Round 12: Dangerous
Foreword:
The right way to grow up is to stop thinking about getting old.
-- Ridley Scott
[Part 1: Gladiators]
Continue forward, continue exploring deeper into the maze.
The little fox Victor suppressed all his curiosity; he could sense a strange, psychic power at work in the shadows.
"Clark Sean, just now, you walked down those three steps. The concrete floor was so smooth and solid, and the red carpet was gripping your shoes tightly. How could you suddenly trip and fall?"
Clark fell so hard that his head was bleeding profusely, and the white downy hair on his face turned bright red.
Clark found it strange when he heard Mr. Victor ask this question.
He had fought countless street battles and engaged in fierce gunfights with criminals in the complex terrain of Lieyang Fort; no matter what, he wouldn't be tripped up by these stairs.
"Is my leg slowly deforming too? Have my bones turned into a clumsy horse skeleton?" Clark panicked, pulling at his trouser leg to see the outline of his shinbone, and then taking off his shoes to examine the muscle texture of his foot before feeling a little relieved.
Everything is normal; his bestial traits haven't spread to his flesh and blood yet.
The little fox perched on Clark's shoulder, patting the boy's face. "No, I mean, it's like there's a ghost causing trouble in the shadows—your Inspiration is absolutely terrible, you seem unable to sense the psionic tides generated when Soul Power is activated."
Different spirits will exhibit different Inspiration characteristics when activating their superpowers.
When [Hell Highway] takes effect, even the temperature seems to rise. Victor's soul power is very distinctive; in other words, his attacks are accompanied by striking light effects, and others can immediately recognize this terrifying spiritual pressure that manipulates minds.
Other spiritual powers, including those of spirits in the metamorphosis stage, often cause spiritual energy tides during their manipulation of things in the material world, accompanied by the physical phenomenon of a sudden drop in temperature.
A prime example is the gunsmith. He killed so many beasts that he didn't even need to turn on the air conditioner when he got home; the sheer killing intent emanating from him had a cooling effect.
"My eyesight isn't bad." The little fox Victor grabbed Clark's hair and steered Clark, the human wheelchair, forward. "The moment you rolled down the stairs, I could feel the signs of a Soul Power attack. A blue arm grabbed your leg—your ankle. If I remember correctly, it was your right leg."
Clark immediately crouched down to examine his right leg and indeed found a handprint on his ankle.
The handprint was so faint that it was almost invisible, with only some clothing textures and moisture condensing from the sudden drop in temperature forming a thick, wide palm print.
"Victor! What's going on?!" Clark had never been beaten by Soul Might before, and he had no experience dealing with spirits. Such matters were left to the warband's special operations team against spirits.
Victor told Clark to calm down, convinced that there was more than one malevolent spirit causing trouble here. This Human Museum had many psychic mediums, as well as tower spirits like the dwarf Anderson who resided in the puppets (similar to earthbound spirits, a form of existence where a lich uses a spirit core as a coffin). If it was just this kind of ghost causing trouble, there was no need to pay attention to it; as long as one was careful in everything, everything would be resolved.
"Follow the signs and keep going, Clark," Victor said. "Leave the rest to me."
Clark Sean asked nervously, "Is it really okay?"
"Although I have now become a beast, [Hell Highway] is still effective. It can fight against Spirit Calamity. You will become my warhorse and fight against the powerful monsters in the museum for me. Under the influence of the enemy's soul power, you have also acquired a physique similar to the calamity beast. I believe in your fighting ability because you are also one of the gunsmith's students. You know knightly combat techniques, right?"
When the topic of Knight combat techniques came up, Clark's mind calmed down.
Yes, it was difficult for this soldier to deal with the blood-granting unit with his bare hands before. Now he can feel his physical strength increasing dramatically. Power is surging in his body, and the scars on his face are healing. This is a vitality that no human should have.
"I suspect this tour is to let guests experience the power of the White Shark Association's blood-bestowing ceremony in advance," Victor analyzed seriously. "If the middlemen doing business with Joshua are adamant about not boarding the Madness Butterfly Sect's ship, then they can invite the Human Museum as honored guests—after experiencing this animal-creating magic, they might change their minds due to the sudden increase in physical strength. They might go from being purely wealthy human merchants to embarking on a new path of cult members. The right way to grow up is not to think about getting old, Clark. I don't want you to become that kind of person, but we need this power now."
The complex exhibition hall has only one connecting passage leading to the side room, which is decorated with paintings and ends at a meticulously decorated standalone wooden building, seemingly the entrance to the next area.
They had already seen most of the rare treasures in the main exhibition hall, most of which were spiritual catalysts collected from the mortal world. There were also quite a few living creatures, such as the basilisk monster on stage number two, which was a hybrid of human and animal rescued from the South Africa rainforest, and had even become a deity worshipped by a certain African tribe.
Victor was completely absorbed in searching for the characteristics of the psionic tide, and the sudden prank had vanished. It was as if a hapless little brat was watching you all the time, waiting for the moment you let your guard down to launch a surprise attack.
Nothing strange happened along the way. This, on the contrary, increased Clark's mental pressure. This invisible enemy was the most terrifying, precisely because it was unseen, it was omnipresent.
At this moment, Sandra John was also extremely annoyed.
After the initial successful activation of Soul Power, a small error occurred during the continuous casting of spells and incantations.
He couldn't curse David Victor to death.
This name is wrong! It's completely wrong!
Although his Soul Power also has a range limitation, that's how the target acquisition mechanism of [In Your Name] works. It requires a correct title that even the cursed person acknowledges, like the Purple Gold Gourd in Journey to the West, which requires David Victor himself to approve of the name!
The destructive power of [In Your Name] is extremely strong. The misfortune it brings can kill people, create natural and man-made disasters, and use all sorts of coincidences to inflict misfortune. Do you remember earlier? The [Modern Siren] that evolved after obtaining the Red Mountain Stone also had this terrifying computing power, and could complete the task of killing enemies through the evolution of a series of things.
However, "In Your Name" is not as sophisticated as "Modern Siren." It is like a rainmaking ritual, which requires the consent of the cursed person to carry out this act of killing. Without the true name as the key, the door to misfortune cannot be opened.
"Does David Victor not truly accept his own name? Why?!"
This strange change made Sandra John wary, so she changed her target for the curse to Clark Sean. Clark's sudden fall was just a prelude to the attack of "In Your Name." The Smurfs had completely locked onto the cursed man—the real show was yet to come.
[Part ②: Thelma & Louise]
Inside the cabin of cruise ship number three, a gooey ball of flesh burst out from the narrow passageway of the medical station!
He was George Joshua, beaten beyond recognition and covered in wounds, he was healing rapidly while being chopped and smashed by a scorching axe blade!
"Why?!" Glory exclaimed in surprise. "Why can't you die?!"
This was beyond Xue Ming's knowledge; it seemed that several psionic tides were simultaneously present within George Joshua's body.
The First Imprint's [Heaven's Awaits] granted George the ability to heal at an incredibly fast rate.
The Second Seal's Soul-Destroying Hand Cannon gave George the ability to shatter any spirit.
The third seal's [Unmanned Zone] is George's soul power, which allows him to withstand artillery bombardment, but he is not immune to high temperatures.
The fourth seal, "In Your Name," granted George incredible good fortune.
--Glory's fingers were clenched so tightly they were practically on fire. Every gun and every bullet in the Grand Casino of Cruise Ship No. 3 had been fired, all for various unfortunate reasons avoiding the beast's head, neck, and spine. The resulting partial burns couldn't destroy George Joshua's nervous system in an instant.
The fifth seal, [The Beast], is a bloodline balance given to George by Curator Damien Katz. Even though he has lost some energy and needs to eat while being beaten, as long as he licks a little blood from the floor during this unfortunate assassination attempt, he can immediately regain his energy and become a ball, being bounced around by Glory in the ship.
The War King gripped the fire axe tightly. Her strength was almost gone. She relentlessly pursued George, firing with all her might until her concentration wavered. She emptied all the bullets she could find on the scene, a total of 13,166 rounds. That was the entire stockpile of the more than 200 security personnel present.
Six barrels of her M111 were damaged, she changed weapons seven times, and ran out of pistol ammo. All that was left was this fire axe, which, after being baked in the communal kitchen, had turned into a golden-red blade at nearly a thousand degrees Celsius, but it still couldn't split open George's skull—she couldn't lock onto that head.
The phrase "There's something, but not much" seems to have become a joke.
George Joshua is not only good at things, but he has a lot of things to offer—as mentioned earlier, he not only has the greasy, sentimental, arrogant, and proud qualities of a domineering male protagonist in online literature, but he also has an unpredictable set of trump cards.
Years ago, this red-maned lion suffered a great loss at the hands of the War King. This time, he was well prepared and gathered the soul power of other psionicists. The Immortals that Glory was going to deal with were not as fragile as Pellegrini Tuan. She had to contend with several spirits at the same time.
The axe cleaved into George Joshua's fleshy mound once more.
To cope with these axe-like slashes, the cunning White Shark Association President deliberately inflated his body into a spherical shape, hiding his vital brain deep within his thick rubber face. Even if his face was charred, it didn't matter; as long as the first seal was still in effect, this attack would consume very little of his health bar, causing almost no pain or discomfort.
He was slashed and bounced back and forth in the narrow cabin before finally landing back on the ground, where he decided to fight back!
At that very moment! He could sense Glory's exhaustion—
--After fighting at full speed for over twenty minutes straight, this woman must be exhausted!
"Hahahaha!" George was overjoyed. The force of the axe blows was decreasing each time, which meant the opportunity had arrived. "The key to victory! It all comes down to who can last longer! Glory! I'm going to make you feel like you're in heaven!"
At this moment, George returned to his normal human form, even his last piece of clothing was gone. The continuous injuries had caused him to lose all his clothes, and his hair and eyebrows were burned clean. Like a lawless, insane freak, he grabbed a hand cannon and pounced with a howl!
The War King tossed aside his unbalanced axe and veered half a step toward the cabin passageway.
The moment the two drew close, the hammer of the Extinction Hand Cannon struck the primer, and the massive warhead spewed forth blazing flames.
George Joshua would never miss at this distance, and he looked at Glory in astonishment—amazing at the strange strength within this woman.
"Strong and powerful! So strong and powerful!"
Glory practically dismantled the kitchen counter. In the blink of an eye, the ballast platform in the cabin's communal kitchen, connected to a 20-millimeter-thick laminated steel plate, was torn off as if by a casual rip. Everyone says that in indoor combat you should find cover, but this woman actually moved the cover right onto her own face.
"Ah!!!--"
The Steel Heart and Laurel Crown emitted a powerful surge of psionic energy, Fragrant Dream and the original body roared together.
The hand cannon fired shot after shot, attempting to penetrate the armor and break through the bunker's obstruction.
The steel cat stomped out, and the alloy platform slammed into George Joshua's face, crushing him into a pancake. However, this level of impact couldn't cause him any real damage—he was essentially a lump of rubber, and compression and deformation were his forte.
In that instant, Glory rushed forward to grab the gun, trying to take away George Joshua's hand cannon. If this kind of Destroy Spirit Ammunition was also effective against George, then this would be a crucial turning point.
As she began her sprint, her leg, just lifted, was stopped by the thin rubber strip.
--Through the gaps in the platform, George Joshua was still able to move freely, using his limbs as rubber bands to tightly block Glory's escape route.
"I absolutely cannot let that woman get near me! If her fist touches me, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
Over the years, it's no secret that the War King's hands can instantly shatter an enemy's will to fight. Although the specific abilities of [Fragrant Dream] are unknown, any Blood-giving Monster touched by these two palms will involuntarily lose consciousness. The closer the punch is to the head, the stronger the disorientation effect.
Glory tried to touch George's rubber body with her palm and grab any rubber band to end the fight, but those nimble rubber bands were just too fast!
Her physical movements couldn't keep up with George's spirit at all.
"--SD! Help me!"
The moment the steel cat abandoned its protective stance, it went to lock onto George's dozens of rubber band tentacles. Its eyes flashed frequently as it quickly grabbed George's body and handed it to Glory's side.
This process was extremely bizarre. Fragrant Dream stretched these supple muscles, and when they were delivered to the War King's hands, these slender muscles became even smaller, almost as thin as a hair!
They scurried away, leaving streaks of sparks in the steel cat's paws.
I can't touch it! I can't touch it at all!
--unless.
These hair-thick pieces of flesh rapidly expanded, tightly binding Glory! Without the protection of Fragrant Dream, the War King was now firmly restrained!
The ribbon-shaped rubber band ripped through the War King's clothes and embedded itself in his flesh. Patches of crimson blood flowed down like a waterfall.
George slowly crawled out from the door-like platform.
"Hehehehehehe! Hahahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"
He laughed wildly, turned one of the rubber band arms, and pointed the hand cannon back at the War King.
"Glory! I'm the winner!"
Glory had summoned the Fragrant Dream back into her body, and her hand was tightly gripping a part of George Joshua's limb, but why? Why wasn't her psychic power working?
Why?
"You bitch! Open your dog eyes and take a good look! You stupid woman! This is specially prepared for you! My life-protecting dragon scale!"
George Joshua's sixth seal came from a scale of a mythical creature, a dragon.
He implanted these dragon-shaped features into himself; they were like fingernails, the stratum corneum of the skin, and armor that protected him from his physiological system.
Although it was only a small portion, George Joshua dared not disrupt the balance of the holy blood within him, so he could only use the most primitive method—skin grafting—to leave this life-protecting armor on his spine. These dragon scales were now wrapped in the rubber bands binding Glory.
They are almost transparent and colorless, with only some pink keratin fibers visible, resembling serrated barbs, layer upon layer covering the surface of the rubber tentacles.
If Glory couldn't get past these scale fibers, she wouldn't be able to touch George Joshua. This guy's understanding of his own soul power was terrifying. In the past six years, George Joshua's strength had increased rapidly. He had almost become a slime, moving his internal organs, changing the specific positions of his skin and scales, and could even move his eyes to the soles of his feet to observe his enemies—he wasn't this strong before.
"Here I come! ~ The little flying stick is coming! ~"
George spread his legs, revealing his weapon, ready to thoroughly humiliate his nemesis.
"SD!" Glory shouted in a booming voice.
"It has to be me again!" The steel giant cat detached from its main body and kicked the fire axe beside it.
The scorching axe blade struck the liquefied gas pipe in the communal kitchen, and the entire cabin was instantly engulfed in flames.
"Boom!--"
The No. 3 cruise ship shuddered slightly, and several mines in the nearby waters detonated due to the sudden shockwave, causing all the cruise ships in the main channel of the river to shake.
George Joshua could only see a golden expanse of flames before being blasted out of the kitchen by the shockwave and directly into the ventilation duct. His body stretched to almost twenty meters long as he was swept into the duct by the surging airflow, where he was about to be burned alive!
The second seal in his hand was already shattered, and the Soul-Destroying Hand Cannon had almost become a pile of scrap metal, with bullets being flung out sparsely.
A charred shadow emerged from the flames--
--The War King went blind in both eyes, her upper body was covered in sore flesh, her hair and eyebrows were burned off completely, and the ironware in the cabin turned into deadly throwing knives, slashing into her body, breaking four ribs, and almost penetrating her heart.
She was in so much pain that she almost lost her mind; her spine was almost broken. Fragrant Dream supported this strong body, dismantled the foreign object inside, and pressed the broken vial of the Universal Elixir hard against Glory's muscles near her heart.
This time, it was George Joshua's turn to let out a strange cry from inside the ventilation duct.
"Why! Why can't you die?!"
A huge crater appeared in the hull, Glory's skin regenerated rapidly, her bright red hair growing back.
The wind and rain at the pithead washed away the face of the War King. She tore off the dead skin from her neck, leaving her with only a few tattered pieces of cloth. Looking towards the riverbank, she saw the "Statue of Liberty" built by the White Shark Association —a scaled-down stone sculpture model, about thirty meters tall, and a landmark building of Lieyang Fort.
More and more blood-stained scraps of iron and steel littered the ground. Glory was almost riddled with holes from the explosion, but the pain seemed to have no effect on her. She had already conquered her own body. In battle after battle, in life-or-death trials, she was invincible.
The Steel Heart has completely cracked.
The rain extinguished the fire, and before the flames died down, Glory's bright red hair revealed the same sharp and terrifying look in her eyes as in the first round; she had come back to life completely.
"You haven't even gone to enjoy your blessings in the underworld yet, how could I bear to die?"