Chapter Eighty-Seven, 2023

A thunderous crash.

Two iron-hard fists met like a flood of steel colliding with a surging sea, one fierce beyond measure, the other vast enough to contain all things.

Bang, bang, bang.

At last, the two fists charged with brute force came together. Flesh met flesh, and the raw, unyielding exchange startled even the one on the other side.

Boom.

A mighty wave of force rippled outward, so powerful that the several people standing nearby were rocked and staggered by the blast.

Ye Qiu merely let his shoulders sway. The man opposite him, however, was forced back several steps, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"How is it? Interesting enough for you?"

The man wiped away the blood, and instead of anger, excitement gleamed in his eyes.

"Very interesting. It has been a long time... no, perhaps I have never met an opponent like you. Ever since everyone became obsessed with that new path, there have been very few with such a terrifying body."

"Ah, another rigid-minded fool."

Ye Qiu sighed.

The fellow who had just been driven back by Ye Qiu's punch had not even raged at being injured, yet Ye Qiu's one sigh sent him into a fury.

"You people don't understand what genes really are."

Ye Qiu chuckled. "So you do?"

"Only by understanding the human body better can mankind fully unlock its limits."

As he spoke, madness shimmered in the man's eyes.

"Fine, then." Ye Qiu waved a hand impatiently. "I don't know how human limits are unlocked, but I do know one thing: you're staying here today."

"That was only me making the first move."

The man sneered. "But there are four of us. Their pain nerves have been stripped away, so each one is more dangerous than I am, because they cannot feel pain."

"Ah, so rigid after all." Ye Qiu sighed again. "Did you not know I only used thirty percent of my strength just now?"

"Impossible."

The man's eyes widened in disbelief. He had already poured out all his strength, and yet the other side claimed he had used only thirty percent.

He had to be bluffing. He was trying to frighten him.

It had to be that.

The man could not help laughing.

It sounded like mockery aimed at Ye Qiu, but also like he was trying to steel himself.

"Whether it's possible or not, you don't need to know anymore. Die."

If this were only a direct clash, Ye Qiu might not have killed so mercilessly. But this man had crossed his bottom line.

Anyone who dared harm his sister, no matter who it was, no matter how deep he had to dig, Ye Qiu would never let him go.

"Don't speak too soon."

The man gave a cold snort, reining in his arrogant expression. He no longer looked down on his opponent, and at the same time, the other three spread out and closed in on Ye Qiu.

"Leaf, go by yourself. Don't worry about me."

She had seen the exchange between Ye Qiu and the others clearly. She was shocked by Ye Qiu's fighting strength, but she also understood that if he left her behind and fled alone, he might still have a chance to survive.

So without hesitation, she chose to let Ye Qiu escape alone.

As long as Ye Qiu lived, even if she died here, she would die willing.

"Escape? None of you are getting away."

The man no longer held back. He charged at Ye Qiu again, while the other three attacked almost simultaneously from high, middle, and low, each strike carrying a desperate, life-for-life ferocity.

With no sense of pain, they naturally knew no fear.

But such tactics only worked when the two sides were evenly matched. Clearly, they had underestimated Ye Qiu.

Boom.

Muffled impacts rang out one after another as the two sides traded blows, every strike landing with brutal force.

Boom, boom, boom.

One man was sent flying, then another. In the blink of an eye, while Ye Qiu blocked the man's fierce assault, the third kicked toward his chest.

He might not feel pain, but he still had a human body.

Pfft.

A mouthful of blood sprayed out, and that man was nearly rendered incapable of fighting.

"You're next."

After dealing with the three troublesome flies, Ye Qiu launched a full-force assault on the man. In just a few moves, he had shattered the bones in the man's arms and legs with savage kicks.

Yet in the span of a blink, those broken bones miraculously knitted themselves back together.

"Useless. You can't kill me."

The man taunted him, trying to provoke Ye Qiu into revealing an opening.

He could be struck countless times, but as long as he seized even one chance, he could eliminate this dangerous opponent once and for all.

"That's only because you've never met me."

Ye Qiu's words made perfect sense. If the man had met Ye Qiu earlier, perhaps he would never have spoken so confidently.

But amid the back-and-forth, Ye Qiu knocked the man down once more.

Just as the man sneered at Ye Qiu and waited for his body to heal, he discovered that the healing had begun to slow at a visible rate.

"Ah."

The searing pain was so intense that cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

He had not been injured for a very long time. Ever since obtaining this new genetic enhancement, no one had ever truly managed to hurt him.

The man stared in disbelief as blood gushed from his body. In that instant, everything around him seemed unreal, as though the space itself were distorting and his time was ticking down to zero, bit by bit.

"Young Master, run!"

The two men who had been flung aside actually charged back in without fear of death.

One rushed toward Ye Qiu; the other, toward Liu Yiran.

Bang.

Ye Qiu kicked the charging man away, and in that same instant, he had to choose.

Save Liu Yiran, or kill the obnoxious bastard opposite him.

In the split second of decision, Ye Qiu lunged without hesitation toward the one threatening Liu Yiran.

Boom.

He struck in fury. With a crisp crack, that fellow was sent flying more than ten meters.

"Sister!"

In the flash of an eye, the man had already fled at top speed, running like a cheetah.

Ye Qiu did not dare pursue him, afraid it was a feint to lure him away and leave Liu Yiran in danger again.

"Leaf, are you all right?"

Liu Yiran anxiously checked Ye Qiu over. She had seen the fight clearly just now. Although Ye Qiu had forced the others back, he had also been struck several times himself.

"Sister, I'm fine."

Ye Qiu turned the fallen men over and removed their masks.

None of them were familiar, but each had a massive build. Their features were ordinary, yet their expressions were icy and stern, as though they had long ago been forged in blood and fire into people who no longer feared life or death.

Two were already dead. Only the last man Ye Qiu had kicked away still had one breath left.

Ye Qiu had done that on purpose.

When he came to stand beside the man, the fellow could no longer move, yet he stared straight at Ye Qiu with eyes full of mockery, carrying a kind of heroic defiance in the face of death.

"It looks like you're not planning to talk."

The other side gave no answer and did not cry out in pain. He only stared fixedly at Ye Qiu.

The moment Ye Qiu saw those eyes, he knew the man would not reveal the one who had fled.