Zhou Tengyun, deep in conversation and drinking with Liu Hui and Mei Peng, suddenly started, pushing himself up and raising his hand. A watch-like device on his wrist was vibrating, emitting a red light.

"Boss, we have a situation. You and Second Brother hurry to the command center; it's safe there. I'll check things out first," Zhou Tengyun ordered in haste, then kicked open the door and didn't bother with the stairs, leaping directly from the third floor.

The enemies outside the hospital were stunned. They hadn't anticipated their perfect plan being ruined by two mere security guards. But now, with the arrow already loosed, there was no turning back; they could only hastily issue the order for a full assault.

Seven or eight vans, led by a massive dump truck, sped toward the hospital gates. Ah Huo and his men had already secured the iron gate. The dump truck, moving at high speed, slammed into the barrier. Wu Yuanjia had invested heavily in reinforcing this gate; however, the truck only punched a large hole in it, failing to bring it down as the enemy had hoped. The dump truck quickly reversed, accelerated, and smashed into the gate again, finally knocking it over. The truck immediately swerved, barreling into the hospital courtyard and heading straight for the security office.

Seeing the danger, Ah Huo and Desheng agilely jumped out of the office just as the dump truck instantly crushed the structure behind them to rubble. Finding no guards to run over, the truck violently wrenched its steering wheel and charged the hospital building, intending to smash a massive breach in its structure.

Zhou Tengyun landed from his third-floor leap with a mid-air somersault, landing right beside the rampaging dump truck. Recognizing the critical situation, he vaulted onto the truck's left side, gripped the doorframe next to the driver's cab, and with a surge of strength, ripped the entire door clean off. Then, under the driver’s look of absolute horror, he struck the man's head with a single punch. With a sickening thud, the driver’s head exploded under Zhou Tengyun's fist, spraying gore everywhere. Zhou Tengyun yanked the driver from the cab, tossed him onto the ground, and slid into the seat himself.

The entire sequence—Zhou Tengyun mounting the truck, killing the driver, and wedging the massive vehicle across the iron gate—took mere moments. The vans following behind hadn't even managed to enter the compound along the truck's path before the gate was blocked once more.

The commander of this operation was immensely frustrated. Since the start, they had been plagued by unforeseen obstacles that continually thwarted their carefully laid plans. With no other choice, he ordered everyone from the vans to disembark and storm the hospital by force. Over a hundred men dressed in black immediately poured out of the seven or eight vans, charging toward the hospital brandishing katanas.

Ah Huo and Desheng stood beside Zhou Tengyun, gripping plastic batons, their faces somewhat pale. Just then, a loud roar came from behind them. It was Wu Yuanjia, alerted by the alarm, leading over a dozen on-duty guards who rushed out to stand alongside Zhou Tengyun.

The charging men in black surged past the barricading dump truck, hacking wildly with their katanas at Zhou Tengyun and his men. Zhou Tengyun snatched up the dump truck door he had tossed aside, hurled it forward with force, cleanly slicing five or six of the black-clad attackers in half. Guts and blood littered the ground around the lifeless bodies. Wu Yuanjia and the other guards shouted in unison, wielding their plastic batons against the razor-sharp katanas in a chaotic melee.

The security guards, having undergone the modifications from the body evolution fluid and training under Huang Huali, had experienced a profound shift in capability, though they lacked practical combat experience. Initially, facing the black-clad men, they were clumsy and nearly wounded by the blades, but as they adapted, their coordination sharpened dramatically. They managed to actually push the attackers back outside the iron gate.

Liu Hui, accompanied by Mei Peng, arrived at the command center. Two guards were monitoring the hospital's pervasive camera network. Seeing Liu Hui enter, they greeted him, "Boss, hello." Liu Hui waved them off, telling them to keep busy.

"Right, how many men do you have on duty tonight?" Liu Hui asked.

"Twenty men are on duty tonight because of the celebratory reception, Boss. The rest are at the training center outside the city, under Captain Huang’s instruction," one guard replied.

"Did you manage to call the police?" Mei Peng inquired.

"We tried, but the calls wouldn't go through. It wasn't just cell phones; the landlines and the internet were all severed. We can't contact the outside world," the other guard said anxiously.

"They’re using signal jammers. Thankfully, our internal alarm system uses wired transmission; they can't interfere with it inside the hospital, otherwise, we might not have noticed the intrusion until it was too late," the first guard added urgently.

Liu Hui carefully counted the men arrayed at the entrance: thirteen guards facing the enemy. "Boss, five of our brothers are still protecting the patients in the wards. Including the two of you, that’s everyone we have."

"Can you locate where their signal jammer is coming from?" Liu Hui asked.

"We can only roughly pinpoint their position to the due west, but we can't determine the exact location."

"Second Brother, you take charge here with them. Consolidate all the patients into this area for centralized protection. I'll step outside to take a look," Liu Hui instructed Mei Peng.

"Boss, it's dangerous outside! They have blades!" Mei Peng cried out in alarm.

"I'll be careful. You look after yourself," Liu Hui dismissed the warning and walked out of the command center.

Liu Hui was furious. Whoever dared attack his hospital would never leave alive.

Zhou Tengyun tossed aside the heavy truck door, picked up a discarded katana from the ground, and slashed toward a nearby black-clad man. The man quickly raised his own katana to block, but Zhou Tengyun cleaved through the guard and his weapon simultaneously. Zhou Tengyun let out a primal howl and brought his blade down again, felling another attacker. Enhanced by the complete body evolution fluid, his strength was monstrous; every swing effortlessly dispatched a black-clad warrior. In moments, all the attackers near him lay cut down, their blood coating his entire form, making him appear like a terrifying god of slaughter.

On a rooftop west of the hospital, several figures in black observed the unfolding battle. The commander, enraged that his force of over a hundred men could not gain the upper hand, waved his hand, and one of the men beside him vanished eerily into thin air.

Due to Zhou Tengyun's devastating effectiveness, the black-clad attackers became hesitant, holding back from full commitment. Despite being outnumbered, the security guards managed to contain the enemy outside the iron gate. Having adapted, the guards were now operating near their true potential; ordinary black-clad men were no match for them. However, the attackers were too numerous, and their katanas gave them a reach advantage over the plastic batons. Guards began to fall wounded, and the black-clad warriors slowly started pushing into the hospital grounds. The situation looked dire for the defenders.

Zhou Tengyun roared in anger, discarding his now-dulled katana. He ripped a steel pipe from the fallen iron gate and began sweeping it in a violent circle before him like a whirlwind. Those caught in the arc, unable to dodge, had their bones shattered and were swept aside, instantly taken out of the fight. Wielding the pipe, Zhou Tengyun quickly dispatched all the attackers who had breached the hospital. Those outside, intimidated by his ferocity, dared not enter, resulting in a tense standoff at the entrance.

Zhou Tengyun stood guard before the dump truck, gripping the steel pipe, when he sensed a faint disturbance in the airflow behind him. With a flash of intuition, he swept the pipe backward. A small tantō blade that had materialized suddenly stabbed against the pipe, sparking violently. Zhou Tengyun leaned back, intending to close the distance, but his opponent suddenly vanished completely, leaving no trace.

Zhou Tengyun merely sneered. He abruptly released the steel pipe, hurling it like a spear. The pipe flew toward empty space, yet it stopped dead in mid-air. Slowly, a stream of blood began to seep from the void. Then, a figure impaled by the pipe materialized gradually from blurriness to clarity, falling motionless to the ground.

On the rooftop west of the hospital, the commander gasped in shock. Even his seemingly invincible trump card had been eliminated so easily.

"Sakuragi-kun, please let my Anketsu make a move. Our intelligence this time was flawed; the opposition is incredibly strong. We cannot sacrifice our samurai here needlessly. I beg you," a black-clad man behind him suddenly pleaded.

"Sakai-kun, it appears our assessment was indeed wrong. Their strength exceeds our predictions. Very well, let your Anketsu act," the leader said, resignation in his voice.

"Yes!"

Liu Hui stood on the hospital's top floor, observing the situation below. Seeing the entrance situation stabilized under Zhou Tengyun's heroic efforts, he let out a breath of relief.

The black-clad figures facing Zhou Tengyun outside the hospital suddenly seemed to receive new orders and swiftly retreated, leaving behind a ground littered with the dead and the moaning wounded. Just as the guards at the gate relaxed, Zhou Tengyun sensed trouble. He shouted, "Snipers opposite! Everyone scatter and take cover!"

Wu Yuanjia quickly organized the retreat, but the warning came too late. Three bullets had already left their barrels. Two guards were hit and fell, their condition unknown, while the third bullet was aimed squarely at Zhou Tengyun. Zhou Tengyun, having already tracked the projectile's trajectory, merely shifted his body slightly and easily evaded the shot.

The other guards immediately scattered for cover. Zhou Tengyun glanced at the two fallen guards, then toward the snipers' position, his eyes blazing with fury.

The sniper realized he couldn't handle Zhou Tengyun alone. Consequently, all three snipers locked onto him, firing three simultaneous rounds to cover every possible angle of escape. Zhou Tengyun's senses were operating at their peak; he completely mapped the trajectory of all three projectiles. His body twisted in bizarre contortions, effortlessly dodging the incoming fire. The bullets struck the ground behind him, leaving three small craters.

Having dodged the fire, Zhou Tengyun looked back to confirm Wu Yuanjia and the others were hidden. The black-clad men outside had vanished. The downed attackers posed no further threat to the hospital. He told Wu Yuanjia to maintain security and protect the facility while he himself shot off into the darkness.

This is the second update for Qian Yu today. Thank you all for following this book!

As is customary, before I finish, please remember to hit that collect button and send those recommendation votes—thank you!

Also, if you want those 'essence' points, hurry up; there aren't many left!