“Don’t worry, your master will soon join you.”
As the words fell, the iron hook came crashing down!
However, with a glint of cold light, Iron Hook Man’s arm suddenly jolted.
“Crack, crack, crack…”
The hook stopped just five centimeters above Xiao Bai’s head. Despite needing only a slight downward push to break through the seemingly bulky bighead, Iron Hook Man’s arm appeared frozen, utterly unable to move.
His swollen arm emitted strange creaking noises, and the blood vessels on the back of his hand bulged menacingly. Yet, no matter how much force he exerted, the hook seemed rooted in mid-air, utterly immovable. At that moment, he abruptly leapt backward, narrowly dodging Xiao Bai’s sudden swipe of razor-sharp claws.
After landing, Iron Hook Man wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. “That was close…” Even though the claws hadn’t made contact, the gust of wind generated by their swing had caused a stinging, knife-like pain on his face.
Xiao Bai’s combat techniques were clearly less diverse than his opponent’s. However, the raw, terrifying power of the mutation beast was in no way inferior.
All of this happened within a split second, yet the intensity of both the process and outcome was equally breathtaking. For a moment, the restaurant plunged into dead silence. One man and one beast faced off at a distance, neither making the first move.
Iron Hook Man remained on guard against Xiao Bai, but his gaze couldn’t help but flick toward the restaurant’s entrance…
In that brief instant, a third person had appeared.
“Ugh, I’ve been noticed, huh…” A casual voice lazily drifted in from outside the door. From the sound’s proximity, it was clear that the person was still climbing the stairs at an unhurried pace. There was nothing particularly distinctive about the voice itself, but the tone of ease was rare in the post-calamity world. It lacked the oppressive despair of many Survivors or any twisted undercurrents. If anything… this person sounded as if they were simply asking, “Had lunch yet?”
But Iron Hook Man didn’t feel even the slightest warmth. Instead, his entire body tensed up.
“A mental ability user…”
Someone who could intervene in a fight from such a distance had to fall under either the mental ability or elemental ability type. From just the first sentence this new arrival had spoken, Iron Hook Man could easily deduce more-who else but a mental ability user could sense someone’s gaze in such circumstances? And only a mental ability user could maintain such a perfectly composed mental state.
After surviving in this brutal and primitive world for a year, even without constantly being under the threat of Zombies, one would end up accumulating tremendous negative emotions. These emotions could typically be suppressed with rationality, but when faced with danger and pressure, they would easily spiral out of control. Iron Hook Man had witnessed this countless times before…
He was well aware of his current state. As a superhuman capable of going toe-to-toe with a mutation beast, the terrifying aura radiating off him after his “transformation” was nothing less intimidating than that of the beast itself. For someone with such sharp Sensing abilities, detecting this kind of presence would be an effortless task. And yet, the newcomer had merely chuckled self-deprecatingly in response…
A pang of caution crept into Iron Hook Man’s mind. The man had clearly just arrived, but he must have figured out by now that Iron Hook Man was a close-combat fighter. For someone with a mental ability to voluntarily step forward against this type of foe, it likely meant he had something up his sleeve. Furthermore, from the brief interaction earlier, Iron Hook Man had already gauged his opponent’s strength-at least in terms of psychic power-and it was formidable…
A few seconds later, the owner of the voice finally appeared at the doorway.
There he is! Iron Hook Man’s eyes immediately narrowed.
However, in less than two seconds after locking gazes, Iron Hook Man’s expression darkened. It wasn’t that there was anything particularly striking about the newcomer. He looked to be in his early twenties, of decent height but somewhat lean in build. His face, while generally pleasing to the eye, featured a pair of unusually deep and piercing eyes that seemed to gleam with intelligence. Overall, his appearance didn’t carry much in the way of intimidation, but there was something about him-an air that made him feel untouchable. Being stared at by those eyes felt as though your thoughts were being thoroughly unraveled, compelling an instinctive sense of retreat.
Of course, Iron Hook Man wasn’t the type to back down. Oddly enough, it was the Youth at the doorway who seemed to recoil instead.
Upon spotting Iron Hook Man, the young man’s face instantly registered undisguised shock. He took a deliberate two steps backward, his eyes darting up and down over Iron Hook Man’s right side as if scrutinizing every detail.
“If you had a Mobile Phone with you, would you be snapping pictures right now?” Iron Hook Man raged internally.
It’s deliberate-this kid is absolutely doing this on purpose!
Sure, his “transformation” might be terrifying, but at this point, what hadn’t the Survivors seen?
Despite his irritation, Iron Hook Man kept his guard up, his vigilance unwavering.
“Who are you?” Iron Hook Man asked, his eyes darting back and forth between the mutation panda and the Youth. He had already pieced together most of the situation, but the question’s purpose was more to gauge the Youth’s standing among the group of Survivors. ṙ𝘼ꞐỖＢȧ
“Ling Mo,” the Youth replied, coughing slightly as he waved his hand to clear away some wood debris in front of him.
“…” Iron Hook Man fell silent.
“Who asked for your name, anyway…”
He shifted his weight ever so slightly onto his heels, suppressing his growing irritation as he said, “Tang Hao. Heh, nice to meet you for the first time-“
“Not interested,” Ling Mo interrupted abruptly.
The Youth leisurely stopped what he was doing, then casually gestured to the mutation panda. As soon as his attention turned back to Iron Hook Man, his gaze sharpened, turning as cold as a blade.
“Whatever your name is, I’m going to knock your teeth out today.” With that, he clenched his fists tightly, emitting a series of “click, click” sounds as he popped his knuckles. “Weren’t you planning on sending me down there? What a coincidence-I was just thinking the same thing.”
Iron Hook Man had barely opened his mouth before the words were stuck in his throat, nearly choking on his own burning frustration.
Usually, he was the one standing cold and aloof, whether dealing with Zombies or his underlings. When had anyone, let alone some arrogant Youth, ever talked to him this way? This guy had to have been born to piss people off!
But as Iron Hook Man forcibly calmed himself and prepared to sneer in mockery, he was once again caught off guard by Ling Mo’s actions.
This guy was supposed to be a mental ability user… right?! So, what was with all the neck cracking and fist clenching? What was he even trying to do here?!
Could it be… that this guy was actually some sort of psychic close-combat fighter?!
Iron Hook Man’s pupils contracted as his fingers instinctively tightened their grip around the iron hook.
Meanwhile, Ling Mo finished his warm-up, locking his gaze on Iron Hook Man with laser focus. A low growl escaped his lips as he charged forward.
“Watch my fist!”