037. The Burning Streets
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—
The heavy machine gun of a Grant soldier riddled a car with bullets, and the remaining kinetic energy was still enough to rip open the bellies of two Bermudes warriors. The surviving comrades, eyes red with fury, shifted positions while firing their rifles in an attempt to provide suppressive fire and help their companions retreat.
However, their bullets could only leave a few dents on the armor. Despite the reduced visibility caused by frost and snow and being caught off guard, the Grant military still had the equipment advantage. They turned on infrared lights and equipped night vision devices, giving them a crushing range advantage over the distant Bermudes soldiers.
"These traitors of the motherland still think they can use the advantage of street fighting to engage us in guerrilla warfare—how laughable!"
The gunner ignored the heavy machine gun, crawled back into the vehicle, closed the hatch, and sneered.
"Don't get complacent. Be wary of the alleys and windows around us. If they attack from above, our tank armor won't hold."
That being said, as the automatic loader shoved a grenade into place and the turret's main gun aimed at the cover, the commander only smirked coldly.
It's over.
"Fire."
The primer ignited, and the heavy shell burst forth with a brilliant spark, spiraling forward, just about to leave the barrel.
Boom!
The entire tank was instantly enveloped by an invisible force field, crushed flat. Li Aozi's figure dropped down, his feet landing on the tank, nearly crushed into scrap metal, before immediately springing up, causing the shell to explode inside the vehicle. After the dazzling explosion, he quickly leaped toward another tank.
Armored units were like clumsy turtles to a gravity manipulator. Not only could the machine guns not track his 60G acceleration, but with just a flick of his hand, Li Aozi could apply 20 times gravity to the 50-ton main battle tank, hurling it into the sky before slamming it back down, sending up a cage-like plume of dust and debris.
With 100.1 points in [Charisma], Li Aozi on a modern battlefield was no less effective than a mobile armor unit, clearing a 50-meter radius around him.
"That's... that looks like our Beta-Tier—it's Mr. Li Aozi!"
"Great, we're saved!"
"Li Aozi has broken through the enemy formation, comrades, for the liberation of our motherland, charge!"
Li Aozi began deliberately lowering his flight altitude, casually using gravity to pull over two 54-ton 'Tanuki' tanks, sweeping them left and right.
With a flick of Li Aozi's hand, the tanks, moving at 50G acceleration, were smashed into the ground. The internal ammunition detonated, sending a fierce shockwave that tore apart the earth, throwing all the soldiers on the street, including several Alpha-Tier officers, into the air.
"This advance is too slow. We won't reach Sullute Palace at this rate."
The street was well-fortified, with snipers in every direction, making it difficult for the advancing troops to push through.
Li Aozi muttered, then suddenly raised his hand, lifting an Alpha-Tier [Assassin] who had tried to ambush him. The assassin flailed in mid-air, a look of horror and disbelief on his face.
"What, what is this—"
"Noisy."
Li Aozi thought to himself and clenched his fist.
Splat!
Forty times gravity crushed the assassin's body into a bloody pulp in an instant.
Bullets fired at Li Aozi were immediately deflected by gravity, and Li Aozi opened his hand, flexing his fingers. The dirt, sand, soldier remains, tanks, steel, and concrete on the ground were instantly stripped away and gathered into a 400-ton sphere in front of him, blocking all bullets and absorbing them.
"Still not enough."
Controlling gravity with his left hand, Li Aozi grabbed a bag of military jelly with his right, tore it open, and took a few deep gulps to restore his Omega Energy. The golden rings in his eyes suddenly shone with brilliant light.
"Hey, hey! What is that thing?"
The Grant soldiers behind the defensive line saw a rapidly expanding metal sphere ahead of the firefight—an incredibly eerie sight.
As it grew larger, more and more objects were drawn to it, tearing away the reinforced concrete and glass from nearby shops and houses. The sounds of shattering were constant, and within seconds, it had grown beyond the limits of visibility.
Li Aozi still wasn't satisfied, so he raised his right hand and pressed it against the massive sphere, now nearly 50 meters in diameter.
A conservative estimate… about 1500 to 1600 tons?
[Natural Ignition]
[Mode II • Cleansing the World]
Hum—Boom!
Molecular motion accelerated, heating the sphere. In just an instant, the entire sphere glowed a blinding red-hot, the air around it distorting violently, and just looking at it caused searing pain in the eyes.
Gulp...
The Grant soldiers weren't fools. The scale and material of this thing were beyond destruction, so they immediately turned and shouted:
"Run!"
Gravity Crush • Tenfold!
The thousand-ton sphere shot forward at 98 meters per second, far exceeding human movement speed. The massive, red-hot sphere, with its immense heat, rocketed out and slammed into the ground. The deafening explosion echoed throughout the capital, the shockwave sweeping across the buildings. The entire street's defense line was instantly destroyed, leaving a massive crater dozens of meters deep, filled with intense heat and black smoke.
The sphere lost its gravitational binding and could no longer maintain its cohesion. As it struck the ground, the kinetic energy was dispersed by the sand-like structure inside, but the resulting fragmentation only sent the debris flying farther. A sentinel standing two kilometers away was hit by a burning fragment, his head pierced, killing him instantly.
Li Aozi ascended step by step into the air, as if climbing an invisible staircase. He clasped his hands together, rotating his palms. Under his will, gravity gathered the scattered debris, forming a sea of fragments that fell into the crater, filling it and restoring a flat road.
People stared blankly at this display. Omega Energy wasn't unheard of, but in the minds of the Grant soldiers, it was just a flashy trick. In a real fight, it was still about shooting—once, twice, three times to see results.
Mr. Li Aozi himself admitted that he was just an ordinary Omega Energy user, falsely accused by Frost-Plated Republic and GTB. People admired him and sympathized with his plight.
But now, Li Aozi was flying steadily in the air, casually dropping meteors and filling in craters—powers that could literally move mountains and drain seas. This was far beyond the perception of Omega Energy as just a means to light cigarettes, charge phones, or suddenly gain a burst of strength.
"This is a true god…"
Rather than calling it Omega Energy, calling it a miracle would be more convincing.
With Li Aozi violently paving the way, Bermudes' morale soared as they charged forward on the still-smoldering road.
"This is good. They should be coming for me now?"
Li Aozi acted as a target in the sky, drawing the attention of drones and artillery, all of which came rushing toward him.
But their numbers meant nothing to him.
Grr—
The energy pod on his arm extended from the fibers of his clothing, wrapping around his elbow and venting excess heat.
[Gene Grafting? Enhanced Ability Pod] now allowed him to store up to 22 Omega Energies.
But more importantly, he wasn't just storing them—he could combine and program these Omega Energies, integrating them like spells to produce unique chemical reactions.
This was akin to a [Mage] combining different elemental spells to create new magic,
and [Mutants] had similar operations.
Li Aozi drew his plain long sword, a ghostly purple aura manifesting behind him as a fierce demon spirit. Facing the swarm of drones coming at him, Li Aozi tossed a piece of Yavanna's compressed biscuit into his mouth, then held the sword in front of him. He quickly ran his left index and middle fingers along the blade.
[Soul Engraved Sword Saint • Battle Demon]—Stack
The aura condensed into a massive purple hand, covering Li Aozi's own as if a bloodthirsty demon was gripping the sword with him.
[Natural Ignition]—Stack
Li Aozi's face briefly flashed with a woman's features, his eyes glowing red as the blade ignited with a fierce flame.
[Gravity • Contact]—Stack
Gravity rippled across the blade, imbuing it with the perfect weight and terrifying acceleration.
Purple, red, and gold—three colors rapidly shifted in his eyes before merging into a dominating red-black.
"I finally understand why so many people love being [Warriors]."
Li Aozi opened his mouth, the breath he exhaled turning into white mist as it mingled with the cold wind behind him. He raised his blade, aiming at the swarm of drones charging towards him, as well as the entire ground, and instantly slashed out a strike!
Whoosh—
The oxygen was instantly burned away, and the Battle Demon's hand gripped the long sword, letting out a series of piercing screeches as it slashed through a full circle in the air before coming to a halt.
The flickering crimson sword light condensed tightly together, cutting through the sky and earth in an instant. The buildings were molten cut, slowly sliding down along the smooth edges.
Due to the momentum of the Battle Demon's swing, Li Aozi didn't have time to catch his breath. He directly turned around, his back now facing the dense swarm of drones in the sky, and was now facing the advancing Bermudes soldiers.
In the next moment, the horizon behind him was engulfed in a sea of fire, lighting up the red-black sky. Everyone instinctively raised their heads. Compared to the entire night sky or the sea of flames, a single human figure seemed so small, yet they immediately found him, clearly seeing him standing with his back to the thousands of drones exploding in destruction.
After a brief inertia-driven dive, the drone swarm burst into flames in mid-air, erupting into dazzling fireworks in the sky. The intense heat burned so thoroughly that it had little impact on the ground forces.
It was only then that Li Aozi belatedly noticed and glanced at the Omega Energy combination he had just created:
"Trinity—[Ghost-Slaying Flame Slash]."