Chapter 653: Hogg’s Battle Power Skyrockets, Defeats Black Ice, and Subdues Xiao Xi

As Hogg swung his arm, blood-colored energy condensed into a claw blade and stabbed toward Black Ice’s skull.

But Black Ice’s reaction was not slow at all.

It was already too late to raise his arm to block, so he could only dodge his head to the side.

Slash—

This time, Hogg’s attack finally pierced through Black Ice’s outer defense and plunged into his body.

Blood spurted.

But Black Ice was also battle-hardened.

He knew an injury was unavoidable, so he seized the chance. At the instant the blood exploded outward,

he manipulated that blood into chains that wrapped around Hogg’s arm.

At the same time his hands launched a pincer attack on Hogg above his head.

His plan was sound.

With blood chains binding Hogg and his own assault added in,

if this strike landed, Hogg would undoubtedly take heavy damage.

However, he had underestimated Hogg’s strength.

Or rather, he had forgotten how masterful Hogg was at controlling blood energy.

Just as the blood chains coiled around Hogg’s arm,

the blood-colored patterns on Hogg’s mechanical armor lit up.

The blood chains clinging to Hogg’s arm were instantly absorbed and shattered by the armor.

The claw that had pierced Black Ice’s shoulder also radiated a red glow.

“Ah—”

Black Ice let out a howl of pain.

He desperately tried to fling Hogg off his head.

But Hogg had already leapt away first.

He also carried away a surge of blood drawn from Black Ice’s body.

This was the bloodsucking trait of a Bloodsucking Werewolf.

Compared to vampires, it was even more terrifying and unbelievable.

At least vampires need to bite their target to suck blood.

Hogg’s attacks all inherently had blood-siphoning effects.

Even his mechanical armor, because of the blood patterns, turned strangely sinister.

At this moment, Hogg had a clear counter to Black Ice.

Hogg did not hesitate.

After evading Black Ice’s strike, he surged forward again,

unleashing a hailstorm of attacks on Black Ice.

His movement and attack speeds were now more than double what they had been.

Previously his movements left afterimages; now, not only were there no afterimages, even a faint blur line was remarkable.

Blood sprayed from Black Ice’s body like a bursting bucket, gushing from every wound.

Black Ice tried to seal his own blood using blood energy.

But his effort seemed feeble under the absolute suppression of the bloodline.

Hogg’s bloodline contained Lilith’s genes; his authority over blood energy was not comparable to Black Ice’s.

The blood that left Black Ice’s body vanished in less than a second,

entirely absorbed by Hogg.

Black Ice’s massive form had become the most conspicuous live target.

As his blood drained, his strength rapidly declined.

Meanwhile Hogg grew faster and his attacks more vicious.

Finally—

With a crisp “crack,” one of Black Ice’s arms was severed by Hogg.

That arm seemed to be the final straw that broke Black Ice.

Another arm and both legs were cut off in succession.

Four geysers of blood spurted out, all controlled by Hogg and formed into blood orbs that settled into his hands before slowly dissipating.

Hogg revealed himself, a satisfied, delighted expression on his face.

“Ugh...” he emitted a contented sound.

He twisted his neck as bones cracked audibly.

His gaze fell on the now human-stick Black Ice as he calmed the bloodline and feral power within.

The blood-colored energy and lightning on his surface gradually faded, and the blood patterns on his mechanical armor slowly vanished.

Finally, the electric vapor cloud over his head began to dissipate.

Only then did Hogg realize his headset had been fried during the energy surge in the fight.

Fortunately his eyesight was excellent, and he soon spotted a drone in the distant sky.

After making all the safe signals toward the drone, he waited quietly.

Soon the distant roar of engines sounded.

The Pioneering Group drove in from afar.

When they were still fifty meters away, the convoy slowed to a stop, then a line of Pioneering Group Soldiers in mechanical armor closed around the now human-stick Black Ice.

Baku handed Hogg an intact headset.

From his expression, one could see his inner shock and complex feelings.

“Hogg, your strength is actually this strong now!”

Baku and Hogg had been old rivals for many years.

One had once been the Police Chief of the Black Shield Police Department, the other had truly controlled Thug Prison in the past.

Baku knew Hogg quite well.

Now seeing his former rival single-handedly take down such a formidable enemy,

Baku’s emotions were tangled.

Hogg had already returned to human form, his mechanical helmet retracting to reveal his head.

His pupils were a wine-red color as he looked at Baku.

Sharp canines showed at the corner of his mouth as he grinned smugly.

“So? Want to join me? Getting injected with the Bloodsucking Werewolf serum won’t be a loss.”

Baku curled his lip and handed the headset over.

“Tch, that depends on what the Leader wants.”

Hogg put the headset on, and the Alpha’s voice came through.

“Hogg, status?”

“Relax! Black Ice barely has the strength to resist now, he’s close to death, no problems.”

Hearing Hogg, the Alpha breathed easier.

He ordered the Pioneering Group to begin containment.

Three prepared Pioneering Group members carried an Alloy Box.

Under Hogg’s protection they approached Black Ice, took out the Enhanced Spirituality Inhibitor from the Alloy Box, and injected it into Black Ice.

This injection had been improved afterward.

Although Black Ice’s mutated body had astonishing defenses, most of his blood energy had been absorbed by Hogg and he was riddled with wounds.

Injection was easy.

Soon Black Ice’s consciousness went unconscious, his life fluctuations smoothed, and his blood energy dissipated.

The Spirituality Inhibitor took effect.

Black Ice was captured successfully!

-

[Triggered 'Rat Tail Whip' effect, Follower +1....]

Watching the message pop up on the Virtual Light Screen, Yu Yuan let out a long breath.

Just then, the Alpha’s message came through.

“Huh? Black Ice secured?”

Looking at the now human-stick Black Ice, Yu Yuan raised a brow.

“Tsk tsk—after all this time, Alpha’s way of capturing enemies is still the same as always!”

Back when the Jackal squad captured Loris, they had cut Loris into a human-stick.

Unexpectedly, they had done the same to Black Ice.

Alpha really favored the human-stick method!

[Wolf Den · King: Good, move closer to the city, wait for my orders.]

Yu Yuan closed the Virtual Light Screen and looked toward Xiao Xi.

The Parasitic Blood Vine had already loosened its hold on Xiao Xi.

But Xiao Xi remained lying on the ground, utterly motionless.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get up, but she simply couldn’t.

The Parasitic Blood Vine had already sucked most of the blood from her body; she didn’t even have the strength to move.

Yu Yuan gave a light chuckle and produced a bottle of Epic-tier Blood Brew, feeding it to Xiao Xi.

Xiao Xi was crucial to his upcoming plans against the Blood Clan.

There could be no mistakes...