A cracking sound echoed within the joints of the bulletproof suit as tiles of ceramic strained under immense pressure, emitting a fragile sound of stress, tiny cracks slowly appearing on the white pieces.

The cracks multiplied, spreading like a web.

The moment they shattered, Yu Hong's right arm would surely break under the force.

Without protection, his combat skills held no value against his opponent.

By now, his wolf teeth club was long lost, nowhere to be found.

The pain intensifying from his forearm made it increasingly clear that he was pushing his limits.

Once again, the two engaged in a struggle of strength.

"Ah!"

Yu Hong roared loudly, kicking forcefully with his right leg, striking his opponent's back.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!!

After training rigorously for so long, his leg strength had noticeably improved, and now he fought with all he had, attacking one after another, more than ten strikes in rapid succession.

Finally, the two of them were thrust apart.

Guo Xudong sidestepped the backward kick, rolling to his feet.

He quickly picked up the fallen wolf teeth club and swung it forward, striking hard at Yu Hong's arm.

Bang!

Bang!!

With each hit, Guo Xudong let out a low growl, his eyes beginning to bleed with strain.

Despite the intense fighting, he was gradually losing breath.

Bang!!!

On the fourth heavy blow, he poured all his strength into gripping the wolf teeth club, smashing it down upon Yu Hong's arms in a defensive posture.

There was a dull thud, and Guo Xudong watched as his opponent staggered and crashed to the ground, eerily silent and unable to rise.

Huff...

He lowered his head, discarding the slightly bent wolf teeth club and picking up the high-strength rope that had just fallen.

He stepped forward, but after a few strides, he froze, his pupils contracting slightly.

Across from him, a mere five to six meters away, Yu Hong was once again rising to his feet, gasping heavily.

Despite the broken breathing valve, it was clear that he was exhausted, very much so, likely at his limits.

Yet somehow, that guy had gotten back up again!

"Ah!!" Guo Xudong yelled once more, sprinting forward, his legs propelling him ahead!

Thud!

Bullseye.

Yu Hong was sent flying back once more, crashing into a mound of earth.

Before he could rise again, Guo Xudong was upon him with heavy punches raining down on his head.

Ten or so punches landed, and as Guo Xudong circled around him, he seized Yu Hong's right hand and bent it backward again, but this time he was blocked.

Yu Hong delivered a swift low sweep with his leg.

The strike was quick, almost catching Guo Xudong's calf.

The sudden move startled him, and he had to retreat, avoiding the sweeping kick while creating distance.

Seizing the moment as Yu Hong appeared dazed, Guo Xudong sprinted forward again, making a side kick with his planted foot.

His right leg acted like a cannon, gathering all his energy to slam against Yu Hong's chest.

Bang!!!

This force was even stronger than before.

The powerful impact lifted Yu Hong off the ground, soaring above the mound before crashing down heavily onto the grass outside the courtyard.

Finally, he lay still.

All was silent.

Guo Xudong’s skin was flushed red, his eyes bloodshot, veins protruding on his face.

He breathed heavily, like a bellows, realizing he was nearly at his limit.

This relentless back-and-forth took a severe toll on him.

Before arriving, he never imagined that this guy could withstand so much punishment.

If he had been in ordinary bulletproof gear, he would have been finished long ago.

The strength and coverage of that protective suit were astounding.

Be it piercing blows, blunt force, or joint techniques, it offered exceptional protection, retaining immense strength.

At this point, he had barely managed to breach the protective suit’s defenses.

The thought sparked a realization in Guo Xudong’s eyes; if only he himself had a suit like that, his own safety would be greatly enhanced.

If such a useless person could endure so long with that armor, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how formidable he would be with it on!

Maybe... it would allow him to square off against that other guy as well…

With this thought, Guo Xudong hurriedly approached his opponent.

However, after just a few steps, he suddenly halted, eyes widening beneath the helmet in disbelief.

Across the grassy patch, that shadow dressed in black was once again slowly rising.

That guy could still move!?

A chill ran down Guo Xudong’s spine, and a sense of dread crept into his once secure mindset, which was now laced with unease.

“You son of a!!”

He flipped over and leaped out of the courtyard, driving his knee directly into Yu Hong’s face.

Bang!!

The force knocked Yu Hong back, who hadn’t even regained his balance before Guo Xudong followed with another kick to his chest.

Then came a rise into a kick that connected squarely with Yu Hong’s chin.

The overwhelming power lifted him momentarily off the ground, leaving him rigid for a moment.

Before he even touched the ground again, a storm of punches and elbows rained down upon his head and chest.

The fierce impacts sent him crashing back down again.

But Guo Xudong’s aggression knew no bounds; he stayed close, launching a flying knee strike.

Bang!

Yu Hong’s chest plate had already bent, and this strike pushed it inward even further.

The barrage continued relentlessly.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Five minutes.

Bang!

He landed another kick, tossing Yu Hong again to the ground, rendering him motionless once more.

Guo Xudong gasped heavily, drenched in sweat, his eyes flickering faintly.

“This time... you should be down for good, right?”

Dragging his weary body step by step, he picked up the rope, approaching Yu Hong.

But just as he had moved halfway, he stopped in his tracks, eyes fixed at the figure that was once more slowly rising, the black shadow coming back to its feet.

A cold shiver shot up Guo Xudong’s spine.

With sheer disbelief and a rising tide of fear clouding him, he watched Yu Hong stand unsteadily.

“Damn it!!!”

“Who the hell are you!?”

Overwhelmed by outrage, a madness sprang in response, pushing Guo Xudong to charge forward, his right leg propelling with all its might toward Yu Hong.

Just then.

Yu Hong instantly lifted his leg, unleashing an explosive low kick.

This sweep came at high speed, much quicker than before, and Guo Xudong lost all measure and reason in his enraged state.

The two struck at nearly the same time, yet Yu Hong’s explosion of energy was quicker, stronger than Guo Xudong’s desperate strike.

With a swish.

Crack.

Guo Xudong’s calf snapped like a dried twig under that surge of inner energy.

He was just a moment away from hitting Yu Hong, but that fleeting moment turned into an unattainable fantasy.

The agonizing pain in his leg and the sudden loss of balance caused him to fall to the ground.

Before he could rise, Yu Hong stepped forward.

His boot had activated sharp spikes, and he unleashed all his explosive energy into one swift kick.

Thud!

The spikes embedded into Guo Xudong’s chest, piercing through his ribcage, followed by an eruption of inner energy.

Boom!!

Guo Xudong collapsed, his body twitching.

The explosive destruction was fully enveloped by his bulletproof suit.

From the outside, it looked like only a small wound seeped blood at his chest.

But in reality, his entire chest cavity had been completely obliterated by the blast of inner energy, lifeless.

“...” He tried to utter something, but the havoc wreaked on his lungs left him voiceless.

He couldn’t comprehend.

He simply could not understand what this opponent was.

After taking so many brutal hits, even with such strong protective gear, the shock and strain weren’t just figments of the imagination, and the tremendous drain on his stamina was real.

After all this, how could the other party still unleash such terrifying force?

He was bewildered, as it defied all logic.

He had knocked down Yu Hong countless times, yet a single blow from that man had leveled him.

'Could it be some kind of metamorphic illness?' Guo Xudong's mind flickered with the idea.

He had heard of individuals with such illnesses exhibiting tremendous mutated abilities—strength, speed, resilience.

But even they had never gone beyond human capabilities.

Yet why… was this person...

His consciousness faded slowly into chaos.

Guo Xudong collapsed onto the ground, his head hitting the grass hard as his eyes widened before they gradually flickered out of existence.

Yu Hong approached him, swiftly rummaging through his belongings, then retrieved his keys before heading back to the cave's safe room.

Struggling to remove the reinforced suit, he slumped against the wall, bloodied all over.

The injuries were from the deformed metal plates and ceramic shards pressed against him.

Even with the protective gear, it wasn’t a hard shell armor and couldn’t completely deflect the forces.

“My wrist is sprained... my chest is swollen,” he grimaced as he examined his wounds.

“I feel a bit dizzy; I probably got hit in the chin by that hard kick earlier and got a minor concussion.”

This was still due to the suit's minor improvements.

He paused to think that without it, that last kick would have certainly sent him straight to meet the mothers, Janet and her daughter.

“And my right leg…”

He removed his boot to find red swelling and a lifted toenail, letting out a sigh.

“That guy is strong!” Apart from being a bit fragile, the attacker had heavily suppressed him from all angles.

If not for his reliance on inner energy to replenish his stamina and the last-minute counterattack, the outcome was anyone’s guess.

He previously thought that with a reinforced suit, he would have no trouble against ordinary people.

But now, it appeared…

This guy was far above his level in combat skills, with enough strength to even bend alloy plates.

“This time, this guy was just a poor fellow, not equipped like me. But if next time someone comes with similar gear, or not even exactly the same, just not too far behind, with weapons strong enough to break through defenses, I definitely would be in trouble!”

Yu Hong took out an antiseptic solution, starting to apply it to his wounds while reflecting on the opponent he had faced.

‘Where did this person come from? Why attack me? What is their goal? And why, if they had that kind of suit, didn’t they use a gun?’

A multitude of questions surged in his mind.

He needed to uncover who was behind this, as having been attacked several times already, Yu Hong knew he couldn’t just sit back and take hits like this forever.

He needed to understand the whole story and figure out a way to prevent future mishaps.

(The End of This Chapter)