Lord of Prayer

Chapter 43: Chapter 38: I Have a Plan

BOOM!!!

A blinding flash of light erupted from the roaring explosion of two rockets, instantly engulfing everything.

A visible, searing shockwave kicked up a thick cloud of dust. It surged and swept through the area like a storm of fire and ash, tearing the large shed to pieces. Countless burning banknotes fluttered chaotically in the air like fiery discs, creating what looked like a rain of Fiery Fire.

A few henchmen who failed to dodge in time were blown to smithereens, their severed limbs flying everywhere.

Even those lucky enough to escape couldn’t avoid internal injuries from the blast and severe burns from the intense heat at such close range.

However, Han Laohu and Li Ergou’s men were all experienced thugs. After finding cover, they ignored their injuries and immediately drew their guns to counterattack, but the two assailants were nowhere to be seen. They had escaped.

“Cough, cough, cough…” Han Laohu coughed violently. The high temperature filling the air made every breath feel like inhaling Fiery Fire, sending sharp, searing pains through his respiratory tract.

“Li Ergou, are you still alive?”

“Of course I’m alive! You bastard Han, I knew you were hoping I’d die every damn day!” Li Ergou leaned against a crate, gasping for air. Half of his face was red and raw from the flames, and the stinging pain grated on his nerves, making his eyes bloodshot.

“How about we team up?” Han Laohu shouted, his voice hoarse. “They brought heavy weapons like rocket launchers. They clearly came prepared to wipe us all out. If we don’t work together, we’ll all die here!”

“Fine!” Li Ergou agreed without any hesitation. He wasn’t an idiot; he could see what Han Laohu saw.

’But who would dare cause trouble and ruin the deal? This would not only provoke Birdman and Snow White, the two heads of the Jinzhu Region’s criminal underworld, but it would also offend the big shot behind the scenes. No faction could bear the consequences.’

“They’re coming!”

At that moment, a few of the henchmen on watch roared and pulled their triggers. Amidst the thunder of gunfire, they shot down the people trying to rush out of the factory, one by one.

In an instant, a hail of bullets rained down, and a chaotic firefight erupted.

Zhou Chen kept his head down. Hiding behind the safest possible cover, he plucked a grenade from a nearby thug’s belt and hurled it backward.

The spinning grenade traced a perfect parabola through the air, flying straight into the factory’s backyard and landing right at the feet of two attackers.

A fiery explosion scattered countless pieces of shrapnel with a deafening bang. Many of the nearby raiders were hit by the metal fragments. Blossoms of blood bloomed on their bodies as they collapsed.

’This wasn’t part of my plan…’ Zhou Chen sighed as he listened to the escalating gunfire. ’Unbelievable. I can’t believe something unexpected still happened. Did I jinx it by tempting fate before I left?’

“Be careful. The enemy has a personal rocket launcher. Even an Ascender would lose half their life if they got hit by that.”

Jiang Che’s calm voice came over the comms channel. “Also, it’s best if you can keep Han Laohu and his men alive. We don’t want Eternal Fire thinking you’re the one causing trouble.”

Zhou Chen was frustrated but couldn’t say a thing. It couldn’t be helped. After all, he was the prime suspect. ’Trouble starts the moment you show up. If you’re not the problem, who is?’

“I’ll do my best…”

He had just turned his gaze to Han Laohu when he saw blood spurt from the man’s shoulder. He’d been shot.

Han Laohu clutched his shoulder and half-knelt, a sinister look on his face. He pulled a button from his pocket and pressed it without hesitation.

“Damn it, you bastards. Have a taste of what I can do…”

The moment Han Laohu pressed the button, a deafening, thunderous roar erupted from beneath the factory, so powerful it felt like it would shatter their eardrums.

A pillar of light and flame, even more terrifying than the earlier explosion, shot toward the sky. The immense air pressure kicked up a searing wave of fire, a blinding, savage streak of crimson that raged across the dark suburban night.

The sudden explosion caught the attackers completely off guard. In the blink of an eye, two-thirds of their forces were engulfed, with only a few lucky ones managing to escape the blast.

Figures could be seen writhing in the blazing inferno. Shrill screams and mournful cries filled the air, thick with pain and despair.

Zhou Chen was dumbfounded. ’Han Laohu actually planted this many explosives under the factory? Did he plan to take everyone down with him if something went wrong?’

Li Ergou, on the other hand, was trembling in fear. He knew all too well that this trap was definitely meant for them!

“Get them! Kill every last one of these sons of bitches!” Han Laohu roared hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot from the pain of his gunshot wound.

Brother Jiao hauled out a machine gun, its steel frame glinting in the light of the roaring flames. He bellowed as he pulled the trigger. Countless hot shell casings flew from the violently shaking gun. The red-hot bullets formed a Thunderfire Whip that tore through the air, strafing the invaders and sending flesh and blood flying.

Thanks to Han Laohu’s unexpected and dirty trick, they had finally gained the upper hand.

THUD!

But just then, a low, muffled sound echoed, growing louder and more intense, as if some giant beast were charging at full speed.

The heavy sound grew closer and closer, until finally—it burst through a wall!

Zhou Chen’s expression changed. At the same time, the command center’s scanners detected an unrecorded Essence Fluctuation.

An Ascender!

Countless shattered bricks and chunks of concrete exploded outward. Amidst the dust-filled air, a burly figure emerged.

It was a man wearing a cast-iron mask and a heavy bulletproof vest. He wore a blood-stained metal Finger Tiger on each hand and radiated a ferocious, brutal aura.

“There’s no record of this Essence Fluctuation in the database, which means he’s very likely a new Ascender,” Jiang Che reminded him at the right moment.

Zhou Chen narrowed his eyes at the Ascender, and a sudden idea flashed through his mind. “I have a plan!”

Before Jiang Che could ask what his plan was, the Ascender was already rampaging toward them like a high-speed train, shrugging off the hail of bullets as he charged straight for the people behind cover.

“Scatter!”

The terrified shout had barely rung out before it was drowned by a massive crash.

Under the iron-masked man’s charge, the crates were pulverized as if they were rotten wood. Someone who couldn’t dodge in time was sent flying. The crisp sound of their bones snapping echoed as they landed, coughed up blood, and died on the spot.

“Han Laohu, long time no see.”

Amidst the showering splinters of wood, the iron-masked man turned to look at Han Laohu, who was slumped on the ground in the distance. He grinned ferociously. “I’ve come for my revenge.”

BANG!

The words had barely left his mouth when a bullet struck him in the forehead, scraping a trail of sparks off his iron mask.

The iron-masked man glanced over indifferently and saw that the shooter was also wearing a mask—the famous Killing Maniac mask, in fact.

“A normal person? Heh. I’ll give you a two-minute head start. After I kill Han Laohu, I’ll come for you.”

The iron-masked man was completely unconcerned, his ego swelling. Ever since becoming an Ascender, he had realized just how vast the gap was between Ascenders and ordinary people. ’Give me enough equipment, and I could slaughter everyone here all by myself!’

Zhou Chen paid him no mind, repeatedly pulling the rifle’s trigger until the magazine was empty. He failed to penetrate the iron-masked man’s mask or his bulletproof vest. Clearly, it was all custom-made ballistic gear.

He expertly swapped in a new magazine and resumed firing. The others had also reacted and began to focus their fire on the iron-masked man.

This finally angered the iron-masked man.

“You die first!”

The iron-masked man roared and charged at Zhou Chen, the one who had provoked him first, his heart bursting with killing intent.

The ground trembled violently with his steps, as if a rampaging elephant were charging toward them.

Zhou Chen turned and ran. After circling a few times and realizing he couldn’t shake the man, he sprinted toward a dilapidated warehouse in the distance.

He threw grenades behind him as he ran, trying to slow the iron-masked man down, but this only deepened his foe’s rage.

“Quick, quick! Go finish off those sons of bitches!” Han Laohu knew this was a golden opportunity. First, they’d kill the remaining invaders, then consolidate their forces to deal with the Ascender. That was their only chance of winning.

’As for that unlucky newcomer… forget him. We’re not attached to him. Sending backup is out of the question. The most we can hope for is that he holds out a little longer and buys us some time.’

「Inside the dilapidated warehouse.」

A large hole had been blown in the roof by the earlier explosion. Flames licked at its edges, casting flickering shadows down below and leaving the warehouse in a state of shifting light and darkness.

Before him was a sealed iron door. Zhou Chen had nowhere left to run.

“Little bastard, where do you think you’re going to run?” The iron-masked man cracked his neck with a CRUNCH. “You’re unlucky. I don’t like the look of you, so I’ve decided to kill you first!”

“You can try.”

Zhou Chen turned, his dark eyes calmly watching the iron-masked man. He coolly beckoned with his finger. “Let me see just how powerful an Ascender really is.”

A sound like grinding teeth came from under the cast-iron mask. Veins bulged on the iron-masked man’s forehead as he took several large strides to close the distance. He put all his strength into a punch that came with the force of roaring thunder.

The iron-masked man had tested it before. Forget a body of flesh and blood—even a man made of iron would be blown to pieces by this punch!

However, in that instant, Zhou Chen erupted with unbelievable speed, dodging the punch by a hair’s breadth.

’How is that possible…?’ The iron-masked man was stunned.

“Is that it? Can’t you go any faster? How can even a normal person like me dodge that?” Zhou Chen asked thoughtfully. “Did you not eat today?”

The iron-masked man suppressed his soaring blood pressure and threw another punch, this one whistling sharply through the air—a straight jab!

It was followed immediately by a left hook!

But Zhou Chen was like a greased eel, perfectly avoiding every punch.

’This is impossible!’

The iron-masked man was fuming. He squeezed out every last drop of Essence in his body, pushing his Extraordinary Ability, “Physique Enhancement,” to its absolute limit as he unleashed a flurry of phantom punches.

Straight jabs, crosses, swing punches, left hooks, right hooks, uppercuts…

But for all that, his violent combination didn’t even graze the corner of Zhou Chen’s clothes. Instead, Zhou Chen found an opening in the barrage and landed an uppercut of his own. The blow was weak, neither painful nor ticklish, but for the iron-masked man, it was a colossal humiliation.

—An Ascender, unable to keep up with the speed of a normal person.

The iron-masked man’s eyes were practically shooting fire. He was so angry he was grinding his teeth, wishing he could swallow Zhou Chen whole. But soon, he realized something was wrong.

A sharp, burning pain, like that of a Fiery Fire, spread from his chin and rapidly moved to other parts of his body. But he wasn’t on fire…

Besides, even if he were burned by flames, his physique was strong enough that he wouldn’t be seriously harmed right away.

’What’s going on…?’

With no time to think, the iron-masked man felt an indescribable burning pain wash over him like a tide. His expression under the mask twisted in agony. He began slapping his body, trying to put out the invisible flames.

It was doomed to be futile.

So hot, so hot, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…

The iron-masked man was on the verge of madness. His eyes, completely bloodshot, fixed on Zhou Chen as he wailed:

“What… what did you do?”

“Ah, for that, I have you to thank.”

Zhou Chen raised his hand, a pale white flame igniting in his palm. His voice was filled with gratitude. “Thanks to you, I just awakened a moment ago!”

He announced, his voice ringing out, “Now, I’m an Ascender too!”

The iron-masked man nearly spat blood. ’I’m going to cough up blood. How the hell does someone just awaken on the spot…? And what the hell is his Extraordinary Ability…? Why am I burning when there’s no fire…?’

As if guessing the iron-masked man’s thoughts, Zhou Chen looked at him with pity.

“Running into me is the worst luck you could have in eight lifetimes. After all, I specialize in countering tough, thick-skinned guys like you.

Your physical defense might be high, but I deal true damage.

So… sorry about that?”