Chapter 620 - 390: The Final Showdown
Watching the little girl in front of him explode into a terrifying fourth gear overdrive, Zhou Hanyan was utterly shocked.
In an instant, the scenery before him shook like an earthquake, Dongdong seemed to transform into a white-hot cannonball, not even bothering to pick up the Dragon Steel Baseball Bat that had fallen far off, charging at him bare-handed.
Dongdong’s artificial limb level was lower than Zhou Hanyan’s, but her overdrive degree was higher, completely erasing the power gap between them, and even faintly having the upper hand.
Zhou Hanyan tried to avoid this head-on collision, but even at full speed, he couldn’t create distance; in the end, he had to brace himself to block.
"Boom!" Zhou Hanyan’s elbow connected with Dongdong’s fist, causing his joint to twist, and his arms burst with blood, sparks of malfunction flying everywhere.
In contrast, Dongdong, who attacked with her fists, suffered even more; several fingers broke during the fierce clash, bones piercing through her skin with a red and white color that made one’s scalp tingle.
Even with her hands half crippled, Dongdong didn’t stop her ferocious assault, using her remaining momentum like a mad dog to tackle Zhou Hanyan to the ground, dragging out a long blood trail mixed with flesh.
When power reaches a certain level, technique often becomes useless, leaving only the most direct and primitive fighting.
The two twisted together on the ground, their cries rising and falling, the scene seemingly not a showdown between two extraordinary gifted artificial limb users, but more like a brawl between two thugs with torn faces.
Zhou Hanyan grabbed Dongdong’s hair with one hand, the other one picking up a stone from the ground, smashing it against her head nonstop, blooding her skull.
However, he ultimately couldn’t win through brute force, being flipped over and pinned on the ground by Dongdong.
Dongdong straddled Zhou Hanyan, pounding her fists into his face, and when her hands gave out, she used her head to strike; when her neck was held down, she bit with her teeth.
"You dog! You look down on me?! You treat me as a burden?!"
Through the blood-covered crimson vision, seeing Dongdong’s raging twisted little face, Zhou Hanyan suddenly realized something.
He used to be a savage little thug, but wasn’t Dongdong the same?
While he mingled in the Inner City, he had a little reputation, mixed with the right crowd, and in some places, people would even call him "Brother Zhou," with cigarettes and alcohol often served.
Whereas Dongdong, born at the Edge, was miserable since childhood, a true fighter for survival even for a bite.
This little girl’s experiences fighting like a mad dog in the mud outweighed his many times over.
Those who run the streets often compete not in strength, but in who is more ruthless, who fears death less.
Dongdong now was recklessly fearless, willing to have her head smashed open just to bite off a piece of Zhou Hanyan’s neck.
Facing such a desperate fight, Zhou Hanyan felt a moment of fear in his heart.
"Boom—" His energy core exploded into operation again, blasting out a stream of air to fling Dongdong away, then seizing the chance to get up and retreat.
Dongdong landed but didn’t care; she wanted to rush back up to beat Zhou Hanyan to death.
"Dongdong!" At this moment, a hand grabbed her shoulder forcefully.
Dongdong was completely mad with fighting, she instinctively grabbed the wrist, attempting to flip it over her shoulder.
The next moment, Dongdong felt herself held tightly, and Su Mo’s gentle voice echoed in her ear: "That’s enough...that’s enough...he’s already terrified of you..."
Only then did Dongdong realize the person was Su Mo. She turned her head to find Su Mo, regardless of the high-temperature white-hot plasma, holding her tightly, not releasing even under burning flesh.
"Buzz—" As the sound of the overclocking core subsided, the plasma around Dongdong vanished, no longer harming Su Mo.
At the moment she exited the fourth gear of overdrive, her whole being felt drained of all strength, collapsing into Su Mo’s arms, nearly losing consciousness.
Obviously, personal talent is one thing, hardware of artificial limbs is another.
Using a Fearless Level artificial limb to explode into fourth gear overdrive, such a terrifying act causes too much self-inflicted damage, and those components can’t withstand it.
The reason Su Mo held Dongdong back so tightly was that he knew continuing the fight with Zhou Hanyan any longer would result in catastrophe.
Looking at the exhausted Dongdong in his arms, Su Mo couldn’t help but sigh.
This time Zhou Hanyan really infuriated Dongdong.
Dongdong lived miserably since childhood, always inferior, seeming to regard dignity as the least useful thing, yet it precisely was what she always clung to.
If Dongdong didn’t care about dignity, she, a pretty little girl, would have long fallen into selling herself at the Edge rather than constantly fighting in the streets for a bite.
For Dongdong, dignity was the last inviolable bottom line of her impoverished life.
Earlier, when she was captured alive in battle with Crow’s Nest, treated like a soft target, she immediately sought self-destruction to fight the enemy.
Later, when Lucifer stormed the Edge, riding faces, everyone knew not to fall for it and swallowed that anger, she directly withdrew and charged into Hellhound Mansion, confronting that second-generation leader.
For Dongdong, she could accept being weaker than others, even accept failure, but absolutely not her dignity being trampled.
If Zhou Hanyan had taken on Edge’s three main forces, even if he single-handedly defeated them, Dongdong might not have flipped like this.
But Zhou Hanyan couldn’t withstand the combined assault changing tactics, treating Dongdong as the weakest link in the three-member squad, seeing her as the Edge’s shortcoming, a breakthrough to get at the boss.
This was unacceptable to Dongdong.
Now Su Mo faced both good news and bad news simultaneously.