"Damn it... is this wind? It’s basically a weaponized weather system! Do you think human power alone can achieve this level?" Cheng Xiao lay prone in a steel pipe, peering out from the opening. Outside, dust and stones were whipping around, looking exactly like the arrival of a hurricane... No, not looking like it—it was a hurricane.

The Devil Team member fighting Cheng Xiao was a pre-teen cross-dresser whose soft, alluring appearance made her look even cuter than a genuine young loli. But appearance was no measure of this person's strength; one couldn't judge by looks alone. This pseudo-girl's power was astonishing. After equipping the crystal bracelet, she unleashed her Wind-Wind Fruit ability again, causing her entire power level to surge violently—this was the true strength of the Wind-Wind Fruit.

A fierce hurricane erupted across several square kilometers, kicking up sand and stone everywhere. Some fractured buildings offered no resistance to the violent gale, and the repeated boom-boom sounds of collapsing structures echoed around. The resulting dust and debris from the collapses only intensified the hurricane's power. Forget a person standing in that wind; even a tank would be crushed into a metal disc.

Thus, Cheng Xiao was blown away the very instant the hurricane formed. It was only due to his reinforced attribute being the Nanto Suichoken (South Dipper Waterfowl Fist), a martial art inherently based on harnessing the wind, that he survived the hurricane unscathed; instead, he used the tempest to escape the pseudo-girl's line of sight before taking cover in this underground pipeline. Had he remained outside, that sandstorm hurricane would surely have shredded him to pieces.

"Hey, runaway big brother, come out quickly. I know you're still here. Hurry up and come out, or you won't even have a chance to come out later..." The pseudo-girl's voice drifted intermittently, accompanied by the relentless sound of sand and stone impacts.

Cheng Xiao curled his lip, thinking, If I go out, won't you just toy with me to death?

Uh, toy with... perhaps kill would be more accurate. In any case, he wouldn't leave even if tortured. Moreover, even the hurricane could only lift rocks at most; it was basically impossible for this much wind to lift the entire ground. Therefore, the best strategy was to wait here until her energy depleted, at which point he could easily defeat her. Why exert himself unnecessarily fighting her? "Big brother still won't come out? Then I won't be polite anymore. If big brother dies... Hehehe, please visit my beauty in hell..." the pseudo-girl giggled.

Her voice continued to drift in and out, especially concluding with the last three words.

"Tornado!" (Oh, it's a tornado... A tornado?) Cheng Xiao's heart leaped, and he shot out of the underground pipeline opening.

Sure enough.

The hurricane outside had ceased, but concentric spirals of airflow had appeared mid-air. These spiral currents were visible even to the naked eye and were growing denser. Seeing the tornado about to form, Cheng Xiao panicked, immediately pulling out the Green Goblin Glider, ready to flee the scene.

"Running is no good, and if you're up in the air, Big Brother might not even be able to leave my sight. Lin Lei." The pseudo-girl's voice came through intermittently again.

Simultaneously, several massive wind blades sliced across the air, though their aim was slightly off, forcing Cheng Xiao to dodge and weave between the gaps in the blades. However, this made one thing clear to him: if he tried to escape using the Green Goblin Glider, it would be impossible.

Ascending into the sky would instantly turn him into a target. And at that altitude, he wouldn't be able to use the Nanto Suichoken; his outcome would certainly be death. If that were the case, it would be better to run through the narrow streets between the buildings.

No sooner thought than done, Cheng Xiao sprinted towards the dense cluster of buildings and streets not far away, completely ignoring the pseudo-girl's furious roar behind him. While she ceaselessly cursed him as a coward, the spiral airflow was steadily coalescing, finally forming a small tornado about two to three meters in diameter. It didn't look very powerful, but under the pseudo-girl's control, the tornado continuously grew larger and stronger. A few seconds later, it made contact with the ground, digging into the earth like a helical drill, carving a trench-like path that spread towards Cheng Xiao. The entire tornado kept expanding; by the time it was still thousands of meters away, its diameter had grown to over twenty meters. Rocks, debris, fallen utility poles, and various vehicles were churning inside it. From the outside, one could only see sparks and electrical flashes constantly erupting within the funnel—this truly was the most terrifying kind of tornado found in natural storms.

The Wind-Wind Fruit was the pseudo-girl's enhancement attribute, the apex of Devil Fruit enhancements among Logia-type fruits. Even among Logia fruits, this was top-tier. Of course, a more powerful attribute demanded greater strength to wield. With the pseudo-girl's current power, having not even unlocked the fourth stage of the Gene Lock, she couldn't access the Wind-Wind Fruit's maximum potential—that was pure, untamed natural force. While not world-destroying, it already granted her the fighting strength of a powerhouse equivalent to Zheng Zha or Clone Zheng Zha. To fully unleash the Fruit’s power, she would likely need to reach at least the advanced fourth stage. By then, even without the Wind-Wind Fruit, the sheer power in her hands would be enough to kill Cheng Xiao. Therefore, strictly speaking, the Wind-Wind Fruit was a double-edged sword for most people, much like the Ice-Ice Fruit in The Lord of the Rings—immensely powerful, but equally restrictive.

The key to the pseudo-girl wielding the Wind-Wind Fruit to this extent was the energy source provided by Clone Chu Xuan’s creation, granting her nearly infinite power. Even so, she had to control and utilize this immense energy, a task that already left her exhausted. Despite her sweet, easygoing words, she merely wanted to draw Cheng Xiao out for a fight. While her Wind-Wind Fruit was formidable, it couldn't last forever. Deploying the tornado now was an attempt at a one-hit kill.

Having originated from the Devil Team, her thoughts could never be purely innocent. The pseudo-girl played around with her words, but in her heart, she yearned to kill Cheng Xiao immediately. Seeing that Cheng Xiao no longer dared to hide, she focused all her efforts on manipulating the tornado, pressing in slowly behind him.

The two became a chase: one fleeing, one pursuing. Before long, Cheng Xiao plunged into the dense block of buildings. Hundreds of meters behind him, a gigantic tornado relentlessly pursued, its diameter now exceeding a hundred meters.

The dark interior was filled with countless rock fragments and crushed vehicles. The tornado had gouged a deep trench into the ground, shattering buildings along its path. At this point, the pseudo-girl was actually losing the ability to control the tornado; she could only roughly direct its course, relying on the tornado's inherent suction power to pull Cheng Xiao in.

The tornado was already immense, truly comparable to a natural meteorological event. In the hundreds of meters surrounding it, the wind's suction force was terrifyingly strong. Cheng Xiao felt his steps grow unstable while running. He glanced back, and the sight nearly shattered his soul.

The massive black mass of the tornado rolled toward him. Its imposing might was terrifying; not just one Cheng Xiao, but even a robot sucked in would be pulverized. Running was now useless; at most ten seconds remained before he was engulfed. This time, he had to fight desperately, or he would die! (What to do? I didn't expect this hermaphrodite cross-dresser to be so strong, or rather, Clone Chu Xuan's creation is too formidable?) Cheng Xiao looked down at the gauntlets in his hands.

These too were Chu Xuan's creations, capable of boosting his Nanto Suichoken power. However, his own limited strength meant that any enhancement couldn't compare to this natural force, which was why he had only fled until now.

But then again, the strength of a skill is intrinsically tied to the strength and method of the user. Now that escape was impossible, he secretly resolved to fight the pseudo-girl to the death.

"The strength of a skill is tied to the strength and method of the user... Hey, you! I'll give you one last chance. Let's stop fighting; wouldn't it be better if we both went our separate ways? If we keep fighting, you are certainly doomed!" Cheng Xiao stopped running, facing the rapidly approaching tornado, and couldn't help but shout loudly.

The pseudo-girl in the distance, seeing Cheng Xiao had no way to escape, said nothing. She merely smiled vacantly, waiting for Cheng Xiao to be drawn into the tornado and smashed to dust. There was no way she would stop now. Thus, in less than ten seconds, Cheng Xiao was caught in the swirling currents of the tornado. While still airborne, his body twisted strangely. The Nanto Suichoken, coupled with the gauntlets, spun continuously, generating waves of wind pressure around him that circulated along with the tornado. Although this wind pressure was localized, its intensity was high, preventing the surrounding rocks, sand, and even vehicles from getting close, thus temporarily ensuring his safety.

But Cheng Xiao knew his own hardship intimately. Could those gauntlets really be used so easily? The wind pressure generated had to be something he himself could withstand; otherwise, attempting to kill the enemy might only result in self-harm. For mere self-preservation, he would be utterly exhausted in less than a minute. He might as well take a desperate gamble. With this thought, Cheng Xiao twisted his body with even greater intensity.

(Wind, let the flow of wind become my flow... If I can execute this move, that pseudo-girl is nothing to fear... Execute it! Even if I could only manage it a few times out of hundreds during training, I must use it no matter what!) Cheng Xiao gritted his teeth and moved his body wildly. The Nanto Suichoken involves using the entire body's motion to generate wind pressure to attack the enemy. Within such a massive tornado, this small amount of wind pressure was insufficient to change anything substantial, but the rotation of the pressure synchronized perfectly with the rotation of the tornado. Slowly, a portion of the swirling air current began to rotate along with his induced wind pressure. As more and more airflow joined in, another smaller tornado actually formed within the massive one—a tornado centered on Cheng Xiao!

"That's incredible! When I used the gauntlets to stir the nearby flowing wind just now, I actually achieved synergy with the wind's flow, subsequently executing an attack like a tornado. Didn't you see how badly damaged my basement was? If I use this move, I should be able to take out many people in the final battle, right? And perhaps protect Sister Zhan Lan and Sister Sakura Kong too, hehe..." Cheng Xiao laughed heartily, speaking to Chu Xuan. He was currently in Chu Xuan's room—not the underground laboratory, where the danger level was too high; he wouldn't venture down there unless prepared to lose his life. Chu Xuan was eating fruit, allowing Cheng Xiao to discuss the move he had just discovered.

"Oh, wind synergy?" Chu Xuan glanced at him, taking a bite of his apple. "It's very dangerous. Wind synergy can also be considered merging into the wind. While such an attack method can certainly inflict immense damage, the flow of wind is purely governed by probability. Short-distance flow patterns strictly follow chaotic theory and are utterly incalculable. It might be a small pebble, or it might be a brick; any slight anomaly can cause the wind's flow to mutate suddenly. Such a mutation is extremely dangerous—dangerous enough to tear you apart in an instant... Be aware, your attack method isn't using wind, like wind-based magic or anything. No, your method uses wind as a medium to execute your fist techniques. You are in the wind, and you are within the attack range of that wind... Therefore, unless you are prepared to lose your life, it is best not to use this technique."

(Using it might mean death? And using it mediated by such a massive tornado? That would truly mean death beyond recovery... Forget it, death is death! I already accepted the possibility of death in this final battle!) (It seems someone is starting to curse again? I’m puzzled by this. They read my book with relish, yet constantly curse me. If you are reading the book, just read the book. If you are cursing the person, then curse me to my face. Reading a book while cursing someone—if I’m not mistaken—suggests you are quite bored. And stop following the herd. After all this time, haven't you realized? If I don't update, no one curses me, aside from calling me a 'TJ' [dropped the ball]. The moment I update, all the old issues are brought up again, leading to accusations about my character XXX. Are the people cursing me acquainted with me in real life? Based only on what others say and some alleged 'evidence'—how much of that so-called evidence have I admitted to? How much have you actually witnessed with your own eyes to prove my character is XXX? I could just as easily provide evidence that the U.S. President is XXX—shall I? Anyway, it's just making things up, no need for the person involved to admit anything, right? Furthermore, does updating have anything to do with character? Does it? Does it?... So, those reading the book, please just read the book. Those cursing me, curse me directly. Don't read my book while cursing me with apparent enjoyment and relish. It feels rather tedious.)

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