Chapter 8: The Decisive Field

On the other side of the civic plaza, the battle between Qi Yu and Justice was reaching its climax.

Both combatants had undergone massive transformations since the fight began. The robot that Justice had become after losing control no longer resembled the T-800 Terminator it had initially mimicked. Throughout the battle, it had continuously absorbed every mechanical object it touched, assimilating them into its own structure. Utility poles, giant screens, helicopters, police cruisers, and armored vehicles had all become parts of its body, turning it into a massive robot standing seven or eight meters tall.

"Desire-man, sin, purge. Justice, victory!"

Giant speakers embedded across the robot’s frame broadcasted its murmured, electronically synthesized voice. A massive cannon extended from its shoulder, unleashing a scorching blast of fire downward.

Boom!

Amidst the deafening roar, Qi Yu was sent flying. His body was covered in gruesome bloodstains, which were instantly encased by a black substance. Though repulsive, it acted like armor, protecting him. His right arm had undergone a grotesque mutation, sprouting an array of black, weaponized protrusions, each muzzle flickering with intense light.

Qi Yu coughed up blood, his mind slipping into chaos. The images he perceived were increasingly disconnected from the thoughts in his head. Eventually, all his intentions converged into a single, overwhelming desire: to blast it to pieces!

Boom! Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Bang!

The weaponry extending from his shoulders opened fire on the giant robot. A barrage of bullets and explosions erupted across the machine’s body, forcing it to stagger backward. As the robot reeled from the impact, its speakers emitted a piercing alarm, as if it were on the verge of collapse.

But Qi Yu, clinging to a shred of consciousness, realized in despair that this was merely an illusion. His frantic hail of bullets, while hitting the robot, failed to cause any real damage.

*This won't work,* he thought, his mind muddled. *Those external mechanical layers are absorbing my ammunition. If my 'Desire Bullets' don't hit the main body, they can't deal effective damage.*

A moment later, a cannon blast detonated in front of him, the shockwave sending him flying over ten meters away. When he hit the ground, he was in a wretched state; the armor made of black matter had shattered, exposing his human skin.

*I can't win. Justice is too strong.*

Just as he was about to give up entirely, Qi Yu watched the giant robot stride toward him, reach down, and lift him by the throat until he was face-to-face with it. Without hesitation, the machine opened its maw, preparing to swallow Qi Yu into a throat filled with exposed data cables.

*It’s over,* was the final thought that flickered through Qi Yu’s remaining consciousness.

Swish!

A phantom sound of a blade cutting through the air brushed past his ears. Qi Yu blinked in a daze, immediately feeling the robot’s massive, crushing grip go limp. As he fell through the air, he looked up.

The robot’s severed hand spun away into the distance. Before the stump stood a figure clad in crimson armor, shimmering with evil, tyrannical scarlet runes. The figure had leapt high into the air, a great black-flamed blade held in a post-strike stance.

The armored warrior tilted his head slightly, glanced at the falling Qi Yu, and chuckled. "So, it’s Qi Yu."

Listening to the distorted, menacing voice, an image of a stranger he had once met flashed inexplicably through Qi Yu’s mind. He gasped, "Brother Zhou!?"

"Indeed!"

A second later, Qi Yu hit the ground hard, but he ignored the pain, his eyes locked on Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan was suspended in mid-air, his cape rapidly transforming into wings to allow him to glide. Simultaneously, he stretched out his left hand toward the robot, firing a strand of silk that latched onto it before snapping instantly. He fired several more, and though they kept breaking, the tension was enough to alter his flight trajectory. Using the centrifugal force to swing behind the robot in mid-air, he laughed and shouted, "Qi Yu, once you're out, work with 'Swordmaster' to clean up the stragglers. I’ll handle this big guy and the other Desire-men."

Before the words had even faded, Zhou Yan didn't wait for a reply. He gestured, and a gorgeous, eerie gourd floated above his head.

[Equipment Effect Activated — Decisive Domain]
[Target Locked — All Desire-men within the restricted area]

The stopper of the ghost gourd popped open automatically, and endless purple mist poured out, rapidly shrouding most of the civic plaza. Every human, including Qi Yu and Long, was pushed by an irresistible, strange force until they found themselves shoved to the edge of the plaza.

Before them lay a vast expanse of strange purple fog they could not enter. Outside the mist, a few stray, rampaging Desire-men, oblivious to the change, continued to hunt humans, sending surviving civilians—who thought they had escaped death—into panicked screams as they fled.

Recovering their senses, Long and Qi Yu immediately launched a counterattack, hunting the Desire-men in their respective sectors. The federal police, who had been watching from the perimeter in terror, finally managed to organize an assault to save citizens and surround the isolated Desire-men. The situation was suddenly brought under control.

Inside the headquarters of the Extreme Desire Church:

Snap!

The glass in the Pope’s hand was crushed to powder. Watching the scene on the screen, he asked in a cold voice, "What is the meaning of this purple mist?"

His subordinates glanced at each other, none daring to speak.

The Pope shook his head and said, "Sha He is at the scene, isn't he? Call him."

"Certainly." The blonde secretary quickly pulled out her phone and dialed.

Two seconds later:

"The number you have dialed is switched off."

The atmosphere turned icy; everyone exchanged uneasy looks. The secretary hung up the phone and looked toward the Pope. The man drummed his fingers on the table, his voice cold. "It seems a situation outside our plans has occurred. A hunter lurking in the shadows has emerged."

"Then..." a subordinate, fully encased in black armor similar to the Black Knight Zhou Yan had destroyed earlier, asked in a muffled voice, "Does the Metropolitan Plan in two days proceed as scheduled?"

The Pope remained silent for two seconds before suddenly laughing.

He whispered, "Of course we proceed as planned. Compared to the goal in two days, today’s events are nothing but an appetizer."

While the mastermind in the shadows plotted, Zhou Yan dived within the purple-shrouded Decisive Domain, delivering a heavy Ghost Fist from behind into the robot’s back.

Boom!

A single punch sent the robot stumbling forward, its metal armor deeply dented. This Ghost Fist hadn't been infused with demonic energy, nor did it involve a massive spectral explosion, yet the force was no less potent than his previous attacks against the sand-wielding Inhibitor. This was because Zhou Yan had fully stacked his physical bonuses through the "Reaping Circuit" while slaughtering Desire-men along the way.

He landed on the robot’s back, his right hand gripping the Lotus Disaster Sword, which he drove downward with force.

Swish!

A jarring sound rang out as the sword, wreathed in black flames, pierced into the robot's body. Before the blade could sink in deep, a section of the robot’s back opened, revealing a cannon barrel.

Boom!

The muzzle erupted, and the violent explosion blasted Zhou Yan away. He landed over ten meters out, completely unscathed, save for a few dark smudges on his armor. He swiped his sword, instantly decapitating a group of nearby Desire-men, and let out a faint chuckle.

"Persistent, aren't we?"

"Then... let’s have some real fun."