Celestial Human Diagram

Outside the skyscraper, the two other team members remained where they were. Xu Chan hadn’t told them to go inside, so they didn’t move. Besides, the space inside was limited; they wouldn’t have room to fight effectively all crowded together.

Seeing Captain Wang’s battered state, the mustachioed man called out from a distance, "Captain Wang, are you all right?"

Captain Wang leaned against a barricade and rolled his neck. "I’m fine," he said. "Just testing its strength. It packs a punch."

As he spoke, he clenched both fists. A series of CRACKS echoed from his arms as the mangled flesh and fractured bones began to knit together, healing at an incredible speed.

Seeing it would still take a moment for him to fully recover, the mustachioed man flicked away his cigarette butt. "My turn to give it a try." With that, he moved directly into a confrontational stance.

He didn’t walk inside. Instead, he clenched his fists where he stood. The muscles in his legs swelled, and even the muscles on his back bulged into solid plates. His eyes were locked dead ahead.

From this position, he could see Wu Qi’s massive body through the hole smashed in the curtain wall. As he gathered his power, a plume of scalding steam erupted from his mouth and nose.

Even from a distance, the other teammate could feel a scorching heat radiating from his body. A moment later, the ground shook, and a large crater blasted open where the man had been standing.

The mustachioed man drew back his fist, his body shooting into the skyscraper like a cannonball. The glass of the curtain wall flew in all directions, and a thunderous sonic boom shook the surroundings. In a single instant, he was in front of Wu Qi.

Then, he brought his fist down with brutal force!

A ripple of air blasted outward.

Just as his fist was about to make solid contact with Wu Qi’s head, a long whip lashed out at an even greater speed, striking him first. With a deafening CRACK, it sent him flying over a hundred meters into a lobby wall. He smashed a ring of cracks into it before rebounding and crashing heavily to the floor.

A massive gash was torn open across his waist and ribs, exposing the organs within. A huge piece of flesh was ripped from one side of his face, leaving him a bloody, gruesome sight.

Yet, the look in his eyes hadn’t changed in the slightest. The intact half of his face was still filled with fighting spirit. His bones CRACKED back into place, and as his Essence Blood surged, the injuries began to mend.

He paid no mind to the wound on his face. In his view, it wasn’t a serious injury and wouldn’t hinder his fighting, so it was unnecessary to waste Essence Blood on it. He would just let it recover on its own.

Although his attack hadn’t landed squarely, it was not without effect.

The tentacle that struck him had also exploded on contact, and the part that made impact was almost completely destroyed. Moreover, some of his Power had still struck Wu Qi’s head, causing the massive Consciousness Body to sink down involuntarily and its overflowing Domain to fall into momentary disarray.

This undoubtedly created an opportunity for his teammates.

With a flash of movement, Captain Wang seized the opening to charge in from behind once more. Captain Lü, who was already in the lobby, leaped into the air.

The two moved with incredible speed, one high and one low, advancing on the Consciousness Body from two different routes with perfect coordination.

Wu Qi had lost one Whip Hand. Even if it could regrow, it wouldn’t be that fast. Its two Whip Hands normally coordinated, one for close range and one for long. With the close-range one destroyed, the other was still extended and hadn’t been retracted yet.

But it now displayed extreme flexibility. Its four legs shifted, its body turning preemptively to avoid exposing its more vulnerable areas, presenting its toughest parts to the two men instead.

Captain Wang came in low, moving with his head down and feet up. Pushing off with his hands, he twisted and kicked skyward. BANG! His foot slammed into one of Wu Qi’s leg joints, the point of impact letting out a muffled, explosive thud.

Captain Lü, meanwhile, threw a punch at Wu Qi’s face. He had thought the way was clear, but the remaining stump of the tentacle shot up, instantly tensing and hardening to block the path.

Smashing into it felt like punching highly resilient wood. Although some tissue splintered and flew off, it was clear the blow couldn’t cause significant damage. But he reacted quickly, immediately unleashing a Second Stage Force.

Hardening the Whip Hand had its pros and cons. The benefit was blocking the attack, but the drawback was that Wu Qi’s shoulder and half its body were also pushed by the force, causing its upper body to lurch back involuntarily.

Captain Wang, on the ground, kicked out again as if he had seen what was happening above, striking its supporting leg at the perfect moment.

Individually, neither of these attacks would have done more than superficial damage to Wu Qi, having little real effect on the battle. But by striking together, they successfully forced its center of gravity off balance.

Captain Lü then did a mid-air somersault, using the momentum to bleed off the force of the impact while simultaneously landing another kick on Wu Qi’s chest. The placement was incredibly precise. Amidst a sound like an explosion, the muscles and a row of Compound Eyes there burst open, spraying fluorescent green liquid everywhere.

Below, Captain Wang flipped to his feet and, with a sharp WHAP, drove a hand-chop into the juncture of one of its leg joints. A sharp Power sliced inward, instantly carving a long gash. If not for the exoskeleton encasing it, he might have severed the limb entirely.

The mustachioed man cheered silently at the sight. If the two of them could maintain this advantage until he and the other teammate joined in, they could gradually press their attack and secure victory.

But at that very moment, a powerful Spiritual Power suddenly bloomed outward from Wu Qi. The man’s head instantly swam.

He wasn’t the only one affected. In a daze, he heard two loud THUDS and then saw both Lü and Wang get swatted away.

Xu Chan, who had been standing still the entire time, abruptly appeared at Wu Qi’s side just as the other two were sent flying. He seemed completely unaffected by the Spiritual Shock. He threw a punch that seemed slow but was deceptively fast, striking it squarely in the abdomen.

On the surface, the punch seemed to lack any real force. Yet Wu Qi’s massive body staggered to the side as if it were drunk.

There was no visible wound at the point of impact, but in the next moment, a massive hole large enough to fit a person blasted out of its back. Flesh and tissue sprayed outward, instantly splattering the ground. The creature let out a high-pitched screech from its throat and abdominal cavity.

Xu Chan frowned. An even stronger wave of Spiritual Power washed over him, and under its assault, the faint glow on his fist flickered, momentarily difficult to focus.

As he retreated, a ghostly light pulsed from Wu Qi’s chest. A thick membrane swiftly covered its open wounds and injuries, and the Mutated Organization within could be seen rapidly growing and healing.

It was a Regenerative Membrane, capable of instantly repairing and shielding against external damage while secreting high-energy substances to rapidly fix any breaches.

Xu Chan watched with a grim expression. After this round of testing, he had a rough grasp of the creature’s abilities. ’Now what...’

Just as he was considering how to eliminate it, a faint, muffled sound came from his Realm Token.

It wasn’t clear, but he understood the message.

’Stall it for at least two Hours...’

Aboard the airship, Chen Chuan continued to absorb the Pure Essence. He felt himself becoming increasingly clear and unburdened, as if a layer of obstruction was being removed. He felt lighter and lighter, but the more he absorbed, the more he felt he needed.

This was inevitable. A Fighter with a solid foundation was bound to require more Pure Essence.

This wasn’t actually a bad thing.

The higher-ups were no longer concealing information from him. He had already learned that this Fumu splitting event wouldn’t exceed fifteen waves, which meant it would likely continue until tomorrow afternoon.

He made a quick calculation. If the amount of Pure Essence supplied in the subsequent stages was no less than the current amount, he might just be able to gather what he needed.

He glanced at the live feed from the scene. Despite being extremely blurry and choppy, as a Fighter, it wasn’t difficult for him to discern the current situation for both friend and foe from the fragmented images.

He could tell that the five on the ground were quite powerful, but the Consciousness Body seemed to have extremely strong regenerative abilities. It probably wouldn’t be easy to kill unless its Energy was completely depleted. And this time, his target wasn’t just this creature.

It was another existence, lurking nearby.

When Wu Qi had unleashed its first Spiritual Shock, the Processing Bureau’s own Consciousness Body, An Shield, had captured a faint anomaly.

An Shield’s specialty wasn’t combat; its strengths lay in defense, observation, and analysis. Therefore, despite the faintness of the abnormal fluctuation, it was still detected.

Unlike a human, it wouldn’t dismiss the reading as a mere illusion. Instead, it conducted a deep analysis and concluded that the emanation was not the Domain Power of any known organism in this world.

Based on the analysis, there was a high probability it had been emitted by some entity from the Opposite World, which was likely hiding inside the Ferris Wheel Company at that very moment.

Being so close to Wu Qi, its purpose was self-evident: it intended to use the Consciousness Body, to make this body Its vessel.

A human body is not a suitable vessel, but a Consciousness Body would allow Its power to be fully unleashed. A Consciousness Body could also withstand the extensive modifications It would inflict.

If Its own standing was high enough, It could even raise the vessel’s inherent limits, thereby dragging even more of Its power into this world.

However, exposing it immediately was not the best course of action. That would mean they’d have to fight both an entity from the Outer World and a Consciousness Body simultaneously. They might end up failing to defeat either, which would go against their primary objective.

Therefore, An Shield proposed a plan: wait for the precise moment when this entity made its move to seize the vessel, but before it could gain complete control. At that instant, they would deliver a fatal blow, destroying both targets in a single stroke.

And that blow would be his to deliver.

In the meantime, he needed to recover as much of his stamina as possible and bring his power to its absolute peak.

After one last glance, he closed his eyes and focused completely on absorbing the Pure Essence.

Soon, more than an hour had passed.

A voice sounded from the Realm Token by his ear. "Captain Chen, we’ve received our orders. The Airship will be leaving the Deep Unexplored District and heading toward Yinglu District. Do you have any objections?"

Chen Chuan glanced at the time—10:55. "I have no objections," he said. "Let’s move out."

At the same time, the Airship began a slow turn and flew off in the direction of Yinglu District.

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