A Teammate Strong as Hell

What was going on?

Why had the Hidden Mainline been triggered too?

And what was this "Survival Mode"?

The sudden change made Ji Xun's first thought that something had been kept from him.

But then he glanced at his temporary teammate from the corner of his eye.

He immediately dismissed that suspicion.

Even with her Gas Mask on, the Mechanical Arm Girl's trembling body showed just how shocked she was by this turn of events.

So Ji Xun was not the only one left dumbfounded. His teammate was just as confused.

This mysterious invasion was essentially a berserk buff for the monster.

Most visibly, the prompt above the witch's head had changed from B-Class Calamity to "A-Class."

The Mental Power field around its body was so powerful that it was like a stone thrown into still water, sending invisible ripples through the entire room.

Its strength had visibly skyrocketed!

The hunt that had been going smoothly for the two of them had instantly become several times harder.

Ji Xun had barely been able to stay conscious before, but now, facing the evolved Calamity, it felt as though someone had struck him in the head with a club. His mind was a complete mess.

Danger warnings flashed repeatedly.

The values on his Attribute Panel were dropping rapidly.

Death had never been closer.

Ji Xun did not know what this change in calamity level meant.

But his teammate clearly did.

The Mechanical Arm Girl could clearly sense the monster's power. She cursed under her breath. "How did it become an A-Class Mutant?!"

Almost the instant its mutated power surged, the invisible energy field around the Calamity Witch churned violently and suddenly shattered the tightly binding runic chains inch by inch.

The barrier could no longer restrain the monster!

But that was not the end of the bad news.

The cards in the Mechanical Arm Girl's hand turned to dust as the barrier collapsed. As her blood and qi roiled from the backlash, a scarlet whip lashed at her like lightning.

Smack!

There was no avoiding it. The long whip struck the girl.

The whip cracked through the air with an explosive boom. The shockwave instantly tore apart the air and her cloak, then struck her squarely in the chest.

The blow was so powerful that even the metal Mechanical Exoskeleton over her chest warped and twisted, leaving a mangled bloody wound in her flesh.

"Pfft." She spat out a mouthful of blood.

Her figure flew backward.

With a heavy thud, she slammed into the wall.

Only then did Ji Xun see that the scarlet whip was actually a centipede-like tail extending from the monster's body.

At that moment, the Fallen Witch had completely transformed into an unexpected monstrosity. Not only did it have a gaping maw, but it had also grown a centipede tail and four long, spider-like jointed legs.

After coughing up blood, the lenses of the Mechanical Arm Girl's Gas Mask were covered in red, blocking her vision. She ripped it off and took several deep breaths.

Just as Ji Xun had guessed, she was quite young.

A bloodstained veil still covered her mouth and nose, making her features hard to see clearly. But the skin at the corners of her eyes was firm, her brows delicate, and her deep black eyes were sharp and spirited.

The Fallen Witch had revealed its full monster form, and its Combat Power had surged.

It realized that the human behind it posed a tremendous threat, and its hatred instantly shifted.

After whipping the Mechanical Arm Girl away with its tail, the monster no longer paid attention to Ji Xun, its "food." Its four spider legs gripped the ground as it moved at high speed. Despite its bulky appearance, it was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, its blade-like spider spear had stabbed toward her.

The Mechanical Arm Girl's gaze turned cold as she raised her hand and pulled the trigger on the Steam High-Pressure Cannon attached to her right arm.

With a muffled boom, white steam instantly filled the entire room.

Within the mist, the monster's massive body was also blasted away by the high-pressure airflow.

Yet there was no repeat of the earlier scene where one blast had turned the monster into a spray of blood.

The girl's pupils suddenly contracted as she keenly noticed this.

Her response was decisive. Using the recoil, she leaped backward, then drew several cards with a backhand motion while still in midair.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The three cards shot out in a triangular formation, transforming into three spiraling wind blades as they cut into the mist.

Ji Xun, watching from nearby, was greatly surprised.

They had clearly been cards. How had they turned into flying wind blades?

A thought flashed through his mind.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

There was no sound of flesh being cut. Instead, the sound of metal being struck came from the mist, and the girl's Facial Expression changed sharply.

She had barely landed before the deadly danger arrived. She forcefully pushed off the ground again, instinctively trying to dodge.

However,

Even with such swift reactions, she was still too slow!

Almost the instant she exerted herself, a black shadow lashed out from the mist once more.

The girl had no time to evade. With a crisp bang, the centipede tail shattered the magical shield around her body and sent her flying again, slamming heavily into the wall.

This strike was several times stronger than the previous one!

The girl felt a bloody heat rise in her throat and could not help spitting out another mouthful of dark blood.

As the mist dispersed, the monster had changed again.

Its entire body was now shrouded in a rippling Mental Power field, while scales covered it from head to toe. Three faint cut marks could be seen on its centipede tail—the traces left by the Wind Blade Cards.

Completely unharmed?

Even an A-Class Calamity should not be this tough!

Seeing this, the Mechanical Arm Girl's expression changed. She thought of an unbelievable possibility and blurted out in shock, "Secondary Mutation! How could it appear on a First Rank Calamity?!"

The Mechanical Arm Girl had been struck again and was already seriously injured.

Their favorable situation had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. They were on the verge of Total Annihilation.

No one had expected things to turn out like this.

Ji Xun, who was on the bed some distance away, had also been caught in the high-pressure shockwave from the Steam High-Pressure Cannon and thrown hard into a corner.

Fortunately, this corner was safer.

With the monster's attention focused on the girl, that fall also allowed Ji Xun to regain his senses and control over his body from that abnormal Mental State. He calmly observed both sides of the battle.

The monster had easily broken free from the barrier they had spent so long setting up. It clearly possessed overwhelming Combat Power now.

Without other means, the two of them were almost certainly doomed.

But Ji Xun did not believe his temporary teammate only had those tricks up her sleeve.

Looking at his partner, who had been sent flying twice and coughed up blood both times, he murmured inwardly, If you have a trump card, it's time to use it.

From beginning to end, the Mechanical Arm Girl had only displayed the strength she wanted others to see.

But Ji Xun's intuition told him she had been holding back.

As for Ji Xun himself, even in such a perilous moment, his thoughts remained exceptionally clear.

Fear?

If death was inevitable, then negative emotions that would only interfere with his thinking were completely unnecessary.

Sure enough!

They were already at a Dead End. There was no room for even the slightest hesitation.

A cold gleam flashed through the girl's eyes. She seemed to have made some decision and shouted softly, "Release!"

Ji Xun's pupils suddenly shrank.

After that soft shout, it was as though some mysterious force had been unleashed. The temperature in the room suddenly dropped sharply.

He knew it. His teammate had unleashed her ultimate move.

At the same time, with an explosive crack, the witch's tail whip lashed out for the third time.

It was even faster than before!

Clearly, the monster had been contaminated by the mysterious power Revelation had mentioned and was still growing stronger.

If it had been the girl from before, this blow would likely have severely injured her again.

However, something unexpected happened next.

The long whip moved so fast that it left behind a fan-shaped afterimage, yet there was no panic on the blood-soaked girl's face, nor did she show any intention of dodging.

She stood up and raised her hand like lightning. The centipede whip stopped a foot away from her palm.

It was as if an invisible force field surrounded her hand. She clenched her fist, and the tail became like a venomous snake caught by the throat, struggling violently but unable to escape.

Looking again, the Mechanical Arm Girl's aura had changed dramatically.

Her Silver Hair fluttered without wind, radiating biting Cold Air. A flame-like field of Cold Air coiled around her body, blocking even the corrosive acid sprayed by the monster.

Behind her, a translucent and grotesque phantom flickered in and out of sight.

At that moment, she was like a demon god descending upon the world.

Ji Xun caught only a glimpse from the corner of his eye, yet it felt as though he had been watched by a demon god, sending a chilling shiver down his spine. "So strong! What kind of power is that?"

He did not know whether it was an illusion, but the energy emanating from his teammate now felt more like that of a demon than the witch did.

The aura of his temporary partner had suddenly changed, becoming unfathomable.

Ji Xun was not too surprised by what he saw. He pondered inwardly, She needs materials dropped by the witch, so she really does have Mental Type abilities. But what is this? Telekinesis? And that ice power isn't normal Cold Air either.

He had been curious before. Even with such high Mental Power, he had still been affected by the monster, while his teammate had seemed completely unaffected.

If it was not resistance granted by her equipment, then her own Mental Power had to be extremely high, allowing her to resist the Mental Pollution constantly radiating from the witch.

Now it was clear that her Mental Power was indeed extraordinarily strong.

The Mechanical Equipment, cards, and close-combat techniques she had shown before were obviously all a disguise. Her real trump card was her overwhelming Mental Power and ice ability.

"No wonder she's so mysterious. This ability seems pretty distinctive."

Ji Xun did not know much about this world, but an ability with such high recognizability could not possibly be ordinary.

Yet she had kept it hidden. There was probably some reason her identity could not be exposed.

But now was not the time to think about that.

The Mechanical Arm Girl's aura changed abruptly. She no longer dodged the monster's tail whip. With Cold Air gathering around her fists, she charged forward viciously and unleashed a furious barrage on the monster.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

...

The room echoed with dull impacts like a bell being struck.

Unafraid of Mental Pollution, the girl's fists blazed with frosty energy as they smashed heavily into every part of the monster's body.

With every punch, large patches of the monster's armor froze over, forcing it back step by step.

But it was still an A-Class Calamity. Under the suppression of rank, neither side could determine the victor anytime soon.

Ji Xun narrowed his eyes as he watched the battle from the corner and muttered, "It still seems a little short."

He had thought his meager Combat Power would not be needed, but judging by the current situation, he had to do something.

The "Calamities" in this world could roughly be understood as bosses.

The fact that this Silver Hair girl could directly contend with an A-Class Calamity showed that she was absolutely among the best at her rank.

But clearly, it was still not enough.

The Fallen Witch was a Mental Type monster, so its close-combat abilities were not particularly strong.

But its shell was incredibly tough, making it very difficult to kill.

The girl appeared to hold the upper hand, but actually deciding the battle would likely take a long time.

That was not even the key problem.

The real problem was that the battle between one person and one monster was making a great deal of noise.

There was more than one monster in this Alternate Dimension.

Gunfire and cannon blasts were already coming from outside the door. Clearly, someone was fighting other monsters.

They could not drag this out any longer.

With that thought, Ji Xun decisively made his choice.

He extended one hand and made a tactical gesture for holding a gun.

His teammate had clearly noticed it with her sharp senses.

She had seen it, but a hint of confusion appeared in the Mechanical Arm Girl's eyes. What could this guy possibly help with?

During the new book period, there will be two chapters a day. Updates will explode after release.