Chapter 256: Breaking Out (1)

Devin carefully probed his opponent with feints at the start of the battle. However, ever fighting for a while, he found out that ‘Black Phantom’ was not as overwhelmingly strong as he had been led to believe.

The legendary Black Phantom is nothing much. I was worried for nothing. Devin got a confidence boost and started to attack without reserve.

The battle between the muscular giant and the armored mechanical suit caused a constant sound of clashing fists to be heard. The other Germinal executives that followed behind Devin started to realize that Devin was actually starting to gain the upper hand in the fight, and they were all surprised.

“When did the captain become this strong?”

“No, look! It’s Black Phantom that grew weak!”

“Even someone as strong as him can’t fight in his peak state after escaping for so long. He is at his weakest right now!”

The group of executives were then also bolstered and were no longer afraid. They stepped up one after another to gang up on Black Phantom.

Based on how much attention the leader paid Han Xiao, capturing him would definitely count as a great achievement!

Get him while he’s weak! The battle between this group of superhumans wreaked havoc on the surroundings, creating massive ditches everywhere. The troops were not just watching either as they open fired whenever Black Phantom showed an opening.

Hila was fighting for her life, and she was losing ground every second. She could only clench her teeth as she received blow after blow from all directions. If she was using her usual fighting style, she never would’ve let her enemies gang up on her like this. If not for Viper’s defensive capabilities, she would’ve long since bit the dust.

The Germinal leader’s eyes lit up. “His condition is getting even worse. Now we definitely got him!”

The leader originally only wanted to use the five senior executives to stall Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao’s strength was now deteriorating by the second. It must have been caused by the built-up pressure while escaping.

“Who is this executive? He’s got potential,” said the leader.

The assistant hurriedly searched up the information and answered, “His name is Devin, and uhh... no notable achievements so far.

The leader scoffed and replied, “We are at war, and every single strong soldier is an important asset. Missing out on him would be a true misstep on our part!”

...

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Character Summon card has been used.

Current Usage: 2/2

The card will soon disappear.

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When Hila had all the Germinal forces’ attention, Han Xiao sneaked into the midst of the troops and was busy planting explosives underneath every single Germinal vehicle.

The ability gained from Dion’s character card was extremely effective, and not a single soldier noticed what he was doing. It was as if he had disappeared off into thin air right in front of them, but Han Xiao was still being as careful as possible, as entering combat would immediately cancel the concealment effect.

This is such a suitable Esper ability for thieves. No wonder Dion was able to steal classified information with ease. He probably even went to some good places with this ability. Damn... Han Xiao was a little envious. He had also coveted some sort of invisibility skill when he was young. It had even been one of his thirty-three life goals at one point. It had only been scratched off the list afterward when he had already gained a decent amount of experience.

Under the cloak of invisibility, Han Xiao’s senses toward his surroundings were completely different. It was as if a thick cloud had covered everything around him, and it felt quite surreal. The feeling of being invisible reminded of an old film that he had watched. He remembered that it was called the Lord’s Ring or something.

This surrounding troops had a limited number of vehicles, and Han Xiao quickly finished planting all the explosives. He only left a few cars to be used for escaping later.

There’s still two minutes left on my invisibility. I just need to wait for the explosion and steal a car to escape. Everything up till now had progressed as planned.

Han Xiao returned to the edge of the battle and saw that Hila was getting beaten up from all directions pitifully. The suit that she was unfamiliar with was not able to offer much help in holding out against all those executives.

Han Xiao took out a communicator that was connected to the earpiece inside the armor and said softly, “I am about eighty meters to the north of your position. A big explosion will occur in a few moments. Run toward me immediately after and switch out of the suit with me. There’s an armored car here for us to escape in!”

Although Hila could not see him, she had heard his instructions.

Han Xiao started counting down. Ten... five... three... He pressed down on the button.

Boom!

It was as if the ground shook for second!

Like a volcanic eruption, flaming pillars rose up high into the sky as all the armored vehicles blew up one after another.

A wave of heat rolled over and brought with it a dust storm. Countless ordinary soldiers were instantly knocked off their feet.

The Germinal forces were shocked stiff!

Why did it all suddenly explode‽

Using the brief moment of chaos, Hila rushed over to Han Xiao’s position through the clouds of dust. She quickly got out of the suit and swapped with Han Xiao. Han Xiao ran along as he put on the suit. The whole process only took about three seconds. Han Xiao had already accomplished his mission with the invisibility, and continuing to let Hila wear the suit would just be a waste. The last time that Han Xiao had modified the suit, he had added an assistive device to help with equipping it and taking it off, making it much more convenient.

Hila got into the driver seat of the car and turned on the engine. However, the dust and smoke cleared at this moment, and the Germinal forces once again saw Black Phantom’s figure. However, no one knew that, this time, it was the real deal.

“Don’t you even think of running!” Devin roared furiously and swung his fist. His big and muscly form bounded over and shook the ground briefly. His talent allowed him to strengthen his skeletal structure, making it as strong and heavy as steel. The might of his talent was combined with an active skill as he threw a fist at his foe. Based on the previous exchanges, he had already found out that ‘Black Phantom’ could not break his defense at all, and he did not even bother guarding his body this time.

It’s fine if you thought you could bully Hila, but now you want to do the same to me‽ Han Xiao’s eyes focused, and he activated both [Surging Mechanical Force] and [Overload]. The Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace on his back burned bright red and started to make turbine-like sounds as the suit’s power rose exponentially. A piece of machinery would only truly become powerful in the hands of a mechanic.

As Devin swung his fist out, full of confidence from his previous fight with ‘Black Phantom’, he suddenly realized that his current enemy was releasing an unbelievable amount of murderous pressure. He instantly felt a gust of cold wind up the back of his head. This Black Phantom was drastically different from the one that he had fought against just a minute ago!

Danger!

Extreme danger!

Devin was shocked and felt goosebumps rising all over his body. The next second, all he saw was a sudden flash before an arm that travelled so fast that it left behind after-images slammed into his head. What followed was an explosive force on the top of his head before his whole body was smashed onto the ground like a bag of trash!

Bang!

His skull, which was as strong as solid steel, cracked into pieces as if it was made of glass.

Han Xiao’s left hand firmly held Devin’s head and locked him on the ground. The muscular giant could not break free no matter how much he tried. Just like a chef holding down a fish on the chopping board, Han Xiao’s right hand bulged up with the suit’s muscle system, and he slammed another fist onto Devin’s back as he activated the repulsion device, causing a wave of smoke and dust to spread out with the two at the center.

Crack!

Devin’s skeletal structure exploded apart, and blood splattered everywhere before his whole body sank to the ground. The Germinal executive had long since fallen unconscious. The battle interface showed that Devin had received critical damage and was currently in a stunned state.

“Boy, you came after the wrong opponent.”

Han Xiao shook his arm a few times as he observed the pieces of bone and skull scattered everywhere.

This talent is rather interesting. Was he able to strengthen his bones? Devin was only level forty-something, and his strength meant nothing in front of him. It took Han Xiao less than three seconds to put him down. The others who had been prepared to rush up just a moment ago slowed their steps in confusion.

Just half a minute ago, Devin had still been going blow for blow with him, yet now he had been taken care of in just a single exchange!

Why was there such a huge change? It was as if this was a whole different person!

The ‘Black Phantom’ from before had been fighting like a newbie compared to this current one whose presence alone dwarfed those around him.

The group of Germinal executives had wanted to rush up earlier to take advantage of Black Phantom’s weakened state, but now, no one dared even take another step forward.

The leader saw all this unfold through the screen, and he could only feel a ball of fire clumped at the back side of his throat. It was as if someone had poured ice-cold water on him as he was just starting to get excited.