Zheng Zha had no intention of fighting to the death immediately. He pushed off and leaped backward. With a muffled boom in front of him, the muscular giant landed, crushing stones beneath him, sending up a cloud of dust. The giant had dented the ground half a meter deep, and even then, upon landing, he hoisted the massive slab of rock once more.

Zheng Zha reacted quickly, raising his submachine gun and firing at the giant’s chest. At such close range, even he couldn't completely evade the barrage, but this muscle-bound man didn't even attempt to dodge, accepting the impact calmly. Crack-crack-crack echoed as the bullets struck the giant’s chest, managing only to break the skin before embedding themselves in muscle that seemed as hard as steel.

“Hahaha, come on, attack me again! You skinny monkey!” the giant roared. He hurled the massive stone to the ground, then his muscles began to swell. He seemed to grow nearly three meters tall, the bullets lodged in his chest now being squeezed out and dropping to the floor. That wasn't all; he pulled a set of chained tiger claws from his pocket, which looked fearsomely intricate, complete with barbs and hooks designed to tear flesh and shatter bone with a mere tug.

“Monkey from the Central Continent, let’s play a little game. Too bad you’re so frail, skinny as a primate…” The giant laughed boisterously. He casually flicked a small piece of stone he held. It shot toward Zheng Zha like a cannonball, whistling past his ear. The force was immense, but the accuracy was astonishingly poor. They were only seven or eight meters apart, yet the stone flew over a meter wide of Zheng Zha, smashing the wall of a nearby civilian dwelling to rubble, causing a massive plume of dust.

(Terrible accuracy? But the power is terrifying…) Zheng Zha’s mind raced. He turned and sprinted toward the dusty ruin behind him. The muscular giant paused in surprise, then charged forward. Because of his immense strength, each step forced half his foot deep into the earth. He would then wrench his foot free with great effort, making his run look staggeringly uneven.

The giant’s gait was indeed bizarre, yet his speed was astonishingly fast. Even with his speed enhancement magic active, Zheng Zha was only slightly faster. The two charged into the dust cloud almost simultaneously. With a deafening crash, they burst through the opposite wall of the building.

As the muscular giant crashed through the wall, a sharp pain shot through his left arm. His right fist instinctively swung toward the left side. The massive impact pressure from the punch churned the air like a hurricane, dispersing most of the settling dust. In the location where his left side had been, Zheng Zha was seen leaping backward, almost brushing against the fist. In his right hand, Zheng Zha held a small, still-dripping dagger.

Landing, Zheng Zha felt a tightness in his chest. Although the giant’s punch hadn’t landed cleanly, the shockwave alone left him breathless. If that blow had connected fully, he would have been severely wounded or killed instantly. Thinking of the near miss, Zheng Zha could only inwardly count himself lucky.

The muscular giant was not so fortunate. Nearly his entire left arm, including the bone, had been severed, with only about one-fifth of the muscle tissue still connecting the two ends. Undeniably, his muscle density was comparable to steel; even standard bullets couldn't penetrate it. However, the high-frequency vibrating particle cutting dagger worked by vibrating the particle layers of the object. If those layers weren't sufficiently stable, the dagger could easily slice through them—a fact Zheng Zha had just demonstrated.

The giant was undeniably tough. Without thinking, he grabbed his left arm and roared. Then, with sheer force, he ripped the incredibly strong muscle in two. The moment the muscle parted, it emitted a sound like a snapping spring, testifying to its astonishing tensile strength. Even more terrifying, the giant endured this horrific agony, tore his arm free, hurled the severed limb aside, and immediately slammed his right fist toward the gap in the adjacent wall.

Just as Zheng Zha prepared to close in for another attack, he was met by an onslaught of bricks and stones flying toward him like bullets. He frantically used the dagger to parry, managing to block only a few before the sheer kinetic force made his right arm numb.

(No, I can't fight this head-on... I need to try the power of the Red Flame…) Zheng Zha made up his mind. After blocking a few more projectiles, he used their momentum to leap backward. Simultaneously, the muscular giant roared and charged forward. Without hesitation, Zheng Zha retreated over ten meters, then planted his foot against a rear wall and pushed himself upward. The giant, an absolute human tank, crashed through the wall without pause, simultaneously launching a punch filled with bricks and stone fragments into the air. Dust billowed everywhere, and deep within the swirling debris, a faint red glimmer flashed. Zheng Zha dropped from the air, dagger in hand, the blade now wreathed in bloody flame as he stabbed toward the giant’s chest.

The giant reacted swiftly, sidestepping the blow. The dagger merely sliced across his already severed left arm, cleanly removing the remaining stump. The blood-red flames then tracked along his flowing blood, scorching the front of his arm and his left shoulder. In that split second, the giant’s right fist hammered into Zheng Zha’s right shoulder, driving him straight through two rooms of the dwelling until he finally stopped several dozen meters away.

The muscular giant seemed crazed, stomping the ground and charging forward again. But suddenly, a figure dropped from the roof—a slender, fair-haired European man in what looked like a doctor's coat, appearing to be in his early thirties. His speed was startlingly fast, and he materialized beside the giant abruptly.

The giant, now in a frenzy, didn't hesitate and swung his right fist at the doctor. The doctor leaned aside; a silver light flashed in his hand, and a small gash suddenly appeared on the giant’s right arm. His arm immediately went limp and hung uselessly. Only then did the giant truly see who stood before him and yelled, “Alot! Why are you attacking me? Go after that other person! I hit him!” The doctor named Alot gave a cold smile. “Don’t joke. The moment you struck him, his legs braced against your stomach. It looked like a solid hit, but he took maybe thirty percent of the force at most… And do you really wish to die?” As he finished speaking, Alot flashed forward, closing in on the giant’s left shoulder. The silver light flickered rapidly in his hand, and a massive chunk of flesh and bone was shaved clean off the giant’s left shoulder.

As the giant began to curse, he saw the excised tissue instantly being scorched by a blood-red flame. Almost immediately, the flesh, skin, and bone were reduced to ash, leaving only fine bone dust on the ground. Only then did the bloody flame completely vanish.

“That person is a Bloodline Enhanced subject… that skill looks very much like Red Flame. Remember the Bloodline Enhanced we encountered when fighting the Atlantean Continent? If possible, let Captain handle him… Also, the probing mission is concluded…” “…Mohammed Youssef has been captured by their people!” leaping to...