After Hag finished arranging all the work and departed, Fang Senyan was suddenly blocked head-on by another Contractor.

This Contractor was a member of the Banks Gang, his name was Stang, and his ability was… Fang Senyan already saw the man's right hand tucked under his armpit, a pair of small, brown eyes gazing over with ill intent: “Hey, you idiot, move along, now! Or I’ll blow your ass clean off!”

Hearing the word "idiot," the corner of Fang Senyan's eye twitched. He kept his expression unchanged, but the muscles across his body began to contract, ready to teach the man a harsh lesson. However, at that very instant, his peripheral vision caught sight of Fante from the Banks Gang, accompanied by another Contractor named Oran, closing in on Das! Thoughts flashed, and he already took a step back, his voice laced with anger: “What are you trying to do?”

Stang observed Fang Senyan’s demeanor and noticed the thinly veiled insecurity behind the aggressive tone. He sneered: “Relax, you’re not worth me picking up any Kill Score over. It’s just that you seemed to enjoy your work yesterday so much, today we need your help with ours.”

Fang Senyan pulled out a metal flask, tilted his head back, and took a long drink. Just as he was about to address Stang, a thunderous BOOM erupted nearby. A large crater appeared in the grass, thick black smoke billowing upwards, scattering turf and fresh soil everywhere! Fante and Oran were seen retreating sharply, hands crossed defensively in front of them. Clearly, the other two from the Banks Gang were targeting Das; it seemed Das, outnumbered, had struck the first ferocious blow!

Seizing the moment while Stang turned back in stunned distraction, Fang Senyan suddenly flung his hands wide! In his right hand now appeared a short axe, gleaming with dark light. The design bore a resemblance to the compact, deadly hatchets favored by the Axe Gang in 1930s Shanghai, though this one was twice the size. The edge of the axe bore traces of dried blood, lending it an especially gruesome, sanguinary air. It was the Butcher’s Bone-Chopping Axe he had purchased in the space!

With a flash of dull, heavy light, Fang Senyan brought the axe down in a chopping arc aimed directly at the head!

Stang spun back in shock! The reason they dared to harass the neutrals, Fang Senyan and Das, was because Boss Fante had struck a deal with the Symbiote faction, ensuring those fellows would not intervene at this time. He had anticipated Fang Senyan might resist, but never had he expected the resistance to be so resolute and brutal! It was utterly fearless, imbued with an air of unstoppable momentum!

Stang shrieked and desperately leaned back. But the sharp axe blade still ripped heavily across his chest, tearing the leather of his white jacket to shreds, and leaving a deep gash on his forearm, right where his hand had been tucked under his armpit—the wound instantly staining the entire sleeve crimson.

Fang Senyan followed up immediately, kicking hard into Stang’s left knee joint.

The man cried out in agony but immediately used the momentum to tumble to the ground, desperately trying to create distance between them. If not for the rule in this world stipulating that "damage dealt between Contractors is reduced by 40%," that axe strike and kick alone would have inflicted severe injury upon Stang. Even so, it caused Stang to break out in a cold sweat.

The instant Fang Senyan inflicted damage on Stang, he received a prompt: “Your Perception surpasses your opponent’s; you will exert a Suppression effect. The enemy can only acquire the most basic information from combat logs.”

Despite Stang’s strenuous efforts to pull away, Fang Senyan’s advanced basic ability, Grappling Combat, was already at LV2, coupled with Basic Footwork LV4 and the speed boost from Endless Vodka. In terms of speed, he had achieved total suppression over the man! Just as Stang managed to scramble back to his feet and half-draw the shotgun hidden under his armpit, Fang Senyan was upon him again, the Butcher’s Bone-Chopping Axe in his right hand coming down once more with savage ferocity!

Blood sprayed as the axe landed solidly on Stang’s right wrist. He let out a shrill cry of pain, but simultaneously landed a solid punch to Fang Senyan’s abdomen—a stomach kick. The force of the kick wasn't immense, but it halted Fang Senyan’s forward lunge, allowing Stang to use the momentum to roll backward. During the roll, he drew his single-shot shotgun (C’s B+2+1) with his left hand, leveling the dark muzzle straight at Fang Senyan. As is well known, the closer the range, the greater the power of a shotgun!

Fang Senyan’s expression remained impassive, as if he hadn't noticed the terrifyingly lethal shotgun pointed directly at him. He stepped forward again, hacking out with ferocious might! With a loud BANG, Stang gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger all the way. Seventy or eighty steel pellets poured out like a mad rainstorm onto the enemy before him, erupting in a cloud of blood and torn fabric where they struck Fang Senyan’s chest.

But at the same time, the vicious axe whistled through the air, slicing directly through the gap between Stang’s middle and ring fingers, chopping downward with unstoppable force! Fang Senyan’s Drunkard Title was active, and the Butcher’s Bone-Chopping Axe carried an intrinsic 2% critical strike chance—this blow landed a critical hit! It sliced deeply into more than half of Stang’s right hand and, with undiminished momentum, burrowed between the ulna and radius of his upper arm before becoming lodged. If not for the shotgun’s passive ability, Knockback, activating at this moment, that single swing might have cleanly severed half of Stang’s arm!

This was the drawback of becoming accustomed to team combat. In a team, roles are clearly defined, each person attending to their duty. Stang served as the close-to-mid-range firepower specialist. The shotgun he used was a Deep Blue item, not only immensely powerful but also boasting a special effect: 100% Knockback upon hitting an enemy. Therefore, during gear gathering and attribute allocation, he had paid little heed to Stamina, focusing instead on Strength and Agility, with his basic ability investments leaning toward basic ranged combat.

For Stang, Strength significantly improved the effective range and stability of the shotgun, making it viable even as the weapon aged, while Agility directly increased firing rate, pursuit chances, and most importantly, escape probability. Consequently, his Stamina was a paltry 8 points!! This equated to only 80 Health Points, and the 8 points of Stamina yielded a meager 4 points of Defense, reducing damage by only about 10%.

For Fang Senyan, his Strength was already a considerable 13 points, further amplified by the Butcher’s Bone-Chopping Axe’s bonus damage. Crucially, he possessed LV2 in the advanced basic ability, Grappling Combat, while Stang had zero advanced basic abilities! Therefore, theoretically, every axe chop dealt at least nearly 50 points of damage. Even factoring in the 40% damage reduction between Contractors, Fang Senyan had the misfortune to land a critical hit! This almost entirely negated the rule-based reduction. Thus, had Stang’s shotgun Knockback effect not triggered in time, that one axe swing could have cleaved half his life away!

Severely wounded, Stang let out an agonizing scream! He suddenly realized with chilling clarity how foolish it had been to stand so close to this opponent moments before! Yet, being a Contractor who had survived several worlds, he had faced more dangerous situations. He was not felled by the pain of grievous bodily harm. As his teeth ground together until his gums bled, he immediately activated a life-saving ability:

“Back Leap!”

Fang Senyan had seen this ability on the market as well. It was a Universal Ability requiring no prerequisite learning or class restriction. Upon use, it instantly and drastically increased the user's jumping capability, causing them to rapidly propel backward five to eight meters, though its cooldown was extremely long. Despite this, its price on the market remained consistently high. He hadn't expected Stang to possess such a skill.

Furthermore, Stang wouldn't be a core member of his team based on luck or smooth talking alone. As he leaped backward, without any visible movement, a smoking grenade suddenly dropped from his waist, landing directly between Fang Senyan and himself. Should Fang Senyan choose to pursue aggressively, he would first have to endure the full impact of a grenade explosion!

The situation now was strikingly similar to when Fang Senyan first entered the Nightmare World and fought against Quill. While Quill hadn't possessed the Back Leap ability, his rich combat experience and formidable personal attributes were by no means inferior to Stang's. Facing Quill then, Fang Senyan had chosen to retreat when confronted with the smoking grenade. But, now, Fang Senyan chose to charge forward!

An unstoppable charge!

His body leaned slightly forward, his breathing remained steady, and every step he took was measured with precise calculation!

The grenade detonated right beside him. A massive shockwave slammed into him, sharp fragments sprayed out like a greedy torrent, tearing at Fang Senyan’s skin as hot blood poured forth. Yet, through the rents in his torn clothing, the silhouette of hard, bronze-colored muscle was revealed, exuding an aura of fierce dominance. The agony of being torn apart acted like a stimulant, flooding Fang Senyan’s body with a scorching heat. Staring intensely into the enemy's eyes, a frenzied fire ignited within him!

For Stang, he had clearly opened a distance of seven or eight meters and thrown a grenade to intercept his foe. But just as the smoke began to rise, the nightmarish, ferocious black axe light reappeared in his vision! That man was a lunatic who dared to charge straight through a grenade! Then, in complete shock, he heard two extremely dull thuds—the sound of Fang Senyan’s axe blade violently cleaving through his flesh and possibly bone. Immediately after, he cleanly entered the critical state and lapsed into unconsciousness.