Intercepting "Whitebeard" (4)

The hot blood flowing through Su Bai's veins suddenly ran cold.

He felt a dread and terror unlike anything he had ever known.

Liu Feng and Baldy had been living, breathing people one moment, and the next, they were cold corpses, lying stiff and silent in pools of blood.

Su Bai had once believed that wisdom could solve everything in this world, but he had been wrong, terribly wrong. He had pushed open a door called "the supernatural" and opened his own Pandora's box.

In the supernatural world, strength had always done the talking.

Without enough strength, one was destined to become a corpse lying in a pool of blood.

This world had never been kind.

"Baldy!!"

Eyes reddened, Monkey roared and kicked aside the vines blocking his path. He snatched up his heavy sniper rifle and frantically pulled the trigger, aiming at Whitebeard's head.

Bang!

Bang, bang!!

Somehow, he fired the single-shot heavy sniper rifle like an automatic rifle.

Deafening sound waves swept through the area as silver-white bullets tore through the air, curving at an utterly bizarre angle to drill precisely into Whitebeard's head.

Bang! Bang!

Half of Whitebeard's head exploded. A mixture of white and red fluids slowly ran down from the corner of his eye and dripped onto the ground.

He seemed to have lost all ability to fight back, looking utterly feeble beneath the bullets that screamed through the air.

Su Bai forced himself to endure the searing pain in his chest, strode forward, and roared, "Monkey, don't go over there!!"

Monkey's face was savage, his short frame brimming with explosive power. After firing all eighteen heavy sniper rounds, he chose not to reload. Instead, he gripped the sniper rifle by its scorching barrel and swung it like a club, smashing it toward the remaining half of Whitebeard's head.

Pfft!

A vine hidden beneath the ground suddenly burst from the earth and pierced Monkey's chest with ease.

Drip! Drip!

Blood fell to the ground like drops of scalding rain, gathering amid spreading ripples into a stream of blinding scarlet.

Blood spilling from his mouth and nose, Monkey stared fiercely through a deathly pale face. With the last of his strength, he smashed the Barrett sniper rifle into the remaining half of Whitebeard's head.

Boom!

The bloodstained sniper rifle snapped into several pieces. Its scorching barrel twisted like a pretzel, looking so feeble in Monkey's hand.

The enormous vine piercing Monkey's chest suddenly split in two, one half shooting skyward and the other burrowing underground.

Monkey, too, was torn in two, his corpse left in pieces.

His head fell from the sky, carried by its momentum, and rolled to a stop in front of Su Bai.

Su Bai saw that Monkey's eyes were filled with hatred and violence, but not a trace of fear.

Hadn't Monkey known that a ranged shooter who lost his advantage in distance would be met with death?

Of course Monkey had known.

Like Baldy and Liu Feng, Monkey had known. They all had.

But they didn't seem to fear death in the slightest.

Perhaps it could be said that, to protect Sanya's ordinary citizens and safeguard Great Xia's social order, they could cast aside their lives without hesitation, all to delay Whitebeard for a few more seconds.

But was it really worth it?

The ordinary people they had given their all to protect would never know what they had done, never know their names, or even know they had existed.

No one would thank them, because no one would remember them.

The only things that could preserve their memory were those lonely graves.

And yet, even when their loved ones visited their graves, they would never say, "My child, my husband, my brother-he was a hero."

Silent, Su Bai picked up the bone blade that had been soaking in blood and walked toward Whitebeard one step at a time, dragging it along the ground.

Whitebeard gazed at Su Bai from afar, a faint smile on his lips. "Great Satan, is this the person you chose? He doesn't seem to know how to use your authority yet. In that case... I should take 'Wrath.'"

Every muscle in Su Bai's body tensed. Scalding blood surged wildly through him, and his flesh twisted frantically like tender shoots breaking through the soil. Uncontrollable savagery erupted in his chest and rushed into his mind.

His consciousness gradually twisted, his eyes radiating an almost tangible bloody light. With a whoosh, crimson flames ignited on the bone blade in his hand.

Su Bai abruptly exerted his strength and slashed at Whitebeard's neck.

Boom!

Whitebeard raised his cane to meet the bone blade, mockery in his eyes.

Two vines suddenly sprang from the ground and lunged at Su Bai like a pair of giant pythons.

Su Bai paid them no heed, his scarlet gaze locked on Whitebeard's neck. The instant the vines touched him, his figure suddenly vanished. Yes, vanished.

The next instant.

Whitebeard's view suddenly tilted. He saw his own feet-or rather, his head had fallen beside them.

Dozens of bloody cuts suddenly appeared across Whitebeard's headless body.

This wasn't Wrath!

It was... Time Freeze!

Divine Oracle Sequence 97 (Time Freeze): The user can gain the unique attribute "Distortion" for x (unknown) amount of time. The user can alter light, space, kinetic energy, and microscopic particles within an x (unknown) range, distorting space to slow the user's perception of time. Note: In the dimension of time, you are invincible, but remember, time has never existed.

In that brief instant, Su Bai had struck Whitebeard a full twenty-seven times, his blows coming like a raging storm.

But Su Bai's Oracle was clearly Wrath. How could he use Time Freeze!?

More than ten days ago, Su Bai had killed the Little Match Girl with "Wrath" while unconscious.

After the little girl died, the supernatural power in her body had not escaped.

The effect of Wrath's unique attribute, "Annihilation," was unknown.

At the time, everyone had believed that "Annihilation" destroyed supernatural power and the bloodlines within supernatural beings.

But at that moment, Whitebeard realized with a shudder that "Annihilation" did not destroy-it devoured!

The supernatural power and Oracles within supernatural beings killed by "Wrath" would be stolen by "Wrath"!

That was why Su Bai had advanced from a ninth-tier bloodline to an eighth-tier bloodline so quickly.

That was why Su Bai had been evasive when Lin Luo asked how he had advanced so quickly.

Su Bai had kept this secret buried in his heart, telling no one, daring to tell no one. The truth was too terrifying; if it got out, it would be enough to make the entire supernatural world boil over and tremble in fear.

Whitebeard's headless corpse suddenly squirmed like an octopus, then shot forward and wrapped itself tightly around Su Bai.

Whitebeard still wasn't dead!

More than ten vines danced wildly in midair and charged at Su Bai together.

Veins bulged on Su Bai's forehead, his flesh spasming wildly and his face contorted. He growled like a beast, the bloody light seeping from his eyes growing ever more solid as the savagery hidden deep within his bloodline gradually awakened.

Lin Luo, who had remained hidden in the shadows, finally found the perfect moment to act.

He charged out of the shadows, snatched up the long blade Liu Feng had dropped, and stepped in front of Su Bai. Slashing fiercely at the vines, he shouted, "Don't use 'Wrath'! Your bloodline level is too low. You can't control it-you'll definitely lose control! Snap out of it!!"

Whitebeard's scorching blood kept spraying over Su Bai in great gushes. Like sulfuric acid, it was intensely corrosive, and the pain that reached into his marrow brought Su Bai somewhat back to his senses.

Boom, boom, boom!!

Lin Luo's blade was fast, but not fast enough. He severed nine vines in an instant, but three still lashed against his chest. At least thirty of his bones broke, yet he refused to retreat a single step, gritting his teeth as he held the vines back.

Boom!

Boom!

The long blade in Lin Luo's hand broke completely. Even with vines piercing his body, he still gripped them tightly, refusing to let them advance half an inch.

Su Bai coughed up mouthfuls of blood. With both hands trembling, he seized the bone blade and viciously thrust it into his own chest, piercing through his body and Whitebeard's in succession like candied hawthorns on a skewer.

Whitebeard's body stiffened for an instant.

Su Bai seized the opening and used Time Freeze, instantly accelerating his perception of time. In a flash, he pulled out the bone blade, broke free, and hacked wildly at Whitebeard's headless body.

One strike, two strikes, ten strikes!

He hacked off Whitebeard's limbs, chopped his torso to pieces, and mangled his heart and lungs.

He continued until he was utterly exhausted, until the bone blade slipped from his hand, until he had struck two hundred and thirty times.

Su Bai gasped for breath, blood flowing from all seven orifices. His heart and lungs were faintly visible through the gruesome wound in his chest.

Whitebeard had finally been hacked into a puddle of pulp.

The vines piercing Lin Luo's chest suddenly dispersed slowly like dandelion seeds.

More than a hundred towering trees that blotted out the sky slowly sank into the earth, revealing a sunset like the last traces of blood.

The "Adam" Domain had finally been broken.

Su Bai's taut nerves finally relaxed for a moment. He fell flat to the ground with a crash and lost consciousness.

Lin Luo spat out mouthfuls of blood. No longer able to stand, he could only lie on the ground and struggle toward Su Bai on his hands and feet.

Then he saw it.

The half of Whitebeard's head that had been chopped off earlier was wearing a mocking smile. It blinked gently.

He... still wasn't dead!