First Victory

The Dagger Gang leader's snake-like eyes remained fixed on the rolling smoke. There was no relief on his gaunt face—only deeper vigilance and unease.

He had just been about to say something—

Tap.

An exceptionally clear footstep, like a drumbeat, shattered the Blood Anchor Gang leader's laughter and the weak cheers of the lackeys.

Tap... tap... tap...

The footsteps were steady and powerful, carrying a heart-pounding rhythm as they gradually pierced through the thick smoke and emerged.

Everyone's hearts seemed to be clenched tightly by an invisible hand, and the laughter came to an abrupt stop.

Every person still able to breathe seemed to have been frozen in place, stiffly and laboriously turning their heads, their eyes locked on the swirling smoke.

The smoke was parted by a large hand covered in blood and mud.

That tall figure stepped out, one step at a time.

Smoke billowed behind him like a demon's cape. His clothes had long since been shredded and soaked through with blood, clinging tightly to his sharply defined muscles.

His exposed skin was covered in shocking bullet wounds. Dark red blood kept pouring from the torn flesh, streaming down his powerful body and pooling into a small, glaring puddle of scarlet at his feet.

Yet his steps did not slow in the slightest. He remained as steady as a mountain.

He bared his teeth, the curve of his lips carrying an almost cruel mockery.

"You... only have this much?"

The remaining lackeys completely broke down. The sight of this blood-soaked demon god before them shattered the last trace of their will to resist.

"G-Ghost!!"

"Monster! An unkillable monster!!"

"Run... run!!"

Fear spread like a plague in an instant. Some had their legs give out and collapsed to the ground, yellow liquid spreading beneath them;

Others let out hysterical screams, threw away their weapons, and turned to flee like headless flies;

Still others gripped their guns with hands trembling like leaves in the wind, their muzzles pointed at the ground and their eyes unfocused.

"Trash! Stop right the fuck there!"

The Blood Anchor Gang leader's eyes were split wide with rage. His furious roar tried to salvage his crumbling forces, but the tremor at the end of his voice exposed the turmoil in his heart.

"What are you scared of?! Can't you see bullets work on him?! Reload! Keep firing! Shoot his head! Shoot his eyes!"

As he roared, he shot a hurried, vicious glance at the Dagger Gang leader not far away.

The Dagger Gang leader's face was dark enough to drip water. He instantly understood Blood Anchor's meaning—join forces.

Otherwise, they would both die. He hesitated no longer, sharply waving his hand and shrieking an order at the subordinates on his side who had barely maintained formation and still had relatively ample ammunition.

"Fire! Focus your fire! Hit his vital points!"

Adams seemed not to hear those commands, nor did he see the guns being raised once more.

The tendons in his calves knotted and coiled, as though compressed to their absolute limit, before suddenly releasing.

Boom! The hard rocky ground shattered. Adams charged straight into the crowd ahead like an enraged bull, so fast that the gang members had no time to react.

With only that instant of contact, the armed gang members collapsed completely before they could even pull their triggers.

Then the two leaders standing in the rear saw their gunmen sent flying in every direction as if they had been struck on land by a naval warship.

Adams was like an unstoppable chariot, crushing through every obstacle as he charged toward the two leaders.

The two leaders exchanged a glance and understood each other's intent. Each darted behind the ruined walls on either side of the street to find his own weapon.

Once the leaders vanished, the surviving gang members were completely terrified by the hellish scene. Resist? Shoot? That would only make them die faster!

The instinct to survive overwhelmed everything. Their rout erupted like an avalanche.

"Run—!"

"He's not human! Get out of here!"

The remaining gang members wailed and fled, throwing away their gear, wanting only to get as far from this entrance to hell as possible. The resistance in the alley melted away in an instant like thin ice beneath the blazing sun.

Just as morale completely collapsed and the lackeys were about to scatter like birds and beasts—

Whooo—!

A shrill, piercing sound tore through the air from behind a broken wall at Adams's rear flank.

A massive ship's anchor, connected to a thick iron chain and covered in dark red bloodstains, came hurtling toward Adams's back with a terrifying scream that ripped through the air. Any fleeing lackeys struck by the anchor's tip or chain did not even have time to scream before being sent flying like rag dolls, their tendons and bones shattered.

The timing was vicious! The force was savage!

Adams spun around sharply, crossing his arms before his chest in an instant. His knotted muscles swelled like steel.

The heavy anchor slammed solidly into Adams's crossed arms, and its terrifying momentum exploded at once.

Rip! Tough skin and muscle tore apart, blood spraying wildly like crushed berries.

Even Adams's mountain-like body could not completely withstand the tremendous impact. The muddy ground beneath his feet exploded into two deep pits.

The overwhelming force drove his entire body sliding backward, his soles carving two deep trenches into the muddy ground! Gravel and dirt flew everywhere.

He was forced back more than ten meters!

Adams forcibly steadied himself, his ankles sunk deep into the mud as he tried to disperse the violent impact. The intense pain and numbness in his arms made him frown slightly.

Just as his old strength had been spent and new strength had yet to rise, at the moment his movements were at their slowest—

Slice!

Behind him, the air was cut open by an object of extreme sharpness. Two cold flashes carrying a pungent, sweetly fishy scent shot silently yet lightning-fast toward the vital point at the back of his neck.

The angle was incomparably tricky, and the timing was flawless.

It was the Dagger Gang leader's deadly sneak attack. His hands moved in a blur, and the tips of his two daggers gleamed with an eerie purple light as they went straight for Adams's cervical spine.

A deadly chill instantly crawled up Adams's spine. He could even glimpse that eerie purple from the corner of his eye.

Poisoned...

The thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

He suddenly closed his eyes, and an invisible ripple spread from his body.

Yet to the Blood Anchor Gang leader, who was grinning savagely as he prepared to pull the chain anchor again, and to the Dagger Gang leader, whose lips had already curled into a cruel arc like a phantom's, this action was undoubtedly the clearest sign that Adams had given up resisting.

"Hahaha! Surrender? Too late!"

The Blood Anchor Gang leader let out earth-shaking laughter. The muscles in his arms bulged again as he prepared to launch the killing blow.

The Dagger Gang leader revealed his pale teeth, a silent vicious grin blooming across his face.

Their delight lasted less than half a second.

Just as the tips of those two poisoned daggers were about to pierce the skin at the back of Adams's neck—

The ground beneath the two leaders' feet instantly came alive and moved. The dark brown soil became a living swamp, suddenly climbing upward.

In an instant, it wrapped around their ankles and crazily crawled up their calves, thighs, waists, abdomens, chests... Cold, heavy, carrying the suffocating pressure of the earth!

"Wh—?!"

"No—!!!"

The Dagger Gang leader's wild delight instantly turned into boundless shock and despair. He struggled frantically, stabbing his poisoned daggers uselessly at the encroaching soil, but it was like stabbing into a thick swamp—completely ineffective. The earth spread at an unimaginable speed, reaching his neck in the blink of an eye.

The Blood Anchor Gang leader let out an animalistic roar. His thick arms flailed desperately as he tried to break free, but the force of the earth was as heavy as a mountain. His struggles were like an ant trying to shake a tree. The soil swiftly swallowed his torso and arms as well, leaving only his terrified head exposed.

In an instant, everything below their necks was completely covered and restrained by soil hardened like rock.

"Urgh... urgh..."

The soil tightened around the Dagger Gang leader's neck. His eyes bulged from suffocation and terror, bloodshot as they stared fixedly at the child slowly opening his eyes.

"You're an ability user?!"

Adams opened his eyes. There was no emotion in them, only a dead, indifferent silence.

"Correct. Too bad there's no prize."

The instant his words fell, the soil covering their bodies surged upward like a living thing!

"No—!!!"

The Dagger Gang leader let out one final, horribly distorted scream. The Blood Anchor Gang leader only had time to widen his despairing eyes.

The soil instantly submerged their mouths and noses, covering the tops of their heads.

From beneath the soil came a violent series of muffled thuds and scraping sounds, like trapped beasts struggling. Their limbs twisted and slammed wildly against the heavy earthen restraint, but it was as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree.

A few seconds later, the muffled sounds of struggle vanished completely.

TO BE CONTINUED