Chapter Thirty-Four: Out of Control

Boom!

The two figures crossed paths in a blur. Savage wounds split open beneath Arthur’s ribs and along his side, while Che Juchen’s shoulder shuddered violently, blood spraying from a fresh gash.

Crash after crash—walls and barricades shattered as the monster and the man who seemed scarcely less monstrous hurled themselves through the obstacles. Arthur, empowered by his shifting mass, gained immense momentum; every movement threatened to demolish walls and topple pillars, and even a mere graze left Che Juchen’s blood surging chaotically within him.

Lin Jicang and Shen Yun struggled desperately just to avoid the flying debris.

In contrast, Che Juchen appeared almost reserved—rarely did he damage the building itself, yet every strike of his left a deep, bloody furrow on Arthur’s flesh. His once-ordinary fingers now retracted at the tips, unsheathing ten razor-sharp talons that sliced through Arthur’s tendons with ease.

Yet even as they fought, Arthur’s body rapidly strengthened, growing ever more powerful and resilient.

Most crucially, his muscles and bones were no longer arranged according to the theoretical blueprints of Adonsa alone; the brutal blows of combat had sculpted them into optimal geometric structures, dramatically enhancing both explosive force and resilience. The force he could unleash, and the pressure his body could withstand, had increased threefold.

The massive consumption of high-energy fats and sugars caused Arthur’s frame to shrink somewhat, his posture growing more hunched. Yet only Che Juchen could sense the escalating pressure.

Che Juchen gritted his teeth, holding on—he could feel Arthur reaching his own limits. Now, it was a contest: would Che Juchen’s deep reserves outlast the pace of Arthur’s frenzied strengthening, or would Arthur exhaust his energy first?

Arthur shattered walls with his fists, snapped beams with his kicks. Che Juchen darted and danced amid the onslaught like a butterfly in a storm—he could no longer withstand Arthur’s blows head-on.

He slipped behind Arthur, fingers scything together in one motion—a sudden slash opened Arthur’s neck, blood spraying forth, but in the next instant, the muscles writhed and the wound sealed itself.

In recent days, Adonsa’s efforts had gone beyond mere proliferation and division. It had fused the research laboratory’s achievements with the biotechnology gleaned from Tindalos, creating a combat entity with metabolism and speed far surpassing normal standards—one whose potential eclipsed the human limit.

Having thoroughly decoded human genes, and spliced them with select animal DNA, Adonsa had crafted a cellular chimera—a deeper integration than Tindalos’s patchwork organs. The foreign cells arrayed themselves with precision, each performing its role in harmony, giving Arthur denser bones, more robust muscles, higher-energy blood, and rapid healing.

But even this had reached its limit.

Such modifications remained constrained by the inherent strength of the existing genome, relying only on new combinations rather than true innovation. To go further, the second phase would have to begin.

At that moment, perhaps because the fighting had destroyed too many supporting beams, a three-story house suddenly collapsed, burying Lin Jicang and Shen Yun beneath its ruins.

But Che Juchen had no strength to spare for them. Ignoring whether they lived or died, he focused all his attention on his formidable foe.

As the two were nearing exhaustion, the distant thunder of helicopter rotors reached their ears—reinforcements had arrived for the Pulsars.

Che Juchen’s heart leaped, but he suppressed it at once. In the midst of fierce battle, the greatest danger was to be distracted by hope or fear. Evidently, the much-vaunted serenity and emotional detachment of the Pulsar’s mind was not yet his.

That brief lapse was all Arthur needed.

Arthur spat sand straight at him, each grain charged with tremendous mass—when they struck, they landed with the force of bullets.

Che Juchen’s reaction lagged, and his left shoulder and arm were riddled with bloody wounds, his energy dissipating in an instant.

Seizing the final chance, Che Juchen gritted his teeth and detonated the hidden force he had planted inside Arthur.

That secret power gathered in Arthur’s heart like swarming ants, then erupted, blasting a horrifying hole through his chest and tearing apart the meridians along half his body. If this had happened to an ordinary person, they would have been reduced to a living bomb.

But Che Juchen knew well that this attack could not kill Arthur—at best, it would cripple him temporarily. It was a desperate ploy to buy time.

Suppressing his roiling emotions, Che Juchen shifted forms repeatedly, turning to flee—he was nearly at the helicopter, almost at safety.

But his injuries were too severe, and even the mysterious power within him had faded. At last, Arthur’s control over mass reasserted itself, causing Che Juchen to lose his balance and crash hard to the ground.

Just then, the helicopter hovered into view, and a figure leapt down—it was Li Zhicheng.

Yet in the next instant, Che Juchen was thrown into icy despair. Li Zhicheng glanced at Che Juchen, then at the rubble where Shen Yun and Lin Jicang lay buried, and turned away—to save them instead.

Why! Are ordinary people really so precious to you?

Che Juchen’s terrified question died in his throat as Arthur, swift as ever, caught up and seized him. His consciousness plunged into darkness.

Arthur cast a long, penetrating look at Li Zhicheng, who had rescued Shen Yun with ease, then dragged Che Juchen away, vanishing into the darkness of the sewers.

In that critical moment, Lin Jicang had used his own body to shield a pocket of space, leaving Shen Yun with only minor injuries. But Lin Jicang himself had several bones shattered, his condition dire.

Li Zhicheng glanced deeply at Lin Jicang, then hurried to check on Shen Yun.

Rolling up her sleeve, he discovered a jade pendant hidden within her collar. Overjoyed, he exclaimed, “Found it, at last! The second opportunity the Imperial Star has been searching for!”

Lin Jicang.

Adonsa savored the name.

He was an anomaly—a freak who, by sheer chance, had broken free of Adonsa’s control.

Yes, in some dark corner, a splinter of Adonsa had indeed parasitized the young man. Yet whether it was Lin Jicang’s indomitable will, or a quirk of his immune system, against all odds, not only had the splinter failed to possess him, but Lin Jicang had retained part of his own mind, forming an uncanny symbiosis with the parasite.

He himself was unaware of what had transpired, deducing from scant knowledge that his end was near, and facing it with an eerie serenity, devoid of the recklessness of youth.

The rogue splinter had mutated further in Lin Jicang’s body, and Adonsa sensed that this transformation was not wholly detrimental.

Adonsa could forcibly devour Lin Jicang’s mind, but to do so would be a waste.

Such a remarkable specimen—one so rare that perhaps, across all humanity, there might not be another like him.

What exactly had happened within Lin Jicang? Adonsa was profoundly curious. But now that Lin Jicang had fallen into the hands of the Pulsars, Adonsa would have to act quickly.

The power of these Pulsars had once again exceeded Adonsa’s expectations. They were like monsters masquerading as humans, even more terrifying than Adonsa itself.

With all its imagination, Adonsa could accept that some creatures might possess bodies strong enough to traverse the stars. But for humans of flesh and blood to wield such power—there had to be something supernatural at work.

What, then, were the Pulsars?

Adonsa repeatedly tasted a single drop of blood, finding nothing unusual beyond an abnormally high oxygen capacity.

It was the blood of its captive, Che Juchen.

The cold-blooded Pulsar now lay stripped and helpless upon an icy operating table, surrounded by six ravenous splinters like lambs before the slaughter.

Adonsa dissected this precious specimen with great care, marveling at its vitality, yet found no trace of any supernatural force.