Apocalypse Gachapon - Chapter 1817: Catching up (2)

The cold glint flashed before Ye Zhongming and Jie Kui’s eyes. Had they not simultaneously leaped backward, it would have struck them.

Behind them, an ancient tree thicker than two meters in diameter was sheared clean through.

Both men felt their hearts tighten.

These weren’t Earth’s ordinary trees—their trunks were monstrously dense, requiring tremendous force to fell. Even for a Nine-Star evolved, such a feat shouldn’t be effortless.

Ye Zhongming’s sharp eyes noted something unsettling—the tree hadn’t been cut. It had been smashed apart by sheer kinetic force.

A quick mental calculation left him grim. While he could replicate this with his fists, tossing something out with such force? Nearly impossible.

His wariness toward their pursuers spiked.

The taunting voice heralded a new attacker—a fist wreathed in thunderous wind, laced with a pungent, metallic tang.

This meant that even if it wasn’t poisonous, it had a certain effect.

Jie Kui nearly cursed aloud. Of course, they’d target the injured one.

Instead of retreating, the embattled Nine-Star lunged toward the punch.

The first to catch up was the bulging-eyed little girl. The cold glint earlier had been the long-handled blade in her hand.

As a Lü Zhu person, she had inherited her race’s warlike genes while also awakening a legendary top-tier ability that compensated for her people’s lack of skills beyond brute strength.

Now chosen by her race to participate in the Novice Battlefield, she was determined to achieve an outstanding result.

However, due to certain special circumstances, she had no choice but to cooperate with those two Earthlings for revenge. But as someone whose ambition was to claim first place in the Novice Battlefield, she wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to earn points.

Yes, this Lü Zhu girl, named Ya Ka, intended to kill Jie Kui.

She had promised the Earthling she wouldn’t kill Ye Zhongming, but slaying this one would still earn her points.

Her strongest attack was naturally with her long-handled blade, but this punch was nothing to scoff at either—it was an ability unlocked when she evolved to level nine, part of her top-tier awakening.

Wind and thunder attributes, combined with Illusory Breath!

Few could survive a punch that first induced hallucinations before delivering the killing blow.

Jie Kui’s vision blurred into a white haze, the scene eerily familiar, accompanied by strange sounds—like… the first time he’d been intimate with a woman.

His heart raced, excitement surging as his mind began filling in more details from that moment.

A dazed person was easy to spot.

Right now, Jie Kui was clearly under some kind of influence.

Ye Zhongming’s shock and concern, the little girl’s vicious grin and triumph—together, they painted a picture of impending murder.

Jie Kui’s sudden counterattack left Ye Zhongming helpless. Had he stayed close, Ye Zhongming could’ve intervened at any moment. But now, the guy had actively closed the distance with the little girl, instantly putting himself out of Ye Zhongming’s reach.

The Cloud Peak King couldn’t help even if he wanted to.

The creature Ye Zhongming had sent flying earlier—its fate unknown—was nowhere to be seen, but the one that had been fighting Jie Kui charged again, clearly intending to tie Ye Zhongming down. At the very least, it would prevent him from aiding Jie Kui.

Their plan worked—Ye Zhongming truly had no way to help Jie Kui at this moment.

Even Ye Zhongming himself thought Jie Kui was done for.

But in reality, not only was Jie Kui not finished, he even sent the once-dazzling little girl flying.

Watching this, Ye Zhongming recalled one of the Star-Eye Clan’s abilities—Arc Shadow Shift.

Originally an escape skill, it was designed for the Star-Eye Clan’s unique traits. When an assassination or ambush failed—or when preparing for a second strike—they needed to create distance. This ability allowed the user to disengage in a short time quickly.

Ye Zhongming, with the Mountain King Crown’s Body Swap and Earth’s teleportation equipment, naturally looked down on such an ability.

But he never expected Jie Kui to have learned it—and even modified it into an offensive skill.

The defining features of Arc Shadow Shift were its speed and unpredictable arcing movement. To achieve this, users had to forgo all other abilities, dedicating all their energy and physical functions purely to speed and distance.

Yet Jie Kui had altered it—minimizing the arc just enough to evade the little girl’s fist while turning his body into a weapon instead of fleeing.

Ye Zhongming was impressed. The modification seemed simple, but it required exceptional control over one’s energy and body to pull off. After all, much like Twin Poison Shadows, the original purpose of this ability was entirely different from its modified form.

The little girl’s hallucinatory punch did take effect—but by then, Jie Kui had already executed his move. Essentially, even though he was affected, it didn’t matter. The illusion vanished the moment the two collided.

Ye Zhongming threw a punch and a kick, forcing the hunched, long-armed creature back before grabbing Jie Kui and bolting in a chosen direction.

He could no longer afford to hesitate—all pursuers had arrived on the battlefield. If they didn’t leave now, they’d be facing eight level-nine beings at once.

No matter how confident Ye Zhongming was, he never believed he could take on eight alone!

Jie Kui was half-crippled—for now, he didn’t count.

Three blindingly white bolts of lightning shot from behind. Ye Zhongming, dragging Jie Kui along, continuously shifted directions, barely avoiding them.

The floating energy-being sighed. Without any visible movement, an earthen wall suddenly erupted in front of Ye Zhongming.

The hunched, long-armed creature and the little girl rejoined the chase, speeding up at the sight of the wall.

The tracking Tearhound Ghost tribesman, however, simply sat cross-legged on the ground. He placed five bone-like objects in front of him, then traced lines between them with his withered fingers. The viscous fluid coating his body seeped into the ground, filling the grooves between the bones.

Muttering incantations, his face flushed red before he suddenly shouted, raising his hands. The bones and fluid lines lifted from the ground, hovering above his head. With a push of his hands, they shot toward Ye Zhongming, expanding as they closed in.

By the time they reached their target, they had transformed into a massive hollow structure, enveloping a hundred-meter radius around Ye Zhongming.

The viscous fluid spread rapidly, forming a membranous layer that wove into a solid cage—completely trapping the Cloud Peak King and Jie Kui inside!