Evil God 29

Shibaliwu Gorge 5

The fist flew at Chen Yu’s face.

Just as the gloved fist was about to land, a small blue fish suddenly appeared before Chen Yu. The fist struck the little fish; with a splashing sound, it burst like a bubble and dissolved into a puff of mist that vanished into the air. The force behind the punch was dissipated in the process.

Cheng Mo frowned. He realized that, at some point, he had been surrounded by a swarm of fish; the air had grown as viscous as the water at the bottom of the deep sea. These translucent and blue fish swam slowly around him. The air churned into a seawater-like consistency.

The force of his fist was sapped away, rendering the blow completely harmless by the time it reached Chen Yu.

Cheng Mo frowned. He looked at Chen Yu through the school of fish. A gigantic reflection of an octopus descended from the sky above Chen Yu, while the seemingly frail, harmless little fish swam around Chen Yu.

A distinct domain contrasting with the surrounding lake and mountain scenery unfolded with Chen Yu at its center.

“The Deep Sea Authority…” Cheng Mo murmured.

Chen Yu ignored him. Instead, he turned to Xiao Zhuo and Xiao [stolen content]Sheng and asked them urgently, “Are you two alright?”

They shook their heads, their faces pale. Cheng Mo had moved far too quickly; Xiao Zhuo and Xiao Sheng hadn’t even had time to react. Now, they exchanged glances filled with uncertainty and alarm.

They looked at the swimming fish and the giant octopus that was floating above Chen Yu. Their bodies tensed with the urge to attack these unknown entities.

Xiao Zhuo looked at Chen Yu with a grimace. “Is this your ability?”

Chen Yu nodded. At this moment, Captain Duan rushed over; the three of them stood shoulder to shoulder and looked at Cheng Mo across from them.

Chen Yu pointed at Cheng Mo and asked Captain Duan, “You said he’s Calamity-class. What kind of level is that?”

“Breathing triggers natural disasters; a single step causes earthquakes.”

Chen Yu was momentarily stunned, then asked, “What about you? What level are you?”

“Tier 3 Contamination.”

Chen Yu did a quick mental calculation and declared loudly, “That should be fine then. [unauthorized copy]There are four of us, one at Tier 2 and three at Tier 3. Four against one. We can definitely take down this Calamity-class guy!”

Captain Duan opened his mouth, but stopped himself from saying anything.

“Four against three? Hmph!” Cheng Mo let out a scoff.

He wasted no more words and launched another attack. The three of them besieged Cheng Mo together, yet the situation didn’t improve much compared to before.

Captain Duan engaged him head-on; every collision produced a dull, thunderous boom. Xiao Zhuo and Xiao Sheng attacked from the flanks to breach Cheng Mo’s defenses from the sides. Chen Yu stood amidst the school of fish. He kept an eye on Cheng Mo’s movements, waiting for the right moment.

As the four of them engaged in a melee and Cheng Mo was too occupied to notice anything else, Chen Yu crooked a finger. Behind Cheng Mo, a round Remnant formed from sand and bleached bones. The clumsy ball with protruding bone spikes at its base rolled toward the center of Cheng Mo’s back.

Just as it was about to attack, Cheng Mo’s brow twitched. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he stomped his right foot down; the ground instantly shattered into a web of cracks, and the highway beneath him collapsed.

Amidst the rumbling of the earth, the rolling Remnant lost its balance and fell right into the widening fissure. At that moment, Cheng Mo dodged the attack launched simultaneously by Xiao Zhuo and Xiao Sheng; immediately following this, he thrust out both arms and seized them by the shoulders.

Xiao Sheng was thrown away like a cannonball. He traced an arc through the air before slamming against the mountainside.

Xiao Zhuo reacted with lightning speed the instant her arm was grabbed; she picked a piece of loose rock ​Read on​nearby and hurled it at Cheng Mo.

Cheng Mo raised an arm to block it. The impact rang out. His skin was hard, producing the crisp sound of metal hitting stone. Upon realizing she couldn’t break through Cheng Mo’s defenses, Xiao Zhuo immediately retreated. She stumbled back over a dozen meters across the unbroken section of the road, and only stopped when Captain Duan braced her back with a hand.

In the blink of an eye, the four-person assault had been effortlessly neutralized. A cloud of dust and debris billowed up into the air.

Chen Yu lost his footing as the road collapsed beneath him. He rolled helplessly until he came to rest near the pile of rubble. The round, roly-poly Remnant that he had summoned also fell to the ground not far away.

Furious at the sight, Chen Yu couldn’t help but curse: “You useless piece of trash! Every time I summon you, you’re good for nothing. What use are you to me?”

The round creature had originally been struggling to roll against gravity, desperate to complete the task its master had assigned. Upon hearing those words, its spherical body went rigid, as if it had suffered a heavy blow. It froze for a moment, then gave up struggling entirely and simply rolled down the slope.

Once it rolled beyond the circle of fish surrounding Chen Yu, it disintegrated into a wisp of white sand and a few fragments of dry bone.

Amidst the swirling dust, Xiao Zhuo and Captain Duan rushed over to Xiao Sheng. Xiao Sheng sat amidst a pile of rubble; his clothes were torn in several places, and his glasses– half-shattered –lay beside his hand.

Upon seeing this state, Xiao Zhuo was momentarily stunned, then immediately laughed: “So much for being a strategy expert! Look at the mess you’re in! Where’s that strategy of yours? Or are you actually an expert in strategic retreats?”

Xiao Sheng expressionlessly adjusted his broken glasses back onto the bridge of his nose; the gaze behind the lenses was filled with disdain: “At least I still have a brain, unlike some people whose [stolen content]heads are filled with nothing but muscle. You turn every battle into a common street brawl!”

“You…!”

Xiao Zhuo frowned, and just as she was about to retort, Duan Zhuosheng grabbed them both by the shoulders. “Enough. Look at the situation. Is this the time to be bickering?”

He turned his attention to Xiao Sheng. “How is it?”

Xiao Sheng wiped a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth. After taking a direct hit and engaged in a head-on fight, he had finally managed to pin down accurate information about Cheng Mo.

“The source of his ability is a fragment of the Earth Authority. The ability type likely relates to natural disasters, like earthquakes. He’s classified as Calamity-class on the leaderboard, but the contamination value is probably far higher than twenty thousand; he’s likely approaching the level of a Demigod-class.”

Captain Duan’s expression darkened upon hearing this.

Just then, Chen Yu crawled over. After surviving the recent battle and listening to Xiao Sheng’s deductions, he suddenly realized how terribly mistaken he might have been: “So… a Calamity-class entity facing us– one person at Tier 2 Contamination and the rest at Tier 3 –is basically like an adult beating up a child?”

None of the three answered.

Chen Yu turned to Captain Duan. “Do you have any ideas?”

He had always placed his trust in Captain Duan.

But at this moment, Captain Duan’s expression was a picture of distress, his entire face twisted into a knot of anxiety.

Chen Yu’s heart sank.

Before they could come up with a plan, Cheng Mo caught up to them; the very ground beneath his feet began to emit a low, ominous hum.

[Trait: Cataclysmic Earthquake]

Effect: Infuses the power of the earth into strikes; every attack triggers an earthquake.

The ground beneath Cheng Mo’s feet undulated like waves, while fissures crackled and spread, chasing the trio.

Chen Yu ran until his lungs felt ready to burst; the small fish beside him and the octopus hovering overhead struggled to unleash a viscous field of seawater to stall the enemy, but against that earth-shattering power, they could only buy a moment of delay.

There was simply nowhere left to run.

Captain Duan gritted his teeth, knelt to one knee, and placed both hands onto the ground.

[Trait: Truce Domain]

Effect: Within this domain, any action driven by hostile intent is suppressed.

An invisible field suddenly expanded, making the air heavy and stagnant. The suffocating bloodlust radiating from Cheng Mo was pinned down by an invisible force.

At the same moment, a fighting spirit ignited in Xiao Zhuo’s eyes.

[Trait: Weaponry]

Effect: Launches a True Damage attack that bypasses defenses by striking the target’s weak point.

Xiao Sheng endured the pain in his arm; his gaze turned cold and razor-sharp.

[Trait: Know Thyself and Know Your Enemy]

Effect: Allows for absolutely rational battlefield observation.

The three activated their abilities simultaneously; in an instant, a miniature battlefield was forged.

Captain Duan braced himself against the ground, maintaining the Truce Domain and neutralizing Cheng Mo’s every attack. Xiao Zhuo picked up whatever was within reach– rubble, broken rebar, even a twisted road sign –and turned them all into effective weapons as she unleashed an all-out assault on Cheng Mo.

Meanwhile, Xiao Sheng’s hawk-like gaze darted through the gaps in the rain of attacks, granting him a clear insight into the situation in every corner of the battlefield.

“Three inches behind the right knee, center of gravity shifted twelve degrees. Attack!” Xiao Sheng commanded.

Xiao Zhuo pivoted and thrust a length of rebar straight at the target. Cheng Mo grunted as a true damage attack– one that bypassed all defenses –hit his center of gravity at its weakest point, causing his body to sway.

“Lower left rib. There’s a 0.3-second opening when the arm lifts. Again!”

“Cut the chatter! I know that already!” Xiao Zhuo’s words were rebellious, but her actions were decisive; she raised the steel rebar in her hand and thrust it toward Cheng Mo.

“Shut up and focus on my commands!”

“What is this, a game of chess?” Xiao Zhuo shouted as she slashed.

“Simpler than chess. You’re just a piece that only knows how to charge blindly,” Xiao Sheng retorted.

Captain Duan gritted his teeth and shouted, “Stop chatting!”

After a few exchanges, Cheng Mo found himself subtly hemmed in by the trio’s precise coordination; his offensive momentum stalled.

However, Cheng Mo, who was constantly assessing the situation, quickly spotted a breakthrough. The instant Xiao Sheng issued his next command, Cheng Mo took a hit from Xiao Zhuo head-on, then lunged at Xiao Sheng, grabbed his arm, and broke it on the spot.

Xiao Sheng grunted and collapsed to his knees. His face turned deathly pale.

“Xiao Sheng!”

Two cries of alarm rang out simultaneously from different directions, but Cheng Mo didn’t hesitate for a moment; he stepped forward, ready to finish Xiao Sheng first.

Just then, Xiao Zhuo stepped on Xiao Sheng’s shoulder and jumped up from behind. She held a boulder, bigger than herself, high ove[stolen content]rhead and smashed it down onto Cheng Mo.

Rumble…

Cheng Mo’s pupils contracted; he clearly hadn’t anticipated that Xiao Sheng’s injury was a trap. Suppressed by the Truce Domain, he couldn’t launch a counterattack in time to deflect the blow and could only watch helplessly as the boulder crashed down upon him.

With a thunderous boom that shook the earth, the boulder rolled forward, pushing Cheng Mo along with it as they slid into Xiannu Lake.

“So much for a Calamity-class threat!” Xiao Zhuo brushed the dust from her hands.

“He hasn’t even used the Earth Authority yet… Besides, a fall from that height would likely be–”

Before Xiao Sheng could finish his sentence, an unprecedented quake erupted from the center of the lake. It shook the very ground beneath their feet. Immediately following this, boulders from the mountainside beside the highway came crashing down amidst the upheaval; the safety netting– installed only recently –proved as flimsy as paper, instantly rendered useless by the barrage of rocks.

“It’s an earthquake–” Captain Duan’s voice echoed in their ears, yet Chen Yu remained motionless. He stared at the lake’s shimmering blue surface.

“Chen Yu, let’s go!”

Chen Yu shook his head and pointed toward the depths Read on of the lake, “I can feel Xiao Huntun’s presence down there.”