Chapter 82 Taking Action

Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Taking Action

Only then did Xu Ming and Yu Na notice Han Ning, who had somehow swum close to them. Their faces instantly lit up with pleasant surprise.

A distance of two to three hundred meters was nothing more than a few steps for Han Ning, who could now transform into a Molten Gold Battle Tiger.

He picked up the two rifles that had sunk into the water, quickly inspected them in his hands, and tossed one to Xu Ming.

"Take the gun and head back first. I’ll go over there and take a look. Snow Cake, escort them back," he instructed.

"Um... okay."

"AWOO~"

Xu Ming took the rifle and swam a few meters, but seeing that Yu Na wasn’t following, he couldn’t help but ask, "Miss Yu, aren’t you leaving?"

"You go first." Yu Na shook her head, staring at the boat where Lin Qianqian was held, her eyes full of worry.

"Take care of yourself, then." Knowing he couldn’t be of any help here, Xu Ming retreated first under Snow Cake’s protection.

Aware of how worried Yu Na was about Lin Qianqian, Han Ning didn’t press the matter and simply gestured for her to come closer. They hid in an inconspicuous spot, closely observing the situation on the adjacent boat.

Battles were breaking out across the dozen or so boats.

The dozens of invaders displayed astonishing strength. The Awakened from the Biyun Resort could last for two or three exchanges at most before being beaten so badly they coughed up blood. It was a completely one-sided massacre.

The fiercest fighting, however, was taking place on Chairman Wu’s boat.

At the bow, a towering brute who looked as if he were cast from Black Iron stood quietly. His burly figure exuded a suffocating aura of oppression. His cold gaze swept over the people fighting ahead, as if he were inspecting a flock of lambs waiting for the slaughter.

On the deck, half of Chairman Wu’s body was already soaked in blood, and his face was as pale as a sheet. Blood continuously trickled from his mouth, but he stubbornly held on, raising his trembling hands.

Following his movements, translucent, soap-bubble-like pale gold shields materialized out of thin air. They fluctuated in size, shifting with incredible agility to protect him and Vice President Zhao. Beside the two of them, six or seven Awakened from the Biyun Resort had already collapsed, every one of them dripping with blood.

An ordinary-looking invader cupped his hands near his mouth and blew gently.

HUMMM!

A piercing screech suddenly erupted, sending faint ripples through the air. Dozens of nearly tangible, translucent spikes viciously slammed into one of the soap-bubble shields.

The shield fluctuated violently before emitting a soft POP. Although it successfully neutralized the brunt of the impact, the residual Spiritual shockwave pierced into Chairman Wu’s brain like an icepick. His vision went black as copious amounts of blood oozed from his nose and mouth.

Inside the bubble shield, Vice President Zhao was wreathed in scalding white vapor. Driven by some unknown power, his muscles knotted and bulged, forcibly increasing his height by half a head. Veins pulsed wildly like horned dragons beneath his bronze skin, and every breath he took was accompanied by searing currents of air.

"Motherfucker!" he growled, throwing a massive fist wrapped in a layer of condensed white steam at a gaunt man.

However, facing the heavy punch, the gaunt man didn’t retreat; instead, he let out an eerie smile. He slammed his palms downward into the empty air, and the deck beneath Vice President Zhao instantly became impossibly slick.

When Vice President Zhao planted his foot with all his might, he found no traction. He slipped, instantly losing his balance and stumbling forward. The steam power gathered at the apex of his fist suddenly dissipated by more than half, leaving the punch with less than a tenth of its original might.

The gaunt man easily sidestepped the attack, a cat-and-mouse mockery in his eyes.

The third invader was a short, stocky man. The surface of his skin was covered in a layer of grayish-white rocky cuticle. His arms were visibly thicker, and his knuckles looked like stone radishes. Completely ignoring the barrier of the soap bubble, he smashed his petrified fist straight into it.

BANG!

Under the tremendous bombardment, the bubble shield burst instantly.

Although the immense recoil shattered the cuticle on the short man’s arm and left it dripping with blood, the tyrannical force tore through the shield, partially transferring the impact into the Spiritual Link Chairman Wu used to sustain the barrier. Chairman Wu looked as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer. His body convulsed violently as he spewed a mouthful of blood, and the light of the shields dimmed in an instant.

Although the three invaders were outnumbered by the Biyun Awakened Association, they displayed terrifying strength, easily suppressing both the Chairman and the Vice President.

COUGH!

The trio’s encirclement rapidly tightened, pinning the tottering Chairman Wu and the fiercely struggling Vice President Zhao into a tiny area in the center of the deck. Defeat was a foregone conclusion.

Just then, the towering brute, who had been standing at the bow like a statue, finally made his move. He leaped forward, and when his heavy body landed, the front deck trembled slightly. He walked up to Chairman Wu, his massive shadow completely engulfing the man. It was a suffocating pressure born of pure physical power.

"Looks like you’re their Leader?" The towering brute reached out with a hand as large as a palm-leaf fan, grabbing at Chairman Wu’s neck.

"Old Wu!" Vice President Zhao’s face twisted abruptly upon seeing that the Chairman was about to be captured.

In an instant, high-speed eruption sounds akin to a steam engine echoed from within his body, and the white vapor surrounding him faintly turned red. Under the effect of the blood-colored steam, the muscles of his right arm expanded once more, the veins beneath his skin looking as though they were about to burst. Even his muscle fibers seemed to emit the tearing sounds of being overburdened.

Channeling every last ounce of his strength into this single punch, he drove his fist straight toward the towering brute’s heart.

"Oh?" For the first time, a trace of something akin to amusement appeared on the towering brute’s stoic face. He seemingly hadn’t expected this heavily battered man to be capable of unleashing such pure physical power.

His hand, which had been reaching for Chairman Wu, paused slightly before clenching into a fist. Without dodging or evading, he met Vice President Zhao’s crimson iron fist head-on. As he threw the punch, his skin rapidly darkened, gleaming with a metallic luster.

The two fists collided. A deep, muffled thud echoed out.

CRACK.

A crisp sound of fracturing bone rang out.

"Ugh..." Vice President Zhao’s expression contorted in agony. Unable to even let out a scream, he was sent flying as if hit by a speeding locomotive, crashing violently into the guardrail where the bow met the hull.

"You’ve got some strength, but not enough." Shaking his head dismissively as if he had just swatted away a fly, the towering brute reached out toward Chairman Wu once again.

"If we hadn’t been injured already, we wouldn’t have been defeated so easily," Chairman Wu let out a bitter laugh.

Just as that massive hand, gleaming with a cold, metallic luster, was less than a meter away from Chairman Wu’s bloodless neck, a Dark Gold figure tore through the rain like a bolt of lightning. Striking with blinding speed, it materialized between the towering brute and Chairman Wu.

A Tiger Fist, covered in thick Dark Gold fur and tipped with menacing claws, slammed squarely into the wrist of the towering brute’s outstretched hand.

BANG!

At the point of impact, the falling raindrops were pulverized into mist by the erupting shockwave.

"Ngh..." The towering brute’s burly frame swayed slightly.

In the instant his seemingly metal-cast arm collided with the Dark Gold Tiger Fist, it was forcibly knocked upward by an irresistible, terrifying power.

CRACK!

A faint sound of fracturing bone emanated from his wrist. Immediately after, the skin of his right arm shuddered violently.

Then, with a sickening BOOM, a mist of blood exploded into the air.

His entire right arm was blasted into a bloody pulp by the horrifying force, vanishing completely. Even the right half of his chest was left unnaturally mangled.

"Urgh!" The towering brute grunted, stumbling back several steps and only managing to steady himself after crashing against the guardrail.

"Who are you?!"

He stared at the figure before him—a silhouette even taller and more robust than himself. For the very first time, an undisguisable look of profound shock shattered his stoic, emotionless expression.