Lord of Prayer

Chapter 44: Chapter 39: A One-Man Show

—True damage is the most real damage in this World.

If normal Fire Type Ascenders dealt physical damage, then Zhou Chen was undoubtedly an outlier. He only dealt true damage.

Whether it was called Cyan Flame or Soul Fire, its essence was a Spiritual Attack that directly assaulted the mind. Without special means of resistance, one could only endure the agonizing pain of incineration.

The iron-masked man was indeed strong. Boosted by his Extraordinary Abilities and clad in special-made armor, he could even withstand bullets and grenades. However, he lacked sufficient resistance to a Spiritual Attack and was thus fated to become just another cog in Zhou Chen’s plan.

Suppressing the agony, the iron-masked man charged at Zhou Chen, his eyes bloodshot. The killing intent and Anger in his heart nearly took physical form—’I have to kill this bastard before I collapse!’

But Zhou Chen’s hard-won Body Technique was not for show. His feet moved as if greased, leading the iron-masked man on a wild goose chase around the warehouse and leaving him flailing like a headless chicken.

Soon, as the burning effect of the Cyan Flame intensified, the iron-masked man could no longer hold on. With a heavy thud, he collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. It was as if his entire being had been tossed into a raging furnace, every inch of his body seared by an invisible Fiery Fire. The pain was so unbearable he wished for death.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Just then, Zhou Chen began to stomp his feet forcefully. The heavy thuds echoed like a pile driver, spreading in all directions and kicking up clouds of fine dust. He then rushed over to a stack of relatively intact cargo crates and executed a set of military combat forms with practiced perfection.

In the midst of this, he also pulled out his pistol and fired wildly. Bullets struck the ground, the walls, and the unarmored parts of the iron-masked man’s body.

BANG BANG BANG… CRACKLE… CLATTER… THUMP THUMP THUMP… RUMBLE…

The sounds of a brutal battle filled the warehouse. To anyone listening from the outside, it would seem as if the iron-masked man was on a violent rampage, destroying everything in his path with absolute force. The sound alone was enough to send a chill down one’s spine; one could only imagine the bloody scene unfolding within.

In reality, it was a one-man show, directed and starring Zhou Chen.

After busying himself for a good while, Zhou Chen surveyed the widespread wreckage and nodded in satisfaction. He walked over to the barely conscious iron-masked man and said coolly, “Hit me.”

’You motherfucker…’ The iron-masked man was so enraged by this shameless act that his vision went dark, and he nearly passed out.

“Hey, hey, don’t pass out yet. Quick, hit me,” Zhou Chen urged. ’This will make the act more convincing.’

Rage boiled within him. His fist clenched tight.

Though his consciousness was already fading and on the verge of collapse, the iron-masked man somehow found that in his state of extreme Anger, he experienced a sudden, final surge of vitality. His body was once again filled with Power.

And so, mustering his last breath, he tightened his grip on his metal Finger Tiger and swung with all his might at the detestable bastard before him, unleashing the inner rage that threatened to burn him to cinders.

“DIE!!!”

BAM!

Zhou Chen threw up his arm to block. It went numb instantly, all feeling gone, as if he’d been hit head-on by a dump truck.

A hurricane of force sent him flying backward. Amidst the roar of tearing steel, a large hole was punched through the warehouse’s corrugated metal wall.

The momentum carried him, and after sailing through the air for two or three seconds, Zhou Chen finally crashed to the ground. His body bounced and tumbled, skidding for several meters across the scorched earth before coming to a stop.

He let out a pained, wheezing groan.

“So this was your plan?”

Jiang Che’s exasperated sigh came over the comms channel. “I had a feeling you were going to do this… Fine. I’ll apply for some extra hazard pay for you.”

Even she found it a little hard to watch. Zhou Chen was just too damn dedicated to his craft.

To make the act more convincing, he had steeled himself and taken the man’s rage-fueled blow head-on. The diagnostic instruments now showed he had fractured both arms and sustained several internal injuries.

Zhou Chen lay on the ground, gritting his teeth against the pain for what felt like an eternity before finally spitting out a vicious curse and struggling back to his feet.

The sleeves of his shirt were shredded by the Finger Tiger, and both his arms were fractured to varying degrees. While such injuries weren’t a major issue for an Ascender, it still hurt. A lot.

’Honestly, the Power of that punch had been beyond his expectations. He’d assumed that after being tormented by Cyan Flame, the man would have less than a tenth of his strength left. Taking a hit shouldn’t have been so bad. He never expected him to erupt with such terrifying Power at the very end…’

’Did I go too far with the taunts?’

’Oh well. The objective has been achieved, anyway.’

’—And I need to make a note for the future: never, ever taunt the enemy in a situation like this. What if they get angry, their Cosmos suddenly explodes, and they undergo an Advancement on the spot and kill me? I’d be a contender for the joke of the year…’

Zhou Chen looked himself over. His clothes were partially shredded, and he was covered from head to toe in black soot and scorched earth. He had the perfect look of a battle-hardened veteran; anyone could see he had just survived a life-or-death battle.

’Perfect. The costume is ready.’

He returned to the warehouse to find the iron-masked man collapsed on the floor, completely unconscious.

After checking to make sure the man wasn’t faking it, Zhou Chen stepped forward. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his fractured arms, he removed the man’s mask.

The face beneath was hideous.

It looked as if it had been corroded by acid. The face was completely destroyed, the features all but gone.

Zhou Chen couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath. “It’ll be impossible to identify him like this, right?”

“Hold his eyes open,” Jiang Che instructed.

“Oh, right. Iris scan.” Zhou Chen remembered that was an option. He pried open the iron-masked man’s eyelids and stared at the man’s eyeballs for a moment, giving the scanner enough time to work.

“Got a hit. Li Dazhuang, a Jinzhu local, thirty-six years old. Multiple prison records for theft, assault, and suspected involvement in the transport and trade of illicit substances. He’s also got a few bodies to his name, but he was never convicted due to lack of evidence.

“He’s served a total of fifteen years in prison. His last release was three years ago, and he was already disfigured by then.”

“Han Laohu’s work?”

“Yes. He used to work for a smuggler named Mr. Rich. Later, Mr. Rich crossed Han Laohu, and his entire operation was covertly wiped out. Li Dazhuang was the sole survivor.”

Jiang Che finished reading the last piece of intel on her screen and looked up. “His file was last updated two months ago. After his release, he started working for Iron Python.

“Iron Python is another smuggler.”

“Why does it feel like Jinzhu is crawling with so many criminal organizations…” Zhou Chen couldn’t help but mutter.

“Because Jinzhu has a port with access to both domestic and international shipping routes, of course.”

Jiang Che said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “It’s precisely because those channels exist that the smugglers flock here. A complete black market ecosystem emerged many years ago. And who do you think is the ultimate beneficiary?”

“Uh… those corporate bigwigs?”

Jiang Che didn’t answer, steering the conversation back on topic. “Alright, now’s not the time for that. You should be heading out.”

Zhou Chen didn’t move. Instead, he stared intently at the iron-masked man on the ground.

“By the way,” he said, “this guy’s useless now, right?”

·

·

The roar of gunfire gradually died down. The invaders were all but wiped out, with only a few stragglers remaining.

Thanks to Han Laohu’s contingency plan, they had caught the invaders off guard and eliminated a portion of their forces. Otherwise, they might not have been able to fight their way out of this.

Now, Han Laohu and Li Ergou’s men had also suffered heavy casualties. Their numbers had been cut from over twenty down to just seven, and every last one was wounded.

BANG!

Blood splattered. Han Laohu executed the last struggling invader and said, panting heavily, “Take off their masks. Let’s see who they are.”

One of his men stepped forward and pulled off the corpse’s mask. “Isn’t this one of Iron Python’s thugs?” he said, stunned.

“’Iron Python’… Excellent,” Li Ergou’s expression was grim. He pulled out his phone to make a report, only to find the signal had been jammed for some time.

“Save your breath. They obviously came prepared.”

Han Laohu’s face was deathly pale from a gunshot wound. He gazed at the familiar faces revealed beneath the masks and sighed. “It’s not just Iron Python. It’s Lady Grey and Qiao Que, too…

“They’ve all made their move. They don’t want to see us make peace and cut into their piece of the pie, is that it?”

“Either way, they’re going to pay for this.”

Li Ergou’s face was grim. His head snapped toward the ruined warehouse in the distance, his expression shifting. “That guy’s gone quiet. Let’s run!”

With only seven wounded men, they had no confidence they could defeat an Ascender.

But just as they were about to flee, a figure emerged from the warehouse. It wasn’t the hulking, iron-masked man, but the rookie in the Killing Maniac mask.

He was covered in dirt and grime, his body a canvas of wounds. He should have looked utterly pathetic, yet he carried himself with an indescribable calm. In one hand, he held a blood-soaked head, and a palpable killing intent radiated from him.

Illuminated by the towering flames behind him, his shadow stretched long and thin, a monstrous silhouette of pure Darkness, like a snarling Demon emerging from Purgatory.

It inspired a deep sense of Fear.

THUD.

Zhou Chen tossed the head before them. It rolled to a stop right at Han Laohu’s feet.

Staring at the familiar, acid-ravaged face, Han Laohu’s jaw dropped. He was speechless for a long moment.

There was no doubt. It was the Ascender—the enemy who had come seeking revenge on him.

’He was beheaded?’

’Beheaded… by a normal person?’

Everyone stared at Zhou Chen as if they were seeing a ghost. When their eyes met his—pitch-black and as calm as forged steel—a bone-deep chill washed over them.

“How… how did you do it?” Han Laohu stammered, swallowing hard in disbelief.

“I awakened,” Zhou Chen stated simply.

Silence descended. The men stood dumbfounded for a long moment. The turn of events was so dramatic it was difficult for them to accept, let alone believe.

But then again, wasn’t this kind of unimaginable power what Ascenders were all about?

Han Laohu was the first to snap out of his shock. “This is no place to talk,” he said urgently. “The Star Association has surely detected the disturbance. We need to leave, now.”

“These sons of bitches must have driven here. Let’s check the factory entrance,” Li Ergou suggested.

The group made their way to the factory entrance and, sure enough, found a line of refrigerated trucks used for transporting frozen goods.

After taking out the guards left behind, they all piled into the trucks and sped away.

“We’re going to see Birdman.”

Inside the truck’s cargo hold, Han Laohu shot a cold, threatening glare at Li Ergou.

With only two men left at his side, and with Zhou Chen the Ascender now allied with Han Laohu, Li Ergou didn’t dare breathe a word in protest.

’He figured the only reason Han Laohu hadn’t killed him on the spot was to keep him as a witness. That way, if Birdman or the higher-ups came looking for someone to blame, Han Laohu wouldn’t be left holding the bag.’

Hearing this, however, Zhou Chen’s eyes lit up.

’Seeing Birdman? Excellent. Absolutely excellent…’

’The guy was notoriously cautious; the intel department had been hunting for him for ages without a single trace. And now, this perfect opportunity had just fallen into his lap.’

’More importantly, Birdman was very likely a smuggler backed by the Eternal Fire.’

’He might be able to use this opportunity to advance his standing within the Eternal Fire.’

’Magnificent…’