Chapter 150: A Righteous Gang Beatdown
The alley.
The battle between Former Lord Light- 折光 (Zheguang) and Smokescreen was nearing its end.
Under the high-intensity combat, the entire street had long been riddled with scars.
The ground was everywhere dotted with black scorch marks caused by high-energy laser fire, and most of the glass on the buildings on both sides had shattered from the aftermath of the clash.
The white smoke lingering in the alley was much thinner than it had been at the beginning.
Former Lord stood alone in the center of the street, flanked by two royal guards—one red and one black—while not far ahead of him stood the ten eerie foot soldiers.
However, during the fierce battle just now, the armors of these strange soldiers had suffered severe damage, and the feedback directly inflicted a heavy mental shock upon Former Lord.
The proud blond man's eyes were currently bloodshot; the negative impacts of the combat and the high-intensity utilization of his anomalous entities had left his mind in an extremely tense state.
Former Lord's plural-type anomalies basically corresponded to the number of pieces in a traditional game of chess, and the more anomalies he utilized simultaneously, the greater the burden he had to bear.
By this point in the battle, he had summoned pawns, artillery, cavalry, and guards—totalling twenty anomalies. This already far exceeded the scale he typically employed.
Smokescreen, on the other hand, was an extremely tricky anomaly walker. Facing Former Lord in the open and Light in the dark simultaneously, he had still managed to maintain a balanced state. Yet, having consumed his energy up to this point, he finally appreciated the thorniness of this Sector Three anomaly walker before him.
"Big brother was right, we really shouldn't underestimate you guys." Surrounded by swirling smoke, Smokescreen, who had also used his anomalous powers for an extended period, began to show signs of mental strain.
However, the path they walked differed from that of the Anomaly Processing Department's anomaly walkers. Excessive use of anomalous power posed no problem at all for the members of the Legion.
On the contrary, what they pursued was unleashing the greatest possible anomalous power in every encounter, thereby seeking their true selves.
Yet now, Smokescreen sensed that Former Lord was determined to fight him to the death. This was not part of the Legion's original plan; his sole purpose here was to buy as much time as possible rather than rack up kills.
Taking down a veteran and powerful anomaly walker like Former Lord was no easy feat in itself, not to mention that Light was constantly nearby providing coordinated support. The compounded difficulty could be described as quite extraordinary.
A trace of the urge to retreat sprouted in his heart. However, considering he had not yet received orders from the boss, Smokescreen intended to continue entangling with Former Lord for a little longer.
Whoosh—
The smoke in the air swirled and moved once more, signaling that Smokescreen was brewing his next wave of attacks.
Instantly, several high-energy lasers shot out with a swish from the shattered windows of the adjacent building. The beams, converged through altered refractive indices, carried immense penetrating power and high heat straight toward Smokescreen's location!
"Damn this bitch!" A fierce glint flashed in Smokescreen's eyes as his figure abruptly leaped backward. Thick smoke billowed from his mouth and nose, completely blanketing his form.
Suddenly, he sensed two new anomalous auras, and a deafening roar exploded like thunder beside his ear!
An unprecedented sense of crisis welled up in his heart. Crying out that things were looking bad, the smoke around Smokescreen rapidly rushed toward his back, transforming into several humanoid soldiers that charged directly toward the phantom emitting the heaven-shaking roar!
Bang!
All the smoke soldiers were utterly shattered by a single, unadorned straight punch. The Overlord's distinctly black-and-white painted face bore a fury capable of incinerating everything, while the figures of Qichen and Warm Man materialized behind him.
Having rushed over without stopping to rest, the pair had finally arrived just in time.
Instantly, the pressure on Smokescreen's shoulders skyrocketed, while Former Lord and Light, hiding inside the building, both heaved sighs of relief.
They understood that the arrival of Qichen and Warm Man meant not only two fresh reinforcements, but also that the rule-based anomaly in the Livelihood Mall had been successfully resolved!
At this moment, someone as proud and haughty as Former Lord secretly cultivated a shred of admiration for Qichen and Warm Man in his heart. Though his expression remained as cold as ever, his eyes grew noticeably brighter.
"All forces, charge!"
At his command, the ten anomalous soldiers under Former Lord's command marched in neat strides, launching yet another wave of offense against the sandwiched Smokescreen!
Smokescreen's expression changed drastically. If he were only facing Former Lord, he would still be willing to continue fighting it out, but the two newly appeared anomaly walkers behind him were clearly no pushovers. How could he possibly be stubborn enough to press the attack under such circumstances?
"Anomaly Possession!"
As Smokescreen's voice fell, several wisps of noticeably more agile smoke from the surrounding mist rapidly covered his body. Strands of smoke wrapped around him tightly like bandages, leaving only his eyes exposed. At this moment, he looked entirely like a resurrected mummy.
Swish!
The thick smoke surged from Smokescreen's body in the next instant, actually exerting an effect akin to a thruster and allowing Smokescreen to fly into mid-air at a fairly brisk speed, successfully dodging the charge of the anomalous soldiers!
Realizing that if he continued to fight, he would most likely be defeated and killed, Smokescreen couldn't care less about not having received news from the Legion; without another word, he turned his head and intended to flee the battlefield.
However, a crimson-orange figure let out a continuous stream of exhales and rushed toward him, launching a relentless barrage of punches!
It was Warm-hearted, whose projection radius exceeded that of the Overlord!
Unfazed by the crisis, Smokescreen released a large amount of smoke from the anomaly covering his surface, allowing his body to maneuver flexibly in the air. Yet, with a loud thud, he slammed directly into an invisible wall in the empty air!
To be precise, an air wall!
"What the hell?!" Smokescreen instinctively reached out to touch what was in front of him, but his hand was indeed blocked by the air.
In the distance, Warm Man smiled smugly. Warm-hearted's initial target was not to directly strike Smokescreen, but rather to attack all the air around him to alter its hardness and softness, reducing the possibility of his escape to the bare minimum!
While Smokescreen was still trying to figure out what kind of ability this was, several lasers zipped toward him once again. Maneuvering in mid-air solely through smoke propulsion made his flexibility far inferior to having his feet planted on the ground. Despite pulling out all the stops, he was ultimately struck in the chest by a laser beam.
To prevent his physical body from being injured, Smokescreen had no choice but to let the anomaly on his body surface enter a state of interaction with real-world matter, and a wave of burning heat instantly exploded in his mind!
"Ah!"
With a miserable wail, Smokescreen plummeted rapidly from the air, crashing hard onto the ground with a loud thud. He avoided passing out entirely thanks to the anomaly clinging to his body surface.
Yet, when he scrambled up from the ground in a disheveled state and attempted to resume his escape, a towering, fiercely imposing figure hovered before him, and the distorted black-and-white facial makeup made his heart skip a beat!
A fist the size of a sandbag magnified rapidly in his eyes like lightning!
Bang!
The anomaly attached to his face was completely shattered under the Overlord's ferocious force, yet the remaining power was still not to be underestimated!
Before Smokescreen could even scream his final cry of agony, his body went limp and he collapsed onto the ground.
The smoke lingering in the alley finally dissipated completely.