little kid was one of your pets, but look! If Teacher Victor had written this, it definitely wouldn't have passed The Sun's censorship! Right? I was just figuring out how to rescue a minor hostage, and you immediately tell me he's forty-two! That's awesome!"

Even after emptying the last magazine, the enemy's turret shield remained completely still, as if it were reinforced with steel bars and plates.

Heavy breathing came from behind the tower shield, like a loyal knight crouching before his position, finally getting a chance to catch his breath.

ASH hadn't run out of bullets; there was still one left in the chamber. After the intense, continuous firing, Seven felt her head buzzing, and her fingers gripping the foregrip were bleeding from abrasions—this gun was just too ferocious, but she liked it very much.

"My turn! You two little bitches!"

The tower shield in front of Leah changed shape, quickly climbing onto her body to form a set of dark red iron armor.

I'm going to crush you!

She pulled a four-foot-long, flame-shaped greatsword from the pool of blood, unleashing a storm of blood and gore.

Right now, at this very moment.

Xiao Qi's relaxed standby state tensed up again, and she fired the last bullet.

The 12.7mm heavy bullet struck the monster's knight's helmet, breaking the blood prince's neck.

Xue Ming had hidden on the crossbeam early on, waiting for his chance to strike, when he heard Seventh Brother complaining in the middle of the road.

"This guy's entrance animation is at least thirty seconds long! The amount of dialogue is infuriating, and the worst part is that you can't press ESC to skip it! My master and I both hate these kinds of bosses who ramble on and on without ever showing their health bar."

"Shameless and despicable scoundrel!" A distorted, grating noise came from the iron helmet.

That was Princess Lia's painful wail; her sixteenth vertebra was dislocated and deformed, but it was slowly recovering under the repairing and hammering of Soul Power.

"How dare they insult and hurt me with such filthy bullets that reek of silver!"

Hit by the heavy warhead, half of Leah's body fell backward, almost submerged in the pool of blood.

"Our Blessed Mother has shown me kindness! In the name of the Rose Princess, Lia Balasson will never back down! You cowardly rats! Get down here!"

A surge of ultrasonic shockwaves emanated from the iron armor, like a roar before battle.

In an instant, all the glass in the auditorium's display cases shattered.

The repeated resonance from the steel helmet aggravated Seven's ear injuries, causing her eyes and nostrils to bleed. She was in so much pain that she hid behind a cotton sofa in the audience area, and her limbs became unresponsive.

Jiang Xueming was hit by the sound wave and fell from the roof beam. He pulled Xiao Qi behind a sturdier marble countertop to hide.

Xiao Qi was still half asleep and kept complaining.

"I'm fine, don't pull me."

Xue Ming could no longer hear any sound. Through the broken glass of the display case, he could see the reflection of Princess Lia, who had transformed into a bat, her broad membranous wings covered with a layer of shiny iron scales.

The monster, menacingly, took out a large arrow, about the thickness of two fingers, from the display case. It was originally a ritual prop used to cut flesh and bleed newborns, but at this moment, the Blood Prince's large knuckles could not pull the trigger. He abandoned the gun but possessed a variety of extraordinary skills.

A recurve bow constructed from the spirits of the soul was thus formed.

Leah's voice turned hoarse and rough. "Hmph hmph hmph, feel the fear! Insects!"

The two people hiding behind the marble pedestal had just finished administering their medication when they happened to overhear this line.

As Xiao Qi raised her hand, she gestured towards the enemy behind the pedestal, giving them the middle finger.

Where did she learn all those lines?

Xue Ming tried to pull Bai Qingqing's arm, telling her not to be so reckless.

A loud snapping sound rang out as the bowstring ripped open! The arrow pierced through Xiao Qi's palm!

With a clean and swift break at the wrist, he plunged headfirst into the mahogany door of the display case.

The arrow blasted out billowing dust, scattering wood chips everywhere. The ritual bloodletting knife inside the counter was jolted off the table, nearly slashing Xiao Qi's face.

Seventh Sister smiled smugly, which was extremely despicable—she held the dull and dehydrated half of the severed arm in her hand, the hand was gone.

"Luckily, I had a backup plan."

Finally--

--In the fatal gap when Leah fired again.

Xue Ming tore the lion bone from Xiao Qi's waist, leaving nothing behind, and her blood-red eyes shone brightly in the thick dust.

A blue storm burst forth from the darkness!

The steel mace was folded into a long staff and charged straight at the large bat that had drawn its bow and arrow.

Life and death hang in the balance in that instant.

The pitch-black arrow flew off the blood-red steel string and was shattered by Xue Ming's blow.

Before the momentum of the staff could be fully exerted, the suddenly broken steel staff instantly transformed into a whip, striking Prince Leah upside down on the forehead.

At that moment, the BOSS's fingernails almost splattered the vampire's brains out.

From a distance of more than five meters, the stick was seen to have split into four sections again. Two fleshy hands held the white stick, while two spirit arms, shimmering with white light, held the black stick.

--The vicious whip nearly turned the blood bat freak into a pulp.

The moment the soul's power dissipated, Princess Lia glared fiercely at the enemy. She was forcibly pulled back from her bat form to human form, her jaw was broken, and half of her tongue was bitten to pieces by her own teeth, making it difficult for her to speak. She tightly gripped the Lion Boneless with her abdomen, while her other hand plunged into the blood pool, rapidly replenishing her vital essence.

"Such audacity! Such recklessness!"

The moment the weight of the stick in his hand changed, Jiang Xueming had already abandoned it and fled.

As Leah twisted her body and straightened her back, the hard whip on her abdomen was still emitting high-temperature flames and emitting foul-smelling smoke.

The long rope woven from the Green Lion's mane swung with the vampire's strong limbs, striking towards its original master.

Leah screamed in agony, while laughing wildly and arrogantly.

"An eye for an eye! A tooth for a tooth! Your weapon is good! Now it's mine!"

When the weak whip struck Xue Ming's side, it knocked her off balance and made her stagger. For a moment, her eyes glazed over, and a fist-sized hole was torn open in her flesh and clothes. Broken rib bones and burnt flesh gushed from the wound, and she rolled into the corridor with the force of the impact.

Lia found a moment to catch her breath, and with skillful muscle control, carefully removed the enemy's weapon from her abdomen, completely unafraid of the flames burning on the club.

"Jiang Xueming! You can't kill me! Behind me lies the blood pool reserves painstakingly collected by the entire South Sea City over many years! This is the divine power bestowed upon me by the Blessed Mother!"

She gripped the stick, but didn't know how to use it; she simply swung it roughly at the fleeing target.

"You can't beat me [JOURNEY]! I'm made of bronze and iron! I'm titanium alloy!"

Unarmed, Jiang Xueming remained silent as she ran around in front of the display case, using the marble corridor support pillars to dodge the blows.

"Your journey ends here. This treasure, capable of cutting through iron like mud, piercing my soul's power, and shattering my bones, I will accept!"

Before the words had even finished --

--A sound like a.22 bullet exploding burst from the air.

Eight throwing knives struck the vampire monster's eye sockets, almost converging in a line, shattering Leah's left eye.

"It hurts! It fucking hurts so much! Ah!--Ah!!"

The knight's armor once again enveloped Lia's body, and her soul power responded to the call.

The clumsy iron armor slowed her down, making her almost a sitting duck!

Leah had thought that as long as she wore thick enough clothing, these ritual knives used for disemboweling and bleeding wouldn't hurt her, but—

--Through the gaps in her armor, a dozen or so sharp blades pierced her heart like terrifying magic props.

When she used her only remaining right eye to observe the ghostly figures running and stopping in the corridor, the moment she lost the ability to focus with both eyes, she lost her sense of distance and her chance to fight back.

When she abandoned her staff, she wanted to open the tower shield again and be a loyal iron turtle for the Blessed Mother. Even if she couldn't defeat the enemy, she could at least use her body and soul power to hold them off.

In the brief second it took for the shield to take shape, four throwing knives pierced through the joints of her plate armor and struck her knees.

What she couldn't understand was--

--What kind of serial killer is this guy? What kind of jinx is he?

Why does this guy know more about the structure of human joints, the weaknesses of armor, and even about Leah Balassen's body than she does herself?

Even as her body lost its balance, Leah still clung to a sliver of hope.

As long as the tower shield can take shape, and as long as [JOURNEY] continues to function.

These rituals couldn't kill her with a bloodletting knife.

--These two intruders had run out of other options.

With the blood pool of Chaderton Fort at her back, she's an invincible force!

But the Blood Prince, hiding within the Iron Can's Soul Might, grew increasingly terrified—

--Because the pain of a blade piercing the body with a clanging sound doesn't lie.

Beside the display case in the grand corridor, Xiao Qi and Xue Ming worked together to throw over 1,200 bloodletting ritual knives at the blood monster. At that moment, Lia personally experienced what it meant to have excessive heavy metals.

Her rapidly healing body swallowed the blades along with it. These foreign objects repeatedly damaged her flesh as they moved with her muscles, and several small knives had already penetrated to the deepest part of her abdomen.

As the fierce and violent throwing knives repeatedly struck the gaps in the iron plate, pushing the knife handles blocking the way deeper, Leah was in so much pain that tears streamed down her face whenever she moved even slightly. The White Lady inside her was churned into clumps of sticky fluid.

Blessed Holy Blood

If this continues...

The Blessed Holy Blood is about to spiral out of control!

Without the regenerative abilities granted by White Lady, this physical body would likely collapse instantly.

Lia wanted to do something, but found her body unusually heavy. With one hand holding the shield and the other sucking blood from the pool, even straightening her back was a luxury. Unconsciously, she raised her head, trying to observe the situation from the edge of the tower shield.

Listen to the whooshing sound of the throwing knives!

A barrage of cold light shone on the gilded edges of the blood pool, and the knife struck the alloy platform, which was soft on the outside but hard on the inside, and bounced off from behind Leah.

The unpredictable and insidious trajectory of the bullet caught Leah completely off guard.

At that moment, her body stiffened, and her spinal cord was severed in two.

The tower shield vanished, the soul's power dissipated, and consciousness departed in the instant—

--This prince with blood saw a four-armed Asura from Eastern mythology.

The woman was covered in blood, and her two fleshy palms were covered in small knives.

Magicians or jugglers typically carry six or eight knives.

This terrifying and bizarre fiend had three small knives between each of his fingers. His nimble hands were like a special tool tray for holding knives, holding a total of twenty-four knives, like an iron peacock spreading its tail feathers.

The two spirit arms held steel maces high, ready to fall at any moment.

Her once jet-black short hair was now stained dark red with blood. The woman's eyes showed no joy or sorrow, revealing no emotion whatsoever, only a surging, icy fighting spirit.

The horrific wound on her right rib hadn't been treated yet. From one side of her sternum, you could see that beneath the charred flesh, some of the capillaries in her lungs were still pulsating with each deep breath.

Leah Balasson uttered her last words before she died.

"It's so beautiful."

The sticks fell along with the thunder outside the window!

With a single blow, the freak's bloodsucking arm was shattered, bone and all, and the once calm blood pool was shaken into ripples by the ferocious strike.

What followed was a cruel and cold-blooded execution.

--The blade, falling along with the rain, pierced Leah Balasson's other eye and plunged into her forehead.

Xiao Qi quickly caught up and took a stick from Xue Ming's spirit arm.

The two of them worked together to begin pounding the still-rigid meatball.

Seventh Brother is roaring!

Your journey has come to an end!