Yashan led Su Hao to an area in the northern part of the city, then lowered his voice and said, "Boss Wei, he shows up around here a lot. Let's look around."
Su Hao said, "No need. I already know where he is."
Yashan was overwhelmed with envy. In his heart, he shouted, Boss, I want to learn that too...
But in the end, he didn't have the courage to say it aloud. Boss Wei had already helped him far too much. What more could he ask for?
Su Hao brought Yashan around a corner and into another street, then whispered, "Yashan, he's in the alley ahead. Go. Use everything you've got."
At this moment, both of them were using the "Light Absorption" rune to conceal themselves. In the darkness of night, they were almost impossible to notice.
Yashan nodded, took a deep breath, drew his long blade, and walked slowly toward the alley with the tragic resolve of a warrior who might never return.
Within the same sequence, higher-level mutants exerted an overwhelming suppression over lower-level mutants. Under normal circumstances, when a level-two [Rampager] saw a level-three [Counter-Spike Beast], he would run as far away as possible.
But today, Yashan endured the pressure of every cell in his body screaming at him to flee, and walked forward with firm steps.
He had to avenge his wife and child.
He had to obtain power.
And that power was on the [Counter-Spike Beast] up ahead.
All he had to do was bite off one mouthful...
The moment Yashan saw the [Counter-Spike Beast], the [Counter-Spike Beast] also noticed Yashan, who was wrapped in a mass of darkness.
Before transforming, mutants could not sense each other's identities. But after transformation, a mutant's aura became extremely obvious.
The [Counter-Spike Beast] was covered in a dull gray carapace with a metallic texture. Its form was vastly different from a [Rampager]. It was taller and larger, with thick shoulder armor, chest armor, and head armor. The difference was like that between a van and a tank.
Its carapace was densely covered in spikes several centimeters long, each one razor sharp. There was nowhere to even land a punch. It looked like ancient armor designed for hunting bears.
Anyone with eyes could tell that Yashan's [Rampager] had absolutely no chance.
And the instant Yashan faced the [Counter-Spike Beast] head-on, his heart seemed to skip half a beat. A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
Questions flooded his mind.
Could he really defeat this thing?
But as soon as he thought of that powerful bone man, his resolve hardened again, and he stepped forward.
"This isn't about whether I can defeat him. I have to defeat him! If I can't even beat a [Counter-Spike Beast], what courage will I have in the future to face the [Bone Demon]?"
The corner of the [Counter-Spike Beast]'s mouth curled beneath its visor. He recognized the pitch-black figure before him.
Wasn't this just a [Rampager]?
Though the figure was so dark he couldn't see it clearly, his perception couldn't be wrong. In his senses, a [Rampager] was weak, useless trash. There was nothing attractive about its flesh at all.
The [Counter-Spike Beast] lightly swung the spiked club in his hand and said contemptuously, "Useless piece of garbage. Where did you get the courage to stand in front of me? You want to eat my flesh too? Hehehe!"
Su Hao quietly hid in the shadows, ready to rescue Yashan at any moment.
Although he could personally help Yashan kill the [Counter-Spike Beast], Su Hao knew that doing so would only make Yashan dependent on him. Then Yashan would be ruined completely, never again having the courage to face someone stronger than himself, much less kill the [Bone Demon] and take revenge.
This was Yashan's life.
He had to face it himself.
There were some things others simply could not help with.
Still, Su Hao believed Yashan could defeat the opponent. After all, he had carved so many runes onto him. As long as Yashan knew how to activate them, even a useless person should be able to fight decently, right?
Yashan said nothing. Silently, he covered his long blade with "Sharpness" and "Penetration," then covered his carapace with "Hardness," "Deflection," and "Barrier." The effects of his other runes were also ready to activate at any moment.
Yashan moved his feet, cast aside every distracting thought in his mind, and charged toward the [Counter-Spike Beast].
The [Counter-Spike Beast] moved at the same time, swinging his spiked club down with vicious force.
A moment later...
The [Counter-Spike Beast]'s spiked club was cut apart.
Both of his wrists fell to the ground.
Yashan slashed again.
"Pfft!"
The [Counter-Spike Beast]'s arms, which had been raised in front of him to block, were cut off once more. The blade continued along its path and sliced open more than half of his neck. Blood sprayed out.
Even after suffering such an injury, the [Counter-Spike Beast] still didn't die. Once he regained control of his body, terror filled his face and he immediately retreated, intending to flee. At the same time, the wound on his neck rapidly began to heal.
By now, Yashan had also exhausted his strength. He gasped heavily for air, his entire body covered in densely packed spikes, blood flowing nonstop. He had no strength left to pursue.
But before the [Counter-Spike Beast] could run far, a cold flash of blade-light swept past.
The [Counter-Spike Beast]'s head rolled to the ground.
His eyes were wide open. Even in death, he did not understand what had happened.
Su Hao put away his long blade. After collecting some blood, he said to Yashan, "Yashan, the [Thread Demon] is coming. Take the severed hand and leave this place first!"
Yashan immediately nodded, bent down to pick up one of the severed hands, and quickly left with Su Hao.
As he ran, the spikes embedded in his body were pushed out one by one, falling to the ground.
Before long, Yashan had fully recovered. If not for the large amount of blood still covering him, no one would have known he had just suffered such serious injuries.
After Yashan recovered, the two immediately changed direction and disappeared into the darkness.
Meanwhile, the [Thread Demon] arrived at the corpse of the [Counter-Spike Beast]. His eyes widened as he said in wild delight, "[Night Demon]! It must be the Night Demon! Where are you? Hurry up and give back my [Control King] flesh!"
But how could the [Thread Demon] possibly find anyone now?
He could only go mad, destroying everything around him to vent his rage.
The opportunity to advance had once been right in front of him, yet he had missed it just like that. The massive sense of loss tortured the [Thread Demon] until he was almost insane.
The moment he thought of the half-piece of [Control King] flesh at home, his heart twisted painfully. Since it wasn't enough for evolution, he would rather not have it at all.
"Ahhh!"
The [Thread Demon] roared in helpless fury.
...
Time flew by.
One year later, Su Hao was nine years old.
The powerful physique of the Zhu Huo people caused his body to grow rapidly. He had already reached 1.8 meters in height, and his build looked strong and well-proportioned.
His face had inherited the traits of the Zhu Huo people. Its angles had grown increasingly defined, giving him a faint, unique elegance similar to that of an elf.
Dressed in properly fitted silk clothing, he looked like the young master of a wealthy family.
His physical strength had long since surpassed that of his previous life, and the amount of blood qi he possessed had also surged tremendously. It had nearly reached the peak of the Grandmaster level. His perception range had, for the first time, exceeded 3,500 meters, almost covering half of Temple Forest City.
As long as he stood in the center of the city, any mutant inside with a slightly higher blood qi intensity would be unable to escape Su Hao's radar perception.
This meant his safety within the city had greatly increased. As long as he didn't actively provoke those two level-four mutants, there would basically be no problem.
As for those two level-four mutants, they were respectively [Thread Demon] Xike of the [Silk Spitter] sequence, and [Bone Demon] Deli of the [Armor Man] sequence.
One year ago, Xike's condition became even worse. Unable to find the [Night Demon], he would challenge Deli to duels from time to time, believing that Deli had stolen the other half of his [Control King] flesh.
Deli was annoyed beyond endurance by his harassment, but at the same time, he felt incredibly fortunate. Luckily, Xike had only obtained half of the [Control King] flesh and could not evolve. Otherwise, Deli would have had to leave this city.
In truth, after two years, Xike also understood that he, [Speed Demon] Feilun, and [Bone Demon] Deli had all been played by An.
His mind had become extremely twisted.
Back then, the opportunity had clearly been right before his eyes, yet he had failed to grasp it.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he began venting his emotions without restraint.
...
But to Su Hao, it didn't matter what kind of demons they were. Nor did he care who was right or wrong.
What he needed to do was very simple.
Tonight, he would kill the Bone Demon and the Thread Demon.
Then he would drag out every mutant in the entire city and beat them all once, making everyone quiet down so he could do his genetic research in peace.
Su Hao had two reasons for deciding to kill the [Bone Demon] and the [Thread Demon].
First, two years had already passed. He had promised to take Yashan to get revenge, and he could not go back on his word.
Second, last night, the battle between the [Thread Demon] and the [Bone Demon] had once again destroyed his small courtyard.
If he had not reacted quickly and evacuated with Yashan and Taini, Taini might have died at the hands of these two fiends of Temple Forest City.
And the place they were staying in now was a new home they had only moved into today.
One year ago, when the [Thread Demon] and the [Bone Demon] fought and destroyed Su Hao's courtyard for the first time, he had not yet been fully prepared, so he endured it.
But today, no matter what, he could no longer swallow this anger.
These two relied on their strength to destroy things as they pleased. It was simply going too far.
Over the past two years, battles both large and small had irritated Su Hao to no end. He had been unable to focus on his research at all, and as a result, his genetic research had not progressed nearly as smoothly as he had hoped.
Moreover, over these two years, the city's population had decreased year by year. It wasn't only those who had been caught in the crossfire and died or been injured. Even more people had simply moved away from the city and settled in neighboring cities.
The most direct result was that Su Hao's quality of life had dropped sharply, and his research efficiency had become terribly low.
So now that he was prepared, if he didn't directly eliminate them, what was he waiting for?
Su Hao had made his decision.
Starting tonight, he would cleanse the entire city in one breath.
He would beat down anyone who refused to submit.
And he would become the master of this city!