The Butcher was a mountain of metal and flesh.
With every step he took, the steel floor groaned under his weight. The mechanical drill on his left arm spun with a deafening screech, glowing red-hot from the friction.
"Die, little insect!"
The Butcher roared and charged. He was surprisingly fast for his size. The drill aimed straight for Jiang Daolin's chest, intending to turn him into a pile of minced meat.
The wind from the spinning drill blew Jiang Daolin's hair back. The heat was scorching.
Behind him, the girl named Nine screamed, "Run!"
But Jiang Daolin didn't run. He didn't even use his threads or needles this time.
He held the black ruler—the Corpse Suppressing Ruler—with both hands, raising it high above his head like a broadsword.
His eyes were calm, as deep as an ancient well.
"You replaced your limbs with steel," Jiang Daolin said coldly, his voice cutting through the noise. "But you forgot one thing."
"Steel can rust. Machines can break." "But the resentment of the dead... lasts forever."
BOOM!
Just as the drill was inches away from his face, Jiang Daolin swung the ruler down.
He didn't aim for the Butcher's head. He aimed directly at the spinning mechanical drill!
Stitcher's Art: Ruler of Judgment - Mountain Breaker!
CLANG——!!!
A sound like a temple bell being struck by a meteor echoed through the hall.
Time seemed to freeze for a second.
Then, a shocking scene unfolded.
The high-tech tungsten steel drill, which could pierce through tank armor, stopped instantly upon hitting the rusty black ruler.
Crack... Crack...
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the glowing red drill.
"No... Impossible!" The Butcher's mechanical eye flickered wildly. "This is military-grade alloy! How can a piece of wood stop it?!"
"It's not wood," Jiang Daolin exerted force in his arms, his veins popping. "It's the weight of a thousand years of karma."
"Break!"
With a low shout, Jiang Daolin pressed down.
CRASH!
The massive mechanical drill shattered into countless pieces of scrap metal, exploding outward like shrapnel.
The force didn't stop there. The shockwave traveled up the Butcher's arm, twisting the hydraulic pipes and crushing the internal gears.
"ARGHHH!"
The Butcher screamed in agony as his entire left arm exploded in a shower of sparks and black oil. The massive impact sent his three-meter-tall body flying backward, crashing heavily into the VIP seats, burying him under a pile of broken chairs.
Silence.
The girl, Nine, stared with her mouth open. She looked at the thin figure standing amidst the smoke and sparks, holding a black ruler. He looked like a god of war.
Jiang Daolin lowered the ruler. His hands were trembling slightly, but his expression remained icy.
He walked over to the pile of debris where the Butcher lay twitching.
The monster was still alive, but his mechanical parts were sparking, and he was leaking oil and blood.
"You... what are you..." The Butcher coughed up blood, looking at Jiang Daolin with pure terror.
Jiang Daolin stepped on the Butcher's chest, looking down at him.
"I am a doctor," Jiang Daolin said softly. "But I don't cure machines."
He raised the ruler again.
"I scrap them."
Thud.
One final blow to the head. The red light in the Butcher's mechanical eye flickered once and went out forever.
The ship's strongest enforcer was dead.
Jiang Daolin turned around. He walked back to Nine, wiping the black oil from his face.
"Let's go," he said, extending a hand to her. "The noise was too loud. The real owner of this ship must be awake now."
Nine hesitated for a second, then reached out and grabbed his hand tightly. Her hand was cold, but his was warm.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
Jiang Daolin looked at the heavy steel door behind the stage—the door that led to the "Core Lab", where the real secrets of the "Immortality Project" were hidden.
"To find the truth," he replied. "And to burn it all down."