The Highest Bounty

Gu Ding"s decision to challenge Senior was not on a whim. Gu Ding had made up his mind to beat Senior during their next meeting after he had been defeated on Constlac. Gu Ding never thought that his opportunity would come so soon.

Gu Ding did not dare to slack when it came to Senior. After all, he and Lili were both subdued the last time even though they had joined forces. If Senior had not stopped back then, Gu Ding might have found himself locked up in the federal prison.

Gu Ding activated his Ultimate Arts Level 7 and Level 2 Rage Attack at the same time and then performed a Silent Step. He instantly leaped and appeared in front of Senior before executing a Steel Fist with all his strength, not showing any mercy.

Standing in front of Senior who stood nearly two meters tall, Gu Ding seemed a little thinner. However, no one dared doubt Gu Ding"s combat strength, and that included Senior himself. Senior had seen Gu Ding"s peculiar body art countless times in the video, and he knew the horror of Gu Ding"s punch. Defense was not the best choice in tackling such a brutal attack. Hence, Senior chose to attack and used his palm like a knife, wielding his palm that was twice the size of Gu Ding"s like a sharp blade.

It was a fist against a palm!

When Senior"s palm that had turned into a blade struck Gu Ding"s fist, the sound of metal clas.h.i.+ng was heard. Then, as Senior felt a colossal force coming from his palm, he immediately retreated in horror. Under normal circ.u.mstances, his special ability “Blade” would cause damage to his opponents even if their powers exceeded his. However, when his attack collided with Gu Ding earlier, he realized that Gu Ding"s body art was capable of not only improve his attacks greatly but was capable of terrifyingly enhancing his defense. It made his body strong as if it was made of iron.

The special effect had of course beem caused by Righteous Body. Under the Ultimate Arts Level 7"s influence, Righteous Body increased Gu Ding"s defense by ten-fold. It also had a special effect that hardened his skin. Evidently, the Ultimate Arts was a comprehensive technique without any defects in attack or defense.

With only a single blow from Senior, Gu Ding obviously did not give up pursuing victory as he still had the opportunity to do so. Gu Ding once again performed a Silent Step and, with a sway of his body, he appeared in front of Senior. In both of his attacks, Gu Ding had chosen to attack Senior from the front, trying to suppress him with force.

On the other hand, Senior activated his Level 2 Defense. Then, he once again sent a karate chop toward Gu Ding"s neck, hoping he could fight fire with fire. Senior"s Cell Index surpa.s.sed the limit of a Rank-7 Gene Body which was thirteen thousand points, and having activated his Level 2 Defense, his defense had improved. Their collision earlier made him calculate Gu Ding"s attack at about an intensity of nearly twenty thousand points; it did not exceed twenty thousand points, so it was not enough to threaten his Level 2 Defense at such short notice.

Senior"s an eye for an eye strategy surprised Gu Ding slightly, but it did not deter him. Whether it was Ultimate Arts, Rage, or Combat Armor, the increase in strength of his defense and attack was the same. Based on Gu Ding"s Cell Index of three hundred and twenty points, factoring in the ten-fold increase from Ultimate Arts, the three-fold increase from Rage, and the two-fold increase from Combat Armor, Gu Ding"s defense and attack was comparable to a martial arts pract.i.tioner who had a Cell Index of 19200 points. There was a certain gap between it and Senior"s twenty-six thousand points since the latter had activated his Level 2 Defense, but Senior"s attack was unparalleled to Gu Ding"s.

Nevertheless, it has to be said that the neck is the human body"s weakest part. Gu Ding had no intention of defending himself from the blow, but he still staggered to his feet and dodged by a hair"s breadth. Due to the angle of the attack, Gu Ding"s Steel Fist changed into a Terminating Finger as he pressed against Senior"s heart that was in his left chest.

Senior"s moves may not have been as fluid as Gu Ding"s, but since Gu Ding had dodged his blow, his karate chop landed on Gu Ding"s left shoulder blade. Nevertheless, it only left a shallow scratch on his body. On the contrary, Gu Ding"s Terminating Finger had actually hit his heart. Although he was able to withstand Gu Ding"s attack with his defense, the impact caused to his chest made him have a cardiac arrest and feel dizzy in the head. Senior immediately retreated, worried that Gu Ding would attack continuously. That was because, feeling lightheaded, he might not have been able to retaliate.

Gu Ding was a little surprised to see Senior moving freely despite having suffered a blow from his Terminating Finger. The Terminating Finger was a point-to-point attack. If the power of the attack was the same, it would be more destructive than other moves. Besides, Gu Ding had attacked Senior"s heart earlier in order to make him lose combat effectiveness. Gu Ding was not expecting Senior to be so tenacious. The latter had managed to resist the blow and did not seem like he was suffering from much damage. That blow should have been almost fatal for a Rank-7 Gene Body.

“Don"t forget, his Cell Index has already surpa.s.sed the limit of a normal Rank-7 Gene Body. He also has a Level 2 Defense ability that allows him to double his defense. If you don"t use Damage Stacking, your attacks will cause limited damage to him,” Neptune reminded Gu Ding at this time.

Gu Ding then realized he had seen Senior"s information earlier. Senior had not shown his full potential in their last battle, so Gu Ding ignored it. Gu Ding did not activate Damage Stacking earlier because he was worried about accidentally killing Senior. After all, an ordinary Rank-7 Gene Body could only have a Cell Index of ten thousand points at most, so his attack of twenty thousand points was lethal enough. If he used Damage Stacking, there was a strong possibility that would end up killing Senior by accident.

Gu Ding was a little relieved after learning that Senior had a Level 2 Defense ability. He immediately activated Damage Stacking ability and chased after Senior.

Gu Ding still chose to execute a frontal attack for his third move. He performed a violent Steel Fist that carried enough force to cut through the wind.

Senior still had an irregular heartbeat. Hence, when he saw Gu Ding rus.h.i.+ng toward him, he did not dare fight him rashly. He was not as flexible as Gu Ding, so he was unable to escape Gu Ding"s attack. Therefore, he had no other option but to fold his arms and prevent Gu Ding"s Steel Fist from hurting his internal organs.

As Gu Ding succeeded in landing his punch, the cursed effect from Damage Stacking began to activate, and Senior was blown away by his punch. Nevertheless, even though Senior"s arms felt numb, his body was not affected as much. With the help of anti-shock force from the punch, Senior retreated once again. He then tried to adjust his breathing, hoping that his heartbeat would return to normal as soon as possible.

On the contrary, Gu Ding obviously did not intend to stop there as his legs slammed hard beneath him, and the bricks under his feet shattered instantly. Gu Ding leaped out like a swift cheetah and appeared once again in front of Senior in the blink of an eye.

Once again, Gu Ding sent another punch flying, still a Steel Fist, nothing fancy. It was the simplest attack, but it was also the most brutal attack.

Senior who had not yet managed to calm down once again folded both his arms, hoping that he would be able to resist the blow, giving his irregular heartbeat more time to calm down. However, his decision was wrong this time.

Having activated Damage Stacking, Gu Ding"s punch was horrifying. When it landed on Senior"s arm, it crushed the bones of his arms as if they were made of gla.s.s. The peculiar colossal force then hit Senior"s chest with ease and broke eight of his ribs. Senior"s internal organs felt the intense impact, and his heart once again stopped beating at that moment. Then, he spurted out bright red blood from his mouth as his body flew backward weakly before it landed heavily on the floor. Senior lost consciousness completely.

The onlookers thought the fight would take longer because based on the earlier situation, the two had no idea how to break each other"s defenses and could only cause a limited amount of damage to each other. What just took place was not within the expectations of anyone except Liliath and Biggie.

After checking Senior"s injuries and finding out that Senior"s heartbeat was extremely weak, Gu Ding immediately asked Neptune to dial the emergency number.

“h.e.l.lo? Is this the emergency center? A senior colonel from the Army is deeply injured at the port. Come over as soon as possible, he can"t hold on much longer.” After hanging up the phone, Gu Ding took out a bottle of E-grade cell repair agent, opened Senior"s mouth, and then poured the medicine in.

The entire scene was once again recorded on video and posted on Skynet.

It was not until Senior was carried into the ambulance that Gu Ding left the port with Liliath and Biggie. They rented a car to get to the auction site.