Heavenly Fire Burns the City, I Am the Rule

The firestorm descended like hell itself, searing tongues of flame greedily licking up every trace of oxygen in the air. The crackle of burning and desperate screams intertwined into an apocalyptic symphony.

Lu Chen's figure flickered in and out of sight amid the firelight, like a demonic god born from the flames.

"Burns your mouth? Hahaha, this is a hell-level 'fire sauna'!" Lu Chen unleashed the SSS-rank flames within him without restraint, feeling the world-destroying power surge through his body.

As he created a flame barrier to block the debris flying in all directions and the wailing soldiers fleeing everywhere, he calmly surveyed the battlefield.

Old bastard, your 'immunity talent' is pretty interesting, but you think you can turn things around with that? You must never have met a real pay-to-win player! Lu Chen sneered inwardly, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's as he locked onto Professor Zhao, who was hiding behind the wreckage of the blue sphere.

Just then, a trembling soldier holding a rifle caught Lu Chen's eye.

"Hey, kid, I'm borrowing something from you." Lu Chen grinned, ignored the soldier's terrified expression, and activated Infinite Replication.

Ding! Successfully copied C-rank talent [Full-Area Scan]. Automatically upgraded to SSS-rank [Eye of Omniscience]!

In an instant, everything in the base appeared clearly in Lu Chen's mind, like a 3D model.

Every corner, every soldier, even the rats in the underground pipes had nowhere to hide.

"Oh? Captain Lin brought his men? Looks like this old geezer does have some support after all." The corners of Lu Chen's mouth rose slightly in a playful smile.

"Everyone! Drop your weapons immediately! Anyone who disobeys will be killed on sight!" Captain Lin charged onto the battlefield with a squad of fully armed soldiers, trying to bring the chaos under control.

He shouted himself hoarse, trying to quell the soldiers' panic.

"Drop my weapon? Heh, who the hell are you?" Lu Chen sneered and fixed his gaze on a sniper skulking behind cover.

Ding! Successfully copied D-rank talent [Instant Snipe]. Automatically upgraded to SSS-rank [God-Slaying Strike]!

Lu Chen raised his hand and, without even aiming, casually pulled the trigger.

Bang!

An energy bullet barely visible to the naked eye tore through the air and struck the communicator on Captain Lin's shoulder with pinpoint accuracy.

Crack!

The communicator shattered, and the flying fragments even cut Captain Lin's cheek, leaving a bloody mark.

The entire battlefield fell silent in an instant, everyone stunned by the sudden turn of events.

Captain Lin stiffly turned his head and stared in disbelief at the smoking remains of the communicator on his shoulder, then looked up at Lu Chen standing in the sea of fire.

The power of a single strike was terrifying indeed!

"Anyone else want to run their mouth?" Lu Chen blew the nonexistent smoke from his gun barrel, his tone flippant but his gaze utterly cold.

The soldiers who had still wanted to resist to the bitter end felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over them, extinguishing the flames of resistance in their hearts completely.

Before absolute power, all resistance was futile.

However, just as Lu Chen thought victory was in his grasp, another sudden change occurred.

"Kekeke... Since none of you will listen to me, then let's all perish together!" Professor Zhao, hiding behind the wreckage, let out a crazed roar.

"This is bad! He's going to activate the 'fusion bodies'!" Old Zhou's voice rang out in Lu Chen's mind, tinged with fear.

The ground began to shake violently, as though some enormous creature was about to burst from beneath it.

Rumble...

Thick metal pipes extended from cracks in the ground, followed by dozens of twisted, deformed monsters that emerged from underground.

The monsters had human silhouettes, but all kinds of alien organs grew from their bodies.

Some had the compound eyes of insects, some had the claws of beasts, and others were covered in revolting pustules.

Their

"Ah! Monsters!"

"Help! I don't want to die!"

The already chaotic scene instantly descended further out of control.

"Fusion bodies? Heh, looks like this old geezer still had a trick up his sleeve." Lu Chen sneered, but there was no trace of fear in his eyes. Instead, they gleamed with excitement.

"SS-rank talents? Good stuff! The more the better!" Lu Chen activated Infinite Replication again, fixing his gaze on the crazed fusion bodies.

Ding! Successfully copied SS-rank talent [Neural Reflex Enhancement]. Automatically upgraded to SSS-rank [Extrasensory Prediction]!

Ding! Successfully copied SS-rank talent [Energy Perception]. Automatically upgraded to SSS-rank [Absolute Domain]!

In just a few seconds, Lu Chen's physical capabilities received another enormous boost.

His resistance to toxins had reached an astonishing level, allowing him to even consume deadly poison outright; his neural reactions had become so fast that he could predict the trajectory of an enemy's attack; he even possessed an energy field centered on himself, allowing him to sense every energy fluctuation around him.

At that moment, Lu Chen felt as though he had been reborn, possessing the power to control everything.

Facing the enemies swarming toward him, Lu Chen raised his hand and ignited a towering blaze. The heat made people's faces sting, and the air filled with the smell of burning.

"Whoever controls power is the rule!" he roared, his voice carrying the explosive force of flames.

The next second, the entire area crackled and exploded like a giant batch of popcorn, turning into a hellish sea of fire.

The fusion-body monsters let out piercing wails. Their mutated bodies, which they had been so proud of, were as fragile as paper before the SSS-rank flames.

The flames greedily devoured their flesh, reducing them to piles of twisted charcoal. The stench of burnt protein filled the air.

"This fire... burns my mouth! Fuck!" Lu Chen felt the scorching heat of the flames, but his Immunity to All Poisons talent let him completely ignore the damage they caused. He even found them a little warm.

Like a king of flames, he strolled leisurely through the sea of fire, everything in his path burned to ashes.

He narrowed his eyes, and his Eye of Omniscience scrutinized every inch of space. Soon, he locked onto Professor Zhao, who was trembling amid the flames.

"Playing hide-and-seek, old bastard?" A bloodthirsty smile curled Lu Chen's lips. He pushed off hard and shot toward Professor Zhao like a cannonball.

Amid the sea of fire, Professor Zhao looked especially disheveled. Covered in soot and bearing several burns, he fled madly toward the depths of the base's underground laboratory, muttering nonstop, "Impossible... impossible..."

Lu Chen looked at Professor Zhao's retreating figure and curled his lip in disdain. "Can't take it already? This is just the beginning!" He licked his lips, his eyes full of excitement, and muttered to himself, "What should I play with next...?"