Chapter Seventy-Seven: The White Shadow and Flying Flame Have Returned

Although the giant claw's spiritual power was formidable, its strike managed only to tear the masked contestant’s clothing in a few places. She had enveloped her body in spiritual energy, shielding herself from harm, and appeared unscathed. After dodging and landing, Qin Xiaochuan was once again pursued by G-2, forcing him to leap away in embarrassment, with no opportunity to check on the masked contestant.

“Damn it,” Qin Xiaochuan cursed inwardly, glancing sideways as he landed at the edge of the arena. There, the gorilla stood with its arms crossed, sneering coldly at him. Remembering the words the gorilla had spoken atop the platform, a fire blazed within Qin Xiaochuan’s chest. “Clearly it’s being controlled by that gorilla, yet it won’t awaken. The real enemy to defeat isn’t them—it’s that gorilla down there. This is infuriating…”

While Qin Xiaochuan’s thoughts drifted, G-1 launched another assault. Sensing danger, the masked contestant kicked G-2 aside to rescue Zhang Yang, then soared over, landing a powerful kick that sent G-1 crashing to the ground. The G-team members regrouped, adjusting their attack rhythm, preparing for the next wave.

This brief respite allowed Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang to catch their breath. The previous skirmish had been humiliating; unable to see their opponents’ weapons, they had been forced to dodge frantically from the start, left flustered and with no chance to counterattack, let alone rest.

As the masked contestant who had rescued them approached, Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang prepared to thank her—only to notice that her masked cloth had torn, revealing a stunningly beautiful young woman’s face. My god, could this really be the masked contestant? Not only was her voice pleasant, her appearance was breathtaking—no one could have expected it.

But the masked contestant, heedless of their astonishment, did not look back at them. Instead, she turned on them in anger, her voice laced with fury, evidently displeased with their timid performance. “What are you two idiots hesitating for? If you throw the match and leave your corpses behind, do you think that will save the other three? What a joke!”

“……”

“……”

Hearing her rebuke, Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang fell silent. Indeed, if not for the masked contestant’s repeated interventions, they might already be dead. Why were they hesitating against G-team’s fighters? It was shameful…

“It seems the two sides are at a standoff. Who could have imagined that Qin Xiaochuan’s team’s masked contestant is a young and charming girl? What a surprise!”

As the standoff unfolded, the referee and commentator, Miss Ruoxi, seized the opportunity to address the audience. The G-team’s earlier attacks had been as relentless as machine gun fire, leaving her no chance to comment. Now that things had paused, she prepared to continue—when suddenly, a corpse plummeted from above onto the arena, bounced, and hurtled into the front row of the audience. The force of the impact was so great that the concrete barrier before the first row was shattered, and the body, still carrying tremendous momentum, crashed up a dozen steps before finally coming to rest. It seemed that, with the corpse’s arrival, several spectators had been killed—truly unlucky. Sitting in the front row offered the best view, but also the greatest risk of collateral damage. Those struck by the body were undeserving of such a fate.

“What—what’s happening? That was a member of the G-team falling from the sky, and his body crashed into the audience. This is terrifying…” Miss Ruoxi hurried to explain, clearly as bewildered by the sudden appearance of the G-team member as the crowd. It didn’t seem like something orchestrated by Dr. Barry, the G-team’s mastermind. If it was, that would be truly horrifying. The G-team member who crashed into the stands appeared to be G-5, the one with cat-like eyes. His body was twisted grotesquely, contorted like a twisted rope, and his death was unspeakably tragic. Half his face had been scraped away by the impact, leaving one eye protruding, trailing nerves and blood vessels across the ground—a ghastly sight.

As the arena and audience reeled in confusion, a massive figure burst through the concrete wall, charging into the arena. It was none other than the beast Spartan, recently subdued by Bai Ying. Astride Spartan were Bai Ying and Feiyan, both missing until now. Steering Spartan, Bai Ying confronted Dr. Barry below, his tone icy: “We’ve already learned from the trash we threw out what you’ve done. You lured those three onto your operating table with the promise of curing their master’s illness, didn’t you? Yet they never imagined you’d turn them into killing machines. What’s more shocking is that their master’s illness was your trap all along, wasn’t it?”

“What?!” Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang were stunned. So everything Zhang Yang had seen in his dream was true—Dr. Barry was the villain behind this tragedy.

Meeting Bai Ying’s furious gaze, Dr. Barry clasped his hands behind his back and sneered, “So what? They made the deal with me willingly. What’s so surprising? If you’re unhappy, feel free to destroy them. They’re only the first generation of my experimental products. But with your abilities, you’ll never defeat them. Try if you dare, you fools!”

“Damn you!” Furious that the culprit could remain so arrogant even as his crimes were exposed, Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang charged forward. It would be far more satisfying to kill the doctor who created these abominations than to destroy his puppets. Besides, knowing their tragic circumstances, they couldn’t bring themselves to strike down the three altered warriors. Having heard Bai Ying’s account, Qin Xiaochuan’s heart was filled with sympathy and admiration for their devotion to their master.

But before they could reach Dr. Barry, G-1 and G-2 surged forward, knocking them aside. The three modified warriors positioned themselves in front of Dr. Barry, shielding him. Climbing to his feet, Qin Xiaochuan glared at the three emotionless puppets, shouting angrily, “What are you doing?! Why are you protecting this scum?!”

“Ha ha ha! Why?” Dr. Barry laughed. “Because they are my mechanical warriors. See those blood tumors on their backs? That’s the second brain I use to control their thoughts and actions. If you want to stop them, you have to destroy the blood tumor. But here’s a secret: that tumor is connected to their brain. If you destroy it, they’ll die with it! Ha ha ha!” After his manic laughter, Dr. Barry pointed at Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang. “Well? Didn’t expect that, did you? If you kill these poor souls, your conscience will torment you. If you don’t, they’ll hunt you endlessly. Isn’t that a dilemma? Ha ha ha!” Then he barked at his puppets, “Go! Kill them!”

Without a trace of hesitation, the three warriors charged at Zhang Yang, the nearest target. Surprisingly, Zhang Yang simply stood his ground.

“What are you doing?! Dodge!!”

As if deaf to Qin Xiaochuan’s warning, Zhang Yang remained unmoving, as if resolved to die, and shouted at the oncoming G-warriors, “Wake up! Didn’t you hear what he said? He’s using you! Your abilities weren’t meant to be tools for someone like him!”

But before he could finish, the three G-warriors closed in, their weapons striking him mercilessly. Zhang Yang fell backward, instantly losing consciousness.

“Zhang Yang!”

Seeing Zhang Yang sent flying, Qin Xiaochuan cried out and rushed over with the masked contestant. He cradled the unconscious Zhang Yang, while the masked contestant placed her palm on Zhang Yang, channeling spiritual energy to assess his injuries. After her examination, she let out a breath of relief and said to Qin Xiaochuan, “He’s fine. His vital organs weren’t hit. He was just knocked out by their spiritual blow—nothing serious.”

Holding Zhang Yang in his arms, Qin Xiaochuan trembled. Seeing Zhang Yang’s tattered clothing and bleeding wounds, he turned to glare at the three G-warriors, his anger finally erupting.

“You bastards…”

But as he turned his wrathful gaze upon them, he noticed a tear of blood trickling from G-3’s eye. Looking at the other two G-warriors, he saw the same crimson tears streaming down their faces. It was astonishing—the G-warriors were weeping blood. What did it mean? Could they still possess lingering consciousness? Were these tears of blood a sign of remorse for harming those they should never have hurt?