Chapter 326 - 12: Encrypted Data

Chapter 326: Chapter 12: Encrypted Data

Seeing the soldiers had no intention of stopping, Vincent charged in.

His body turned crimson, and his suit blazed a fiery red as a torrent of flames engulfed him.

Flames erupted from his back, instantly propelling him toward the soldiers like a rocket.

BANG—

With a violent crash, a burly figure appeared before Vincent, intercepting his attack.

"Conley! You’re the one leading the team this time?!"

Vincent stared at the man before him in disbelief. If Opal Hass was his benefactor—his first and once best friend on Cuiwei Star...

...then Conley was his closest brother-in-arms. Over the years, they had faced death together more than a dozen times. They were comrades who would guard each other’s backs.

"Why?"

"Sorry. These are the Young Master’s orders."

With that, Conley ruthlessly smashed a fist into Vincent’s face.

Lost in his sorrow, Vincent didn’t react in time. The punch sent him flying, and he crashed into the far wall of the passageway.

Conley blew the flames off his fist and chuckled. "Vincent, how’d you get so weak? Have these past few months in the base made you soft?"

Vincent wiped the corner of his mouth and stared at Conley in disbelief. They had sparred just a few months ago, and Conley had been nowhere near this strong back then.

"Impossible!"

Vincent unleashed a wave of fire that blotted out the sky and surged toward Conley. Under the cover of the flames, Vincent closed the distance and pressed his attack.

BANG—

Another deafening crash, and Vincent was sent flying once more.

"Oh, come on, Vincent. We know each other inside and out. You think I don’t know all your moves?"

Vincent said no more and charged forward again.

But no matter how unyielding his will or his body, every attack ended with him being sent flying.

"I’m not the man I used to be. You’re no longer a match for me. Just give up. Come with me and apologize to the Young Master. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up like me and get a power boost. It’s been a long time since your strength has improved, hasn’t it?"

Conley flexed his muscles, trying to persuade Vincent to surrender.

Unfortunately, Vincent had already figured out how they’d gotten stronger. He knew the price was their own minds. If he surrendered now, he’d be truly brainless.

He didn’t refuse out loud. Instead, he sat silently on the ground, thinking of a counter-strategy while stalling for time to recover.

Vincent was in a terrible position. If no one helped him stop Conley, his Lizard-man subordinates would likely be wiped out.

Their deaths weren’t the main issue. The base was now filled with nepotism hires anyway; most of the old-timers, the Lizard-men who had started this venture with him, had already "retired" and left.

The main problem was, if all these new recruits died, he wouldn’t be able to return to the Lizard-man home planet. The Lord Tournament required participants to register on their home world, and he had saved all this money precisely to go back and buy a spot in the competition.

’If I can’t go back and become a Lord, then what was all this for? To live my life as an outlaw?’

(Because Lords can bring back territory from the Cosmos, their status is very high among most races.)

"Do you need our help? We’ll handle Conley. You go stop the regular soldiers."

A voice spoke beside Vincent’s ear.

Although he couldn’t see who had spoken, Vincent recognized the familiar voice.

"Yes!"

This was no time to worry about the three humans being outsiders. As long as they could hold off Conley and give him the time and opportunity to rescue his injured Lizard-men, that was all that mattered.

Conley waited for a few minutes. Seeing no response, he concluded Vincent was just stalling and let out a great roar.

"Since you won’t come to see the Young Master willingly, I’ll just have to drag you there! For old times’ sake, consider it my good deed for the day!"

With that, he took a great leap, landing right in front of Vincent and aiming a punch at his head.

CLANG—

With the sound of striking metal, a sword blocked the punch.

Staring at the two people who had suddenly appeared before him, Conley leaped back. "Who are you?"

"Isn’t your Young Master looking for me? How can you not recognize me? Your professional standards are pretty low, aren’t they?" Li Hua couldn’t resist quipping.

"It’s you! You actually got out?" Conley demanded angrily, turning to Vincent. "Vincent, didn’t you say you had him locked up?"

"Heh, you’ve already launched an all-out attack. Why would I keep him locked up?" Vincent sneered.

"Hmph! No matter. Since you’ve let him out, I’ll just capture him here. Saves me the trouble of hunting him down later."

Conley spoke with confidence as he threw a punch at Li Hua. The phantom image of a fist materialized out of thin air and shot straight toward him.

Li Hua chuckled. "A parlor trick."

With a wave of the treasured sword in his hand, a blast of Sword Qi shot out to meet the phantom fist. The image split in two and swiftly dissipated.

Conley flashed out from behind the dissipating phantom, appearing behind Li Hua.

CLANG—

Another crisp clang. Li Hua blocked Conley’s punch but was still knocked into the air. While airborne, Li Hua twisted his body and unleashed several slashes with his sword. Multiple blasts of Sword Qi flew toward Conley, surrounding him.

BOOM—

CRASH—

Conley was struck by the Sword Qi, and Li Hua crashed into the wall. Dust and debris filled the air where they had fought.

When the dust settled, the two figures were revealed. A few drops of blood trickled from Conley’s body, while Li Hua was covered in dust.