This assassin is upright

Chapter 474 Fierce Battle, Yu Zhun vs. Fred

"It's not a fantasy."

As Yu Zhun spoke, he quickly took out some dried meat, shredded it into easily digestible strips, and stuffed it into the mouths of the three men.

"Sorry, I'm a little late."

"You..." The rat's eyes widened suddenly. As he ate the salty and rough shredded meat, feeling the power gradually returning to his body, an unprecedented sense of satisfaction, like going from hell to heaven, instantly surged into his heart.

Iron Tower and Wolf Fang also watched Yu Zhun in silence, their excitement palpable. Only after eating enough jerky and roughly recovering their physical condition did Wolf Fang finally speak up in a low voice.

"what's the situation?"

“Yu Zhun and Fred have clashed.” Black Hawk grinned, letting out a hearty laugh. “Fred has escaped.”

These two simple sentences contain an immense amount of information.

The three of them looked at Yu Zhun in unison, their eyes filled with astonishment, surprise, and disbelief.

Who is Fred?

He was one of the strongest in District 37, the captain of one of the seven strongest excavation teams, and only one step away from becoming a fifth-tier evolver.

How was Yu Zhun able to fight Fred and force him to flee?

"He's lucky." Yu Zhun said with a stern face, without a trace of smugness about his own strength. Seeing the situation of the four people, he was filled with anger.

If he had known it would be like this, he should have used Death Knell on Fred directly.

I figured it wasn't easy to accumulate kills, so I should save as much as possible.

Who knew Fred's abilities were so bizarre? He ran away the instant before Yu Zhun was about to make his move, as if he had a premonition of what Yu Zhun was going to do.

Fortunately, Yu Zhun had a backup plan.

He slowly raised one hand, and from the palm of that hand, a fleshy root-like tendril slowly emerged, its end seemingly missing a part.

During the fight, Yu Zhun concealed some of his roots on his opponent's body.

That section of root had already left with Fred, and he could use the connection between the roots to pinpoint Fred's location.

This can be considered a small application of the Crimson Mist Tree's power.

Because they were able to pinpoint the other party's location, Yu Zhun was not worried about leaving any trouble behind and arrived at the prison first to rescue the rest of the team.

"Phew! Is there any jerky left?" The rat exhaled heavily, his face now full of relief and joy at surviving the ordeal. "I've never lived like this before. I feel like I could eat a whole mutated beast right now."

"Give me a break," Wolf Fang said quietly. "Of the four of us, you're the only one who isn't an evolved being, so we beat you the least. They were afraid of killing you."

He wolfed down the last of the jerky. All his other injuries had healed, but the hideous scars on his face remained. Combined with his gaunt appearance, he looked particularly frightening, enough to make a child cry at night.

“Your scar…” Yu Zhun hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

"Keep it." A glint flashed in Wolf Fang's eyes as he casually said, "Consider it a memento of this experience."

“We should evacuate as soon as possible,” Chen Sheng, the Iron Tower, who had also regained his strength, said. “Fred has escaped, but he certainly won’t let this go.”

“You guys retreat first,” Yu Zhun said slowly. “I know where Fred is; I’ll go find him later.”

"This time, I will not give him another chance to escape."

Upon hearing this, the other four members of Black Hawk Team were taken aback.

Finally, Black Hawk patted Yu Zhun on the shoulder.

"must be careful."

He spoke in a deep voice, then looked at the other three.

"Let's go first!"

Having witnessed Yu Zhun and Fred's previous exchange, Black Hawk knew very well that even at their peak, they were far from being able to participate in such a battle, let alone since they had not yet fully recovered to their peak.

Staying here will only make them a burden to Yu Zhun.

On the contrary, leaving would relieve Yu Zhun of any worries.

The other three remained silent for a moment, realizing what Black Hawk meant. They said nothing more and quickly followed Black Hawk along a small path.

All four have recovered from their injuries and regained some of their strength. Black Hawk's eye ability has also returned, making him capable of leading the other three away in the current chaos.

After watching the four people disappear from sight, Yu Zhun turned his gaze away and looked in another direction.

To this day, Fred has not moved since his relocation, nor has he done anything to the roots he left behind.

This situation is very abnormal.

As a near-fifth-tier powerhouse, Fred was of comparable strength to Yu Zhun at this moment, so it was impossible that he had not noticed the roots left by Yu Zhun for so long.

The only possibility is that he did it on purpose.

He was luring Yu Zhun to his current position.

But what gave Fred the audacity to do that?

Clearly, when he fought Yu Zhun before, Fred was completely at a disadvantage and even sensed something, so he decisively fled the scene.

What gives him such confidence from his current position?
After much thought, Yu Zhun still couldn't figure it out.

But that didn't stop him from keeping his appointment.

After all, the way the other members of Black Hawk Squad were treated had already put them on his kill list, leaving no room for reversal.

With a stomp of his foot, Yu Zhun shot off into the distance like an arrow released from a bow.

He was getting closer and closer to the Roots, and the scenery around him was constantly changing. He had left the territory of the Dark Dragon Team and was even gradually moving away from the core area of ​​District 37, constantly moving towards the edge.

Finally, Yu Zhun stood on a ruin that had been abandoned for a long time.

The entrance to this ruin is marked by the Nether Dragon Team, indicating that it belongs to the Nether Dragon Team and other excavation teams are not allowed to enter.

However, judging from the situation at the entrance, even the Ghost Dragon team hasn't entered here for a long time.

What lies hidden inside these ruins?
Yu Zhun's expression became cautious.

All signs indicate that this is definitely some kind of backup plan by Fred.

Since he was able to teleport here so mysteriously, he is likely preparing a large number of counterattack methods here as well.

Even with the power of death knell, he cannot afford to be careless.

Taking a deep breath, Yu Zhun stepped into the entrance of the ruins.

Accompanied by a tooth-grinding sound, Yu Zhun, who had entered the darkness, felt his hair stand on end, as if something had locked onto him.

"I didn't expect you to actually dare to come in."

Fred's faint voice came through the loudspeaker, making it impossible to pinpoint his location.

"This was originally my backup plan for escaping the impending catastrophe, but I never expected it to be used on you."

"Catastrophe?" Yu Zhun frowned slightly, not understanding the meaning.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Just as Fred was speaking, Yu Zhun felt the connection to the roots being severed.

He could no longer pinpoint the other party's exact location.

Without the slightest hesitation, bursts of blazing flames erupted from Yu Zhun's body, completely enveloping him and dispelling the darkness within the ruins.

The things hidden in the ruins also came into Yu Zhun's view. His pupils suddenly contracted.

What comes into view are robots that are three meters tall. They stand upright like humans, but the sharp edges of their alloy shells, their mechanical arms, and the numerous cannons covering their bodies all exude extreme coldness.

These are a group of war machines that can be remotely controlled, and now, after sleeping for an unknown period of time, they have been fully activated.

"Surprised?" Fred's voice carried a hint of pride and satisfaction. "War Machine A4-27, the most representative mechanical legion unit of the old era, can be remotely controlled and has an incredibly comprehensive arsenal."

"I was also incredibly surprised to find them in these ruins."

“I immediately silenced the members of the Ghost Dragon team who participated in the excavation, and publicly claimed that an accident had occurred here and that the entire ruins needed to be sealed off.”

"Besides myself, you are the second living person in this world who knows about this."

At this point, Fred paused slightly.

“I can vaguely sense that you possess a terrifying power, so terrifying that I might die the moment we meet.”

"However, if you want to use this power now, you'll first need to use the one hundred A4-27s I left here."

"Well then, good luck."

The slightly sarcastic voice abruptly stopped, and war machines slowly turned their heads toward Yu Zhun. The next instant, a dense barrage of fire swept across the land.

"Ping ping ping—"

With his astonishing agility at the near-fifth rank, Yu Zhun slashed through the bullets while rapidly maneuvering through the narrow space, trying to avoid being locked onto by the war machine.

His expression was somewhat solemn. Suddenly, he raised his hand, and a ball of blazing flame instantly swept towards one of the war machines.

The flames instantly engulfed the enemy, but quickly went out, leaving only a faint burn mark on the surface of the war machine.

“It’s no use.” Fred’s voice echoed once again from the unknown.

"The alloy shell used by the A4-27 is the most advanced technology of the old era. Although it does not have the addition of superhuman strength and materials, it is still equivalent to a third-tier alloy."

"You only have near-fifth-tier fire abilities. Trying to forcibly melt a third-tier alloy won't be that easy."

Melting and destroying are two different things.

Without Fred's prompting, Yu Zhun realized this himself.

A red glint flashed deep in his eyes, and in the next instant, his speed suddenly increased dramatically. He charged straight at a war machine on the other side, his dagger swiftly slashing across the machine's joints, severing the connection between the machine's mechanical arm and the other end.

The dagger, crafted from a fifth-tier alloy, inflicted immediate damage on an alloy comparable to a third-tier one. In an instant, the war machine was reduced to a bare stick without hands.

But Yu Zhun's smile quickly faded.

The war machine did not stop operating. It instantly turned towards Yu Zhun, and an exceptionally bright light burst from its chest. An energy cannon engulfed Yu Zhun at close range.

At the same time, the firepower of other war machines rained down upon them.

Even as smoke and dust filled the air, obscuring what was happening at the point of concentrated fire, the firepower of these war machines never ceased, as if they would not stop until all their firepower was unleashed.

After a long, long time, the war machines stopped firing, and the ruins fell silent once again.

As the smoke and dust gradually subsided, a body that was almost unrecognizable was revealed inside.

"Dead?"

Fred's voice echoed softly, carrying a hint of relief and relaxation.

He waited for a long time until he was sure there would be no problem before carefully stepping out of his hiding place and walking step by step to the broken body.

"Ah…"

A cold smile crept across Fred's lips. "Trying to mess with me? You think you can..."

"Om-"

The mangled body's tightly closed eyes snapped open instantly.

Immediately afterwards, a bell tolled from the void.

Fred's face showed disbelief as he looked at Yu Zhun, who had recovered with incredible speed, almost instantly returning to normal. "How could this be..."

Before he could finish speaking, he turned to ashes and vanished into the world.

“How could I still be alive?” Yu Zhun looked at the spot where Fred had stood with amusement. “A tree will not die as long as its roots are not severed.”

In order to find Fred, Yu Zhun used all the power of the Crimson Mist Tree to deeply embed its roots in the ruins, silently covering almost the entire ruins.

Although Fred's whereabouts were still unknown, this approach had another advantage: the root system could draw upon an almost limitless supply of energy to him.

No matter how strong an evolved being's regenerative abilities are, they will still die if they lose vital organs such as their head and heart. However, Yu Zhun, after obtaining the power of the Crimson Mist Tree, is no longer bound by this limitation. As long as the root is alive, he will not truly die.

So he created a loophole and eventually lured Fred away.

Instead of leaving immediately, Yu Zhun glanced at the war machines around him that had stopped working, and then slowly walked toward where Fred had appeared.

It was a specially constructed, highly concealed compartment that almost fooled the root system Yu Zhun used to investigate. If Fred hadn't come out on his own, Yu Zhun might not have been able to find him at all.

Inside this compartment, there was a helmet-like device connected to a large number of things that Yu Zhun couldn't understand.

Unsurprisingly, Fred used it to control these war machines.

Apart from that, there was only a thin booklet in the cubicle.

Yu Zhun picked it up curiously and flipped through it, then his expression froze slightly.

October 4th, Sunny

I've finally reached the limit of the fourth tier, and I'm only one step away from the fifth!

Although this step feels like it's a long way off, I believe that given enough time, I will definitely be able to overcome it. However, before that, there is something more important to do.

After reaching the near-fifth rank, my ability to predict the future has become much stronger. The catastrophe that I accidentally glimpsed in my future should now be clearer to me.

【...】

October 7th, Cloudy

[For something that takes so long and involves my own future, my abilities seem insufficient. Fortunately, after exhausting all my efforts, I finally saw where the catastrophe came from. Somewhat unexpectedly, it came from Area 62.]

They've lived peacefully with us for so many years, could something be about to happen? I think I'll have to send someone to District 62 to investigate.

If possible, I hope to nip the catastrophe in the bud.

"Is this Fred's diary?"

Yu Zhun touched his chin, his expression somewhat strange.

Who would write a diary if they were serious?

What surprised him even more than that was the contents of the diary.

The catastrophe from Area 62…

Are you referring to the Tree of Crimson Mist?
However, after reviewing the Red Mist Tree's past, he realized that the other party had no intention of taking action against District 37.

Or...

Yu Zhun's expression turned strange.

Is this catastrophe referring to myself as someone passing through District 62?

(End of this chapter)