Book 3, Chapter 44: Fierce Fight

Gao Qiu and Lu Shiqi’s muscles tensed.

While the injuries they sustained couldn’t be considered severe since they were Third Limit martial artists, they were no longer in their best condition.

In the face of an armed Third Limit martial artist in perfect condition, they didn’t think that they could win even if they fought together.

As for the audience in the arena, they were slowly retreating from the center of the place, worried that they would end up making this unknown martial artist do something rash.

They had nothing to do with this. From the way he acted, it was clear he was also a Third Limit martial artist. If the three of them really fought against each other and the audience was dragged into the mix, they wouldn’t even have the chance to register it before they died.

Gong Zhanyi blended into the retreating crowd and was slowly moving to the entrance with the manager and two security guards providing cover for him. His eyes, though, remained glued to Wei Wusheng’s back. If the Gong family’s capture team hadn’t been banned from entering the arena, they would have gone up to get him. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have the chance to do that now, though. They just needed the door to open...

Just then, Wei Wusheng tilted his head and said, “Gong Zhanyi, I know you’re here, and I know you’ve been looking for me.”

Gong Zhanyi’s expression changed, but he decided to stop retreating. Instead, he looked over to Wei Wusheng and asked, “Did you take the thing?”

“If you’re talking about the item Xiong Jianyi gave me that day, then yes, I did. You want it back? You’re never getting it,” Wei Wusheng declared.

Gong Zhanyi’s fingers trembled, but he maintained a calm facade. “What do you want to do? Kill me here?”

“Not just you. I’m killing everyone here.”

Wei Wusheng said it in such a casual fashion it was as if he was talking about the weather, causing all the martial artists’ expressions to change.

Wei Wusheng returned his gaze to Gao Qiu and Lu Shiqi.

“You have five minutes to get ready. That’s when our fight starts. Then, either you kill me, or I kill you.”

Gao Qiu and Lu Shiqi’s expressions turned grim. Neither of them asked him for a reason.

Martial artists chased after different things. Some sought to get stronger, while others practiced martial arts simply for their own beliefs. Any goal could make them do crazy things that no sane people could understand.

Gao Qiu ducked his head down and sniffed the air before taking a few steps away and picking up a clump of bloody meat from the water to eat it.

That was his own flesh. He picked it up, along with the bone fragments, and ate them all. As he did, his injuries began rippling and closing up. His focus also seemed to be recovering.

Meanwhile, Lu Shiqi reached into his stomach, groped around, and dragged his small intestines out.

They were all implants. He had eaten hard-to-digest silk fiber, which had fused with his intestines and made them as durable as a leather whip. During crucial moments, they could serve as a weapon. However, Gao Qiu’s nails had cut them in half, so he now had a whip that was around three meters long.

Wei Wusheng didn’t stop them. He had said that he was going to give them five minutes to get ready, and he wasn’t going to attack them before the time was up.

Lu Shiqi licked his palm, then wiped his saliva against his wounds. Through implanted secretion glands under his gills, he could secrete a biogel into his saliva to increase the speed at which his damaged tissue repaired itself. Even though it couldn’t repair his damaged tissue as quickly as what his enhanced brain could command his body to do, it saved him some stamina and energy.

While they were getting ready, the other martial artists’ expressions turned dark. They had wanted to stay out of this matter, but they couldn’t pretend that what Wei Wusheng had said was just a joke.

Yet they also knew how they would fare if they rushed forward to fight against him right now. Even if they took medicine, they would not win against a Third Limit martial artist.

The only thing they could do was to wait for Wei Wusheng to begin fighting against the two Third Limit martial artists. Then, they could search for a chance to attack.

That was a solid plan, but after a minute, most of the people’s eyes started turning bloodshot, as if they were influenced by something. Their breathing turned ragged, and a restless desire to destroy everything before them began burning in them.

Chen Chuan’s group had been standing away from the rest, but Chen Chuan saw the same abnormalities appear on Tan Zhi, Pan Xiaode, and Qi Huixin.

The three of them also noticed something going wrong and started distancing themselves from each other, but the restlessness just continued growing, and they couldn’t stop themselves from wanting to act on it. Without their knowledge, their faces turned red.

After taking a quick look at his second self, Chen Chuan saw him blurring out. Clearly, something of a unique nature was attacking him.

***

Sun Zhiming was talking to a senior executive member of the company, who said sternly, “We already know about this. Mr. Sun, you’re in charge of the situation. What’s your suggestion?”

“We must keep Multi-Eyes a secret. If we want to get ahead of the other companies in the next generation, we need this project to gain significant progress,” Sun Zhiming declared.

“How do you intend to keep the situation hidden? I need to remind you that even if you kill everyone and blame it on Wei Wusheng, the investigation afterwards will reveal the company’s secrets,” the senior executive member pointed out.

To that, Sun Zhiming replied, “I don’t intend to do that. It’d have a severe negative impact on the company’s reputation. Fortunately, we have a modified Crimson Sea Worm in the arena. The toxin it secretes can create restlessness, which is similar to Multi-Eyes’ domain effects. We were planning to have it add to the fun of the match, but we can now blame everything on it.

“I’ve ordered the security team to inject a stabilizing agent, but it’s an experimental drug, and it’s going to take five to ten minutes before the effects kick in. Once it starts working, I’ll send them in to save the passengers.”

“Why aren’t you asking the security consultants on the ship to handle the matter? I believe that Multi-Eyes’ domain won’t affect a Third Limit martial artist too quickly.”

“There are some people of unknown origins on the ship, and I don’t know whether this is premeditated. I need to ensure the other passengers’ safety,” Sun Zhiming pointed out.

“I’ve recorded your answer and will submit it to the board of directors, Mr. Sun. I hope that you can take care of this problem and minimize its effects.”

“I will. Please tell the company that as the person in charge, I didn’t set up proper security measures, and I will bear all the consequences myself. It has nothing to do with the other employees,” Sun Zhiming declared.

“I will deliver your statement verbatim.”

Once the conversation ended, Sun Zhiming began relaying his orders. “After they’ve injected the soothing agent, the security team members should head to the arena deck as quickly as possible. Send the two security consultants to tell the passengers that the crew is attempting to capture the attacker and that they are to stay in their cabins for the time being. They are not to come out as they like, or they will have to bear the consequences on their own.”

“Understood!”

***

Another minute passed in the arena as a wave of restlessness spread among all the martial artists. Everyone glared at each other with bloodshot eyes, as if they were about to lose it to their agitation.

A moment later, a crazed shout came from near the door. Finally, someone couldn’t hold back their aggression anymore and attacked the person next to them. This was like a spark that landed in a dynamite crate and caused a massive explosion. With loud shouts, everyone started attacking those beside them.

Pan Xiaode’s eyes had turned completely bloodshot at this point. He charged at Chen Chuan, so he asked, “You want to spar now?”

With a powerful swing of his arm, Chen Chuan pushed Pan Xiaode off-center before ramming the outer edge of his hand against the side of Pan Xiaode’s neck. The young man fainted in an instant.

Immediately after, Chen Chuan took half a step to the side, avoiding the kick Qi Huixin sent his way and bringing up his leg in one swift motion to slam it against her neck. Just like Pan Xiaode, she fell without another sound.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Then, he turned to Tan Zhi, only to find that the man had punched himself before he lost control over himself. Currently, he was lying on the floor with his limbs sprawled.

The sight surprised Chen Chuan, but he could not deny that it was a good choice. Tan Zhi could really think on his feet. The maddened martial artists weren’t interested in unconscious people, so this was better than getting beaten up due to not being the strongest.

Chen Chuan turned to the chaotic brawl near the door. The people there had completely lost their rationality.

Chen Chuan looked back to the platform. After taking a second to consider the best course of action, he headed to the crowd.

***

Just then, Wei Wusheng looked up and said, “Your five minutes are up.”

Since Gao Qiu was the closest to him, he shot toward him, and threw a simple, straightforward punch.

When Gao Qiu saw him coming at him, he wanted to fend him off for a while to create a chance for Lu Shiqi to attack. He was sure that the man would know what he was planning.

But the alarm bells in his head rang furiously in the face of Wei Wusheng’s punch. Gao Qiu instantly realized that he might be unable to block the attack, so he quickly changed his plan to avoiding the attack.

As for Lu Shiqi, he couldn’t let Gao Qiu face Wei Wusheng alone, so he took a step forward and swung the whip in his hand. The latter came to a swift stop and grabbed the whip before looping it twice around his hand.

When he was doing this, Gao Qiu saw his chance. As if someone shoved his retreating body forward, he charged forward and thrust his fingers at Wei Wusheng’s spine.

But Wei Wusheng just tilted his body slightly and let the fingers pierce him.

Even though Gao Qiu had been able to easily tear through Lu Shiqi’s chest with his hand, this time, after sinking a few inches into his flesh, thick, firm muscles clamped down on his fingers, and he couldn’t break free. His expression changed. “Body hardening-type refined force?”

Wei Wusheng spun around, and the massive power threw Gao Qiu forward. He tensed his core and adjusted his posture. Like an eagle, he curled up his toes and prepared to deliver a kick at any moment.

However, Wei Wusheng reached out, yanked his arm out of his back, and grabbed Gao Qiu’s face. He then slammed him down on the floor so hard that the platform trembled.

Snap!

Lu Shiqi yanked at the whip tied around Wei Wusheng’s hand, immediately interrupting his attack. At the same time, he unfurled the whip and snapped it against Wei Wusheng. Due to the attack laced with refined force, Wei Wusheng’s robe and flesh on his shoulder and back were torn open, but it was only a superficial wound.

Wei Wusheng looked up, grabbed the whip again, and yanked at it. Lu Shiqi immediately released a section of it. At the same time, as the force of the pull dragged his body forward, he turned to the side and swung his arm. The whip wrapped around Wei Wusheng several times. Next, all he needed to do was use refined force to tighten the whip, and it would bind Wei Wusheng.

Just then, a hammer came flying his way, and he was forced to dodge it. But after losing an arm, his balance was off-kilter, and he was a second too slow while turning away. The next moment, he saw a fist coming straight at him.

With great difficulty, he avoided it hitting his face, but it still landed on his shoulder. The sound of bones cracking rose, and he was sent flying. He bounced off the floor a few times until he rammed into a wall. He didn’t get up after that, which was a clear sign that he had lost his ability to fight.

Wei Wusheng straightened his body and said, “I said before that only one person will leave this place alive.”

He walked over to his hammer and grabbed its hilt. When he was about to straighten up, he sensed something.

Thud!

He grabbed a stone and turned around to see a person walking toward him with a saber in hand.