"I see our brothers. They've come to get me."
Beibei grinned. "Being your brother was... was the best."
"A smoke. Give me a smoke."
Beibei trembled as he fumbled over his clothes.
"Fuck."
One of the brothers pulled out a cigarette and put it in Beibei's mouth.
These men had seen their share of life and death, but they still couldn't calmly face the death of their own brother.
"A light, a light."
Old Ninth frantically flicked the lighter, as though heaven were deliberately tormenting them.
No matter what he did, the lighter wouldn't catch.
Beibei gave a bleak smile.
"Wait a second, brothers. I'm going to borrow a light."
Beibei, who was already barely breathing, suddenly opened his eyes wide, shoved Old Ninth aside, and leaped out from behind cover.
Under the bewildered stares of San'er's men, he rushed into the flames and picked up a gas tank that had already burned red-hot.
Thud!
Holding the liquefied gas tank, Beibei jumped into a sheltered position.
San'er and his men stared blankly at Beibei as he landed among them, exchanging bewildered looks.
"Brother Nine, keep the brothers alive. Don't come looking for me too soon. I'm off, brothers."
Beibei clenched the cigarette between his teeth and gave San'er a defiant grin. "Got a light?"
"Run!"
San'er and the others finally reacted, scrambling over one another to get out.
Bang!
Beibei shot the liquefied gas tank, and San'er's entire group was swallowed by the flames.
Out in the snow.
Little White Tiger faced the enemy Awakened alone.
A figure moved swiftly beyond the reach of the warehouse lights.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Three steel pipes flew out of the darkness. Little White Tiger rolled aside to dodge them.
After absorbing the Demon Ancestor's Blood and becoming an Awakened, every one of Little White Tiger's abilities had undergone a qualitative leap.
Whoooo!
A gale swept in, carrying snow and wind that forced Little White Tiger's eyes shut.
His opponent seized the opportunity to rush out of the darkness.
"Die!"
The spear in his opponent's hand pierced Little White Tiger's shoulder.
Only then did Little White Tiger finally get a clear look at him.
He was a rough-skinned, middle-aged man wearing a shabby black padded coat and a small padded cap.
"Kid, never expose yourself to an enemy."
The man laughed hoarsely, full of a victor's pride. "Too bad you won't get a chance to learn from that mistake."
Despite the spear through his left shoulder, Little White Tiger showed no sign of pain. Instead, he smiled as though his scheme had succeeded.
Smack!
Sharp claws struck the man's face, and Little White Tiger spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
"CNM, I've been fighting since I was eight. You think I need your advice?"
Little White Tiger forcibly pulled the spear out of his shoulder.
The man stared in disbelief at Little White Tiger, who was still full of vigor.
"Impossible. A first-awakening Awakened couldn't still fight back after I stabbed him."
Little White Tiger stripped off his shirt. The bleeding from his shoulder had already stopped.
The Demon Ancestor's Blood was extraordinarily potent. After absorbing the Silver-Patterned Tiger's blood, Little White Tiger's physical toughness far surpassed that of other Awakened at his level.
"Your awakened ability is enhancement type?"
The man looked at Little White Tiger in alarm.
Abilities were generally classified as enhancement type, summoning type, elemental type, mental type, support type, mythic type, or unknown type.
Little White Tiger's physical toughness suggested enhancement type.
But Enhancement Type abilities usually strengthened only a particular body part. He had never seen anyone strengthen their shoulder like Little White Tiger.
"What enhancement? CNM, come on. If you don't kill me today, I'll fucking kill you."
An uneducated nobody like Little White Tiger, who had never received any systematic instruction about abilities, had no idea what the man was talking about.
He only knew that he had to kill this man today.
"Kid, a battle between Awakened isn't a street brawl. Today, I'll show you the gap between two people at the first awakening."
The man grasped at the air, and the spear on the ground flew back into his hand.
"Let's see whether my Summoning Type Life-Bound Spear is sharper or your Enhancement Type body is tougher."
The man leaped up. His spear quivered, producing several phantom spearheads that made it impossible to tell where he intended to strike.
Seeing Little White Tiger standing frozen in place, the man laughed. "A rookie, just as I thought."
Shlick!
The spear pierced Little White Tiger's abdomen this time.
"I don't believe you can strengthen your abdomen too," the man said, looking smugly at Little White Tiger.
Little White Tiger smiled as well.
"I don't know how Awakened fight, but I know you're not as tough as me."
Before his opponent could pull the spear free, Little White Tiger drove forward along its shaft, closing in on the man.
His opponent's combat skills far surpassed his, so Little White Tiger had never intended to dodge. He would trade injury for injury.
Thud!
The spear went all the way through Little White Tiger, but he reached his opponent too.
Before the man could make another move, Little White Tiger threw his arms around him.
"CNM, you stabbed my brother!"
Little White Tiger roared in fury. The man instinctively tried to retreat, but Little White Tiger's arms were astonishingly powerful, and he couldn't break free.
Bam!
Little White Tiger smashed his head into the man's face.
"Let me show you how we fight on the streets."
Little White Tiger repeatedly rammed his head into the man's face until half of it was a bloody mess.
Throughout it all, the man's hands hadn't been idle either. He viciously hammered Little White Tiger's body.
Gradually, despair took hold of him.
Little White Tiger's physical toughness was simply beyond what a first-awakening Awakened could possess.
Hitting his skin was like hitting steel.
"Weren't you going to teach me how to fight?" Little White Tiger grinned, then sank his teeth into the man's face.
"Aah... fuck!"
The man broke down. Even in a fight to the death between Awakened, this brat actually bit people.
Only after Little White Tiger tore off half his face did the man finally break free.
But this time, he didn't dare attack recklessly.
Little White Tiger's injury-for-injury fighting style was utterly shameless.
When he saw that the wound in Little White Tiger's abdomen had miraculously stopped bleeding too, the man lost his composure.
That healing ability was terrifying.
"CNM, keep going."
Little White Tiger beckoned to his opponent.
With half his face bitten off by Little White Tiger, the man looked hideously grotesque.
"I underestimated you. We've made a Grudge of each other, and you certainly won't spare me once you grow stronger. In that case, I'll send you on your way."
The man stopped underestimating his opponent and summoned his Life-Bound Spear once more.
"I paid two hundred thousand for this Martial Techniques move. It only has one move, but that's enough to deal with you."
The man settled into a firm horse stance, and the Life-Bound Spear began spinning rapidly in his palm.
As the spear spun faster and faster, the surrounding wind and snow began gathering around it.
"Dragon-Turning Spear!"
With a shout, the man pressed his palm against the butt of the spear and charged at Little White Tiger.
Wrapped in endless wind and snow, the Life-Bound Spear resembled an enormous power drill.
"I'll grind you to pieces!"
Little White Tiger sucked in a breath. As a rookie who had only just become an Awakened, he had no idea how to defend against an attack like this.
He knew absolutely nothing about combat techniques.
The man was incredibly fast. The enormous drill reached him in an instant.
Little White Tiger tried to dodge to one side, only to discover that his legs seemed rooted to the ground.
"What's going on?"
Both Little White Tiger and the man froze in surprise. He wasn't dodging?
At that critical moment, a childish voice sounded in Little White Tiger's mind. "Why dodge? You useless fool. You're wasting Mommy's blood."
Roar!
A beast's roar shook heaven and earth.
Whoosh!
The wind and snow surrounding the Life-Bound Spear scattered.
A translucent, two-meter-long Silver-Patterned Tiger leaped out of the snow beside Little White Tiger's feet.
Crack, crack, crack!
The spear struck the Silver-Patterned Tiger's head without slowing.
Under the man's terrified gaze, the Life-Bound Spear broke apart inch by inch.
The Silver-Patterned Tiger's eyes were filled with contempt. With one swipe, she sent the man flying dozens of meters.
Roar!
The Silver-Patterned Tiger roared haughtily at Little White Tiger, then sprang up and landed heavily on the man.
"No! You're summoning type! You lied to me!"
The man let out an anguished roar before his death.
The Silver-Patterned Tiger crushed his head in her jaws.
Little White Tiger stared blankly at the Silver-Patterned Tiger before him. Why did she look so familiar?
Sure enough, the Silver-Patterned Tiger walked toward Little White Tiger through the wind and snow, shrinking with every step until she became a palm-sized kitten.
She was none other than the Demon Ancestors' daughter.
With her tail held high, the little kitten swaggered over to Little White Tiger's feet like a general returning triumphant.
She lifted a leg.
And pissed on Little White Tiger's foot again.
"You and I share one body, so you possess every trait of the Demon Ancestors' bloodline. Train properly. Don't make me step in every time."
The Little Silver-Patterned Tiger haughtily turned into a streak of white light and slipped into Little White Tiger's body.
"Target eliminated."
A kilometer away, Mr. Li and his team calmly watched the entire battle.
"Did you record it?"
Mr. Li asked the man operating the drone beside him.
"I recorded everything."
The man nodded.
The corners of Mr. Li's mouth lifted into a mysterious smile.
"The Demon Ancestor's Blood really is formidable. Tell our people to move in."
Mr. Li lit a cigarette and got into the car.
"We're moving in when the fighting's almost over?" the man asked in confusion.
"With so many dead, how are they supposed to stay in the city unless this gets cleaned up? Move in and take over the battle."
"Yes, sir."
Before you continue