Xu Peng, who had been so incredibly arrogant just moments before, was down for the count, his body curled up weakly on the ground.
His caved-in chest clearly indicated a shattered sternum, and his head was a swollen mess of split skin and steadily flowing blood. Every faint breath he took bubbled up with blood foam. He was clearly critically injured and unconscious.
The atmosphere grew heavy. The entire factory fell dead silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
GULP!
Someone swallowed subconsciously, the sound jarringly loud in the silence.
Their legs felt as if they were nailed to the floor, unable to move. Every member of the Rock Gang looked on in stunned disbelief, frozen in place with their metal bats in hand.
RUSTLE!
Amidst the slight noise, Lu Chao slowly retracted his fist and lowered his arms.
Without a single glance at Xu Peng on the floor, he swept his cold gaze across the surroundings before turning to the burly man in the tank top who was still restraining Zhao Yuanqing.
"I'll give you a count of three."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a distinct chill.
Zhao Yuanqing, still forced to his knees, was a bit dazed and couldn't process what was happening.
But the man holding him down had a drastic change in expression. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fighting Level?"
He couldn't quite believe it. 'Could he be from the Hongyi Society?'
"Three."
Their eyes met coldly as Lu Chao turned to face him completely.
"Wait, this was all that brat Xu Peng's idea—"
"Two."
Taking a step forward, Lu Chao stood half a meter in front of the man.
Even though the man was a head taller, under Lu Chao's stare, the burly man restraining Zhao Yuanqing turned pale, a fine sheen of cold sweat beading on his forehead.
In a real fight, a larger build usually meant greater strength, more stamina, and better odds of winning.
Not to mention, he had two civilian-model bionic prosthetic arms implanted, and even his lungs had been replaced with cybernetics.
However, his were only basic models.
Against a fighter whose Life Energy exceeded twenty points and had undergone their first qualitative change...
"One."
"I surrender."
The burly man in the tank top quickly released Zhao Yuanqing, his face pale and his eyes fearful as he took a step back.
The crisis was averted. It was all over.
But in that very instant of apparent relaxation...
THUD!!
He suddenly stomped the ground and charged forward, fluorescent light flashing along the patterns on his arms!
Like a Giant Bear clapping its paws, his face twisted into a vicious snarl as he brought his arms together, smashing them horizontally toward Lu Chao's head.
BANG!!
Unexpectedly, their fists collided.
Lu Chao stood his ground, perfectly composed, his arm muscles coiled like steel cables, his posture as straight as a javelin.
A wisp of white air exploded in front of him, stirring up a gust of wind. Zhao Yuanqing, still kneeling, felt a cool swirl of air pass over his head.
"A Fighting Skill!"
The pupils of the burly man behind him constricted, his gaze fixed on the point where their fists met.
That grayish-white fist was as solid as a rock, perfectly blocking his sneak attack.
"You..."
"Too late!"
Lu Chao stomped his right foot, and the factory floor trembled slightly.
A savage, brute force surged forward, transferring explosively from his legs and hips into his fists. The burst of power knocked the burly man off balance, causing him to slide backward.
Seizing the opportunity...
BOOM!!
He twisted his waist, shoulders, and back in unison, unleashing his power!
Lu Chao's left arm shot forward, a no-frills punch that tore through the air and slammed viciously into his opponent's torso.
THUD!
The bionic arms, thrown up in a hasty block, were smashed aside, leaving his center completely exposed.
Lu Chao's eyes were cold as his right arm followed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
A flurry of punches flew like hard stones shooting through the air, leaving a trail of grayish-white afterimages.
He threw nearly ten punches in just two seconds, each heavy blow smashing into the burly man's chest and lungs.
The man's body visibly trembled as if under a heavy assault, and he was forced to retreat continuously.
Lu Chao pressed his advantage, and in a matter of moments, they had moved past a cargo truck and ended up in front of a thick, steel support pillar.
Blood trickled from the corner of the burly man's mouth. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, nearly bulging from their sockets. His entire body was pressed against the steel pillar, unable to retreat any further.
And in that very instant...
WHOOSH!!
Lu Chao drew his right arm back like a bowstring and unleashed a vicious uppercut.
THUD!!
The fist connected, smashing violently into the man's jaw.
The air fell still, leaving only the muffled, explosive echo of the impact.
A faint circle of white air could be seen expanding outward from the two of them, blowing away the dust kicked up from the ground.
Everyone's gaze was frozen, staring intently.
Finally...
THUD!
The burly man, who stood 1.85 meters tall and weighed over 100 kilograms, went weak in the knees and collapsed, sliding down the steel pillar to his knees.
The repair shop floor vibrated for a moment. The man's eyes rolled back into his head, blood streamed from his mouth, and his breathing was reduced to a faint, almost nonexistent wheeze.
"This..."
The three mechanics nearby stared with wide, vacant eyes.
The disheveled Old Dong finally relaxed, snapping out of his daze and shock, and looked from side to side.
The two Rock Gang members who had been holding him turned pale, instinctively trembling and backing away.
Farther away, the other members of the Rock Gang finally snapped out of it, their expressions changing drastically.
"Holy shit, Brother Biao's down too!"
"Run!"
"Get out of here!"
Amidst the terrified uproar, they dropped their metal bats, spun around, and scrambled onto their motorcycles to make a quick escape.
One of them couldn't get to his bike in time and started cursing as he ran desperately after the others. A couple of them, scared witless, cowered in a corner, too afraid to move.
In an instant, the roar of the engines faded into the distance, and their red taillights vanished into the night.
He didn't give chase; he didn't see the need.
Lu Chao glanced at the two Rock Gang members cowering in the corner, then withdrew his gaze, lowered his arms, and looked ahead.
Their eyes met. Zhao Yuanqing, still on one knee, was looking right at him.
"Can you get up?"
Lu Chao saw the stunned disbelief and shock in his eyes.
His previously hard expression had softened into a smile. He extended his right hand to Zhao Yuanqing and asked softly.
The other man froze for a second, then opened his mouth to speak.
His gaze shifted subconsciously, finally settling on Lu Chao's right fist, which was changing color, gradually returning to its normal skin tone.
Finally.
"You son of a gun..."
Their hands clasped, and Zhao Yuanqing broke into a wide grin.
Then, using the leverage, he pulled himself up.
THUMP! THUMP!
He stood firm and looked at the other man.
All the frustration and despair in his heart vanished in that moment. He looked Lu Chao up and down, his face a mix of eager anticipation and trembling excitement.
"You did it?"
"Yeah."
Lu Chao nodded with a smile.
"You really did it?"
His body trembled as he looked Lu Chao in the eyes and asked again, as if afraid it was all a dream.
In response, "I did."
He raised a hand and gently patted the dust off the other man's dark blue work uniform.
Lu Chao met his gaze and said plainly, "I'm a fighter now."
As his words landed, the atmosphere fell quiet for a moment.
A few specks of dust swirled in the incandescent light.
Zhao Yuanqing's body suddenly began to tremble, and the smile on his face grew wider and wider.
"He did it, he really did it..."
His voice was the only sound in the quiet factory, a continuous, mantra-like whisper.
After several long seconds, he turned to look at the other workers and Old Dong, who had been threatened earlier. Clenching his fists, his face flushed red, he shouted, "He did it!"
"Ah Chao did it! He's a fighter!!"
His excited shouts, as if releasing some pent-up emotion, echoed endlessly throughout the grimy factory.
'So gritting your teeth and fighting with everything you have really does pay off.'
'Even us nobodies from the orphanage can have our day!'
His voice was full of emotion, and at some point, his eyes had turned red.
Lu Chao stood where he was, quietly watching the scene unfold.
He didn't speak or interrupt, just lowered his head after a few seconds to look at his outstretched right hand.
A few trickles of blood seeped from the pores on the back of his hand.
It was damage from colliding with the bionic arm, which had ruptured some capillaries and bruised the skin. It wasn't too serious.
But a strange feeling welled up inside him, and Lu Chao clenched his fist once more.
'So this... is what it means to be a fighter.'