Chapter Fifty-Seven: Aerial Assault

Amidst the chaos engulfing the entire city, the government building had become a refuge for its staff, who fled inside seeking safety, only to encounter disaster instead.

Hungry and furious, Lin Jicang rampaged uncontrollably through the floors. His massive body, once over three meters tall, abruptly shrank, adapting to the environment and evolving to two meters in height. His formidable presence remained, but his agility had multiplied.

He seized a professional woman dressed in office attire, asking the trembling lamb in front of him, “Where is Lu Sheng’en?”

The woman could only scream.

Lin Jicang lightly touched her face, and half of it immediately swelled up. The immense pain quieted her.

“Where is Lu Sheng’en?” he repeated.

Shaking, she replied, “T-top floor, the top floor!”

Lin Jicang gently set her down and strode away, each heavy step causing the entire floor to tremble.

Squeezing into the cramped elevator, Lu Sheng’en pressed the button for the eighteenth floor, the top level.

The elevator ascended steadily, but suddenly the power failed around the fifteenth floor.

Agitated, Lin Jicang plunged his claws into the gap and tore open the elevator doors, bursting out.

Behind him, the elevator cable snapped, and the entire car plummeted into the abyss, a distant crash echoing up.

Lin Jicang bared his teeth, a guttural roar rumbling in his throat. He leaped up, smashing the ceiling, and with several tons of force, tore apart a large section of the floor, rudely breaking through to the next level.

The security guards, waiting in strict formation, were stunned by this violent ascent, their reaction to fire delayed by a fraction.

Yet that fraction was irrelevant; the bullets barely penetrated halfway into Lin Jicang’s body before his powerful muscles trapped them, halting their progress.

Like a tank, Lin Jicang knocked all the guards away, a single sweep blasting entire walls apart.

These guards, usually arrogant under borrowed authority, had never witnessed such a spectacle. One by one, they fled downstairs, wailing like ghosts.

Some faint shred of humanity kept Lin Jicang from slaughtering them; he broke through two floors like a force of nature, and these ordinary mortals were no match for him, blown aside like ants.

Fed up with their attacks, Lin Jicang grabbed a guard, crushed his limbs, and tossed him to the floor. The guard’s helpless screams had a tremendous effect, demoralizing the defenders on the seventeenth floor, leaving only sporadic resistance.

Lin Jicang ignored them, his muscles expelling the bullets, wounds healing rapidly.

At last, he reached the final floor.

Unlike the heavily guarded lower levels, the eighteenth floor was tranquil and serene, surrounded on all sides by floor-to-ceiling windows offering panoramic views of the city.

Lin Jicang, however, had no interest in the scenery. His bloodshot eyes glared at the obese elder behind three men in black, and he roared, “Lu Sheng’en!”

Lu Sheng’en, long accustomed to commanding others, was visibly shaken but retained his composure: “What is this monster? You must protect me!”

The man in black nodded. “I will do my utmost to ensure your safety.”

With a gorilla-like scream, Lin Jicang charged forward on all fours.

The man in black fired three tranquilizers from his hand. Two bounced off Lin Jicang’s muscles, one penetrated but had no effect; Lin Jicang was now immune to all non-specific toxins.

In haste, the man in black blocked his path, enduring the impact as air surged and roared.

The collision between them rang out like clashing metal.

Even Lin Jicang’s boiling mind was startled: “A robot?”

Motors roared throughout the man in black’s body, and beneath his torn clothes flashed metal.

Steel spikes extended from his feet, anchoring him to the floor and carving two-meter-long grooves as he halted Lin Jicang’s charge.

Lin Jicang roared, biting the man’s shoulder with his fangs. Sparks crackled between his teeth, and a tingling numbness spread through his mouth.

The titanium alloy skeleton was warped but did not break, while the man in black’s body thundered, and he drew back his arm, punching Lin Jicang away with the immense power of his transmission system.

“Target acquired. Proceeding with capture,” the man intoned mechanically, tearing open his shirt to reveal a sleek, futuristic exoskeleton. Heat vents on his back released waves of steam.

Compared to earlier cyborgs, who merely had chips in their brains or mechanical limbs, the Undertaker squad had achieved full-body mechanization. Who could say how much biological matter remained within them? Their combat power had leapt qualitatively.

Of course, their numbers were even rarer.

All one hundred and twenty miniature motors within the Undertaker whirred at full power, industrial strength overwhelming Lin Jicang’s flesh and blood.

Lin Jicang rose, even angrier, his body writhing and shifting as powerful genetic traits awakened, further enhancing him.

The two non-humans collided, a visible shockwave bursting forth with a harsh metallic screech. The reinforced glass around them cracked, making Lu Sheng’en clutch his heart and groan.

The man in black felt no pain. Electricity crackled between his hands, and a surge of high voltage made Lin Jicang tremble all over.

But his body quickly evolved a thick keratin layer to shield him from the shocks, and he howled like a wounded beast.

Surpassing all limits, Lin Jicang’s accelerated responses helped him prevail in this contest of strength.

His claws gradually twisted the metal arms, bending them out of shape. The Undertaker’s joints creaked under the strain, and finally, the overworked motors exploded one after another.

Lin Jicang twisted the damaged Undertaker into a knot, tossing him aside.

The remaining men in black immediately stepped forward.

“The target’s combat power is too great for a safe capture. Requesting authorization for weapon use.”

“Authorization granted.”

Openings appeared all over their bodies, and shells were fired.

Faced with such pure destructive force, Lin Jicang howled in pain, charging forward in a rage.

One man in black bent his wrist, revealing a dark barrel, and fired a grenade.

The explosion blasted Lin Jicang away, half his body mangled and bloody. Though his wounds healed swiftly, the relentless battle with no nutrition to replenish him left even his high-level genes helpless—he was at the end of his strength.

The violent blasts shattered all the glass. Unaware, Lu Sheng’en was caught by the shockwave and thrown off the edge.

He desperately grabbed the ledge, his obese body trembling in the cold wind.

“Save me! Save me!” Lu Sheng’en screamed.

The man in black replied mechanically, “Currently, there are no resources available for rescue. Please hold on until the battle concludes.”

“What!?” Lu Sheng’en’s fingers slowly slipped off. He cursed, “Damn metal shell! How dare you speak to me this way? I am Mayor of Nan Sea City, soon to be Governor of Nan Sea, even President of Tianjing! You—”

The man answered, “Similar collaborations have been conducted over a dozen times across Tianjing. You may not achieve ultimate victory.”

“No! I—” Lu Sheng’en tried to say more, but his short fingers could no longer support his weight. He suddenly plummeted, falling away, shrinking to a black dot, his desperate howls fading into the wind.

Witnessing Lu Sheng’en’s death, Lin Jicang suddenly lost all strength, a wave of emptiness washing over him. The man in black shattered his insulating layer with a punch, and high-voltage currents erupted inside, paralyzing him completely. He crashed through the ceiling and landed on the rooftop.

He lay there, staring at the sky, weakness surging like a tide, longing only for sleep.

“Mom, I’m sorry…” The blue sky before his eyes blurred, and he slowly closed them.