From the fleet's perspective, the larger force had actually been concealed in waters well off the shipping lanes, lying in wait for quite some time, and had only received the signal to mobilize tonight.
Those two trails of fireworks on land earlier—blooming sequentially toward the sea like streetlamps lighting up one after another—were the guiding signal sent from the shore.
At the same time, it drew the crowds toward the seashore, keeping the ensuing battleground as close to the coast as possible... This was preparation for the next stage of their plan.
Meanwhile, from across the ocean, a solitary ship had been rushing madly from another continent, plowing through storms and towering waves. True to promise, it arrived right at this final juncture before the New Year.
By now, through the ship's binoculars, the distant silhouette of the land shrouded in night and mist was faintly visible.
The ship surged forward.
Upon hearing the reports from their subordinates, the commanders of both fleets stepped out of their cabins in unspoken unison, walked up to the bows, and stood facing the wind with blades slung across their backs.
Having taken three slashes in rapid succession, Han Qingyu was in rough shape. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, more continued to well up from his chest and trickle down the corner of his mouth, his internal organs wracked with acute agony.
The source energy shockwave from Black Hand Theodore had entered his body. This was the most... violent life source energy shockwave Han Qingyu had ever endured to date.
The word he settled on was "violent." The special property of Theodore's life source energy produced a sensation inside his body like streaks of lightning relentlessly darting about and detonating over and over again.
His body was under immense pressure, and his bone source began to resist... *When it realizes it cannot resist and that I am still alive, perhaps the phenomenon that occurred during my fight with Sean will happen again.*
Thinking this, Han Qingyu silently and forcibly swallowed three more metal blocks. Life source energy overflowed past his limits, and blood began to seep through his skin.
Meanwhile, across from him, after Theodore openly exposed Han Qingyu's identity, he looked up and glanced at him once more.
*Anyone else would have burst apart by now,* Theodore thought. *He really does have something going for him. My ambush wasn't in vain.*
In the source energy world, aside from the handful who truly stood at the very pinnacle, few experts fought fair and square. The world was simply too brutal, and almost everyone's rise was accompanied by countless life-and-death crises. Therefore, everyone possessed a keen sense of danger and cared only about the outcome—if a target could be reliably slain, they would never show chivalrous uprightness.
"Still, your time is up. Die," Theodore muttered softly under his breath. He had reasons not to dawdle for too long. Flipping the black blade in his hand, he shifted to a reverse grip, preparing to complete the kill.
However—*Boom!* A blast of source energy suddenly rushed at him as a mass of dark gold metal swung violently from the flank, cleaving toward him.
It felt as if an enormous slab of iron was slamming into him.
Theodore pivoted sideways and raised his blade to parry. *Clang!* The surging force crashed into his blade and coursed into his arm and body, causing his feet to skid over ten meters across the ground.
He was taken aback.
Theodore possessed a very detailed dossier. The portion regarding Han Qingyu naturally carried the greatest weight, detailing the actual strength of his left versus right hand, his fighting habits, the characteristics of his combat techniques, the traits of his weapons, and so forth—nearly everything that could be covered was covered.
The second focal figure was Wu Xu. The dossier described him as possessing a bizarre ability that could abruptly elevate his combat power until it approached the super tier.
Next was Wen Jifei's gun...
Even He Tangtang received a passing mention: "Possesses an ability similar to Wu Xu's, but not sufficient to pose a major threat."
In contrast, Shen Yixiu was relegated to an utterly inconspicuous spot. The dossier merely described her as a "top combat power," but "unsuited for a fight to the death due to physical defects of her body," and "possessing no notable traits."
*Yet her impact...* Theodore realized the dossier was flawed, but his train of thought ended there because the iron armor was already cleaving down with another vertical slash.
*What, Coachman is dead?!*
Shouts from his subordinates reached Theodore's ears, informing him that one of the four top-tier combatants under his command had fallen—slain right beneath the blade of the iron armor before him.
"Courting death!" Cursing aloud, Theodore dared not slacken his guard. Pivoting to the right, he twisted his body to dodge the iron armor's downward cleave and drove his right arm forward in a straight thrust.
Judging by speed, his blade would hit first.
However—*Boom!* In that split second, the iron armor made its choice: without dodging, she drew the column sword behind her with her left hand to meet and strike the tip of his blade, while the knight broadsword in her other hand continued its downward cleave.
To compensate for the drag caused by this counter-impact... the onlookers witnessed at this moment the entire process of the iron armor extending itself in midair.
It possessed an indescribable mechanical quality—precise, heavy, and powerful. *Hiss... clack, clack, clack...* The joints of the iron armor snapped open as if propelled by springs.
To some, this sight in the air was replete with the aesthetic beauty of heavy industry.
Initially, people had only viewed it as a full armor warrior wearing especially handsome and cool iron plate; only now did they realize that it was likely a machine in its own right.
The conventional assumption—that full armor provided protection at the cost of hindering movement to a certain degree—was completely shattered by the iron armor before them.
Now fully extended, the iron armor hovered nearly horizontal in the air, arms stretched all the way forward as the broadsword chopped straight toward Theodore's chest.
Theodore hastily retracted his blade and shifted sideways to parry.
*Clang!* His entire body was driven backward, then launched airborne.
Taking to the air was partially intentional; Theodore needed to disperse the force of this impact as quickly as possible, and he also deduced that the iron armor's mobility in midair would be weaker.
Yet, amidst an explosive eruption of sand and dust, the moment the iron armor landed with its left knee and right hand touching the ground...
*Whoosh!* The column sword in its left hand launched like a missile, streaking diagonally upward in hot pursuit of Theodore.
At the same time, it planted its right hand and thrust with its left leg, rocketing into the air like an ignited missile... The knight broadsword cleaved through the atmosphere, condensing a trail of mist along its tip and edge.
"That's for ambushing Qingzi!"
"That's for being scum!"
"That's for hiding under the sand!"
"That's for being Alphonse's dog!"
"..."
One strike, two strikes, three strikes... Tilting their heads upward, the onlookers watched in terror and bewilderment: *Is the iron armor even stronger than Major Qing?!*
Because through five, then six continuous strikes, the super combat power Theodore was actually left "drifting" in midair.
Yes, drifting. Constantly parrying, constantly absorbing impacts, constantly floating. Because of this, he did not even have a good chance to exert his full strength.
The tempo of combat was simply too fast. The iron armor launched itself again and again upon touching down, cleaving upward into the air from every angle, repeatedly catching the deflected column sword and using it as a missile.
Occasionally, when it launched a second time, the afterimage of its previous leap still seemed to linger on the onlookers' retinas.
No... it should be *her*.
The crowd finally realized this, for amidst the thunderous clamor of battle and the unrelenting clashes, the infuriated cursing of a young girl rang out with strange clarity.
"From the voice, she's still a young girl."
"Yeah, an angry girl."
"Theodore... Alphonse's dog?"
"Alphonse?! In that case, if this isn't a frame-up, is he not taking Shu You's reaction into account?!"
The crowd wondered.
Meanwhile, Theodore was also pondering: *Why hasn't he shot yet?! And why do her movements seem completely unhindered? Is she immune to the lightning effects of my source energy?*
Adjusting one's posture in midair was when a bullet posed the greatest threat, yet Wen Jifei's final bullet remained unfired. Theodore had baited him to shoot several times, and he knew it.
On Shen Yixiu's side, it wasn't that she was entirely unaffected; she simply gritted her teeth and refused to let her assault break. Moreover, thanks to the presence of the jade bone on her body, Rusty Sister's frame continuously swallowed the lightning-like life source energy coursing into her, healing at an astonishing speed.
*Boom!* Another catapulting strike.
Theodore was blasted backward, while the knight broadsword in the iron armor's hands slashed into an abandoned lighthouse in passing, gouging a long, diagonal rent.
Then her body slammed into it.
A section of the lighthouse over seven or eight meters tall collapsed from the top. Because a fire was burning inside, a shower of flames poured down across the sky.
The crowd cried out in alarm, scrambling frantically to get out of the way.
Chapter 494