CHAPTER 440: CHAPTER 408 OPPRESSION

In the instant the words fell, the red beetle’s back was lined with chimneys, spewing raging flames like the vector nozzles of a fighter jet,

The resulting strong thrust pushed the beetle to vanish from its original position.

Li Cheng’s pupils shrank; his most powerful single item, the [Floating Engine], once activated, was akin to creating a rebirth of the droplet, with two only flaws: high consumption and lack of locking.

The red beetle turned sharply in mid-air with such speed that only trails of afterimages remained in Li Cheng’s retina, making it impossible to lock on.

He took a deep breath, his chest rising high, then,

"Roar!"

The [Dragon Breath] skill launched instantly, with a phantom image of a red dragon appearing above Li Cheng’s head, spewing out a fan-shaped blaze of fierce fire ahead.

The ubiquitous fungal blanket instantly turned to charcoal, emitting waves of roasted meat fragrance,

The chitin armor on the red beetle’s exterior rapidly plated over in a metal color, withstanding the terrifying high temperature and charging right before Li Cheng, with two scythe-like forelimbs slashing left and right.

The [Knight Never Dies Unarmed] skill activated, with Li Cheng’s steel banner spear striking with martial arts grandmaster-level precision between the beetle’s scythes, pushing himself back, barely avoiding the blow.

The whole action seemed effortless and graceful, yet the cracked palm and slightly fractured arm bones silently conveyed the previous peril.

The red beetle didn’t give Li Cheng any respite, the vector nozzles on its back chimneys spewing fire once again, shifting and maneuvering with lightning speed,

The two forelimbs pressed tightly against its body, rotating and slicing like blade-fitted gyros coming forth.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Li Cheng shot his spear like a dragon, continuously blocking while retreating.

Meanwhile, the [Ape-man Degeneration Gun] attached to his abdomen fired twice but failed to hit the red beetle—The opponent proactively released two pieces of outer shell, akin to tanks outfitting with explosive reactive armor against anti-tank weaponry, blocking the degeneration gun’s bullets.

Bang.

The two shells degenerated into corn crisps, falling onto the ground.

Li Cheng shot out the bat hook to create distance once again, the scythes chopping into the floor, causing the steel-reinforced concrete to crack and crumble, cascading down to the fourth underground level.

The fourth underground level, like the second, was empty, but strangely, the walls had cartoon-style paintings of cherry trees and chili pepper trees.

No time to ponder why there were drawings of pepper trees, Li Cheng activated [Instant Thunder] and [Leopard Jump Double Jump], maneuvering around to avoid the plasma cannon, leaping downstairs,

Suddenly his brain twitched, and he cast a [Death Curse Torrent] at the ground nearby.

Hm?!

In the flash of an eye, Li Cheng realized the red beetle wasn’t a player and couldn’t possibly possess such abilities.

In other words, the interference came from... Jose.

[Skill Scroll Name: Dizzy and Confused]

[Attribute: Consumption Type (Only used once)]

[Type: Spiritual Energy]

[Usage: Active]

[Level: Fine]

[Special Effect: The First Chaos in History. Designates a target, causing its thoughts and actions to randomly deviate, lasting 10 seconds. If the target is a Summoner, it will additionally force the opponent to release a random skill.]

[Consumption: 110 points Spiritual Power Value, 100 points Sanity Value]

[Cooling Time: None]

[Use Conditions: Residence in a mental hospital for at least seven days without anyone’s suspicion]

[Note: The world has 8 billion people; you tell me the box office is 10 billion? Do you think I’m brainless?]

Jose’s head still rolled its eyes, silently releasing Curse Power with a sheepskin scroll torn and bitten in his mouth.

Damn...

Li Cheng cursed inwardly, realizing Jose’s brief moment of self-awareness earlier was a trap; he’d long been completely controlled by the red beetle.

Only left with a head, still able to use skill scrolls.

Understanding was one thing; adapting was another. Thoughts and actions were disconnected, wanting to move hand but lifting foot, wanting to turn but bending waist, Li Cheng simply couldn’t place the steel banner spear into the ground to open the Purification Domain to eliminate the curse.

Fortunately, he still had one item.

A rusty and old bronze bell appeared out of thin air at his heel, falling to the ground under gravity’s impact.

Vast Sea Soul-locking Bell,

[Special Effect Two: Silence. After ringing the bell, interrupts the target’s currently casting skill and seals the skill for one hour]

Jose’s interference-type skill scroll would cause chaotic behavior, but retrieving items from the backpack inherently interacted with the system, not considered a physical "action."

As the bell fell and rang, the chaotic sensation afflicting the whole body instantly dissipated.

Li Cheng took out the [Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills], fiercely bit to replenish Spiritual Power, then spat out Black Dragon Acid towards the ceiling gap, pushing back the red beetle.

Within just a dozen seconds, he was forced to use a pile of skill items and couldn’t even find the chance to use the Floating Engine,

If it were a Lv21 player of a similar level, their head would have been sliced by the Divine Calamity infected body and be drinking blood by now.

Gray Rain also realized the moment of life and death was at hand, wielding the Skull Shattering Power Hammer and smashing forcefully at Jose.

Like a turtle retracting his head, the latter hid within the massive cannon base,

But under the power hammer’s shock blow, Jose was struck as if the bull slammed across the ridge, with a puff being blasted out from the cannon base in the opposite direction, half of his skull collapsed,

No longer able to perform the "skill scroll tearing" action.

No matter, Jose’s remaining value had been exhausted,

The red beetle jumped down to the fourth underground level, with the scythes pursuing relentlessly like ghosts, issuing commands.

The fungal blanket clinging to the third underground level ceiling suddenly ripped open, hatching countless flying insects.

The flying insects resembled Earth’s aphids of the same-winged pea aphid; they bore double wings on their backs and had exceptionally plump tails with two compartments inside, each filled with bulging liquid.

Countless fat aphids charged towards Li Cheng, tail compartments mixing the liquid,

And then, exploding.

The explosion speed of explosives is a critical indicator of their explosive power; the higher the speed, the greater the power.

For example, black powder explodes at around 300-500 meters per second, TNT at 7000m/s, hexogen at 8750m/s, and octogen at 9100m/s.

Affected by chemical reaction kinetics, especially dynamics, conventional explosive speed faces a wall known as the 10,000-meter per second sigh-wall.

Once the explosion speed surpasses the critical value, it certainly interferes with the explosive’s own chemical reaction, reducing the speed.

Because of this reason, these pea aphids opted for an alternative path.

Each aphid acted like a biological detonator, using its extremely weak bioelectricity as a type of instantaneous electric detonator. Upon reaching the designated spot, they simultaneously exploded with zero delay.

Thus avoiding the kinetic limitations of explosive chemical reactions.

Their explosion speed reached a staggering 9500m/s.

Boom!!!

The deafening sound roared,

The entire basement shook violently, nearly collapsing.

The red beetle, with armor protection far above tank levels, easily withstood the explosive force, casually shaking off the dust on its body.

And Li Cheng, standing in the middle of the ruins, activated the [Rooting in Stone Technique] to harden his body, barely deflecting the explosive impact using one arm as the cost.

His right arm gripped the [Liangyi Blade], stabbed straight into his chest.

Crack, crack.

Li Cheng opened his petrified eyes, a fragment of his body suddenly expanded.