'So this is the Body Control ability mentioned in the intel?'
'How terrifying!'
Even though he was mentally prepared, Flette still felt an irrepressible terror the moment he lost control of his body.
But that was merely his body's instinct. Having prepared for this, he was far from a desperate situation.
Or perhaps, the very reason he had been chosen by a certain "someone" was that he possessed the ability to fight back.
"Flette, it looks like you're about to die."
The fight was going unusually smoothly, yet Chen Qi's expression remained calm.
With a flick of his right finger, two metal threads transformed into sharp blades, piercing toward Flette's head.
With his body out of his control, Flette couldn't even close his eyelids.
In the next instant, the metal threads would likely pierce his eyeballs and penetrate his brain.
'Chip, activate!'
However, just as despair descended, Flette finally played his trump card.
Following the command from his brainwaves, the chip implanted at the back of his head suddenly released an electromagnetic pulse.
The Extreme Path · Tiger Configuration intelligent chip took over his neural network, and he abruptly snapped out of his uncontrolled state.
'It worked!'
'My gamble paid off!'
Flette was ecstatic. In the next instant, he threw his hand up in front of his face, intercepting Chen Qi's attack.
"You're a Super Soldier from the Black Blood Federation?"
The moment the chip flared to life, Chen Qi perceived its full appearance through the senses he had attached to his Puppet Threads.
On it, the large Black Blood Federation logo was clearly visible.
The move Flette had just used to block Chen Qi's attack also bore all the hallmarks of a Celestial Martial Country Fighting Technique.
...
"It seems Your Excellency the Executor has learned quite a bit from those remnants of the Red Falcon Sect!"
"However, your strength is a far cry from what the intel led me to believe."
"Before this, I was just cannon fodder sent to test you."
"But since you're so weak now, I have no choice but to try and replace you!"
Flette's eyes were filled with unconcealable greed and excitement.
The Body Control Superpower, which had driven him to despair moments ago, had actually been neutralized by the chip in his body.
It was truly unbelievable.
According to his intel, Jomoya Chris had once used this very Superpower to kill several other Executors.
Yet he had managed to break free. This could only mean his opponent's power had weakened.
'So this is why that personage sent me to probe him?'
He recalled what that personage had once said: this mission would be a near-certain death, but if by some stroke of luck he managed to kill Jomoya, he would gain his Superpower.
'I, Flette, can become an Executor too!'
...
"Ah, so you've seen through me."
Chen Qi sighed, but his face remained completely calm.
'A Level 1 Body Control is still too weak. It can affect a creature's nervous system, but compared to the chip's brute-force control, it's far too gentle.'
'One relies on suggestion, the other on coercion. Of course my ability failed!'
'But it's not that the Body Control Superpower is weak, just that its level is too low.'
'According to my calculations, if the skill reached Level 2, I wouldn't be having any of these problems.'
"Now, it's my turn to attack!"
"Lord Executor, your Fighting Technique... is really nothing special!"
CRACKLE, CRACKLE. Electric charges flickered across Flette's body.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. As his heart pounded violently, all 639 of his muscles swelled, fully awakened.
A ray of dim yellow sunlight cast down upon him. The bare-chested Flette looked like a statue of Hercules enshrined in a divine temple.
The lines and contours of his muscles were as exquisite and intricate as a circuit configuration diagram.
...
"Your Excellency the Executor, I'm honored to introduce myself."
"I am Flette Loren, captain of the Black Blood Federation's Third Special Forces Division."
"The prototype for the chip in my body comes from the Martial Dao sect, the Divine Tiger Sect!"
"Ever since the Investigation Team entered the Federation, I knew that we Super Soldiers had been abandoned, so I took advantage of the Federation's internal turmoil and escaped!"
"I once thought I would spend the rest of my life as a mercenary, living on a knife's edge. But now, a new destiny has appeared before me."
"So, if you'll please just die for me! Tiger Roar!"
BOOM! The air shattered as Flette, moving at 70 meters per second, slammed heavily into Chen Qi.
Facing such an explosive and swift attack, Chen Qi seemed unable to react at all and was sent flying a dozen meters.
'Something's wrong, something's wrong... the impact felt wrong!'
After sending his opponent flying with one punch, Flette looked at his fist in confusion.
He was certain the punch had landed, but the feedback from his fist lacked the sensation of his opponent's body bursting apart.
In other words, his opponent had managed to block the attack, but was sent flying because he wasn't as strong.
...
COUGH, COUGH!
Chen Qi scrambled up from the ground in a sorry state. The power and speed Flette had unleashed had slightly exceeded his calculations.
'Grandmaster Level Fighting Technique, 30% muscle utilization efficiency... so this is Flette's state with the chip activated.'
The only reason Chen Qi had been able to block the attack was that he had used Dynamic Capture to predict Flette's attack trajectory. He had then crossed his hands over his chest and woven a Metal Protective Net from the metal threads between them.
Flette's fist had actually struck the woven net.
But even so, Chen Qi was still sent flying by the impact force.
"So that's what happened!"
Flette now understood why his attack had felt off, but it didn't matter. He would just try a different method.
'Next time, my hand-chop will not only tear that net to shreds, but it will also slice Jomoya in half.'
"Tiger Kill!"
Flette bent his body like a bow, his thigh muscles coiling like giant, thousand-year-old vines.
In the next instant, the air was sliced open layer by layer like a current of water, and Flette's figure instantly vanished.
BOOM!
Flette reappeared. A shockwave more than ten meters long had been carved through the air in front of him.
However, his target appeared off to the side, completely unscathed.
"Hahaha, Your Excellency the Executor, how pathetic!"
Despite his attack missing again, Flette was still delighted.
With his mere mortal body, he was actually dominating an Executor who possessed a Superpower.
"I didn't expect 25% wasn't your limit. To think you could push it to 28%!"
"But it's useless. Even if the Red Falcon Fist is known for its speed, how many more times can you dodge?"
Flette let his exhilaration run wild. The blood was boiling in his veins, matching his soaring battle lust.
"Heh. Who said the Red Falcon Fist is all I know?"
'It's about time!'
Chen Qi's concentration was sharper than ever, as if he were trying to sense something.
In the next instant, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, the muscles all over his body exploded outward, and his entire frame swelled in size.
Yet it was not a bloated expansion. All 639 of Chen Qi's muscles interlocked with perfect coordination, forming an exquisite mosaic of human power.
If a sculptor were present to study the muscular contours of both men, they would discover they were identical—cast from the very same mold.