It was said that this colossal dragon held an unparalleled grudge; any living thing that had dared to attack it must be utterly annihilated before it would cease its wrath. What was most terrifying was that the beast was truly invulnerable to blades and spears; all missile and gunfire assaults proved utterly useless against it. Numerous scientists had used high-speed cameras to examine precisely why the projectiles failed to harm the dragon, only to discover that just as the ammunition was about to make contact, a semi-transparent protective layer materialized over the dragon's hide. This finding caused the scientists both profound shock and elation; an energy shield, theoretically possible, had manifested on a living creature. This was precisely why the aircraft carrier strike group was stationed offshore.

By this moment, any command issued would be too late. That squadron of fighter jets continued to unleash missiles upon the dragon. Although some ordnance was also directed at Zheng Zha and the other three, the Green Goblin Glider’s small size and high agility allowed several missiles to streak past them harmlessly, exploding upon impact with the sea surface. Consequently, the entire fighter squadron focused its assault solely on the dragon.

Zheng Zha’s eyes were already glazed over with a distant look. He instinctively dodged every incoming threat; his precognitive ability, amplified by unlocking his gene lock, was being utilized to its absolute limit. As he sped toward the aircraft carrier, he roared down to the three figures below: “There’s no other way! We have to engage in melee combat! If we keep flying like this, we’ll drain the Green Goblin Glider’s energy completely before we even find the Spear of Judgment… Don’t any of you die! You don’t get any second chances or resurrections now. I don’t want to endure the pain of losing a comrade again. Remember, I’ll toss the Necronomicon and the Book of Resurrection onto the deck shortly. Once you secure those two ancient texts, use the Green Goblin Glider to get away fast. I don’t know if my Destruction state can kill this dragon, but we absolutely have to try!” Zheng Zha paused. “Wang Xia, toss me the bombs…” Below him, there was only silence. Zheng Zha roared again, and as the aircraft carrier grew ever closer, just as he was about to lose his temper, two ultra-high-explosive time bombs suddenly flew up past his eyes. Wang Xia’s voice drifted up from beneath him: “See the red button? Hit that, and the timer starts. Remember, you must be clear within five seconds, or the resulting blast will turn you into mince meat along with everything else…” Zheng Zha laughed heartily. “That’s easy enough! I just need to throw it inside the dragon before it blows! Don’t worry, hahahaha, I won’t be reckless about this.”

The other three fell silent, for the aircraft carrier was now alarmingly close—less than two hundred meters separated them from the vessel.

The dragon behind them was still one hundred and fifty meters away. At their current speed, they would reach the aircraft carrier in mere moments. Zheng Zha’s eyes took on that vacant, focused stare; his attention was acutely sharpened, as if the world around him had gradually slipped into slow motion. He adjusted the Green Goblin Glider’s trajectory and speed to their optimal configuration, then shot straight toward the command tower situated behind the carrier’s flight deck. At the very last possible instant, he soared past the tower, flying several meters above it.

As the Green Goblin Glider skimmed meters above the command tower, the dragon, with its entire colossal body, slammed violently into the structure. This impact didn't just obliterate the tower; the entire aircraft carrier nearly lifted out of the water before tilting sharply and plunging the forward section into the sea with a heavy thud. An unknown amount of internal machinery must have been wrecked.

Taking advantage of the dragon’s stunned disorientation, Zheng Zha skillfully piloted the Green Goblin Glider to a relatively intact platform atop the wreckage of the command tower. He urgently retrieved the two ancient books from his storage ring, then quickly stated, “Chu Xuan… never mind, I won’t waste time on pleasantries. You surely know what needs to be done. And you must retrieve the Spear of Judgment; that weapon’s power is far greater than I ever imagined… That’s it then. All of you, leave now!” There was a definite tone of finality in his voice. Zheng Zha had already resolved himself to die. He had forced them into this side mission; the rewards for completing one were substantial enough already. Therefore, if the other three perished, half the blame rested on following his plan… Besides, he had never died before; if Chu Xuan and the others managed to escape, there was a chance they could resurrect him… “So, fight for your lives!” Zheng Zha’s decision settled, and his mood paradoxically calmed. It was a strange sensation, as if everything around him had been perfectly imprinted onto his mind: the fighter jets streaking in from the distance, the escort warships frantically maneuvering, the three comrades mounting the Green Goblin Glider, and… the massive dragon head slowly rising before him, inhaling deeply toward the sky. All these scenes were etched quietly within his consciousness.

Before entering this horror film scenario, after intense training and desperate efforts to have the ‘Main God’ repair his body, he could sustain his Destruction skill for a full four seconds—this was the absolute limit of his physical endurance. Every use left his body fundamentally ruined. It truly lived up to its name. If he relied on the vampiric energy’s self-healing, it would take at least five or six days to regain combat capability—which was exactly what he intended to do now! Use ‘Destruction’ and annihilate this Western dragon’s mother! “Hahahaha…” Zheng Zha burst into wild laughter. As the dragon tilted its head back to inhale, he unleashed his vampiric energy and internal force simultaneously, pressing the timer button on the bombs. A thick, blood-red line shot downward at incredible speed, countered by an explosive surge of internal force rocketing upward. The two violent energies collided near his heart, and the heart, possessing the bloodline of a Vampire Count, could not withstand the dual impact. Zheng Zha immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, and then the destructive power surged throughout his body.

Everything around him began to slow down—the dragon’s head lowering to spew fire, the three comrades already thirty meters airborne behind him, even the speed of the approaching fighter jets. Everything appeared as slow motion to his eyes. He then charged toward the dragon, the surrounding air feeling as thick and viscous as heavy oil. With every step he took upon this ‘air oil,’ it rippled, and he used this force to propel himself forward in mid-air. This was the technique he had grasped from Chu Xuan’s earlier hints: Geppo! Using the power of the air to traverse the void! By the time he covered the twenty-meter gap and reached the dragon’s jaws, he could clearly see the flickering embers of flame gathering at the beast’s lips. He launched himself forward with a ferocious kick. The force of this kick, exerted with excessive power, tore through the air itself, manifesting a technique born from sheer exertion: Rankyaku!

A blade of pure, compressed air ripped through the atmosphere, striking the dragon’s lower jaw. With a sharp crack, the bone buckled inward under the force of the kick. The nascent flame, unable to erupt, was instantly snuffed out within the dragon’s mouth, causing a thick plume of smoke to billow out instead.

Zheng Zha was now standing on the dragon’s foreleg. His feet moved in a blur, and in an instant, he zipped from the leg to the dragon’s head, delivering a devastating punch: Soru! followed immediately by Pistol Palm! Both moves executed simultaneously resulted in a hole, thick as a man’s arm, blasted into the dragon’s temple. The beast let out a monstrous, agonizing shriek.

Zheng Zha was about to shove the time bomb into the gaping wound when he realized the ‘Destruction’ skill had nearly two seconds remaining. With the extreme speed granted by the skill, he should have been able to escape before the explosion. However, the instant he forced the time bomb into the dragon’s temple, he encountered a layer of semi-transparent defense. This protective field didn't stop him; it prevented the bomb from making contact with the dragon’s flesh, holding the time bomb suspended just outside the surface… (Forget it. I was hoping for a way to survive this fight, but it seems this is all there is to it…) Zheng Zha sighed softly. He used Soru again, moving with impossible swiftness directly in front of the dragon’s mouth, and hammered it with several rapid blows. The sheer power already far exceeded any limit Zheng Zha had ever reached. This flurry of punches sequentially pulverized the dragon’s entire lower jaw. Immediately, the residual wave of unreleased fire erupted from the dragon’s throat—the very inferno that had been extinguished moments before. Zheng Zha watched this pillar of flame surge outward, only managing to flash upon a single beautiful face in his mind… and then upon his own lonely figure, smiling cruelly, yet surely isolated and desolate within his heart… Utilizing the extreme velocity of Soru, Zheng Zha charged headlong into the dragon’s mouth, his speed actually piercing through the torrent of flame. He plunged down the beast’s throat. Zheng Zha could no longer perceive his surroundings; as a flash of pure white light enveloped him, he too descended into darkness.

To the onlookers, they only witnessed a human shape attacking the dragon with speed invisible to the naked eye. A spray of gore erupted from the dragon’s head. Once the lower jaw was utterly shattered, the silhouette finally plunged inside the beast’s mouth. Moments later, the dragon reared back as if to roar, but lacking a jaw, no sound emerged. Simultaneously, the dragon’s belly rapidly inflated like an overfilled balloon, before it exploded with a loud BOOM into fragments. Only the massive severed head remained, crashing onto the ground… Jumping to