Infinite Fighting

Li Long and the others had always assumed Zhang Ji was a native of Shanli Island. After all, they had no way of investigating his records in the Eastern Extreme Country.

In reality, however, Zhang Ji had only lived there for about six months.

To be precise, he only struggled for the first month or so before adapting to his new environment.

"It was fine," Zhang Ji replied succinctly to Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao assumed Zhang Ji didn’t want to talk about his time there, so he dropped the subject and steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Do you know how the Eldest Brother ended up on Shanli Island?" Zhou Hao asked.

"I’m not sure," Zhang Ji said, shaking his head.

He only knew, in general terms, that Li Long had fallen into a trap set by the Xian Mountain Sect, but he had never looked into the specifics.

"The Eldest Brother broke through to the Grandmaster realm and was invited to a banquet..."

Zhou Hao began to explain the whole story to Zhang Ji.

Soon, Zhang Ji had a clear picture of what happened.

It wasn’t complicated.

After his breakthrough, Li Long attended a banquet. There, members of the Xian Mountain Sect goaded a young heir from an influential family. This heir used a secret drug from the Xian Mountain Sect to offer a toast to Gu Shuangshuang. Given his status, Gu Shuangshuang felt obligated to accept.

Something then went wrong with Gu Shuangshuang. Fortunately, Li Long discovered the problem before anything sordid could occur.

In a blind rage, Li Long didn’t think twice. He sent the young heir to the afterlife with a single palm strike.

It was as simple as that.

Ordinarily, it wouldn’t have been a huge deal for Li Long to kill some rich heir.

However, this particular heir’s background was exceptional.

He may have been a good-for-nothing, but his family connections were impeccable. His grandmother is a current councilwoman named Yin Daiyu.

The Yin family is extremely powerful. It would have been untenable for the Five Elements Sect not to show them some respect.

After a great deal of trouble, a compromise was finally reached through a trade of interests. Li Long was sent to Shanli Island to make a show of being punished.

"The Xian Mountain Sect orchestrated the whole thing. Didn’t the Yin family do anything about it?" Zhang Ji asked Zhou Hao.

Li Long may have been the one who did the killing, but the Xian Mountain Sect, who planned it all, were the masterminds, right?

Why was the Five Elements Sect the only one to suffer in the end?

"I’m not sure about that," Zhou Hao said, laughing it off.

He actually knew very well why.

The Xian Mountain Sect is backed by the Lin family, and the Yin and Lin families are entangled in much larger mutual interests. Even though this incident caused friction, as long as the conflict wasn’t completely irreconcilable, they would typically handle it internally and avoid making a big scene.

But there was no need to tell Zhang Ji all this.

In Zhou Hao’s view, Zhang Ji was one of the Sect’s most promising martial artists—a pure soul, unsuited for such political maneuvering and backstabbing. There was no need to explain certain matters in too much detail.

The two chatted for a while longer. Just as Zhang Ji was about to excuse himself to return to his room and train, the entire stadium was suddenly plunged into darkness.

"What’s going on? Did the power go out?"

"What about the backup power?"

"Everyone, don’t panic..."

The moment the lights went out, Zhou Hao’s expression changed. He immediately pulled out his phone to check the situation, but it had no signal. It wouldn’t even function properly; the screen just stuttered and froze.

He tossed his phone aside and began to reassure the crowd, telling someone to call the police. Then he turned to Zhang Ji. "We might have intruders. Their target must be the new drug factory. Let’s go!"

"Right!" Zhang Ji nodded.

Zhou Hao stepped out of the training room into the same pitch-black darkness. Flashlights couldn’t even pierce it. The only illumination came from a faint glow in the far distance.

Zhang Ji found the situation baffling as well.

Under the cover of night, the two of them raced toward the new drug factory.

Before long, they were nearing the factory. The sound of gunfire echoed from afar.

"RAT-TAT-TAT!"

’They’ve opened fire?’

Zhou Hao’s expression darkened.

Common thieves would never push the Five Elements Sect’s security to the point of opening fire.

Suddenly, Zhang Ji heard a buzzing sound.

It sounded like bees, but something felt off.

The next moment, he saw dozens of dark shadows emerge in the sky.

There were hundreds of them, at least.

They all opened fire in unison, unleashing a hail of bullets into the distance.

"A swarm of armed drones..."

Zhou Hao’s face grew even grimmer.

"Watch out!" Zhang Ji suddenly warned.

He saw a drone aiming at them.

"RAT-TAT-TAT!"

A stream of bullets erupted. Shielding his eyes with his hands, Zhang Ji executed a sharp forward roll and dashed toward a nearby building.

Zhou Hao was even faster. His body flowed out of the way in an instant. Just as two bullets were about to hit him, he gave his palm a slight flick and actually caught them.

More than the skill required to catch bullets, Zhang Ji was astonished by Zhou Hao’s reaction time.

’If it were me, I wouldn’t have been able to react in time.’

’The bullets are too fast. At this range, I could only take them with my body. Catching them with my hands is too difficult for me.’

"RAT-TAT-TAT!"

The two took cover behind a pillar as the drone continued its strafing run.

Zhou Hao gestured to Zhang Ji, who nodded in agreement. Then, one after the other, they charged out.

Zhang Ji drew the drone’s attention, and the bullets began to track him. As the drone focused its attack on Zhang Ji, Zhou Hao rushed out. With a flick of his wrist, his entire arm cracked like a whip. CRACK! The next instant, he flung the bullets he had caught, striking a drone and sending it crashing to the ground.

The drone wasn’t very big and appeared to be a foldable model.

It was only equipped with a simple magazine and firing mechanism.

"It’s modified civilian equipment, not regular army issue. Thank goodness!" Zhou Hao picked it up, examined it, and breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as they weren’t dealing with the regular army, this wasn’t a major problem.

The two pressed on and soon reached the factory building.

The factory had already activated its backup power, and all the machinery was still running.

The pharmaceutical plant had been designed from the ground up to handle a wide range of problems.

Lying outside the factory were many Five Elements Sect disciples in security uniforms.

Most of them were graduates of the Five Elements Sect’s Inner Sect—all professional fighters.

Now, they all lay dead. Judging by their injuries, many hadn’t even been killed by bullets.

The main doors to the factory had been breached.

Zhou Hao and Zhang Ji gave the bodies a quick glance before heading straight into the factory.

They hadn’t gone more than a few steps before they found a few surviving security guards. The men were uninjured but were hiding off to the side, their faces filled with panic.

"What’s the situation?" Zhou Hao asked one of them.

"Drones... and two men. One of them is wearing a military exoskeleton..." the man replied tersely.

"Quick, get outside and call for backup!" Zhou Hao ordered.

With that said, Zhou Hao and Zhang Ji continued deeper into the building.

Inside the automated production workshop, the security doors, which required multiple passwords, had been rendered useless. All of them were wide open.

"Are you scared?" Zhou Hao asked Zhang Ji.

Zhang Ji glanced at Zhou Hao, clearly sensing a shift in his state of mind.

’He’s not asking if I’m scared. He’s asking because he’s scared.’

’Zhou Hao isn’t just a pure martial artist anymore.’

"I’m curious. What kind of drug are we producing that would make our enemies go to such lengths to attack us?" Zhang Ji asked, changing the subject.

"Traceless Liquid," Zhou Hao answered. "It’s a medicine for treating scars. Many sects in the martial arts world have something similar, but we developed a cheaper alternative. The cost is lower, the effects are just as good, and it can be mass-produced. It can remove surgical scars, burn scars, even acne marks. Between the domestic and international markets, we’re talking about a market worth at least a trillion. We can’t corner that entire market, of course, so we’ve shared a lot of the profits. This is just one of the factories, one that our Five Elements Sect kept for ourselves. If we can officially begin production and sales, we’re conservatively looking at an annual income of over ten billion in this region alone..."

Hearing that, Zhang Ji instantly understood the stakes.

’Low-cost, side-effect-free scar removal.’

’It’s the core technology for two wildly profitable industries: pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.’

’If I were a competitor with the means, I’d definitely try to get my hands on their production data too.’

’Failing that, I’d at least try to sabotage them and mess with them.’

...

「Meanwhile.」

Inside the factory, by the vat of Traceless stock solution, Bee was using a drone to retrieve ten vials of the liquid.

Meanwhile, Water Monster and Black Hawk were planting bombs.

"Water Monster, two people just broke in," Bee suddenly said over the comms.

"Couldn’t you stop them?" Black Hawk asked.

"My swarm ran out of ammo providing cover fire and are still reloading. I only have two or three ’worker bees’ left with any rounds, and they’re both strong martial artists. A few drones won’t be enough to stop them," Bee said.

This was the disadvantage of modified civilian equipment; its performance was much worse than military-grade, and its ammo capacity was also low.

"Fox, are you in position?" Water Monster asked.

"I’m at the sniper’s nest. Law enforcement drones are on their way. I’ll cover your retreat when you get out," Fox replied.

"Just about done. Let’s pull out!"

After planting the last bomb, Water Monster called out to Black Hawk. The two of them prepared to leave the way they came.

They took the samples and had barely gone two steps before they froze.

Facing them, blocking their path, were Zhang Ji and Zhou Hao.

After a moment’s pause, Black Hawk and Water Monster opened fire simultaneously.

"RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!"

The instant the muzzles flashed, Zhou Hao dove behind nearby cover.

Zhou Hao, now armed with a gun taken from one of the guards, pulled the trigger twice, but his firepower was clearly inferior.

Zhang Ji gauged the intensity of their fire. Confirming it was within his limits, he gestured to Zhou Hao.

The next instant, Zhang Ji charged.

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"

In the narrow corridor, a hail of bullets slammed into Zhang Ji, but they only produced the sound of metal striking metal. He continued his charge toward Water Monster and Black Hawk, unfazed.

Black Hawk’s expression changed dramatically; he’d never encountered a martial artist like this before. Water Monster, however, was much calmer. As a seasoned veteran, there was nothing new for him on the battlefield.

As Zhang Ji closed in, he leaped into the air, aiming a direct kick at Water Monster.

Water Monster, two meters tall and wearing an obsolete military exoskeleton, had no intention of retreating.

He met it head-on.

"BAM!"

Zhang Ji’s kick bent the gun in Water Monster’s hands. He was forced back a step, but was otherwise unharmed.

Meanwhile, moving like a viper striking from the shadows, Zhou Hao lashed out at Black Hawk with a palm strike.

"WHAM!"

Even with his assistive exoskeleton, Black Hawk was sent flying by Zhou Hao’s whipping palm strike, crashing into the production line machinery.

"You alright?" Water Monster asked, dropping his mangled gun.

"It hurts! Are all the martial artists in the Eastern Extreme Country superhuman? A single palm strike bent my G3-material exoskeleton!" Black Hawk said.

Hearing a voice over his comms, Water Monster seemed to relax slightly. "They’re both martial artists of at least the professional Seventh Rank," he said to Black Hawk. "I can’t take them both down quickly, so I can’t watch your back. You’ll have to fend for yourself for now!"