Asic clenched his fist tightly, the purple Asra power changing properties into the element of lightning and merging with the Blue Dragon Qi. A crackling sound echoed, accompanied by the roar of a dragon that resonated from within him. The Asra power flowed from top to bottom and then back up, creating a perfect circulation that manifested into the image of an Asian dragon orbiting around his body.
Asic's fist struck Avid's metal leg, the force creating an explosive sound. In reality, Asic's fist hadn't even touched Avid's leg. The explosive sound came from the condensed Blue Dragon Qi being released through his punch.
The *Dragon's Ascending Fist* transmitted an immense amount of lightning throughout Avid's body. The circuits in both of Avid's legs were severely damaged. Despite the fact that his grasshopper-like implants were part of his Ego, they operated based on scientific principles.
When electronic equipment receives a current beyond its capacity, it shorts out, causing it to fail—especially when critical circuits are damaged. Avid's once powerful legs, ten times stronger than an average human's, were now nothing more than heavy scrap, rendering him immobile.
Avid's implants were no exception. The power of the *Dragon's Ascending Fist* was at least three times stronger than that of Asic's usual lightning strike. The reason was simple: Avid's legs couldn't withstand Asic's lightning, and the purple lightning was further empowered by the Blue Dragon Qi. The Qi attack coursed throughout Avid's body, spreading from his legs to his head.
[Installation of the Blue Dragon Power Card complete. Proficiency at 100%. Conditions met for enhancing overclocking efficiency when using Blue Dragon Qi.]
[Movement speed increased by 50%, attack speed increased by 55%, physical attack strength increased by 25%, Qi attack strength increased by 33%, and electrical attack strength increased by 42%.]
The purple Blue Dragon Qi flowed throughout Asic's body, through every muscle and vein. He had never felt this much power coursing through him. His bones and joints felt as solid as steel as he clenched both hands, his eyes focused on Avid, who stood still as a target.
Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!
Asic unleashed a continuous barrage of punches on Avid. Every part of Avid's body was struck by Asic's empowered fists, like an unstoppable machine gun. Not even a moment was given for Avid to catch his breath. In just four seconds, Asic landed twelve punches on Avid.
Boom!!!
The final punch struck with all of Asic's power, and as the time compression ended, Avid's body was sent flying. The pain of being struck by lightning repeatedly overwhelmed him, like a tsunami of agony. His once-proud metal legs were numb, not to mention damaged with visible cracks.
The grasshopper mask that Avid wore cracked from the force of the blow. He fell to the ground with a heavy thud, violent currents flowing through his body, causing convulsions. Avid gritted his teeth, trying to endure the pain and the sensation of his body breaking apart.
'He figured it out,' Avid thought in panic. He realized Asic had discovered the weaknesses of Soaring Hopper. It was bad luck that he had to face a monster like Asic. Soaring Hopper had two major weaknesses. One: it wouldn't activate without contact with an object. Asic deduced that Soaring Hopper only worked when an object touched an arrow symbol.
Asic immediately figured out that if he avoided touching the arrows, the power wouldn't activate.
The second weakness: Asic used his short shotgun to shoot scattershot at Avid, who tried to dodge every pellet. This made Asic suspect that if too many symbols were activated simultaneously, Soaring Hopper wouldn't work either.
Asic timed his overclocking to match Avid's attack. OC's counter-program suggested that Avid's strongest move was an aerial kick, but Avid wasn't intimidating at all when his feet were off the ground.
Coupled with the Blue Dragon School technique—Ivy Tesla Lake Template—the *Dragon's Ascending Fist* was an attack that sent power surging through the air to strike the opponent. It didn't physically touch any of the symbols on Avid's body, and the wide impact area of the punch's energy meant that too many symbols were activated simultaneously, nullifying Soaring Hopper's power.
"Huff… huff…" Asic's ragged breathing escaped through his mask, white mist drifting out from beneath his black coat. Asic had overclocked before, but this was the first time he had pushed his body to its limit. His senses were numbed, his mind blank.
OC was right—if Asic couldn't take Avid down after overclocking, he would be the one to fall.
Asic looked at Avid, who was convulsing on the ground. The grasshopper mask had cracked and fallen off, revealing the face of a mysterious young man with amber eyes and a handsome face, marred only by a barcode-like scar beneath his left eye. His green hair, swept to the right, revealed only his left eye.
As soon as Asic saw Avid's face, his eyes widened in disbelief. Buried memories resurfaced—memories of a dear friend with the same face as Avid.
Throughout his life, since entering the police academy, there was one man who was both a friend and partner. They did everything together, trained together. Even when assigned to different units, they reunited to work together again. No matter the case, if that man was by his side, Asic always felt confident they could get through it smoothly.
"Gascon…" Asic whispered the name of his friend from his memories. Avid's twitching eyes met Asic's gaze. The tone in Asic's voice, filled with longing and nostalgia, was something Avid could clearly feel. It wasn't meant for Avid but for someone named Gascon.
'Gascon?' Avid repeated the name internally.
Bang!
A bullet suddenly pierced Asic's coat. Despite his keen senses, which allowed him to see bullets, Asic hadn't seen this one coming. His muscles tensed instinctively, adrenaline surging to suppress the pain and heighten his alertness. Asic turned in the direction of the shot and saw a vehicle parked nearby.
Though it was too far to see clearly and the lighting was dim, the familiar bowl haircut of the man aiming a rifle at him was unmistakable—Agaret Marr.
'Agaret Marr! I thought he'd changed routes!' Asic clutched his chest. The bullet had narrowly missed his heart and was still lodged in his body. He could feel his system starting to fail. This was no ordinary bullet; it was made of a special mineral called Sui, which acted as a potent poison.
"Agaret…" Avid muttered as he looked in the same direction. He wore an expression of shock—it seemed even he didn't expect Agaret to be here. Avid had thought Agaret had changed the transportation route, using Avid as bait. But what did Agaret's presence here mean?
There had been no change in route from the beginning! In the same vehicle Agaret was driving was Ejin, bound hand and foot in a dark, cramped box. It had all been a ruse—using Avid as a decoy while Agaret supposedly took another route. But Agaret had never intended to change the route.
It was all to draw Asic out. If Avid couldn't handle Asic, Agaret would take care of it himself.
"Heh heh heh… Like hell a fire would start on its own, and right when I was about to deliver the special cargo. Coincidence? I think not. It was a good call to bait you out here. I thought I'd wasted my time," Agaret laughed, louder than he had in years. He'd watched everything since Asic's appearance, from knocking out his subordinates to defeating Avid.
The masked guy's skills were nothing short of extraordinary. If Agaret hadn't attacked while Asic was exhausted, it would've been much more troublesome. Not wanting to waste that effort, Agaret chose to snipe—and it worked. He knew Asic could dodge bullets, so he had waited for the moment Asic would be most vulnerable.
That moment was right after a victory. No matter who you were, there would be a moment of relaxation after winning—a lapse in focus, physical exhaustion from using power, and with a sniper rifle's range of 1,200 meters, it was the perfect opportunity.
No matter how skilled Asic was, the circumstances made dodging a sniper shot almost impossible. Even if he could see the bullet, his exhausted body wouldn't respond in time.
Agaret had everything to gain. If nothing happened, he would simply switch from transporting Ejin in a truck to using a regular car, staying on the same route. But if someone tried to rescue Ejin, he could catch the troublemaker causing issues for the gang.
If Avid succeeded, Agaret wouldn't need to lift a finger. If Avid failed, Agaret would just snipe from afar. Agaret had nothing to lose—it was Asic and Avid who had fought to exhaustion, only for Agaret to take advantage.
"Agaret! You tricked me!" Avid yelled, furious. The feeling of betrayal was something he despised the most.
"Don't blame me, Avid! Who told you to fail at taking care of this scumbag? If you'd killed him, I wouldn't have had to step in. Don't look at me like that. I'll take you to Joker as promised—right after I finish off this mutt." Agaret smiled and let out a low laugh, stepping closer to Asic's position.
Asic, with a bullet lodged near his heart, managed to maintain his composure despite the dire situation.
[Analysis complete. The bullet is made from a special mineral known as Sui, which releases toxic heavy metals harmful to the immune system. Stopping the bleeding… bleeding stopped. Counteracting Sui's poison… 50% effectiveness.] OC alerted Asic. When it confirmed that Agaret's bullet was made of Sui, Asic's expression shifted.
Asic knew many police officers who had died from Sui bullets. The mineral itself wasn't illegal, but its processing and combination with other materials made it a lethal toxin. It had killed many officers. It was frustrating that the police couldn't use Sui bullets, while criminals seemed to favor them.
Agaret stood in front of Asic, looking into his masked eyes. Something about Asic's gaze reminded Agaret of someone.
"I don't know who you are, but it's obvious you came here to rescue that brat. I'm sure he has no background, and no one would hire a private agent to save him. That means you're likely from a rival gang or an enemy of Joker, am I right?
"But it doesn't matter. You interfered with our business and destroyed my office. There's no way I'm letting you go. Stay still and surrender—that's the only way you're getting out of this alive. Because I'm sure you don't know the exact mixture of minerals in that bullet, right?"
Agaret threatened, offering a deal. Sui bullets were special in that the poison was extremely hard to remove. Even after surgically extracting the bullet, the poison would remain in the bloodstream. The only way to cure it was to know the exact mineral composition used in the bullet. That was why criminals loved Sui bullets.
Asic could feel the Sui dissolving, the mineral mixing into his bloodstream. Without help, he'd be dead from immune failure within a day. Without knowing the bullet's composition, death was inevitable. Agaret wasn't bluffing—Asic would truly die.
"I refuse," Asic said to Agaret, his eyes locked on the car nearly a kilometer away.
'Ejin's in there.' Since Agaret hadn't changed routes and had instead set up an ambush, there was a high chance that Ejin was still in that vehicle. Yet even with his target so close, Asic had no power left to save the boy.
[Master, the probability of saving Ejin in this situation is only 4%.]
'4%? What would I need to do?'
[Conditions: Agaret Marr must not be an Ego user and must have Asra power lower than 5 units. Agaret Marr must not have support or have enhanced implants. Master must recover and overclock once more. Given the current recovery rate, the probability of saving Ejin remains below 4%.]
"...." Asic didn't need OC's explanation to understand that in his current state, saving Ejin was impossible—unless some extraordinary circumstances occurred, such as external help. He glanced over at Avid, who was staring at Agaret Marr with amber eyes filled with hatred and resentment.
'His legs are destroyed, the chance of persuading him is low.'
[Master, I recommend fleeing immediately,] OC warned its master as it detected Agaret raising a pistol, aiming it at Asic. The young man lowered his stance, channeling his Asra power of lightning throughout his body. The instant the bullet left the gun's barrel, Asic reacted.
Asic surged forward like a lightning bolt to escape, but Agaret Marr anticipated his movement and fired again in the direction Asic was heading. Asic grabbed one of his tonfas, heightening his senses to deflect the incoming bullet.
"You think you can run away from me in a situation like this? You're not the only one with overpowered abilities!" Agaret Marr's eyes widened, and Asic noticed that Agaret's eyes had been implanted—able to see the bullets' movements in slow motion, just like him.
This meant that Agaret Marr could clearly track Asic's movements, even those enhanced by his purple lightning.
[Detected: Agaret Marr has an Eye-1101 implant by EyeShield Corporation. Threat level elevated to rank A. Warning: Avoid confrontation. Probability of defeating Agaret Marr currently stands at... 0%.] OC informed.