Lord of Prayer - Chapter 243 177: A Big Ol' Slap

‘So they got it after all…’

Upon seeing the cardboard box, Zhou Chen remained completely unfazed. This was to be expected.

The Blood Race had mobilized so many of its members, even their high-ranking and powerful Saint Child, all to obtain the experiment reports for the Eternal Life Project. The Li Family did have hired Ascenders, but they weren’t in the banquet hall. They couldn’t have made it over in time, and besides, they would likely have been tied down by the Blood Race anyway.

With only two Ascenders in the banquet hall, the smartest thing the Li Family could have done was to simply hand over the experiment reports.

After all, the Eternal Life Project was a hot potato for them; the sooner they got rid of it, the better for the entire family.

CRUNCH.

With a sharp crack, the Silver Short Sword was crushed to pieces in the grip of the Blood Knight named Molei. He stood a full three meters tall, an imposing Giant without a doubt. A Two-Handed Giant Sword was strapped to his back as he stood there impassively, his presence heavy and authoritative, radiating a vicious aura. Beneath his armored faceplate, his eyes glinted with the savage light of a beast as he covered the Blood Race’s retreat.

‘This guy is terrifying. A powerful foe,’

the thought flashed through Zhou Chen’s mind. He let out a long breath, not daring to make a rash move. This guy gave off an extremely dangerous feeling, even more intense than the threat posed by the Blood Race Saint Child, Pansi. ‘He’s either Tier Three, or at the absolute peak of Tier Two.’

‘Anyone who can serve as the Saint Child’s personal guard must be immensely powerful.’

He secretly made a wish to be restored to peak condition. The wounds on his body healed rapidly, and his depleted Essence was refilled in an instant.

With their objective secured, the Blood Race began to retreat. The members who had been besieging Li Xiye and Xia Lan fell back, dragging their injured comrades with them. These vampires had suffered shattered skulls, crushed chests, or broken spines. The methods used against them were brutal, but particularly effective at limiting the Blood Race’s Recovery Ability—after all, the healing rate for severe injuries is far slower than for minor ones.

However, Li Xiye had no Silver Weapons, nor any other means to suppress the vampires’ Recovery Ability, so she hadn’t managed to kill a single one. The injured members of the Blood Race were already healing, groaning in agony.

She stood protectively beside Xia Lan, panting heavily. She was covered in grime and wounds, her fists a bloody, mangled mess, but her gaze remained cold and formidable. She was like a blade freshly drawn from the forge, radiating an intimidating edge so sharp you felt it could cut you with a single glance.

The moment she became an Ascender, her entire presence had set her apart from ordinary people.

It was the inherent radiance of her Soul.

“Tell me your name, human,” Pansi asked grimly before leaving, enduring the agonizing pain from where his heart had been devoured.

“Yang Chenfei!”

Zhou Chen spouted the alias he had used in the past. Although the surname was “Yang,” it wasn’t Old Yang’s name. That old man’s past was a complete mystery, with nothing recorded in his files. His Operator profile listed his name as just the single word “Yang.” For Omega’s mercenaries, their codename was their name. After betraying the organization, Old Yang had likely discarded his codename and just picked a name at random.

“Very good. I’ll remember you. One day, I’ll make you suffer the most brutal torture the Blood Race has to offer!” Pansi snarled. He didn’t know why the Abyssal Curse Object: Alice, the Doll of Home Play and Murder had turned on him, but he was certain Zhou Chen had something to do with it.

“Hmmm…”

Zhou Chen hummed thoughtfully, looking up at the sky.

The Super Large Dark Barrier was fading, revealing the brilliant starry sky hidden behind its pitch-black curtain.

This wasn’t the Blood Race’s doing; someone was dismantling it from the outside.

The Star Association was here.

‘In that case…’ A smile spread across Zhou Chen’s face. Pale flames erupted from under his feet, swallowing his form. An instant later, he reappeared right in front of the retreating Pansi.

The Essence inside him surged, gathering in his palm and bursting into a burning white flame.

Then, he raised his hand—

—and delivered a thunderous slap!

SLAP!

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the Garden, its resonance lingering in the air. It even created a shockwave that rustled the plants and trees and kicked up dust from the ground.

Zhou Chen had secretly applied the technique of his My Style Secret Technique: Rock-Breaking Force to that slap. The monstrous strength behind it shattered the skin and bone of Pansi’s face, leaving a distinct, scorched handprint. Essence followed the force, penetrating his body and transforming into a Spiritual Attack that struck Pansi’s very soul.

Immediately after, Zhou Chen decisively used Flame Dancing to escape, returning to his original spot to resume his staring contest with the Blood Knight Molei.

It had all happened too suddenly, too quickly—in less than a second.

Pansi had already been preparing to leave. With Molei present, he figured Zhou Chen wouldn’t dare to act rashly. On top of that, he was still being harried by the Cursed Puppet, Alice. As a result, he had let his guard down.

And so, he was now completely bewildered, clearly stunned by the slap. He subconsciously clutched his shattered face. His jaw was dislocated, and one of his eyeballs was dangling from its socket.

“ARGH!” Pansi roared, seething with rage. For a moment, he wanted nothing more than to lunge forward and fight Zhou Chen to the death.

But he knew he couldn’t waste any more time. The Ascenders from the Star Association would be here at any moment. What’s more, he still had a life-threatening Abyssal Cursed Object clinging to him. Lingering any longer would be a disastrous mistake.

This only made Pansi more furious and humiliated. He knew Zhou Chen was just mocking him, but he couldn’t retaliate. He could only flee with his tail between his legs.

The thought of how pathetic he looked, how it tarnished the esteemed dignity of the Blood Race Saint Child, made Pansi’s eyes turn red with fury.

And then there was the searing pain, both physical and spiritual…

“I will kill you!” Pansi snarled, his gaze venomous and savage, as if his eyes could spit fire.

“Even a sewer rat dares to yap like that? I feel like I’ve dirtied my hands just by hitting you,” Zhou Chen said, dusting off his hands with a look of utter disdain.

That maxed out the enmity between them.

Pansi’s blood pressure spiked, and he ground his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. But in the end, he restrained himself, turned, and melted into the darkness, fleeing swiftly with his subordinates.

“I don’t want to fight you, so you can leave,” Zhou Chen said to the Blood Knight, Molei. ‘Mainly because I can’t beat him,’ he thought.

Molei remained completely unmoved. He silently drew the Two-Handed Giant Sword from his back and stood ready, looking like a steel sculpture, as heavy and immovable as a mountain.

It was as if any attack would instantly transform him into a rampaging war machine, ready to cut down everything in its path with unstoppable force.

Zhou Chen didn’t make a move. He slowly backed away to Li Xiye’s side and began checking her injuries.

‘Hmm, just Physical Strength exhaustion, fractured hand bones, fractured elbow, fractured leg bone, seven knife wounds, plus various lacerations, some internal bleeding, and symptoms of blood loss…’

All in all, not a big deal.

‘A little Healing Potion will fix her right up.’

Zhou Chen reached out and touched a long bench, converting its metal parts into several vials. He then refined his own Essence into a Healing Potion. He created three vials in total and handed one to Li Xiye, instructing her, “Drink half of this, and give the rest to the other injured. Go back and help.”

The Blood Race had come and gone quickly, but the Li Family must have suffered heavy casualties. The Blood Race wasn’t exactly a benevolent species… well, while some of their families might be considered ‘lawful good,’ the ones Pansi led were unequivocal hawks. They viewed humans as food and would certainly not have shown any mercy.

They had been killing people from the moment they snuck in.

“What about you?” Li Xiye asked after drinking half a vial of the Healing Potion. She desperately wanted to thank Zhou Chen for saving Xia Lan, but this clearly wasn’t the right time.

“I have other things to do. You two go on ahead,” Zhou Chen said, sending Li Xiye and Xia Lan on their way without another word.

Throughout it all, the Blood Knight Molei hadn’t moved a muscle, standing like a weathered statue.

“Well, I’m off. You can just keep standing there by yourself.”

And with that, Zhou Chen swaggered away, heading in the opposite direction of the Blood Race’s retreat.

Beneath his steel mask, Molei remained silent for a long moment. Then, he sheathed his Giant Sword and retreated. Despite his immense size and weight, he moved with incredible speed, darting through the shadows until he vanished into the night.

However, the Star Association’s Ascenders had already arrived. No matter how well he hid, he was eventually discovered, sparking a spectacular chase across the city.

Zhou Chen used the chaos as cover to leave the Li Family estate, slipping past the cordon set up by the Star Association. He didn’t pursue Molei, as the Blood Knight had been left behind to buy time; his escape route would be different from the main group’s.

“I wish to track the location of the Blood Race Saint Child, Pansi.”

The bad news was that Pansi carried an anti-divination Artifact, so making the wish would be very costly.

The good news was that he had just harvested another ten Stars from Li Xiye and the other woman. These came from Li Xiye’s wish to see Pansi suffer a miserable fate, their shared wish to be rescued, and various other desires.

After making the wish, only a single, pitiful Star remained in the Wish Bottle. It was a paltry sum, but at least it wasn’t empty.

Zhou Chen made the wish because he wanted to use this opportunity to find the Blood Race’s main base in Hong City, and then find the right moment to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

The International Financial Mansion was one of the Blood Race’s strongholds, and it very likely housed the Eternal Life Machine stolen from the old laboratory. But that building was located in Rainbow City Center, a place teeming with people and prying eyes. It was impossible for so many of the Blood Race to congregate there; they must have other hideouts.

As one of the “factions” also searching for Professor Charles, Zhou Chen felt it was necessary to find an opportunity to eliminate his rivals and press his advantage.