Chapter 157: New Skill

Chapter 57: New Move

In Golisopod’s pitch-black, insectoid eyes, an expression of utter disbelief emerged.

"How is that possible!?"

In all its past battles, its "Shell Blade" had been virtually invincible. Relying on its extremely high sharpness and flexible, adaptable form, every execution yielded extraordinary results.

Why, then, had it failed against a mere Machop this time?

There was no time for further contemplation, because the very next second, Lu Yun’s iron fist, blazing with Fighting-type aura, slammed ruthlessly into its abdomen.

The special effect of the "Payback" move allowed Lu Yun to temporarily gain a terrifying power multiplier from Golisopod’s "Shell Blade," all of which was channeled directly into this single uppercut.

The air around the fist compressed and stagnated, emitting a painful, overloaded wail;
The reddish-brown Fighting-type aura roared, lunging straight toward the enemy before it.

"Bang!!"

Golisopod’s abdomen—whose carapace was slightly softer compared to the rest of its body—was instantly torn open by the immense force packed into Lu Yun’s fist.

The silver-gray scales shattered like broken glass, splintering into fine fragments that splattered through the air.

Muscle tissue was violently compressed, shattered, and torn apart, as a viscous, bluish-green blood welled up from the ruptured vessels.

Golisopod’s body arched like a giant shrimp, its spine curving upward, its eyes bulging to the point of nearly popping out of their sockets.

Struck by the massive force, its legs lifted off the ground, hanging suspended in the air for a brief second before the overwhelming shockwave surging from its abdomen forced it to tilt backward.

Lu Yun also took the opportunity to retreat, increasing the distance between himself and Golisopod.

Logically speaking, when an enemy was injured and paralyzed in combat, Lu Yun’s most appropriate course of action would be to exploit the opponent’s inability to retaliate, raining down a storm of attacks to expand his advantage.

Lu Yun certainly wanted to do that, but the reality of the situation did not permit such a rash advance.

No matter how flawed Golisopod might seem, according to the logic of his past life’s video games, it was still an evolution from Wimpod at level thirty, possessing a baseline of genuine strength.

Although Lu Yun had improved through various conveniences granted by the system and fortunate encounters, allowing him to trade blows with Golisopod, a gap in levels still existed, preventing him from completely crushing the opponent.

Overall, the win-loss ratio was roughly six to four.

The "Shell Blade" in which Golisopod held absolute confidence contained a staggering, destructive power.

Even with the powerful damage-reduction effect granted by [Zacian’s Heart], combined with his own defensive use of energy, Lu Yun had still sustained a certain degree of injury.

Consequently, as the "Payback" move grew stronger when facing a stronger attack, the energy fed back into Lu Yun’s body was immense, teetering on the verge of his physically tested limits.

The terrifyingly powerful uppercut had been unleashed, and the instantaneous explosive force generated by Lu Yun himself brought his body’s overworked systems to the brink of collapse.

Therefore, he had no choice but to abandon this favorable opportunity, ease his offensive momentum, and give his body time to cool down.

Lu Yun retreated swiftly, his thick limbs landing in the muddy ground and splashing up large amounts of dirty water.

His heavy breathing was slightly rapid, and the hot air he exhaled condensed into wispy water mist in the freezing air.

While rapidly regulating his physical state, Lu Yun kept his gaze fixed on Golisopod, who lay sprawled on the ground, his expression solemn.

Inadvertently, his peripheral vision caught sight of the caravan members nearby.

His gaze darkened, and he couldn't help cursing his teammates as utter idiots in his mind.

"How can they still fail to read the situation by now?"

The formidable enemy had already been stalled by him, and judging by their pathetic appearance, they probably couldn't offer any assistance anyway.

Why weren't they running? What were they staying here for? To watch a show?

Lu Yun even thought to himself:
If Golisopod regained its senses shortly and used the caravan members as hostages to constrain him,
Then at that moment, he would absolutely not care about the lives of these humans!

In such tense and fierce combat, the slightest oversight could completely alter the outcome.

When it truly came down to a critical moment, who would care whether these humans lived or died?

If they still didn't run now, losing their lives later would purely be courting their own deaths.

Feitang sat paralyzed on the ground in a daze, staring blankly at the battle unfolding before her.

The young girl, who had previously appeared so confident and vibrant, was not yet of mature years.

A cruel, bloody opponent and the deaths of her fellow companions had completely overwhelmed her mind, leaving it blank and incapable of further thought.

At this moment, she, along with several others in the caravan, had only one thought running through their heads: hoping that Lu Yun would defeat the opponent.

The very idea of running away had not even crossed their minds.

In such circumstances, the herd mentality generated by long-term human social behavior was vividly and thoroughly displayed.

Perhaps there were a few individuals with relatively clear heads within the caravan who had considered fleeing, but seeing that everyone around them remained motionless, they subconsciously abandoned the thought that had just formed, terrified of drawing the attention of that terrifying nightmare Pokémon.

Due to various reasons, these traumatized humans eerie remained frozen in place, failing to run.

Fortunately, however,
Golisopod, having suffered consecutive heavy blows from Lu Yun, saw its already fragile psyche—infected by the Seed of Nightmares—collapse entirely.

The violent factors buried deep within the Pokémon’s bloodline erupted, transforming Golisopod into a cruel, bloodthirsty beast that knew only slaughter.

This could also be considered good news.

Although Golisopod had completely lost its sanity, making its fighting style far more frenzied and brutal,
It would no longer conceive of strategies like using humans as hostages against an opponent. Instead, it would focus exclusively on the root cause of its injuries—Lu Yun—and press the attack.

Moreover, during the combat, it would inevitably expose numerous vulnerabilities.

Roar—!

A sharp, piercing insectoid cry echoed thunderously across the field.

Golisopod’s three pairs of auxiliary limbs spread wide at its sides, and bluish-green Bug-type energy piled up endlessly between its sharp claws,
As it roared and charged directly toward Lu Yun.

Control over stamina consumption, the rational allocation of special energy... none of that mattered anymore.

Inside Golisopod’s currently deranged mind, the sole remaining thought was to tear the Lu Yun before it completely to pieces.

Faced with the frantic charge hurtling toward him, Lu Yun instead let out a sigh of relief.

Compared to before, this kind of mindless attack was, given Lu Yun’s rich combat experience, exceptionally easy to deal with.

A spark of brilliant light suddenly burst within his crimson, crystalline pupils.

Shortly before, alongside his leveling up, he had actually just mastered a rather decent new move.

He had simply lacked the time to train it, so he had scarcely dared to use it in actual combat.

There had been no proper opportunity until now, making it the perfect chance for a test.

Suddenly, as if obeying a general’s command, a massive surge of Ghost-type energy surged through Lu Yun’s body, dark purple, mist-like substances manifesting across the surface of his skin.