Beneath the Safe Zone City Wall, more than a hundred people gathered below. Curses and pleas intertwined as they wildly vented at the guards atop the battlements.
The military Spirit Martial Practitioners in the city who did not belong to the Ji Clan had all been dispatched, so Safe Zone City was now completely under the Ji Clan's control.
In an underground laboratory somewhere in the city, Ji Boxiao lay on an operating table, surrounded by Food Type Spirit Martial Practitioners.
Li Yanan stood beside the bed. A strand of sword aura extended from her right index finger, aimed at Ji Boxiao's chest. At his command, she would slice open his chest with her sword aura and remove the heart inside.
Li Yanan's ability was metal-element—Gengjin Sword Aura.
This ability could be attached to weapons, making them more spiritually attuned and greatly increasing their power.
It could also preserve the spirituality and vitality of materials with similar attributes.
She had been chosen to perform the operation precisely to ensure that the Golden Hearts inside Ji Boxiao and the Troll cub remained viable during the chest-opening and heart-removal process, allowing for a perfect transplant.
At that moment, an experimental chamber over two meters tall was pushed inside by two military Spirit Martial Practitioners.
Inside was the Troll cub. To preserve the Golden Heart's vitality, they had not anesthetized the cub. Instead, they would take its heart while it remained conscious.
"Begin~"
Ji Boxiao, the mastermind behind all this, said only those words, without the slightest trace of pity in his voice.
As if all of this were perfectly natural.
Meanwhile, outside the Safe Zone City Wall, Su Wuming and the others had nowhere left to retreat.
The Snowwhite Thunder Bear had already stepped onto the bridgehead and let out a thunderous roar in their direction, as though issuing a warning.
Its pace also became more urgent. At the same time, the two Frost Trolls outside the city grew even more agitated, attacking the Spirit Martial Practitioners blocking them from all sides like mad.
The last Troll to arrive even abandoned all defense, enduring the attacks head-on as it charged into the city.
It continuously swung the massive club in its hand. With every swing, an ice spike like a pillar holding up the heavens shot toward the pursuing Spirit Martial Practitioners.
The bone-chilling cold radiating from the ice spikes also slowed those Spirit Martial Practitioners to some extent, layers of frost spreading over their bodies.
Yet the Troll moved through that area as if walking on flat ground, its speed instantly increasing by a huge margin.
"Mo Lan! Use a Psychic Wall to stop it!"
"Wuming! How are we supposed to stop it?"
Two completely different conversations rang out from different places at the exact same time.
The one asking Su Wuming was Qin Ming. Although they had quite a few Spirit Martial Practitioners on their side, they had no Silver Tier Spirit Martial Practitioner holding the line. They simply could not break through the Snowwhite Thunder Bear's ice armor.
Not to mention that it also had lightning-element abilities enhancing its speed. If it charged through, it would become a bloody, brutal massacre.
"Wuming, keep being rubbery."
"Rubbery my ass, Pangpang! Is this the time for that?"
"Slip of the tongue. I meant, keep using Rubber Meatball Crash."
"I've digested everything. Where am I supposed to get a meatball from? Eat snow?"
Even if Su Wuming could use Meatball Crash right now, it would be useless. He did not have enough distance to build up momentum.
It seemed that this time, they could only leave their fate to heaven.
"All earth-element users, aim at the bridge and turn it into sand, now!"
"You mean to..." Qin Ming guessed what Su Wuming was thinking and was about to say it when Su Wuming cut him off.
"Yes, exactly what you think. Go organize them, quickly. I can hold that thing off for thirty seconds at most—no, twenty seconds!"
[Opening Gate]---Open!!!
He had to go all out now. Su Wuming decisively opened the Opening Gate.
The next moment, Su Wuming shot forward, leaving only two spinning arms twisted into corkscrews behind him.
When he reappeared, he was already less than fifty meters from the Snowwhite Thunder Bear.
[Rubber Flame Spiral Bullet]!!!
That was right. After reaching Bronze, with the speed boost from the Opening Gate, Su Wuming could make the areas coated in Armament Haki ignite through rapid friction with the air.
Its power still fell short of Second Gear's [Fire Fist Pistol], but it was enough for now.
As his arms rebounded and spun, Su Wuming's fists, burning with two raging flames behind him, slammed heavily into the Snowwhite Thunder Bear's abdomen. They shattered its outer ice armor and struck its actual body.
A patch of white fur instantly caught fire from the flames on his fists, and a plume of white smoke clearly rose from its belly.
That strike successfully stopped the Snowwhite Thunder Bear, but it also made it incomparably furious.
Su Wuming's attack did little damage, but it was outrageously insulting.
A dignified Battle General had actually been stopped by such a tiny bug. It was a disgrace to all bears in the Frost Forest; even female bears would shake their heads at the story.
Thus, in its fury, the Snowwhite Thunder Bear unleashed a vast spread of lightning, forming a bear paw made entirely of electricity that slammed toward Su Wuming.
You stupid bear! I don't conduct—
Su Wuming's mental retort came to an abrupt end before he could finish it.
Rubber did not conduct electricity, that was true, but the impact was very real.
The bear paw was enormous, and lightning was already fast. This blow directly smashed Su Wuming into the bridge deck.
Still dissatisfied, the Snowwhite Thunder Bear struck him more than ten times in succession.
The people on the other side of the bridge only saw lightning flash more than ten times in an instant. The snow covering the bridge was blasted high into the air, then reduced to powder amid the violent thunderbolts.
"Pangpang, Wuming doesn't conduct electricity, right?"
Gulp—the sound of swallowing.
"Probably... right? I mean, if we go over now, we should still be able to roll him up."
At that moment, the Snowwhite Thunder Bear stopped attacking and lowered its huge round eyes.
In the next instant, its pupils visibly contracted, as though it had seen something unbelievable.
In its sight, that tiny bug had been flattened as thin as paper and was desperately opening its mouth to suck in air.
With a bang, Su Wuming's body instantly inflated back to normal after taking in air. Before the Snowwhite Thunder Bear could react, he vanished and appeared in midair at the same height as its head.
Then, he curled up both arms and extended his palms, swiftly wrapping the Snowwhite Thunder Bear's entire head and sealing its mouth to prevent it from using Frost Breath.
Immediately afterward, Su Wuming leaped backward, using the spiral's acceleration and leverage to unleash [Rubber Hammer].
This move could lift an opponent and smash them fiercely into the ground, but the Snowwhite Thunder Bear was simply too massive. He could only barely knock it backward.
Then Su Wuming was forcibly yanked down by the arm by the fallen Snowwhite Thunder Bear and hurled away, crashing heavily against the barrier.
"Ah—!"
Su Wuming screamed in agony. A large portion of his back had been scorched by the barrier, blood instantly dyeing it red, while the flesh around the wounds flowed like melted rubber.
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