ATPnovel Chapter 134 A Stitch of Flesh and Machine
Chapter 134 A Stitch of Flesh and Machine
The thugs who rushed towards the gate were instantly riddled with bullets and lay in pools of blood.
Seeing that the main gate was blocked, the remaining people turned around and tried to jump out of the window.
Jiang Ming has arrived.
He swung the [Fire and Thunder Prison] with one hand, sweeping it across a wide area.
It's sizzling!
The blue-purple electromagnetic field instantly expanded, enveloping all three thugs within a two-meter radius.
The intense electric current instantly paralyzed their nerves, and the three of them froze on the spot, their bodies convulsing.
The next second, the dark red blades sliced across their waists.
There was no resistance.
The three people were cut in half at the waist, but not a drop of blood flowed from the wounds because the blood vessels and internal organs were completely charred by the high temperature the moment they were cut open.
In less than half a minute, more than a dozen elite thugs from the Blood Axe Merchant Guild were wiped out.
Jiang Ming stood amidst charred corpses and pools of blood, flicked non-existent blood off his sword blade, and hoisted the greatsword back onto his shoulder.
"Clean up the battlefield. Take everything of value," Jiang Ming ordered upstairs.
Chen Qi led his men downstairs and began to loot the corpse with practiced ease.
These Blood Axe Merchants were indeed much wealthier than the scavengers outside; they found over a hundred Soul Coins alone, along with several pieces of green, high-quality equipment.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hotel.
boom!
The already dilapidated hotel door was pushed open.
Marlowe, the chief appraiser of the Black Gold Merchant Guild, stormed in with a team of heavily armored guards.
The old man was panting heavily from running, and his monocle was askew on the bridge of his nose.
"Mr. Jiang! I heard that people from the Blood Axe Trading Company are coming..."
Marlowe's words caught in his throat halfway through.
He stared wide-eyed at the hellish scene in the hall.
The ground was littered with severed limbs and torsos, and the air was thick with the smells of roasted meat and ozone.
Marlowe couldn't help but swallow hard when he saw Buck's iconic half-shaved, charred head.
He turned his head and looked at Jiang Ming, who was standing in the middle of the pile of corpses.
When Marlowe's gaze fell on the greatsword, a blend of dark red and deep blue, on Jiang Ming's shoulder, the old man gasped.
As the chief appraiser, his eye for detail is incredibly sharp.
"This...this is..." Marlowe's voice trembled. "The broken horn of an Abyssal Balrog? You actually forged it into a weapon? And...there are fluctuations of lightning-struck stone and mithril on it!"
Marlowe felt that his worldview had been shaken.
This kid bought the materials from him yesterday, and in just one night, he not only perfectly fused the extremely repulsive lightning and fire elements, but also forged a divine weapon that is at least of epic level.
Who exactly is that alchemy master behind him?
"Master Marlowe, you're too late." Jiang Ming looked at Marlowe, his tone calm. "These people said they wanted to steal my things, and they also wanted to take your deposit. I had no choice but to send them on their way ahead of time."
Marlow wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly forced a smile, "Mr. Jiang's strength is astonishing, I admire him greatly. Those fools from the Blood Axe Trading Company deserved to die, they're dead, I'll take care of things at the City Lord's Mansion."
He is now completely convinced by Jiang Ming.
Not only does he have a terrifying backing, but this kid's own combat strength is also ridiculously strong.
"Alright, enough nonsense." Jiang Ming rewrapped the greatsword in oilcloth. "You rushed over here for more than just to see the show, right? Has something happened at the ruins?"
Marlowe's expression turned serious, and he immediately abandoned his businessman's smoothness, his expression becoming extremely solemn.
"Mr. Jiang guessed correctly. We're in big trouble."
Marlowe lowered his voice and quickly walked to Jiang Ming's side: "An hour ago, the outer gate of the underground ruins was cracked open by something inside."
Jiang Ming frowned slightly: "The mechanical guards have gone out of control?"
"If it were just mechanical guards, we could handle them." Marlowe took a deep breath, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes. "It's the abyss. The moment the gate cracked open, a massive amount of highly concentrated abyssal demonic energy surged out. Our two squads stationed on the outer perimeter went mad on the spot, turning into mindless mutants."
"The spies from the City Lord's Mansion and the Blood Axe Trading Company have already detected the energy fluctuations underground. They will launch a full-scale attack within half a day at most."
Marlowe stared intently at Jiang Ming: "The energy source of the teleportation array is being eroded by the abyssal aura. We must set off immediately and force our way through the core area before anyone else intervenes!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ming turned to look at Chen Qi and the others behind him, and then at Ellie, who was tied up.
"Chen Qi, take all the supplies and ammunition." Jiang Ming patted the greatsword on his shoulder, a glint of fanatical fighting spirit flashing in his eyes.
"Let's go, let's go to the dungeon."
"Brother Jiang, the supplies are all ready." Chen Qi, carrying a heavy tactical backpack and holding an automatic rifle, quickly walked up behind Jiang Ming.
Xiao Zhang and several other special operations team members quickly checked their ammunition and placed Ellie, the elf, in the middle of the group.
Jiang Ming nodded and looked at Marlowe, who was still wiping away sweat.
"lead the way."
Marlowe dared not delay and immediately ordered his heavily armored guards to clear the way.
The group withdrew through the back door of the hotel, avoiding the eyes and ears on the main street, and made their way through a dark alley in the Ash Fortress slums.
At the end of the dark alley was a dry well.
Marlowe pressed a few times against the well wall, and a dull groan of gears meshed out from the bottom, revealing a wide underground staircase.
"This is a smuggling tunnel that our chamber of commerce dug in its early days, directly connecting to a mine pit three thousand meters underground," Marlowe explained as they walked. "The entrance to the ruins is at the deepest part of the mine pit."
The passage was dark, with only the fluorescent stones embedded in the walls on both sides emitting a faint green light.
Jiang Ming walked in the middle of the group and casually opened the panel to take a look.
Current location: Ash Fortress Underground Mine (Danger Zone)
[Exploration Progress: 1%]
The further down you go, the lower the temperature of the air becomes, and it's filled with a nauseating, fishy stench.
"Mr. Jiang, once we reach the outer perimeter, be extremely careful not to let that black mist touch your skin," Marlowe warned in a low voice. "That's pure abyssal demonic energy. Inhaling even a tiny bit will cause intense hallucinations. If it gets into a wound, it will turn you into a bloodthirsty monster within minutes."
"Is this how your people got trapped?" Jiang Ming asked casually.
Marlow smiled wryly: "The demonic energy erupted too suddenly when the gate cracked open. The two elite squads stationed at the gate didn't even have time to retreat. Now they've all turned into mutants, blocking the only way to the gate."
"What are the weaknesses of the mutant?" Chen Qi interjected from the back.
"It feels no pain, possesses immense strength, and has an extremely high regenerative ability." Marlowe sighed. "A wound from an ordinary sword or blade will heal in seconds. Unless you completely chop off its head, or use high-level light magic to purify it."
Jiang Ming didn't speak, but reached out and touched the oilcloth bundle on his back.
He doesn't know any light magic.
But he's now quite adept at burning people to ashes.
After walking down the stairs for nearly half an hour, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
A huge underground cavity appeared before them.
The top of the hollow was inlaid with countless luminous crystals, illuminating the area below.
But in the central area of the void, there was a thick, impenetrable black mist.
The black fog churned and surged, and the outline of a huge metal building could be vaguely seen standing deep within the fog.
"That's the entrance to the ruins," Marlowe said, pointing in the direction of the black mist. "The demonic energy has already spread to the outer perimeter. We need to hurry; once the demonic energy completely fills this underground space, no one will be able to get in."
Just as the group approached the edge of the black mist, a sickening chewing sound suddenly came from behind the abandoned minecart in front of them.
Several twisted black shadows crawled out of the shadows.
That can no longer be called human.
Their leather armor was torn, their bodies were covered with black scales and fleshy growths, they were on all fours, and their mouths were full of jagged fangs.
His whitish eyes were fixed on Jiang Ming and the others.
【Abyssal Aberration (Lv.15)】
[Danger Level: Medium]
【Characteristics: Demonic infection, super regeneration, insensitivity to pain.】
"It's the Third Squad!" exclaimed the captain of the guards behind Marlowe.
The mutant sensed the presence of a living person, let out a roar that was not human, and lunged forward with all its might.
Extremely fast!
"Form ranks! Shields up!" the guard captain roared.
Several heavily armored guards immediately stepped forward and slammed the tower shield, which was half a person tall, heavily onto the ground.
boom! boom! boom!
The mutant slammed into the shield, the immense impact sending several guards staggering backward.
One of the aberrations actually climbed up the shield and bit a guard's shoulder.
The steel shoulder armor was bitten through, and blood gushed out instantly.
"Ah!" the guard screamed as he wildly stabbed the mutant's stomach with his spear.
The mutant didn't care that its intestines were spilling out; instead, it tore and bit even more frantically.
Black energy surged around the edges of the wound on his abdomen, and it began to heal visibly.
"Fire!" Chen Qi shouted.
The rifles in the hands of the special operations team members spewed fire.
The dense bullets struck the mutant, causing bursts of black blood to erupt, but they were not fatal at all.
The bullet got stuck in the muscle, but was quickly pushed out by the newly formed granulation tissue.
"It's no use! Physical attacks are too ineffective against them!" Marlowe shouted anxiously.
Jiang Ming stood still, looking at the chaotic defensive line in front of him, and shook his head.
"Step back."
The sound wasn't loud, but it had extremely strong penetrating power.
Chen Qi immediately gave a hand signal, and the special operations team members quickly stopped firing and dispersed to both sides.
Jiang Ming ripped off the oilcloth, revealing the dark red [Hellfire Tribulation] in his hand.
He strode past the Black Gold Merchant Guild's guard line, sword in one hand.
The largest mutant abandoned its prey on the ground and roared as it pounced on Jiang Ming.
The sharp claws went straight for Jiang Ming's face.
Jiang Ming didn't even look. His arm muscles tensed up suddenly, and the greatsword brought up a gust of wind as it slashed upwards.
There were no fancy moves, just pure brute force.
puff!
The dark red blade sliced through the mutant's body without any resistance, cleaving from its crotch all the way to its head.
The aberration was split in two.
If it were just a normal slash, this monster might be able to struggle.
But the special effects of [Blade of Calamity] burst forth instantly.
Two hundred points of true burning damage are applied directly deep into the monster's flesh.
With a loud bang.
The two halves of the mutated body burst into dark red flames in mid-air.
When demonic energy encounters tribulation fire, it's like gasoline meeting a spark—it ignites instantly.
The monster didn't even have time to scream before it landed, already reduced to two charred pieces scattered on the ground.
Sold out instantly.
Moreover, it is a complete annihilation.
The mutants behind them instinctively sensed fear and paused briefly in their movements.
Jiang Ming didn't give them a chance.
He gripped the sword with both hands, took a sudden step forward, and swept the greatsword horizontally.
It's sizzling!
The electromagnetic field within a two-meter radius around the sword was instantly activated.
A pale blue arc of electricity spread along the ground, enveloping the remaining four or five aberrations.
The intense electric current paralyzed their nerves, and the monsters froze in place, their bodies convulsing.
Immediately afterwards, a dark red crescent-shaped sword aura swept past.
Several heads covered in fleshy growths shot into the sky.
No blood spurted from the severed neck; it was simply charred by the high temperature.
It took less than ten seconds in total.
The mutants that blocked the way were all wiped out, without even a chance to regenerate.
Jiang Ming planted the giant sword on the ground, the flames on the blade licking the rocks and making a sizzling sound.
He glanced back at the dumbfounded Marlowe and his guards.
"this one?"
Marlowe swallowed hard, feeling his back completely soaked.
He knew that the weapon Jiang Ming had was very powerful, but he didn't expect it to be this ridiculously powerful.
That's a level 15 mutant with super regenerative abilities!
They just chopped it up like they were chopping vegetables?
"Mr. Jiang... Mr. Jiang is incredibly brave." Marlowe wiped his sweat. "The gate is just ahead, and the demonic energy is even stronger there. Everyone, please be extremely careful."
Jiang Ming, carrying his sword, was the first to step into the black mist.
[Iron Will] is passively triggered, forcibly isolating the abyssal demonic energy that attempts to invade his brain, making it impossible for it to affect his mind.
After passing through dozens of meters of thick fog, a magnificent metal gate finally came into view.
The gate was over ten meters high, and its surface was covered with intricate goblin gear patterns.
At this moment, a crack nearly one meter wide appeared in the middle of the gate.
Thick black gas was continuously spewing out from the cracks.
Around the crevice, there were scattered a large number of metal parts and several corpses wearing Black Gold Merchant Guild uniforms.
"The teleportation array is in the core control room behind the door." Marlowe pointed to the gap, his voice tense. "Just throw those bombs in, and it'll explode..."
Before he could finish speaking...
A series of heavy metallic footsteps suddenly came from deep within the gate.
Boom!Boom!Boom!
The entire underground cavity was trembling.
The panel on Jiang Ming's retina flickered wildly, and a glaring red warning frame popped up.
【Abyssal Corruption - Goblin Exterminator (Lv.22 - Warrior Level)】
[Danger Level: Extremely Lethal]
[Characteristics: Physical Immunity Shell, Magic Shield, Abyssal Corrosion, Heavy Firepower Suppression.]
A giant hand reached out from the crack in the door and suddenly grabbed the door frame.
It was a mechanical hand made entirely of brass gears and stainless steel, but the gaps between the metal were filled with writhing, dark red flesh, and even had several constantly rotating eyeballs.
crunch--
A piercing metallic scraping sound rang out.
That hand forcefully pried open the heavy metal door a little more.