Chapter 387 - 5: Worry Is for the Enemy

Since Su Zhou had transformed his muscle tissue into Spiritual Qi Organs, his raw physical strength had reached the level of a humanoid hydraulic press, measured in the hundreds of tons.

This power was enough to propel Su Zhou at near-supersonic speeds, allowing him to fly simply by treading on air. Even exceeding the speed of sound wasn’t out of the question. However, because he was still humanoid and his body wasn’t built for aerodynamics, forcing himself to go supersonic would only be painful and couldn’t be sustained for long.

When combined with his Whole Body Mist Armor—which had already reached the peak of the Minor Achievement stage and was advancing toward Great Perfection—as well as the support from Wind Aid and Spiritual Qi Enhancement, Su Zhou’s maximum burst of power could likely approach the thousand-ton range.

Granted, the different sources of power from his various Cultivation Techniques couldn’t be simply added together. Some aspects would overlap or even interfere with one another. Even so, this was truly the kind of power that could shatter cities, break armies, sever rivers, and tear down skyscrapers with his bare hands.

If he were to visit a world with a lower level of Extraordinary Power, Su Zhou could play the part of a humanoid Monster, as the vast majority of modern weaponry would be incapable of killing him.

For instance, an ordinary cannonball striking his body would inflict less damage than the recoil from his own acceleration.

So what would happen if this power were unleashed upon several ordinary Awakening Tier Transcendents?

Su Zhou was now experimenting.

BOOM—!!

A sound like the air itself exploding rang out. As Su Zhou clenched his fist and threw a punch, the Armored Soldier before him vanished into a churning, distorted white shockwave. All that could be seen were fragments of sparking steel arcing through the air. The massive boom shattered every window in the nearby houses and transformed into a gale, blasting the other Soldiers into the sky. After being flung more than a dozen meters, they crashed heavily back to the ground.

However, before they even hit the ground, a concussive blast of air, like the blow of a sledgehammer, passed through their armor, causing them to vomit mouthfuls of blood as it pulped their flesh and organs. By the time they landed, they were all corpses.

The shockwave continued to surge forward, cracking the solid stone bricks and shattering the railings along the road. The entire street looked as if it had been flattened by a steamroller. Fortunately, Su Zhou had already noted that the block ahead was clear of pedestrians, so no innocents would be caught in the crossfire.

As for the unlucky soul who took the direct hit, he had been reduced to a widespread mess that would make any janitor shake their head and sigh.

THUD.

To the left and right stood the remaining Armored Soldiers, untouched by the aftershock of Su Zhou’s punch. They stared blankly at their surroundings, realizing that in the few seconds they had been stunned, the once-tidy avenue had been transformed into a field of rubble. A bloody mist, mixed with dust, slowly settled, carrying with it the sickeningly sweet stench of blood.

Without a moment’s hesitation, faced with the figure in a black, hooded robe slowly approaching them like a Demon God, they all dropped to their knees.

Su Zhou glanced at the aftermath of his punch. Confirming that he had only caused severe damage to the street and hadn’t harmed anyone else, he held back from striking again. Instead, he used Soul Communication, his voice low as he addressed the trembling Armored Soldiers kneeling on the ground. "The alarm."

"Th-The alarm? What about it?" one particularly brave Soldier blurted out instinctively, then clapped a hand over his mouth in terror. Unfortunately for him, this was Soul Communication; opening his mouth had nothing to do with it.

"I said, send an alert to your superiors," Su Zhou’s voice instructed. "Tell them a powerful, ruthless enemy who is openly hostile to them has arrived. In short, make me sound as dangerous as possible."

Su Zhou patiently coached the Soldier. "Oh, and you can add that the heir to the Naisel family they’ve been looking for is right here with me."

"But..."

The rather clueless Soldier had been about to say, ’But I don’t see the Naisel family heir anywhere,’ but under Su Zhou’s stare, he swallowed hard and nodded frantically. "Right, right!"

At the same time, Su Zhou grabbed another Armored Soldier and asked him point-blank, "The aura of your evil thoughts is so intensely red it’s almost purple. Tell me, how many innocent people have you killed recently?"

"Th-they were all orders, sir!" The Armored Soldier’s knees had gone too soft to stand. Gripped by Su Zhou, he could feel his armor warping in the man’s grasp, and he was on the verge of tears. "Those people were all connected to the Naisel family. Who knew if they would have helped the heir return? I... I didn’t want to do it, but if I didn’t kill them, the one who..."

As he spoke, the Soldier’s eyes rolled back. A restriction deep within his Soul detonated, and he died.

’...They’re this thorough?’

Su Zhou was taken aback for a moment. He hadn’t planned on letting the man go—in this world, it was true that when a superior gave an order to kill, a common soldier had no right to refuse. But it was obvious that these Soldiers hadn’t shown the slightest hint of mercy before now.

For instance, when their captain had been torturing that poor, ordinary family earlier, they had all been watching with rapt attention.

If they had shown even a shred of compassion, Su Zhou would not have been so direct in his attack. He did, in fact, lean toward the side of good.

Just now, when the Soldier had tried to say a name—or rather, when he attempted to describe a certain individual—he had died on the spot. This mysterious group plotting against Naisel City was surprisingly well-organized, and their power was likely not so simple.