Chapter 607: The Black Hawk Falls
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
In the weaponized helicopter, Fario’s second-in-command kept a weathered eye on the developments of the battle. At the same time, he instructed the pilot to lower the alt.i.tude to unleash a greater scale of suppression fire on the the crimson sedan. He wanted to end the battle as soon as possible.
Boom! Ta-ta-ta!
The Black Hawk swirled in the air, raining missiles and bullets at its zig-zagging prey. Victory was near.
At that moment, Fario’s second-in-command suddenly yelled. His voice was full of terror and panic, as though he had witnessed something unbelievable.
“Quick! “Dodge!””Go higher!” Brusque and hurried orders were barked in a shrilling voice, as though he saw the monster known as Death approaching!
The pilot obeyed the orders instinctively. Just as he was about to make a maneuver, he realised that the numbers on the instrument panel had gone haywire. The helicopter momentarily lost control and stopped midair.
“No…” A beam of white light blasted at them like a missile, drowning the second-in-command’s despaired shrill in a thunderous explosion. A scarlet, searing firework bloomed in the sky. Flames licked at every corner in the cabin.
Boom!
A second explosion detonated. Bright light was emitted from the oil tank of the black helicopter.
A huge, burning lump of fire dazzled Yan Zheke, then suddenly crashed to the ground not far to the left of the sedan. Wreckage flew in every direction. The helicopter was reduced to nothing.
Before that, Yan Zheke had been using her supernatural ability to disrupt the helicopter’s precision instrument. What just happened made her gape, revealing rows of neat white teeth and her tongue vaguely.
Since she came back to her senses and made up her mind, she had been waiting for the Black Hawk to lower and enter the effective range of her supernatural ability!
It would have only been a matter of time before something went wrong if she kept running without retaliating!
Through a car window, the little girl, Zhou Xuanying, had witnessed the spectacle. She felt as if she was watching a war doc.u.mentary in the cinema. Ma Chaoyang and the other looked over as well, so shaken by the scene that they forgot to celebrate.
Yan Zheke, despite being distracted, made no mistakes. Instinctively, she swerved and stepped on the gas, once again furthering away from the checkpoints and avoiding a round of spraying from the soldiers.
Suddenly, she felt the ground trembling and cars rattling behind her, as though a group of elephants were on a rampage. Before her, the platoon that had been attacking in an orderly manner scattered and was routed at once.
There’s a limit to human valor. Not many troops can display mettle in the face of danger!
Thump, thump, thump!
With the clear and deafening footsteps came Lou Cheng in his martial arts suit. He appeared on the right side of the car.
He slowed, opened the door, and reseated himself in one fell swoop.
“You alright?” asked Yan Zheke.
“Yea, just grazed.” Lou Cheng felt a stinging pain at his right cheek. He knew how hideous that wound must be. He was sure the little girl sitting in the back would bawl at the sight of it.
Earlier, the only thing on his mind was to take down the opponent at any cost.
Against an opponent at that level, there was a thin line between life and death. The slightest indecision or flinching would cause the tables to turn. That would not just endanger himself but also delay him from rescuing Ke Ke.
As such, he readied a Severe Warning even when he didn’t have the chance to activate Ice Armor. By advancing in the face of danger, he gained victory in exchange for injuries!
Of course, it was only made possible because the state of Encountering G.o.ds in the Voids allowed him to accurately predict enemy attacks.
“Thank G.o.d…” Yan Zheke heaved a sigh of relief, swerving onto the main road.
“I’m going to treat myself,” said Lou Cheng as he began to visualize.
Forming a seal with his hands, he uttered, “Confrontation!”
A mysterious, regenerative force activated. The blood in Lou Cheng’s arms flushed into his right arm, nouris.h.i.+ng withered muscles and healing him slowly amid his rapid metabolism.
However, his cleansed face, bearing the mark of corrosion, was healing extremely slowly. Moreover, symptoms of a fever and a headache began to manifest.
Was it poisonous? A bizarre poison? The a.s.sumption gave Lou Cheng an idea. He quickly used Force Concentration, drawing his Ice, Fire, mind, Qi, blood, and poison all towards his lower abdomen.
The starry sky formed and swirled into balance. His consciousness was at the apex of the universe. With his extremely powerful control ability, he gathered the venom strand by strand, moving it through the absolute zero darkness. Slowly, the poison grew dormant.
Before long, the venom gathered towards the nearest star, melting, burning, and evaporating.
Bom!
Lou Cheng lowered the car window, and with a burst of Dan Force spat out an unreal, black air dart that dissipated into nature.
Currently, he was the only person who controlled this method of healing!
“Confrontation!”
Lou Cheng uttered the formula once more. The black, decaying flesh on his face peeled and fell off. In its place was red, squirming flesh. A scab rapidly formed. It remained hideous, but a lot better than just now.
In another ten to twenty minutes, the scab will peel off, and with his extraordinary self-regenerative powers and the Confrontation Formula, the remaining scars would vanish in less than three days.
“Halloween’s over,” he said with a chuckle. Yan Zheke looked askance at him, but could only see the left side of his face.
“Were you disfigured?” guessed Yan Zheke from his words.
She wasn’t at all worried about the outcome. If Lou Cheng had no problems dealing with old scars, there would be no problem for these new ones!
It was no doubt an enviable ability, but only available to those who have attained All-seeing G.o.d and Confrontation Formula.
“A small price to pay,” said Lou Cheng breezily.
With that, he gazed at the road before him, at the abandoned cars with empty tanks by the road.
“I expected an opponent like him to push me into making a breakthrough…” he said with a hint of dissatisfaction.
Sadly, it only added to his experience in mortal combat.
In the back row, Ma Chaoyang and the others fell silent.
They weren’t Martial Arts Enthusiast, so they couldn’t tell how strong Fario was. But, surely, they knew how terrifying a well-equipped weaponized helicopter was. Common sense had taught them them, movies and dramas had showed them that, and being hunted just now reminded them that.
Now imagine how terrifying the person who destroyed something so effortlessly like that was to them!
Yan Zheke pursed her lips and comforted him.
“Perhaps you are the only one who can finish your own path. External factors might not affect you…”
She then changed the subject. “Cheng, I found out that my magnetic supernatural abilities are pretty effective against high-tech precision devices…”
“d.a.m.n right!” agreed Lou Cheng.
As he said that, he was replaying everything that happened in his head.
“Ke Ke, stop the car,” he said suddenly.
“What is it?” Yan Zheke stepped on the brakes. The car came to a stop.
“We were attacked by a quasi-Physical Invulnerability Mighty One out of the blue… The whole thing’s fishy. I fear that this isn’t the end to it,” said Lou Cheng. He couldn’t fathom why anyone would try to a.s.sa.s.sinate him when he had already reported the information to the military.
Was it a misunderstanding? A coincidence? Or was there more to it?
To prevent the worst-case scenario, he made a decision. Turning to Ma Chaoyang and Zhou Yong, he said, “It seems like my girlfriend and I have became targets. It would be more dangerous if you are with us. I say we split up now. You guys head to KhuKhang in a new car. There are fugitives everywhere, you can blend in easily. When you get there, don’t enter the city or cross customs. Follow the route that I’m about to give you. That will bring you to the main forces at the external project base.”
“What about you two?” Zhou Yong and Ma Chaoyang asked at the same time.
“We’ll go by foot. Going through the wilderness and crossing rough terrains is more mobile. It will be harder for them to find us that way,” said Lou Cheng. What he did not disclose is where they were actually going.
Recalling their saviors’ running abilities displayed earlier, the group of them fell silent. Then, remembering the terrible missile bombardment, they readily agreed that splitting up was the better option. They nodded in agreement before giving their thanks.
Lou Cheng then had his wife drive back to the Pori Town, where they found an ownerless vehicle with keys intact. Yan Zheke, using her supernatural abilities, extracted gasoline from cars abandoned by the soldier and pumped it into the gas tank.
Along with the key, he handed them a few weapons and had Yan Zheke (she took shooting lessons and had hunting experience) teach them on how to use them.
“Thank you! Thank you so much! We’ll see you again in China!” The group of fugitives waved their goodbyes before setting off for KhuKhang.
“Where do we go next?” asked Yan Zheke shrewdly after studying their surroundings.
Surely, we are heading into the wilderness, but where exactly?
“To Fartouat! We’ll have to go to Deeka before we can leave if we go to KhuKhang. It’s too roundabout. I don’t want any complications. For Zhou Yong and the others, Fartouat is too far, but to us it makes no difference since we are just cutting through the wilderness. Once we reach there, there will immediately be boats coming to evacuate us,” explained Lou Cheng.
“Okay!” Yan Zheke looked up and nodded, then added, “…I can check the directions with my supernatural abilities. Like a compa.s.s! We won’t be at risk of being lost.”
Since they had to cross the wilderness, they once again reduced their load. They only kept Yan Zheke’s small backpack containing items of foremost importance.
While there was reception, Lou Cheng updated the military on their status, before giving Yan Zheke a piggy back and sprinting through the oasis. He was even faster than a speeding car. Along the way he made sure to cover his tracks.
…
In a military base in KhuKhang.
The turbanned General Sathah received a report from Tetans City saying that Brigadier General Fario had failed his a.s.sa.s.sination on an Oriental Mighty One and died in action.
Oriental Mighty One? From China? Fario? Fario narrowed his eyes as though he understood something.
He suddenly clenched his fist.
“The Pharaoh!” he grunted.
A few seconds later, he ringed Zayed and summoned him. The following orders were made: gather the Brotherhood leaders, heighten the security at KhuKhang, and get into action!
…
Lou Cheng, with Yan Zheke on his back, rested in between sprinting. He ran straight and windingly, dashed and hid. Five hours later, he finally smelled the briny smell of the ocean. In the distance, the beautiful city, Fartouat, came into sight.
In the process, Yan Zheke barely said anything or requested to travel on her own. Tacitly, she kept watch when Lou Cheng rested, and fed him water when he was thirsty so he didn’t have to waste his Ice Force.
Whenever she thought about the times they hid behind sand hills and watched each other’s backs, and the times they walked against the sandy gales, she felt the tacit bond between them. Their hearts beat as one.
“Whew! Soon this will all be over!” Lou Cheng gazed at the city and laughed.
Yan Zheke pursed her lips into a dimpled smile.
“It’s been a long journey!” She then tilted her head slightly and smiled sweetly. “Cheng, I have good news for you!”
“What is it?” asked Lou Cheng, perplexed.
Ke Ke had been riding on my back the whole time, and there wasn’t any reception along the way, so what good news could there be?
“After today’s practice, I think I can do Force Concentration now!” declared Yan Zheke, lifting her chin in pride and antic.i.p.ation.
This will help Cheng perfect his cultivation kungfu and carve out a path to attaining Physical Invulnerability!
That’s what he had been waiting for for the longest time!