She Was Such a Disgrace

"Didn't you realize?" Billy was completely bewildered.

Su Ling: "Really, I'm forty years old—can you be a little more understanding?"

"But...he..." Billy hesitated, looking at the still-bleeding corpse.

Su Ling explained, "High attack speed, fast attack, and decent accuracy don't mean I can see this guy's flying sword clearly."

"He just died like that?" Billy still couldn't understand. If this VIP could control her terrifying output, perhaps they could pry some useful information out of the captain.

After all, Baibei Port is very close to the Aizong Mausoleum, both within the territory of Daoheng County. The local officials and soldiers must know something—and judging from the fact that this fish-man has very serious blood-related characteristics, with many eyeballs growing on ectopic limbs, it must be a low-level cadre of the Guiyi Sect.

"You have absolutely no intention of staying."

Su Ling shook her head. "Sorry, I can't do that. I killed him with a single sword strike. There's no other way; in this situation, it's either him or me—do you think a duel between experts has to involve exchanging dozens of rounds of soul power? I don't have the gunsmith's escape ability, nor do I have that kind of space to maneuver."

"These weapons were sent by the enemy."

She raised the sword in her hand, the weapon of the merfolk's banner.

This fine iron short sword, subjected to immense force, was slashed repeatedly at the four limbs of the flag officer under Su Ling's urging. With a slight shake, it broke into three pieces.

"There's no chance to strike a second time."

Discarding the broken copper and scrap iron in her hand, Su Ling took out Mingde's remains from her carrying bag, along with the dragon-headed staff of the Gate of Wonders, a titanium-plated steel strip that resembled a god-slaying whip and a ruler for measuring the heavens.

"Little mouse, tell me, what's the use of this thing?"

Finally, the interrogation began. Su Ling was determined to find out exactly what had happened at the Baibei Bathhouse and what kind of cannibalistic monsters lived in the Luo family.

Carrying the Polaroid camera, she approached the trembling accountant girl, stepped on the rat spirit's shoulder, and ordered the rat to kneel down.

"This camera, and its photocell prints, why do they give you the feeling of going back in time?"

"As for this."

Su Ling casually snatched the photo from the girl who was greeting guests; it was a picture of her when she was seriously injured and on the verge of death.

"It seems to possess some prophetic abilities; its soul power is truly formidable."

The immortal had just killed the captain with his incredible mobility and domineering swordsmanship. The accountant saw it but didn't take it to heart, still harboring a bit of wishful thinking.

At first, she was terrified and cried out in despair. Then, she trembled and secretly peered around for the exits. When the large slippers were about to step on her face, she burst into tears again and dared not speak.

"It seems we won't get any answers from you." Su Ling pinched her eyebrows, feigning a serious and ruthless expression. "What should we do?"

"Cut off one of your arms and give it back to this waiter?"

The steel ruler swayed back and forth, swinging along with the tassels on the rat spirit's skull.

"Or should I tie you up and offer you to this blood-giver? To be his girlfriend substitute?"

Billy immediately yelled, "Hey! VIP! This isn't funny! This isn't funny!"

"Then just kill me!" the little mouse refused, preferring death to submission.

Billy was stunned. "Why has she suddenly become so determined?!"

[Phoenix] was monitoring in real time, and the rat spirit's head would occasionally show the symbols [Mental Strength -1] and [Affection -1], until she heard that Su Ling was going to give her to Billy as property - her affection dropped by 50 points, and she also showed two negative states: [Willpower Collapse] and [Desperate for Death].

[Will Collapse: You cannot obtain reliable information from this unit. Her mental world is in a state of chaotic near-collapse, and any intelligence requires careful consideration and discernment.]

[Desperate for death: Your interrogation methods were too crude, causing the target's will to live to plummet. She is now ready for execution.]

The highlighted red execution dot has been raised—it floats above the rat demon's head like a fledgling phoenix.

If Su Ling is willing, she can carry out the execution according to the Phoenix's procedure. The posture is already planned: kick the woman's chin up, make her stand up straighter, and raise her head higher, then smash it with a stick.

"I think."

Billy quickly reminded him, "No, no, no, VIP!"

Su Ling: "You saw the red dot and didn't press it? Have you ever quit drugs?"

Billy: "I did quit! That was a long time ago! But if we kill her, we won't have any prisoners. Who's going to guide us?"

Just then, the fourth elite soldier emerged from the underground hot spring.

The continuous sound of water rose, and from the steam and splashes emerged fully armed Government Soldiers of the warlord's government, all of whom were guards of the general.

Upon seeing the captain's corpse, the merman female adjutant leading the group suddenly clutched her head and screamed.

"--Lord Ling Xiao!"

Su Ling chimed in at the opportune moment, the kind of comment that comes out of nowhere.

"Great, now he has a name."

[Phoenix] specially marked this artwork with a small label on its cracked upper body, openly and brazenly labeling it [Fishman Elite Ling Xiao (Dead)] in front of all the psionicists.

The rat spirit, pinned down by the slipper, tried to say something, but a tremendous force crushed her head, leaving her with almost no chance of survival.

Su Ling stretched her waist, and the muscles in her arms bulged, as if they had naturally become congested with blood after a warm-up exercise, and the lines finally stood out from the arms of this forty-something-year-old soldier.

"And there's more good news, oh no, four!"

Billy shielded the boy who was greeting guests and stepped back. He didn't know if these civilians would turn against him at the last minute, but judging from the boy's experience, he was just an innocent victim.

On the other side, the merman warriors offered a simple condolence for the captain's body, merely saluting and patting their scales, letting out a low growl from their mouths. Then, the female adjutant drew her sword and turned towards Su Ling.

"Witch! You killed my captain?!"

"Hiss!" Su Ling took a deep breath and focused her mind, holding the staff squarely with her body upright, the weapon held high in front of her heart.

The nerve pain left by the flying sword was still tormenting her. This mere fatal wound had caused some aftereffects, but the impact was not significant.

[Mission objectives are being updated.]

[To deal with the blood-sucking fishman in front of us, it would be best to leave one alive.]

[They swam here along an underground river fed by a natural hot spring. The fish oil on their bodies can withstand temperatures of 76 degrees Celsius, making them extremely valuable animal stock.]

[Task Difficulty: Very Easy]

Seeing that Su Ling didn't answer, the female adjutant didn't want to waste any more words and charged forward with her sword drawn.

"--Bang!"

It was as if splashed water and sharp blades shattered instantly upon being struck by a steel ruler!

The three guards behind him all changed their expressions!

Before the adjutant could even exchange a single blow, his weapon was reduced to four pieces of scrap metal and plunged into his master's face!

Blood flowed from her mouth and nose, and the blade pierced from her cheekbone to her eyeball. The force of the blow threw her off balance!

Su Ling's figure was ethereal, like a willow leaf swaying in the wind, or a nimble swallow. She quickly switched to holding a stick in her left hand, lightly leaped and hooked the adjutant's heel—while her right hand, like a heavy cannon, struck first after being thrown later!

As the monstrous force, swirling like a dance, slammed into the fish-monster's scaled belly, the lieutenant cried out that this terrifying attack had knocked its upper limbs off balance, and its torso emitted a creaking sound.

The two henchmen supervising from behind caught up, and the action of raising their swords was only halfway done!

Another loud sonic boom!

"Bang!--"

Blood, like a watermelon bursting open, once again soaked the sunglasses.

In Judas's eyes, yet another precious life, given with blood, had been lost.

The headless corpse knelt on the ground, and after two seconds it began to convulse and collapse.

Before she completely collapsed, the captains who were following closely behind her rushed forward, eager to protect their lord.

Su Ling stepped aside, crushed his kneecap, and then smashed his head with her stick!

[There are two good news items left. Do you want to take them both out, or choose to keep one?]

The kill notification displayed a bright red "[KILL!]" message.

Later, seeing the captain die on the spot, Zhongrong and Left Guard stopped in their tracks, both of them were caught in a dilemma, terrified and completely losing their fighting spirit.

The two fishmen exchanged glances, finally deciding to fight to the death by covering each other's movements.

They charged forward, one in front and one behind, wielding knives.

--Su Ling tossed aside the red stone rosary of the Eight Heavenly Dragons, this powerful jewelry was about to leave her for the time being.

Then, as if by magic, she took out a jade lamp and a pyroxene jewelry piece made of six white crystals and two green chalcedony from her bag.

Instead of using her speed to gain leverage, she ripped off her sunglasses completely, wanting this useless seal that was hindering her presbyopia to get rid of it.

"Pfft!"

The scalding hot sword slashed into her side of the neck, and Zhong Rongxiao's expression suddenly improved. The seemingly invincible enemy appeared to have many flaws, and he continued to press forward with the sword.

Su Ling retreated following the blade, the damage to her chest continuously displaying bright red numbers, and the health bar above her head fluctuating wildly, repeatedly bouncing around under the healing spells of the White Stone and green stones.

She saw the relative distance between Zhong Rongxiao and the Left Guard behind him. Under the real-time monitoring of [Phoenix], the Left Guard's attack route was blocked by his comrade - a retreating posture about to leave the quick support range.

The ambiguous distance became a matter of life and death.

She completely released the enemy's blade, bringing it even closer to her heart and severing the defenses of her carotid artery.

Zhong Rongxiao's body went limp, as if struck by lightning at the temple. The invincible Mingde remains ripped a fist-sized hole in the fishman's skull—just as the prayer beads returned to Su Ling's hand.

"There's one last piece of good news."

Su Ling kicked the corpse aside, not even having time to remove the knife from her neck, and confronted the Left Guard while holding Mingde's remains.

As Left Guard tried to take a step forward, she kicked the corpse, its severed, soft foot becoming a flying dart, striking Left Guard so hard he staggered in disbelief—was this really the power of Homo sapiens?

"You still have one way out: either run away, or talk to me."

"What happens after I pull out this knife?"

As she said this, the blade was already removed from her body, away from her bloody neck, and at the same time, another bottle of Universal Elixir was poured onto the bloody wound.

She was practically covered in blood, yet she still had the energy to joke around.

"Oh no! It's too late."

At this moment, the Left Guard's fighting spirit also collapsed.

He had never seen such a celestial being before; he had only ever seen clans feast on human flesh as if slaughtering chickens and dogs.

That vixen just used three moves and killed three officers of the Government Soldiers; I'm afraid the captain will die in the same way.

Billy the Kid's heart was in his throat.

Seeing VIPs get injured repeatedly, it's hard to imagine Su Ling's courage, her amazing judgment, her extraordinary tolerance of pain, and her ability to make the right choices.

Gunsmith Master never suggested trading injury for injury. Whether it was during the expedition or even earlier, before Master Jiang Xueming gained Soul Might, he would try his best to avoid direct confrontation as long as he could passively avoid battle.

But this VIP seems even crazier than the War King!

This is also why the Nameless Clan has always lacked a leader; Ming De needs a banner, a spiritual leader, not a war-crazed person like Little Phoenix with an eccentric personality.

She often finds herself in a near-death state. As long as everything is under the monitoring of the [Phoenix], she can see her health bar and clearly understand how much strength her body has left. Therefore, any radical choice is acceptable, and any risk can be taken.

Like its name, the Phoenix is constantly undergoing rebirth, switching back and forth between its most powerful and most vulnerable forms.

"I"

Left Guard could barely hold his sword. He was two body lengths behind Zhong Rongxiao, only a little slower in following up—he had thought that Zhong Rongxiao would plunge a knife into her throat and finish the fight quickly.

He feared that a sudden follow-up step would disrupt his companion's concentration, and even more so that a coordinated attack would cause collateral damage. In this life-or-death gamble where one move would decide the outcome, he lost everything.

"Now you can't escape." Su Ling stomped on Zhong Rongxiao's head and cracked it. Two or three pieces of the scale-like iron armor flew off, and she grabbed them and threw them at the rocks on the pool platform. These soft steel pieces turned into fragments.

"To blow your skull off, one piece is enough."

A threat made with a blank expression has little deterrent effect.

--So Su Ling picked up the iron block with her mouth, frowning fiercely.

"Young man, please cooperate with me."

"I surrender!" The Left Guard dropped his weapon, intending to draw his arquebus from his back to retaliate.

He still harbored fantasies and a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the cannon could still be fired even after being submerged in water, and that the hot spring wouldn't damage its gunpowder.

But as soon as he stretched out his hand, two of his fingers were swiftly severed by the flying scale knife!

His face turned ashen with pain, his teeth clenched and his expression contorted, his eyes suddenly turning bloodshot.

But upon closer inspection of the treasures held by this immortal—

--Look closely at the fish bones, fish fragments, and broken fins held between your fingertips.

His eyes immediately cleared.

Su Ling: "What's your name?"

Left Guard: "Ling Ao."

Su Ling: "Where did you come from?"

Ling Ao: "Daoheng County, Mist River North Lai Ferry, I am the Left Guard of the military camp, under the command of the Commander-in-Chief."

Su Ling: "Why did you come here?"

Ling Ao: "The commander is dead."

Su Ling: "How did you know?"

Ling Ao stole a glance at the camera in the immortal's hand, still wanting to fabricate some lies.

"Oh!~ Oh!~" Su Ling saw the [Phoenix]'s monitoring notification: "You hesitated, your eyes darted to the upper right, and you were making up a story in your mind?"

"The flag bearer's photo!" Ling Ao quickly told the truth, "Now that he's dead, the photo is useless! He's no longer a person."

Su Ling: "Do you have the photos?"

Ling Ao pointed to the adjutant's corpse.

Su Ling: "Billy! Look for something."

Upon hearing the VIP's instructions, Billy the Kid immediately began searching the body, and soon found a blank photograph—a simple portrait.

Only a golden shadow remains, as if the figure has been erased, replaced by the texture of a golden face, becoming a constantly wriggling lump of golden mud.

It seems this photo has the same function; as long as the photographer keeps pressing the shutter and creating new photos, then the commander will return to the moment the photo was taken.

Su Ling opened the Polaroid camera in her hand and removed the medicine packet.

To test her idea, she took a picture of the boy.

The welcoming boy instantly transformed into a long, thin shadow, moving back and forth within the room, heading towards the lobby and then swiftly returning to the hot spring, his right arm retracting into his body.

--Then, a bloody arm sprang out from the rat spirit's arms and was reattached!

The child became whole again, still looking embarrassed and covered in cold sweat.

Billy was stunned. "What a peculiar phenomenon! It uses a camera to record time? To recreate time?"

But then Billy realized something was wrong and pointed at the flag officer's corpse.

"Why didn't this guy use that power to save his life?"

"Perhaps he could, but he doesn't have the chance. My performance was too overpowering." Su Ling stuffed in a new developing packet and a photosensitive image.

She took a picture of the flag bearer's body, wondering if the shattered remains could be brought back to life.

Billy: "Hey, no!"

Ling Ao also cried out in alarm, "No!"

The corpse on the ground quickly twisted and deformed, and the blood and bone fragments that flew around returned to the cracked body of Commander Ling Xiao.

His body regained its color and transformed back into a complete head, but it didn't seem to be a living fish-man returning—his head remained intact for only two or three seconds before splitting into four pieces.

A golden mask "bloomed" from this split brain, resembling a tulip, with its facial features also split into several petals.

His body burrowed back into the hot spring, flying back to the location of the last photo shoot as time passed. The intense psychic tide caused Su Ling to bleed from her mouth and nose, Billy the Kid almost fainted.

Ling Ao's face was ashen as he watched the monster fly back to North Lai Ferry, powerless to stop it.

"Immortal! You..."

Su Ling scratched her head, completely baffled.

The camera produced a new photograph: Flash Butterfly wearing a golden mask slaughtering fish-man soldiers at a port dock.

"It's too mysterious."