The surge of energy emanating from the Soldier Boy's chest continued to pound, scorching the ground black, and the violent impact caused the steel plates on the walls to curl up layer by layer.
But Chen Mo simply stood still, reaching out to stop the chest cannon without even swaying his shoulder.
A few seconds later, he clenched his fist.
The remaining energy, like a spark caught in his hand, shattered into specks of red light in his palm, dissipating into the air.
The quarantine area fell silent for a moment.
Chen Mo looked down at his hands and said sincerely, "The special effects of your skill are actually pretty good, it's just that the damage is pretty weak."
The Soldier Boy, panting heavily, still had the light on his chest lingering, staring intently at Chen Mo.
This is definitely not some ordinary minnow; could it be a new generation of bio-monsters produced by Vought?
Thinking of this, the Soldier Boy's eyes darkened. He disliked this speculation, and he disliked even more anyone standing in front of him, looking down at him with such a condescending expression.
"What the hell are you?" the Soldier Boy asked through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse. "The circus Joker Vought hired to kill me?"
"Pretty much. You can assume that Edgar, that black guy, sent me here." Chen Mo smiled. "Also, this project is quite expensive, and even if an old man like you buys a ticket, I won't give you a discount."
Upon hearing this, the Soldier Boy's cheek muscles twitched slightly.
He turned abruptly and reached into the nearby ruins, pulling out a twisted metal beam.
The metal beam was as thick as an adult's thigh, with a sharp break at the front end that drew a string of ear-piercing sparks when dragged on the ground.
The Soldier Boy gripped it with both hands, his shoulders slowly lowering.
The next second, he burst out.
His heavy footsteps slammed into the ground, causing the steel plates in the isolation zone to cave in one by one. He charged straight at Chen Mo, fueled by decades of pent-up anger.
Chen Mo remained standing in the same spot, not moving.
"Not bad," he even had time to comment, "But the speed is a bit slow, which even reminds me of the time I tried to use shared bikes to prolong your youth."
The metal beam swung down with a whooshing sound.
Chen Mo raised his hand and punched, snapping the metal beam in two.
The Soldier Boy's pupils contracted.
The next second, Chen Mo punched him in the chest, sending him flying and his back slamming into the wall of the isolation zone.
With a loud crash, a large crater appeared in the wall.
The rubble and steel bars broke apart at the same time, and half of the Soldier Boy's body was embedded in it, with a blackened fist mark appearing on his chest.
Chen Mo flicked his wrist, his expression calm.
"Are you dizzy from sleeping too long? Want to fight with a foam stick?"
The Soldier Boy slid down the wall, landing on one knee on the ground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it with his hand, and looking at the red on his fingertip, his face turned even paler.
He hadn't bled for many years.
wrong.
For many years, he hasn't even had the chance to fight standing up.
The Soldier Boy slowly stood up, a low chuckle escaped his throat, and his eyes began to light up.
"When I was killing people in Normandy, your grandfather was still wearing open-crotch pants." He spat out the blood in his mouth, his eyes turning fierce and menacing. "What kind of weak attack is this?"
Chen Mo scoffed.
"Did you stage a photo and make yourself look stupid?" he said, stretching his neck. "Or did you get dementia from being locked up for too long?"
As soon as he finished speaking, dark red flesh surged out from his elbow, quickly covering his forearm. Layers of muscle fibers snapped together, and cold, hard carbon armor grew on the outside.
The Soldier Boy was about to retort when he realized the person in front of him had vanished.
No, he didn't disappear, he just moved too fast!
Without hesitation, the Soldier Boy immediately bent his arms in defense.
Chen Mo left a blur, his right fist slamming into the man's abdomen. The sound of muscles colliding echoed through the quarantine zone.
The Soldier Boy bent over, the ground beneath his feet cracking like a spiderweb, and he coughed up blood again.
Before he could retaliate, a second punch had already bypassed his arm and landed on his chin.
A click.
The Soldier Boy's head snapped back, and just as his body was about to leave the ground, Chen Mo grabbed his shoulder and forcefully pulled him back to his original position.
"Don't fly," Chen Mo said casually. "Let me finish my combo first."
The Soldier Boy gritted his teeth, wrapped his arm around Chen Mo's right hand, and delivered a headbutt.
Thump!
The Soldier Boy's skull cracked with a dull thud, and a small fissure appeared.
Chen Mo tilted his head slightly.
"Does it sound good? If it sounds good, then it's a good start."
The Soldier Boy roared and reached for Chen Mo's neck with his other hand. Chen Mo countered by grabbing his wrist, his fingers tightening slightly, causing the bones and joints to make a teeth-grinding squeaking sound.
The Soldier Boy's expression changed.
He swept his other leg across, but Chen Mo raised his leg to block it, his feet remaining perfectly still.
Instead, the Soldier Boy felt a sharp pain in his calf.
It felt like kicking a whole, welded-on mountain of steel.
Chen Mo turned around and slammed his wrist to the ground.
boom.
The Soldier Boy slammed into the ground, the steel plate caved in, and dust was kicked up by the Shockwave. Before he could even turn over, Chen Mo had already stepped on his chest.
With that step, the ground sank again, and the entire building structure groaned under the strain.
"The old man's fighting spirit is alright, but his stats are too poor."
The Soldier Boy grabbed Chen Mo's ankle with both hands, his neck veins bulging, but he couldn't pry the leg off.
"That's impossible!"
Chen Mo looked down at him.
"Nothing is impossible, Foot-Sucking Boy," Chen Mo said. "Want me to give you another chance?"
The Soldier Boy grabbed a broken piece of steel plate from the side and slammed it down on Chen Mo's knee.
The steel plate struck the armor and shattered into several pieces instantly.
Chen Mo paused for a moment.
"Okay, I see. We gave away too many opportunities."
He bent down, grabbed the Soldier Boy by the neck, lifted him out of the pit, and shoved him back down.
boom.
The ground collapsed for the second time.
The Soldier Boy's head shattered a steel plate, and blood seeped from his hair. He roared and swung his fists, repeatedly striking Chen Mo's arm and chest.
Tiny cracks appeared on the surface of the carbon armor, but they were quickly repaired as the black and red flesh writhed. Chen Mo shifted to a more comfortable position, pressing one knee against his shoulder.
"Don't worry." Chen Mo looked down at him. "Relax, it's normal to feel short of breath."
The Soldier Boy's punches grew heavier, and his eyes grew increasingly crazed. His teeth clenched so tightly they cracked, and a red light shone again deep within his chest.
Chen Mo raised an eyebrow when he saw the light.
Not again?
The Soldier Boy's chest heaved violently, and orange-red energy rapidly gathered beneath his skin. Nearby rubble began to float, and the steel plates on the ground glowed red-hot from the intense heat.
He stared at Chen Mo, his voice forced out through clenched teeth. "You'll regret this, kid."
"That line is too old-fashioned." Chen Mo shook his head. "Did your film training courses teach this?"
The light on the Soldier Boy's chest suddenly expanded.
Just a second before the energy burst, Chen Mo formed a knife with his right hand, and the blade transformed from the Blacklight Virus pierced the Soldier Boy's chest with a soft thud.
The Soldier Boy's body stiffened abruptly. The bursting red light seemed to have its power cut off, flashing violently twice before exploding muffledly in his chest.
Peng!
The Soldier Boy's chest bulged, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, his entire face contorting in an instant. One by one, the lights in the isolation zone exploded, and red light leaked out from the cracks in his skin, only to be forcefully suppressed by Chen Mo.
"Hold it back," Chen Mo said calmly. "Don't make a scene in public."
The Soldier Boy gripped Chen Mo's wrist, his fingers turning white from the force. He wanted to say something, but only broken breaths came out of his throat.
Chen Mo looked into his unwilling eyes, and the smile on his face slowly faded.
"Honestly, you're pretty resilient."
The Soldier Boy's eyes flickered.
The next second, Chen Mo added, "Unfortunately, I need to evolve, and you're just in time."
Black and red tentacles suddenly burst open from Chen Mo's arm, burrowing into the Soldier Boy's body through the wound. The Soldier Boy's body convulsed violently, his hands gripping the ground tightly, his fingertips carving deep marks on the steel plate.
He was still struggling, and the First-Generation Compound inside his body was like a reactor, bursting with energy as it was devoured by the Blacklight Virus.
Chen Mo frowned, then smiled.
"Oh, finally we get to eat a big meal again!"
More dark red flesh and blood gushed out, quickly covering the Soldier Boy's shoulders, chest, and neck.
The Soldier Boy stared intently at him.
There was anger, resentment, and a deep sense of bewilderment in it.
Even now, he still couldn't understand why he had encountered something like this the moment he woke up.
Chen Mo looked down at him, his tone unusually serious.
Don't look at me like that. You're unlucky; you just happen to be on my menu.
The last glimmer of red light went out.
In the quarantine zone, the Soldier Boy had completely disappeared, leaving only the dilapidated ground floor and a pile of battle marks.
Chen Mo stood up, and the black and red tentacles slowly retracted into his body.
The next moment, a flood of memories and abilities rushed into his mind: the battlefield, the camera, applause, betrayal, the cryo-chamber, the experimental table, the Russian broadcast, his physical abilities taking another leap forward, along with that powerful radiant energy.
Chen Mo closed his eyes.
Deep within his body, a new energy structure is taking shape. The Nuclear Blast Ray that originally belonged to the Soldier Boy have been dismantled by the Blacklight Virus, and are gradually meshing together with his Heat Vision, flame manipulation, and energy bombardment.
It's like there's an extra reactor inside my body, releasing energy continuously, day and night.
Chen Mo raised his hand, and a wisp of dark red light shone from his fingertips.
"Okay." He nodded, glancing at the chaotic quarantine area. "This trip wasn't a waste."
In the distance, in the passageway, the surviving base soldiers were still fleeing, their footsteps sounding as chaotic as a group of mice driven from their burrow.
"Is this the standard of the troops at the secret base? They're doomed."
Chen Mo tilted his head and listened for two seconds, then the metal wings on his back unfolded again.
"Never mind, time to go home."
He stepped on the ground and instantly took off.
The top of the base exploded with a deafening roar, and the icy night wind rushed into the ruins. A figure swept across the snowfield, leaving a long trail of flame.
Chen Mo flew through the air, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"Next stop, let's see what surprises Madelyn and Homelander have in store for me."