Chapter 43: Sharpness
The Hardening Potion’s effect was just as Lin Fan expected!
Although the Mutant Dog’s teeth were sharp, they still had difficulty tearing through his flesh and bone!
Still, two bites had cost him nearly 40 points of Life Value!
His arm and thigh throbbed with sharp pain from the bites, but his Life Value could still hold out!
If this had been an ordinary person, their arm and leg would have long been torn from their body!
In a strange twist of fate, the two Mutant Dogs had actually helped Lin Fan!
As they dragged him, they pulled the long spear out from the large Mutant Dog’s viscous body, bringing with it a gush of foul blood!
The large Mutant Dog cried out in pain and took a step back.
It turned its head and spat out the remaining fragments of bone and flesh from its mouth.
"HISS... HAA..."
Then, it opened its maw, which resembled a giant flower of flesh and blood, and let out a hoarse roar toward the sky!
Hearing the sound, the two smaller Mutant Dogs stopped their attack, stunned for a moment!
That was the moment!
Lin Fan, who had been tensing his core to resist the Mutant Dogs’ tearing, seized the opportunity.
His right hand, which was gripping the long spear, was clamped in a Mutant Dog’s jaws, leaving his body dangling and unable to exert any force!
He had no choice but to use his free left hand to draw the short spear from his waist. Wrapping it in a strange energy, he thrust it with all his might toward the chest of the Mutant Dog biting his right arm!
Sharpness!
[-265]!
[578/1000]
The moment that surge of Sharp Energy pierced the flesh, it felt as if a steel drill had plunged into tofu, meeting no resistance. It also carried an overwhelming force that expanded in all directions!
The Mutant Dog seemed to sense the threat of this strike!
In its moment of crisis, it abruptly released its bite and leaped backward!
Lin Fan was already in an awkward position to exert force with his left hand, so when the Mutant Dog retreated, the short spear only penetrated a dozen or so centimeters before being pulled out!
It didn’t hit a vital spot!
But the damage was not low at all!
Although the Mutant Dog leaped away, the Sharp Energy imbued in the spear tip still left a cross-shaped gash on its chest, so deep the bone was visible!
’Attacks augmented with energy really are powerful!’
’Perhaps during my earlier test, all the Sharp Energy on the spear tip was expended on piercing the concrete wall, so its cutting power wasn’t so apparent.’
’But against flesh and blood, the power of a single strike is this terrifying!’
With the Mutant Dog’s retreat, Lin Fan’s right arm was freed.
He twisted forward violently, throwing his entire body at the other Mutant Dog that was biting his left leg!
At this point, Lin Fan had completely calmed down.
’My plan to decapitate it failed!’
’But the strategic objective was achieved!’
The large Mutant Dog’s feeding had been interrupted, and it was continuously vomiting fragments of bone and flesh.
’The physical strength of the smaller Mutant Dogs isn’t that great against me. I just need to kill these two little ones quickly. Then, no matter how bizarre the large Mutant Dog is, it only has a little over two thousand Life Value!’
’I’ve killed mutated monsters with seven or eight hundred Life Value when I only had a hundred or so myself, which shows that Life Value isn’t what truly decides victory or defeat!’
’What really affects the outcome are those unpredictable, bizarre abilities. That’s why I risked injury to interrupt its mutation process!’
’Since the smaller Mutant Dog’s continuous biting can’t break through the defense from the Hardening Potion...!’
Lin Fan landed on one foot and reversed his grip, pointing the tips of the two steel pipes in his hands downward!
[997/1000]!
He aimed at the Mutant Dog, which was still at nearly full health!
The Mutant Dog gnawing on Lin Fan’s thigh seemed to sense the threat hanging over its head. Its flower-like maw suddenly opened wide and bit down viciously again!
[-21]!
[215/305]
"HISS!"
He sucked in a sharp breath as a stabbing pain shot through his thigh!
’I’ve almost lost a hundred points of Life Value. An ordinary person would already be dead!’
The continuous pain stimulated his brain, and Lin Fan’s eyes began to turn red!
He gritted his teeth and viciously plunged the spears in his hands downward!
"SQUELCH!"
The two spears, one long and one short, plunged into the flesh of the Mutant Dog’s back almost simultaneously!
Driven by Lin Fan’s ferocious brute force, the two spears pierced the Mutant Dog’s body without any resistance, emerging from beneath its chest!
"It’s not over yet!"
Lin Fan gritted his teeth, raised his arms, and pulled out the short spear!
Gripping it with both hands, he once again stabbed with all his might into the center of the Mutant Dog’s spine!
Perhaps because the spear was already embedded so deeply!
The Sharp Energy sheathing the spearhead erupted violently inside the Mutant Dog’s body!
Three massive gashes burst open along the sides of the Mutant Dog’s body!
Its entire body nearly split into four pieces!
[-299]!
[-299]!
[-399]!
[0/1000]!
The Mutant Dog’s Life Value was instantly depleted!
The maw clamped on Lin Fan’s thigh went limp, and its body collapsed!
He didn’t have time to check the wound on his thigh!
Lin Fan seized the chance to fall back!
He then turned and ran!
The Mutant Dog had only just died, but not only did the remaining small one charge at him with bloodshot eyes...
...even the large one roared and pounced toward him, joining the fight!
Lin Fan intended to kill it, but he couldn’t be reckless!
Only a minute of the potions’ duration had passed. With nine minutes left, he still had plenty of time.
Using the superhuman reaction speed granted by the Swift Potion, Lin Fan broke into a sprint, running with all his might toward the other end of the gas station!
He used the iron spears in his hands to push off of cars and obstacles he encountered along the way, helping himself to turn quickly!
But the two Mutant Dogs, one large and one small, followed close behind, their aggro fixed on him. They either leaped over obstacles or smashed right through them!
They looked like they wouldn’t stop until they caught Lin Fan!
But Lin Fan wasn’t fleeing in a panic. This was a strategic retreat!
’A retreat! But a strategic one!’
He chose to run in this direction for two reasons. First, the three students were on the other side, and who knew if that girl had made a move yet.
’This big Mutant Dog can heal by eating people. I worked so hard to interrupt its mutation process; if I go back there, who knows what might happen!’
Second, this area was a parking lot with more obstacles, and more importantly...
"Here!"
He agilely rounded a corner, and a small, square building appeared in his line of sight!
The automatic car wash!
The reason Lin Fan couldn’t turn and fight now was that the two Mutant Dogs, large and small, were inseparable, charging at him one right after the other!
Even if he managed to one-shot the smaller one with a full-power attack, the large Mutant Dog pouncing from behind would kill him before he could pull his spear back!
’The small Mutant Dog can bite off over twenty points of my Life Value even with the Hardening Potion active...’
’If the big one’s body structure is the same as the small one’s, just scaled up proportionally, then its bite force is probably more than just two or three times stronger.’
’It could probably bite my head off with my low health, easy!’
Therefore, Lin Fan was determined to separate them first, no matter what. He only needed a single moment!
Lin Fan’s eyes lit up when he saw the car wash. Ignoring the two approaching Mutant Dogs, he continued to accelerate toward it!
The automatic car wash was just as Lin Fan remembered!
With the power out, all the automatic car wash machinery was in a relaxed state, forming horizontal and vertical barriers in the center of the bay to prevent vehicles from accidentally entering.
As soon as Lin Fan entered the car wash, he pointed his long spear forward and agilely leaped, vaulting over a washing arm positioned at waist height!
But his speed slowed a little as a result!
As for the two Mutant Dogs behind him, the smaller one followed closely, nimbly ducking under the beam and leaping up to pounce at Lin Fan’s back!
Meanwhile, the larger one tried to leap over it just like Lin Fan had...
THUD!
It smashed its head into an iron crossbeam hidden within the brushes of the washing arm!
The impact from the massive beast caused the entire car wash structure to shake and sway!
When Lin Fan heard the sound behind him, he thought, ’It worked!’
He didn’t know if the large one would get stuck on the beam, but as long as the machine could block it for just a moment!
He spun around abruptly. Watching the pouncing Mutant Dog, he let his body fall backward with its own momentum!
Then, he braced the butt of his long spear against the concrete floor, its tip aimed squarely at the incoming Mutant Dog’s chest!
An iron spear brace!
’Same old trick!’