Chapter 351 - 347: The Enemy

Watched by the people below, the two figures in the sky rapidly approached each other.

The instant they closed in, the red scar in Zhang Wenda’s hand pierced directly through the massive, snow-white atmospheric body.

But before Zhang Wenda could celebrate, he saw the long, narrow scar emerge from the other side, having caused no damage. Where the red scar had passed, the white gas was only briefly disturbed before immediately returning to its original state.

’This thing is made of pure gas, immune to conventional physical attacks!’

The next second, the high-frequency vibrations intensified abruptly. Zhang Wenda felt something resonate inside his skull, and warm blood began to seep from his ears, nostrils, and the corners of his eyes. His vision instantly blurred.

Seeing the situation turn dire, the Youth Palace quickly carried Zhang Wenda away. After transferring his injuries to the Youth Palace, Zhang Wenda began trying other methods of attack.

But to his dismay, the creature was completely impervious. No matter what kind of attack he used, it had no effect.

Not only did he fail to harm the atmospheric being, but the frequent contact also started to injure the Youth Palace.

As the high-frequency vibrations grew faster and faster, a cloud of white mist brushed against the Youth Palace’s body. Immediately, Zhang Wenda saw the flesh touched by the mist suddenly come "alive."

He watched as some of the Youth Palace’s muscle fibers writhed like snakes, tearing themselves away from the skeleton. Bones dislocated themselves from their joints, plopping to the ground like maggots and squirming before quickly dying.

"Get back! Something’s wrong with this thing!" Zhang Wenda yelled as a warning.

Zhang Wenda wiped the blood from his face, his mind racing.

’Conventional physical methods are useless. I need an energy attack, or some kind of non-physical method. I don’t have anything else up my sleeve, but I’m not fighting alone this time.’

He suddenly looked down at the fleeing convoy below. The people in the cars had their hands raised and their mouths were opening and closing, clearly shouting something. But in the chaos, their voices were completely drowned out by the wind and the vibrations.

"Maomao! Set up a local network! Pull me and all of them in!"

"No problem," Hu Maomao’s voice sounded directly in his mind. "Connection established."

Immediately, seven or eight unfamiliar channels of thought connected to the psychic network. A chaotic flood of thoughts rushed in—fear, despair, and a sliver of hope.

"Hello? Bureau 702 guys, can you hear me?" Zhang Wenda called out in his mind. "Do you have any energy-based or non-physical attacks? Like that flashlight Spectral Technique from before?"

After a brief silence, a panting male voice replied, "We do! But we can’t get a lock—it’s too fast!"

"Leave the targeting to me! I’ll keep it busy." Zhang Wenda maneuvered the Youth Palace in an arc through the air. "I’ll lure it lower in a bit. You guys wait for the right moment and make your move, understand?"

A chorus of scattered replies came through the psychic network. Some voices trembled, others were unnaturally calm, and one female voice was rapidly calculating something.

"Thirty seconds to charge... Angle deviation cannot exceed five degrees..."

Facing the atmospheric being as it lunged again, Zhang Wenda stopped attacking and switched to harassment.

Every time it targeted the Youth Palace, Zhang Wenda would recall it at the perfect moment, tossing it in and out like a Pokemon in a Pokeball.

The red scar repeatedly grazed the edge of the atmospheric being, baiting it. The Youth Palace flew in a seemingly clumsy but actually precise trajectory, gradually pulling the battle toward a lower altitude.

In the convoy below, someone leaned halfway out of a car window, making hand signals toward the sky.

Three vehicles simultaneously slowed to a stop. Their roofs opened, and a metal triangular-framed device rose from each.

"Now!" someone shouted in the psychic network.

Zhang Wenda immediately commanded the Youth Palace to dive, streaking past beneath the atmospheric being. In that instant, he saw a green light burst from within the Triangular Devices.

Three beams of light converged on a single point. The next second, a green glow enveloped the atmospheric being.

The high-frequency vibrations turned into a painful shriek. The snow-white atmospheric body began to convulse violently, its once-ethereal form rapidly solidifying.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenda’s heart leaped with joy. ’It’s working!’

As the green light flared, Zhang Wenda watched the atmospheric being’s body transition from gas to liquid, and then to solid. Its white surface took on a metallic sheen, and its body began to stiffen, inch by inch.

Just as joy began to swell in Zhang Wenda’s heart, he heard Hu Maomao’s voice in the psychic network. "Watch out!"

’Watch out? Watch out for what? Is there another danger nearby?’

But Hu Maomao’s warning came too late. As she shouted her next words, the three beams of light from below changed direction.

Without any warning, the green light swept across the sky and landed on Zhang Wenda.

Immediately, Zhang Wenda felt his body slip from his control. It wasn’t pain or numbness, but a stranger, more sinister sensation, as if his body was no longer his own.

A faint taste of rust filled his mouth. He could do nothing but watch, head bowed, as his body gradually turned to metal.

"How is this possible..." He struggled to turn his head, looking down at the ground, at his so-called allies.

Then, an unprecedented rage exploded in his chest. ’These people are traitors! All their signals were a trap!’

The next second, Zhang Wenda saw the convoy turning. The three vehicles’ engines roared as they accelerated, not toward him, but toward Hu Maomao, who was a short distance away.

"You motherf—" Zhang Wenda tried to roar, but his vocal cords no longer obeyed him.

Just as his body was about to completely turn to metal, a red figure suddenly lunged from the side. It was Red.

’Don’t touch me! Go save Hu Maomao!’ Zhang Wenda wanted to shout, but he couldn’t make a sound. Yet, Red clearly felt it.

In that moment, Zhang Wenda pushed out all the Red within him.

Immediately, red energy erupted from Red’s body with unprecedented intensity. It instantly turned and charged down toward the convoy below.

As Red approached, the passenger-side window of the lead vehicle opened, and a man leaned out. The moment he saw Red speeding toward him, his face split open.

The face tore open from the middle, the skin peeling back to reveal not flesh and blood, but a writhing, tangled mass of red worms that shot toward Red.

A flash of red light. The worms were all sliced into pieces, falling to the ground and writhing, along with the pieces of the man’s face.

Seeing Zhang Wenda, now a gleaming silver statue atop the Youth Palace, Red practically erupted in flames that spewed from all over its body.

"How dare you!" It leaped directly onto the roof of an SUV and, with a yank of its right hand, tore the roof clean off.

Several faces stared in disbelief at the red monster before them. Their ambush should have worked.

And indeed, the sneak attack on Zhang Wenda had succeeded. But the attack on his Red had not.