Desperate Situation

"Where are you driving? Drive toward Brother Xia and the others!" Wu Zhong weakly demanded from the car.

The car was currently heading in the opposite direction from Xia Heng and the others, getting farther and farther away.

Yang Chunsha shouted, "Why didn't you say so earlier!"

"And isn't that side even more dangerous? There's a captain over there too."

Since she was already driving, Wu Zhong stopped wasting words. He leaned out the window and pointed an arm at their pursuers.

Both mercenaries were chasing them.

Feipeng's eyes were bloodshot, his face flushed red as he laughed maniacally with a savage grin, butt raised high. Sky-Soaring Fierce Bombardment!

"Oh-ho-ho-ho... Stop, let me pull it out... Ugh, blegh..."

He laughed and roared at the same time until he actually vomited.

His wild laughter was clearly seriously affecting his mobility. It was easy for him to lose his breath, and with his butt raised like that, he could not exactly run at lightning speed.

So he moved by hopping along.

He would stick his butt up and charge forward for a stretch, then drop down and gasp for breath amid his crazed laughter.

This method completely ruined the nimble footwork he had displayed earlier, and he could not catch up to the car.

"Arborvitae... Don't let them get away, hahaha..."

Feipeng fell farther and farther behind and could not catch the car.

Arborvitae, on the other hand, was unexpectedly still sprinting madly right behind the rear of the car, leaving it unable to turn around.

That guy ran extremely fast. Before the car had even built up speed, he had suddenly leaped up, plunged his fingers into the lid of the rear compartment, and clung to the back of the car.

Bang!

Gritting his teeth, Wu Zhong pulled out his handgun and fired at Arborvitae's head. He could not use his Purple Molten Bomb, so the handgun was better than nothing.

Arborvitae hurriedly released his grip. The bullet grazed his shoulder, and he rolled off the car.

But such an injury was nothing to him. It had merely torn his clothes.

"Hiss..." Steam hissed from his mouth.

He sprang back up, his legs moving like the wind as he continued the chase!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Wu Zhong kept firing. Arborvitae did not dodge at all, merely gathering a mass of bloody aura around his head and taking the shots head-on.

As for getting shot in the body, he did not care in the slightest.

He sprinted wildly with holes all over his body that could not close, the incessant bleeding instead stirring up even more of his bloody aura.

Arcs of electricity appeared around Arborvitae's body, crackling and flashing through the bloody aura covering his skin.

His hair and beard stood on end, making him even faster.

Wu Zhong had no idea what kind of system Arborvitae used. The more battered he was, the fiercer he became.

Compared to him, Feipeng was practically a normal person. Feipeng's combat strength probably relied heavily on internal energy or some similar power, while his physical body was not all that different from an ordinary person's.

Arborvitae, however, had a body that could only be called monstrous, with vitality far beyond that of ordinary people. If Purple Molten Bombs did not counter biological energy, he would not actually fear ordinary firearms.

Wu Zhong finally understood. Arborvitae and Feipeng were beings of the same level; one became fiercer at low health, while the other was fierce at full strength.

No wonder their personalities were so different, yet they had formed a team.

"Drive faster!" Wu Zhong's scalp tingled as he frantically urged the driver on.

Yang Chunsha stared ahead. "I'm already going at full speed!"

Wu Zhong looked and realized she was right. How fast could they drive on this godforsaken terrain?

They were not driving on a road at all, but over dirt slopes and field ridges, while also having to cross rocks and trees blocking the way.

As Yang Chunsha drove, she also cast spells whenever she could to hinder Arborvitae.

But it was only a hindrance. When his rock spikes struck Arborvitae, it was like scratching an itch.

Creating huge pits and patches of soft mud was more useful instead.

Wu Zhong weakly asked, "Is he too strong, or are you too weak? Can't you put more force into controlling the rocks?"

Yang Chunsha explained, "This isn't an offensive spell. I can control rock and soil, soften it, move it, make pits, or create stone slabs and earth walls, but none of them have much impact force!"

"The only way it can kill someone is by burying them in rock and soil and slowly crushing them to death."

Wu Zhong was speechless, but he did not say anything.

She had originally been a mercenary content to slack off. In seven years of work, she had never fought anyone.

If she had not been unlucky enough to take on his and Xia Heng's mission, she would still be living peacefully in Jiangxi Province.

Yang Chunsha added, "Actually, that guy can't keep this up much longer. He can run even with internal organs spilling out, so this must be some kind of forbidden move."

Hearing that, Wu Zhong calmed down. He put away his gun and merely raised the armored bracer on his right arm to threaten Arborvitae, forcing him to occasionally shift aside and preventing him from chasing too closely.

At the same time, his severed arm itched and hurt. It was clearly healing slowly, reconnecting to the stump.

He focused on enduring the jolting ride and kept the arm pressed in place.

Sharpening the axe won't delay the cutting of firewood. Arborvitae can't catch up for now. If I drag this out until my arm can move more freely, that guy is dead.

Maybe if I keep dragging things out, he'll bleed to death on his own.

It was a good plan. However, several minutes later, just as his arm had barely fused back together and he could finally stop holding it in place—

Yang Chunsha suddenly shouted, "We're entering a village!"

"What?" Wu Zhong turned to look.

A cluster of low buildings lay ahead. The car sped in, racing onto the village's dirt roads.

Chickens scattered and dogs barked all along the way. Fortunately, there was no one around, but there were far more obstacles.

The roads were narrow and full of turns. Yang Chunsha was forced to make two turns, and their speed immediately dropped.

"This is bad."

Wu Zhong hurriedly turned around to fire his cannon, but the car suddenly drove into an alley. He had no choice but to pull himself back inside, or his upper body would be scraped right off.

"How are you driving? Drive somewhere open!"

Yang Chunsha protested, "How would I know the way? I was driving in a straight line! We went over a slope and plunged straight into the village!"

Thunder Sting!

Arborvitae sneered as electricity erupted around his body again, his straight-line speed suddenly soaring to an extreme.

Like a locomotive, he slammed into the car's trunk and flipped it with one arm!

The two people inside immediately spun head over heels, crashing about.

By the time they regained their senses, the car had already overturned.

"Fuck..." Wu Zhong had blood in his mouth, and his entire body hurt. He was twisted into a bizarre position inside the car.

Yang Chunsha, in contrast, was fine. She was in the driver's seat, and she had been wearing her seatbelt.

She unbuckled herself and crawled out of the car.

Earth Formation Wall!

Yang Chunsha cast her spell, raising an earthen wall to block the entrance to the alley.

Wu Zhong struggled desperately. In the end, he blasted open the car door with one shot before crawling out with great difficulty.

His entire body hurt, especially his soft waist, where the pain pierced straight to the bone. His spine seemed to be injured as well.

Boom!

The earthen wall was smashed apart again as Arborvitae forcibly crashed through the obstruction.

He was covered in dirt, electricity darting wildly around him, and he radiated a brutal aura.

By now, the commotion had drawn villagers over. They were all elderly people, women, and children.

When they saw the sight before them—stone-shattering attacks and mangled flesh—they naturally cried out that they had seen ghosts, screaming as they fled.

"Run!"

Wu Zhong shouted. Ignoring the pain, he ran madly with Yang Chunsha.

Yang Chunsha constantly created obstacles, but Arborvitae still closed in and threw a punch.

With no other choice, Wu Zhong turned and raised his arm to block. Bang!

Wu Zhong was sent flying on the spot, spitting blood as electricity left his body numb.

Even though his left hand clutched his right arm tightly, the severed arm that had not yet healed tore apart again and nearly flew off.

"It's over..." He lay curled up on the ground. He had truly reached his limit.

Even with twice the physical fitness, this was all he could manage. The kick Arborvitae had landed on his chest earlier was enough to leave him bedridden for half a year.

He had only managed to keep going through sheer stubbornness.

He had not expected battered, mangled Arborvitae to outlast him. He was the one about to die first.

His vision was dim, his breathing shallow, and stars swam before his eyes.

As he lay on the ground and tilted his head, he saw an old grandmother sitting in front of her home in the alley, basking in the sun with a kind expression.

Wu Zhong's body was wracked with pain. He wanted to ask for help, but then gave a bitter laugh. What could an old grandmother in this village possibly do?

So what came out instead was, "Run... Grandma... run..."

For some reason, the old grandmother did not panic at all upon seeing people fighting to the death, raising earth walls, and shattering stone.

All the other elderly villagers had fled, but she alone remained seated at her doorway, still watching the show.

Now Wu Zhong lay grievously wounded before her, covered in blood and mangled flesh.

The old grandmother showed a mouthful of missing teeth and nodded at him with a kind, guileless expression.

"Huh?" She was obviously an elderly person left behind in the village whose mind was not quite clear.

Wu Zhong felt like crying. He struggled to get up, but his hands and feet were numb and tingling, like after squatting over a toilet for hours, his muscles numb to the point of pain.

"Get up! Get up!"

Yang Chunsha came scrambling over, with murderous Arborvitae behind her.

Seeing that Wu Zhong could not get up, Yang Chunsha rushed past him, darted around the corner, and ran off.

She left behind only one sentence: "I'll go get someone to save you..."

"..." Seeing her run, Wu Zhong had nothing to say. Arborvitae wanted his life; if Yang Chunsha abandoned him, she could still escape.

"Haha, this is your companion?"

Arborvitae mocked him as he stepped closer and looked down at him.

Wu Zhong weakly said, "She was only forced to follow me. It's fine if she leaves. If you want my life, take it. There's no need to chase her."

Arborvitae paused. "You're quite open-minded."

Wu Zhong calmly said, "I'm about to die. What is there to be unable to accept?"

"Besides, Feipeng will be stuck like that forever, and you'll be buried with me too. Your wounds will never heal."

He deliberately implied that he had a way to deal with Feipeng's condition.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Arborvitae hesitated over whether to kill Wu Zhong.

He hated Wu Zhong to the bone and only wanted to kill him quickly and end everything, but he had no choice but to consider his own and Feipeng's condition.

"What kind of trait is this? Why can't my wounds heal? And Feipeng—he can't pull the sword out of his own ass?"

Wu Zhong said hoarsely, "Just a small trait called 'Incurable.' No one can heal damage caused by me. Only I can heal it, including penetrating injuries like swords stuck inside someone's body."

Arborvitae frowned. "How do you heal it?"

Wu Zhong said, "Any healing effect I use will work. For Feipeng's situation, I just need to pull it out."

"What about me? How do my wounds heal?" Arborvitae pressed.

Wu Zhong said with difficulty, "I... don't know how to use Multiversal Force... I have no healing spells. What, do you expect me to operate on you?"

"Unless you have some miraculous healing medicine... and let me use it."

Arborvitae froze, then stepped on Wu Zhong's chest. Wu Zhong immediately began to suffocate.

"You're screwing with me? You know I used up both bottles of bubble shampoo! I don't have any medicine left!"

Wu Zhong spat blood. How was he supposed to know Arborvitae had run out of medicine?

He had indeed seen Arborvitae use up two bottles of medicine, covering his whole body in white foam as though taking a bubble bath.

He had been thinking Arborvitae might still have one bottle left... Of course, if Wu Zhong got his hands on it, he would risk his life to use it on himself.

He knew Arborvitae was also at the end of his rope. As long as he could heal his severed arm a little and fire his cannon, he still had a chance to turn things around.

But he had not expected this brute to use up all his medicine.

He had clearly seen that his wounds were no longer closing, yet he still wasted medicine. It was ridiculous.

"Feipeng must still have some... Wait for him..." Wu Zhong weakly said.

Arborvitae neither agreed nor disagreed, turning to glance in Feipeng's direction.

Seeing that, Wu Zhong suddenly pulled out the handgun he had put away earlier.

There were still bullets in it!

If he really waited for Feipeng to arrive, there would be no hope left at all.

"Die!"

Muzzle flashes erupted as he fired straight at the back of Arborvitae's head.

With his armored bracer unusable, the handgun was his strongest weapon.

The 985 pistol was very powerful. Even if Arborvitae had a head of copper and a body of iron, it would still blow a hole in his skull!

Bang!

Arborvitae instinctively tilted his head. At the same time, the bloody aura swirling around his head automatically protected him, striking the side of the bullet.

The bullet actually veered with a sharp hiss, tracing a slight arc past his ear... and missed!

"What!" Wu Zhong's pupils shrank sharply.

He hurriedly lowered the muzzle and fired wildly at Arborvitae's heart.

He had never expected that shot to miss, so he could only pour his bullets into the chest, the easiest target to hit.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Arborvitae was hit three times, his body jolting as he staggered.

Wu Zhong took the chance to struggle backward, wriggling until his back pressed against the alley wall.

Bang! Click, click...

The bullets were gone. There had only been five left, and he had fired them all.

Fortunately, the final bullet finally struck Arborvitae in the heart.

Fresh blood suddenly gushed from the irreparable hole in his chest. It had clearly pierced his heart!

"Urghhh!" Arborvitae's eyes nearly split open, blood energy raging across his body.

Wu Zhong had already pushed himself up against the wall. With a thunderous motion, he threw a punch, the iron fist of his armored gauntlet driving straight at the other man's heart.

"Clang!"

Arborvitae's lone arm snapped back like lightning and seized Wu Zhong's armored wrist.

Violent shockwaves spread from the collision. Wu Zhong's fist had barely reached Arborvitae's chest before it was forced to a halt, unable to advance another inch!

Instead, blood seeped from his shoulder, and the injury at his severed arm worsened, nearly tearing open.

"You sly bastard... You like... sneak attacks that much..." Arborvitae's face had become a terrifying blur.

"You were the ones who ambushed me first!" Wu Zhong's gaze sharpened.

His clenched fist suddenly flicked open its index finger, straightening like lightning!

"Bang!"

"Pfft!"

His fist was already pressed close to Arborvitae's chest. With that sudden finger flick, there was no way to defend against it.

The length of his index and middle fingers perfectly made up for that tiny gap, slamming viciously into the bloody hole.

Arborvitae's chest took a crushing blow. A bone snapped with a crack, and a small crater was instantly punched into his ribcage!

The force of that straightened finger was so immense... it made his back bulge outward and blasted out a wave of air.

"You..."

Arborvitae had defended himself, only to defend against nothing. He had never expected Wu Zhong to have a move like that—or rather, "a finger" like that.

The armored gauntlet's strength was enormous, but it was mostly concentrated in the wrist, not in punching power.

When Xia Heng had introduced it, he had only mentioned its two-ton grip strength, not its punching strength.

That was because the enhancement to a punch was minimal. Punching involved exerting force throughout the entire body; a single arm implant alone could not accomplish much.

And now that his arm was severed at the shoulder, it was even harder. There was no point from which to exert force.

That was why Wu Zhong had known from the start that his first strike would be blocked.

But that was fine. He still had the finger flick!

After suffering such a devastating blow, Arborvitae's heart stopped. His hand went limp, and Wu Zhong struggled free at once, tearing open the web between Arborvitae's thumb and forefinger as he pulled his hand out.

Wu Zhong staggered as he turned and fled, intending to open up the distance and wait for him to die.

"Crackle!"

But the other man suddenly erupted with a powerful electric arc that lashed out like a whip.

"Ah!" Wu Zhong was sent flying sideways by the strike, smashing into the wall as he trembled and coughed up blood.

Looking again, Arborvitae had raised his head and taken another step forward.

"His heart was shattered... and he can still fight?"

Wu Zhong was stunned. His sharp hearing caught the sound of the other man's heart beginning to beat again, roaring like an engine.

Even with his heart ruptured and the bloody hole still unable to close, every beat only pumped more blood out.

"Heh... Absolute strength fears no underhanded tricks."

Arborvitae's hair and beard stood on end, electric arcs flickering around him as blood pumped from his chest. He looked like a demonic god.

"Geh... geh... geh..." Wu Zhong stared blankly, meaningless sounds escaping his throat.

Then, his face ashen, he leaned against the wall and accepted it.

"There's no hope left."