Time lost its meaning in endless pain and darkness.
Mark didn't know how long he climbed.
Consciousness repeatedly sank in and out of the burning pain and the coldness of blood loss.
Vitrum's self-healing ability is like a red-hot blunt knife, repeatedly cutting, stitching, and reshaping his body.
The broken bones were forcibly connected, making a creepy friction sound.
The torn muscle fibers are wriggling, growing, and connecting.
The broken internal organs are slowly repairing and returning to their original places.
Every time it heals itself, it is accompanied by numbing and itching deep into the bone marrow and tearing pain, which is more maddening than the injury itself.
The sewage soaked the wound, and the bacterial erosion made the healing process more difficult and painful.
The high fever was like a maggot in his tarsal bones, burning his nerves. His father's cold face, the Guardian's exploding head, and his mother Debbie's terrified and desperate eyes kept flashing before his eyes...
"Well…"
A suppressed, beast-like growl echoed in the dark pipe.
Mark banged his head hard against the cold concrete pipe wall, trying to use the new pain to distract himself from the endless torture in his body.
Can't stop! Can't faint here!
The fused fragments of memory became clearer in the pain.
The rigorous "training" that father Nolan once went through.
How to maintain focus in extreme pain, how to squeeze every ounce of potential from your body, how to unleash power beyond your limits when near death...
The tortures that once made him resentful now became his only guide to survival.
He forced himself to feel the violent power of Vitrum within him.
Like a trapped beast, he roared and raged in his blood, longing for destruction and release.
He had previously wielded it clumsily, like a child swinging a sledgehammer.
Now, under the dual pressure of the threat of death and the pain of self-healing, he began to try to guide it instead of being consumed by it.
Mark concentrated all his energy, trying to guide the violent force from all parts of his body, bit by bit, to the wounds that were healing frantically, especially the almost completely useless right leg and shattered left arm.
He understood that Vitrum's power was not only a weapon of destruction, but also a crucible of survival! Repairing itself also required a tremendous expenditure of energy and the endurance of extreme pain! Every self-healing was a test of will and a sharpening of the control of power!
I don't know how long it took, maybe a few hours, maybe a whole day.
When the high fever subsided slightly and his consciousness became clearer, Mark found that he could move.
He wiped the dirt off his face, and his eyes, which still flickered faintly in the darkness, lost some of the boy's confusion and fear, and were stained with a cold, steel-like will.
He is no longer the ignorant "invincible young man" under his father's wings, but a vengeful ghost who crawled out of the furnace of death.
He had to leave! The sewers weren't a place to stay for long. Nolan could find him at any time, or send out other Vitrum warriors.
He dragged his still aching body and groped his way forward in the maze-like sewer.
Memory provided some sense of direction, but more often than not, they relied on instinct and caution, moving silently like a ghost.
Finally, at a relatively dry intersection of abandoned pipelines near the edge of the city, he found a rusty iron ladder leading to the outside world.
Overhead, there was the faint sound of traffic and a cold feeling of being watched.
Mark's eyes narrowed.
Nolan was indeed monitoring the city's exit!
He didn't go up rashly.
He curled up in the shadows like a dormant cheetah, waiting patiently, his body recovering quickly and his strength slowly returning.
He needed an opportunity, an opportunity that would allow him to break through the blockade in an instant and disappear in the crowd.
The opportunity will come soon.
A shrill siren sounded from above, getting closer and closer, as if a traffic accident or a riot had occurred.
The brief silence was broken by the exclamations of the crowd and the sudden braking of vehicles.
Just when the sirens reached their climax and everyone's attention was drawn over!
Mark moved!
He slammed his legs into the ground, unleashing his full strength! The concrete floor beneath his feet instantly cracked and sank! Like a cannonball, he smashed through the rotten iron cover and soared into the sky!
boom!
The iron cover and the surrounding rubble were blown away by the huge force! Mark's figure broke out of the ground and was exposed to the dusk light!
Almost at the same second he appeared, two cold gazes locked onto him like searchlights!
Coming from two directions, there were Vitrum warriors wearing tight uniforms, expressionless faces, and exuding the same dangerous aura!
"Target spotted! Mark Grayson!
"Clear command confirmed!"
A cold electronic synthesized voice came out of the warrior's mouth.
No nonsense! The two figures instantly turned into afterimages, and with a sonic boom that tore through the air, they came from two directions towards Mark who had just landed! The speed was so fast that ordinary people could not catch it with the naked eye!
The fighting instinct took over the body instantly! Mark didn't even have time to think, his body had already reacted!
He suddenly turned sideways and lowered his head!
The violent wind from his fist brushed past his scalp, smashing a fire hydrant behind him into pieces! A high-pressure water column shot up into the sky!
At the same time, facing the fierce whip kick coming from the right, Mark didn't retreat but advanced! He endured the severe pain in his right leg, used his newly repaired left arm to protect his vitals, and slid forward like a loach, narrowly avoiding the sharpest cutting edge of the kick! But the heavy force of the kick still grazed his left arm!
Snap!
The arm bone that had just been connected made another heart-pounding cracking sound! The severe pain made Mark's eyes go black!
But he didn't stop!
Under the cover of the water curtain, he took advantage of the impact of being kicked to spin his body like a gyroscope, and swung his intact right leg like a battle axe. With the centrifugal force of his whole body and the violent power of Vitrum, he swept fiercely towards the supporting leg of the Vitrum warrior on the right who had just launched an attack and had exhausted his strength!
Bang—click!!
A solid hit! The clear bone-cracking sound was even louder than the one his arm had just made!
"Ugh!"
The Vitrum warrior on the right let out a short groan of pain and instantly lost his balance!
Obviously, the opponent did not expect that this seriously injured target could launch such a swift and accurate counterattack!
Chance!
Mark's eyes flashed with murderous intent!
He ignored the attacks coming from the left, and clung to the unbalanced warrior on his right side like a thorn in his flesh. The five fingers of his intact right hand were like hooks, and with the momentum to tear everything apart, he fiercely stabbed into the opponent's throat!
He wants to kill him with one blow!
However, the Vitrum warrior was much stronger than expected! Even though he lost his balance, the opponent still leaned back at the critical moment, while bending his knees and pushing into Mark's abdomen!
Bang!
Phew!
Mark's fingertips brushed against the opponent's carotid artery, tearing open several deep bloody wounds, and blood spurted out!
But the opponent's knee also hit his abdomen hard!
The internal organs that had just been repaired were severely damaged again, and Mark spit out a mouthful of blood!
The two separated briefly under the huge impact.
The left fighter's fist came again! This time, Mark had no way to avoid it!
Boom!
The heavy fist hit Mark's crossed arms like a battering ram!
The terrifying force knocked his feet off the ground, and he flew backwards like a kite with a broken string!
Boom!
He crashed through the car body of a van parked on the side of the road, broke through the wall on the other side, rolled over and hit the road, leaving a long trail of blood!
Severe pain swept through my body like a tsunami, and several bones that had just been repaired seemed to be broken again.
Two Vitrum warriors, one on the left and one on the right, slowly approached like the god of death.
The one whose throat was scratched was healing rapidly, and his eyes became even colder and crueler.
"Give up resistance, bastard."
The warrior's voice was cold.
"Your bloodline is unworthy of tarnishing the honor of Vitrum."
Mark lay on the icy road, covered in blood, and every breath was accompanied by blood foam.
He looked at the approaching enemy, the crowds fleeing in terror around him, and the dusk sky of the city, but a crazy and ferocious smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Defiled?"
Mark coughed up blood, his voice was hoarse but carried a heart-pounding chill.
"Today, I will use your blood... to wash the ground!"
Before he finished speaking, he slammed the ground!
The body bounces up due to the reaction force!
The target was not the two soldiers, but a tanker truck full of gasoline next to them!
He used up his last bit of strength, grabbed the broken metal piece of the car door on the ground, and threw it hard at the rear valve and oil pipeline of the tanker truck!
Swish.
The metal piece accurately tore the fragile pipe, and the pungent gasoline gushed out like a fountain, spreading across a large area of the road in an instant!
The two Vitrum warriors' expressions changed slightly as they realized what he was trying to do!
"Stop him!"
But Mark is faster!
The moment he threw the metal piece, he had already grabbed another piece of burning car wreckage and smashed it towards the rapidly expanding gasoline pool with all his strength!
boom!!!
An earth-shattering explosion!
The blazing fireball expanded instantly, engulfing everything within a radius of dozens of meters!
The terrifying shockwave blew surrounding vehicles away like toys! Flames shot up into the sky, dyeing the dusk blood red!
The two Vitrum warriors were the first to be hit, and were engulfed by the flames and impact of the explosion!
The moment Mark threw out the source of fire, he used up his last strength to fly backwards and curled up behind the wreckage of a heavy truck.
Even so, the violent shock wave still slammed him hard against the car body, causing his internal organs to shift, his eardrums to rupture, and his eyes to turn blood red!
The light from the explosion illuminated his blood-stained face, which was filled with a crazy smile.
He won the bet!
Use the environment to your advantage and create chaos!
No matter how strong these two Vitrum warriors are, they will not feel good if they are hit by an explosion of this magnitude at close range!
Amidst the thick smoke and flames, the angry and painful roars of the Vitrum warriors were heard.
Mark knew that he had gained precious seconds!
He struggled to his feet, ignoring the wailing of his bones, and staggered out of the blast radius, into the deeper darkness and chaos at the edge of the city.
Behind him were blazing flames rising into the sky and two furious pursuers, their bodies charred and smoking, rushing out of the sea of fire.
The escape continues.
At the end of the road, the outline of an abandoned industrial area can be vaguely seen.
In front of that outline, a dilapidated pickup truck was parked there. Next to the car, a thin figure was looking anxiously in the direction of the blazing flames.
That's Debbie Grayson.
His mother.
Mark grinned, smelling a mixture of blood and gun smoke, and whispered, "Mom... I'm... back."
Then, using up his last bit of strength, he stumbled towards the only ray of hope.
Behind him was the scream of the Vitrum warriors tearing through the air and the breath of death.