The power system in this world is similar to the breathing techniques in the Demon Slayer world. It can be said that it's also a type of breathing method. However, this world allows humans to generate special energy within their bodies through breathing techniques, making it more advanced than the Demon Slayer world.
Correspondingly, the villains are also more powerful. The weakest Pillar Man's basic attributes are already comparable to the second boss Kokushibo from the Demon Slayer world.
Stroheim, standing nearby, waved his hand, and the soldiers' bullets sprayed at Santana.
"Hehe, I can't hit the guy next to you, but I can't hit you?"
Santana saw the incoming bullets but didn't dodge, allowing them to hit his body.
"Hahaha, is this all humans have accomplished after so many years?" Santana controlled his flesh, generating enormous pressure between his muscles to reflect the bullets stuck in his muscles back.
Instantly, several soldiers died from the rebounding bullets, and Stroheim and others quickly took cover.
Lin Jiu was experienced in dealing with this type of enemy. He dodged the reflected bullets, pushed off with his foot, and charged towards Santana.
"Hehe, come on! Let me show you the power of my race... Oof!"
Santana saw Lin Jiu attack and was trying to intimidate the others, but he misjudged Lin Jiu's speed.
He didn't expect a human to be almost as fast as him. This kick broke several of his ribs, and if his body wasn't flexible and quick to change direction, his heart would have been kicked to pieces.
Lin Jiu saw Santana take his kick and crash into the special glass behind him. Unfortunately, he couldn't kick the opponent's heart to make him consume more energy.
Stroheim saw Santana hit the special glass, which trembled slightly, and his heart trembled along with it. He feared that his proud technological creation would appear fragile in the face of this mortal flesh.
With two cracks, Santana straightened his bones, quickly healing. He landed on the ground: "How could humans possibly have evolved to... You!"
Lin Jiu didn't have the habit of giving Santana time to talk nonsense. He rushed to the opponent's face and slashed with his sword. Although these immortal beings didn't have the weakness of having their necks cut, Lin Jiu, having killed many demons, habitually aimed for the opponent's throat.
He was simply fighting dirty, ambushing this tens of thousands of years old elderly. Is there a problem with that? No problem!
Santana reacted, quickly making an extreme backbend motion. Even dancers would be ashamed of the extent to which he avoided Lin Jiu's slash!
"Hahaha, useless!"
Santana's head was between his thighs, revealing a smug smile.
"..."
This guy must have forgotten that his body was still exposed to Lin Jiu's hands. The moment Santana bent back to avoid the attack, Lin Jiu gripped his sword handle and smashed it down hard, directly hitting the opponent's lower abdomen.
"Oomph!"
Everyone present saw the special area that was smashed in and couldn't help but cover their lower body, feeling empathetic pain. The one who groaned the loudest was naturally a certain JoJo behind Speedwagon.
It wasn't that Lin Jiu's combat experience far surpassed Santana's, nor was it an improvement in technique... There were some reasons for this. However, the main reason was that Santana had just awakened and hadn't had time to recover his strength.
Originally, when he hadn't recovered, his opponents were Joseph Joestar, who hadn't yet properly trained in Hamon, and Speedwagon. In that situation, he was defeated by the combined efforts of the two. Now, encountering Hunter was even more unfortunate.
"Human, you're strong! But against my perfect body, it's of no use!" Santana stood up, the injury to his lower body already healed.
Stroheim's face showed exaggerated horror: "This kind of creature absolutely cannot be allowed to leave alive! Aren't you a professional vampire hunter? Surely you have a way to deal with this!"
Speedwagon, sitting in his wheelchair, said: "This kind of immortal being can only be harmed by Hamon's power!"
"Looks like there's no choice, old man!"
Joseph Joestar took off his hat, revealing his face. He used a small knife to cut the straps on Speedwagon's body!
"JoJo! You indeed have Hamon energy within you, but it's far less than your grandfather's. You can't fight this kind of enemy!"
Speedwagon knew clearly that the Hamon within Joseph wasn't strong enough now.
"Just watch, old man! This is the battlefield I command! Hey, you over there, vampire hunter, in a moment, you restrain this monster's movements, and I'll deliver the fatal blow!"
Joseph pointed at Santana and said to Lin Jiu.
Lin Jiu glanced at the still young old thing, said nothing, and charged towards Santana.
"Looks like he agreed. Leave the rest to me!"
Joseph controlled his breathing, concentrating his Hamon power on his fingers.
[Soul Slash]!
Lin Jiu's sword strike was fast. Santana could see the sword's shadow but couldn't completely dodge it with his body.
20 points of soul energy and 20 points of mana were consumed simultaneously. This attack could cause 30 points of soul damage, plus 10 points of true damage, slashed onto Santana.
"What the hell is this!"
Santana felt no stimulating pain in his body, but his soul seemed to be torn apart. This feeling brought him a sense of fear of death.
He had fought with Hamon users before, but none of those Hamon users had ever given him such a feeling. Santana could be sure that the opponent's weapon was imbued with a kind of energy, a power more terrifying than Hamon.
Joseph, who was about to show off his skills, saw Santana take a hit from the vampire hunter and then quickly distance himself while holding his head. His face showed disbelief and fear as he looked at the opponent.
The attack landed on his body, so why was he holding his head?
The scene changed too quickly, and the audience present didn't know what had happened. But Joseph, at his peak and not yet nerfed, carefully sensed through Hamon that there was an energy on Lin Jiu's weapon. It was this power that made Santana show such an expression.
"You humans are too dangerous for our immortal race! You must be eliminated!"
Santana realized that the power this human possessed was even more lethal to them than Hamon, with a threat level second only to sunlight. He must be eliminated, otherwise, he would surely become a huge obstacle to their race's plan to rule the world again.
While everyone thought Santana was about to use some terrifying method, even Joseph was guessing what ultimate move the opponent would use. Lin Jiu's soul sense had already detected the opponent's thoughts of wanting to retreat.
"He wants to escape!" Joseph quickly realized. Because he put himself in Santana's position - having just awakened after sleeping for millions of years, with his power not yet recovered.
And then encounter a vampire hunter with strong combat power, who also possessed a power that could kill their immortal race. Continuing to fight head-on would surely lead to death, so he must flee this place, consume flesh to recover his power, and then reconsider.
Lin Jiu thought to himself, as expected of Joseph who often says "Your next line is...", he quickly noticed Santana's intentions.
Just as Joseph shouted, Santana quickly retreated, distancing himself from Lin Jiu.
Joseph was about to urge Lin Jiu to chase after him together to prevent the opponent from escaping when he saw Lin Jiu raise a peculiarly shaped gun aimed in Santana's direction, without particularly aiming.
"It should be... a special gun for vampire hunters, effective against these guys, right?"
Joseph understood that in dealing with immortal beings, the man before him had rich experience and wouldn't make meaningless actions. Since he chose to use the gun in his hand, it must be able to harm those monsters.
Joseph: By the way, that gun looks cool, I want one too! I wonder if becoming a vampire hunter would allow me to have one, maybe I should become his apprentice!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
In an instant, four thumb-thick bullets flew out, heading straight for Santana.
"Hahaha, human weapons! Useless!"
Santana laughed as he ran, seeing the incoming bullets. He laughed even louder when he noticed the bullets weren't even fully aimed at his body.
"Arrogance is always one's enemy!"
With Lin Jiu's soft words, the four bullets exploded. Santana was engulfed in flames, constantly wailing.
This wasn't just simple explosive damage. After enhancement, the [Flame SunSun Flame] bullets carried light element and fire element damage, more potent than ultraviolet lamps. For creatures like Santana, this was like a deadly poison.
Lin Jiu didn't hold back, firing another four bullets, destroying that corner of the base.
"How is this possible, why is there the power of sunlight!"
Santana could be seen in the explosion, feeling this deadly power and being shocked. He had just been thinking that the opponent's threat was second only to sunlight, and immediately damage similar to sunlight came.
As the energy within his body became increasingly weak, in desperation, Santana transformed his exterior into an inorganic state, the initial Pillar Man state. This state could block light element damage, but it would also trap him in a situation where he couldn't move.
From what he had heard from the soldier earlier and the situation in the base, Santana could guess their purpose. He could only gamble that the soldier still wanted to continue researching and would prevent that person from killing him.
As the explosion dissipated, what appeared before Lin Jiu was a motionless Santana, transformed into a statue. In the face of danger, he instinctively took this form.