Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Flames and lightning intertwined around Han Zu, forming a surging torrent of energy. The dark red flames licked at the fleshy walls flank the passage, instantly carbonizing the dark red flesh and forming a charred shell. The viscous fluid beneath the shell evaporated under the intense heat, turning into a foul-smelling white mist that permeated the passage. With each step, his feet sank half a meter into the fleshy ground, dark red blood and sparks flying half a meter high, leaving a clear footprint. The flesh at the edges of the footprint continued to writhe, but the residual heat of the flames prevented it from healing. The light from the passage exit and the purple light from the crystal dome in the core area converged on him, clearly outlining the humanoid flame. Within the flames, the bulging muscles of his body were faintly visible, every inch of muscle containing explosive power. As the lightning traversed the skin's surface, it left fleeting, charred marks. The skin cells at the edges of these marks instantly died, but new cells would proliferate wildly the next second, covering the charred marks. This rapid alternation of repair and damage caused his skin to always glow with an eerie red light.

Four Ferdinand family soldiers on guard duty were the first to react. Their feet were firmly planted on the ground covered in sticky flesh and blood, the anti-slip patterns on their combat uniforms and armor embedded in the flesh, leaving four shallow marks. Simultaneously, all four raised their thick-barreled energy rifles. The complex patterns on the surface of the guns glowed with a pale blue light. As energy gathered inside the barrels, a muffled hum was emitted, and the air around the barrels was ionized, forming tiny blue arcs of electricity.

"Whoosh—whoosh!"

Four rifles fired simultaneously, and pale blue energy bullets, trailing spirals of ionized air, shot toward Han Zu. As the energy bullets flew, they interacted with the surrounding chaotic energy field, causing irregular ripples to appear on the surface of the bullets. The originally straight trajectory was slightly distorted, but it still accurately locked onto Han Zu's torso.

At the same time, two other soldiers armed with live ammunition also completed their firing preparations. Their weapons were heavier than ordinary rifles, with small launchers mounted below the barrels, and red patterns similar to altar runes engraved on the gun bodies.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two muffled gunshots rang out, and specially made armor-piercing bullets flew out with a sharp whooshing sound. The dark red liquid coated on the bullet heads gleamed eerily under the purple light—it was an armor-piercing agent mixed with extracts of the Creation Engine's energy. It was clear that they had not just stolen the power of the Creation Engine, or rather, they had already captured other things that possessed the power of the Creation Engine to be able to make these things.

The drug evaporated in the air, leaving wisps of pale red mist. Armor-piercing and energy projectiles staggered towards Han Zu, grazing the nerve channels beside him in mid-flight. The blood vessels on the surface of the channels were instantly slashed open, and pink liquid dripped onto the ground, mingling with the dark red flesh and blood.

As the energy projectile flew, the air temperature rose sharply. The fleshy tentacles hanging from the ceiling of the tunnel were scorched by the high temperature, curling up and covered with countless tiny blisters. When the blisters burst, foul-smelling liquid dripped onto the ground with a sizzling sound. The armor-piercing projectile left two shallow scratches on the ground. The fleshy tissue on both sides of the scratches quickly turned outward, exposing the intertwined nerve fibers inside. The nerve fibers twitched a few times in the air before losing their activity and becoming stiff and white.

Han Zu didn't dodge. His chest expanded violently, and the violent energy within him surged forth, condensing into a half-meter-thick flame shield in front of him. The surface of the shield was covered with wildly flickering black flames, interspersed with tiny arcs of scarlet lightning that crackled and popped. The energy blast struck the shield first, and the blue energy impact instantly exploded. The flame shield was covered with spiderweb-like cracks, like glass struck by a boulder. Blue energy light shone through the cracks, and the flames flickered violently under the impact. Some of the flames were scattered by the energy impact, turning into sparks that landed on the surrounding fleshy ground, burning small black holes in the ground.

Immediately following, armor-piercing rounds arrived, their warheads whistling through the air as they struck the center of the crack. The dark red serum reacted violently upon contact with the shield; the energy of the creation engine within the serum repelled the flame energy, producing a hissing, corrosive sound. Four tiny holes were instantly corroded into the flame shield, the flames around the edges extinguished by the serum, leaving a ring of charred marks. The armor-piercing rounds then pierced through the flame shield, slamming into Han Zu's chest with their remaining kinetic energy.

With a dull thud, Han Zu's body jerked backward, his chest skin instantly caved in, the surface of the skin at the dent ruptured, and dark red blood gushed out, forming a jet. The armor-piercing bullet had embedded more than two inches into the muscle. The anti-armor agent on the bullet's surface began to take effect, spreading along the wound. Wherever it passed, muscle fibers rapidly necrotized, turning from bright red to dark purple, and finally turning into a viscous paste, emitting a pungent, burnt smell. The skin around the wound began to swell and blister. After the blisters ruptured, the ulcerated muscle tissue beneath was exposed, and even the ribs twitching could be seen.

Han Zu groaned, veins bulging on his forehead. His internal energy surged wildly towards the wound, attempting to halt the spread of the drug. The flames suddenly intensified, forcing the bullet embedded in his body out. The bullet, trailing a spray of blood, flew out and slammed into the fleshy wall behind him, embedding itself deeply. The bullet tore through the flesh, leaving a five-centimeter-diameter wound. Pink liquid and dark red blood gushed from the wound, flowing down the wall and forming a small puddle on the ground. The muscles at the wound began to rapidly contract and repair themselves, new muscle fibers sprouting from the wound's edges, a vibrant pink. However, the necrotic area caused by the drug failed to heal, forming a ten-centimeter-diameter circular ulcer. Beneath the ulcer, the rib structure, also formed from supercells but stronger than skin and muscle, was corroded by the drug, a layer of grayish-white rust appearing on its surface. With each breath, excruciating pain shot through his ribs, making Han Zu's breathing rapid.

Before Han Zu could fully treat his chest wound, more attacks came crashing down. The eight soldiers guarding the extraction device quickly spread out, forming a fan-shaped crossfire. Four were armed with energy rifles, and four were armed with live ammunition, all aimed at Han Zu. The barrels of the energy rifles glowed blue again, and the firing pins of the live ammunition clicked, indicating that the bullets were loaded.

"Fire!"

Someone shouted, and four energy rifles and four live-fire weapons fired alternately. Blue energy streams poured down like a torrential rain, weaving in the air into a vast blue net that blocked all of Han Zu's escape routes. Black armor-piercing rounds were mixed in with the energy streams, flying towards Han Zu with sharp whooshing sounds. The armor-piercing agents on the bullets evaporated, forming a pale red mist in the air.

The energy flowed onto the ground, instantly scorching the flesh and blood into craters half a meter in diameter. Blue flames rose from these craters, igniting the surrounding flesh and blood tissue, forming rings of burning fire. The armor-piercing projectile penetrated the ground, striking the nerve nodes below. Upon impact, the nerve nodes emitted a soft explosion, spraying pink liquid and white nerve tissue. The surrounding flesh and blood walls began to tremble violently, and tiny cracks appeared on the walls, from which viscous fluid seeped.

Further away, two soldiers, each holding a scroll or similar object inscribed with runes, strode forward. They simultaneously unfurled the scrolls, and the red runes on them glowed with a blinding red light under the stimulation of energy. The runes seemed to come alive, constantly moving across the scrolls. Their hands rapidly formed hand seals, and they chanted some obscure and strange incantation that Han Zu had never heard before. Suddenly, the runes detached from the scrolls and coalesced in mid-air into two sharp energy blades, each a meter long. The energy blades were dark red, their surfaces wrapped with tiny chains of runes. With a sharp whistling sound, they slashed towards Han Zu. As the energy blades sliced ​​through the air, they generated a powerful gust of wind, dispersing the surrounding mist and even tearing two small gaps in the chaotic energy field around them, through which purple energy shone.

As the energy blade flew, the air was torn apart, making a hissing sound. The dome crystal at the top of the passage was affected by the energy fluctuations, and the purple energy flow on its surface became briefly disordered. Tiny cracks appeared on some of the crystal surfaces, and a small amount of purple energy liquid seeped out from the cracks, dripping onto the ground and corroding small holes in the flesh and blood tissue.

Han Zu stomped his feet hard on the ground, creating a meter-deep crater. The flesh and nerve fibers within were completely crushed, and pink liquid mixed with dark red blood, overflowing from the pit. His body shot to the side like an arrow, leaving a red afterimage. An energy blade grazed his shoulder, the runic chains on the edge of the blade grazing his skin, leaving a shallow red mark. The skin at the mark was instantly burned, emitting a sizzling sound.

The energy blade missed its target, but struck the fleshy wall behind it with residual energy. With a deafening roar, a three-meter-long, half-meter-deep gash was instantly torn open. The fleshy tissue at the crack turned outwards, revealing thick, coiled nerves and blood vessels. The nerves convulsed within the crack like pythons, and the ruptured blood vessels released pink liquid like a fountain, forming a pink curtain of water in the air before flowing down to the ground as a small stream. The surrounding fleshy wall, impacted by the rupture, developed large cracks, from which viscous fluid seeped. The fleshy tentacles hanging from the wall were severed by the energy blade, white liquid oozing from the cuts. The tentacles twitched a few times on the ground before losing their vitality, becoming dry and black.

However, Han Zu's dodging speed, influenced by the chaotic energy around him, wasn't enough to completely evade the dense firepower. Three energy blasts struck his left arm. The first energy blast hit his upper arm, the energy instantly penetrating the muscle and leaving a three-centimeter-diameter circular hole in his arm. The skin and muscle around the hole were charred black by the high temperature, and dark red blood continuously gushed out from beneath the charred tissue, flowing down his arm and dripping onto the ground. The second energy blast hit his forearm, piercing his tendon. The tendon was burned through by the energy, the break appearing charred. Without the tendon's support, his forearm could not bend normally and could only hang limply. The third energy blast hit his wrist, the energy exploding the blood vessels in his wrist, blood gushing out and forming a red streak. The nerves in his wrist were burned by the energy, sending a numbing pain through him, making it impossible for his fingers to curl normally.

Two armor-piercing rounds struck his thighs. The first round hit the outer side of his left thigh, the bullet penetrating the muscle and lodging in the bone structure. The armor-piercing agent on the bullet began to corrode the bone, leaving a grayish-white substance on the bone surface. The agent spread along the gaps in the bone, causing him waves of pain in his left leg. With each movement, the bone rubbed against the muscle, making a "crunching" sound. The second armor-piercing round hit the inner side of his right thigh, blood gushing out like a fountain, instantly soaking his thigh and flowing down to the ground, forming a dark red pool. After his leg was pierced, Han Zu's body suffered extensive and severe damage, which began to slow his movements slightly.

A searing pain, like an electric shock, coursed through his entire body. Every wound bled profusely. From the hole in his left arm, charred muscle tissue began to peel away, revealing the bright red muscle and white bone beneath. Blood continued to gush from the gruesome wound on his thigh, the pool of blood on the ground expanding and reaching his feet. But Han Zu suddenly grinned, a smile filled with manic excitement. His pupils contracted slightly with elation, and the flames and lightning around him intensified, the color of the flames changing from dark red to a deep inky black. The temperature, however, rose accordingly, distorting the surrounding air.

He abruptly condensed the fiery energy in his left arm into a fist, the flames enveloping his fist and temporarily covering the wound on his arm. The intense heat instantly coagulated the blood, forming a scab that temporarily stopped the bleeding. Ignoring the incoming attack, he stomped his left foot on the ground, creating a deeper crater in the flesh, and his body shot towards the nearest Ferdinand soldier like a cannonball. The soldier stood beside the nerve conduit, his energy rifle aimed directly at Han Zu. He clearly hadn't expected this wounded, bleeding enemy to dare to charge, and a look of astonishment crossed his face as his finger instinctively pulled the trigger repeatedly.

"Buzz~! Buzz~! Buzz~!"

The energy rifle fired in rapid succession, three energy bullets flashing blue light as they struck Han Zu's chest and abdomen. The existing festering wound on his chest was hit again, instantly widening as the energy completely burned away the necrotic muscle tissue, revealing a beating pseudo-heart beneath. The pseudo-heart's surface was scorched black by the energy, leaving a charred mark. Although Han Zu's body didn't have any distinct weaknesses, this extremely severe injury still caused him to briefly pause in his movements. The wound on his abdomen was even more serious; the energy bullet pierced his abdominal cavity, creating a small hole in his intestine-like structure disguised as super cells. Pale green intestinal fluid mixed with blood flowed from the wound, dripping onto the ground and emitting a pungent odor. Han Zu's body trembled slightly from the intense pain, but his speed did not decrease at all. Instead, the excitement in his eyes intensified. He could clearly feel that under the attacks that had stolen the power of the Creation Engine, each attack could truly cause serious damage to him. He could even clearly feel that his life seemed to be slipping away, but this feeling of being on the verge of death made him more clear-headed, and every sense became exceptionally sharp.