Chapter 248 - Explosion

Chapter 248: Chapter 227: ExplosionThe Liangyi Blade cut through the skin, and the blood that gushed out tightly enveloped the entire body.

Li Cheng spun as he fell towards the ground, during which his bones elongated and thickened, muscle fibers became denser, and his heart thumped violently like a war drum.

Boom!

He smashed heavily into the middle of the concrete road, and the shattered rocks that flew out were like bullets, breaking the windows of those unmanned vehicles and even piercing through metal car doors.

"WTF..."

Cervantes’s expression was extremely vivid; Li Cheng, who slowly stood up straight, was completely unrecognizable from before,

Standing over two meters tall, with horns on the top of his head, and sharp spines protruding from his shoulders and elbows. His body was covered with a pitch-black, reflective chitin armor, which was seamlessly joined without any visible rivets or screws—perfectly assembled as if naturally formed.

Cervantes felt that if he had something like the Dragon Ball battle power detector in hand, he would probably see his opponent’s combat strength skyrocketing, like a stock market floodgate bursting open.

"Huff..."

From beneath the shell over Li Cheng’s face, a muffled breathing sound could be heard like an underwater breather. He flicked his arm and stored the Liangyi Blade into the void.

Such a simple action made the hair on the neck of the onlooking Vanguard Company armed personnel stand on end.

They had never seen this type of Superpower User before, but their DNA-encoded biological instincts were frantically warning them of the imminent danger.

"Mr. Cervantes..."

"Shut up."

The Vanguard Company specialist on the airship was about to speak, only to be rudely interrupted by Cervantes.

The latter clenched his teeth tightly—losing this mission meant the next would turn into a punitive type.

Based on past cases, the survival probability of punishment missions was extremely low—describing it as a nine-death situation or even ten deaths without life was not an exaggeration.

He could not afford to lose; he had to give it his all.

"Stop her."

Cervantes bellowed, and with his command, Doctor Strange immediately opened a Space Gate, blocking the path of the Bat Wing Motorcycle.

The angle of this Space Gate was very tricky, positioned precisely at three-quarters of the vehicle’s height.

If the driver failed to react in time and crashed straight into the Space Gate, both the driver and the vehicle could have their upper halves sheared off, resulting in instant death.

If the driver reacted in time and went through the Space Gate, they would be teleported inside the concrete. Either way was a win.

It was a good plan, but on the way there, Li Cheng had already informed Gray Rain about the Space Gate, so she was well-prepared.

She immediately turned her legs into Liquid Metal, gathering it into a lump and stacking it under the tires to create a steep slope.

Buzz!

The motorcycle soared along the slope, over the Space Gate, and slowly descended towards the bridge surface.

During the fall, Gray Rain hugged Caroline and Angelica close to her and extended her Liquid Metal arms to grasp the bridge’s own suspension cables. Just like swinging on a swing, she swung in a large arc and landed smoothly on the bridge surface.

But that was not enough; the bridge was congested with a large number of vehicles and Ordinary civilians who had not yet evacuated.

"Whirlwind Assault Tornado!" With a nonsensical catchphrase, Gray Rain twisted the handlebar, made a sharp turn, and drove off the bridge. She relied on the Bat Wing Motorcycle’s own antigravity motion special effect to race swiftly beneath the bridge.

"I can’t see her anymore!"

Doctor Strange opened his eyes, his tone panicked.

The Space Gate was strong, but its only flaw was that he had to see the target and know the terrain and topography of the target’s location to activate it.

Cervantes did not respond to Doctor Strange or issue further instructions because Li Cheng had started to move.

Instant Thunder Skill activated, and the smooth black Armor surface flickered with strands of electricity, as Li Cheng crossed half a street in an instant, rushing in front of Cervantes, and lashing out with the Mantis Arm Bone Blade.

Crack!

The Mantis Arm Bone Blade was caught on the surface of Cervantes’ neck, and a sound akin to eggshells cracking resonated—

A consumable life-saving item that Cervantes had in the Backpack immediately reduced in count by one, blocking this deadly strike for him.

A chill spread throughout his body, and Cervantes, with no time to ponder, pushed his hands forward to release a skill named Glue Coating.

A powerful typhoon blew directly in front, and the surrounding cars drifted backward in the air.

Li Cheng smashed his arm down, firmly lodging the Mantis Arm Bone Blade into the concrete surface, steadying himself, and withstanding the fierce wind with his left leg to kick out at Cervantes’ waist side.

Under the terrifying boost of the Liangyi Blade, a seemingly Ordinary kick directly tore open the seams of Cervantes’ suit.

The sound of eggshells cracking echoed again as the count on the life-saving item decreased by another.

Cervantes was forced to interrupt the Glue Coating skill, causing the typhoon to dissipate prematurely, but instead of retreating, he advanced, stepping on the ground beneath Li Cheng’s foot.

A large amount of glue inexplicably surged from the ground, sticking both Li Cheng and Cervantes in place.

Snipers from Vanguard Company, already lying in ambush within a nearby tall building, chose this moment to pull the trigger.

The Barrett M107 sniper rifle thundered, firing a 12.7mm MK211 high-explosive armor-piercing round, which upon hitting the target, the tungsten core penetrates, while the combustive agent and explosives are compressed and detonated, amplifying the damage.

It could easily penetrate car doors and even the frontal armor of infantry fighting vehicles.

To ensure the success of the mission, Cervantes mobilized Vanguard Company’s resources and heinously arranged three groups of snipers, each stationed in high-rise buildings at the entrance of the bridge.

These three groups of snipers all chose this moment to fire, but unfortunately for them, Li Cheng had already foreseen this scene through the Suicide Notebook.

The appearance of the glue signaled the arrival of the armor-piercing rounds.

He preemptively drew the rusty machete from the void and shoved it into the ground behind him, shielding himself as if it were a shield.

Three high-explosive armor-piercing rounds struck the door-wide, rust-streaked machete.

The bullets twisted and deformed from the tremendous impact, embedding firmly into the blade.

Having missed their shot, Li Cheng would not grant them a second chance.

He gripped the handle of the machete with his right hand, chopping down towards Cervantes, while his left hand swung backward, pulling out the Avenger Cannon from the void and aiming at the high-rise from where the armor-piercing bullets came, pulling the trigger.

The three groups of snipers’ eyes bulged; their 12.7mm anti-material sniper rifles were up against a 30mm cannon—this gap was like Li Gui meeting Li Kui, Zhenzi meeting Zhen Zidan in Guan Gong Form, or a janitor encountering Adolf.

Without waiting for their escape, the line of machine gun fire tore through the room.

As for Cervantes, he wasn’t faring much better. Struck by the ordinary machete overhead, he exerted all his strength, crossing his arms covered with metal protectors in front of himself, narrowly avoiding being split in two.

Doctor Strange hastily released a Space Gate and teleported Cervantes away, out of the sticky terrain.

Clenching his teeth and trembling hands, the latter grabbed a red detonator button from his Backpack, pressing it down forcefully.

Boom—

A muffled sound thundered from afar.

The commissioner of Vanguard Company standing atop the airship was momentarily stunned, then quickly realized what was happening, rushing to the window to look down.

Segments of the entire sea-crossing bridge started to explode and collapse one by one from the direction of Angel City.

The continuous explosions were deafening, and the sturdy bridge surface collapsed into the sea like dominoes, swallowing all the vehicles and pedestrians on it.

’It’s over.’

The commissioner’s brain went blank; while Vanguard Company had a good relationship with Washington politicians, who could cover up a lot of scandals, the impact of a sea-crossing bridge’s destruction, along with thousands of dead, was comparable to another 9/11.

The resulting political fallout was beyond comparison and impossible to cover up.

Someone would inevitably have to pay the price or, to be precise, act as a scapegoat.

The commissioner felt a ringing in his ears, unable to fathom that Cervantes would be so reckless as to bypass the company’s oversight and install a vast amount of explosives on the bridge.

Subconsciously, the commissioner turned and shouted to the employees on the airship, "Forget all this, leave! Don’t let anyone link the explosion to Vanguard Company."

No one responded. The ordinary people were all under the control of Professor N, each busy at their posts, completely ignoring the commissioner’s words.

The airship lowered its weapons pod; rows of densely packed ground rockets were fired towards Li Cheng, who was trapped in the glue, engulfing him in the blast of explosions.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Nervously, Cervantes watched the flames ahead, his lips constantly muttering, reciting a powerful incantation. Once the incantation was complete, he could release destructive energy comparable to a meteor strike, completely annihilating his opponent.

Pat, pat.

Amid the deafening roar of the continuous rocket bombardment, a subtle rustling sound arose.

Coming from behind.

Cervantes instinctively turned his head, only to find that at some point, a paper crane had crawled onto his shoulder.