Fierce Battle on the Streets

Li Jinshui's curse made the few drifters jump, their hackles rising instantly.

In a heartbeat, the group moved with practiced coordination, their faces twisted in malice as they swarmed him.

"Damn it, you little brat, are you looking to die?"

"We saw you looking all filthy and poor, so we couldn't be bothered with you, and yet you come here begging for death?"

Hearing these lines, Li Jinshui's previously tense face instantly relaxed.

As expected, this trope of causality is inevitable. I'm clearly just an ordinary young man passing by, but because my clothes are scorched black by electricity and I look a bit dirty, they've come to mock me as a poor wretch for no reason, with such inhuman, extreme cruelty.

Sigh, the state of the world today... people aren't what they used to be.

Li Jinshui let out a deep sigh. The dirty battery strapped to his leg began to surge with current, and his legs suddenly blurred.

"BOOM!"

Blinding lightning flared in the night, transforming into an arc that swept out in a fan shape.

"You..."

The drifters' eyes widened, their screams caught in their throats. Like autumn leaves scattered by the wind, they were sent flying, their bodies shattered before they slammed heavily into the security shutter behind them, dead on the spot.

[Violence met with violence, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Lightning Pulse Step +5]

[Violence met with violence, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Lightning Pulse Step +5]

"Tch, such a measly amount."

Li Jinshui frowned. The total proficiency gained from the group was only 30 points—far too little.

"Damn it! Are you bastards doing this on purpose? Are you looking to die?! I finally found my rhythm, and you idiots bumped into me and scared it all away!"

Suddenly, a burly, bald man with a face full of flab charged out from under the gap in the shutter, cursing and roaring with murderous intent.

But the moment he stepped out, he saw his subordinates lying dead everywhere, their bodies charred.

The bald man's expression turned icy, his sinister, triangular eyes locking onto Li Jinshui.

"You did this?" His voice was cold, heavy with killing intent.

"Oh, a high-level expert!" Li Jinshui's eyes lit up instantly.

A pleasant surprise—this was a pleasant surprise!

The aura erupting from this bald man was similar to the gang leaders he had encountered before; he was likely a First-rate Martial Artist.

Right now, his Lightning Pulse Step proficiency was stuck at 680/1000. If he could send this bald man to the afterlife with a jolt, he would gain a hundred points immediately, bringing him much closer to the Great Completion stage.

"Brother Baldy, are you a First-rate Martial Artist?" Li Jinshui asked politely and hurriedly.

"???" The flesh on the bald man's face twitched, then turned ferocious.

Damn it, I'm bald, not a "baldy"!

"Fuck, you're looking for death. Do you know who you're messing with? I'm from the Color Gang. I'll kill you first, then slaughter your entire family."

Before the words had even faded, the bald man struck.

His iron fists whistled through the air, carrying the weight of surging blood-energy as they smashed directly toward Li Jinshui.

"Color Gang?"

Li Jinshui kept his hands behind his back, tapped his feet, and leaped backward with elegant footwork, dodging the lethal strike with ease.

He had known the name of the Color Gang since he was a child; they were one of the most famous large gangs in Rong City.

They weren't like the small-time thugs of the Venom Snake Gang. The Color Gang possessed a complete underground industrial chain, handling everything from stolen goods and smuggling to the sale of pirated martial arts manuals and human trafficking.

The last time he had heard their name was from Old Huang and his crew, who mentioned that the Color Gang was backed by Weihu Security Company.

"Oh, so you're from the Color Gang. That's a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple—family failing to recognize family."

Li Jinshui wore a brilliant smile, acting as if they were old friends.

This caught the bald man off guard. He asked suspiciously, "Who are you?"

"Ha!" Li Jinshui curled his lips, patted his chest, and introduced himself: "I am the number one enemy of Weihu Security Company, Li Jinshui!"

"???"

The bald man felt his brain short-circuit. He was stunned, unable to process if this was one of his own or not.

However, Li Jinshui had already moved. His legs crackled with massive arcs of electricity as he delivered a devastating side kick aimed straight at the bald man's temple.

"Fuck, you dare play me? Die!"

The bald man reacted with lightning speed. With a roar, he crossed his arms to protect his head and surged forward, meeting the kick head-on.

"BANG—"

A dull thud of flesh colliding echoed out, the shockwave sending the sewage on the ground splashing into the air.

The bald man stood his ground, unscathed, but his face was filled with shock and horror.

"Such a young First-rate Martial Artist?" he thought, unable to believe it.

After that strike, both of his arms were left numb, indicating that his opponent's strength was not inferior to his own, and perhaps not even that of an ordinary ninth-grade top-tier expert.

Li Jinshui was slightly taken aback after landing.

That's not right, he didn't even cough up blood?

Looking closer, he noticed that the bald man's wrists were covered in leather bracers that shimmered with a cold, grayish-black metallic luster, with faint sparks of electricity still dancing across their surface.

"Beast equipment?"

Li Jinshui recognized the items at a glance.

He had seen them in school textbooks before; these things were crafted by fusing modern rare alloys into the hides of exotic beasts, belonging to a new class of equipment and weaponry.

The bald man's bracers were clearly capable of absorbing and neutralizing external force, and could even amplify the power of his own punches during combat.

Damn it, no wonder my legs felt numb earlier; I thought it was just from being shocked too much.

Li Jinshui cursed inwardly while his mind began to race.

The value of those bracers was not low; if he took them to the black market, he could easily sell them for two or three hundred thousand.

If he accidentally kicked them and broke them during the fight, wouldn't that be a total waste?

"Hey, baldy, hold on a second!"

Li Jinshui requested a timeout and pointed at the man's arms. "Fighting is one thing, but take off those bracers first—don't you dare break them."

"Fuck, you must be out of your goddamn mind."

The bald man roared, his blood energy manifesting as a thin crimson veil as he lunged forward with a violent step.

A set of wide, sweeping lethal boxing techniques tore through the air, transforming into a flurry of shadows that whistled toward Li Jinshui.

Whoosh!

Li Jinshui didn't bother clashing head-on; he moved with ghostly speed, dodging left and right before leaping high into the air, his body leaving several afterimages in his wake.

Swish!

A throwing knife pierced the air, shooting straight toward the bald man.

However, the bald man's martial arts level was clearly high, and his reflexes were top-tier. He instantly retracted his punches, changed his stance, and swung his arm, smashing his bracer against the flying blade.

Clang--

Sparks flew as the knife was deflected, leaving a white scratch on the surface of the bracer.

"Motherfucker, you bald bastard, you dared to scratch my bracers!"

Li Jinshui was thoroughly enraged. With electric light blazing beneath his feet, he leaped forward, using the momentum of his movement technique to kick out a blinding barrage of electric afterimages.

A series of feints left the bald man flustered, and he finally left an opening.

Li Jinshui struck instantly, landing a heavy, powerful kick squarely on the man's fist.

Crack!

With a sharp snap, the knuckles of the bald man's hand shattered on the spot.

"Ah—my hand!" He let out a roar of agony.

Before he could react, Li Jinshui's eerie figure was already hovering above him, a throwing knife gripped in his hand, held back for a moment before plunging straight toward the man's head.

With a thwack, the knife pierced through the bald man's skull.

Li Jinshui followed up with a heavy punch, ruthlessly hammering the knife the rest of the way in.

"Urgh... hhh!"

The bald man's eyes instantly bloodshot and bulged, his massive body gave a violent twitch, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.