Chapter 293 - 21: I Killed the Man, What Are You Going to Do About It?
"Where are you going?"
A calm question came from his right, reaching his ears.
Fleeing at full speed, Ma Kui turned his head with a look of shocked anger.
Even as they both moved at high speed, he made out the other man’s appearance.
He wore the combat suit of a Superpower Bureau captain, had a buzz cut, rugged features, and a powerful build.
He seemed to have cultivated some special Body Technique, allowing him to run along the wall as if it were flat ground and catch up to him.
’Asking to die!’
His eyes blazed with violence as a flash of killing intent crossed his mind.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ma Kui stomped the ground, spun around, and threw a devastating punch.
’A mere captain dares to chase me alone? He must have a death wish...’
BOOM!!
Unexpectedly, the punch hit nothing but air.
Amidst flashing brown arcs of light, the military-grade cybernetic arm, like an iron hammer, smashed a crater into the concrete alley wall.
Debris and brick fragments flew everywhere, grazing past his shoulder.
Ma Kui’s pupils contracted.
The next instant.
SWOOSH!!
Hearing a rush of wind, his eyes darted back, catching a glimpse of movement behind him.
"Get lost!!"
HUMMM!!
An engine-like hum from an energy core resonated from within his body. Brown, glowing patterns flickered across his skin, making him look like some inhuman monster.
Planting his left foot, he twisted his entire body into a spin, his augmented right leg scything through the air like a steel War Axe.
SWOOSH!!
The roundhouse kick sent a blast of air outwards, blowing away the brick debris. Even a few bamboo poles several meters down the alley exploded from the shockwave, shattering with a series of pops.
Yet again, he hit nothing.
A flicker of stunned disbelief crossed Ma Kui’s eyes. He quickly focused his vision, scanning his surroundings.
The alley was completely deserted. All the residents of this buffer zone had long since fled and taken cover.
The Superpower Bureau captain with the buzz cut had vanished from sight. There was no one on the walls to his left or right either.
"Over here."
Suddenly, the voice came from behind him.
Ma Kui’s heart leaped in shock, and he spun around.
The man now blocked the alley’s only exit. His powerful frame blotted out some of the light, standing precisely at the border between the concrete buildings and the shantytown.
A faint brown light seemed to flash over his body, followed by the CRACKLE of bones and sinews shifting into place.
His body seemed to grow half an inch taller. The black combat suit strained, stretched taut over his expanding muscles, and his shadow on the ground swelled in size.
Their eyes met.
"You killed Captain Zheng... and injured so many people from our Superpower Bureau..."
Lu Chao’s eyes were calm, with a trace of cold indifference.
He activated his Iron Bone and Copper Flesh arts. Wisps of Martial Arts Power enveloped his arms.
"How dare you show your face here."
SWISH!
The moment the words left his lips, he was in front of Ma Kui.
His indifferent words and condescending gaze, like a man looking down on an ant, stabbed into Ma Kui’s very soul.
"I’m going to fucking kill you!"
He let out a furious roar as the brown, glowing patterns on his body flared to life once more.
BOOM!!
His stomp cracked the concrete beneath his feet, creating a shallow crater. That sound, almost like a roaring engine, echoed from within him again as if he were rapidly burning through some energy source, creating an immense pressure.
In that brief moment, the intensity of his aura spiked again. His arms, now wreathed in brown arcs of light, shot forward in a two-fisted strike at Lu Chao.
BOOM!!
His Fist Seals thundered, making the air explode.
His legs were like the barrel and base of a cannon, and his striking Fist Seals were the cannonballs. With each punch, layers of white vapor exploded from his elbows.
It was a strike like a rocket-propelled shell, powerful enough to grievously wound any peak Elite Level fighter, or even kill them instantly.
And yet.
BANG!!
A shockwave erupted, and the alley walls on either side trembled.
Fists powerful enough to shatter steel plates smashed into Lu Chao’s body. They should have crushed him, but it was as if they had struck an even harder alloy or some special kind of rock.
The man didn’t even sway. Instead, his gaze remained condescending, his eyes cold and detached.
"Is this all you’ve got?"
The question was calm, yet carried a hint of coldness.
Ma Kui’s pupils shrank. A bone-deep chill suddenly surged through him.
Then, before he could even react.
BOOM!
!!
The air beside his ear vibrated with a deafening hum, like a tidal wave crashing down.
On pure instinct, he threw up his arms to block, forming a shield of steel before him.
THUD!!
A blast of white air exploded outward from the point of impact.
The buffer zone residents hiding in the surrounding buildings all felt their ears ringing, as if a barrel of explosives had been detonated next to them.
Ma Kui, taking the full force of the blow, shuddered as his eyes flew wide.
Intense, stabbing pain shot through the neural interfaces in his arms. An impossibly savage force was pouring through them, utterly unstoppable.
CRACK!
A sharp cracking sound rang out.
He couldn’t tell if it was the sound of the delicate components within his arms shattering from the impact, or the ground cracking beneath his feet.
He felt as if time had frozen. The only thing moving was his own body, sliding backward uncontrollably. His blocking arms were brutally smashed aside by an ashen fist that shot straight for his face.
It was like a boulder, no, a tsunami.
Then, as he watched—a storm of shock and rage in his eyes, but utterly powerless to resist...
...the ashen fist, which seemed capable of shattering stone, morphed into a claw at the last possible second and clamped down on his head.
"You..."
Ma Kui’s eyes filled with brown light. Consumed by rage, he tried to detonate his energy core again to boost his power.
But.
SLAM!!
His head was slammed into the concrete wall to his side, his body staggering, about to collapse.
Layers of brown energy formed a shield over his head, attempting to absorb the impact.
But.
SLAM!
SLAM!!
SLAM!!!
Again and again. At some point, Lu Chao had activated his Thunder Extreme Secret Skill. His arm, like an iron pincer, held Ma Kui’s head fast, smashing it into the wall like a hammer.
CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!
CRUNCH!
In an instant, a web of cracks spread across the concrete wall before a huge crater was smashed right through it.
Lu Chao’s face was chillingly cold. He stepped forward, dragging Ma Kui along as he continued to slam his head into a fresh patch of wall.