Bound Spirits are naturally attuned to Virtual Zero Sequence attacks—it’s just a matter of magnitude. Had this giant Bound Spirit not been sealed by the Lost Illusion Company, that single slap would have sent both of them to meet their maker.
The towering, hunched form of the spirit charged at high speed toward the woman who had just struggled to her feet.
Ning Jiajia fearfully stepped back half a pace, raising her hand to shield herself. She remembered those people who were devoured instantly when stuffed into its belly, and she felt death’s shadow closing in.
“No!” she screamed in despair.
Boom! The giant fist smashed down.
But in that very instant, a shrill whistle swept past the Bound Spirit’s front—like an ominous subway train flashing by in a blur.
Rumble! Crash!
Shrapnel sprayed outward wildly, smashing like bullets across every corner of the hall, as fragments and rock chips flew together.
Cheng Yunze stared anxiously at the spot—Ning Jiajia had vanished!
The man turned his head toward the light screen between the two pillars; fortunately, it was still there, meaning Ning Jiajia was alive. After all, if a person dies, the portal reproduced by her model ability will also shatter.
Seizing this brief opportunity, Cheng Yunze controlled the Light Skeleton to flash out, while he dragged his body, fractured in multiple places, against the wall. He selected a healing-related Ability Sphere from his carry-on pouch, crushed it, and his body crackled as it was rapidly repaired.
Boom! Another explosion. The giant indeed charged at the phantasm skeleton.
Many footsteps could be heard.
Cheng Yunze, his expression cold, ran toward the stone coffin. Hong Haocheng leaped out from it with agile movements.
“You’ve broken the seal.”
At the other end of the hall, a young man appeared, holding a longsword clad in flames. His long legs strode calmly across the stone slabs of the chamber; his body silhouette, half-lit by the firelight in the shadows, revealed his tall and straight stature. The flickering flames on the blade danced, reflecting in his gaze like two sparks in the darkness underground.
“Yang Zicang!”
Cheng Yunze’s expression tightened as he turned his head. Sure enough, this guy had shown up by daytime!
But Cheng Yunze quickly calmed down, for from the light portal beside him, several figures wielding weapons rushed out in succession.
No sooner had these people appeared than they were stunned by the figure striding forward with calm authority—the Four-Phase Team saw this person from the so-called “Subway Group” for the first time in the flesh. He indeed exuded the aura of a true strong one, moving unhurriedly and at ease even in this place rampaged by a ferocious Bound Spirit, as if patrolling his own dominion.
Beams of flashlights shone over, and dozens of people emerged in the distance. The young man opposite raised a hand slightly, and these people automatically halted in silence.
Hong Haocheng, who was trying hard to hide behind a pillar, watched the standoff and sighed inwardly: Where did this guy come from? He’s absolutely oozing smugness, acting more like a gang boss than himself.
Although the Four-Phase Team seemed at a disadvantage, the mere fact that Cheng Yunze could lead the Bound Spirit around using a translucent phantom skeleton already instilled awe in the group Luo Bin had brought.
Who is that guy? Hong Haocheng stole a glance.
At the same time, the young man in the distance also looked toward the unruly-haired boy. As their eyes met, Hong Haocheng quickly ducked back behind the pillar.
“Yang Zicang!”
One member of the Four-Phase Team bellowed, “What did you do to Ning Jiajia!”
So that person is Yang Zicang? Hong Haocheng wanted to take another look—wasn’t that guy the big name touted by Cui Rong, Zhang, and the other Li guy?
“Haven’t you figured it out yet? I saved her.” Yang Zicang’s voice was calm.
[Ugh—]
The crowd sensed something in the darkness, where an eerie aura emitted fear-inducing fluctuations, and a woman’s faint cries for help seemed to come from a confined space.
“Let her go, Yang Zicang,” Cheng Yunze stepped forward.
“I will let her go.”
Hong Haocheng, leaning against a pillar, was pondering when his eyes suddenly shifted toward the darkness.
A faint, shadowy train head gradually emerged from the darkness, exuding intense pressure. The eerie aura crept closer to him inch by inch.
“So, this is the subway team’s subway!”
Hong Haocheng pressed his back tightly against the pillar, staring at the terrifying front of the ghost train staring back at him.
Yang Zicang knew that the person behind the pillar should be the mysterious expert of whom Luo Bin could not learn any information. It was a guy who, by himself, managed to bring three burdens into City 11. Therefore, he dared not lightly command the train to devour him, fearing that if the other party’s abilities were special, Xiao Machao might get into trouble.
This was just intimidation for now.
Hong Haocheng gripped his sword, stamped his foot, and abruptly charged from behind the powerful pillar toward another post in the darkness. But as soon as he moved, seven or eight flashlight beams shot toward him, illuminating the light around him like spotlights.
The train immediately followed, running parallel to him.
Boom! On the other side, the Bound Spirit finally seized the shadowy skeleton again, pounding it with several punches, sending its bones flying.
Yang Zicang walked step by step toward the escaping figure and said:
“Stop now. Don’t bother running; you can’t escape.”
“I have no enmity with you people,” Hong Haocheng shouted.
“But you do have conflicting interests,” Yang Zicang sighed almost imperceptibly. “That’s a fact sealed by the mere act of your existence. Come with me to the Distortion Zone; next year, I’ll have you return to the city and grant you a generous temporal compensation. This is a very fair deal—just a little over three months.”
Hong Haocheng poked his head out for a glance. From the shadows, Yang Zicang’s cold gaze stared at him like predatory hunger eyeing certain prey.
Ning Jiajia pressed her face against the train’s phantom-like window; she opened her mouth wide to scream, her expression a mixture of sorrow, terror, and utter despair.
No one from the Four-Phase Team dared to make a rash move, least of all Cheng Yunze. He couldn’t risk leading the Bound Spirit over, terrified that Ning Jiajia might die not in the Bound Spirit’s hands but in his own hands instead.
An Juke roared, “Yang Zicang, you don’t plan on letting Ning Jiajia go until next year, do you?”
At a distance, amidst the rhythmic clashing of steel weapons, a slightly sturdy figure leaped into view.
“You guessed right.”
Luo Bin added with a sleazy laugh, “But whether she’ll still be willing to come back next year—heh heh—that’s beyond our control. Who knows? By then, she might just be delivering diapers with her husband!”
An Juke and Mark instantly recognized that voice.
“It’s you, you bastard! Damable wretch!”
Not just them, but all the newcomers of the Four-Phase Team recognized that voice—like the whispering of a demon, instantly sparking a chorus of curses.
Cheng Yunze looked at Yang Zicang’s advancing figure; if two people from his own city ended up in the enemy’s hands, he would lose face and reputation long before the year’s end, much less make it that far.
With half-closed eyes, he spoke to Hong Haocheng:
“You there, we, the Four-Phase Team, came here this time specifically to rescue you. On behalf of the Four-Phase Team, I invite you one last time: Join our team, fill the vacant slot for our missing member, and help us prepare for the City Ranking Battle at the end of the year. Otherwise…”
Yang Zicang turned his head: “Otherwise, what? Do you believe I could make all of you disappear right now?”
“You!”
The crowd jolted back like startled rabbits, huddling tightly against the spinning light door.
“Impressive ruthlessness from these two beasts.”
Hong Haocheng really wanted to go up there and knock both groups over, but he didn’t have that kind of strength.
“Come out now, or I’ll send you onto the Fate Track,” Yang Zicang threatened coldly.
Hong Haocheng’s face lit up as he poked his head out: “Really?”
Yang Zicang froze briefly.
After all this time, he seemed to face the first person who actually looked delighted at the mention of his “Born Treasure” ability.
He pieced it together in an instant—this young man with millimeter-length hair must have been hunted relentlessly in the 23rd City, hiding like a fugitive, probably itching to escape but lacking enough sequence points.
With that thought, Yang Zicang smiled and continued forward.
“Of course, it’s not that simple. Here, you have two options now.”
He held the Flame Sword in his right hand, raising his left index finger.
“First choice now: come out, and I’ll treat you with courtesy.”
He extended his middle finger, placing it parallel to his index finger.
“Second: I catch you, and you become my prisoner.”
Then he stretched out his ring finger, only to curl it back quickly.
“Three.”
His middle finger curled.
“Two.”
Only his index finger remained upright.
At the same time, the air behind Yang Zicang shimmered slightly, and the distorted silhouette of a hazy monster materialized.
The boy had no sooner looked than the phantom’s cold, emotionless gaze seemed to pierce his very spirit, as if it stared directly into the depths of their mutual souls.
“One.”
His index finger also tucked down. The White Shadow Nian Dragon shot out instantly.
Thud! The phantom skull flickered and collided in White Shadow Thought-Dragon’s path.
A yellow ring glowed in Hong Haocheng’s eyes, and with a push of his feet, his form leaped like a feline’s.
Yang Zicang’s calm eyes snapped wide open—there were rings in the target’s eyes!
No wonder he was so hard to deal with!
The other had actually acquired a Bloodline already—that was the mark of a Ring of Bloodline ! He swiftly followed but twisted his body with a sharp pivot underfoot.
At the spot he was about to reach, the Bound Spirit drove its fist down, sending rubble flying everwhere.
“Roar!”
“Block him!” Yang Zicang bellowed.
Cheng Yunze sprinted forward. “Everyone, seize him at all costs!”
Although Cheng Yunze was too far away to see anything, through the sudden change in Yang Zicang’s aura, he was certain that this recently prominent figure had discovered the bloodline secret in the mysterious person!
[Violent Fist!]
Boom!
Yang Zicang threw a punch that brought up a flurry of golden phantom images! The wind struck the Skeleton of Light, temporarily pushing its figure back a step. That thing was incredibly strange, seeming like telekinetic force yet possessing traits of actual physical matter.
It was immediately grabbed by the Bound Spirit. The massive, mottled, and luminous figure yanked it and tossed it upward with a slam into the high ceiling.
The White Shadow Nian Dragon arrived like the wind, swift and furious. Hong Haocheng’s round eyes were now wide open, glaring as he shouted:
“Don’t think I’m just a lamb for the slaughter!”
Those blocking ahead swarmed in, while pursuers from behind and telekinetic attacks rapidly closed in.
The phantom skeleton vanished instantly, only to reappear in Cheng Yunze’s palm, speeding forward.
The Bound Spirit turned its massive body in rage, its gaze locked entirely on that strange skeleton. With a stomp of its foot, it charged alongside the skeleton towards Hong Haocheng.
Everyone’s target was the figure of the sword-wielding youth surrounded in their midst.
“Submit, or die.”
“Become a captive!”
A chaotic mix of voices shouted from both sides.
Hong Haocheng, his eyes blazing with fury, raised his sword.
[The Even-Odd Lake Sword declares: It is currently odd.]
[The Even-Odd Lake Sword declares: It is now even.]
Countless figures encased him in a pounce, closing in, extending hands and claws.
In the gazes of the crowd rooted on him, in Yang Zicang’s absolute resolve to keep him pinned, in Cheng Yunze’s fury that City 41 must not grow stronger.
The longsword slammed down mightily.
A wrist severed, blood splattered.
Hong Haocheng’s eyes bulged with rage; he opened his mouth and bit down on the sword’s hilt, his right hand reaching out to grasp his own severed left wrist.
“You!” Yang Zicang was astounded beyond measure.
Cheng Yunze jolted, and a chill ran through dozens of around him.
[I am the Mysterious Triangle.]
Golden phantom flames erupted from the sword’s translucent blade.
Hong Haocheng twisted his body with agility, tilting his head, the longsword caught in his teeth arcing toward the pouncing bite of the White Shadow Nian Dragon’s head.
The tiger-wolf head of the White Shadow Nian Dragon collided with the golden afterimage of the blade.
Bang!
[I neutralized 3000N!]
The ferocious tiger-wolf head was instantly slashed open with a gash, and in the same moment, the Skeleton of Light, flanked by the Bound Spirit, rushed in.
“Surrender, or die!” Cheng Yunze barked.
In that instant, Hong Haocheng swung the severed wrist toward the giant, blood spraying through the air.
“Awaken! The strongest of men!”
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