Chapter 1 Closer

As he got closer, Li Cheng颐 could see the details of the slot machine more clearly.

In the old street area shrouded in gray mist, everything was covered in a layer of gray, but only this slot machine remained colorful.

Everything around it was without power, but the slot machine was still constantly spinning its gambling frame, and the numbers in the center changed from time to time.

Li Cheng颐 slowly walked up to the slot machine and saw a cracked yellow wooden stool on the ground in front of the machine.

The stool was round, like a wooden toy stool for children, with two circles on top and bottom connected by a pillar in the middle.

He looked around. The way he had come was now shrouded in gray fog and had disappeared.

Immediately, he sat down without hesitation, reached out, and touched the fruit buttons on the slot machine.

'It shouldn't start without inserting a coin, so what does this thing rely on as a game currency?' He wondered, his index finger already touching the nearest watermelon button.

Chi!

In an instant, the world spun, and everything in front of Li Cheng颐's eyes seemed to be covered with frosted glass.

Before he could recover, the slot machine in front of him had disappeared, replaced by a colorful arcade.

He staggered back a step, steadying himself.

Only then did he realize that he was standing in front of the arcade, staring blankly inside, motionless.

'Came out?'

A strange sense of loss flashed through his mind.

The dead corner of Mist Street made him, for the first time, develop a strong interest in such dangerous events.

Especially the little white flower inside, was that flower language ability real or fake?

If it was real, where should he collect that kind of flower in the same category?

He had no way of knowing.

Next to the door of the arcade, where the surveillance camera was pointed, there was a refrigerated drink cabinet.

The white light in the cabinet illuminated rows of various colorful drink bottles.

Li Cheng颐 breathed a sigh of relief and simply took out his phone to scan the code, preparing to buy a bottle to quench his thirst. This would also alleviate the embarrassment of him standing stupidly at the door without going in.

He opened the refrigerator door and reached inside to take out a bottle of jasmine tea.

Suddenly, using the reflection from the glass door of the cabinet, he saw a faint light flickering behind him.

'What is it?' He was startled and quickly lowered his head according to his trained instinct.

Suddenly, there was a soft sound.

Ding.

Li Cheng颐 only felt as if something had hit his back.

One of the two layers of body armor he was wearing seemed to have been penetrated!??

'A gun!!?'

In an instant, he judged that something was wrong and rushed to the left without turning around.

He took a few steps, but before he could run far, a figure quickly approached from the side.

Bang.

The figure slammed into Li Cheng颐, seemingly trying to knock him to the ground and interrupt his escape.

But Li Cheng颐 dodged this blow by sidestepping, and the impact only left a palm-sized tear in his coat.

The two ran wildly one after the other.

In a hurry, Li Cheng颐 looked back and saw that the person chasing him was a weirdo wrapped in a gray coat.

This person was bloated, but his steps were light, and his speed was even faster than his.

The distance between the two was rapidly decreasing as they ran.

Puff.

Another silver light flashed, and Li Cheng颐 pounced forward, narrowly avoiding the attack. But he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Even after falling to the ground, he tried to keep his head down, hiding it near his chest, so as to avoid being shot from behind.

The other party's technique was not very skilled, and his marksmanship was average. If there weren't surveillance cameras around, he could have slapped him to death.

After discovering that he was about to run, the man chased after him to kill him at close range, but he pulled away by running.

Taking advantage of his fall, the gray-clothed man held a short knife and raised his hand to chop at him.

Clang.

The knife struck Li Cheng颐's raised right arm, and the steel plate of the body armor on his arm echoed with a hard sound.

The huge force also made Li Cheng颐's arm go numb and sink down, almost failing to block the blow.

The forearm-long silver short knife continued to press down, trying to chop at his face, but it was blocked by him.

Buzz.

The blade of the short knife actually vibrated violently, like a chainsaw, and the edge gradually became blurred, cutting into the body armor, instantly tearing a large gash in Li Cheng颐's jacket.

"!!?" Li Cheng颐's eyes widened. If this weren't the street and there weren't cameras around, he would have put on the floral scale armor and used flower language to disable the other party.

But he didn't dare to now.

The flower language ability and the floral scale armor were too mystical. Once exposed, he would definitely become the target of public criticism in an instant.

So...

Now he could only rely on his physical fitness, which he had strengthened during this period, and the two sets of body armor on his body, to fight the other party.

Seeing the chainsaw-like short knife getting closer and closer, and there was no place to hide around.

Bang!

He kicked the other party in the abdomen, kicking him away.

This was also thanks to the floral scale armor's strengthening of his physique during this period. Otherwise, relying solely on the improvement from his own training would not be a match for the burly man in front of him.

This kick was not weak, kicking the gray-clothed man a meter away.

Before he could steady himself, Li Cheng颐 got up and turned to run. He glanced left and right and quickly found a narrow alley on the right.

'That's the place!' He made a turn, his soles scraping a black mark on the ground, and his body had already turned and rushed towards the alley entrance.

The surveillance camera on the wall at the alley entrance had been smashed by someone, leaving only an unpowered metal box hanging there.

Li Cheng颐 was overjoyed and rushed into the alley.

The gray-clothed man steadied himself and quickly chased after him.

Soon he also ran to the alley entrance. Looking inside, it was very deep, dark and gloomy, with a bend at the end.

Standing in front of the alley, he hesitated for a moment.

Bang!!

In an instant, a purple arm stretched out from the alley and grabbed the gray-clothed man's collar.

Whoosh!

In less than half a second, the person had been forcibly pulled inside.

Inside the alley, Li Cheng頤 covered the gray-clothed man's mouth and nose with one hand to prevent him from crying out, and used the other hand to clamp his entire body, his palm accurately pinching the opponent's wrist holding the knife.

With a crisp crack.

The gray-clothed man's wrist was broken, and the short knife fell to the ground, easily piercing the surface.

His wrist broken, he opened his mouth to scream, but his mouth and nose were tightly covered, and he couldn't make a sound.

"Speak! Who sent you?" Li Cheng颐 asked in a low voice.

At this time, he had already put on the floral scale armor, and his strength and speed had greatly increased, far exceeding the limits of ordinary people.

Just this one clamp alone made it impossible for the other party to move.

"You won't talk, huh? Fine, tough enough." Li Cheng颐's eyes turned fierce, and he twisted hard.

With a crack, the gray-clothed man's neck was broken, his whole body trembled violently, and soon his body slowly softened, unable to move.

Until his death, he didn't understand why anyone would think that a person with their mouth and nose covered could answer questions normally... He actually wanted to say it...

As the warm corpse softly fell to the ground, Li Cheng頤 seemed to realize this.

He blinked, looked around, and confirmed that no one had seen him. Somewhat embarrassed, he squatted down and began to check.

First was the knife, which clearly had strong attack power, but since the other party hadn't turned on that vibration function immediately, it meant that this function probably consumed a lot of energy.

He pulled out the short knife with one hand and looked at it.

Sure enough, the blade was no longer vibrating, and it was full of dense, small sawtooth gaps.

Dropping the knife, he quickly ran towards the depths of the alley.

Turning the corner, stepping over a puddle of stinky water on the ground, rushing out of the alley, and passing through an abandoned factory full of construction waste.

He planned to go around in a big circle and find a place to disconnect the floral scale armor and contact Sindera and the others.

But just as he rushed out of the abandoned factory, a soft sound came from the shoulder of the floral scale armor.

www.

Ding!

He felt as if he had been bitten by a mosquito, and something penetrated the floral scale armor and hit the skin underneath.

Li Cheng頤 quickly looked towards the direction of the stinging pain.

Not far away, a gray figure was still raising a gun, shooting in this direction.

Ding ding ding!

Three more crisp sounds, three shots all hit Li Cheng颐, but were blocked by the floral scale armor.

The evolved floral scale armor could easily block even pistol bullets, but now it was a little unable to block this special weapon.

Li Cheng頤 could see clearly that these were not bullets at all, but black needles the length of fingers being fired.

He raised his arms, simply ignoring them, and charged straight towards the other party.

At this time, the two were located at opposite corners of the abandoned factory.

The rectangular factory was only a wall away from the Mist Street district. It was about a hundred meters long and wide.

Outside the wall was the bus stop that Li Cheng頤 had just seen.

There were still people waiting for the bus at the station.

But at this time, neither of them had any intention of stopping.

The gray-clothed man dropped his gun and quickly rushed towards Li Cheng頤, accelerating.

The two became faster and faster, and the distance of thirty meters was covered in the blink of an eye, like two cheetahs sprinting at full speed, colliding together in an instant.

Bang!!

The gray-clothed man's coat was smashed, and fragments scattered to the ground, revealing his true form.

Under the clothes was a bald, strong man with half of his skin covered in silver-white metal.

The collision of the two revealed that the one with the advantage in strength was actually him. He was forced back a step by the recoil, raised his right arm, and his palm had already transformed into a sharp black knife.

Swish!

The blade slashed down.

Li Cheng頤 retreated two steps, raised his hand in time, and blocked the knife.

At the same time, he raised his right leg and delivered a knee strike forward, hitting the other party's abdomen squarely.

The blade left a deep cut on the armor of Li Cheng頤's arm.

Li Cheng頤's knee strike also caused the silver-white skin on the bald man's abdomen to sink inward. The knee of the evolved floral scale armor had a black spike, and at this time, this spike also pierced a hole in the center of the other party's abdomen.

But neither the cut on Li Cheng頤's arm nor the hole in the bald man's abdomen bled.

Obviously, this exchange had not completely broken through the other party's armor.

"What model is this!?" The bald man's expression was shaken. His model modification was among the top in terms of strength and close combat compared to those of the same level.

Now, he hadn't been able to break through the other party's armor with one blow?

Among the basic civilian and commercial models on the market, was there one with such strong protection?

Although he was puzzled and shaken in his heart, he didn't dare to stop his hands. Blades of light constantly slashed at Li Cheng頤.

Fragments of the purple floral scale armor were sent flying.

The bald man's strength was extremely strong, and his close combat skills were also excellent. At this time, he completely suppressed Li Cheng頤, making it impossible for him to fight back.

If the evolved floral scale armor didn't have such strong defense, he would probably have been slashed to the ground by now.

Blades of light rained down on Li Cheng頤 like a waterfall, with great momentum, but unfortunately, after more than ten seconds, they had not been able to break through the armor. A hint of impatience faintly rose in the bald man's eyes.

He had come for a quick kill. After receiving the signal that his subordinates had failed, he had immediately taken action himself in order to complete the organization's mission, but he didn't expect that it would drag on until now and still not be over.

The other party's defense was comparable to his own Mountain Wolf modified model.