The Iron-Blooded Arbitrator, quite naturally, opted for relinquishment. As he stepped off the surgical platform once more, apart from the lingering influence of the Devourer Beast still interfering within his system, at least eighty percent of his previous injuries had mended!
Furthermore, this dedicated surgical platform held stored blood—the exact volume the Blood Spear typically extracted once a month, totaling ten thousand milliliters. This had now been returned via autologous transfusion, fully replenishing his prior significant blood loss!
This meant that what reappeared before Fang Senyan and the others was an Iron-Blooded Arbitrator in near-perfect condition. Though stripped of his armor, his favored weapon, the Blood-Colored Javelin, was replenished. Everything seemed new; compared to his former role as a shock attacker, the Blood Spear now presented as a perfect long-range assassin—a phantom stalking the shadows!
When all the mechanical arms ceased their movements, the Iron-Blooded Arbitrator leaped cleanly from the operating table. He stood firm upon the earth, casually dipping a finger into the blood pooled beside the platform. With utmost concentration, he traced arcane, bizarre patterns across his body—symbols that looked like tattoos, perhaps even ancient script. Finally, he smeared markings across his face resembling war paint worn by Native Americans. The multitude of scars crisscrossing his form wove together an indescribable aura of majesty.
Then, the Blood Spear casually picked up his specialized quiver, binding it to his body with wild, thick vines. The quiver contained six razor-sharp battle javelins, faintly shimmering with the color of flame. Beyond those, he was completely unencumbered! He wore even the gas-filtering mask!
For a powerhouse like him, the toxic atmosphere of Planet Eplos could only inflict chronic damage. What the Blood Spear sought was the hunter's sensation, born of nature and conquering it—a wildness long forgotten!
He carried no melee weapons; this formidable being possessed absolute faith in his throwing spears. At this distance, coupled with his astonishing speed, he was King!
The Iron-Blooded Arbitrator moved with light, brisk steps, returning to the exact location where he had clashed with Fang Senyan and his crew. He relied on no high-tech scanning equipment now; instead, his trapezoidal mouthparts twitched ceaselessly, and the two pinpricks that served as his nostrils inhaled rapidly. The bristles on his face stood erect. Soon, based on experience, he judged there was no ambush.
Next, the Arbitrator Blood Spear circled the area of the previous engagement, pressing his hand onto the damp ground. His thick, clawed fingers began to move deftly across the soil, tracing and appearing to discern and memorize the specific characteristics of everyone’s footprints.
Finally, the Blood Spear’s fingers settled upon Fang Senyan’s footprint. This marked the prey he identified as the most dangerous, the most valuable quarry!
That hunter’s skull, after being steeped in fresh blood three times, will hang at my waist.
This was the Blood Spear’s thought. His fixation on Fang Senyan stemmed primarily from the profound, almost bone-deep impression left by the Judge’s shot and the Devourer Beast’s punch.
Those attacks had given the Blood Spear a feeling of utter helplessness, a sense that evasion was impossible and surrender the only option!
This could only mean one thing: although this individual’s current strength was meager, the two combat skills he displayed, once mastered at their peak, possessed the potential to far surpass the Blood Spear’s own capabilities! To ruthlessly crush such a rapidly growing sapling before it could overshadow him carried an ineffable sense of triumph.
But, just then, a shadow materialized eerily behind the crouching Blood Spear. The shadow raised a hand, and the Blood Spear instantly felt his vision plunge into absolute blackness. Moreover, his sight, hearing, touch—everything vanished!
Immediately above his head erupted a massive, snarling skull phantom—it was Ronnie!
Ronnie had calculated that the Blood Spear would inevitably return to the battlefield, setting an ambush for a stealth kill! Only he possessed the high probability of successfully evading the Blood Spear’s senses to launch such a devastating sneak attack!
The Blood Spear had no time to react before Ronnie began to flicker and shift rapidly, instantly manifesting a full eleven clones. This time, he exerted every ounce of effort, surrounding the Blood Spear from all directions!
The dagger Ronnie held was bizarrely just a hilt, yet as he gripped it, a foot-long crimson blade of light shimmered into existence before him, flickering intermittently, like a docile fish swimming through the air.
All eleven clones suddenly flared with blinding light, then surged toward the Blood Spear simultaneously with terrifying speed!
It was less a collision and more the sensation of a savage stabbing; indeed, wherever each clone passed, a clear, sharp, straight line of light appeared!! Eleven brilliant beams pierced through the Blood Spear as if he were transparent! If viewed from above, the spectacle would resemble the grotesque formation of an enormous, bizarre flower!
This was Ronnie’s ultimate technique: Phantom Clone Flash! To charge the enemy at incredible velocity in an instant, unleashing all his physical strength to inflict devastating damage!!
The inherent power of this single move was not overwhelming, but Ronnie executed it with ten frightening clones, meaning its destructive force multiplied by 1100%!
This terrifying power even came with certain limitations when fighting other Contractors: the maximum damage inflicted could not exceed 70% of the recipient's maximum health.
Ronnie's motivation was easy to grasp: anyone who could enter the Nightmare Space possessed not only potential but often the obsessive neurosis born of brutal experience.
However, Fang Senyan was the most monstrous MT Ronnie had ever encountered, bar none!
In this world, he had been constantly suppressed by Fang Senyan, so much so that Ronnie realized he couldn't defy Fang Senyan's dominance; the only way to survive was to live on. Yet, Ronnie was also a powerful Awakened one with his own dignity. Fang Senyan’s shadow pressed down on him like a terrifying cliff. Unable to defeat Fang Senyan head-on, he could only seek to shatter the shadow from another angle: by defeating an opponent Fang Senyan could not overcome. Thus, he emerged from that shadow with this ambush, this near-desperate counterattack!
Meanwhile, five kilometers away, Fang Senyan was striding forward with determined steps.
He suddenly addressed the android, Unit One, behind him: “Hold on a moment. There’s a high probability we might all die. Are you afraid?”
Unit One bowed crisply: “I am. If I weren't afraid, I would have died cleanly forty years ago. Why bother transforming myself into this state?”
Fang Senyan mused, as if to himself: “That fellow will definitely come for me, because I inflicted the greatest and deepest damage upon him, especially that Devourer Beast strike… He should catch up in a few more minutes.”
Unit One stated calmly: “Then why send the others away? Oh? Do you know you are doomed, so you are trying to create a sliver of hope for them?”
“I’m not that noble,” Fang Senyan chuckled. “But not every situation is better with more people. In my plan, fewer people are actually better. I destroyed all his equipment, so he has switched from an assault mode to an assassin mode—specifically, the most troublesome long-range assassin configuration. His javelins pack a serious punch.”
“So, we need to go somewhere that heavily counters his throwing spears. Fighting him in this plain and sparse woodland is too disadvantageous.”
Unit One hesitated. “Actually, you have another option. You could take me now, take flight, and perhaps not die. I think the chances of succeeding that way are much higher than you defeating him.”
Fang Senyan shook his head immediately without a second thought: “That means handing my fate directly over to the will of the Iron-Blooded beings aboard the mothership. I prefer to place my life in my own hands. Let me ask you: on a night when a blizzard rages, and you must drive on a mountain road, if the hired driver has a 30% chance of crashing, and you driving has a 40% chance, which do you choose?”
Unit One was silent for a moment. “I choose myself.”
“Exactly,” Fang Senyan smiled. “Even if I die by my own doing, there will be fewer regrets.”
The two walked on, one following the other. Fang Senyan suddenly said, “You also have a choice, you know. You can leave right now, split from me, and he certainly won’t be interested in your skull.”
Unit One replied decisively: “Yes, but that means I will be permanently stranded on this damned planet. You would leave with a loyal android, but if I walk away now, should you win, you would simply erase my existence.”
“You understand me quite well,” Fang Senyan laughed. “You’re right. Mistakes can be forgiven, but abandonment cannot.”
Watching the vegetation ahead grow denser, feeling the humid mist on his face, Unit One suddenly realized: “You plan to face him in that canyon… or perhaps, in the water?”