Chapter 37: Mechanical Heart
Su Xiao directly injected No. 1 Agent into his body, while Lan Jue was equally ruthless. He also took out a syringe, but instead of stabbing it into his neck, he aimed for his heart.
With one injection, the blood gushing from Lan Jue's shoulder stopped. Not only that, but he summoned dozens of mechanical scorpions. These scorpions crawled onto his body, starting from the wound on his shoulder, and formed a black arm.
The mechanical scorpion arm quickly took shape. The five fingers were the stingers of five mechanical scorpions, with blue venom dripping from the tips, hissing as it hit the ground.
"Great, I've got an arm now. The Ghost Bee should be back soon."
Both were ruthless individuals. One, after having his leg blown off, immediately injected a dangerous recovery agent into his body to maintain mobility. The other stabbed his heart and used summoned creatures to form a prosthetic limb. This arm wasn't a regenerated limb for Lan Jue, so the ability of Dragon-Slaying Flash didn't activate.
"The arm is taken care of, but how do I break free from this thing? It seems pretty sturdy."
Lan Jue looked down at his body, which was wrapped in Realm Severing Thread.
Inside the giant pit, Su Xiao tightened the Realm Severing Thread. Outside the pit, bloodstains appeared on Lan Jue's body. His endurance attribute was high enough that the thread could only cut through his skin, not slice him apart.
Lan Jue leaned back, his feet plowing the ground as he was gradually pulled toward Su Xiao. After all, the gap in their strength attributes was clear.
Once Su Xiao's legs regained feeling, he charged forward along the direction of the thread, rushing out of the pit in a few steps.
The two faced each other from thirty meters apart. Although Lan Jue was covered in blood from the Realm Severing Thread's constriction, he wasn't panicked. Instead, he smiled.
"Are you sure you want to come over and chop me?"
Lan Jue whistled, and from the distant battlefield came a sharp, piercing sound. For some reason, the soldiers of both the Empire and the tribes didn't come within a hundred meters of the two, making this area seem like a "forbidden zone."
This was the work of Lan Jue's summons. Each of his mechanical summons had unique abilities. For example, the stag beetles scattered a hundred meters away were misleading the soldiers' senses, making them believe that the combat zone between Su Xiao and Lan Jue was inaccessible and extremely dangerous.
Hearing the familiar piercing sound from afar, Su Xiao's cheek twitched. That metal arrow's ability was too disgusting: phasing, extreme speed, inflicting abnormal statuses upon injury, and worst of all, it could split.
Lan Jue had many combat methods, something Su Xiao couldn't match. Su Xiao didn't use flashy tricks; he was only good at cutting people down. A few slashes, and few enemies of the same rank could survive. He had even taken down big bosses with just a few strikes.
Now, Su Xiao had two choices: turn to deal with the metal arrow, or ignore it and go all out against Lan Jue.
Lan Jue knew this too. He was betting that Su Xiao valued his own life and would prioritize defending against the Ghost Bee.
Su Xiao stomped the ground without even looking back and charged straight at Lan Jue.
"This reckless fool."
Lan Jue's whistle paused for a moment, then became more urgent.
Su Xiao rushed up to Lan Jue. Since Lan Jue couldn't control other summons while commanding the Ghost Bee, he could only leap backward. Fortunately, his agility attribute wasn't low.
The long blade swung down, and the tip of Dragon-Slashing Flash cut through Lan Jue's leather jacket, leaving a wound several centimeters deep on his chest.
Lan Jue was a battle-hardened veteran. He endured the excruciating pain from the Azure Steel Shadow energy through sheer willpower.
"Command: Supersonic."
Lan Jue's whistle stopped.
Boom!
A sonic boom erupted behind Su Xiao as something broke the sound barrier.
At that moment, Lan Jue was still in a backward-leaping posture, with droplets of blood floating in front of his chest.
Su Xiao's pupils contracted. That strange feeling returned. A dull ache began in his back, as if something was about to pierce his heart. He instinctively shifted his body.
With a tearing sound, the Ghost Bee pierced through Su Xiao's body and disappeared into the ground in front of him.
A wound the width of an arm appeared just below Su Xiao's left chest. Through the wound, his beating heart was visible.
The Ghost Bee in the soil entered a forced dormant state.
"Didn't hit a vital point. Damn it!"
Hundreds of mechanical bees appeared around Lan Jue. Ignoring them, Su Xiao, with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, charged up to Lan Jue.
Blade light flashed. In less than a second, Su Xiao delivered several slashes. Against an enemy who didn't block his attacks, high-speed slashing was most effective. These strikes hit Lan Jue's neck, chest, abdomen, and other areas.
As Su Xiao swung his blade, hundreds of mechanical bees enveloped him.
"Command: Suicide."
Lan Jue, with blood gushing from his mouth, issued the order.
Boom!
The explosion's flames engulfed Su Xiao. This was one of Lan Jue's abilities, concentrating the explosive power of his summons. The blast swallowed Su Xiao, sending smoke and debris flying. The battle finally subsided.
The smoke drifted away as a gentle breeze blew, clearing the air.
Lan Jue's severed head stood on the ground, his expression dazed. Suddenly, his eyes moved, fixing on Su Xiao. He was still alive!
"..."
Lan Jue's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Being decapitated meant he couldn't speak. Fortunately, activating a skill didn't require speech. He used his life-saving ultimate move, named: "Command: Mechanical Heart."
Thump, thump, thump...
From Lan Jue's body, cut into several pieces, his heart, which had stopped beating, began to pulse again. If one were to dig out this heart, they would find it was a mechanical construct. This was why he hadn't died after being chopped up.
In reality, Lan Jue could still die. If he did nothing within ten seconds of being decapitated, he would lose consciousness and eventually perish.
As the mechanical heart beat, Lan Jue's shattered body began to mechanize. When his entire body had turned mechanical, Lan Jue breathed a sigh of relief. His head also became metallic. As long as the mechanical heart wasn't destroyed, he wouldn't die for now.
Dozens of mechanical beetles crawled out of the ground. They lifted Lan Jue's body parts and pieced them together. Of course, piecing them together was useless—his nerves and bones were already severed. Mechanization couldn't solve that; it was a life-saving ultimate, not a resurrection.
A dozen beetles used their claws and mandibles to hold Lan Jue's body together, forming a human shape.
Mechanization could only last two hours. If Lan Jue couldn't restore his severed body within that time, he would die.
At this moment, Lan Jue couldn't move a muscle. Only his facial features were functional, supported by the beetles holding him up.
"Still not dead? As expected, this guy's survivability is strong."
Lan Jue looked at Su Xiao, who was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious.
Suddenly, Su Xiao's index finger twitched. A few beetles approaching him stopped.
Su Xiao lifted his head from the ground. Pain surged through his body. He tried to push himself up with his hands but failed.
"Kill him."
Lan Jue gave the order. A few beetles began approaching Su Xiao, ready to self-destruct.
A white object rolled out from Su Xiao's chest. As soon as it appeared, it split into dozens of small white frogs, hopping toward Lan Jue.
"Retreat!"
The mechanical beetles under Lan Jue dragged him quickly away, while the small white frogs gave chase. The mechanical beetles that had been approaching Su Xiao turned to intercept the alchemy bombs.
With a boom, the mechanical beetles exploded. Most of the frog-shaped alchemy bombs were detonated, leaving only a dozen chasing Lan Jue.
A mechanical beetle emerged from the soil, dragging a metal arrow as it scurried away, a comical sight.
Su Xiao got up from the ground. He wanted to chase after Lan Jue with his blade, but he was too exhausted. As a Hunter from Apocalypse Paradise, Lan Jue was naturally tough to deal with.
In his current physical state, chasing Lan Jue was a pipe dream. He needed to focus on surviving the battlefield. After Lan Jue retreated, the soldiers fighting a hundred meters away began closing in on Su Xiao.
Su Xiao drank a bottle of No. 1 Agent and, after a moment's thought, simply lay down and played dead. He was good at that.
Su Xiao wasn't in a hurry. Reincarnation Paradise hadn't given him a mission to kill the opponent. Instead, the opponent seemed to have a mission to kill him. From his tone, if he didn't kill Su Xiao, he would die before the world ended. But the truth of this was questionable—after all, it was an enemy's words. Su Xiao wouldn't fully believe them.
In this battle, although neither had killed the other, Su Xiao had won. Aside from a hole in his chest, he hadn't lost any parts. Lan Jue, on the other hand, was in a sorry state, cut into six pieces by Su Xiao.
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