Chu Jizhen casually looked toward the direction of the voice. “And who might you be? My apologies, but the only person from last time who left an impression on me was Liu Qi. The rest of you are probably just nameless, minor characters.”
Dozens of meters away, at a corner of the mall, Cao Liang stood clad in gray clothing. A chain several meters long dragged against the ground, its ends gripped tightly in both of his hands.
Hearing this, Cao Liang did not get angry. Instead, a fierce grin spread across his face as he stared at Chu Jizhen and burst into laughter. “Hahaha! No matter. After today, you will definitely remember my name!”
He suddenly swung the chain in his hands forward. The black chain elongated as it whipped toward Chu Jizhen, who was dozens of meters away.
Chu Jizhen's expression remained unchanged. A massive black hand materialized out of thin air and grabbed two of the chains.
Clang, clang, clang!
However, in the next instant, the sound of chains echoed behind him once more, and even from his left, right, and above.
Chu Jizhen stared blankly at Cao Liang, who was manipulating the chains. “It seems my ability counters your chains just a little bit.”
As soon as he spoke, over a dozen massive black hands reached out, easily catching the whipping chains.
These chains, capable of shattering brick and stone, were caught effortlessly. Yet, the grin on Cao Liang's face remained unchanged.
“Is that so?” Cao Liang suddenly exerted force with both hands, and a terrifying power erupted from the chains.
Bang!
The massive hands gripping the chains were forcibly flung aside. The black chains whipped through the air under his command, blurring into dark afterimages.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The chains lashed out at everything in the vicinity, shattering brickwork, denting the floor, and blowing apart shelves. At the same time, inside the structures both beneath his feet and above his head...
...countless black chains materialized, rapidly spreading throughout the building, preparing to deal Chu Jizhen a devastating blow.
Inside the mall, as the black chains lashed toward Chu Jizhen's face, the massive black hands appeared once more to block them.
Chu Jizhen sized Cao Liang up. His attack pattern is too simple, and his strength is slightly inferior to mine. He claims to counter me, but it's nothing more than using brute force to suppress me.
Chu Jizhen raised both hands and aimed them at Cao Liang. “Nameless minor character, I don't have time to play with you.”
He brought his hands together with a sharp downward motion. The ground beneath Cao Liang's feet exploded as a massive black hand emerged. Simultaneously, another hand materialized overhead, pressing down toward him.
Clang, clang, clang!
Yet, before the hands could even draw near, the clattering of chains rang out. The two black hands were instantly bound by four or five chains.
“I'm the one who doesn't have time! Chu Jizhen, I'll be taking the head of the Strongest Squad's captain!” A smug, arrogant expression appeared on Cao Liang's long face.
He raised his left hand and roared, “Die!”
Crack! Crack! Rumble!
The moment the words left his mouth, the underground mall began to shudder violently. Densely packed cracks spread across the structures above and below.
Clang, clang, clang!
Chain after chain fell from the ceiling, surging toward Chu Jizhen as if guided by a mind of their own.
Chu Jizhen took a step, intending to dodge, only to find that several black chains had wrapped around his feet at some point, pinning him to the spot.
In that brief opening, the descending chains completely enveloped him, binding his entire body into a sphere of black metal.
Cao Liang sneered at the sight. “You were far too confident. But I like your confidence. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been this easy to take you down.”
Crack!
The chains suddenly tightened with immense force. Black blood seeped out from the gaps, and Chu Jizhen's heartbeat vanished.
Cao Liang cast a brief glance at the sphere before turning to leave.
But the moment he turned around, the surrounding world dimmed, and everything plunged into darkness.
The messy shelves, the flying debris, and the chains scattered everywhere—all of it vanished.
The ground beneath his feet turned pitch-black. Cao Liang froze, his expression twisting in horror. “When did this...”
“I'll return those words to you. I, too, like your confidence,” a listless voice echoed.
Everything else had disappeared, leaving only Cao Liang standing on a vast expanse of black. But if one were to zoom out, they would realize that this was no ground—it was a massive black palm over a hundred meters wide.
High above the palm, Chu Jizhen—looking considerably more drained than before—stood atop a black hand, his expression calm. “Goodbye, minor character. World in the Palm!”
The colossal black hand suddenly clenched shut. Atop the hand, chains erupted from all over Cao Liang's body as he roared in sheer desperation, “Ahhh!!!”
Bang!
Yet, no matter how many chains he summoned, they could not withstand the immense grip of the giant hand. Both he and his chains were crushed in its grasp.
Crack!
The sounds of snapping chains rang out in rapid succession, and Cao Liang's roar cut off abruptly.
The massive black hand squeezed for a few more seconds before slowly opening. Only a mass of mangled flesh and shattered chains remained.
“Your strength wasn't bad. If you had joined the Special Bureau, you might have even made it into the Strongest Squad. What a pity you chose the wrong path and allied with the Liu family,” Chu Jizhen said listlessly.
The giant black hand vanished, along with the building above him, revealing the crimson sky overhead.
A massive crater now yawned beneath his feet.
I need to regroup with the team. I can't let them get picked off one by one. Chu Jizhen was lowered onto the street by a black palm, and he began to walk forward.
Drip!
A drop of rain fell onto his face. Chu Jizhen raised his head to look at the sky.
Heavy rain began to pour, instantly reducing visibility to mere dozens of meters.
Not only was his line of sight restricted, but even the transmission of sound was suppressed.
Chu Jizhen walked down the street, braving the rain.
Boom!
Suddenly, a deafening explosion echoed from the edge of the city.
“Liu Wen!” a furious roar followed immediately after.
At the edge of the city, pieces of Rot's body were scattered everywhere.
On the ground, a monster over two meters tall with thirteen pale eyes appeared. Half of its body was cobbled together from countless human faces.
Zhang Yi stared at the half of his body covered in human faces, a ferocious expression on his face. So this is the Earth Mother's Avatar. What terrifying power!
He had only just unleashed it, yet a single strike had completely blown Rot to pieces.
Bang!
He looked up at the crimson world. He could feel that Liu Wen was watching him.
“Liu Wen! I was the one who killed your son! What's the matter, do you not even have the courage to avenge him yourself? Since you won't come out, I'll come to you!” Zhang Yi instantly launched himself off the ground, rushing toward the center of the city at supersonic speed.
A distance of dozens of kilometers was merely a matter of ten-odd seconds for him. Just as he was about to reach the central district...
...an endless crimson glow appeared in front of him. Within the red light, a middle-aged man emerged. He wore a Zhongshan suit, kept his hands clasped behind his back, and possessed six crimson eyes on his face.
“Zhang Yi, sometimes I wonder if you were born with great fortune. You survived twice in Ningcheng, you didn't die in Yangcheng, and you've clashed with my Liu family so many times. I cannot help but wonder: is destiny playing tricks on us?” Liu Wen's voice was deep and low.
Every single time this Zhang Yi appeared, he was working against the Liu family. Whenever something major happened, this troublemaker would show up right on cue.
As he spoke, the concentration of the red light around Zhang Yi intensified, attempting to corrode his body.
On the right half of Zhang Yi's body, which was covered in human faces, the faces emitted a faint white light to resist the red glow.
Zhang Yi glared coldly at Liu Wen. “Destiny? No, this is hatred. You have only yourself to blame for failing to kill me off completely when you ambushed me back then!”
He raised his left hand, and a dense green light flared to life. This time, the energy charged at an absurd speed, reaching full capacity in less than a second.
Liu Wen extended his left hand as lightning crackled, forming a spiritual lightning sword. “The sin I left unfinished back then shall be completely settled here today.”
This place was bound by the Eye of Blood. This time, even if the Earth Mother wanted to intervene, it would take her quite some time.
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