Act.13 Shine a Light · A Flash of Inspiration
Foreword:
Bad people obey out of fear, good people obey out of love.
[Part 1: Deathmatch]
The room was filled with wails and gasps for breath.
After losing half his face and being punched in the head by the spirit of the meteor, the Fly Man could no longer observe enemies with his single eye, and could not even judge distances.
His Soul Power requires precise long-range operation. If he cannot kill with a single blow, relying on a four-times-transformed inferior Morpho Butterfly to deal with the Feathered S272 will likely result in him being killed by a single punch in close combat.
This is not merely an insurmountable gap in terms of paper figures, but a fierce struggle he had to endure to become the Blood-Borrowing Monster.
He lay prone on the ground, trying to relax his limbs and allow his over-excited muscles and nerves to return to a resting state from the stimulation of adrenaline. He needed to rest for a while.
The White Lady within his body, working in conjunction with the Holy Blood, diligently repaired the damage to his skull. For an ordinary person, such an injury would at least leave them bedridden and paralyzed for several months, but the Blessed Holy Blood allowed him to recover completely within ten minutes.
Hunger was driving the Fly Man nearly insane, but his mind remained perfectly clear.
This loyal worker in the drug manufacturing workshop had endured various drug stimulations, and his willpower was inherently incredibly strong— Xue Ming once said an ironclad rule.
Combat is not about who has the greatest strength or the most powerful weapon, but about who has the strongest will to fight.
Once the will to fight is lost, even the most powerful giant will only flee in disarray, exposing Gate of Death neck to be slaughtered.
Previously, in the battle against the Blood Knights, the first thing Xue Ming shattered was the fighting spirit of the Lizard People's Militia.
At this moment, the Fly Man's fighting spirit was never defeated. Only for a brief moment when he came into contact with S272's spirit did he waver and consider running away. But then, with the blood that was spilled out, he became exceptionally determined.
Miss Stass--
--Please take a few more steps forward. As you said, this is our second round.
The Fly Man struggled to stuff his distorted, festering eyeballs back into their sockets, enduring excruciating pain as he tried to keep his heart above the wound so that blood could flow more effectively to repair the horrific damage inflicted by the enemy.
Almost simultaneously--
--Although Meteor shouted a battle cry, he did not rush forward directly. The staff in his hand contained the remains of Mingde and was originally intended to be a divine weapon for a finishing blow.
She could see it very clearly: the terrifying blood donor had scattered a ring of bright red fluid around her. The blood was extremely hot, completely different from human body temperature, and it seemed to emit faint steam even in the cold winter.
If the Heaven's Gate is Lawrence Hasben's sanctuary, then the Hand of Fate is the holy domain of the angel Fly Man.
If you step on these bloodstains or get close to this sticky, disgusting liquid, the [Hand of Fate] will probably attack immediately.
Its soul power is extremely strong.
--Little A Xing was lost in thought, not even having time to treat the cut on her cheek from the wolf mask embedding in it. Blood was flowing out rapidly.
The medium, which had seemed like cake crumbs, probably contained only a few milligrams of blood. Yet, pulled by the hand of fate, the dress slammed into the wall like a car accident. The wall cracked with the immense force, the explosion sounding like thunder and lightning.
Hasben Madison, I feel my strength gradually weakening.
--At this rate, when the effects of adrenaline wear off, I'm afraid I won't even be able to hold a warhammer steady.
I need your help.
Bluffing doesn't seem to be able to intimidate this guy!
The Universal Elixir is under the TV cabinet, in that little drawer.
--Thank goodness, it wasn't hidden in my skirt, otherwise the canned peaches would probably have shattered into ten thousand pieces along with this terrifying soul power.
There was no time to consider Hasben's choice—the meteor had to take her destiny into her own hands.
In her dazed state, the instant she took her first step towards the TV cabinet!
"Is this what you're looking for!?" The Fly Man's voice was hoarse and weak, yet he gripped the carpet tightly.
The once smooth blanket has now become a twisted and intricate path.
Buttons were reassembled one by one, and Hunwei's monstrous strength nearly lifted the TV cabinet off its feet—speakers, the TV, and other miscellaneous items scattered in all directions, leaving Meteor dizzy from the impact.
The Fly Man looked at the enemy lying on the ground. "You've been staring at the small drawer next to the TV. What's in there? I'm curious too—a gun? Or Universal Elixir? Probably the Universal Elixir."
A Xing couldn't move the cabinet door no matter what he tried; the buttons of [Hand of Fate] had locked these items firmly in place.
"I'm going to kill you," the Fly Man threatened. "I never expected your spirit to be so powerful. The Cult Leader misjudged you, treating you as a useless piece of trash. You and Glory both have unique skills, and you both carry clubs and radiant stones. You're not just a simple vampire master and servant who betrayed the Abyssal Railway —you're probably agents of the Ming De."
A Xing's body was still half stuck in the cabinet door and carpet. Her spirit burst out with a bright red light, and her arms smashed the wooden cabinet. Immediately, discs fell like sharp throwing knives, stained with the stench of blood in the air, and hit her head!
Listen to the sharp, piercing sound of the collision.
She tilted her head, greeted the King of Hell, and returned to the human world.
She was covered in cold sweat, staring at the sharp disc beside her ear—
"--Oh! Oh oh oh oh oh oh!"
The Fly Man grinned maliciously. "Regret it, S272! You could have lived, obediently eaten the cake, and I wouldn't have made things difficult for you—that punch you threw at me was exactly what killed you. Trying to kill a fly with your bare hands usually just gets you into trouble. Take a good look around you! My scalding blood is floating around the room like aerogel. Soon, even more things will be flying towards you!"
[Hand of Fate] -- Originally, in the Cult Leader, this kind of trick was like a clumsy performance by a juggler, and could not be considered a superpower of soul power at all.
Even its owner, the Fly Man, believed that everyone's spirit was different, and there was no fairness in the world—the statement that even a weak soul's power had its uses was utter nonsense.
However, the Fly Man never gave up their search for spiritual entities and their development and application of supernatural powers.
"Don't move. Please, Miss Stass, just lie there quietly." The Fly Man's skin began to recover, and the writhing muscles returned to their original state. His injuries would probably heal completely soon. "Don't cause me any more trouble—if you dare to struggle, maybe even more sharp weapons will pop out of the cabinet."
The middle-aged man growled in a low voice.
"What could it be? Cutlery? Knives and forks? The synthesizer in the stereo? More discs? Once it falls into my hands, it will all become a knife to smash your head! Your face is pale, it used to be rosy, the adrenaline has probably worn off -- the pain will immediately make you weak."
A Xing clenched her teeth, supporting the heavy counter with her two arms. Her spirit arms, along with her physical body, struggled for a pitiful amount of space. Once her chest and lungs were compressed and she could no longer breathe, death would be imminent.
"That's it, stop moving." The Fly Man finally smiled. "Looks like a rotting corpse—I love this kind of corpse, digestive juices flowing from the chest cavity, then slowly sucking out the mushy flesh from the organs. The putrid fluid is delicious! S272!"
A terrifying roar erupted from beneath the wooden cabinet and clutter!
"Wah la la la la la!--"
The crimson spirit arm swung out a punch with all its might; A Xing was going to fight to the death! There was no other way but to move forward!
The Fly Man's expression was both surprised and ferocious. "You dare to resist! Then so be it! The falling fragments will pierce your body at a speed of 150 meters per second!"
As the fists flew, bits of debris rained down from the heavy wooden cabinets and television box!
More disc fragments seemed to come alive upon contact with the blood gel particles in the air; their movements were disrupted by the force of the punches, and they were eerily frozen for a moment.
Then, as if drawn by the button, it suddenly plummeted to the ground!
A Xing's eyes were bloodshot, and only a pitiful, eerie roar escaped from his throat, "Waaaaaah!"
The slender spirit's arms swept almost a vacuum around its face! But it still couldn't stop those sharp shards!
She was stabbed right through the heart!
The plastic packaging of the movie discs, the copper wires and screws inside the television set. And much more, much more, like hundreds of buckshot bullets! Except for the vital areas of his neck and skull, A Xing's upper body and arms were almost turned into a bloody pulp!
Fly Man: "Fool! Die!"
Before the words were even finished, a gleaming silver blade was suddenly thrown from the broken counter!
That was Meteor's desperate gamble! It was her final counterattack from the brink of defeat!
By smashing open the table and freeing her waist, she almost twisted her back and flipped over, finally seeing the Fly Man's location. She drew the Iron Knight's light sword from beneath her and hurled the projectile at the Fly Man's forehead!
"Very nice!"
All that could be heard was the buzzing sound of metal striking the wall.
The Fly Man slowly got up, tilting its head to avoid the attack.
"Very good! Very good eyesight! Very good fighting spirit! Very good indeed! S272! But you forgot one thing--"
He pulled out his light sword and finally opened his injured eyes.
"To flies, you are far too slow, far too slow. It's a pipe dream to think you can hit me with a needle shot straight at me like this."
A Xing had lost all his strength.
The duel with the Fly Man lasted only a short twenty-odd seconds; this body is far too weak! Far too weak!
She clenched her teeth, and although she managed to open a small gap, it only freed her upper limbs and waist. Her thighs were completely stuck in the gaps between the wooden cabinet surfaces, perhaps even fractured or broken, and she couldn't feel her feet at all.
"You're only a teenager? Yet you've already ascended to Ming De Mingde will be heartbroken, extremely heartbroken, when he learns of your death." The Fly Man, carrying his light sword, remained hunched over, wary of A Xing's explosive spirit punches. "It seems your spirit's range is very short. Just wait, until the moment you lose too much blood and experience blackouts—I'll come and take your life."
The blood gel in the air was increasing. It was a well-thought-out arrangement by the Fly Man to deliberately cut his wrist with his light sword and continue bleeding as a precaution.
He felt a chill on the tip of his nose, and his expression suddenly changed!
A strong surge of psionic energy suddenly erupted from the wall socket behind the TV cabinet!
"There are more?! More enemies?! And not just you?!"
Golden lightning bolts shot out from the socket holes!
"Spark Queen!" Hasben, hiding in the study and peering through the crack in the door, finally made his move.
He was completely unfamiliar with his own spiritual power, and had barely even used his spiritual energy a few times.
--When Stass fought the Fly Man just now, the TV cabinet was positioned over S272, right in the middle of the road between the study and the Fly Man.
He wouldn't dare to use the Spark Queen to guide the electricity recklessly!
With a large number of electrical components piled up on the S272, there's no guarantee that these lightning bolts won't accidentally injure the little girl.
But now the air is filled with blood mist gel, and this water containing impurities becomes an excellent conductor!
In the blink of an eye! The scattered lightning bolts transformed into a tree-like pattern within the blood mist, all heading straight for the Fly Man's slit wrist!
It only takes tens of milliseconds! In the blink of an eye!
The Fly Man reacted almost entirely, and no countermeasure could be devised!
His arm was charred and mangled by lightning, and he fell over, crashing into the door and landing in the corridor.
[Part 2: Overcrowded]
Hasben knew perfectly well that 220 volts of voltage and current could not kill this Blood-giving Monster!
When the Spark Queen killed Francis Ferdinand, it almost used up the entire library's main power switch to pierce the monster.
He quickly caught up, just as he stepped out of the study.
The delirious Fly Man immediately began screaming and yelling, "Lawrence Madison! The Cult Leader! The Cult Leader! What are you doing here?!"
I hesitated for just a moment--
Hasben's mind seemed to be frozen, mistakenly believing that this Little Brotherhood leader regarded him as the Cult Leader, that his red hair, and that his face were Lawrence Madison himself!
Hasben hesitated for only a split second, purely instinctive!
The Fly Man's body slid swiftly through the corridor like an eel.
--A blood-red button remains on the elevator button in the corridor, its pull dragging the Fly Man as he tries to escape this hell.
A Xing yelled, "Leave me alone! Hasben! That son of a bitch is trying to escape!"
Hasben gritted his teeth, filled with grief, indignation, and anger.
How could he have fallen for such a smokescreen and delaying tactic?
If the Fly Man escapes and the real Lawrence Madison learns he's still alive, with the power of the Heaven's Gate, Glory, Stass, and even Madison himself would likely die.
"Spark Queen!"
He sprinted frantically toward the end of the corridor! But he saw the Fly Man already grabbing the trash can next to the elevator, about to stand up, his ferocious smile like a victor waving a flag.
"I didn't expect you to still be alive, Hasben Madison! It seems I was right, G117 is no ordinary woman. She didn't kill you, but you were so naive, so innocent—I could shatter your heart and cloud your judgment with just one sentence."
The lights on both sides of the corridor shattered simultaneously, and the lightning bolts that stretched outwards for about twenty meters before disappearing without a trace, turning into the sound of firecrackers exploding in the dry air.
This is the maximum range of [Spark Queen].
The Fly Man continued.
"Be angry, be furious."
"How interesting. Your soul power is beautiful and powerful, but compared to God's [Heaven's Gate], it's probably still a little lacking."
"Is it about creating lightning? No, no, no, no, it's more like guiding electricity. Without a power source—you'd be useless, wouldn't you? I need to see all this clearly and remember it all. This is a great achievement. The more the Cult Leader knows, the easier and simpler your death will be."
Even as he fled, this loyal worker continued to fulfill his mission for his God, guarding his paradise.
Hasben so angry his hair stood on end. He was only a few dozen steps away from this experienced and extremely determined opponent!
"You don't actually think I'd take the elevator downstairs, do you? No way!" Fly Man mocked the young and naive Hasben loudly.
Then you see the walls cracked, the elevator's metal sheets twisted, a terrifying rift torn open by the [hand of fate]!
Before the violent arc of electricity could even touch the Fly Man's body, the cunning fly plummeted down the empty shaft of the elevator shaft, crashing heavily into the deepest part of the shaft.
As he fell through the air— the Fly Man continued to mock Hasben.
"Try catching me on two legs, Ranger! That fucking hurts, that fucking hurts!"
The hotel has a ceiling height of 3.6 meters. For Blood-giving Monster like the Fly Man, a freefall from a height of 50 meters would only require him to eat one or two people to regain his mobility.
But it would take Hasben at least two minutes to run down the stairs into the emergency exit, even if he had to tumble and crawl.
Hasben glanced back, then ran angrily back to the door of the room, where he saw A Xing dragging her half-paralyzed body, slowly pulling out the Kevlar fabric and shreds from her body. Every time she pulled out a piece of debris, the little girl would cry out in pain.
"Don't let him get away, Hasben!"
A Xing has found the canned peaches and is yelling at Mr. Hasben.
Hasben didn't say much; as he rushed into the emergency exit, he felt his balance slip and his vision go blank.
"--Mr Hasben, this clause is not in our contract."
The persistent Canaanite life form has resurfaced and begun attacking the nerve center of the right arm.
"I've already promised to save this little girl's life. You should pay me now."
He lost his balance and had difficulty going downstairs. He was a typical right-handed person, and without his right arm under control, he couldn't run fast at all!
"Shut up! Listen to me! You have to listen to me! It's not over yet! It's not over yet! If that guy gets back to Hong Kong Bay! Even if the Fly Man makes a single phone call! We're all finished! Canaan Canaan!"
"But what does this have to do with me?" Canaan said pitifully, like a deceived victim, "I can take you far away, we can hide somewhere where no one can find us, I can change your appearance, I can even turn you into a woman--"
--With that said, Hasben rushed to the stairwell on the eighth floor, but when he inadvertently saw the metal door to the fire escape, he froze in fright.
His face had begun to change, as if the Canaanite life was demonstrating divine power in this way.
His facial features were slowly shifting, almost turning him into Jacqueline Sirius!
"I can replicate the appearance of every host. If you're willing, the Heaven's Gate will never find you. So why are you chasing after them? Why are you facing an enemy whose fighting spirit and combat experience far surpass yours? There's clearly a shortcut you can choose, a shortcut to happiness right in front of you, yet you foolishly choose to take the long way around?"
At that moment, Hasben's heart wavered.
--Because Canaan was right, but also completely wrong.
If it's just about survival, why would I come to Forty-Eight District!?
Bad people obey out of fear, good people obey out of love.
"No! No, no, no! No! Canaan! This is different! This is different! If I run away!" Hasben staggered, his back hunched, as he slowly climbed down the stairs. "My mother, and Glory, I... I can't let go! I won't forgive myself! I've become a Morpho butterfly!"
Canaan asked, "So you're going to break the agreement?"
"I'm entrusting my arm to you!" Hasben completely abandoned the defenses of the brainstem and spinal cord. "I have no regrets!"
Having lost control of his right arm, Hasben felt extremely strange. The hand no longer felt pain or sensation; it was as if it had been forcibly amputated from the shoulder, yet he was able to regain his balance.
Canaan said with a grin, "Then let's sign a contract."
Falling from the twelfth floor into the elevator shaft --
--The Fly Man waited contentedly, waiting for his spine to slowly recover. He scrambled awkwardly to the cubicle in the elevator shaft to retrieve some of his tactical supplies.
Before meeting S272, he went to the kitchen early in the morning, killed a helper, and hid the body in the maintenance passage of the elevator shaft and the electrical room, dividing the body into two parts.
He crawled slowly, like a maggot returning to its larval stage, and pried open the door of the electrical room on the iron plate frame.
I'm so hungry
I'm so hungry.
Damn S272, and Hasben too.
That's really something! This woman's stick and that light sword are truly impressive! If we presented them to the Cult Leader, they would be the best evidence! A gift to God!
If I recover, I will make sure the Cult Leader captures you all alive!
--Then.
I didn't wait until I finished thinking about it.
He looked up abruptly, like a frightened bird.
Glory had just mentioned the half-dead body of the kitchen helper--
--The cause of death of this kitchen worker is being investigated. The exposed spine and rotting flesh look as if the chef had chopped it up with a butcher's knife with terrible skill.
The Big Sister glanced at the Fly Man, and upon seeing Fly Man blood-stained Iron Knight's light sword in his hand, she immediately raised the Galaxy, pulled the trigger, and left behind a sharp seagull's cry.
"This place is already full."