Frenzied Combat

The muscles across Gao Qiu and Lu Shiqi's bodies involuntarily grew taut. As third-limit fighters, though they could not be called grievously wounded, neither was anywhere near his peak condition anymore. Facing an expert of the same limit who had waited at leisure and held a weapon, even joining forces gave them no guarantee of victory. As for the spectators along the perimeter of the arena, they slowly edged backward, putting distance between themselves and the center, terrified of provoking this fighter who had barged in uninvited. No matter how one looked at it, this had nothing to do with them. From what had been shown, the newcomer was also a third-limit fighter; if the three of them clashed and the fallout caught the spectators, they would not even have time to react. Gong Zhanyi was also mingled in the crowd at that moment. Under the cover of the steward and two bodyguards, he gradually backed toward the entrance. His gaze fixed on Wei Wusheng's back. Had the Gong family's apprehension squad not been barred from entering the combat arena, they could have moved in to capture this man right now. Still, not all hope was lost—as long as the doors opened... Wei Wusheng tilted his head slightly and spoke: "Gong Zhanyi, I know you're here. And I know you've been looking for me." Gong Zhanyi's expression shifted slightly. He simply stopped backing away, stared ahead, and asked in a low voice, "Wei Wusheng, did you take that thing?" Wei Wusheng said, "If you mean the item Xiong Jianyi gave me that day, then yes, I took it. You want it back? I'm afraid you'll never get the chance." Gong Zhanyi's fingers trembled slightly, but he maintained a calm facade. "What are you planning? To kill me here?" "Not just you—everyone here." Wei Wusheng said it as casually as if commenting on the weather, causing the expressions of every fighter present to change. Having dropped that declaration, he turned back to look at Gao Qiu and Lu Shiqi. "You have five minutes to prepare. After five minutes, I will attack. Either you beat me to death, or I beat you to death." Gao Qiu and Lu Shiqi wore solemn expressions. Neither asked him why. Fighters pursued different things. Sometimes to chase a higher realm, sometimes purely out of their own convictions, they would do things ordinary people could never comprehend—things that seemed utter madness. Gao Qiu lowered his head, sniffed the air, and walked a few steps outward. Reaching into the water, he scooped up a bloody scrap of mangled flesh and swallowed it down. It was his own flesh, along with fragments of bone. Piece by piece, chunk by chunk, he retrieved them all, chewing them to pulp before swallowing. As he gorged, the wounds on his body began to writhe and close, and his mental state steadily restored itself alongside his physical recovery. Lu Shiqi reached into his open abdomen, fished around, and yanked out his small intestine. This was an implant intestine. He had previously ingested an indigestible silk fiber that bonded with the intestinal tract to produce the resilience of a leather whip, allowing it to serve as a weapon at critical moments. Though Gao Qiu's razor-sharp nails had severed half of it earlier, it now functioned as two intestinal whips, each about three meters long. Wei Wusheng did not step in to interfere. Having promised five minutes, he would under no circumstances attack during that time. Lu Shiqi licked his palm and wiped it across his wound. Through implanted glands beneath his jaw, his saliva secreted a biological gel that accelerated tissue repair. While not as rapid as accelerated brain-stimulation healing, it required no extra stamina or energy. As the two prepared, the other fighters in the hall looked visibly conflicted. They had originally hoped to step back and stay out of the fray, but they clearly could not treat Wei Wusheng's words as a joke. Yet charging forward to fight him right now was beyond them; they knew their limits, and against a third-limit fighter, even taking stimulants offered no chance of winning. So they could only wait—wait for Wei Wusheng to engage the two contenders before searching for an opening. It was a sound calculation, but barely a minute had passed when something seemed to affect them. The eyes of most people present began to turn bloodshot and red, their breathing grew rapid and ragged, and a frenzied urge to destroy everything in sight welled up inside them. Chen Chuan and his companions stood apart in their own circle, separate from the crowd, but he noticed the strange symptoms emerging in Tan Zhi and the other two. The three had also realized something was wrong and backed away from one another. Yet that frenzy only mounted, an irrepressible impulse demanding release, their faces flushing red without their realizing it. Chen Chuan glanced at his Second Self and saw rippling signs of blurring upon it. Evidently, something peculiar was assailing them. Inside the cruise ship's main cabin, Senior Sun was in contact with a senior corporate executive, who said gravely, "The company is already aware of the situation. Section Chief Sun, you are the person in charge on site. What is your recommendation?" Senior Sun said, "The 'Duomu' project must remain hidden. If we want to lead the other companies in the next era, we must make significant breakthroughs in these projects." "Then how do you intend to conceal the situation on site? I remind you: even if you dispose of everyone and pin the blame on Wei Wusheng, post-incident investigations will still leak corporate secrets." Senior Sun replied, "I have no intention of doing that. Doing so would severely damage the company's reputation. Fortunately, we have a modified Red Sea worm on site. The frenzy toxin it secretes produces an effect similar to Duomu's field. It was originally prepared to heighten the spectacle of the event; after the fact, we can use it as our explanation. "I have already ordered the security team to inject an attenuating agent. However, because it is an immature drug, it takes anywhere from five to ten minutes to take effect. Once it does, they will enter to rescue the guests and save as many people inside as possible." "Why not send the security consultants aboard the ship in to resolve this? I assume Duomu's field won't affect third-limit fighters in the short term." Senior Sun said, "There are still unidentified individuals aboard the cruise ship. I cannot be certain whether this was premeditated. I must guarantee the safety of the other passengers." "Section Chief Sun, your response has been recorded. I will submit it to the board of directors. I hope you handle this properly and minimize the fallout." Senior Sun said, "I will. Please tell the company on my behalf: I am the person in charge here. It was my failure to implement adequate preventive measures, and I will bear all consequences personally. It has nothing to do with any other company employees." "Section Chief Sun, I will convey that faithfully." After ending the call, Senior Sun instructed, "Have all security personnel who have completed their injections head immediately to the combat deck. Have the two security consultants step forward and inform all passengers that the company is currently hunting saboteurs who infiltrated the ship, and instruct them to remain in their cabins for the time being. No one is to wander out, or they will bear the consequences themselves." "Understood!" Inside the combat arena, another minute passed. A frenzied atmosphere spread among all the fighters. Many stared at one another with bloodshot eyes, barely able to suppress the turmoil churning in their chests. A moment later, a feral roar erupted near the entrance. Someone finally snapped, lashing out at the person beside him. Like a spark dropped into a powder keg, the entire hall ignited in an instant. Roaring and snarling, everyone began throwing blows at whoever stood closest. In the corner where Chen Chuan and his companions stood, Pan Xiaode's eyes turned crimson, and he lunged violently toward Chen Chuan. Watching him charge, Chen Chuan remarked, "Student Pan, you want to spar already?" Chen Chuan raised a hand and deflected, his overpowering force instantly throwing Pan Xiaode off-balance. With a casual chop across the side of the neck, he knocked him out cold on the spot. Stepping half a pace back, he dodged a kick Qi Huixin threw at him. His foot flashed out with astonishing speed, striking her neck with a clean tap, and she too collapsed without a sound. He turned toward Tan Zhi, only to find that before completely losing control, Tan Zhi had already punched himself in the face and lay sprawled flat on the floor. Surprised as he was, Chen Chuan realized it was actually a smart move. The classmate had some quick wits: the berserk fighters wouldn't bother with someone already lying on the ground, and striking oneself with measured force was far better than taking a beating from someone else. Chen Chuan turned to look at the crowd locked in chaotic combat; they had lost all reason. He glanced up at the platform, pondered for a moment, and walked toward the people in the back first. On the platform, Wei Wusheng raised his head and said, "Five minutes are up." The instant the words left his mouth, he surged forward, charging first at Gao Qiu, who stood closest, and threw a deceptively simple punch. Seeing him coming, Gao Qiu initially intended to parry and create an opening for Lu Shiqi behind him, confident Lu Shiqi would understand his intent. Yet facing Wei Wusheng's incoming fist, a visceral sense of danger washed over him. Realizing he might not be able to withstand it, he immediately shifted to a retreat. Lu Shiqi knew Gao Qiu could not be left to fight alone. Stepping forward, he whipped his intestinal whip around, cracking it toward Wei Wusheng. Wei Wusheng halted abruptly, seized the whip with a backhanded grab, and coiled it twice around his hand. As he made that move, Gao Qiu saw his chance. His retreating figure seemed propelled from behind as he lunged forward in a flash, thrusting a palm-spear straight at Wei Wusheng's spine. Wei Wusheng merely shifted his torso slightly, letting the hand stab in. Yet Gao Qiu's knife-hand strike, which had effortlessly torn open Lu Shiqi's chest moments ago, penetrated only a few inches before it was clamped tight by dense, solid muscle, unable to break free. Gao Qiu's expression changed. "External conditioning jin?" Then he saw Wei Wusheng abruptly spin his body. The colossal force slung Gao Qiu forward through the air. Gao Qiu immediately pulled in his abdomen to adjust his posture, curling his toes like a swooping hawk, ready to kick out at any instant. Just then, a massive hand reached out, brutally smashing through the guard of his only remaining hand to seize his face, then slammed him downward with crushing force. With a booming crash, Gao Qiu was smashed into the floor, shaking the entire platform. Crack! As Wei Wusheng struck, the intestinal whip wrapped around his other hand yanked taut, instantly interrupting his follow-up. Simultaneously, the second whip cracked across his body. Under the surge of jin, the clothes and flesh across his shoulder and back tore open together, yet it was merely superficial damage. Wei Wusheng raised his head and yanked back on the whip in his grip. Lu Shiqi instantly gave slack, shifting his body with the pull of the momentum. With a flick of his other hand, the whip formed several loops around Wei Wusheng; one tight pull of jin would be enough to bind him completely. But at that very moment, a war hammer was suddenly hurled forth, spinning toward Lu Shiqi's head. Forced to dodge, the loss of an arm threw off his balance, causing him to hesitate for a fraction of a second in mid-turn. In the next instant, a fist enlarged before his eyes. He barely avoided a direct hit to the head, but the blow still caught his shoulder. Accompanied by the sickening crunch of shattering bone, his body flew sideways, bouncing several times across the floor before skidding all the way to the edge of the arena, crashing into the wall with a dull thud. He did not get back up, clearly stripped of all ability to fight. Wei Wusheng straightened up and said, "I told you: only one person walks out standing today." He walked over and bent down to grasp the hammer's handle. Just as he was about to rise, he suddenly sensed something. With a sharp snap, his hand closed firmly around a thrown pebble. Turning around, he saw a figure carrying a blade, slowly walking toward him.