The stench of the swamp, mixed with the acrid smell of plasma residue, hung heavy in the air. Liu Yun stood, one hand on his Thunder Blade, at the remains of the third E-grade Berserk Bay Crocodile. This giant beast, whose scales glowed eerily, hadn't even managed a single water cannon spray before Liu Yun's Psychic locked onto its joints. The Thunder Blade slid into a gap in its scales, and a blue-violet current instantly paralyzed its entire nervous System.
"Next," he said, flicking the slime from his blade. His metal combat boots squelched through the soft mud, stirring up strings of bubbles. Since slaying the first Bloodthirsty Bay Crocodile, he had moved as if through an uninhabited land—the E-grade monsters' scales were like paper against the Thunder Blade's electrical attack, and the Mechanical Race Clone's computational assistance allowed him to predict the movements of the beast horde in advance.
Beneath the surface of the swamp, at least seven monster corpses now floated, their crimson blood deepening the murky water.
He even attempted to wield the Ninefold Thunderblade's third stage using only his Physical Body strength, without relying on electricity. When the blade light cut through the air, the sonic boom it created startled distant water birds into flight. Though the blade didn't cleave the Bay Crocodile's chest armor, it sent the creature reeling back several meters, exposing its vulnerable underbelly—proving that his Physical Body strength had truly reached the Intermediate Beast General level. The bio-enhancement agents provided by the Mechanical Clan Base were subtly transforming his physique.
"Roar—!" A monster's roar came from the dense forest to the left. Unlike the deep growl of a Bay Crocodile, this roar had a sharp, metallic scraping sound.
Liu Yun's eyes narrowed, and his Psychic swept out like radar. He saw a giant lizard, about eight meters long with bone spikes on its back, pushing aside the bushes. Torn camouflage fabric—fragments of a human combat suit—still hung on its bone spikes.
"Mutated Giant Lizard?" He raised an eyebrow. This monster's energy fluctuations were a notch higher than a typical E-grade, clearly a mutated variant that had absorbed some radiation source. The giant lizard's crimson tongue licked its fangs, then it suddenly accelerated forward. The strong wind generated by its front claws actually plowed two deep furrows in the mud.
"Perfect timing," Liu Yun said, advancing instead of retreating. His combat blade spun half a circle in his palm, then its blunt edge slammed into the giant lizard's front claw.
With a crisp clang, the giant lizard's claw blocked the sharp blade, but it was numbed by the Thunder Blade's electricity. Liu Yun used the momentum to close in, and the blade grazed its neck, not to kill, but to precisely sever its shoulder ligaments.
"Ow!" The giant lizard howled, falling to one knee, but Liu Yun had already withdrawn his blade and turned.
He saw a overturned off-road vehicle half-buried in the bushes behind the giant lizard. The HR Alliance logo was on its roof, and its body was covered in claw marks and holes from acid corrosion. More importantly, faint calls for help came from under the vehicle, mixed with intermittent static from a communicator:
"...Coordinates X73 area...I am Wang Tianba of the Dojo of Limits' Flying Squad, requesting support...static..."
Liu Yun's pupils constricted. This person was actually his former teammate, Wang Tianba. A mission squad from the Dojo of Limits?
He immediately released his Psychic to investigate and found two individuals in combat suits huddled under the car. One had a broken leg, and the other was bandaging it with a tourniquet.
Seeing Liu Yun lower his head, Wang Tianba hurriedly lifted his blood-stained face. One of his legs was already immobile!
As a squad composed of high-level warriors, they shouldn't have been in such a sorry state, but everything changed after they unexpectedly attracted a Beast General-level lizard.
"Liu Yun? How are you here? How have you become so powerful?"
Wang Tianba recognized Liu Yun, and his surprise burst out. He couldn't understand why Liu Yun had suddenly become so strong.
That lizard just now was definitely Peak E-grade, or even a D-grade Beast General itself. Their entire team had been wiped out, but Liu Yun had solved the problem in just a few moves?
Seeing Wang Tianba, Liu Yun felt a bit of familiarity. He effortlessly lifted the off-road vehicle with a raised hand.
"Don't think so much. It's more important for you to save your life right now."
He then dropped some medicines for Wang Tianba's treatment. Wang Tianba didn't take them himself, but Xiao Wu, his younger teammate, did.
"Brother, if you don't want them, I do! Out here, more medicine means more lives."
Xiao Wu hurriedly opened a bottle of liquid healing medicine and drank it. Wang Tianba, however, sighed faintly.
"Alas, we abandoned others, and now we rely on others for rescue. It really damages one's character."
He was a philosopher on the battlefield, constantly talking about character, and he truly had a certain code of conduct.
Xiao Wu couldn't care less. Their medicines had all been eaten by the lizard. Perhaps the lizard had been after their healing medicine, chasing them all the way.
Monsters also need medicine. Here, healing medicine is an incredibly precious resource. Liu Yun throwing out so much had already attracted some monsters with keen senses.
Further in the distance, in the reed marsh, at least three monsters with energy fluctuations equivalent to the mutated giant lizard were lurking, slowly approaching in a triangular formation.
"Trouble," he frowned. He had only intended to farm resources but had stumbled into trouble. But he always repaid a drop of kindness to his friends with a gushing spring! Or rather, as long as someone gave him a reason to help, he would.
Wang Tianba had at least come to see him when he was in trouble, so he at least had a reason to help.
"Hey! Can you still fight?" he shouted, simultaneously condensing his Psychic into a barrier in front of the off-road vehicle. Just as he finished speaking, the reed marsh to the right suddenly exploded. A toad-like monster with poisonous spines on its back leaped up, opening its huge mouth to spray a ball of dark green venom.
Liu Yun's wrist flicked, and the Thunder Blade erupted with an even more dazzling electric light. The blade sliced through the venom like tofu, and blue-violet arcs of electricity surged back up the droplets, striking the toad monster's face.
"Screech—!" The monster let out a sharp wail of agony, its eyeballs burned through by the current. Its massive body crashed into the mud, and the splashing water strangely shimmered with a metallic luster.
"I...I can fire one shot!" A hoarse reply came from the car, and then an energy rifle extended from the broken car window, its muzzle trembling as it aimed to the left.
"Bang!"
The shot hit the right eye of a blue monster fish in front of them, causing some damage. The monster fish shrieked and lunged forward.
Liu Yun no longer hesitated. He took a deep breath, and his Psychic spread out like a spiderweb, covering the entire area and locking onto the positions of all lurking monsters. The next second, he charged into the reed marsh like a blue lightning bolt. As the Thunder Blade swung, electricity surged like chains. Wherever he passed, the roars of monsters and the crackle of electricity intertwined into a symphony of death.
Under the off-road vehicle, the two Alliance members' eyes widened—the young Martial Artist who had suddenly appeared was, by himself, slaughtering his way through the monster horde, back and forth. Every time the blade light flashed, a monster would stiffen and fall. Sunlight filtered through the reeds, illuminating the arcs of electricity dancing on his combat blade, making him seem like Thunder God descended upon the wilderness.
"He...who is he? Is he using the Ninefold Thunderblade? Why can he summon real lightning?"
Xiao Wu mumbled to himself, his hand on the gun having forgotten to pull the trigger. He was Liu Yun's replacement and had also Cultivated the Ninefold Thunderblade, but he had never been able to summon real lightning.
The other person watched as Liu Yun cleaved the head of the last monster. Electricity dripped from the blade's tip into the mud, giving off wisps of blue smoke. He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.
"Don't be foolish. This must be because Liu Yun's weapon is powerful. At least we're saved."
Wang Tianba saw at a glance that Liu Yun's Thunder Blade was no ordinary item, and he knew that with such a strong person around, they didn't have to worry about being finished.
But this scene made Xiao Wu feel ashamed. He couldn't understand what was wrong with Wang Tianba and the others.
"Oh, oh, oh. Brother, if you have such a skilled teammate and you don't try to recruit him, aren't you an idiot?"
Liu Yun himself used to be a member of Wang Tianba's Flying Squad. Xiao Wu was brought in later, specifically to replace the injured Liu Yun.
But now Xiao Wu himself was speechless. Given how powerful this 'Lord' Liu Yun was, how could he possibly be worthy of replacing him?
If he had somehow offended Liu Yun, Xiao Wu would be afraid of retaliation in the future, and that would be the end of him.