Chapter 168: Chapter 168: The Death of Ganmu (Request for Full Subscription)
"Dr. Li, is this the Ganmu? Good heavens, it’s so chubby, with a mouth bigger than our front door. And it has such a delicate appearance!"
You call this delicate? Hearing Lu Luo’s comment about the Ganmu, Li Tanya’s lips twitched. However, she immediately remembered the Ganmu’s previous girl-like form, its manner of speaking, and its ways...
"The Ganmu did indeed look rather delicate before it got severely injured by Zhou Qingyu and turned into what you see now."
The group ran through the muddy swamp, continuously shooting at the Ganmu.
Lu Luo scanned the people with his Observer ability. Their Dark Energy levels were basically depleted. However, some were holding back, probably those with personal agendas.
In a fleeing team, once someone harbors a selfish motive, the team isn’t far from annihilation. Because with Dark Energy, if you conserve a bit, and I conserve a bit, the bullets will become less threatening to the Ganmu. Once the threat diminishes, the Ganmu will just spray acid even more recklessly. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long before Li Tanya’s team would be wiped out.
Li Tanya must have realized this, but without any energy left and being just an ordinary person, she couldn’t fully understand the tacit understandings and unspoken rules among Transcendents. If it really came down to a do-or-die situation, these mercenaries would undoubtedly abandon Li Tanya.
Lu Luo fixed his gaze on Liu Yu, interpreting what Li Tanya had implied. This woman piloting the Mecha had managed to stave off disaster at a critical moment, which was truly remarkable. Her Dark Energy Level was very low; she must be among those holding nothing back.
He glanced at the damaged Mecha Liu Yu was piloting. Even though it was damaged, Lu Luo still wanted it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a good reason to ask for it. If he asked for it now, it would seem threatening. At this juncture, if Li Tanya yielded to Lu Luo’s coercion, deep-seated enmity would be sown between them. This was contrary to Lu Luo’s original intentions, so he could not threaten Li Tanya.
"Be careful! It’s attacking again."
The Ganmu continued to close in. Another volley of acid rained down from the sky, and two more members of the team were lost. The team, which had originally comprised 51 people, had now dwindled to just 8 after a series of battles.
After considering a logical solution, Lu Luo had already sketched out a fairly complete plan in his mind.
He walked up to Liu Yu and spoke very seriously, "You must be almost at your limit, right? Continuing like this won’t work. I’ll draw it away; you guys go first."
"Ah?" Liu Yu was somewhat astonished. She truly was almost spent and didn’t even know if she could dodge the Ganmu’s next acid spray. But she didn’t want to give up. At this moment, Lu Luo stepping forward to cover their retreat undoubtedly painted a noble image of him in Liu Yu’s mind.
This guy is quite handsome. If there’s a chance to see him again, I should apologize to him. What Liu Yu thought about at that moment was how she had mocked Lu Luo when they first met. Looking at Lu Luo now, she felt her past self was both naïve and ridiculous.
"Can you handle it?"
"Don’t worry."
Li Tanya was also stunned by Lu Luo’s offer. For Lu Luo to voluntarily suggest covering their retreat at a time like this seemed far too altruistic, didn’t it?
"Lu Luo, you..."
She didn’t think Lu Luo was such a selfless person. On the contrary, she always felt that Lu Luo was very practical and highly valued his own benefits. This was a good thing because those who valued benefits understood priorities and when to compromise, and were not lunatics driven by desire. So, dealing with someone who valued benefits generally led to acceptable outcomes. Now she just didn’t understand what Lu Luo was aiming for with this action, what he wanted to achieve.
"Let’s hear your plan."
"Dr. Li, I’ll be straightforward then. We’re still some distance away from the Thousand Lakes District. If we keep fleeing like this, with your current Dark Energy levels and ammunition reserves, the Ganmu will catch up to us no matter what. Your team now has only 8 people left, and within these 8, 5 are conserving their Dark Energy. Such a team won’t get far. If you want to survive, then someone must stand up and intercept the Ganmu!"
Lu Luo spoke with a resolute face, looking like someone ready to face death. But Li Tanya didn’t believe a single punctuation mark of what he said. Lu Luo had a silver tongue, full of deceit.
"Cut the nonsense. We’re all smart people; I understand what you mean, and you understand what I mean. Time is pressing, no need for pointless talk. Tell me, what do you want."
[Wisdom combined with sharp eyes can see through everything. To sum up, the host’s acting is not up to par.]
Lu Luo scratched his head and stopped pretending.
"Uh, I need some weapons and equipment, like a Hongtu RS grenade launcher, standard energy grenades, rifles! And also..."
Li Tanya waved her hand. "Aside from the Mecha, you can have anything else! However, it’s not just about escaping from here. We need the Mecha to return inside the wall. You should understand what I mean."
"I understand. I won’t let you guys down."
Li Tanya’s decisiveness left Lu Luo somewhat astounded. Indeed, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. Previously, the relationship between Lu Luo and Hongtu Military Supplies wasn’t exactly harmonious, and Lu Luo had even stealthily killed Lin Zhiming because of hidden threats. But now, for the sake of her own preservation, Li Tanya had actually agreed to all of Lu Luo’s demands. Lu Luo greatly admired this decisiveness as well; this woman truly was extraordinary.
Lu Luo picked up an alloy knife from Hongtu, shouldered an RS grenade launcher, then turned and walked toward the Ganmu. "Let’s go! Get ready."
Similarly, Gu Fangyi and Qi Xinzhu each dispersed, their rhythms now in sync.
Suddenly, Li Tanya yelled out to Lu Luo and his two teammates, "Lu Luo, this time, I’ll owe you one for this. If you make it back, come find me in the East Ring, and I will compensate you."
"It’s all for the Alliance, why talk about money? Am I that kind of person? Just don’t give too much when the time comes; 300,000 to 500,000 will do, just as a gesture."
Lu Luo’s words caused the corners of the mouths of the other surviving members of Hongtu Military Supplies to twitch. Five hundred thousand? This guy really dared to say it.
Li Tanya also smiled. Lu Luo might always talk about interests, but when he got down to business, he really did have his own unique perspective and approach.
"Okay, I give you my word. If you can come back, 500,000 will be handed over with both hands, but the prerequisite is..."
Li Tanya hadn’t finished speaking when Lu Luo interrupted her.
"Don’t worry, Dr. Li. Once I’ve taken the money, I will naturally get the job done."
Lu Luo knew Li Tanya meant they must stop the Ganmu, but what he intended to do was far more than just obstruct the Ganmu.
Money, Exotic Species, equipment, and even more—I want it all!
"We’re pulling out!"
"Yes!"
Liu Yu led Li Tanya and several others away. The Ganmu had always been most eager to pursue Liu Yu in the Mecha because Liu Yu had inflicted the most damage on it. But at this time, it had to stop.
Gu Fangyi and Qi Xinzhu both maintained a very long distance, constantly shooting energy at it to harass the Ganmu as much as possible. Meanwhile, Lu Luo engaged in close-quarters hit-and-run tactics using firearms and melee.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Grenades continuously exploded on the Ganmu, taking away some flesh with each blast.
Actually, the Ganmu’s agility truly wasn’t low. Its gigantic body still maintained an agility of 35. Coupled with the toxic spew and poisonous mist, the huge Exotic Species form still possessed powerful combat and chasing abilities. But as luck would have it, it encountered Lu Luo.
Facing the toxin attacks it was most skilled at, the situation for Lu Luo was as follows:
[Your Constitution of 50 reduces some of the toxin damage; your poison resistance reduces some of the toxin damage.]
[Your resilience reduces the damage by 27%; your resilience negates -9 from the final damage. You are immune to this toxin damage.]
[Your Devourer has stripped the venom from Ganmu; your Devourer - Virulent Poison Seed has evolved somewhat.]
The Ganmu’s vaunted toxins were completely ineffective against Lu Luo.
Then it began to spit acid. Lu Luo used the alloy knife in combination with Qi He, blocking the acid spew multiple times. Moreover, he was subtly baiting the Ganmu to spew acid. Because of the Observer, Lu Luo knew very well that after each acid spew, the Ganmu’s Dark Energy Level would decrease, and its physical state would become weaker. Baiting the Ganmu to spew acid was in itself a way to drain its energy.
Soon, the Ganmu realized this as well. It began to hesitate, to rage, but couldn’t manage to land a hit on Lu Luo.
Aside from the toxins and acid, speaking purely of physical attributes, Lu Luo perfectly countered the current Ganmu. Lu Luo was too fast; an agility of 50 gave him a complete speed advantage over the Ganmu, plus the 29% overall speed increase from his Swiftness. With toxins and acid ineffective and without any other energy attacks, Lu Luo could kite the Ganmu unscrupulously. Dealing with such a lumbering Exotic Species was now incredibly easy for Lu Luo.
Overall, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Lu Luo, at that moment, the natural nemesis of the giant Ganmu. Each of his abilities seemed tailored to counter it.
After continuous attacks yielded no results and being constantly worn down by Lu Luo, even the giant Ganmu couldn’t bear it.
[Ganmu’s internal Dark Energy levels are surging. Please remain vigilant, host.]
[Continued analysis of Ganmu’s weaknesses in progress, please wait...]
Right after the Observer’s prompt, the Ganmu suddenly extended the tongue from the center of its stomach. The tongue shot out like a long snake towards Lu Luo, so fast that even Lu Luo barely reacted in time.
"Is this your trump card? Bring it on!"
Lu Luo concentrated all his Qi He into his decaying alloy knife. As the Ganmu’s tongue was about to reach him—
FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
The Jet Belt executed a double evasive maneuver, catching the Ganmu off guard.
The alloy blade, imbued with Lu Luo’s Qi He, drove straight into the Ganmu’s tongue. Lu Luo twisted the knife handle with a reverse grip, instantly pinning the Ganmu’s tongue as if with a stud, then tied it into a knot and shoved the tongue back.
AWOOO!
The Ganmu let out a pitiful wail, a sound that oddly felt familiar to Lu Luo’s ears. The intense pain sent the Ganmu thrashing around. After another tangle with Lu Luo, it found that apart from accumulating more injuries, it was utterly helpless against him. As a Lord-level Exotic Species, it was having a very hard time.
Finally, the Ganmu stopped.
[Ganmu’s physical state is changing. Please, host, remain vigilant!]
"Damnable human! Do you think being agile is enough to deal with me?"
A foul gust blew from the large mouth on the Ganmu’s belly. When Lu Luo heard the Ganmu’s words, he was momentarily astonished.
This Exotic Species is talking?
Lu Luo was quite surprised, as he could now understand the language of Exotic Species. But he was certain that what the Ganmu had just said was not in the language of Exotic Species, but in human language. The Ganmu was not a Humanoid Species and had no human features. How was this possible?
Lu Luo and his companions had not entered the valley, so they were unaware of the Ganmu’s original form. He was rather shocked that the Ganmu could speak.
While Lu Luo was surprised, his actions didn’t pause. He wouldn’t cease firing until he had killed his enemy. As for conserving ammunition, he hadn’t even considered it. A dead Exotic Species was a good Exotic Species. Until the Ganmu was dead, he had to go all out.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions of grenades and energy bombs continued, gradually obscuring the Ganmu’s bulky body in smoke.
It was at this moment that Lu Luo’s Observer suddenly issued a warning.
[A special energy anomaly is occurring. The Doomsday Factor has been produced. Originator: Ganmu.]
A new Doomsday Factor? What’s going on?
Lu Luo was stunned for a moment, and a green silhouette burst forth from the massive torso of the Ganmu.
BANG!
The naked, human-formed Ganmu punched Lu Luo in the abdomen, sending him flying instantaneously. Lu Luo did over a hundred somersaults in the air before landing. In that brief encounter, Lu Luo saw clearly what the figure looked like—it was unmistakably a human!
[Ganmu - Human Form. Attributes: Strength 115, Agility 155, Constitution 70]
[Although Ganmu’s attributes have changed, she is now weaker than before.]
Lu Luo squinted his eyes out of habit. Another Doomsday Factor! Even though he didn’t know the conditions for the production of the Doomsday Factor, this human-formed Ganmu now seemed quite interesting.
Agility 155. My speed advantage is completely gone!
The Ganmu reappeared, hurling a Poisonous Fist at Lu Luo.
THUMP!
With a violent throb of his heart, strong red steam suddenly emanated from Lu Luo.
Steam Form, Mode Three!
Deliberate Bombardment Fist.
BOOM!
The collision of steam and poison gas cratered the marshland. Lu Luo, facing the Ganmu’s strength directly, didn’t falter in the slightest. If the Ganmu’s energy attribute hadn’t been poison, that blow could have crushed Lu Luo, but now, it simply couldn’t.
The Ganmu looked at Lu Luo incredulously. She had repeatedly noted Lu Luo’s absolute refusal to withstand her attacks directly. It was only because he constantly evaded and hid that she judged him to be an agility-type Transcendent. But how could an agility-type Transcendent possibly possess such strength and Constitution?
All attributes perfectly balanced—it’s unheard of, not just for humans but even for Exotic Species! How is this fair?
"How is this possible?"
"Since speed is no longer an advantage, I can only rely on strength. It can’t be helped!" Lu Luo’s matter-of-fact expression was infuriating, but since the Ganmu wasn’t human, it was even more infuriating for her.
The Ganmu knew she wouldn’t gain any advantage verbally. With her poison ineffective, her only chance of beating Lu Luo now lay in speed. At this point, the Ganmu, more extreme than her previous girlish form, had completely abandoned her Constitution, using all her Dark Energy to enhance her agility. Her speed was too fast, so fast that even overclock mode couldn’t warn Lu Luo about her next move in time.
Lu Luo, on his part, wrapped his twin Crab Swords with Qi He, trying his best not to let them break. Relying on the deterrent power of his Sword Qi, he barely managed to contend with the physically frail Ganmu.
The two fought chaotically.
The Ganmu’s punches landed solidly, each one striking Lu Luo. Every time Lu Luo was attacked, steam would spurt out under pressure, cushioning him and reducing the damage. Meanwhile, Lu Luo, adhering to his principle of never blocking, crazily jabbed with his infused Sword Qi.
You can hit me, but you’d better not defend against my attacks. Under this combat style, Lu Luo quickly became bruised and swollen. The Ganmu, in turn, had been stabbed by Lu Luo’s Crab Swords five times, leaving over ten wounds on her body.
The Ganmu looked at Lu Luo with some surprise. In such a fight, shouldn’t a normal human have been turned into pulp by now? What the hell are you? Are you even human?
But she didn’t know that Lu Luo was afraid of dying when fighting, which was why he generally didn’t speak.
The Crab Swords weren’t strong enough. Lu Luo figured that with them, he could at most use one of the Sword Heart’s Four Forms per sword, giving him two chances. With Lu Luo’s mastery of basic swordsmanship, all four of his Sword Heart Forms had reached the introductory level.
Phew, I’ve never used this move in actual combat before!
Cutting, high frequency, vibration, rapidity, sharpness.
A sword stroke executing cutting to the uttermost could cleave through the air and tear the sky.
The Third Form of Sword Heart, Sky Sever Slash.
SHRIEK!
A horizontal Sword Qi, whistling like the cry of a bluebird and as thin as cicada wings, sliced through the air in front of Lu Luo.
The Ganmu sensed intense danger and leaped up, trying to dodge Lu Luo’s Sky Sever Slash. But the Sky Sever Slash was too fast and too covert. The Ganmu couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of the slash.
SCHLICK!
The female Ganmu’s legs were severed by a single slash, falling to the ground. Sky Sever Slash, one of the Sword Heart’s Four Forms, truly lived up to its reputation as an ultimate technique, felling the enemy in a single blow.
"Ah!"
Even as an Exotic Species, the Ganmu couldn’t help but scream; the intense pain nearly made her lose consciousness. But just moments ago, she had completely abandoned her previous body to temporarily transform into her current form. Now, if she couldn’t return to that pile of flesh, she wouldn’t be able to change back.
Without her legs, the Ganmu could no longer compete with Lu Luo in terms of speed. Seeing him charging towards her, she finally panicked.
"Wait, human! Urgh—!"
SQUELCH! SQUELCH!
Lu Luo never wasted words during combat. The first sword pierced her chest, the second penetrated her brain, and the third strike beheaded her.
Even so, although the Ganmu was critically injured, she still hadn’t sustained a fatal wound and continued to wriggle. Like Lu Luo, her brain and heart could withstand impacts. Although they could be gravely injured, it wouldn’t be fatal.
Beneath the fallen head, numerous flesh fibers twisted continuously. The Ganmu faced Lu Luo and spoke again.
"Stop, human! I can tell you many things about the world of the Exotic Species, and about the tribe that is about to be born. Just stop, and I’ll tell you everything."
While surprised, Lu Luo completely ignored the Ganmu’s pleas. Pulling out a sword, he stabbed the Ganmu 27 times. Head, hands, feet, body. Qi He repeatedly pierced the Ganmu’s body, severing her muscles, cutting off her hands and legs, even dismembering her torso, yet she still didn’t die.
[Ganmu’s weakness has been fully analyzed. Her core is in the depths of the massive maw of her original body: that tongue.]
What?
Lu Luo was somewhat shocked. The Ganmu had shed that cumbersome body, yet her core had remained in the tongue of her previous form. This way of fighting was indeed very clever. Even if this outer body was killed or smashed to pieces, the real core inside had not been harmed at all. If it weren’t for the Observer’s weakness analysis, Lu Luo would have never guessed the Ganmu’s real core would be that tongue.
Well, well, that’s a deep hiding spot.
He sheathed his long sword and turned towards the pile of flesh the Ganmu had left behind.
That tongue suddenly swept at him with great speed and power. Luckily, Lu Luo was prepared and quickly backed away, unleashing over a dozen Qi Union Slashes, cleanly mincing the remaining flesh. Then, he slowly approached the tongue. The instant it made a move, he struck with the Spiral Sword. The Crab Sword shattered on impact, but the Spiral Sword Qi had already been unleashed.
CRUNCH!
The spiraling force of the sword started from the tip, completely tearing the Ganmu’s tongue apart. Blood splattered. The unprotected core couldn’t resist Lu Luo’s attack.
Thus, the reigning Lord of Rotten Valley fell.