After hurling his axe, Josh couldn't stop himself from crashing to the ground.
Twisting his body midair had drained almost all his strength, making it impossible to maintain his center of gravity. His fall smashed a crater into the street, and he rolled several times.
Yet he bled off the impact immediately, rolled to his feet, and pushed off the ground. The glow around him parted the dust and flying gravel ahead as he charged toward the battlefield.
Halfway there, he saw his brother slammed violently into the ground by Puppet. His expression remained cold and impassive. For a martial artist, as long as one didn't die on the spot, even a severed head could be saved if reattached in time. What was more, he could tell Puppet wasn't in great shape right now—he still had a chance to win this fight.
Seeing him approach, Puppet brandished his blood-red cane and stood balanced on his single intact leg, braced for the attack.
Josh abruptly threw his hand forward, flinging a handful of specially made metallic sand head-on at Puppet, instantly blinding the view ahead.
Puppet didn't dodge. With a flick of his cane, he scooped Gau up from the ground and used the man's body as a shield. Gau, having almost lost the ability to resist, was riddled with dense, tiny punctures under the torrent of fine metallic sand.
Josh let out a furious roar and closed in from behind, whipping out a flexible cord from his chest. With a sharp snap, the straightened cord punched right through his brother's mangled body, shooting straight for Puppet's face.
Puppet leaned back and sideways to evade the tip of the cord. In that instant, Josh lunged forward, violently ripping his brother's body aside like a piece of garbage, and swept a low kick toward Puppet's standing leg.
He had recognized Puppet's difficulty in maneuvering on one leg and aimed straight for the weakness.
Yet he did not know that Puppet was vastly different from moments ago. In combat between martial artists, beyond technique, everything hinged on the control of one's own energy. Possessing purple qi within, Puppet could unleash power far surpassing ordinary martial artists.
It was only the need to control and constrain his internal balance that had kept his greatest advantage suppressed. Now that he had largely resolved this crux, the combat conventions of ordinary martial artists could no longer constrain him.
As the kick came at him, his spiritual fire surged throughout his body, lifting him airborne off the ground to dodge the strike, followed immediately by a rapid forward burst.
This was the true combat style of a martial artist—moving freely back and forth not merely through physical limb strength, but driven by spiritual fire, completely detached from the ground. However, this state usually only manifested in martial artists at the Longevity View, as it required an immense expenditure of energy.
Josh was already carrying forward momentum. He had intended to whip the cord around Puppet while Puppet blocked or dodged again, ensnaring him to gain control of the fight.
With Puppet severely wounded, Josh could at least suppress him even if he couldn't win outright. That would buy time for his brother, Gau, to recover. Once Gau stood back up, the outcome would be sealed.
Yet he hadn't anticipated this change in the slightest. What was more, with Puppet unleashing his power without restraint, his speed was far greater than before. The cane swung up; even though Josh raised both arms in time to guard, it was futile. His dense spiritual fire was blasted open first, followed by the bones of his arms shattering under the strike of the cane. The jin tore into his body unobstructed, sending numbness coursing through the mutated tissue across his entire frame.
Puppet thrust the cane forward, knocking aside Josh's shattered arms and driving it straight beneath his chin. With an upward flick, he hoisted Josh into the air like a hooked fish, swung him through a half-circle, and slammed him sideways into the pavement.
He yanked the cane free and brought it down hard on Josh's skull. With a sickening crack, everything beneath the tip disintegrated into a gory mess across the ground.
Puppet then reached up to grip the one-handed axe lodged in his chest, tore it free, and tossed it to the ground. The sunken bones of his chest clicked and popped as they realigned, while the fractured tendons and bones of his injured leg snapped back into place.
Fueled by an abundant supply of energy, his injuries were nearly healed after just a brief moment.
He then turned and walked over to Gau, who had only recovered slightly. Puppet brought his foot down—crack—giving the brothers matching fates.
The Operations Directorate personnel watching from the tall buildings on either side had originally prepared long-range riflemen to intervene at a critical moment. Yet now, not a single one dared fire. They merely sent telegraphs back to headquarters, submitting a complete record of the battle.
Meanwhile, the armed security forces of Kabes were as good as dead; not a single one showed their face.
The street was empty and deserted, save for figures peeking out covertly through alleys and high windows.
Puppet picked up his fallen top hat, dusted it off, put it back on, and walked away holding his bright red cane.
Having mastered the balance, it had become second nature—as natural as breathing, persisting without any conscious adjustment.
Without this constraint, even if the two had appeared before him completely unscathed again, finishing them would have taken only a few exchanges.
Outside, the Blood Cane Mercenary Group had just wrapped up a chaotic skirmish. Although the Operations Directorate's primary target had been Blood Cane, every member of the mercenary band carried a hefty bounty. Some mercenaries hadn't minded trying to earn some pocket money while Blood Cane was away.
Though Puppet chewed through most of the toughest nuts for the Blood Cane Mercenary Group, the two sides carried out commissions separately most of the time; any targets that weren't martial artists were basically handled by the rest of the crew.
Having spent long periods traversing the Confluence, they had encountered everything from aberrant creatures to enemies with high-grade implants. Not to mention, thanks to the vast wealth plundered from laboratories, they had upgraded their equipment several times over. Thus, the ambush had amounted to nothing.
When Puppet arrived, although everyone was nursing some wounds, the medics had patched them up nicely. The mercenaries were either lounging about smoking or maintaining their weapons.
"The boss is back!"
Seeing Puppet return, everyone's spirits lifted. They also had a feeling that the boss somehow seemed different from before.
Brother Xuan came up and asked, "Boss, all taken care of?"
"Handled," Puppet said. He opened a car door and climbed into a covered van. The driver flicked away his cigarette and looked back to ask, "Boss, where to?"
"Head to Seashell Laboratory first."
"You got it."
The members returned to their vehicles. The engines started up, and the convoy departed Kabes Town.
On the return journey, while stopping to refuel at a gas station, Brother Xuan said, "Boss, with the Operations Directorate targeting us like this, looks like we can't count on the laboratories anymore. We need to find another way out."
Puppet asked, "What ideas do you have?"
The bald woman looked up at him.
Brother Xuan said irritably, "If you've got something to say, just say it! What are you staring for?"
Ignoring him, the bald woman said earnestly to Puppet, "Boss, if you don't mind, I can arrange for everyone to go to Great Shun."
Brother Xuan couldn't help saying, "Hey, you really are..." But he held back the rest of his words, letting out only a snort.
Puppet said, "Go on."
The bald woman perked up and said, "Boss, you are a martial artist; any country in the world would welcome you. Besides, you are of East Continent descent, so integrating there will be easy. As for the Federation's bounty, there's no need to worry about it in Great Shun at all—it's nothing more than waste paper.
"Right now, Great Shun is expanding into the Outer Ocean and executing the Skyline Project, moving a step ahead of the Federation. In the future, they will definitely surpass the Federation. If we join now, we can catch that ride."
She added, "Boss doesn't need to worry about the brothers, either. If Great Shun is willing to accept you, you can bring all of us along."
Brother Xuan called out, "Only talking about the pros and none of the cons!"
The bald woman shot him a sideways glance and said, "Boss, I can't guarantee life in Great Shun will definitely be better than now. At the very least, it won't be as free as it is here.
"But if Boss wants to find opponents, there's Great Shun's Confluence as well as the former imperial household. There are plenty of experts there. Boss won't need to worry about lacking commissions or formidable opponents.
"If Boss wishes, we can arrange it right away."
The crew members all looked toward Puppet.
Puppet said, "I have one more matter to attend to. We'll talk after it's done." Seeing that the refueling was finished, he spun his cane and said, "Get in. Let's head back."
And the instant Puppet turned balance into instinct, the mental feedback immediately reached Chen Chuan. He had been brewing tea for himself, and his hands paused slightly.
"Did it succeed?"
He felt inward; indeed, it was a success. The Compendium held two conjectures regarding this: one was that it could be directly incorporated through mental perception, while the other required him to receive it in person.
Now it appeared to be the latter. On second thought, this made sense. After all, the two were now separate, independent individuals, so the core portion remained with the seed, requiring him to make the trip in person.
Shifting his thoughts, he finished pouring the tea and handed one of the cups to Deputy Delegation Leader Lu beside him. Lu hurriedly accepted it with both hands and offered his thanks.
He took a sip, set the cup down, and said to Chen Chuan, "We received word that the Federation has passed legislation. Starting next month, they will sever Kawatua's trade routes. From then on, not a single scrap of supplies from the Federation will make its way up to the Life Plateau. For the foreseeable future, they will have to rely entirely on our support.
"In addition, a technical team has arrived in Arcana State. According to intel from the covert department, they will soon deliver two active conscious entities loaded with combat data gathered from Veia State to the Center City.
"Once the deployment is complete, they will likely use them in conjunction with Federation martial artists to attack Kawatua."
Chen Chuan asked, "What does Kawatua think about this?"
Deputy Delegation Leader Lu replied, "Akhtawa's view is that they cannot just sit by and wait for death. He proposes launching a surprise attack on Arcana State's Center City before the deployment is complete—ideally, destroying this center city beneath the Life Plateau once and for all."
Chapter 1269