An Inexplicable Battle

An Inexplicable Battle

Hong Mo did not know why this big man had singled him out, but he knew running away would be useless. This guy looked like the type who would never let things go. If he ran, the man would definitely chase him down by any means necessary, and that would expose him just the same.

So Hong Mo stopped worrying about the consequences. If he wanted to fight, then bring it on!

When Hong Mo leaped down from the fifth floor, countless cries of alarm erupted from the onlookers nearby. Some of the more timid people had already covered their eyes, unable to bear the sight of Hong Mo being smashed into pulp.

As Hong Mo fell past the fourth floor, his right leg kicked violently against the wall. With a dull boom, a huge depression roughly two meters across appeared in the sturdy wall. Borrowing that force, Hong Mo shot straight toward the big man, his body crackling with countless arcs of electricity.

"Mommy, look, Superman!" a little girl said, licking the ice cream in her hand as she pointed at Hong Mo.

As Hong Mo jumped down, the big man started running as well, heading straight for where Hong Mo would land. As he ran, his right arm gradually changed color, turning alloy silver-white.

Seeing this, Hong Mo grinned, revealing a crazed smile. He drew back his right hand behind him as countless currents surged and gathered around his fist. From a distance, it looked as though Hong Mo were dragging a massive ball of lightning as he plummeted fiercely from the sky.

A violent explosion rang out the instant Hong Mo's fist met the big man's. Within ten meters of the two, the ground seemed to have been struck by an invisible sledgehammer, suddenly caving in as countless fragments of stone flew through the air alongside flashes of electricity.

Hong Mo's body was flung away like a rag doll. He spun several times in midair before crashing onto the ground in the distance. The big man, meanwhile, remained motionless where he stood, allowing the rising dust to shroud his body.

The nearby crowd had already fled far away the moment they sensed something was wrong, leaving an open area several hundred meters wide. At that moment, armed police who had received the report quickly surrounded the area and drove away the spectators. Yet plenty of unwilling onlookers still held up their phones and kept taking pictures.

What tremendous strength!

Even as Hong Mo marveled inwardly, he reached out with his left hand and grabbed a metal utility pole beside him. The violent force bent the pole sharply backward, producing an awful creaking sound. The severed wires fell to the ground, twitching continuously amid sparks from the broken ends.

As the dust dispersed, it revealed the big man's upright figure. He was now slightly taller than before, and his bare upper body had turned entirely silver-white. Several sharp bone spikes jutted upward from his shoulders, while strands of electricity continued to crawl over his body before finally fading away after a long while.

Once the electricity vanished, the big man suddenly raised his head and split his mouth in a wide grin, his entire body radiating madness. "Hahaha! That felt great! A fight is only satisfying when both sides are evenly matched."

With that, he charged toward Hong Mo like a humanoid tank, rumbling thunderously forward.

Hong Mo shook his numb right hand and silently cursed him as a monster. The electricity he had condensed in his right fist just now had already amounted to twenty percent of the power in his body. That might not sound like much, but Hong Mo had tested it before. The highest voltage he could currently release reached 9,000V, far beyond the level of ordinary human high-voltage electricity.

If Mu Siyu's rampage yesterday had been an accident that caught everyone off guard, then this clash had taken place before countless eyes. On that very day, the common sense they had held in their hearts was brutally shattered.

Faced with the big man's charge, Hong Mo did not dodge. The clothes on his back suddenly tore apart, and a pair of wings formed from jets of electricity appeared at his shoulder blades. He seemed to vanish in an instant, reappearing beside the big man as electricity flowed along the edge of his left palm and swept across the man's waist.

A piercing screech rang out. Hong Mo's left hand seemed to have cut into solid metal, producing an ear-splitting sound. Seeing that his hand was about to get caught in the other man's waist, Hong Mo quickly dispersed the current in his left hand and retreated.

Sure enough, the instant Hong Mo pulled back, a powerful fist slammed into the ground, forming a massive crater.

"Instant Activation!?" the big man asked, raising his head as the muscles around his waist wriggled and sealed the wound.

"Yeah, more or less. Ever since I gained my superpower, I've been borrowing useful moves from anime, novels, and movies, making them my own," Hong Mo explained without continuing his attack. Though they were fighting, he had not sensed any hostility from the other man.

It was difficult to explain. Hong Mo had never fought another superpowered person before. Things like hostility, killing intent, goodwill, and fighting spirit were concepts he had only heard of in novels and anime. Yet as he stood here, he naturally found himself able to sense them.

"Hehe, then was that move with your left hand just now the Mystical Palm Technique?" The big man did not attack either, merely continuing to ask questions.

"No. It was a high-frequency vibrating Electromagnetic Blade." Hong Mo shook his head.

"Oh, what a shame. Actually, I'm pretty similar to you. I've been studying moves from Naruto lately, so that was the first thing that came to mind. Then let me show you the move I picked." As he spoke, the muscles all over the big man's body began writhing constantly, as though something terrifying were taking shape.

"Before that, could you tell me why you wanted to fight?" Though he had somehow ended up fighting this man, Hong Mo did not want to stay confused like this.

"The reason? Does being a battle maniac count? After gaining my ability, I realized everyone around me was ordinary. What a huge disappointment. Then today, I saw a video online of the university here being frozen over, so I came running."

Hong Mo understood. So it really was Mu Siyu causing trouble again.

"One last question. I'm Hong Mo. What's your name?" Hong Mo slipped his right hand into his pants pocket and rummaged around inside.

"Mou Gang!" With that, Mou Gang charged fiercely at Hong Mo.

Hong Mo pulled his right hand out of his pocket empty-handed. He had originally intended to give Mou Gang a vicious blow and end this fight quickly. But after thinking about how the guy had said he had found a suitable move from Naruto, Hong Mo decided to let him experience it.

Ever since gaining his superpower, Hong Mo had started practicing traditional martial arts alongside his usual studies and daily life. Mu Siyu was no exception. After all, they were no longer ordinary people, and there would certainly be no shortage of battles in the future. The more abilities they possessed, the more protection they had.

At that moment, however, Hong Mo felt incredibly awkward. Whenever his fists or feet were about to strike Mou Gang's body, several spikes would rise from his flesh. They were clearly formed from his muscles.

Hong Mo deliberately tested their hardness with his left hand and nearly got pierced straight through. Only then did he realize those things were not merely for show. Hong Mo had watched Naruto too, so of course he knew what kind of ability this was.

"Damn it, is this some kind of cosplay move? This is clearly a bloodline limit! Someone else had the Dead Bone Pulse, but in your hands it became a Muscle Pulse? Adamantine Muscle Pulse?" After nearly getting hit, Hong Mo rapidly retreated and widened the distance between them. He already knew from the original series that someone with this sort of bloodline limit was incredibly powerful in close combat. Hong Mo's superpower was essentially more like that of a mage, so he definitely could not match this guy in close quarters.

"Haha, you know it." Mou Gang threw a right punch, and the muscles on his arm twisted like something alien before instantly extending several meters, smashing a BMW in front of Hong Mo into two halves.

Seeing armed police packed three layers deep around the area, Hong Mo grew anxious.

"I don't have time to keep wasting it with you. Don't blame me if you die." After speaking, Hong Mo took a coin from his pocket and lightly tossed it into the air.

"Railgun! Hahaha, I actually get to see something from anime!" Mou Gang laughed loudly as he crossed his arms and raised them in front of himself to block.

Hadn't you already seen it? You even made your own Muscle Pulse, idiot. Hong Mo mocked him inwardly, yet he found it strange that Mou Gang did not dodge. After learning this move from the Railgun girl, Hong Mo had carefully analyzed its weaknesses.

Its power was undeniably immense, but the key was that its preparation took a long time. Tossing the coin, flicking it out, then electromagnetically accelerating it—those actions might seem brief, but in the eyes of many people, they were enough time to dodge several times over.

Hong Mo looked into Mou Gang's eyes. Those large eyes revealed determination and fanaticism.

Tch. This guy really was just like he said—a battle maniac. For the sake of experiencing its power, he was willing to put even his life on the line.

A thick silver-white bolt of lightning shot forth, striking Mou Gang with a thunderous blast. It did not stop there, instead carrying Mou Gang with it as it smashed into a supermarket in the distance. Everything in its path was swept clean away, leaving behind a broad open road.

Only then did Hong Mo lower his right hand, pull out a cigarette from his pocket, and light it. He did not smoke often, but at that moment, he suddenly wanted a drag.

For the first time, Hong Mo took a deep pull from the cigarette. The choking smoke poured from his mouth and slowly dispersed into the air.