The next second, Olivia's fingers turned into deadly blades, plunging right into the dude's neck artery.
Yuan Yuan's face froze in horror, her mouth agape as if she wanted to say something, but all that came out was a gush of blood.
Another body dropped at Olivia's feet.
"What happens if it hits 100%?"
Suddenly, a magnetic voice whispered in her ear.
She turned to see Zane's handsome mug.
Zane had been eyeing the details on her wristband, curious, so he popped the question.
Olivia just cracked a slight smile.
"Guess I might kick the bucket."
Her wristband, crafted by some science geeks, was linked to her pain nerves, alerting her to her pain threshold.
Hitting 100% meant Olivia was at her peak, but also at her life's limit!
Meanwhile,
Landon was duking it out with a dude named Core crystal, a power booster wielding a 2000-pound alloy axe like it was a feather.
The axe swung fiercely, aiming straight for Landon.
"Shoot! Olivia's settling her debts with Zane, guess I gotta pay up too..."
His eyes darted around, his body crackled, and his skinny frame bulked up a bit.
This was Landon's awakening power, "Fearless Frenzy."
His IQ took a nosedive, but his other physical attributes skyrocketed.
Landon, usually the brainiac, now looked nearly demented, unfazed by the incoming axe, he threw a punch right at it.
"Buzz—"
The clash of metal rang out, the axe handle bent out of shape. Even the power booster felt his palms crack from the impact, pain making him drop the axe.
"Wha—?"
The guy was shocked.
Didn't expect him to be that fierce!
While he was stunned, Landon was already next to him, landing another heavy punch on his chest, a crisp 'crack' sounding by his ear.
The man's bones shattered, his body twisted grotesquely like a busted sack, flying backwards.
"Gotcha!"
Landon clenched his fist.
These Black Scorpion goons were no match for Olivia and him, not even close, especially since they were from Shelter 001, the top awakeners.
Even Richard and his crew, armed with alloy blades and in perfect sync, were battling some Brain Nexus awakeners.
Soon, they had taken down two.
"Dang! They're so freaking strong!"
Song Yang, who had been blasted away, struggled to sit up from the rubble, realizing his side had lost two main fighters.
Especially since Olivia was still chatting and laughing with Zane, like they were just shooting the breeze.
Clearly, they didn't see him as a threat!
Feeling the intense danger, as if a steel spike was hanging over his head, Song Yang thought about bailing.
But, he didn't think he could escape from Olivia.
Then he remembered, three of his guys were upstairs, watching over the hostages.
"That's my last stand!"
Song Yang leaped straight to the second floor.
His guys on the first floor, already struggling, saw their boss flee and felt utterly hopeless, cursing in their minds.
"wcnmlgb!"
Soon after, they were taken down by Richard and the others.
The fight on the first floor was over.
Zane hadn't lifted a finger, since it was just small fry, he was just there for the show.
"Here! Take these!"
Landon handed over a Core crystal and a few Brain Nexus.
Zane looked at him.
"Don't need this much, man."
"Need! Remember what the headmaster used to say, 'A drop of water should be returned with a spring.' You gave me bread when I was starving, I gotta repay you big time!"
Landon was all serious.
Zane didn't say more, just took the Core crystal and Brain Nexus.
Up on the second floor, the once bustling karaoke joint was now eerily empty, with a tense vibe hanging in the air. In the middle of the lobby, three dudes were kneeling on the ground, all chained up, making muffled noises.
Song Yang ripped the tape off their mouths, hoping they'd cry for help and maybe Olivia would go soft and actually let him slide.
It wasn't long before Zane and his crew showed up.
"Cheng sis, save me! I don't wanna die, man, please!"
One of the guys started bawling his eyes out right away. Song Yang quickly snapped at them.
"Freeze! Don't come any closer, or I swear I'll off them right here!"
"Huh?"
Olivia looked up, puzzled. The three hostages were shaking like leaves and still screaming for help, scared out of their wits! Zane just watched the drama unfold, curious to see how Olivia would handle this mess.
Olivia, hearing this, actually stopped in her tracks, deep in thought, calculating her next move.
"Saving one awakened gets me a couple pounds of flour... but taking out Song Yang gets me a Core crystal. Tough call... but offing the dude seems like the way to go."
Song Yang thought Olivia was actually intimidated by his threat and couldn't help but feel a bit smug.
"People from the shelter are always so by-the-book, totally clueless..."
"Heh, I bet your bosses told you to save these guys, huh?"
"Yep."
Olivia nodded, not denying it.
Song Yang felt even more confident.
"Alright! Let them go, and you can take these three with you."
"No need, 'cause... I never follow orders from the top."
Olivia declared.
"What?"
Song Yang was taken aback, finally getting her drift. Even the hostages were dumbfounded, thinking they were about to be rescued.
Their hopes crashed once again!
Suddenly, Olivia made her move, darting forward with lightning speed. Song Yang clenched his teeth under the pressure, his resolve hardening.
"Guys, let's go all out!"
He gritted out the words and made a slashing gesture, deciding to take a few hostages down with him if he was going down.
"Yeah, let's do this!"
His three henchmen shouted, full of fight. They were all Core crystal awakened, pretty tough in their own right.
"Boom!"
The fight kicked off with Olivia and Song Yang trading blows, her powerful punch sending him flying into the walls of two private rooms before he finally stopped. But thanks to his metal skin, Song Yang wasn't much hurt and crawled out of the rubble to attack Olivia again.
Meanwhile, the three awakened were tangling with Landon, their teamwork keeping them in the game for now.
The whole lobby was chaos, tiles shattering, walls collapsing, energy waves all over the place.
Richard and his group didn't join the fight, standing far behind Zane, as this was a battle for Core crystal awakened, and they, still in the Brain Nexus phase, weren't up to it.
Olivia and Song Yang were going at it the hardest. Song Yang kept getting knocked back but always stubbornly got up, like some kind of indestructible force.
Since Olivia's power was fueled by pain but Song Yang was all defense, she couldn't inflict enough damage to break through.
"If that's how it's gonna be, old school it is..."
Olivia focused, ready to resort to self-harm, a method she'd used back in her days in the mental hospital. But just as she was about to start,
a voice came from behind.
"Hey, cut the drama..."