Chapter 136 - 102: Slaughter Until Daybreak
However.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
With a flick of his right wrist, Lu Chao sent two more steel nails slicing through the air. Just like before, they glinted with a cold light as they shot toward his opponent’s throat and heart.
His pupils contracted. Guo Dachun had no choice but to twist his body and dodge again.
Seizing that split-second opportunity, Lu Chao closed the distance between them completely, his left arm, which had been coiled at his waist, rocketing forward.
HUMMM!!
The air howled, and a fierce wind ripped through the space.
Veins bulged on his forearm, coiling like flood dragons. Wisps of steam hissed from his pores, making a sound like rushing water.
In an instant, the bearded man’s expression turned ugly. His vision seemed to dim slightly, as if a boulder were crashing to the ground or an invisible wave were rising to engulf him.
A chill ran through him, and he stopped retreating.
A dangerous premonition surfaced in his mind, along with the humiliation of being singled out and hunted down.
’Out of everyone here, he came for me first. Does he think I’m the weakest?’
HUMMM!!
The thought bloomed in his mind, impossible to suppress.
He saw the Fist Seal descending like a mountain, carrying the momentum of a tidal wave.
He braced his back-stepping right foot against a protruding beam on the wall, abruptly dropped his submachine gun, and frantically surged the Martial Arts Power within his body.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
A strange sound echoed as the muscles in his right arm visibly swelled, and he threw a punch forward with explosive, augmented force.
The two were about to collide, a decisive blow imminent.
"Forget about the outside! Kill him first!"
The machine gunner in the vest at the main entrance roared, continuing to lay down suppressing fire on the patrol officers outside to buy more time.
The young man in the brown jacket to the right steeled himself. With ice-cold eyes, he shifted the muzzle of his sniper rifle once more, aiming at Lu Chao.
He was just about to pull the trigger, planning to use the distraction Guo Dachun provided to snipe his target.
But then...
BANG!!
The tungsten filament lamp hanging from the steel beam exploded, seemingly pierced by a steel nail that shot past it.
The light in the factory instantly went out, plunging everything into darkness. Shards of glass flew everywhere, causing the sniper to narrow his eyes.
In the end, relying on his memory of the scene just moments before, he pulled the trigger.
BAM!!
The gunshot sounded like a giant hammer striking the ground, and it seemed to hit something.
The sound almost perfectly overlapped with the impact of the collision.
The next instant.
CRACK!!
A sharp crack of breaking bone echoed. In the dimness, Guo Dachun’s eyes widened in horror as he slid backward.
His muscle-swollen right arm was bent at an unnatural angle, the bone clearly shattered by brute force, and it hung limply at his side.
"You..."
He spoke out in shock and anger, wanting to give his accomplice behind him information and buy some time.
But unexpectedly.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!
Unharmed, Lu Chao used the moonlight from the window to charge forward, rushing straight toward the retreating man.
Dust and debris trickled down from the wall beside him, marking where the sniper’s bullet had grazed past.
Amidst the rapid footsteps, he charged like a rolling boulder with unstoppable momentum. He reached out, grabbed the collar of the sliding Guo Dachun, and brought his head down like a hammer, smashing it viciously into the man’s forehead.
THUD!!
The muffled impact exploded through the room, making the young sniper by the right window flinch.
The machine gunner at the main entrance, who was suppressing the patrol officers’ charge, burned with fury. He could clearly hear the sounds of the fight getting closer and closer to him.
"Hu, you take over!"
He roared, having made his decision.
After tossing two grenades onto the factory grounds outside the main entrance, he spun around decisively and charged straight for Guo Dachun and Lu Chao.
"Dammit!"
Cursing under his breath, the young man by the right window had no other choice. He tightened his gun strap, slung the sniper rifle over his back, and quickly ran to the main entrance’s firing position. Taking cover behind several stacked sandbags, he resumed the barrage from the "Madman" machine gun that had just fallen silent.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The gunfire erupted again, but outside the factory, Yu Yong’s eyes narrowed. He had keenly sensed something was wrong.
Several possibilities flashed through his mind. Gritting his teeth, he immediately ordered another charge.
"CHARGE!!!"
The earth-shaking roar came from the slope at the factory’s front and from both sides.
The pressure on Qiu Shan and the others intensified, a mix of shock and anger washing over them.
As for the bearded Guo Dachun, who had taken Lu Chao’s headbutt and was now bleeding from the corner of his mouth, he was seeing stars and stumbling unsteadily.
"Dachun, get out of the way!"
A furious shout came from behind him. The machine gunner in the vest arrived with lightning speed—a man standing over six feet tall, his body a mass of corded muscle.
In that instant, the cold voice registered, and Guo Dachun finally came to his senses.
Forcing himself to ignore his injuries, he tried to struggle free and sidestep, hoping to escape Lu Chao’s grasp and attack.
But he never got the chance.
WHOOSH!!
A steel nail shot out like electricity, traveling upward from below and piercing his throat.
PFFT!!
Blood splattered. The intense, piercing pain made Guo Dachun’s eyes fly open.
"Ghh... ghh..."
He opened his mouth, trying to speak, and raised a hand to clutch his throat.
Blood gushed out like a river, impossible to stop. As more and more poured out, his consciousness began to fade.
"Dachun!!"
Noticing the movement, the onrushing man in the vest looked as if his eyes would pop from their sockets, his face contorted with absolute fury.
With a thud.
Guo Dachun’s body sank powerlessly to its knees, completely dead.
"GRRRAH!!"
The furious roar echoed, like the howl of a wolf.
The man in the vest, his face filled with killing intent, glared at Lu Chao, who had now come to a stop.
He no longer held anything back.
As if activating some power within him, the hair on his body and his fingernails began to grow at a rapid rate, and he charged at Lu Chao without slowing down.
In that brief moment, by the faint slivers of moonlight...
Lu Chao thought he saw a humanoid dire wolf, draped in animal hide, its eyes blood-red.
’Beastification?’
His eyes narrowed as the relevant information surfaced in his mind again.
Li Fengyuan, a peak professional-level user with a beastification ability.
SHIIIIING!!
The air tore apart as a piercing whistle assaulted his ears.
The thought had barely crossed Lu Chao’s mind when he saw a steel-like claw rip through the air, heading straight for his neck.
He sidestepped and twisted his body, using the momentum to close the distance.
The figure in his vision became clearer. Even in the dim environment, he could make out some of his opponent’s features.
The black vest on his upper body had been torn apart at some point, replaced by a coat of black wolf fur that covered most of his torso, arms, neck, and even his head.
His body had also grown broader and taller by several inches, now standing nearly two meters high and exuding an intense, oppressive aura.
The arm that had just brushed past his chest now sported long, narrow claws, a good twenty to thirty centimeters in length. They had a dark, bluish-black sheen and looked unnaturally hard, comparable to steel.
SHIIING!
Immediately, the sound came again.
His opponent twisted and swung his arm, and the wolf claw that had just swiped past him abruptly changed direction, hooking back to strike at his neck again.
Sensing the danger, Lu Chao dropped his center of gravity, sank into his stance, and ducked.
CLANG!
The wolf claw struck an iron pipe extending from the steel frame behind him.
A shower of sparks erupted, followed by a grating screech that set one’s teeth on edge.
But before anyone could catch their breath.
A chill shot through Lu Chao as he felt a vicious gust of wind rush toward his head.
His eyes grew cold. He stopped dodging.
Martial Arts Power surged through his body. He raised his ash-white arms to block in front of him.
CLANG!!
A sound like metal striking metal rang out.
A ferocious power, exceeding the peak of the professional level and bordering on the Elite Level, slammed into him from the wolf claw, nearly making Lu Chao stagger and break his block.
Amid a grating, scraping sound.
The attacking wolf claw pressed down on his crossed arms, forcing them ever closer to his neck.
The human face, now covered in black wolf fur, was a mask of rage, its eyes bloodshot and full of killing intent.
"Die for me!!"
SWOOSH!
The other wolf claw, which had been resting on the iron pipe, suddenly arced downwards in a chop.
It was like a steel blade cutting through the air, aimed straight for Lu Chao’s exposed head.
Even with his riot helmet on, Lu Chao felt a trace of cold dread.
And yet, he didn’t dodge.
Instead, with calm eyes, he gathered Martial Arts Power in his throat, having now fully gauged the strength of the beastified man before him.
’In that case...’
ROAR!!
Lu Chao suddenly let out a ferocious roar.
It was as if a Wild Beast King had descended upon this place, its furious howl splitting the sky.
The sound, a fusion of killing intent and pure momentum, was like that of a lion and a tiger combined. It carried an even more savage and tyrannical pressure, transforming into a boundless wave, a mental storm that rattled the eardrums and slammed brutally into the mind of the beastified Li Fengyuan.
ROAR!
ROAR!!
The sound reverberated, its aftershocks lingering in the air.
The eardrums of the few others in the factory were ringing, and they froze for a moment in a daze.
Then, on the second-floor platform, a murderous glint appeared in Lu Chao’s eyes.
