Wapol Xiao's mechanical brain spun at full speed, but no matter how he cross-referenced his database, none of the information matched the power before him.
Xi Hanmei's ability was either entirely unfamiliar or a mutated, evolved variant of something he had seen before—like someone who had blended the resources of two worlds to forge an entirely new system out of an old framework.
If he could identify the root, he could break it. But at the moment, even the origin of her power eluded him.
The closest analogues he could think of were the magical armor charms from Harry Potter, or the force fields of Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman, from the Marvel universe.
Yet Sebastian Xiao's phantom lion form resembled Primeval Sorcerer Serosh from Elden Ring.
And the space-gates that let him teleport freely… those were reminiscent of Marvel's mystic arts. Combine Mirror Dimension techniques with portal magic and, yes—similar effects were possible.
"How many worlds have you plundered?"
Wapol Xiao's irritation swelled. Unable to restrain himself, he demanded answers.
"Do you think I'm stupid enough to hand you my entire power system?"
Sebastian Xiao manifested another phantom body in the sky opposite Wapol Xiao, answering with a mocking question of his own.
It was one of his favorite tactics—imitate countless power systems so the enemy could never deduce his true origin. Without accurate intel, the opponent couldn't devise a counter.
And intelligence, whether in war or single combat, was always the most critical factor.
To obtain information, you had to experiment—often sacrificing lives to pay for that knowledge.
Idiots like Wapol Xiao, who exposed their full powers in the open, were practically begging to be dissected and countered.
Sebastian Xiao, by contrast, used Xi Hanmei's life to determine whether Wapol Xiao possessed any more hidden Devil Fruit trump cards.
Meanwhile, Wapol Xiao had no subordinates. He could only gamble with his own life, hoping to deduce Sebastian Xiao's ability before dying himself.
"Hmph! I don't believe your shield can defend forever!"
Unable to extract useful intel, Wapol Xiao snapped coldly.
The massive factory built inside his giant body roared to life. His chest split open, and a colossal, hyper-tech cannon slid out.
At the same time, dozens of smaller barrels unfolded across his body—covering every angle for a full 360-degree assault.
"Oh? Is that the giant Tsunami • Nekomata?"
Sebastian Xiao recognized the prototype instantly. It was based on the Tsunami Nekomata tech-sniper rifle from Cyberpunk 2077—the electromagnetic acceleration rifle Xi Hanmei had seized earlier.
In that world, megacorps had miniaturized naval railgun technology into "tech weapons" to pierce the grotesquely over-armored cyborg maniacs roaming the streets.
If a railgun could be shrunk down, then a tech weapon could naturally be scaled up into a full-blown super-electromagnetic cannon.
Wapol Xiao using this weapon was entirely within Sebastian Xiao's expectations. He had already prepared his counter.
"Super Electromagnetic Cannon—fire!"
Wapol Xiao had no patience left. The electrodes flared, blue plasma dancing along the barrel. The magnetic field twisted the air into a visible vortex.
Dimensional gate—open!
Sebastian Xiao clapped his hands and spread his arms wide.
Blue-lit dimensional gates blossomed across the whole Daluo Arena. Each one was precisely positioned to accelerate Xi Hanmei's charge exponentially.
The electromagnetic cannon was devastating—but its weakness was simple:
It couldn't turn.
And it required enormous power and a long charge time between shots.
As long as Sebastian opened the gates at the exact moment Wapol Xiao fired, Xi Hanmei would remain untouchable.
Xi Hanmei didn't hesitate. She dove through the first gate—her speed doubled instantly.
She blinked from one dimensional gate to the next, each jump sharpening her velocity. Her silhouette became streaks of motion, accelerating endlessly through the chain.
Wapol Xiao abandoned his suppressive fire and switched to pure, lethal cannon shots. Observation Haki and his cybernetic eye tracked her relentlessly. The moment she appeared, another railgun shot would scream after her.
A faint golden radiance shimmered on Xi Hanmei's body. Her power surged, her speed spiked—but her aura grew unstable.
"It's the Black Emperor's energy absorption… You're a mutant who learned magic. I've finally caught your chicken feet!"
After countless tests, comparisons, and calculations, Wapol Xiao finally identified the origin of Sebastian Xiao's ability—and burst into triumphant laughter.
"Tsk."
Sebastian clicked his tongue, displeased, but he didn't look up. His mind was fully occupied calculating the positions of his dimensional gates.
This had become a battle of pure mathematics and probability.
Both sides poured everything into predicting the other's movements: Sebastian calculating optimal gate placement, Wapol calculating electromagnetic trajectories.
The one who found the perfect lethal angle first would decide the outcome.
Seeing Sebastian Xiao ignore him, Wapol Xiao also fell completely silent, devoting all processing power to the calculations.
But soon, he realized something terrifying—
His mechanical super-chip brain couldn't keep up with Sebastian Xiao's flesh-and-blood brain.
Not because Xiao's natural brain was superior—after all, Wapol had to compute ten times the data:
every entry and exit point of each dimensional gatethe shifting positions of the gates mid-battlethe predicted pathways of Xi Hanmei's continuous teleportation
Sebastian, meanwhile, only needed to calculate one thing:
the trajectory of Wapol's cannon.
Even so, it made no sense. Wapol's brainchip was the most advanced in the Cyberpunk 2077 world.
How could a biological brain outrun him?
Mutants weren't known for super-brains. Unless they had explicit mental-enhancing abilities, their IQs were no different from ordinary humans.
Mutant power usage relied heavily on "instinct," "emotion," and "intuition."
Look at Magneto—early on, he practically electrocuted himself by misusing his own magnetic field. Only later, after study and refinement, did he become the true Master of Magnetism.
Wapol Xiao understood all this. Which is why—
For the first time…
He began to feel afraid.
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