Chapter 280 206: The Captain Arrives
The darkness shrouded the wasteland, torrential rain pouring down madly, hitting my face with a dull pain.
Ou Chenyu adjusted his mechanical eye to full power mode, frantically surveying the surroundings.
A suffocating sense of oppression permeated the air, rain pattering on his body like a death prelude.
His heart was racing, panic spreading and seeping into every corner of his body, as those prosthetic eyes desperately searched for signs of an imminent enemy attack, yet all they could see was the endless curtain of rain.
The Bone Scythe Python, a mechanical ferocious beast, is an expert in field operations, moving through the underground like a fish in water, freely shuttling through the strata.
With the current Spiritual Brain Modifier's powerful control skills, the Bone Scythe Python traversed underground without causing any visible tremors.
Ou Chenyu had no clue when or from which direction the enemy would launch a surprise attack, trapping him in a state of absolute passivity.
The uncertainty brought about anxiety, making him feel cold and hot, his throat gulping nervously but daring not to make a sound, while adrenaline surged, his taut nerves seemingly about to snap at any moment.
The threat of the Bone Scythe Python hadn't yet arrived when Zeus made the first move.
Although he was a newcomer to the Alpha Squad, he had already grown accustomed to working with the team through training.
While the Bone Scythe Python stealthily advanced underground, he launched an attack directly from the surface above.
Zeus activated his Blood Code Ability, electric lights intertwined around his body forming a dazzling radiance, plasma spreading through the accumulated water, pulsating as if it were alive, coalescing into a roaring sea of plasma.
"Zzz—" Zeus's palm gripped the air, and two beams of light rose from the sea of plasma, twisting and swaying to form long, whiplike thunders.
He swung his hands, hurling two substantial thunder whips towards Ou Chenyu, leaving scorching, conspicuous burns in their wake.
Ou Chenyu dared not to confront them head-on, awkwardly evading, but even without direct contact, the electrical conductivity continuously transmitted through the accumulated water, numbing his entire body.
Ultimately, Ou Chenyu employed an old trick, activating his artificial spine to enter bullet time, intending to first eliminate Zeus, whose melee combat abilities were relatively weak.
However, midway through his charge, the ground suddenly quaked, and the Bone Scythe Python emerged from the underground.
"Roar—" With a deafening roar, the Bone Scythe Python broke through the surface, its enormous tail sweeping horizontally towards Ou Chenyu.
Having been in a sprint, he was constrained by inertia, making directional changes difficult; he could only cross his arms in front of him defensively, bracing to take the impact head-on.
"Boom!!!" An unstoppable force slammed into him, sending his body flying, repeatedly crashing into the ground and leaving several deep craters, rolling dozens of meters away.
The intense sense of danger prompted Ou Chenyu to crawl on the ground, narrowly avoiding the incoming horned blade and thunder whips, struggling to create more distance.
"Huff... huff..." Heavily panting, the earlier impact caused a malfunction in his prosthetic eye's micro-circuitry, sparks flickering in his eye, his vision becoming extremely blurred in a haze of blue light.
Zeus and the Bone Scythe Python allowed no reprieve, collaborating to continue their pursuit.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!..." Amid relentless collisions, more wounds appeared on Ou Chenyu's body, damaged circuits and parts beneath the skin visible everywhere, occasionally bursting into malfunction sparks.
"Pssh—" The Bone Scythe Python once more attacked from underground, its horned blade slicing through Ou Chenyu's arm, leaving deep carve marks on the alloy bones, raising a large spray of blood.
Ou Chenyu opened his blood-smeared eyes, two red beams burst from his mechanical eye, as a twisted scream came from his mouth: "You forced me! Ah!!!"
"Boom!!!" Radiant beams emerged all over Ou Chenyu, converging into a luminous path that surged across his body, as if some force was about to erupt from within.
The roaring of his internal power core grew louder and louder, like the beating of war drums, a wild current of heat scattering the accumulated water around, transforming into a rolling airwave.
Seeing the luminous paths on Ou Chenyu's body, along with the nearly tangible stream of energy, Zeus's face shifted: "Prosthetic Overload?!"
Prosthetic Overload, a term exclusive to Prosthetic Implanters, also an extremely rare killing move.
Typically, each prosthetic is designed with a rated power, allowing the implanter to use within or at full power.
Prosthetic Overload implies forcibly exceeding the rated power limit, pushing the prosthetic into overload operation.
In this state, the performance of the prosthetic rises exponentially, granting the implanter power beyond limits.
Of course, there is a price to pay for doing so.
Prosthetic Overload accelerates component wear, potentially leading to severe malfunctions or even causing the prosthetic to explode, resulting in severe injury or death to the implanter.
This deadly move isn't accessible to just anyone; the implanter's physique must almost perfectly match the prosthetic to release innate inhibition and enter Prosthetic Overload mode.
Statistics from the Iron Blood Alliance indicate that out of 1000 Prosthetic Implanters, approximately one is a genius capable of withstanding full-body "military-grade" prosthetic replacement.
And among a thousand of such geniuses, only about one can perform "Prosthetic Overload" operations.
Zeus was shocked that the small Tiger Fang Mercenary Corps had produced such a one-in-a-million top genius!
Even in top-tier elite units like the Alpha Squad, not every implanter can employ Prosthetic Overload.