Of the six people on the second basement level, one was Grandpa Wu, and the other five were his closest henchmen.
The burly man's nickname was Rock, Grandpa Wu's top fighter. He trained in iron-body martial arts, giving him extreme defense, and also practiced Baji Fist—the most powerful external boxing style. In battle, he was like a rampaging humanoid beast, often defeating opponents of the same level in just three or five moves. Below the Transforming-Gang stage, he was considered unbeatable.
Previously, when Kevin Zhou came here to negotiate surrender, he was seriously injured by Rock in five moves. Although Kevin's raw power wasn't weaker—in fact, it was even stronger—he'd gained it too recently and lacked tempering and combat awareness.
So, aside from Grandpa Wu, Rock never took anyone else seriously.
"Cousin, let me handle this fight!"
Helen Guo gripped her longsword and strode forward. She couldn't quite describe how she felt at that moment—she only had one thought: to make these beasts pay.
"Be careful!"
Ian Song nodded and stepped back two paces. Helen Guo's strength had already reached postnatal great perfection, and with the large number of Evolution Crystals she'd consumed, true essence now flowed within her. Her combat power was comparable to a first-stage Transforming-Gang expert.
"Tsk tsk, this little chick looks tender enough—wonder how she'd taste?" Rock licked the grease from his lips as he leered at Helen.
Seeing that, Helen's killing intent surged.
With a blur of movement, her longsword became a streak of light, stabbing at Rock's vital points.
"Nice move!"
Rock let out a cold shout, eyes flashing with murderous intent. His fists showed no fear of Helen's sword light—he charged in, unleashing a barrage of blows.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A series of crashing sounds rang out.
Fists and sword light collided, producing sounds like metal striking metal.
After meeting so many martial artists, Ian Song had learned a lot about this world's combat styles.
Clearly, Rock practiced iron-body martial arts and excelled at close-quarters combat.
So, in their exchanges, he kept advancing. If he got close to Helen, he'd unleash a devastating attack.
In the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged fifty or sixty moves.
Suddenly, Rock let out a roar, his speed skyrocketing as he closed in on Helen. At the same time, he unleashed Baji Fist’s Body-Crash Against the Mountain, a savage rush that slammed toward Helen’s chest.
Seeing the ferocity of his attack, Helen didn’t panic at all. She abruptly tossed aside her longsword and swung both fists at him.
After consuming so many Evolution Crystals, Helen’s physical strength and power had reached an extreme. Don’t be fooled by her gender—her body’s toughness and explosive force were actually a notch above Rock’s.
In the earlier fight, she’d only shown her sword skills. It looked as if her sword couldn’t overcome Rock, but in reality, she was setting him up—waiting for him to get close and launch his strongest move.
"Kill!"
With a crisp shout, Helen poured all the true essence from her dantian into her fists.
Boom! Boom!
Amid the shockwave, a tall figure was sent flying, crashing to the ground several meters away.
Rock struggled to get up, only to realize his left arm bone had been shattered by a single punch, and several ribs in his chest were broken. He stared at Helen in disbelief—his fierce eyes now tinged with fear.
That woman’s body and strength were actually greater than his. He couldn’t accept it.
Rock’s defeat made Grandpa Wu’s face darken, but he didn’t show any panic.
His shadowy gaze swept over Ian Song and the others, then he gave a faint smile: "You’re from the Yanhuang Survivor Base, aren’t you? Since you’re guests, why not sit down and eat something? You know, two-legged sheep meat is the finest meat in the world!"
Hearing that, everyone felt like throwing up again.
Just then, Grandpa Wu suddenly moved.
In a flash, he appeared in front of Helen, his claw-like hand lashing out for her throat—he was trying to grab a hostage.
Whoosh!
A streak of silver flashed, appearing instantly in front of Grandpa Wu’s brow. Instinctively, he pulled back his hand and retreated quickly.
But that silver flash clung to him like a shadow, forcing Grandpa Wu to use all his strength, firing off over forty palm strikes before he barely managed to knock it to the ground.
Looking at the twisted coin on the floor, Grandpa Wu sucked in a breath. What a powerful hidden weapon—it was several times deadlier than a bullet.
"This one's mine. The rest are yours! I have only one request: don’t let them die too easily. Otherwise, it’s letting them off too cheap!"
Ian Song stepped forward, his gaze locked on Grandpa Wu.
Grandpa Wu gave Ian a fake smile and asked, "You've got some impressive hidden weapon skills, young man. I’m impressed. May I ask your name?"
"A beast who’s lost all humanity doesn’t deserve to know my name!" Ian replied coldly.
"Hmph! In that case, let’s settle this with our fists!"
Grandpa Wu's face twisted in anger. Suddenly, he pulled out two high-explosive grenades and threw them at Ian before turning to run!
Seeing the grenades flying toward him, Ian didn’t panic at all. He reached out, wrapped both grenades in true essence, then tossed them back.
Boom! Boom!
Two violent explosions rang out.
Grandpa Wu screamed as he was blasted backwards, his body riddled with dozens of shrapnel wounds, blood soaking his clothes.
Still, as a Transforming-Gang martial artist, he had protective qi shielding his body. So while his injuries looked severe, they were mostly superficial.
"Kill!"
Helen Guo, Jason Long, and the others surged forward, surrounding Rock and the other four henchmen.
Meanwhile, Ian walked slowly toward Grandpa Wu, who was struggling to get up from the ground.
Grandpa Wu glared at Ian, his eyes full of venom. "Kid, tell your people to stop right now, or we’ll all die together!"
As he spoke, Grandpa Wu pulled a remote control out of his clothes.
Gripping the remote, Grandpa Wu’s confidence surged. He sneered, "I’ve buried several hundred jin of explosives in this basement. One press, and everyone here dies!"
Whoosh!
An invisible burst of qi struck Grandpa Wu’s knee, instantly shattering his kneecap.
"Ah!"
Grandpa Wu doubled over in agony, staring at Ian in disbelief. He never imagined his opponent would dare attack him in this situation.
"Aren’t you afraid of dying?"
Whoosh!
Another invisible burst of qi shot out, instantly blasting the remote in Grandpa Wu’s hand into fragments.
Grandpa Wu stared blankly at his now-empty right hand, then tried to run again.
Thud thud thud thud!
Bursts of qi shot into Grandpa Wu’s body, exploding into bloody flowers. In moments, his body was riddled with holes. He’d barely taken two steps before collapsing, unwilling to die but unable to escape.