Chapter 185: Chapter 185: I Rammed You Half to Death, and You Transformed Into Your Second Phase...
"Found him." Qi Suian looked at the Treasure Map of the Lost, where a red dot had appeared.
This red dot was still moving, and quite quickly at that.
However, this was also thanks to the weakening of the Cold Energy environment, which had allowed temperatures to rise.
At this stage, the cold was no longer a threat to survivors. Most of them already possessed special abilities, and even without mastering a Qi Cultivation Method, they could use the Cold Energy within their bodies to effectively resist the low temperatures.
And the threat from Cold Energy Monsters had also diminished significantly.
As humans, survivors’ evolution was far less dependent on Cold Energy than the monsters’, so they were less affected by the change.
Survivors would, at worst, die after their Cold Energy was completely depleted. The Cold Energy Monsters, on the other hand, were already half-paralyzed due to their damaged cores.
Qi Suian had, of course, checked for himself. Even Beast King-level monsters were no exception, which meant their value as fuel had plummeted.
Hunting them wasn’t a loss, but the returns were pitifully low.
’At this distance, I could send the Floating Cannons to take him out. The success rate would be high, but...’
"Ugh, my greed," Qi Suian sighed.
Killing him would be easy, but I’d lose out on all the potential rewards.
The fact that he appeared as a red dot on the Treasure Map of the Lost meant he was carrying some major opportunity.
Not to mention his value as fuel.
[My advice is to follow your heart. After all, you don’t just represent yourself; you also have your protagonist halo.]
The AI was basically saying that since he couldn’t decide, he might as well leave it to luck.
With a long-range saturation strike from the Floating Cannons, the target’s chances of escape were slim.
But if he chose a method other than the Floating Cannons, the potential rewards would far exceed those of a simple kill.
After all, this was a survivor who had likely already developed into a full-blown protagonist.
"I have the Floating Cannons as a backup. Let’s give it a shot. I wouldn’t be satisfied otherwise." Qi Suian made his decision.
No more caution. Time to go all in.
With Qi Suian’s command, the Tai Sui God accelerated in a straight line through the air, hurtling toward the red dot on the Treasure Map of the Lost.
The target soon entered the reconnaissance network’s range and was immediately picked up by the AI.
The closer they got, the more data was collected.
Qi Suian reviewed the data, his expression darkening.
’As expected of someone with a home-field advantage. Just like me back then, he’s growing incredibly fast.’
He recalled how, in a short time, he had skyrocketed his own E-rank virus talent to A-rank, picking up an A-rank Spirit-enhancing ability along the way.
Unfortunately, the potential of Profound humans was inherently limited, and he hadn’t turned into a zombie. Otherwise, while he might not have been able to match an anomalous horror like Blood Moon, he could have easily killed zombies like Chunyu Hu, who possessed time-based abilities.
’He’s at least at the level of the Taiyin Celestial Monarch. The Twelve Venerables would probably get one-shotted by him.’
’This must be more than just a home-field advantage. The apocalypse game must be helping him,’ Qi Suian guessed.
It made sense. The game was propping up a powerful survivor to kill him, the violator. It was a classic antivirus-versus-virus scenario.
And it was an especially useful tactic when the apocalypse game couldn’t erase Qi Suian on its own.
"Looks like I have to handle this one myself. You’re no match for him." Qi Suian took direct control of the Tai Sui God.
’Even those thousand-year-old freaks and ten-thousand-year-old fiends from the stories end up getting tripped up by fledgling protagonists.’
’You can’t underestimate a protagonist’s halo. He has the favor of an entire world on his side. Even the favor of a single planet is beyond what any ordinary person could hope to match.’
’The AI was still lacking in that department.’
Since he couldn’t rely on absolute power to win, he’d switch tactics and use his absolute Celestial Fate to crush his opponent.
He refused to believe that his own +5 enhanced Celestial Fate: Profound could lose to the other guy’s.
"First, a sneak attack. Let’s see if I can get him down to critical health right off the bat," Qi Suian said, chugging a large amount of death potion.
At the same time, he frantically channeled Banquet energy into the Tai Sui God and his own body.
"Banquet Fare, plus the Glutton’s Feast of Greed!"
"Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force, True Martial Jade Vein Lotus, Taiyin Red Blood Dragon—crank them all to the max!"
"Pump more Profound Virus into the Virus Bloodline Armor and the Seal of Profound Dominance! Push them into overload to boost their power!"
"Wind Master Aviation System to full... actually, scratch that. If I crash and die, I can revive. But if the Tai Sui God gets totaled, that’s a real loss."
"And one more thing..."
Qi Suian activated every module he could. In that instant, he became a living Iron Meteor.
The goal of this sneak attack wasn’t finesse. He just wanted to slam into this survivor-protagonist and leave him paralyzed.
His plan was brutally simple: sneak attack first, then go head-to-head and let their protagonist halos duke it out.
Other tactics and plans were useless. Threats, intimidation, and the like would be completely ineffective.
"All set. AI, assist me with targeting."
"Protagonist halo, you better make sure I hit him!!!"
At a time like this, the AI could only play a supporting role; there was no way it could take center stage.
Meanwhile, Tang Qing’s heart suddenly leaped. He felt a vague sense of danger approaching, but after cautiously scanning his surroundings, he found nothing.
’It must be my imagination.’ He dismissed it at once. ’I’ve been on guard against the Red Dragon. I’m just too tense, and it’s making me see things.’
Tang Qing gave a wry smile. It couldn’t be helped. The contact had never been broken, so it was only normal to be paranoid.
But he soon discovered that the sense of danger didn’t fade. Instead, it grew stronger, feeling closer and closer.
He could hear his own heart pounding in his ears, a frantic drumbeat urging him to get away from here.
He didn’t know why, but he chose to trust this unique sense without hesitation.
Trusting it cost him nothing, but if the danger was real, it could save his life.
He began to pick up speed, but the feeling of danger didn’t fade. It only intensified, until he started having heart palpitations.
His breathing became erratic, and he sometimes felt like he was suffocating.
"Damn it, stop! It’s affecting my speed!" Tang Qing cursed. He didn’t understand why a premonition of danger would physically hinder his movement.
He managed to force himself to calm down, but the delay had cost him precious time.
Something made him whip his head around. He saw a black dot in the sky, rapidly growing larger as it headed straight for him, as if it had him locked in its sights.
"So fast!" he exclaimed instinctively. It was already about to close within a kilometer of his position.
The next moment, a notification from the apocalypse game arrived right on cue.
[Warning: Violator is one kilometer away.]
Instantly, the color drained from Tang Qing’s face. He could now see his attacker clearly: an Armored Man hurtling toward him at incredible speed, the airflow around it forming the outline of a dragon.
Before he could process another thought, the Armored Man slammed into him.
The head of the armor was the point of impact, striking him directly in the chest.
It was so fast that he had absolutely no time to react.
Pain had yet to register, but a boundless force surged into his body, branching out in every direction like a shattering star and unleashing a host of transformations.
The next instant, he was sent flying, and only then did the excruciating pain begin to spread.
His entire sternum shattered and his spine buckled. The suicidal impact had left him grievously wounded. Not only was he severely injured, but full recovery seemed impossible.
He would be lucky to survive at all. Barring a miracle, he would be paralyzed for life.
He had no time to worry about anything else. His eyes fixed on the violator who had crashed into him.
Its head was completely caved in, and its armor was a wreck of shattered pieces.
He, at least, had a chance to live. The violator, however, was surely dead.
But right now, he had no time to think about what kind of reward the apocalypse game would give him for killing the violator.
Such a huge commotion was bound to attract other survivors. He could easily become someone else’s prize, so he had to leave as quickly as possible.
Yet, before he could even begin to plan his escape, the shattered armor stood up and began to repair itself.
"He’s not dead?!" Tang Qing’s face turned grim, his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. ’Looks like I have no choice but to fight.’
"I just hope my injuries don’t affect my Cold Winter Ice Dragon!"
Without hesitation, he mobilized all of his Cold Energy and unleashed his ability: Cold Winter Ice Dragon.
As for Qi Suian, he was indeed dead. The good news was that it had been completely painless. He was currently watching an ad to revive.
Thus, the one controlling the Tai Sui God wasn’t Qi Suian, but the AI.
It immediately dispatched swarms of nano-repair bots to fix the Tai Sui God, preparing a pristine combat environment for Qi Suian’s return.
But it quickly discovered a problem: the enemy appeared to be using some kind of ability. At this moment, however, the Tai Sui God had no means of attack besides deploying the Floating Cannons.
Its base armor was low, relying entirely on the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force for protection. But its current number of evolutions wasn’t enough to make the divine force truly indestructible.
Fortunately, the opponent was heavily injured, and the activation of his ability was clearly affected.
According to the AI’s calculations, the Tai Sui God’s repairs and Qi Suian’s revival would finish about 0.5 seconds before the enemy could fully activate his ability.
And that was their advantage.
Or maybe it was Qi Suian’s own protagonist halo that had bought them this crucial opening.
"What’s the situation?" Qi Suian asked the moment he revived. Before the AI could respond, he saw Tang Qing, who was in the middle of channeling a transformation.
So he didn’t wait for the AI’s reply. He immediately took control of the Tai Sui God, engaged the Wind Master Aviation System, and charged his opponent.
Half a second vanished in an instant. Qi Suian’s attack landed just as he felt a wave of cold wash over him. The surrounding temperature had plummeted due to Tang Qing’s transformation into the Cold Winter Ice Dragon.
The attack struck the scales of the Cold Winter Ice Dragon, shattering a large section of them.
"A second-stage transformation?! Shit, are you the protagonist or the final boss? How can you even do that?!"
"We’re both supposed to be protagonists, so why don’t I get a cool move like that?!"
