Chapter 719 You guys scared my friend a little!!!
"Shadow Scorpion, what are you daydreaming about?"
"The target is right in front of you. You didn't see it, did you? Wait a minute, you only lost one eye. You should be able to see it clearly."
"Great opportunity! The enemy is surrounded by your illusion. Kill him quickly! Make your move!"
The rapid, sharp voice pierced Shadow Scorpion's eardrums without any buffer; it was Iron Claw speaking over the communication channel.
If anyone else in the team spoke in this tone, Shadow Scorpion would definitely think that the other person was being sarcastic or deliberately mocking.
But if it were Iron Claw, Shadow Scorpion could only assume that while the other party was gloating, they were also genuinely urging him to take action.
"That stupid Iron Claw!"
The anger that Shadow Scorpion had just managed to extinguish was suddenly reignited, like hot oil being poured on it, and it burned even more fiercely than before.
The muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably, causing excruciating pain that was almost maddening, which was also aggravated by the wound around his eye.
Thick tissue fluid mixed with blood was slowly seeping from the shattered eye socket, sliding down his symmetrical cheeks.
The grudge of disfigurement and blindness must be avenged!
This thought, like a venomous snake, gnawed at his reason relentlessly.
Even though Feng Mu suddenly appeared before her, exuding an inexplicable danger, and even though her inner intuition was screaming "Get away!"
Even if the captain had clearly given the order that "if the situation is not right, you can assess the danger and evacuate on your own," you should still try to touch it first and then assess it, instead of just giving up based on visual inspection.
Retreat also requires strategy and demeanor; it must be a "strategic transfer," not a disorganized escape.
This principle is similar to playing a game. If you encounter an elite monster or a boss in the wild, you can't just run away after taking a look. You have to at least use a skill to test the waters.
If the BOSS really doesn't lose any health, then it's not too late to retreat... right?
This way, the report to the superior afterward could be written as: "I fought the enemy to a draw, and finally had no choice but to retreat first."
Shadow Scorpion's mind raced, these thoughts flashing through his mind in an instant.
He lowered his head slightly, his right eye, which was perfectly intact and blazing with venomous fire, met Feng Mu's calm and unwavering gaze.
Even though he was covered in a grotesque exoskeleton with layers of mechanical structures and was much larger and more imposing than his opponent, for some reason, the other's gaze gave him the illusion that he was the insignificant one being looked down upon.
"You damn bastard... You don't actually think that just because you've got my tail between your legs, I'll be scared of you, do you?!"
This silent gaze was more offensive to Shadow Scorpion than a hundred noisy taunts from Iron Claw; it was less harmful but extremely insulting.
When has Shadow Scorpion ever been looked at like that?
In the past, he was the one who used this look to scout out his prey who were about to die at his hands.
As for the scorpion's tail being held by the opponent's bare hands, rendering it unable to move?!
It doesn't matter!
Shadow Scorpion is not a scorpion that fights solely with its tail; every inch of its exoskeleton can kill.
His eyes flashed with a fierce light, and without any warning, his whole body suddenly leaned forward.
The shoulders and chest, covered in heavy armor and carrying hundreds of kilograms of weight, resembled an out-of-control heavy dump truck, viciously crashing into Feng Mu's seemingly frail chest.
At the same time, two fists covered by exoskeletons, also imbued with mechanical power, like the two giant pincers of a scorpion, tore through the air from the left and right, striking Feng Mu's head in succession.
High-frequency energy subtly flows on the fist, enough to pulverize even the hardest alloy.
Impact! A deafening thud!
If these two attacks hit simultaneously, even if Feng Mu's body really had some kind of miniaturized endoskeleton armor embedded in it, he would be smashed into a mushy mess.
At least, Shadow Scorpion firmly believed this, supported by the destructive force simulation data provided by the exoskeleton sensors.
Not only that, Shadow Scorpion's metal foot kicked forward silently, the sharp toe aimed directly at Ah's head.
Although Shadow Scorpion was furious, he did not completely lose the cunning of a veteran warrior.
He wanted to force Feng Mu to reveal his true strength and assess the danger level of his opponent up close, while also taking the opportunity to end the life of his disfigured enemy and reclaim his "deserved interest."
To clear obstacles for a possible evacuation and save face.
In the blink of an eye, the offensive had begun!
Faced with the sudden, almost perfect, and fierce counterattack, Feng Mu's expression remained unchanged.
There was no surprise, no solemnity. He just stood there quietly, as if what was coming towards him was not a violent attack that could tear a tank apart, but just a gentle breeze.
Only when the two iron fists were almost touching his temples, and the wind from the punches blew the strands of hair on his forehead backward, did he slightly raise his eyelids.
His gaze swept over the enraged Shadow Scorpion, then indifferently surveyed the crowd before finally uttering his first words upon entering:
"Don't get agitated."
The voice was soft and gentle, with a hint of guiding people towards goodness.
Yet, strangely, it drowned out the roar of the exoskeleton engine and the howling of the fists, reaching the ears of everyone nearby clearly, like a whisper, including others listening to the sounds of the battlefield through communication devices.
"I meant no harm, nor did I intend to disturb your... battle."
At the very moment the voice rang out, an invisible yet undeniably real and eerie force field suddenly erupted, centered on Feng Mu.
The Shadow Scorpion, which was the first to be hit, felt as if it had jumped from the air into extremely viscous glue. The operation of every joint and drive shaft of its exoskeleton became incredibly sticky.
The rapid forward strides beneath my feet felt as if they were tightly bound by countless invisible threads, becoming exceptionally heavy, and I couldn't smoothly step down for a long time.
His arms, aimed at Feng Mu's head, were like swinging a heavy hammer against the current. With every millimeter of forward movement, the kinetic energy in his fists was rapidly dissipated by the surrounding "air," and the speed decreased visibly.
"Not only does it have an internal exoskeleton, but it also has a powerful torsional field or inertial damper, or perhaps some kind of... local gravity manipulation device?!"
Shadow Scorpion was horrified, but the attack had already begun, like an arrow released from a bow, with no way back. He could only frantically urge the power core.
Fortunately, what reassured Yingxie somewhat was that Feng Mu seemed to have become extremely arrogant, remaining standing in place without dodging or avoiding.
His fists were now less than a centimeter away from the opponent's head.
This distance should have been covered in an instant with the propulsion of the exoskeleton.
"How dare you show off like that! Die!!!"
Shadow Scorpion roared inwardly, clenching the blood-boosting agent hidden between its teeth. A searing heat instantly surged through its body. Ignoring the piercing power overload alarm in its ears, it forcefully used its will to drive the exoskeleton's power core, frantically increasing the output power to...
120%!
150%!
200%!
"Buzz—Beep—!"
The surface of the exoskeleton armor turned an abnormal dark red due to overload operation, and the heat dissipation vents at the joints spewed out scorching steam.
But the surging power finally broke through part of the constraints of the viscous force field.
Shadow Scorpion's fists suddenly accelerated again, and the air around his fists visibly rippled out in circles of high-temperature, scorching gray-white air waves due to the rapid friction and terrifying energy dissipation.
The critical 1-centimeter distance between them was forcibly breached!
Shadow Scorpion's only remaining right eye contracted its pupil in excitement and pleasure, and a cruel and cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
He could almost see the calm expression that Feng Mu had maintained on his face finally shatter, revealing shock and astonishment, before he hastily dodged away.
Ultimately, however, he could not escape. His entire head, struck by his own iron fist, exploded with a "poof" sound like a ripe watermelon, turning into a beautiful scene of blood mist and bone fragments!
"It's too late to hide now, hmph!"
Pong!
Two iron fists, each with 200% overload kinetic energy, slammed into Feng Mu's head without any fancy moves. Due to the enormous inertia and counterforce, they inevitably collided, producing a tooth-grinding metallic clang.
As Ahr lay on the ground, his heart nearly stopped beating, he watched helplessly as Feng Mu's head was smashed flat.
Like a clay head being pressed down hard by a naughty child, the entire head was instantly squeezed and deformed from its normal three-dimensional shape, turning into a flat "paper" shape.
The ordinary-looking glasses also shattered under the violent impact.
Dead?
He died so easily?!
At that moment, everyone who witnessed this scene in different ways experienced a momentary mental freeze.
However, perhaps because Feng Mu's appearance was too shocking, or perhaps because they were all highly focused this time, almost everyone collectively realized something was wrong after their brains went blank for less than a fraction of a second.
Including Shadow Scorpion himself, who succeeded in his scheme!
His heart sank, and a chill ran down his spine and up to his head.
He didn't feel the intoxicating feedback of his fist smashing through flesh and bone, didn't hear the "crack" of his skull shattering, and didn't see the crimson mist of brain matter mixed with blood bursting out.
Instead... after the loud bang of the fists colliding, a faint, somewhat comical sound was heard...
"Mwah~"
It's like a child chewing gum, playfully blowing a bubble, and then the crisp, hollow sound it makes when the bubble bursts.
A person's head was flattened, but the area below the neck remained intact, yet no blood splattered; instead, a bubbling sound was heard.
Is this fucking reasonable?
It couldn't possibly be that my punch, delivered with 200% overload power, was so powerful that it instantly vaporized the opponent's head, along with the brain, blood, and bones inside, right?
He knew very well that the "Scorpion Tail-III" assault exoskeleton armor he was wearing absolutely did not possess molecular-level annihilation power.
Therefore, after eliminating all the impossibilities, the remaining answer, no matter how absurd, can only be...
At the same time, Ah's vision blurred and he felt dizzy.
This time, the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything. He didn't close his eyes; instead, he kept his bloodshot eyes wide open the whole time, not daring to blink even once, for fear of missing any detail that would determine his life or death.
But he still couldn't see what happened clearly. He only felt his vision suddenly blur, like a television screen with a poor signal flickering.
He could only vaguely see that the ground beneath him seemed to come alive, emanating a gentle yet irresistible lateral pulling force.
The surrounding scenery flashed by like stretched noodles.
The metal foot that was about to end his life barely grazed his scalp before stomping heavily onto the previously empty muddy ground with a muffled thud, kicking up a cloud of grass clippings and damp soil.
When his vision cleared again, he was astonished to find that he had spun in a semi-circle on the ground and appeared behind Shadow Scorpion instead of directly in front of it.
Still lying flat in a disheveled position, still only able to look up.
You can still see a crisp, spotless black uniform.
You can still see that hand with its distinct knuckles and cold white color.
You can still see that face with glasses (surprisingly, the glasses are intact!), indifferent and calm as if nothing had happened.
This time, however, the hand did not casually grasp the scorpion's tail, but gently placed itself on the back of the Shadow Scorpion's neck, which was protected by the exoskeleton armor, as if greeting an old friend.
As gentle as before, it seemed as if no effort was exerted at all.
This time, however, it wasn't just the scorpion's tail that froze and remained motionless.
Instead... the entire body, from head to toe, every inch of exoskeleton, every joint, every still-operating engine and drive shaft, seemed to have all its energy instantly drained away.
He froze in place, his fists clapping together, too stiff to move an inch!
"The answer is... an illusion. But he was clearly... clearly real just now! The touch, the force field, even that look... when... when did it switch to the illusion?! I didn't even notice?!"
Shadow Scorpion felt the icy temperature (or perhaps the aura of death?) emanating from the palm of his hand on the back of his neck. He felt as if he had fallen into an abyss of ice, chilled to the bone, his blood freezing in that instant.
This answer was the one he was most familiar with and proud of, and therefore, it was also the one he could least believe, the one he found most absurd and terrifying.
His entire being, including his tongue, seemed frozen; his mouth was slightly open, but he couldn't utter a single clear word for a long time.
How is that possible?!
I...I, Shadow Scorpion, was actually fooled...by my most proficient optical illusion...?!
And it happened when I was attacking with all my might and believed that victory was in my grasp!
This is always my favorite script for outsmarting my enemies, how did someone else steal my script?!
Feng Mu gently (or at least his movements appeared gentle) stroked Shadow Scorpion's neck, tilted his head slightly forward, and leaned close to Shadow Scorpion's cheek, speaking softly to the one who wanted to ask a question:
"Shh—, don't speak. I haven't finished speaking yet. Please listen to me first."
Feng Mu put a finger to his lips and spoke in a very polite tone, so much so that everyone present was moved by his politeness and no one interrupted.
Feng Mu seemed satisfied with the quiet cooperation. He nodded and continued in a gentle voice:
"Hmm, where were we?"
He paused for a moment, as if he were truly recalling something.
Oh, right, speaking of which, I didn't mean to interrupt your battle; I just wanted to ask something..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd before settling on the black smoke rising from the highway, and said with utmost seriousness:
"Did you guys see those two 'toys' that just flew towards the road? Who was playing with them?"
He tilted his head, a hint of a smile appearing in his eyes behind his glasses, and drawled out his words slightly:
"The fireworks were beautiful, but... they scared my friend a little."
(End of this chapter)
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