"Three."
As Yasuo uttered the number, his figure transformed into a blue afterimage.
Instead of running downstairs, he grabbed Hector by the back of the collar, who was still in a daze, and slammed him against the glass door on the second floor.
"Two."
Hector felt dizzy and saw a rapidly enlarging glass wall in front of him. He instinctively covered his entire body with the energy of the amulet.
"One."
"Crack--Boom!!"
The glass shattered upon impact with the two Superman.
Immediately afterwards, the pyramid-like building behind them emitted a muffled, mournful groan.
An orange-red fireball rose from the base and engulfed the entire hall.
The two of them flew through the air in a clumsy parabola before crashing heavily onto the neatly trimmed lawn outside.
No, only the White Tiger fell to the ground.
"Cough cough cough..."
Hector crawled out of the mud, feeling as if his internal organs had shifted out of place.
He looked back and saw that the Eden had become a torch, with billowing black smoke rising into the sky. Many of the wealthy and famous people had been buried under the ruins.
"These fireworks were even louder than those for Chinese New Year."
Yasuo dusted off his shoulders. He looked much more composed Hector, except that his hairstyle was a little messier and he still looked like he hadn't woken up from a hangover.
"You're insane... If we'd been a second later, we'd be roast meat."
Hector gritted his teeth.
"So I counted to three, not two and a half."
Yasuo strolled leisurely to the roadside.
The driveway, which was originally full of luxury cars, was in complete chaos. Several sports cars had collided, and the owners had long since abandoned their vehicles and fled for their lives.
Yasuo stopped in front of a red Ferrari F8.
The car's windshield was shattered in one corner, but the engine was still roaring, and the key was still in the ignition.
"Get in, Big Cat." Yasuo opened the car door and plopped into the driver's seat. "This convertible is well-ventilated; it'll help get rid of all that smoky smell."
Hector glanced at the still-burning ruins, then silently climbed into the passenger seat.
"Hold on tight, I don't have a driver's license."
Yasuo floored the accelerator.
The V8 engine roared like Beast, and the red car shot off like an arrow, leaving behind only charred tire tracks and the ever-fading sound of sirens behind it.
The journey from Eden to Santa Monica Beach usually takes at least an hour during the evening rush hour.
But in the hands of a madman like Yasuo who treats the road like a racetrack, it only takes twenty minutes.
At the Santa Monica Pier, the famous Ferris wheel is still spinning, its colorful lights reflected on the dark sea.
But at the end of the pier, a giant black cruise ship sat quietly.
It was dark, like a steel behemoth lurking in the darkness, completely out of place with the bustling amusement park next door.
This is the venue for the " Blood Feast "—the Black Pearl.
Yasuo casually parked his Ferrari, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, on the beach, with half of the wheels stuck in the sand.
Don't you think it's a bit too quiet?
Hector jumped out of the car, his nostrils flaring.
As a warrior possessing the power of the White Tiger, his sense of smell is even more acute than radar.
"The air smelled of blood, strong and fresh."
" Blood Feast, what kind of feast is it without blood?"
Yasuo pulled a pair of sunglasses—whose owner had left behind—from under the car seat and put them on his nose, even though it was nighttime.
The two walked side by side toward the dock.
The pier leading to the cruise ship was deserted; not even a seagull could be seen.
Only the rusty streetlights emitted a crackling electrical sound, flickering on and off.
Just as they were about to step onto the boarding stairs, two dark figures suddenly darted out from the Shadow.
The movements were extremely fast, without the sound of footsteps or even breathing.
The shadowy figure on the left held two mantis-like bone blades in its forearm, aiming straight for Yasuo's throat.
The one on the right was enormous, with a metallic sheen to its skin, and it rammed into Hector like a bulldozer.
"Another one of those unoriginal greeting gifts."
Yasuo didn't even bother to draw his sword; he simply took a half-step to the left, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow.
Immediately afterwards, he raised his foot and kicked the attacker's knee joint with his toe.
"Click."
The mantis-like monster lost his balance, and before he could regain his center of gravity, Yasuo's scabbard lashed out like a whip across the back of his head.
"Bang!"
The mantis-like monster fell straight to the ground, twitched twice, and then remained still.
On the other side, Hector chose to confront the "bulldozer" head-on.
He didn't dodge; he grabbed the other person's shoulder with both hands and plowed two deep furrows in the wooden pier with his feet.
Hector roared, abruptly stopping the giant's charge. Then, using his waist strength, he threw the several-hundred-pound lump of flesh over the railing of the pier with an over-the-shoulder throw.
"Thump!"
Water splashed up, and then a dark red pool of blood rose from the sea surface, followed by several mutated sharks quickly surrounding it with their dorsal fins.
"It seems the security here is a bit more professional than places like Eden."
Yasuo stepped over the corpse on the ground and flipped the mantis monster over with his toe.
This creature's face could no longer be called a human face; it was more like a composite of some kind of insect and a human. Its mouth was filled with fine, sharp teeth, it had no eyelids, and its eyes were cloudy and yellowish.
"Another bio-engineered human." Hector frowned in disgust. "I didn't expect Count Nefaria to be involved too."
"Everyone wants to be God, but unfortunately, their skills are too outdated; all they manage to produce are these substandard pieces."
Yasuo shook his head and stepped onto the boarding ladder.
The deck of the cruise ship was pitch black.
But the moment the two stepped onto the deck, all the spotlights that had been off suddenly came on.
"Clap, clap, clap."
Applause came from above.
Along the railing of the second deck stood a row of people dressed in dark red robes, wearing identical silver masks and holding glasses filled with red liquid.
In the very center of these people sat a hunched old man. He leaned on a cane inlaid with Crystal, and he was not wearing a mask. His face was none other than that of Count Nefaria, who had appeared on the screen earlier.
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"
Count Nefaria's voice was hoarse, like two rough pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.
"You are qualified to be the main course tonight."
As he finished speaking, the hatches around the deck opened.
Dozens of strangely shaped "things" came out.
Some had four arms, some were covered in acid, and some were nearly three meters tall, dragging rusty giant axes in their hands.
This is a monster army made up of failed attempts.
"Is this your way of hospitality?" Yasuo took off his sunglasses. "You think you can throw a party with a bunch of trash you fished out of the sewers?"
"Arrogant young man."
Count Nefaria raised his glass and swirled it gently.
"There are no laws or morals here, only primal force. Only those who survive in this arena are qualified to speak to me."
He poured the red liquid from the glass.
The liquid fell onto the deck and did not spread out, but instead began to wriggle like a living thing.
The eyes of the surrounding monsters turned crimson, and they let out hungry roars from their throats.
"Roar--!!"
Dozens of monsters launched a simultaneous charge.
The deck vibrated.
Yasuo threw his sunglasses on the ground, gently pushed open the hilt with his left thumb, revealing half an inch of the gleaming blade.
A battle is about to break out.