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A thick layer of dark clouds drifted in from the distant horizon that further obscured the already dim light.
The beach was filled with the sounds of battle and howls while the scent of blood completely overpowering the salty tang of the sea breeze.
Jing Xia swiftly grabbed the body of an Evolved Being who had been sent flying by the Killer Whale.
Before he was forced to take several steps back to steady himself as he followed the momentum of the person's flight.
On the other side, other members of Team A were engaged in a fierce battle with the Mutated Orca. Ji Chuancheng, who happened to be close to Jing Xia, quickly approached.
"How are you?" Ji Chuancheng asked.
Jing Xia shook his head vigorously. "Just a graze."
Ji Chuancheng nodded quickly, then tossed out a "Take a moment to recover your strength" before raising the long A-9 Killing Machine.
His fingers moved swiftly as he assembled the firing mechanism, and with a "whoosh", a shot was fired.
This shot had to consider many factors, such as the Evolved Beings attacking and delaying the Killer Whale around it, so the position wasn't particularly tricky. As a result, the Killer Whale suddenly dodged as it narrowly avoided the terrifying projectile.
After using the last bullet with the hook, Ji Chuancheng didn't hesitate to throw down the heavy gun. However, there wasn't enough time for him to close in and attack again as the massive black Mutated Beast suddenly stopped all movement before turning its enormous head to gaze at the vast, azure ocean behind it.
On the other side, the Mutated Conger Eel's Lightning Barrage also ceased.
Only the lower-level Mutated Creatures below B-rank continued to attack mindlessly, until a roar from the Killer Whale finally calmed them down.
Then they organized themselves in an orderly manner and began retreating toward the coastline.
The battlefield returned to its initial state within just five minutes.
Except for the corpses strewn across the ground and the glaring blood everywhere, it seemed as if nothing had changed. But in reality, a tragedy that could never be undone had already occurred.
Countless Evolved Beings stared with bloodshot eyes at the drooling, repulsive Mutated Beasts.
They dared not look at the ground because they fear that even a single glance would drive them to the brink of madness that compels them to attack relentlessly.
Jing Xia was slightly out of breath.
He used a simple medical kit produced by the Research Institute to bandage the wound on his arm, then stood beside Ji Chuancheng then looked up to confront the massive, burly Mutated Beasts.
Among the Mutated Beasts, the Mutated Conger Eel and the Mutated Orca stood on either side to create a path.
A man dressed in a long black coat walked steadily forward and passed through the mountain-like formation of Mutated Beasts, calm and composed.
His face was pale, handsome yet sinister, with shoulder-length black hair. Though his body appeared frail, the sense of danger hidden beneath his clothes made Jing Xia grip the cold longsword in his hand tightly with his heart trembling involuntarily.
A sudden warmth brushed the back of Jing Xia's right hand.
He looked up to see Ji Chuancheng gently shaking his head.
His heart instantly calmed, but the nearly frenzied Evolved Beings behind him were all staring intently at the suddenly appeared S1 with their gazes filled with hatred and... horror.
Ji Chuancheng raised his right foot and stomped the ground forcefully.
But the surface remained calm and showed no signs of abnormality.
Just as Jing Xia was puzzled, he suddenly saw a tsunami over twenty meters high surge up from the group of Mutated Beasts and ready to collapse without any warning.
"So... so powerful!"
"We humans are strong too!"
Hearing such voices, Jing Xia felt even more confident. But in the next moment, his inflated confidence was shattered by an even more astonishing fact—
The tsunami abruptly stopped!
It didn't weaken, nor it didn't break, it simply stopped.
It was as if an invisible wall of air had blocked the tsunami behind all the Mutated Beasts that made it impossible for it to advance even an inch.
Jing Xia suddenly understood.
He turned to look at Ji Chuancheng, and their eyes met.
Jing Xia took the first step and asked, "Is your mutation direction... air?"
S1's pitch-black, almost inorganic pupils lingered on Jing Xia's face for a second before he looked up while ignoring him, and directly gazed at the young man standing at the top of the dam.
The dam was over 60 meters high.
From the perspective of an ordinary Evolved Being, one could only see the gun squad, Zhang Bendan, and... Qi Yang's figure. But in S1's eyes, he could easily see the man's pale skin with visible blue veins, emotionless eyes, and... disheveled black hair that had an oddly beautiful aesthetic.
S1's pupils slightly contracted. Then, he suddenly averted his gaze as if avoiding something, and said to Jing Xia, "Humans, today you are destined to lose." His tone was very certain, and his voice was as flat and monotonous as a mechanical sound, without any fluctuation.
Jing Xia had just followed S1's gaze and spotted Qi Yang's figure.
He naturally understood what the other's presence here now signified.
The unease in his heart was completely soothed.
He believed in himself, in Qi Yang, and in... Ji Chuancheng.
Jing Xia said, "S1, I also have a message for you. Today is your death day."
A faint white light suddenly appeared in the pitch-black, lightless pupils, but it was instantly swallowed by the boundless darkness.
S1's strikingly beautiful, almost demonic eyes narrowed slightly as he asked in an extremely dangerous tone, "Did... Yang tell you my identity?"
As soon as he finished speaking, several sharp whistling sounds suddenly rang out.
Invisible Air Blades shot straight toward Jing Xia!
Calmly and composedly, he erected three thick Ice Walls. The three layers of water-blue ice shattered simultaneously, breaking all the Air Blades.
But before Jing Xia could speak again, Ji Chuancheng stepped forward and stood in front of him. His cold and handsome face bore some injuries, but the scar on his right cheek gave him an even more fierce and imposing aura.
He remained silent while locking eyes with S1 for a long time.
With neither of them speaking, yet both unleashed their powers simultaneously—a sea of flames and a storm of razor-sharp air blades clashed fiercely.
In the end, the wind calmed, and the flames were completely extinguished.
"Roar!!!"
The furious roar of the Mutated Orca seemed to signal the start of the war.
The two forces clashed once again, with violent winds sweeping through and blood and flesh flying everywhere.
The sky was completely shrouded in darkness, and the only sounds that dominated the scene were the clashing of blades against tough hides and the final cries of the dying.
Jing Xia felt that the current situation was much easier than before.
Even though the King of Mutated Beasts had suddenly arrived, which should have plunged humanity into a dire predicament, they inexplicably gained an inexplicable advantage—
All the low-level Mutated Beasts were too terrified to appear within ten meters of the King, while the other high-level Mutated Beasts exhausted all their means to delay the actions of the Evolved Beings to prevent them from interfering with the humanoid Mutated Beast's graceful advance.
Just like on Jing Xia's side, the Mutated Orca, despite being heavily injured, erupted with even greater power that far surpassing its peak strength. It entangled both Jing Xia and Ji Chuancheng, inflicting wounds that prevented them from breaking free to stop S1's advance.
"Damn it! What does that Mutated Beast want?!" Jing Xia barely managed to block the frenzied attacks of the Killer Whale.
As soon as Ji Chuancheng landed, he tried to escape, but the Killer Whale cast a massive Water Net to block his path and forced him to turn back.
From their vantage point, Professor Qi and his team had a clearer view.
The gray-haired old man watched in horror as S1 traversed the terrifying battlefield between the two sides, as if strolling through a garden, and then step by step approached the high embankment before stopping abruptly about fifty meters away.
All the researchers gasped in shock.
The air gathered eerily beneath S1's feet before forming an invisible staircase.
It lifted its left foot and slowly stepped onto it, then began a slow, almost regal ascent as if a graceful pianist were walking toward their stage while basking in the wild applause.
Only, S1's applause was the death throes of the Mutated Beasts.
Yet, it seemed completely oblivious to the dying cries of its kind as he calmly ascended the staircase until it finally stopped in front of the handsome man.
In the desolate and cold sea breeze, Qi Yang stood with a faint, almost mocking smile on his pale lips while gazing at the Mutated Beast that had once again appeared before him.
He was dressed thinly with his single-layer white coat offering no warmth, which might explain why his lips were so pale, and even his skin seemed unnaturally white.
At this moment, he held the long High-torque strong electric nuclear magnetic cannon in his left hand but not aiming it at the enemy and just simply holding it casually.
The carefree smile on his lips was glaringly conspicuous in S1's eyes, causing its fierce brows to narrow dangerously.
"Yang, you're going to die."
Qi Yang nodded gently and smiled, "So are you."
"Me?" S1 suddenly seemed to transform into a child as he blinked in confusion as he asked, "Why?"
"Because I'm going to kill you."