'We must hurry.' The bald man's heart stirred. While suppressing his opponent, his back split open, and a black-red hilt slowly rose from his right shoulder's flesh.

That was his most powerful special cutting weapon, forged from extremely expensive high-grade alloy, rainbow iron. Its sharpness was several times that of the weapon he had just used, capable of cutting through most special alloys on the market.

Even he couldn't withstand a direct hit from that blade.

Clang!

Another strike slammed into Li Cheng颐, scattering numerous purple fragments.

The bald man's expression turned fierce. He reached back to his shoulder, grasping the hilt.

Suddenly, his hand paused, and he inexplicably lunged towards the ground, as if something extremely important to him lay within the rubble and dirt.

Abandoning the hilt, the bald man fell stiffly to the ground like a playing card, his back straight.

He embraced a pile of dirt, as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.

It was a Flower Utterance! Hand of Entrancement!!

Seizing the opportunity, Li Cheng颐 lunged forward, grasping the hilt on the man's shoulder.

Bang!!

Before he could draw the blade, a fist slammed into his chest and abdomen.

The Hand of Entrancement had only controlled him for a second!?

Before Li Cheng颐 could react, he was sent flying backward by the force of the blow, landing heavily two meters away in a half-crouch.

Clang!

The bald man seized the chance to draw his blade, slashing diagonally down at Li Cheng颐's head.

The rainbow-like blade flashed like a ribbon, descending in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh!

With a crisp sound, the flower scale armor on Li Cheng颐's body shattered, transforming into countless purple petals that scattered.

He looked up at the rapidly falling rainbow blade.

'Gladiolus!'

Chiii!!

A burst of blades erupted, instantly piercing the bald man's body.

At that moment, everything around them seemed to freeze.

Countless wisteria petals swirled around Li Cheng颐, changing color and shape like sand.

Soon, the purple petals faded, turning into a faint gold.

The golden petals slowly scattered, revealing his current state.

The previous wisteria flower scale armor had vanished, replaced by a heavy golden armor. www.

The armor appeared to be made of pure bronze, with a helmet resembling a locust, complete with menacing mandibles. His forehead, shoulders, elbows, and knees were covered in dense golden crystal spikes.

Each spike resembled a short sword growing out of the armor.

In addition, a dense wheel of at least dozens of golden blades adorned the back of the armor.

The blades on the wheel varied in length and shape. Some were broken, some were irregular, and some were simply spikes, but each one gleamed with a sharp, cold light.

Five of the longest blades extended outward more than a meter, precisely those piercing the bald man's chest.

Clack.

Li Cheng颐 reached out and drew a long sword from the sword wheel on his back, standing up.

As he rose, the blades on his back withdrew from the bald man's body, shrinking back into the sword wheel like living things.

"Why couldn't you just let me ask who was behind this..." Li Cheng颐 sighed, swiping both longswords forward.

The two longswords slashed across the bald man's stunned face. His previously hard body, under the Gladiolus flower scale armor's blades, was easily sliced into an X-shape like cutting a potato.

"What... is... this!?" The bald man's voice was fragmented, barely comprehensible.

He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. What was that just now!?

An exoskeleton? Bio-armor? Or some cutting-edge technology?

Plop!

But he wouldn't know anything now, his head completely cleaved into four pieces, his face displaying two intersecting cracks.

Li Cheng颐 released the swords, which automatically disintegrated into golden Gladiolus petals, then new blades automatically condensed from the sword wheel to fill the gaps.

This was the Gladiolus flower scale armor. Although the Flower Utterance ability was solidity, the flower scale armor itself wasn't very defensive, specializing in offense.

'Gladiolus's Flower Utterance, solidity, is more for enhancing offense than defense. It makes all the blades of the Gladiolus flower scale armor more solid, more indestructible, and less prone to breaking during attacks.'

'I was wrong from the beginning. Gladiolus's Flower Utterance just happens to be suitable for complementing other flower scale armor's defenses. Its essence is for offense.'

He looked down at the armor on his body, inlaid with at least dozens of blades and intricate floral patterns of the Gladiolus flower form.

Snapping back to reality, Li Cheng颐 looked down at the bald man, drew his sword again, and slashed downwards, dividing the body.

Soon, the bald man was cut into dozens of pieces.

There was no blood or flesh in any of the fragments, only metal scraps and parts.

'A robot, or a complete cyborg?' Li Cheng颐's heart grew cold. To prevent the flower scale armor's secret from being exposed, he looked around and began to further divide the fragments with his sword.

After a few chops, he thought of a better idea.

He immediately pounced on the bald man's fragments, pressing his whole body onto them.

Then, he rolled around on the 'corpse.'

The numerous blades on the Gladiolus flower scale armor acted like a shredder, pressing the bald man's fragments into even smaller pieces after a few passes.

After confirming there wasn't a single intact device left, Li Cheng颐 stood up, shook off the debris, and quickly left.

Finding a blind spot without cameras in the alley, he reverted to his normal state, then jogged towards the Candy Bar.

Since he had been attacked, others in the company might also have been attacked.

Who were the attackers, what were their identities, and why were they attacking him? He needed to find out.

He ran along the alley, quickly finding an exit and rushing to the street.

Not far from the street was a bus stop, and further away, along a hundred-meter-long wall, police cars were parked.

The blue and white police cars flashed red and blue lights, and a group of armed police officers had set up yellow tape around the area.

Li Cheng颐 saw the boss, Sindera, and Zhong Ying standing within the police line, talking to a tall man in a black fitted police uniform.

The other police officers wore light blue uniforms, but this man's was pure black, with a silver cross star on each shoulder.

The man had thick eyebrows, large eyes, a square face, and a strong physique. One of his arms was a completely black metal prosthetic, with no attempt to conceal it with artificial skin.

Li Cheng颐 approached, stopping at the police line and joining the crowd of onlookers.

"Boss!" he called out.

Sindera heard him and nodded in acknowledgement. He said a few words to the man in the black uniform, then led Zhong Ying towards him.

"Are you okay?" Sindera frowned, assessing Li Cheng颐.

"I'm fine. Someone tried to kill me, but I managed to escape, found an alley to hide in, ambushed them, and killed them!" Li Cheng颐 said quickly. "Boss, were you attacked too?"

"Yeah, complete cyborgs, two of them came. But they were junk models, with their functions neutered. We fought them off," Sindera said casually, but the danger was palpable.

Li Cheng颐 had encountered a suspected complete cyborg himself and knew how powerful they were.

Sindera had faced two at once, making the situation even more dangerous!

"Where's Song Ge? Where's Sima Gui?" Li Cheng颐 asked, seeing that the two in front of him were safe.

"They're both fine. A Ran got a minor injury, nothing serious. Sima Gui wasn't attacked. The police officers who arrived scared the killer away," Sindera said calmly. "The priority now is to find out who's attacking us. And to dare attack in the city center of Yi country... that kind of boldness isn't something ordinary people would do."

Li Cheng颐 nodded, glancing into the distance, where he saw a pile of charred human remains still burning on the road.

"Is that the attacker?" he asked.

"Yeah, the police sniped him from a distance, blew him up," Sindera replied. "But complete cyborgs are hard to kill. It's troublesome to be targeted by them, so we need to find out where they came from as soon as possible."

"Wait... Boss, wasn't that guy blown up? What do you mean, 'hard to kill'?? He's not completely dead like that?" Zhong Ying, who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn't help but ask.

Having experienced the dead end and the shock just now, her nerves seemed to have toughened up a lot.

"Oh, haven't I told you about that?" Sindera asked, puzzled.

"No," Li Cheng颐 nodded in agreement. He wanted to know too.

"Yeah. No!" Zhong Ying chimed in.

"It's simple," Sindera said, his expression unchanged. "Complete cyborgs, as the name suggests, are living people whose entire bodies have been modified. The only flesh and blood tissue they own is their bone marrow. Everything else is either bionic tissue or pure alloy."

"But that guy exploded and isn't dead?" Zhong Ying asked again.

"Because their consciousness is backed up," Sindera replied. "The brains of complete cyborgs can be cultivated and replicated. Their consciousness and memories are all backed up in a personality register. As long as their body dies, a new brain can be copied and cultivated, and a new body can be reconstructed based on the brain. All it costs is money."

"You can do that!?" Li Cheng颐 and Zhong Ying were stunned.

"Does that even count as a person?!" Li Cheng颐 couldn't understand why anyone would be willing to turn themselves into such a monster.

"Why wouldn't it? The personality register can only copy and cultivate a new brain after the previous brain is completely destroyed. There are strict limitations. And complete cyborgs have essentially achieved immortality," Sindera sighed. "What is the essence of a person? No one can say for sure. But to outsiders, a living person who still has their previous memories and uses their previous brain cells is still considered the same person, even if their limbs are different. From an ethical standpoint, as long as multiple copies of the same person with the same memories aren't allowed to be cultivated at the same time, everything is fine."

"So who's limiting that?" Li Cheng颐 sharply seized on the key point.

"The Ethics Committee," Sindera replied. "A world-class international organization jointly led by Yi Country and White Star. But in reality, because the cultivation technology isn't that difficult, many people are secretly pursuing this kind of perverted immortality. So no one knows exactly how many complete cyborgs there are in the shadows."

"That's too... exaggerated, isn't it?!" Zhong Ying was almost dumbfounded.

"It's not a big deal," Sindera said. "Many older members of the big families in the upper echelons of Yi Country and White Star have chosen to become complete cyborgs. But because of Silent Fortress, complete cyborgs aren't allowed to enter cities or hold power, so not many people know about it. I didn't expect a force to dare do this now. They're probably a well-known terrorist organization."