Chapter 202: Surrounded

Su Li took a light breath. He could tell that Wang Xu’s ability allowed him to control both lightning and fire. These two completely different energies combined to form “Thunder Fire,” which had an even more terrifying power.

The bone bullet Jiang Xiaodong shot was avoided by Wang Xu, but the bone bullet unexpectedly turned in the air and shot at Wang Xu’s back again.

Jiang Xiaodong’s ability could not only transform his right arm into a flesh-and-blood giant gun, but he could also control the bone bullets he fired, even making them turn.

Wang Xu had not expected this ability of Jiang Xiaodong’s, as according to what he knew before, the bone bullets shot from Jiang Xiaodong’s right arm’s flesh-and-blood giant gun could not curve.

So there were only two possibilities: one was that Jiang Xiaodong’s ability had become stronger, and the second was that he had previously concealed this ability.

Jiang Xiaodong did not give him time to think. He consecutively pulled the triggers with his index, middle, ring, and little fingers on his right hand. With four consecutive “bangs,” four more bone bullets shot out rapidly.

These bone bullets that could turn were much more terrifying. Even with Wang Xu’s strength, he could not completely avoid them. With a shout of anger, he controlled the Thunder Fire to explode, wrapping around his body like a giant python of thunder and fire mixed together.

Even so, the Thunder Fire could not completely block or cleave all the bone bullets. One of the bone bullets that shot in from behind hit Wang Xu in the back, carrying a wisp of blood and flying out from his chest.

Wang Xu grunted, staggered back, and his face instantly turned pale.

No one expected that Wang Xu would be injured in a single exchange. The group from Maple View Center Building immediately grew excited, while the faces of the people from Financial City Apartments turned ugly. Seeing their leader injured in just one exchange, no one was pleased.

Among the crowd, a young woman cried out in alarm, then rushed out.

Su Li glanced at the woman in the crowd and saw that although she was not particularly beautiful, she had delicate features, and her eyes were full of worry and concern.

“Xiaoya, I’m fine, you don’t need to come over.” Wang Xu looked at the bullet hole in his chest, reached out to touch it, and grinned.

Jiang Xiaodong did not follow up with an attack, but instead chuckled, “Wang Xu, look how much Xiaoya cares about you. I think you should just admit defeat. The position of the Big Leader still belongs to me.”

Wang Xu shouted, “Jiang Xiaodong, why do your words keep getting more unpleasant? It’s just getting started. What are you so proud of?” Suddenly, his body swayed, and he leaped up again. With a wave of his right hand, the Thunder Fire he controlled lunged towards Jiang Xiaodong like a burning giant python.

Jiang Xiaodong quickly retreated, raising his right arm, the flesh-and-blood giant gun, and continuously firing bone bullets.

“I already know your trick. Do you think it will still work on me?” Wang Xu yelled. Thunder Fire continuously rose from his body, quickly turning him into a man of fire. His figure flashed repeatedly. The bone bullets shot into the Thunder Fire one after another, either being melted or being repelled by the lightning within it. The sound of “crackling” was incessant. The power of this Thunder Fire was already incredible.

Su Li’s face showed a look of solemnity. Wang Xu was indeed worthy of being the leader of Financial City Apartments. His ability to control Thunder Fire was somewhat similar to Xu Hui’s Flame Control Technique, but the difference in power between them was immense. He was probably more than a match for several Xu Huis combined.

Jiang Xiaodong fired five consecutive bone bullets, but could no longer injure Wang Xu, while the Thunder Fire controlled by Wang Xu was already lunging in front of him. The flames seemed to be about to swallow him. He felt a stinging heat on his face, and his hair began to curl due to the high temperature.

Jiang Xiaodong constantly retreated, trying to increase the distance between them, but Wang Xu clung tightly to him. Both of their speeds were extremely fast. One retreated, one pursued, flying around the arena. Jiang Xiaodong’s bone bullets were ineffective against Wang Xu, while Wang Xu’s Thunder Fire became more and more terrifying, gradually threatening to engulf Jiang Xiaodong.

Jiang Xiaodong felt unbearably hot. Seeing Wang Xu only four meters behind him and the Thunder Fire about to drown him from all directions, he finally let out a roar of anger: “Wang Xu, you forced my hand!” His left hand suddenly lifted, and his left arm instantly began to mutate, transforming into a flesh-and-blood giant gun identical to his right arm.

Wang Xu sneered. Since the bone bullets could not break through his Thunder Fire defense, whether it was one flesh-and-blood giant gun or two, it made no difference to him.

The situation was reversed. Now the people from the Maple View Center Building began to worry about Jiang Xiaodong, while the people from Financial City Apartments began to smile excitedly, continuously cheering for Wang Xu.

Zhao Haoyang, who was acting as the referee, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, calmly watching the battle in the arena, appearing nonchalant and exuding the air of a master.

Jiang Xiaodong’s left arm mutated into another flesh-and-blood giant gun. While retreating, he raised both arms, merging the two flesh-and-blood giant guns together. The two guns began to fuse and reorganize. The sound of “cracking” was incessant, and soon the two flesh-and-blood giant guns became one, transforming into an even larger gun.

“Wang Xu, try my Blood Cannon—”

Jiang Xiaodong suddenly roared. A beam of blood-red light sprayed out from the giant gun formed by the fusion of his two arms. This Blood Cannon, fired by fusing his body’s fresh blood with Spiritual Source, was countless times more powerful than the previous bone bullets.

With a “boom,” the Blood Cannon blasted into the surging Thunder Fire, exploding with a sky full of blood and thunder.

This scene made many people gasp in surprise. No one had expected Jiang Xiaodong to have such a move. The Blood Cannon directly tore through the Thunder Fire defense. Wang Xu let out a wild roar, spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and flew backward through the air, before heavily crashing onto the ground.

However, Jiang Xiaodong did not escape unscathed. The Thunder Fire still burned him, leaving many areas of scorched black skin on his face and body.

But compared to Wang Xu, his injuries were only minor.

Wang Xu fell to the ground, his upper body clothes completely incinerated, his chest scorched and foul-smelling, and emitting smoke.

Despite the Thunder Fire defense to offset the power, plus the special defense ability Wang Xu possessed, he was still severely wounded by a single strike from the Blood Cannon. Without these two layers of defense, this single Blood Cannon blast would likely have taken his life.

Jiang Xiaodong looked at Wang Xu lying on the ground, shook his head, and sighed, “Wang Xu, I really didn’t want to use it. My Blood Cannon is too powerful, and I can’t control it easily.”

Xiaoya in the crowd had already rushed to the side of the fallen Wang Xu, her face anxious.

“I’m fine…” Wang Xu shook his head, then slowly sat up from the ground. Suddenly, countless cracks appeared in his chest, which had been scorched and emitting smoke. Then, pieces of scorched black skin peeled off, revealing new, snow-white skin underneath.

“Hmm?” Jiang Xiaodong’s body trembled.

Wang Xu grinned and said, “Jiang Xiaodong, why are you posing like a winner? Do you really think this is enough to defeat me? This is a new ability I just acquired recently. Your Blood Cannon is indeed powerful, but you’re still a long way from defeating me.”

He stood up as he spoke, gently pushing Xiaoya away, and said, “Let’s go again.”

Jiang Xiaodong stopped talking, showing a solemn expression for the first time.

“Something’s wrong—”

Just then, at the edge of the building, four people climbed up, shouting loudly as they did so.

This shouting attracted the crowd’s attention, and they all looked over.

These four climbers were Qin Xin, You Zhenghao , Hu Zhengqi , and Tao Haoyu.

They had set off with Su Li and Wang Shixian earlier, but the Croc-Tooth Turtle was too fast and left them far behind.

When Su Li and Wang Shixian arrived, they had only completed half the journey. Now, they had finally arrived.

You Zhenghao shouted “Something’s wrong” as he climbed. Wang Xu frowned. He didn’t remember You Zhenghao’s name, but he recognized Qin Xin and shouted, “Qin Xin, what happened?”

Qin Xin shouted, “Everyone look! This place is surrounded by a large number of monsters! We just came over and suddenly realized that many monsters were emerging from the water!”

Following his voice, everyone finally understood and rushed to the edge of the rooftop to see what was happening.

Wang Xu quietly sighed and said, “Just surrounded by monsters? Why the fuss?”

Even without everyone rushing to the edge of the rooftop to look down, they noticed that monsters were starting to climb up over the edge of the rooftop.

These creatures climbing up from all sides were all High-Level Undead. Su Li saw familiar faces at a glance.

There were the skinny Spewer , the short, child-like Thrower with many tumors on their bodies, and the Corroder, which were slow-moving on land.

Of course, he also saw three Bloodthirsty One.

He just didn’t know if the Bloodthirsty One that chased him earlier was among them.

Most of these High-Level Undead were Level 8. Su Li noticed that one of the three Bloodthirsty One was Level 9 , and the other two were Level 8. He strongly suspected that the Level 9 Bloodthirsty One was the one that chased him before.

Could it be that it admitted defeat, but was unwilling to accept failure, so it returned to its lair to call for reinforcements and now surrounded this place for revenge?

The spectators, who were watching the fight, all quickly drew their weapons and faced outwards, forming a huge circle. Although they saw a large number of Undead monsters suddenly climbing up from all sides, they did not panic. Instead, they calmly assumed battle positions.

“This is kind of interesting. Are these monsters here to cheer us on?” Jiang Xiaodong laughed.

Wang Xu spat and said, “These monsters have a lot of nerve. They’re a real spoilsport, disrupting our battle.”

Jiang Xiaodong looked at Wang Xu and said, “Wang Xu, I have a new idea. How about we compete to see who kills more monsters? What do you think of this competition?”

Wang Xu glared at him and said, “A competition it is. Who’s afraid of who?”

The four climbers, Qin Xin , You Zhenghao , Hu Zhengqi , and Tao Haoyu, had rejoined the group. They also saw Wang Shixian and Su Li in the crowd, but there was no time to greet them, as the High-Level Undead monsters were already attacking the crowd from all directions.

The first to attack were the Thrower, who tore off the tumors on their bodies and hurled these “pus-sack bombs” towards the crowd gathered in the center.

“Activate defenses—” Wang Xu and Jiang Xiaodong shouted almost simultaneously. Su Li noticed that several people in the group immediately acted, either summoning huge shields formed by whirlwinds from a distance, or holding their hands out to project a luminous shield, or having crystals appear in front of them, which arranged themselves to form a crystal wall.

The pus-sack bombs flying in from all directions were blocked by these defenses, resulting in a continuous roar of explosions. The crowd was completely unharmed under the protection of these defenses. Then, he saw that some people who possessed long-range attacks began to counterattack.

In the blink of an eye, fireballs shot out, ice pillars descended, white energy blasts flew, or thin bolts of lightning zipped away.

These long-range attacks landed among the surging monsters, instantly triggering continuous explosions.

However, these Undead were not stupid. They all hid behind the large Corroder, dodging the various long-range attacks fired by the crowd.

The Corroder possessed fat defense. These explosions could hardly penetrate their fat layers; they were the shields among these High-Level Undead.

Su Li watched this scene, his heart slightly stirring. He felt that the people from both Financial City Apartments and Maple View Center Building were clearly well-trained and coordinated, which was why they could face the attack of these successful monsters without panic.

“In contrast, the people of our Gold Eagle Alliance lack this kind of coordination. When I go back, I need to understand the abilities each person possesses—who specializes in defense, who specializes in long-range attacks, and who specializes in close combat—and organize them into teams to cooperate with each other. This way, we can achieve an effect far greater than 1+1=2.”

Su Li secretly nodded, feeling that this trip was worthwhile and that he had learned many things.

As the number of people increases, group battles may become more frequent, so a good formation or mutual coordination becomes increasingly important. Otherwise, fighting individually will be very chaotic, preventing each person’s strength from being fully utilized, let alone achieving perfect coordination.

Jiang Xiaodong’s Blood Cannon separated back into two flesh-and-blood giant guns, which he continuously fired towards the slowly advancing monsters around them.

He could control the bone bullets he fired, making them bypass the Corroder in front and accurately attack the Thrower behind.

He realized that these Thrower could throw bombs, which was very troublesome, and decided to take them out first.

Each bone bullet could accurately hit a Thrower’s head, but the power of these controllable bone bullets was slightly weaker. Even hitting a Thrower’s head could only severely wound them, not kill them instantly.

He needed to continuously use bone bullets to attack the same Thrower’s head to have a chance to crush their heads and kill them.

Wang Xu watched as Jiang Xiaodong could fire bone bullets from afar to take the lives of those monsters, while his Thunder Fire was a close-to-mid-range attack, with a maximum effective range of about four to five meters. Beyond four to five meters, the power greatly diminished, let alone reaching ten meters away.

“You sly dog.” Wang Xu realized why Jiang Xiaodong had made such a suggestion. While he hadn’t killed a single one, Jiang Xiaodong had already killed three Thrower.

The Corroder around them were at the forefront, resisting the crowd’s long-range attacks while advancing towards the group.

Behind them, the Thrower continuously threw pus-sack bombs, and the Spewer continuously sprayed Wind Blades. However, the vast majority were effectively defended against by the crowd, making it difficult to harm them.

As the distance closed, the Corroder finally began to spray corrosive black fatty liquid through a special organ in their chests.

The pressure on the defenders increased greatly.

“Attack!” Wang Xu shouted. With the Thunder Fire protecting him, he was the first to rush out of the crowd’s defensive circle and into the monsters facing him.

Jiang Xiaodong followed closely. Feeling that the bone bullets had too little killing power, he combined his two guns into the Blood Cannon.

He continuously moved, dodging the corrosive liquid spat out by the Corroder , and fired the Blood Cannon towards the Thrower and Spewer in the back.

With a “boom,” a flash of blood light, immediately two Spewer and one Thrower were blasted into pieces, with severed limbs flying everywhere.

With the two bosses leading the charge, those who specialized in close combat took action. The two sides engaged in close-quarters combat. Long-range attacks became difficult to use, especially those with explosive effects or area of effect, as they could easily injure friendly personnel.

“Roar—” With a roar, one of the Level 8 Bloodthirsty One charged up and pounced toward Jiang Xiaodong.

Zhao Haoyang, from the Oriental Tower, still stood with his hands clasped behind his back, appearing aloof in the protection of the crowd. He did not attack, only watched, fully exhibiting the demeanor of a superior expert.

Su Li glanced at him, thinking to himself that he did not know what this guy’s true strength was. He stood there with such a pretentious manner, looking very profound and unfathomable.

He also followed Wang Shixian and the others into the fray. Although he did not show his true strength and did not even take out his Dragon Rhino Sword , he only used the Demon Hunter Claw ability. His hands mutated to form a pair of ghost claws. These ghost claws were not weak in power and could easily tear into a person’s flesh and blood.

Since acquiring this ability, because he possessed the Dragon Rhino Sword and Ice Python Sword, he had almost never fought empty-handed, so he had not used these mutated ghost claws. It was only now that, unwilling to take out the Dragon Rhino Sword and Ice Python Sword , he thought of the Demon Hunter Claw ability, which was perfectly suitable for use at this moment.

Wang Shixian glanced at Su Li, seeing that he did not take out his Spiritual Source Weapon but instead mutated his hands into claws. She thought that he was truly low-key, unwilling to take out his Spiritual Source Weapon to avoid attracting attention from others.

After all, even the two bosses, Wang Xu and Jiang Xiaodong, did not have Spiritual Source Weapons. Only Wang Xu’s left hand had a piece of Spiritual Source Gauntlet.

Comparing them like this, Wang Shixian suddenly felt her heart pounding faster. Could it be that Su Li was even more formidable than Wang Xu and Jiang Xiaodong?

Su Li had a Spiritual Source Weapon that even they did not have. Or was it really just as he said—that he was only lucky to have acquired a weapon?

Wang Shixian’s thoughts were a bit confused, and she was no longer fully focused on the fight. She just followed closely behind Su Li, observing him, and watched as Su Li circled around one of the skinny monsters, sank his ghost claws into it, and tore the monster apart.

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