"What kind of monster are you?"
Xu Linna asked in terror.
Her face, which had been smashed by Zhang Chen's slap, was already beginning to recover. Only her eyes, connected by nerves, had been torn out. New eyeballs grew back in the sockets, and her broken bones and bruises were also healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Giggle..."
Zhang Chen opened his mouth, but only meaningless sounds, like those of a crawler, came out.
"Did you absorb the meteorite fragment too?"
"How can a轮回者 (lunhui zhe - participant in reincarnation) master such immense power without any scientific technology?"
Xu Linna's curiosity far surpassed her fear at this moment.
It seemed that in her world, scientific exploration always came first. Even death became insignificant in the face of this pursuit.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!...
Zhang Chen, without any preamble, grabbed Xu Linna by the hair and began to slam her violently against the ground and walls.
Then, he suddenly let go, flinging Xu Linna into the air.
Buzz!
Zhang Chen didn't need to make any specific movements.
No energy needed to be emitted from any part of his body.
Spots of light appeared directly around Zhang Chen, and from these spots, thin, straight beams of light, like lasers, shot out!
Although they were not as thick as energy beams, Xu Linna knew very well that these thin lines contained terrifying destructive power far exceeding any attack skill she commanded!
Swish!
One beam of light pierced directly through the wall behind Xu Linna and dozens of walls above it.
One, two, three... ten... twenty!
Countless fine beams rapidly sliced around Xu Linna like cutting tofu. A mere graze would render her crippled at best, or turn her into a pile of shredded meat at worst!
If viewed from above the Arctic Circle, one would see dozens of lasers shooting up from beneath the ground towards the sky, cutting the ground and the ice layer covering it into large, neatly-edged fragments!
"What terrifying destructive power!"
"Even the ultimate creatures in the apocalypse wouldn't be any different!"
Xu Linna thought to herself.
She couldn't speak at all now. Just dodging these light beams was exhausting all her energy and stamina. If she spoke at this moment, her strength would dissipate, and she would surely die!
Swish!
A beam of light suddenly flashed past with extreme speed!
Xu Linna felt a spray of blood before her eyes as her right arm was completely severed, slowly drifting down before her.
"How can these beams be so fast?"
"Does this mean... Zhang Chen is deliberately suppressing his internal energy?"
Xu Linna quickly understood the key point.
Indeed, although Zhang Chen wanted to dismember Xu Linna and turn her into minced meat, his brain maintained a sliver of rationality.
Once Xu Linna died, all the 轮回者 would be buried with her.
Xiao Bai was his family. What about Katarina, Zhao Xiyue, Shirley, Zheng Hao, Guan Xin, Bai Hanlin?
Would he let everyone die with him out of anger?
And then only the natives and himself would remain as humans on the entire world?
Zhang Chen was not so insane as to act without regard for consequences, so he was trying his best to maintain his sanity.
But this last shred of rationality was about to be swallowed.
Since the energy of the meteorite core had gone berserk, Zhang Chen felt he was gradually losing control of it. Only now did he realize how terrifying the meteorite energy within him was.
This power was indeed not something mortals could wield.
During its combat, Zhang Chen felt that it contained far more energy than this. If it willed, it could even shape the entire Planet Blue Water into any form it desired, but because it lacked active control over the power, it could only passively obey Zhang Chen's commands, unleashing extremely limited destructive force.
This scene was somewhat similar to the natives wearing AI battle armor.
Except this time, Zhang Chen was playing the role of the native, and the meteorite core was the AI battle armor.
It was Zhang Chen's consciousness that restrained it, suppressed it.
Now, it wanted to reclaim its control.
"Zhang Chen, you must calm down! Do not let it consume you! Only if you remain restrained can Xiao Bai survive, and only then will the entire world have hope!"
"The 轮回者 can also completely escape the fate of reincarnation! You hold the key to ending the apocalypse, do not let it consume you!" Tang Houde reminded him loudly.
The surroundings where he stood were already devastated, but he himself was unharmed.
It wasn't that Tang Houde possessed any special abilities, but rather that the person appearing here was not his real body, but a holographic projection.
What truly affected the communication link was the small box on the ground.
Fortunately, the battle just now had not affected it.
"Giggle..."
Zhang Chen opened his mouth again, still with that series of strange sounds.
"Ugh... Ah!"
Xu Linna endured the intense pain as her right arm began to regrow from the severed joint.
However, after these two restorations, her fiery aura seemed to have weakened considerably.
Xu Linna was now fighting with almost all her might. Although activating [Ultimate: Burning Soul] consumed a lot of energy and stamina, she dared not deactivate this ability, and could only grit her teeth and endure.
Despite her attributes being greatly enhanced, she was still being beaten so badly.
If she deactivated this ability, she feared she would instantly be reduced to ashes, with no chance of recovery.
"A quick victory is impossible, and capturing Zhang Chen for experiments is also impossible. At least... the mission for this trip must be completed!"
"As long as the mission is completed, I will have a chance to overturn today's outcome!"
Xu Linna's thoughts raced, and she quickly charged towards the giant black machine.
"Zhang Chen, stop her!"
Tang Houde shouted anxiously.
However, Zhang Chen's consciousness was now gradually being consumed by the meteorite energy. Parts of his nervous system were being eroded, killed, and replaced by the meteorite energy...
This momentary delay of one or two seconds was enough.
Xu Linna's energy beams dealt immense damage to the machine. At the same time, she grabbed a small meteorite core located at the very top of the machine.
In an instant, a powerful energy wave instantly diffused in all directions. The energy directly burned Xu Linna's clothes, skin, and hair closest to it, and even her muscle tissue, which was protected by energy, was being torn and annihilated bit by bit.
In just a fraction of a second, it felt like a day had passed.
The meteorite core regained its normal luster, tightly held in Xu Linna's hand.
At this point, she no longer resembled a human at all, with her muscles and internal organs exposed to the air.
After a while, her muscles and skin grew back, but the flames on her body had disappeared.
"Tang Houde, in the end, I still won this round. Just watch your plan crumble before your eyes!"
Xu Linna smiled weakly and turned her gaze towards Zhang Chen.