Soundwave Echo Strike

This "blind" wasn't a figure of speech. He was genuinely blind.

The instant he entered Digitization Mode, Li Qing's fairly bright, clear eyes vanished.

In their place was a white film that completely obscured even his pupils.

And then, he could no longer see anything.

But this wasn't a disability. It was a genuine superpower:

Though his eyes could no longer see, his other senses—hearing, smell, touch, and so on—were enhanced several times over in that instant.

Especially his hearing:

He could hear every human breathing in the room and every seagull crying in the sky beyond the window.

Whether it was the hushed chatter of pedestrians on the street below or the waves surging in from the distant sea, he could hear it all with perfect clarity.

Using only his ears, Li Qing could accurately pinpoint his enemies' locations and catch every one of their movements.

Even more remarkably, he seemed to possess some mysterious "sixth sense" that allowed him to perceive space through sound and determine the approximate outlines and exact locations of every object and living being.

"Whew."

At that moment, Li Qing's extraordinary hearing instantly caught Amor's breathing becoming rapid:

"Wait."

"He isn't bleeding, and he isn't hurt?!"

Amor immediately noticed something strange about Li Qing:

Those two bullets had clearly pierced straight through his knees, yet there was no blood and no wound on his legs.

There wasn't even the slightest expression of pain on Li Qing's face.

That was precisely what made Digitization Mode terrifying:

In this mode, Li Qing's body was no longer ordinary flesh and blood.

Like a character in a game, he wouldn't be injured or feel pain. He would only lose health.

As long as his health didn't fall to zero, he wouldn't die, much less become crippled.

Amor's plan to cripple Li Qing with bullets was simply impossible.

"Damn it!"

"Stand Users really aren't easy to deal with."

Amor cursed under his breath, then decisively took two large steps back.

The four black-clad lackeys behind him did not stand around in a daze either.

One of the sharper lackeys had already fitted a silencer onto his pistol. As soon as Amor stepped back and moved out of the way, he abruptly raised his gun and attacked Li Qing.

"Hmm?"

Li Qing heard the black-clad man's heartbeat suddenly accelerate, as well as the faint rush of air stirred up when he raised his gun to fire.

His physical abilities were still no different from before; only his senses had become much sharper.

But that was enough.

Thanks to those extraordinary senses, before the black-clad man had even raised his muzzle, Li Qing had already predicted where it would aim and when he would pull the trigger.

So, with a sidestep, he nimbly dodged before the bullet left the barrel.

Bang!

Amid the muffled report of the silenced gunshot, the bullet missed and struck the wall.

Li Qing had dodged the bullet, but delight instead appeared in Amor's eyes:

"He dodged! He dodged!"

"Excellent."

"Boys, open fire!"

Amor gave the order calmly, but one black-clad lackey could not help raising an objection:

"Boss, aren't we running?"

"He's still full of life after taking bullets. How can we possibly deal with a monster like that?!"

Only a Stand could defeat a Stand.

When facing a Stand User, the best choice for ordinary people was to turn around and run.

The black-clad lackeys had all been thrown into a panic by Li Qing's bizarre ability to "ignore bullets," but Amor was not the least bit flustered:

"Idiots! Why run?"

"If this baldy really can't be killed, why did he dodge just now? Why is he running now?"

"Since he dodged, it means our bullets work."

"And besides, are you blind?"

"Open your eyes and look—"

Amor pointed at Li Qing. "Look above that baldy's head!"

"Above his head?"

Following their boss's direction, the black-clad lackeys stared closely and were all shocked:

"Th-this..."

"Why is there a long red bar floating over that baldy's head?"

"What?!"

Hearing that, Li Qing's expression changed slightly as well:

A red bar? There's a red bar floating above my head?

Could that be...

A bad feeling rose within him—it was a health bar?!

That was right.

Li Qing had only just awakened his abilities, so he did not yet know:

Just as every hero in League of Legends had a health bar above their head, at this very moment, a health bar was floating conspicuously above Li Qing's head in a form resembling a holographic projection.

Whether they were "allies" or "enemies," everyone could see the bar hovering above Li Qing's head.

The state of his health was as obvious as lice on a bald head.

"If I'm not mistaken."

Amor quickly deduced the meaning of that "red bar":

"That baldy's Stand ability may be able to 'prevent crippling injuries,' but it can't prevent damage."

"There must be a limit to the damage he can take, and that 'red bar' floating above his head displays his..."

"Health!"

Thanks to the booming growth of video games in the late twentieth century, those young men born in the eighties all understood Amor's idea immediately:

"Like the health displayed above a character's head in a video game!"

"And this baldy..."

The black-clad men glanced at Li Qing's health bar:

"After those two shots just now, he's already lost nearly thirty percent of his health!"

"That's right!"

Amor nodded approvingly and shouted again:

"Stop standing around and fire together!"

"Yes!"

The four burly men in black nodded in unison and hurriedly turned their guns toward Li Qing, surrounding him.

They and Amor were all standing on one side of the room. Not only were they firmly guarding the exit, but their gun muzzles also sealed off every direction around Li Qing.

Even with Li Qing's superhuman senses, it would be difficult for him to break through such a dense net of firepower.

"Oh."

"So they can all see my health."

Li Qing shook his head helplessly, but he still did not look nervous:

It's a bit of a shame I can't bluff them with the little trick of being "unkillable."

But if he had to fight head-on, he was not afraid now.

Because aside from his digitized body and superhuman senses, he also possessed system skills—the system skills exclusive to the hero Blind Monk.

"Allocate skill point: Soundwave Echo Strike!"

Li Qing placed his one and only skill point into Blind Monk's iconic Q skill in the game.

Sonically Enhanced Wave: "Li Qing emits a piercing sound wave to locate a target, dealing minor damage to the first target hit. If Sonically Enhanced Wave hits a target, Li Qing may cast Echoes Act."

Echoes Act: "Li Qing dashes toward a target hit by Sonically Enhanced Wave, dealing massive damage."

(Cooldown: 7 seconds)

(Range: 300 meters)

(The Sonically Enhanced Wave mark remains until Li Qing uses Echoes Act or actively cancels the skill effect.)

(The skill's specific damage value is determined by the player's base strength.)

Li Qing chose this skill because it combined ranged attacks with rapid dashes, effectively solving his current predicament of having short reach and being unable to touch his enemies.

"Sonically Enhanced Wave!"

Sensing that the enemies were about to pull their triggers, Li Qing hurriedly unleashed the ability he had just acquired in that split second.

Before his fist even struck out, a faint white glow began to spread over it.

In an instant, that white glow condensed into a brilliant ball of light, then shot rapidly and straight ahead along the path of Li Qing's punch.

Although the description for Sonically Enhanced Wave said it "emitted a piercing sound wave," in reality, the "sound wave" Li Qing fired was, just as in the game, a dazzling ball of light visible to everyone.

Furthermore, after Sonically Enhanced Wave hit the black-clad man, an extremely obvious glowing white pattern appeared on his body.

That was not a good sign.

Everyone could see the ball of light, while the fluorescent mark created after a hit was so obvious that anyone could grasp its meaning at a glance.

With Amor's sharp eye, he would likely see through the mechanics of Sonically Enhanced Wave and Echoes Act after observing them only once.

And more troublesome still—

Li Qing had originally intended to capture the ringleader first and attack Amor directly.

But Amor was exceptionally cautious and gave Li Qing no chance to take a shortcut:

When he stepped back just now, he had already quietly hidden behind those tall, burly lackeys in black. Now, he used their sturdy bodies as cover while observing Li Qing's every move with hawk-like eyes.

Unable to attack Amor directly, Li Qing could only fire Sonically Enhanced Wave at the black-clad lackey standing in front of him.

Though the ball of light from Sonically Enhanced Wave was obvious, fortunately, it traveled fairly quickly.

Before the black-clad lackey could raise his gun and fire, the targeting orb from Sonically Enhanced Wave slammed into his chest.

"Urgh!"

The black-clad lackey let out a soft cry of pain, but only felt a slight numbness in his chest:

"What was that?"

"It gave me a scare, but it didn't even hurt."

He muttered carelessly, completely unaware that a glowing white pattern had appeared on his chest.

Amor immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Though he did not know why an ordinary person like him could see the other side's "Stand ability," the moment he saw that distinctly abnormal white mark, he immediately sensed danger:

"Watch out!"

"There's definitely something wrong with that white mark!"

As Amor instinctively retreated farther away, he warned the subordinate with the glowing mark on his chest.

But it was already too late for anything he said to matter.

"Echoes Act!"

The instant the targeting mark appeared on the black-clad man's chest, Li Qing immediately activated the second phase of the skill.

At that moment, his body abruptly transformed into a gust of wind.

Li Qing burst forth with a terrifying speed that shocked even him, streaking in a straight, illusory line and leaving behind afterimages invisible to the naked eye.

In less than an instant, he charged directly in front of the marked black-clad man.

Then, in the next instant—

His fist erupted!

Before the bald afterimage reflected in the black-clad man's pupils could even take shape, a fist too fast to resist had already smashed into his chest.

That punch was like a cannonball, like a massive hammer, easily blasting his muscular chest inward and shattering it.

Before he could even cry out in pain, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed limply onto the floor, half-dead.

"Th-this..."

Amor instinctively felt fear at the speed and strength Li Qing had unleashed:

"So this is his true Stand ability? How terrifying!"

"No... I can't be afraid."

"If I'm afraid, then I've truly lost."

"Stay calm. Observe carefully. There must be a way to deal with him!"

He did his utmost to adjust his mindset and carefully observe every change occurring in Li Qing.

"Hmm?"

In that split second, Amor noticed the most striking change on Li Qing's face:

"His eyes have turned completely white. I can't even find his pupils."

"In other words..."

"He's blind now!"