Chapter 98: Chapter 86: Fist Faster Than Gun
BOOM!!
A muffled thud of fist meeting flesh.
The heavy fist smashed through all defenses, landing squarely on the warlord leader’s chest.
A Stacked Force Fist, delivered in his Copper Skin state, carried over eight hundred kilograms of force—nearly the peak of a professional-level expert.
From the moment he decided to act, Lu Chao had no intention of wasting time.
PTUI!
The warlord leader instantly coughed up a mouthful of blood, which seemed to contain fragments of his internal organs.
Lu Chao sidestepped slightly, avoiding the crimson mist.
The warlord leader’s eyes widened. He gurgled, blood spilling from his open mouth as if he was trying to say something.
But it was too late.
THUD!
He staggered and collapsed backward onto the ground.
His breathing and heartbeat ceased in that instant, with only blood continuing to ooze from his mouth.
Nearby, the warlord’s soldiers who witnessed this were horrified. The supply team hidden in the shadows also sensed something was wrong, their surprise mounting.
Ignoring them, Lu Chao scanned his surroundings with his peripheral vision. For some reason, a sudden chill ran down his spine.
The next instant, someone near the barracks shouted a warning, "Get out of the way!"
The hairs on Lu Chao’s neck stood on end as he twisted and retreated.
BANG!!
The sharp crack of a gunshot sounded like a giant object slamming into the ground. Lu Chao’s body shuddered as if struck by a sledgehammer, and he slid backward uncontrollably.
His qi and blood roiled, and a dull ache spread through his chest.
His expression changed slightly. With no time to think, he quickly stabilized himself, darted for cover, and dove behind a jeep to the side.
Then, during the brief lull, he glanced down at his chest.
A brass-colored sniper bullet was lodged in his black body armor. It had nearly penetrated completely, tearing through his flesh and causing trickles of blood to seep out.
He had almost been taken out by a single shot.
If he hadn’t sensed the danger at the critical moment, and if no one had shouted a warning, that bullet would have hit his head.
Even so, his chest throbbed with pain. This was the first time he’d been injured while in his Copper Skin state.
’Who was that?’
His eyes grew cold. Crouching behind the jeep, Lu Chao replayed the scene in his mind.
After a dozen seconds of silence...
BANG!
Another heavy gunshot rang out, seemingly from a different direction.
Lu Chao narrowed his eyes and, like a ghost, took the opportunity to vanish from his spot.
...
SHH... SHH... SHH!
Yellow sand slithered out from cracks in the ground, coalescing into serpentine forms that wrapped around the limbs of several City Defense Department elites and snapped their necks.
Body after body fell to the ground, their eyes wide open in death as crimson blood stained the earth a deep brown.
Nearby, close to the warlord’s armored vehicle, an old woman stood silently. She wore a black robe, her gray-white hair was coiled up and adorned with the feathers of birds and beasts, and her expression was indifferent.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!!
Gunshots erupted. In a corner, a member of the Mechanical Violence Team, choking back his grief, opened fire in a rage.
But it was useless.
THWAP! THWAP! THWAP! THWAP!!
A shield of swirling yellow sand had formed out of nowhere, hovering in mid-air in defiance of physics, protecting the old woman’s side.
All the bullets were stopped by the sand shield. Their momentum was absorbed, and they fell to the ground with a series of soft CLACKS.
"This...!"
The Mechanical Violence Team member who had fired froze in place, his face a mask of horror and his pupils constricting.
Then, in the instant he was stunned with disbelief...
WHOOSH!!
A pebble suddenly shot out from the sand shield, tearing through the night like a bullet aimed straight for his brow.
Just as it was about to hit...
"Move!"
THUMP!
An Elite Level expert from the City Defense Department suddenly lunged forward, tackling him out of the way.
The pebble grazed past them and slammed into the concrete wall behind, cracking it and embedding itself within.
The City Defense Department expert leaped to his feet, his face dark and grim.
He stared intently at the old woman with the indifferent eyes, dressed like a priestess from some ancient tribe.
He recognized her.
"Sandstorm Priestess Mo Li."
He spat out the name through gritted teeth.
The members of the supply team nearby who heard this paled. Yang Wangtao, who had just finished his own fight, felt his pupils constrict as his expression turned exceptionally grave.
"Oh? You know of me?"
Mo Li spoke with indifference as more and more sand visibly began to float around her.
Countless tiny grains of sand and pebbles had appeared in the night, hovering in mid-air and reflecting the moonlight. The fighters from the supply team watched in disbelief, holding their breath.
"Of course I know of Elder Mo’s great name,"
the Elite Level expert from the City Defense Department replied in a low, wary voice.
"But..." Staring at the dangerous figure opposite him, he gritted his teeth. "We have no grievance with General Lu Shan."
"May I ask the reason for your actions tonight?"
The Superpower Bureau was still on its way. Right now, the only thing they could do was stall for time.
But her answer was unexpected.
"A grievance?"
Mo Li’s tone was flat as she met his gaze.
"If you must blame someone, blame yourselves for coming from Ring City."
BOOM!!
The ground shook as a giant python made of sand suddenly erupted from below, lunging to bite the City Defense Department expert.
The nearby members of the Patrol Department and the Mechanical Violence Team also froze.
Looking down, they saw that brown-yellow sand had appeared from the cracks in the cratered plaza and between the building tiles, solidifying like chains around their ankles.
The sand even began to creep upward, threatening to constrict and bind their limbs and bodies, to twist and snap their necks.
BANG!!
The City Defense Department expert was sent sliding back, crashing into a jeep.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He staggered, barely able to stay on his feet.
A chill went through everyone who saw this. The middle-aged man in the suit guarding the woman with the surname Su near the barracks also wore a grave expression.
It seemed as if it was all over, and no one could stop it.
