Chapter 345

Chapter 345: The Correct Way to Handle Medical Disputes

On the battlefield in Hope City, Lin Qingliu carefully measured the intensity of his movements.

It was a peculiar sensation, for the feathered serpent before him was of the same power level. Despite the evident disparity in strength, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.

At this moment, he was deliberately holding back his abilities, ensuring he appeared less… inhuman.

He knew the surveillance cameras were trained on him. If he were to transform into a reckless flesh blob as he had in previous battles, it would tarnish the image he was meticulously crafting.

After reinserting a curved rib he had taken from the feathered serpent back into its body, the patient—or rather, the serpent—did not seem pleased.

This was Dr. Lin’s first encounter with such a medical dispute. Seizing the moment, he delivered a couple of well-placed strikes, driving the rib deeper by a couple of inches to pacify the agitated serpent.

Yet, his treatment backfired—the feathered serpent’s struggles grew fiercer, and its tactics became increasingly erratic.

Lin Qingliu was certain it wasn’t his medical skills at fault; the creature was clearly provoking him.

The searing pain seemed to awaken more of the extraordinary beast’s innate fighting techniques. The serpent’s body, thicker than an adult’s, coiled tightly around Lin Qingliu.

Its countless scales ground against each other, tightening like blades, as if intent on flaying him alive for the pain he had inflicted.

Beneath the overlapping scales, tiny tendrils emerged from the creature’s body, resembling the delicate roots of a sprouting plant. They sought to drain nutrients from the tightly ensnared prey.

Lin Qingliu recognized this as an ability borrowed from certain parasitic plants.

He felt the tiny roots probing his body, creating an eerie equilibrium with his own ability to absorb life force.

Now, neither could extract nutrients from the other, and the brawl escalated into a more intense struggle.

The serpent’s body enveloped Lin Qingliu completely. Its once gray-black scales now glowed a fiery red, like steel heated to a blinding brilliance in a furnace, threatening to reduce him to ashes.

His space to maneuver shrank, and the surrounding temperature soared.

Amid the inferno, Lin Qingliu found himself unable to freely use his Dimensional Shift ability. More than a true dimensional shift, it was a blend of phasing and becoming ethereal, never fully escaping the material world.

This was why he needed to accommodate oxygen whenever he submerged underground and couldn’t wield his abilities freely within the flames.

The scalding, blade-like scales had already sliced through Lin Qingliu’s skin. The life-or-death moment seemed imminent… or was it?

—

“This…”

Blood Puppet stared at the scene before him, unable to look away.

That man was going to lose. That man was going to die.

The thought made his hands tremble slightly.

Why did he have to witness this? Why did he have to see such a formidable human fall to the extraordinary beasts because of the cowardice and misjudgment of Hope City’s leaders?

He imagined the high-ranking council members, perhaps lounging in some room, indulging in delicacies and drinks the outer city residents could never dream of, watching the surveillance feed like spectators in an arena. His knuckles cracked faintly.

When he saw the feathered serpent finally encircle the human, its body erupting in flames, Blood Puppet could endure no more.

“Thud!”

A dull sound echoed through the conference room. Everyone turned to see a dagger, as long as a fist, buried deep in Blood Puppet’s left chest.

It was a custom-made blade, not particularly long but ingeniously crafted with a rotating trident shape, designed to leave a wound nearly impossible to stitch.

Bright red blood gushed from Blood Puppet’s chest, yet not a single drop touched the ground.

His blood seemed to thicken at an alarming rate as it surged forth, enveloping his body like molten asphalt, catching the dagger that had slipped from his weakened grip.

The human form of Blood Puppet visibly paled, taking on the ghastly hue of a corpse.

Blood Puppet felt a warm sensation creeping up from his feet, as though he had sunk into a tepid swamp.

But the sensation vanished almost as quickly as it had come.

The excessive blood loss had numbed his limbs, rendering them nearly insensible.

The viscous red substance finally encased his face, severing his five senses entirely.

In a fragile state, barely sustaining his vital signs, he once again synced with his blood, their thoughts merging. This connection allowed him to maintain mental activity through the images transmitted by his mind, despite the loss of his five senses.

“Hurry, go help that human,” he urged with a sense of urgency.

“That’s precisely my intention,” a hoarse voice echoed in Blood Puppet’s ears, and he relinquished full control of his body.

The members of the first team and second team present were among the few in Hope City who had witnessed this transformation multiple times.

Yet, even so, each time they beheld this spectacle, someone would inevitably marvel at the sheer, eerie power of his abilities.

At this moment, Blood Puppet had morphed into a blood-red crystal cluster, nearly twice the size of an ordinary human.

A shadowy, dark red mass writhed within the massive crystal cluster, resembling intestines engaged in some grotesque digestive process.

In less than two seconds, the crystal cluster emitted a sharp cracking sound, yet not a single drop of blood spilled to the ground.

A nearly two-meter-tall blood-red monstrosity now stood in the conference room.

It silently scanned the room, and even the three members of the first team felt an icy shiver crawl down their spines.

Seeing no one willing to follow, the blood-red creature let out a silent sigh. Then, the semi-transparent, blood-colored pair of wings, formed from the crystal cluster, unfurled from its back.

It burst out of the conference room, leaping from a height of over a hundred meters within the Tower and soaring toward the battlefield in the outer city.

After Blood Puppet’s departure, the atmosphere in the conference room shifted.

“He’s always been like this…” remarked a superpowered individual from the second team.

“We’re used to it; don’t mind us.”

In the room, Holy Shield sat with his eyes closed, calmly maintaining the operation of his shield.

Though his shield could not halt burning feathers or Fifth Level extraordinary beasts, it was effective in preventing mycelium and other active substances from contaminating certain areas of the city.

Disaster Core and Fortress simply waved their hands, signaling their indifference.