UGB Chapter 166 Tearing Through Space and Breaking the Deadlock
Chapter 166 Tearing Through Space and Breaking the Deadlock
The remaining current flickered twice on the twisted circuit board before going completely silent. The communication box, made of special alloy, was crushed into a lump of scrap metal in Lu Yuan's hands.
Lin Zhen stood opposite the coffee table, swallowing hard. The sound of his Adam's apple bobbing was particularly jarring in the quiet living room. He had just witnessed Lu Yuan send his divine sense back along the quantum network; the dark web headquarters across the ocean was probably a morgue by now.
"Mr. Lu."
Lin Zhen forced himself to speak, his voice very low.
"Those twelve high-yield dirty bombs along the East China Sea coast are no joke. The people at SHIELD are all lunatics. If you went to Beijing now, they really would dare to detonate them. Tens of millions of lives would be lost..."
"They dare not."
Lu Yuan casually tossed the lump of scrap metal into the trash can, making a dull thud.
"The premise for playing with people's lives is that they themselves want to live. If they were truly prepared to die together with others, they wouldn't have made this call to negotiate with me. The safest way to break this deadlock would be to detonate the dirty bomb and let that skeletal structure in Antarctica absorb the death energy of tens of millions of people."
Lu Yuan walked to the French windows and looked at the white bone meal wall being poured in the yard.
"They called to say that the monster in Antarctica is in a worse state than I thought. The blood and energy of three thousand martial artists simply can't satiate it. They need time. They threatened me with dirty bombs and the Beijing authorities, trying to keep me in Jiangzhou and buy that skeleton time to cross the ocean."
Lin Zhen froze for half a second, going through the logic in his mind, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
These overseas scumbags are using the lives of tens of millions of Chinese people as bargaining chips, but in reality, they are just trying to cover up the crossing of a crippled demon skeleton.
"Old Li has already raised the strategic early warning level of the Astronomical Bureau to the highest level."
Lin Zhen took out his communicator.
"With just your word, the official superconducting electromagnetic railgun array will be aimed at the East China Sea at all costs. Even that monster will be skinned alive."
"Tell Old Li to put the cannon away. Don't use modern industrial toys to tickle the remnants of the demon race."
Lu Yuan turned around and glanced at Lu Qingxue, who was sitting on the sofa adapting to the new power within her body.
"The Extreme Flame Dragon Marrow within Qingxue's body has stabilized. The newly constructed wall on Panlong Mountain is infused with bone powder from a Nascent Soul stage dragon, along with the spiritual energy I extracted from the surrounding five hundred li. Even if that demon skeleton came personally, it wouldn't be able to gnaw on this bone within three to five days."
Lu Yuan walked to the entrance and picked up the somewhat damaged black windbreaker.
"I originally planned to deal with the monster after it came ashore. Since they're in such a hurry to set up a fighting arena in the capital and die, I'll go and nail the coffin lid shut for them."
Lin Zhen watched Lu Yuan's retreating figure, his eyes twitching wildly.
"You're leaving now? Don't you need the Skywatch Bureau to arrange a private plane?"
Lu Yuan did not answer. He pushed open the door and walked to the bluestone slab in the center of the courtyard.
The physical power of a peak Mahayana stage cultivator was released without reservation at this moment. There were no fluctuations of true essence; it was purely the power of blood and qi to the extreme.
The air around Lu Yuan began to distort violently. As light passed near his body, it was forcibly refracted by the massive gravitational field, forming a visible black vacuum band.
Click!
A crisp cracking sound rang out in mid-air. The spatial barrier on the Earth's surface had been torn open by Lu Yuan's bare hands, creating a three-meter-long black crack. Violent void currents surged along the edge of the crack.
Lu Yuan stepped into the crevice.
The black crack closed instantly. Only a gust of wind swept up fallen leaves in the courtyard of the Panlong Mountain villa.
Lin Zhen stared wide-eyed, nearly dropping the communicator in his hand.
He tore through the void with his bare hands. He traversed space, ignoring the physical laws of Earth. This scene, which only existed in the mythology section of the top-secret File 0 of the Extraordinary Immortals Bureau, was unfolding right before his eyes.
Meanwhile, in the capital city.
The martial arts arena was built on a solitary peak on the outskirts of the capital. It was originally the highest-level arena used by the Ancient Martial Arts Masters Alliance to resolve life-and-death feuds.
Now, this vast white marble square is illuminated as brightly as day by more than a dozen military-grade high-intensity searchlights.
Thirteen heavy coffins made of Phoebe zhennan wood were lined up in the center of the square. The coffins were painted with glaring black lacquer and emitted a strong smell of preservatives.
William, the Asia CEO of the S.H.I.E.L.D., stood beside the first coffin, his blond hair gleaming under the searchlight, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit without a single wrinkle.
Twelve burly men, each over two meters tall and covered in dark blue bulletproof scales, stood in a fan shape behind William. These men had no pupils; the whites of their eyes were a deathly grayish-white. These were S-class genetic mutants created by the S.H.I.E.L.D. at a cost of three billion US dollars; each possessed the terrifying power to easily tear apart a Grandmaster of the Transcendent Realm.
Less than five meters away from William, there was a mahogany armchair.
Zhang Chongyang, the current head of the Tianji Pavilion, sat in a chair. He was wearing a tattered gray Taoist robe, holding three ancient coins covered in rust in his hand, and was resting with his eyes closed.
"Pavilion Master Zhang."
William swirled the wine in his glass, the red wine forming a viscous arc on the glass.
"Are you sure the Skywatch Bureau's signal jamming network hasn't been restored yet? What's been done about that kid surnamed Lu after he saw the dirty bomb threat posted on the dark web?"
Zhang Chongyang didn't open his eyes, but his withered lips moved slightly.
"Our spies in Jiangzhou report that there are no fluctuations of true energy above Panlong Mountain. All the Sky Surveillance Bureau's planes are also parked at the airport. He can't get out."
Zhang Chongyang tossed the three copper coins in his hand onto the small square table next to him.
Clang.
The coin stopped spinning. Zhang Chongyang glanced at the divination result, his brow twitching almost imperceptibly.
The three characters face up. A very bad omen.
"Mr. William, I have something to say, but I'm not sure if I should."
Zhang Chongyang put the copper coin back into his sleeve.
"Threatening him with dirty bombs was indeed a good move. But I still feel that these thirteen coffins here are too ominous. What if that kid doesn't play by the rules and goes straight to the capital? Can these twelve genetic monsters behind you stop him? Those four old guys from the Ancient Martial Arts Alliance didn't even leave a complete corpse behind."
William chuckled and downed the glass of red wine in one gulp.
"Master Zhang, you are far too superstitious about your ancient Chinese martial arts and cultivation practices."
William pulled a black tablet terminal out of his pocket; twelve red dots flashed on the screen.
"These twelve S-class experimental subjects have had their skeletons completely replaced with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene alloy, and their muscle fibers have been injected with cells from deep-sea mutated creatures. Even a direct hit from your so-called missiles wouldn't be able to destroy them."
William pointed to the tablet in his hand.
"Moreover, the detonation program for the dirty bomb is already locked to my heartbeat frequency. If my heart stops beating, or I actively press this button, the twelve cities along the East China Sea coast will instantly be reduced to radioactive wasteland."
William walked up to Zhang Chongyang and looked down at the gaunt old man.
"So what if he's powerful? Does he dare to gamble? If he dares to set foot in the capital, I'll make him a villain for all time in Chinese history. He'll have no choice but to stay obediently in Jiangzhou, waiting for the advance troops from Antarctica to come and chew his bones to pieces!"
Zhang Chongyang didn't speak, but reached out and touched a piece of black tortoise shell that was placed close to his body inside his Taoist robe.
He was smarter than William. He knew that the S.H.I.E.L.D. was just a dog kept on Earth by the Sirius system. The monsters in Antarctica and the dirty bombs in the East China Sea were just smokescreens to attract the attention of the authorities and Lu Yuan.
The true mission of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion was to take advantage of the fact that the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau's attention was drawn to the Antarctic monster, to secretly dig out the sealed branch beneath the capital city, and reactivate the true core of the interdimensional teleportation array.
Just then.
The clouds above the martial arts arena suddenly began to churn without warning.
There was no turbulence of air. Nor was there any sign of thunder.
The searchlight beam shone into the air, and the light twisted eerily. A black rift was torn open dozens of meters above the ground.
The enormous sonic boom lingered for a full two seconds before crashing into everyone's eardrums.
The violent vacuum negative pressure uprooted several ancient trees at the edge of the martial arts platform and shredded them into wood chips.
The wine glass in William's hand shattered. Shards of glass cut the back of his hand, drawing blood.
The twelve S-class mutants let out a low roar, instinctively protecting William, their dark blue scales standing on end, entering the highest level of combat readiness.
Zhang Chongyang suddenly stood up from the armchair, staring intently at the black crack in mid-air, completely unaware that the three copper coins in his hand had fallen to the ground.
A young man wearing a black windbreaker emerged from the crack.
Ignoring the pull of gravity, Lu Yuan stood in mid-air, tens of meters high, looking down at the thirteen coffins below.
"It seems you're quite efficient."
Lu Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but every word clearly overwhelmed the howling wind, striking directly into the minds of William and Zhang Chongyang.
"The size is just right. It can fit your heads and bodies separately."