Chapter 57 Confrontation

Chapter 57: Chapter 56: Confrontation

At such a close distance, the tricolor halo extended countless gossamer-thin tendrils of light, piercing deep into Lu Yunping’s brain tissue and pulsing faintly in time with his breaths. Lu Yunping raised his pale face. A hint of joy flashed across his expression when he saw it was Han Ning.

"Han... Brother Han Ning..." he forced out. "Your strength... is no weaker than... the vice chairman’s... This... this rescue... is all up to you... I beg you... you must save the chairman and the others..."

The wriggling colored light inside his skull grew a bit more active.

Han Ning nodded expressionlessly and said calmly, "Don’t worry." He was on decent terms with Lin Qianqian, so he wasn’t so cold-blooded as to insist on not saving her. Of course, the most crucial point was that with so many people going in, if they really encountered any danger, he only needed to run faster than most of them. Better them than me.

Thanks to the efforts of several Awakened with Healing abilities, the external wounds of Lu Yunping and his group were roughly treated. Their bleeding was stopped, and they ate some high-calorie food to replenish their stamina. Even Chen Feng woke up from his coma. Their condition had improved significantly; at the very least, they could move around.

"Let’s go! We can’t delay any longer!" Lu Yunping struggled to his feet, looking as though he were burning with anxiety.

"Let’s go!"

Led by the few who had just returned, the rescue team of over twenty Awakened plunged headlong into the boundless veil of rain outside the door.

"Old Xu, while I’m away, you and Yinyin stay in your room. Don’t go anywhere, and don’t open the door no matter who knocks, got it?" Before leaving, Han Ning spoke to Xu Ming in a solemn tone. He had already changed into a set of clean, old clothes, and had packed a spare set of clothes and pants in his backpack.

Seeing Han Ning’s grave expression, Xu Ming understood the severity of the situation and nodded seriously. "Got it."

After giving his instructions, Han Ning took Yu Na and snow cake and followed the team.

As soon as they entered the northern entrance of the Fog Area, Han Ning activated his Molten Gold Eyes again.

HUM!

In his field of vision, the thick white fog was parted by an invisible force, and visibility instantly increased to over a hundred meters. The monsters hidden within the fog and water were completely clear to him, and the fog’s hallucinogenic effects had absolutely no impact on him. Guided by Lu Yunping and the others, the group sloshed their way forward, rapidly approaching the core area. The deeper they went, the denser the fog became. The floodwater gradually rose from their thighs to over their chests.

After advancing for a little over a kilometer, the area ahead suddenly opened up. An irregularly shaped body of water, about a hundred meters in diameter and surrounded by half-sunken shipping containers and various buildings, appeared before them.

"This is it..." Lu Yunping stopped in his tracks and pointed at a protruding concrete pier in the middle of the water.

"Where exactly are Chairman Wu and the others? Why don’t I see them?" The burly man in the camouflage vest couldn’t care less about some concrete pier and pressed anxiously. One look was enough to tell that this guy was a die-hard loyalist to Chairman Wu.

The other Awakened also gathered around, looking nervously at Lu Yunping.

Suddenly, the anxious and solemn expression on Lu Yunping’s face froze. The corners of his mouth stretched upward at an extremely grotesque angle, reaching all the way to the base of his ears and revealing ghastly white teeth.

"Heh heh heh..."

At the same time, the other four companions beside him also raised their heads, wearing the same twisted, eerie smiles as they stared blankly at the surrounding Awakened.

"What the hell are you doing?" The burly man and the others felt their hair stand on end under their stares, and they subconsciously took a few steps back.

The only answer they received was the deafening explosion of the surrounding water!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Vortex Shell Crabs; giant leeches with bodies glistening with a slimy sheen; half-human-tall Jellyfish with illusory human faces floating on their surfaces; and bizarre conches, only the size of a human head, but launching out one by one like meteorites. Monsters of varying sizes and bizarre shapes burst through the murky water and aggressively revealed themselves.

From the direction of the mooring area, deep within the impenetrably thick fog, a strange entity emitting an eerie halo of blue, purple, and red silently drifted over. Wherever it passed, even the churning white fog seemed to be devoured by it, leaving behind a vacuum-like trail. A terrifying sense of oppression swept across the entire body of water like a tsunami.

"Fuck, it’s a trap!"

"They’re being controlled! They’re being controlled by that damn thing!"

The Awakened finally snapped out of their daze and realized what was happening. The scene instantly descended into utter chaos. Some tried to attack Lu Yunping and the others who were at close quarters, but their strikes were easily blocked. Some fled backward in a panic, only to be struck in the waist by the rapidly charging Vortex Shell Crabs. Blood and internal organs splattered in all directions, accompanied by blood-curdling screams. An aura of chaos, gore, and death permeated the area.

Only Han Ning stood firmly in place, unmoving. His gaze locked onto the drifting tricolor halo, golden flames swirling deep within his pupils as if he were trying to see right through its bizarre core.

"Yu Na," he said, turning his head slightly. "Get behind me, and be careful."

Yu Na, who had been extremely nervous due to the panic around her, looked at Han Ning’s composed profile. Hearing his calm tone that suggested he had everything under control, she felt an inexplicable sense of security.

"Okay!" She unhesitatingly dodged behind Han Ning. The azure light of her Spirit Barrier flared brilliantly, enveloping the two humans and one lizard.

The next moment, under the absolutely horrified gazes of Yu Na and the few Awakened around them who hadn’t been immediately attacked, Han Ning moved.

"Grrr..."

A suffocating, low growl, reminiscent of an ancient beast awakening, emanated from within his body.

RIP!

The old clothes on his body were completely torn apart by his suddenly bulging, knotted muscles, turning into a shower of tattered fabric. Beneath his skin, Dark Gold fur exhibited Crazy Growth like a living creature, covering his neck, chest, and arms. His bones emitted teeth-aching cracks, and his frame expanded and grew taller at a visible rate. His cheekbones bulged forward, and ghastly white fangs pierced through his lips, forming a majestic tiger’s snout. On his forehead, the Molten Gold Tiger Head Mark suddenly lit up like a burning Crown. His thick lower limbs stepped into the underwater mud, and massive tiger claws tore through the thick fog. A tiger tail covered in Dark Gold rings, with a small cluster of blazing golden flames burning at its tip, slowly swayed behind him.

In the span of mere two or three breaths, a terrifying entity—standing two and a half meters tall, half-human and half-tiger, covered entirely in short Dark Gold fur, and radiating monstrous ferocity and majestic power—replaced Han Ning’s original position, towering amidst the storm of blood and gore. His Dark Gold vertical pupils swept across the chaotic battlefield, scorching the churning fog around him until it warped and evaporated!

SKITTER?

The movements of the several Vortex Shell Crabs that were frenziedly attacking the Awakened simultaneously stalled. As if sensing a terrifying pressure from the very top of the food chain, the spinning of their drill-like giant pincers involuntarily slowed down. The drifting tricolor cluster of light also paused slightly. It seemed to have sensed a threat. The cluster of light flickered violently a few times, and an invisible shockwave swept over from afar.

Han Ning looked at the rapidly approaching ring of invisible shockwaves. Opening his jaws slightly, a deep and sonorous tiger’s roar brewed deep within his throat:

"ROAR!!"