519 Round 15: Hold My Hand
Foreword:
If the female lead doesn't take her clothes off after watching the movie, the audience will feel cheated.
--Roger Coleman
[Part 1: Fear]
Gasoline was poured onto George Joshua's naked body, and he felt a burning sensation in his eyes.
The War King grabbed his ankle and dragged him to the sightseeing corridor, intending to throw him into the fresh air of the walkway so that the oxygen could fully mix with the fuel vapors to achieve the best combustion state.
"Glory"
Joshua whispered the War King's true name; he was on the verge of death, nearing a mental breakdown.
"Glory, please, let me go."
"Glory, like last time, fire all your bullets."
"Just kick me twice, that'll do. Then go back and collect your reward, Glory."
"The great War King!"
"I did nothing wrong. You can't kill me. No one in this world can kill me."
His eyes were irritated by the gasoline and turned blood red.
"Glory, you don't understand, you're still young."
Stimulated by the cold wind, Joshua became increasingly clear-headed.
"From small families, clans, and villages to large-scale jurisdictions, cities, provinces, societies, or nations."
"Without ugliness, there is no good; without good, there is no evil."
"Without classes, there would be no happiness or harm."
"Glory, can't you feel it? I am just an incarnation. Without the great collective karma of all living beings, how could I have been elevated to such a high position?"
"I am innocent! I am a victim too!"
"Please let me go."
A fierce kick is the best answer.
--The War King raised his leg and kicked a soccer ball, unleashing a torrent of gunfire from the Black Immaculate chamber.
The fast-burning propellants in the heavy warheads malfunctioned, appearing to become less reliable in the damp, cold weather.
The bullet's force weakened, ejecting from his ankle and squeezing into George Joshua's head.
George's head was buzzing. The kick had flipped him over, leaving a perfect bright red circle on the floor of the observation deck.
"Glory, hehehe."
He smiled, a mixture of pain and triumph.
"I told you, you can't kill me."
In Your Name is still working.
The War King took out his lighter, but couldn't get it to light.
The flame that shot out from the lighter's wick was immediately extinguished by the scattered raindrops. This incredible "luck" took meticulous care of George Joshua. Like the protagonist in an action-adventure movie, he always managed to find a way out in all sorts of crucial crises, even if it meant excruciating pain, he would keep living.
The War King simply ordered Fragrant Dream to pull over two steel bars, strike them together to rub the iron rods, and use the high temperature of the metal to ignite the gasoline.
George said weakly, "Glory, give up."
"Bullshit!" the War King cursed. "You say you're innocent? It's all the city's fault? It's society's fault?"
She gripped the scorching stick tightly, and with her left hand, she plunged the stick into George's abdomen, instantly igniting flames!
Amidst George Joshua's agonizing cries, the War King cursed viciously—
"--You heartless piece of shit!"
"Have you ever thought about how many people have died because of you! When you were doing business with Dongfang Hao, did you ever think about how this old father's son died?!"
"Why can you say with such a clear conscience that this is just an exchange of interests! And has nothing to do with any blood feud! You are innocent?"
"How many militia members have gone from being heroes protecting their communities to greedy parasites? How many brothers in the same band have turned against each other over petty gains?"
"You say you're the company boss! You just open and close your mouth, issuing orders! You're not the one doing the work!"
"Your hands have never been stained with blood? Huh? Is that how you're going to explain yourself? Are you trying to absolve yourself of guilt?"
"You're full of righteous indignation and morality! Is the whole city filled with your good deeds and kindness? You turn potential criminals into criminals caught red-handed! You let kids dream of becoming monstrous, man-eating monsters!"
"You turn women into my likeness! And then sell them into brothels? You call that fulfilling a dream?! Who do you think you are? A K-pop empire? You create plastic surgery based on a template, claiming these girls are the new force of women, the role models? And then send them to Crazy Horse to dance strippers to realize their life's value?"
"Fuck you! George Joshua!"
"A piece of scum like you should be put back in your mother's belly! If I had a time machine, the first thing I'd do would be castrate your father!"
Glory's attacks are just as ruthless as her words.
--The second red-hot iron rod was plunged into Joshua's throat. The gasoline came into full contact with the scorching iron rod, and an explosion occurred in an instant. The sudden surge of scorching air caused the iron rod to be ejected.
Even the screams ceased; George's flesh was rapidly melting away, revealing his stark white bones.
But he still didn't die.
Burning at the stake couldn't kill this beast; instead, it made him even stronger!
A pair of broken wings, still attached to bits of flesh, transformed the angel of the Madness Butterfly into a bright red cross.
Because of the stinging and tearing sensation from the high temperature, he almost curled up like a shrimp, his hair fell out, his skin dissolved, and his muscles carbonized, but he still didn't die. At the moment the flames rose, the powerful holy fire seemed to be quickly eliminating the effects of the Destroy Spirit Ammunition.
The First Seal protected George Joshua, though it couldn't withstand the damage from the flames, but Heaven's Will was rapidly healing George's brain damage.
He looked like a blackened corpse, but the power of his soul seemed to have returned to his body! All because of this fire! It brought George Joshua back to his peak condition!
He couldn't wait any longer; he had to kill Glory! He had to completely destroy the most shameful stain on her life, the most powerful inner demon!
A blood-red skull leaps out from the rotting corpses!
George Joshua was completely unrecognizable; his face hadn't fully grown back. Under the influence of the psionic energy in [Unmanned Zone], it had become supple and elastic again, and even his bones had turned into jelly!
"I'm going to blast you to smithereens, Glory!"
The two withered arms had hardly any healthy flesh left; the muscle fibers were still intermittently regenerating. They twisted into a sharp drill, attempting to break through the defenses of the Flash Butterfly Armor and Fragrant Dream through the spiraling force released by the twisting of rubber bands.
The suddenly enlarged red rubber block transformed into a deadly weapon; Fragrant Dream and War King almost simultaneously gripped George's skeletal arm, until the ferocious drill returned to its original form—
"--They took it?! They actually took it head-on?!"
George Joshua was shocked. This was his full power, a drilling attack exceeding 12,000 revolutions per minute in an instant, which this woman had actually stopped with her soul power and her palm?
Calm down! Calm down now!
He said this to himself--
"Calm down, George! You need to calm down. Don't be afraid. Don't let fear control you!"
This woman can't kill you! Her attack range isn't that wide! You've evolved! You've escaped Gate of Hell once again! You'll definitely find a way to defeat the War King!
A powerful fist slammed into George's skull. He calmly manipulated the muscles in his face, and his rubber skull suddenly deformed. His originally round head made way for the fist, turning into a C-shape, and all the features of his face shifted to the other side.
The War King's full-force punch slammed into the platform of the sightseeing gallery, instantly shattering the laminate into splinters of wood. A pungent smell of blood emanated from her cut-resistant gloves. Because of this furious blow, Glory had even injured herself, unable to pull her arm out of the platform immediately.
"I dodged it!" George laughed excitedly. "I've grown! Glory! A good teacher makes a student stronger quickly! A good woman makes a man grow up! Hahaha, I have to thank you even more."
Suddenly, a strange and loud bird call rang out—
--The voice echoed in George Joshua's ears.
Glory should have pulled back her fist and prepared to launch another attack after missing her first strike, but the round didn't seem to be over yet.
George's C-shaped face suddenly developed several cracks, like spiderweb-like cracks spreading across his face from a broken platform, and even his third mark could not protect him.
His face felt numb and tingly, and his ears were stimulated, causing his newly grown outer ear to spurt blood. He was terrified, turning into a flexible, boneless snake, and suddenly slithered to the side door of the corridor leading to the sailors' quarters, clinging to the doorway with a deathly pale face.
Beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared on George Joshua's face; dizziness had taken over his limbs.
"What kind of evil magic is this? What kind of evil magic is this?!"
As his skin rapidly regenerated, his eyes returned to normal, and he regained his sight, George was subjected to this strange attack. It wasn't some kind of psionic damage, nor was it physical damage from a punch!
Blood vessels were rapidly spreading across the side of his right eye.
"What kind of evil magic is this?! Why?"
He couldn't understand why the rubber body, which was originally impervious to bullets and Unmanned Zone and immune to most gunfire, was no longer effective at this moment.
Glory pulled her arm from the platform, and her Flash Butterfly Armor came undone from the strange and brutal punch.
--Her arms were covered in bright red scars, which didn't look like the injuries from smashing the wooden platform at all, but rather like cuts from knives and swords.
"George Joshua, this is my Pankrasin."
Beowulf, the Wolf King, instructed Xue Ming the most basic combat stances and the use of elemental energy.
The Peacock King, Andre Anfu, taught Xue Ming how to conceal his aura.
From then on, the most difficult thing about the monsters in the Royal Court area was that they were "unkillable," or it was very difficult to completely incapacitate them in a short period of time.
These teachers acted like live targets, giving Xue Ming a completely new understanding of Hunwei's destructive power and offensive methods.
George Joshua's head went numb, his face was dull and swollen, and the wound suddenly widened from the inside out, with a deep, bone-revealing gash splitting open on his cheek. Under the influence of [Heaven's Awaits], it continued to heal, transferring the damage to the psionicists on Cruise Ship Two.
This attack was like having a dozen or so large and small explosives planted on George's face; the wounds exploded from the inside out!
The speed and power of the Fragrant Dream are superb, and it possesses incredible precision. This Pankrasin fighting technique uses irregular sound waves to apply pressure. High-frequency ultrasound and extremely low-frequency infrasound waves are simultaneously injected into the enemy's body along with the punch, which can produce a terrifying destructive force from the inside out.
It doesn't tear apart enemies like the pressure difference of bullets or swords, but rather the "vibration" of different frequency bands of sound—almost breaking the links between molecules at the microscopic level.
Therefore, the wounds on George's body were like cuts made from the inside out by swords. The nightingale-like cry just now was a note that burst forth when Fragrant Dream used Pankrasin combat techniques—a note that also contained multiple sound wave bands that humans cannot hear.
The first thing it injured was Glory's arm.
--The notes of different frequencies caused very serious lacerations on the War King's arm. She had to be close to a state of unity between body and soul in order to control her soul power and guide her spirit to complete this extremely destructive Pankrasin combat technique. This was also the first time she had used this move, "Seven Wounds Fist," as a female character.
It was so close. If that punch had landed squarely on George Joshua's head, the game would have been over. Joshua's skull would have exploded completely, inside and out.
At this moment, she could still raise her right arm and clench her fist to strike, but she certainly wouldn't be able to hold a gun and fire it as well as she was at the beginning.
Just now Fragrant Dream said that George Joshua possesses a strange psychic power, causing all attacks targeting the hypothalamus to miss. Glory dared not use Pankrasin's killing move lightly. Unexpectedly, at this crucial moment, even burning at the stake couldn't kill this bastard; instead, it allowed him to regain his Soul Might superpower.
George Joshua was completely terrified.
He had never seen anything so bizarre. What was Pankrasis? He seemed to have heard of this fighting technique in some ancient texts. Philosophers like Socrates had practiced Pankrasis. It was the progenitor of fighting techniques, and it was said that the martial arts of the founder of Buddhism also originated from this "total power," which later evolved into traditional martial arts in China.
After Jiang Xueming learned this technique, which was almost self-harming and could injure the enemy, he hadn't had time to render it harmless. Perhaps if War King were given a little more time, this terrifying ultimate move could be used as a basic attack. At the very least, he could still deal damage while using Universal Elixir.
At this point, Joshua degenerated into a wild beast.
The destructive power displayed by the War King exceeded his imagination. He felt his body lose its balance. This terrifying musical attack pierced his ears, causing his cochlea to bleed, and grazed his soft and fragile nerve center. If it weren't for his burst of Inspiration, which allowed him to grasp the C-shaped brain's evasion method in a split second between life and death—he would already be dead!
In Joshua's right eye, the whole world turned blood red. The destructive force of the strange punch had caused him to lose part of his vision. This damage had lasted for more than ten seconds, and as long as the strange bird call in his head didn't stop, it would continue to explode brain cells.
"Run! Run away! Joshua! Run away!"
Just like his experience years ago, George made his choice again. Like a wild lion that hears gunfire, he tucks his tail between his legs and flees in terror.
The silent standoff between the two finally ended.
Glory clutched her battered right arm, panting heavily, trying to regain some energy.
George Joshua transformed into a snake, burrowed into the galvanized water pipe, and dashed toward the deck, disappearing in a flash.
The War King wanted to continue pursuing --
"Brother! Help me out!"
Jiang Bailu's younger sister's voice came from the side of the boat. She had been clinging to the lifeboat for a very long time, and she didn't want to fall into the icy river. She could only wait for her older brother to be able to help her.
Glory quickly found a rope from the sailors' dormitory and threw it down, completely ignoring her younger sister. Following the guidance of her spiritual pressure, she relentlessly pursued the enemy towards the main venue!
When she returned to the main venue, she saw George Joshua had reverted to his original form and had just rescued Manager Todd. The two scoundrels were even thinking of helping each other out, hoping to escape to another place and make a comeback.
George Joshua turned pale. When he saw Glory chasing after him, he was like a little devil seeing the Black and White Impermanence. He abandoned Manager Todd and ran for his life.
Glory chased after him, kicking Todd hard before leaving. The heavy bullet failed to work again—the ammunition was completely unreliable after being soaked in water!
Todd was sent flying by a vicious kick and hung the chandelier back up.
Glory chased after them out of the cabin and into the street.
Todd finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"--Heh heh, silly woman."
The "general manager's" face changed shape, and the writhing rubber mass transformed back into the likeness of George Joshua.
Just now, Joshua used his Soul Power to transform Todd, the bloodline unit, into his own likeness. The real Todd, relentlessly pursued by Glory, is trying to take this deadly threat away from the Chairman.
"Just use this face to survive for now," Joshua said, flipping off the chandelier and crashing onto the gambling table in the center of the hall. "I gave Soul Power to Todd; he has my blood and my psychic abilities. Glory will never recognize him."
"Is this the Chinese military strategy? Substituting one thing for another! It works! It really works!"
Joshua transformed back into Todd, becoming a loyal servant.
"We need to find a way back to Cruise Ship Number One and leave this place. The nameless War King has come here, and soon there will be more reinforcements and more VIPs heading to Lieyang Fort."
"George Joshua! You've escaped death once again!"
He carefully stepped over the doorway piled with corpses and looked out into the pitch-black world beyond the yacht.
"It's over! You survived!"
The real Manager Todd is getting further and further away, and the psionic tide is getting weaker and weaker.
"If the female lead doesn't take her clothes off after watching the movie, the audience will naturally feel cheated."
As George Joshua spoke, his eyes turned fierce and ruthless.
"--Why don't we take our anger out on Jiang Bailu?"
[Part ② - Unforgivable]
The moment he uttered those words, the noise of the helicopter made him abandon the idea.
An AH-IG attack helicopter descended from the dark, hollow dome; he recognized it as equipment belonging to the capital.
The governor had already received the notice to take armed control of Lieyang Fort, and at that very moment, a rappelling man descended from the helicopter.
This burly man made George Joshua abandon all his ideas, including his original plan to take Jiang Bailu hostage to vent his anger. Bu Liuxing descended from the sky with the full set of equipment from the nameless man, landing in front of the long ladder of the third yacht.
Before the meteor could even spot the "survivor" —George Joshua— he took the initiative to cry out for justice, begging the anonymous man to save his life.
"Help! Help, hero! Help!"
Joshua, with Manager Todd's face on his head, tumbled and fell down the yacht's long ladder, finally landing hard in front of Meteor.
This fellow recognized the titanium-plated wolf emblem on the helmet of the General of Tears, and naturally knew that there was such a kind-hearted person among the nameless ones.
He tried to grab Meteor's leg, but Meteor immediately used his gun to force the suspicious "survivor" away.
George Joshua used all his intelligence to figure out a way to escape.
"General of Tears! It's General of Tears! Please save me! I beg you! I'm just a waiter, I work at the casino! Can you help me?"
Meteor calmly asked, "Are there any other people on the yacht?"
George knelt on one knee and crawled forward one step, while Meteor retreated one step.
He raised his hands, feigning innocence. "I don't know, I don't know! I only know that a lot of people died! Why am I so unlucky to have this happen to me! I just want to live! I don't care about going to jail! I want to live! I want to live!"
Inside the Meteor's multimedia helmet were photos and information on the main suspects. This Manager Todd, appeared harmless and was an assistant to the mastermind, George Joshua.
"Calling militia units and assault teams, traffic control in area FDH010. An unidentified person has spotted a suspicious suspect on cruise ship number three. You handle this person; I need to go aboard to check."
With that, Meteor stepped on "Manager Todd," handcuffed the suspect, and then continued exploring the cruise ship.
George Joshua obediently surrendered.
--The warband was about to take him away, and the world returned to its familiar, reassuring state.
It seems the assets on Cruise Ship No. 1 are doomed, but it doesn't matter. A few more months will pass, and as long as Lieyang Fort remains in this wretched state, he'll be back sooner or later.
It wasn't until George Joshua sat in the vehicle transporting the criminals that the warmth gave him a feeling of returning to the human world.
Abandoning the old crew on the cruise ship and making a comeback is not shameful; on the contrary, it is a legendary story that countless men dream of and marvel at.
He could feel the divine power of "[In Your Name]" gradually fading, about to exceed its range.
Crossing the southern district of Westbrook and arriving at the border of the Northland Granary District, [Heaven Awaits]'s soul power is also beyond range. These seals can be discarded at will, and companions are tools that can be abandoned. Life-protecting magic treasures can buy time at this moment and create space for him to escape.
He is now safe. Nothing can harm him. The warmest and safest place in the entire Lieyang Fort is the prison, which possesses the divine power of [Unmanned Zone]. No cage can confine him, George Joshua.
The north-south border is a railway line, and the officers on duty happened to stop their vehicle in front of the railway to ask some questions.
"Hey, Manager Todd." The officer on duty in the militia vehicle looked at "Todd" with a suggestive gaze. "I'm saying, once we cross this street, I'll have to hand you over to the special agents at Guangling Zhixi. I can't bear to part with you—if you give me some money, I'll let you go, how about it?"
At this moment, George Joshua was deeply surprised.
"You recognize me?"
The officer on duty was none other than Brother Fosis, who had just arrived from the Lilan Avenue area of Northland Granary jurisdiction to provide support. He had wrecked his own patrol car, and the trunk had been pried open. If his superiors found out about such a serious incident, he would lose his job. He had to find a way to make amends, so he took the initiative to take on the task of escorting Manager Todd.
"Who doesn't know you? Yesterday you even asked my boss to help you get some aphrodisiacs for that guy Radish, and what happened?" Fosis looked helpless, then cursed viciously, "That damn traitor! He tried to drown me in the river, broke into my truck, and stole the goods I worked so hard to transport! What kind of justice is this! Is there no law in Lieyang Fort? Manager Todd, you be the judge! I've been working for you wholeheartedly!"
George Joshua, embarrassed, asked, "How much money do you want?"
Fosis chuckled, "Just a little extra for your trouble, five thousand will do."
This money stumped George. To be honest, he wasn't short of money, but he didn't have any cash on him. He snatched Todd's clothes, but the HC card required human pheromones for identification, so he couldn't transfer the money.
"So, Manager Todd, you're not even willing to pay five thousand dollars?" Fosis's tone grew colder. "I almost lost my life to help you with this, and I'm about to lose my job. At least put yourself in my shoes and think about my situation!"
"There's a way! Yes, there is! There is!" George Joshua found it outrageous. Did these militiamen have no shame? They actually wanted to help criminals? And they even dared to ask criminals for money?
With a ruthless resolve, he transformed his arms into supple strips of cloth, and fiercely strangled Fosis.
--Without the support of [Heaven is Awaited], he felt only exhaustion and thirst, so of course he had to devour this human flesh that was delivered to his door.
At the border of the Northland Granary, George Joshua devoured the unconscious Fosis alive, first biting off his neck to suck his blood, then eating his flesh, sucking his bones, and chewing his hair, leaving nothing behind.
He changed into militia clothes, transformed once again into the face of Fosis. Without thinking too much, he prepared to drive to the Northland Granary to begin a new life.
The moment he crossed the railway crossing, he was immersed in the joy of freedom. Then he was violently struck and thrown into the air—
The locomotive grazed the side door of the Ford Explorer, almost tearing half of the vehicle apart. The engine was completely disabled, and the radiator and fuel tank exploded.
George Joshua had barely come to his senses when he realized he had been thrown out of the car and was being dragged along by the train for more than twenty meters.
Those few minutes of eating made him lose his mind, turning him into a wild beast. He never expected that at six in the dark of the morning, there wouldn't even be any signal lights, and the train would so recklessly cross the boundary line!
Was it yesterday's rain? Did the heavy rain damage the nearby public transportation signal transformer?
What the hell is this bad luck! Absolutely terrible luck!
George Joshua was in so much pain that he lost his mind. Without the protection of "In Your Name," it seemed that all the debts of goodwill he had incurred before were now turning into vicious curses and bad luck to be repaid.
He was unable to move for the time being, and without the continuous recovery power of [Heaven's Awaits], he could only rely on the holy blood within his body to regain his strength.
But the Ford continued to follow the train, crashing into the railway switch! Brilliant flames erupted in the distance!
The entire train's cargo compartments shuddered, and dozens of steel cables slid down from the open-air wagons!
George Joshua's eyes widened—he was utterly astonished.
No way?! I'm not going to die from this kind of unlucky and frustrating thing, am I?!
I clearly dodged the War King! I dodged the Guangling Zhixi! I dodged the General of Tears! I escaped crisis after crisis!
The steel cables lashed against the muddy roadside on both sides of the railway, carving deep trenches. The train immediately braked sharply, and, propelled by the powerful inertia, a large freight car slid off the flatbed freight platform.
--Its bright paint and gleaming steel teeth made George feel like he'd seen it somewhere before.
I'd only seen it once, and didn't remember much of it, but it looked very familiar. Due to the train's immense braking inertia, it lost the restraint of the steel cable and rolled towards George Joshua. It tumbled and fell sideways, slamming George hard into the ditch and creek beside the low slope of the railway.
A flustered little girl climbed out of the cockpit. She was Little Finger. Originally, it was agreed that Brother Meteor would be airlifted to support the battlefield under the governor's arrangement, and she, as a doctor, would provide medical assistance when Nameless ran out of ammunition and food. So, she was to be transported by land, but unexpectedly, this problem occurred halfway.
She looked thoughtfully at George Joshua, who had been turned into a human meat biscuit and was barely alive—she couldn't even recognize the innocent victim.
Feng Jiali muttered to herself, "It's all your fault! If you had listened to Tang Ning, you would have come with Brother Meteor!"
She immediately switched to Paul: "No! No! Thumb doesn't want us involved. If Uncle Mana finds out, he definitely won't approve. Besides, the car's overturned! This is the boss's precious car! We've gotten ourselves into trouble!"
He immediately transformed back into Feng Jiali, using his Soul Power [B·Side·B-Side Life] to slash the victim. Seeing that no one was around, she felt guilty and ran away as fast as she could, rushing to the front lines. She had no time to care about the life or death of this "innocent passerby," only hoping that Soul Power could save his life.
Three hours later, George Joshua will embark on a brand new adventure.
From the arrogant "he" to the beautiful and charming "she"—no one cared about this powerful lord of Lieyang Fort. Only a mangy dog, dazed and confused, crawled out of the mud, carrying a severed hand, and, guided by the warm and dry environment, snuggled into George Joshua's arms.
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone! The double monthly pass event continues until National Day!
Please enter me forcefully!