Chapter Thirty-Three: The Rampaging Morning Star

Che Juchen felt every pore suddenly clamp shut, each hair standing on end—a warning born from intuition, signaling the formidable danger of the enemy before him. He no longer paid attention to the retreating crowd, instead fixing his calm gaze on the imposing Arthur.

Arthur burst out laughing, "Yes, that's exactly the feeling. Pulse Warrior, my name is Arthur. What's yours?"

Che Juchen remained silent.

Arthur laughed wildly. "So arrogant! Do you look down on me?"

The six-foot-tall white man leaped directly from the fifth floor, launching a flying kick at Che Juchen.

Sensing something amiss, Che Juchen abandoned the idea of meeting the kick head-on and snapping Arthur's bones. Instead, he retreated a step, waiting for an opportunity.

Yet Arthur landed lightly, as if a feather settling to earth, utterly devoid of the earlier momentum.

Che Juchen's pupils contracted; he grew even more cautious, though his hands moved with unwavering speed.

His hands, shaped into cones, shot toward Arthur's temples like arrows. Arthur rotated his massive frame with a gentle touch on the ground, dodging the blow.

Such nimble movement!

Before Che Juchen could finish the thought, Arthur lunged forward and unleashed a ferocious punch.

Caught off guard, the Pulse Warrior could only raise his hands defensively in front of him.

Bang!

Such weight! Che Juchen felt his heart sink.

A moment ago, Arthur’s body was light as a feather; now it was heavier than a mountain. His fist struck Che Juchen’s crossed arms with the force of an iron hammer, driving him back three meters.

Bang, bang, bang!

Arthur showed no mercy, advancing with wild laughter. A simple series of punches, amplified by his control over mass, hit with the force of crossbow bolts, making Che Juchen’s clothing billow and crackle, nearly disrupting his stance.

"What's wrong? Fight back! Fight back!"

In terms of raw strength, the mysterious Pulse Warrior had no fear of Arthur’s heavy blows. But in terms of mass, Che Juchen could only retreat again and again.

After all, Che Juchen barely weighed a hundred kilograms. To shake Arthur, whose mass surpassed his by dozens of times, mere strength was far from enough.

But Arthur’s fists were bloodied, torn apart by his own raging power.

After gaining Adonsa’s abilities, Arthur’s physical transformation never ceased.

Arthur had chosen a completely different path: forsaking all gains in strength and speed, he focused solely on making his body more durable and resilient.

Able to control mass at will, he didn’t need strength or speed to deliver unimaginable blows. What he lacked was a body capable of withstanding such force.

Adonsa discovered something crucial—Arthur’s superpower, mass control, was difficult to affect the Pulse Warrior before him. Normally, his mass flowed like water under his control, but around the Pulse Warrior it coagulated like glue, barely effective.

Was this so-called magic resistance?

Pulse Warriors, truly the nemesis of superhumans.

Che Juchen was forced back again and again by Arthur, soon threatening to involve two innocent bystanders.

Lin Jicang grabbed Shen Yun’s hand and retreated quickly, but their speed was no match for the fighters.

When only a meter remained between them, Che Juchen halted.

He seized Arthur’s elbow, slid down to his wrist and fingertips, his fingers trembling as if playing a piano, then pressed and pulled forcefully.

Snap, snap—

Arthur’s arms lost all strength; Che Juchen had snapped the main tendons of his arms!

Che Juchen advanced, his spine arching like a dragon, his shoulder bulging like a battering ram, sending Arthur flying five meters and smashing a brick wall.

"Find somewhere to hide. I can’t spare any attention for you now," Che Juchen said, casting a doubtful glance at Lin Jicang, whose hood had fallen, but remained focused on his foe.

Lin Jicang led Shen Yun to a spot not far away; he could sense the puppets still lurking, so dared not run too far.

Despite his success, Che Juchen felt no relief. He watched in surprise as his opponent, with ruptured tendons and a collapsed chest, casually touched his wrist and rose from the rubble as if nothing had happened.

Che Juchen said coldly, "So that's it—you’re not human. Tricks like my tendon-severing technique are wasted on you."

Thanks to Adonsa’s modification, Arthur’s muscle strength had soared, and he’d grown numerous tendons to connect his joints.

Che Juchen had snapped two of Arthur’s main tendons, but Arthur still had over a dozen to exert force, and the ruptured tendons could be reattached within minutes.

Arthur twisted his neck. "That move is called the tendon-severing technique, isn’t it? As expected of a Pulse Warrior—not only wild strength, but unimaginable martial skill. Still, I’m capable of much more."

He casually picked up a thick steel rod, swinging it as if testing its grip.

Che Juchen focused all his attention, one hand behind his back, one extended, one foot grounded, one foot poised lightly, assuming a simple starting stance.

Then Arthur charged.

This time, even Che Juchen nearly failed to react in an instant.

Arthur roared, pushing off the ground and accelerating past the speed of wind, charging straight at Li Zhicheng with a mighty swing.

The action looked simple but involved over ten shifts in mass.

First, he reduced his ninety-kilogram mass to less than one kilogram, concentrating all mass in the soles of his shoes to gain tremendous acceleration through increased friction. Then he restored the mass, propelling himself forward. With each step, his weight increased, repeating the process three or four times, reaching the velocity of a bullet train. He arrived before Li Zhicheng, swinging the steel rod at an appalling speed.

As the bat neared Li Zhicheng’s head, Arthur roared, and the surrounding brick walls vibrated—at least three tons of mass transferred to the bat.

Incredible speed combined with immense mass—the total energy of this swing rivaled an anti-materiel sniper rifle! Enough to scatter a human body like a smashed watermelon.

The process sounded complicated and was even harder to execute, demanding extreme reaction speed and control. Any mistake would mean a nasty fall—or worse, tearing his own body to pieces.

When Arthur was still human, he lacked such toughness and precise control, but after his transformation, he gained Adonsa’s vast computational support and his body subconsciously grew larger and sturdier. Though he seemed to sacrifice agility, his perfect ability to shift between lightness and heaviness granted him explosive power. He could turn himself into a projectile, attacking with unimaginable kinetic energy.

Changes in mass were nearly invisible from the outside; the true force of this strike was hidden within. It merely appeared faster, but Che Juchen’s intuition screamed as if he stood atop a volcano.

His muscles trembled, sending tingling heat through his body. His special loose training suit stretched taut, revealing blocks of powerful muscle and a web of bulging veins.

Che Juchen advanced instead of retreating, his hands like eagle talons flashing into a blur, targeting all Arthur’s joints and meridians.

Beneath his icy exterior, Che Juchen possessed his own pride. After being battered by Arthur’s fists a dozen times, he now countered with overwhelming force.

You have a hundred tendons? Then I’ll snap every one—let’s see how you keep fighting!