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Chapter 344 Nanoparticles
Mannequins are not machines, of course; they are usually plastic products used only as clothes hangers... So when Chen Xuan passed by the shop window, he only glanced at them and did not pay much attention to them.

But he soon realized that he might have overlooked a key point: this is the future, and some common sense is no longer valid.

"Come here quickly—"

Before he finished speaking, Wang Baihu's expression changed drastically, and he quickly backed away.

As a result, he tripped over the curb on the street!

The moment he fell, the mannequin leaped out of the shop window, spreading its arms to pounce on Wang Baihu—but because he fell backward, the mannequin missed its target and flew over Wang Baihu's head.

"Holy crap!" Wang Baihu quickly scrambled to his feet and joined Honglian. "That was close! That thing was actually a robot!"

Chen Xuan twitched his lips; this kid was indeed incredibly lucky.

Once outdoors, the mannequin's appearance became much clearer. Its exterior was dilapidated, with several patches of skin peeling off, revealing the metallic shell beneath. The joints showed signs of movement, and a power interface and a warning sign for electric shock were visible on the back.

A century ago, mannequins were generally made of plastic, as such products were sufficient to meet the needs. But a hundred years later, robots are no longer expensive, and mannequins are no longer just for holding up clothes—for retailers, an intelligent mannequin that can pose for customers to showcase clothing and even promote itself is clearly more attractive.

In those few seconds, two more mannequins came out of the cabinet.

Three nano-sized living organisms at a time?

Chen Xuan immediately made a decision: "You guys focus on what's in front of you, Liuli and I will each take on one."

"Hey, cutting them down won't increase my safety level." Despite her complaints, Liuli immediately drew her sword and intercepted one of them.

Chen Xuan also used the Thousand Thoughts Sword to attract the attention of another model.

Liuli had already successfully killed nano-sized living beings before; he himself possessed many self-defense abilities, and even if he couldn't break through the enemy's defenses, he could easily hold them off for ten minutes. The biggest challenge lay with the Crimson Lotus Group, so while directing the Thousand Thoughts Sword to engage the mannequin, Chen Xuan also kept an eye on the four members of the Crimson Lotus Group to prevent any unexpected events from occurring there.

Wang Baihu immediately drew his pistol.

This is also his usual weapon.

Three shots hit the model's forehead precisely, but apart from a few sparks, the nano-organisms showed no reaction whatsoever.

"So hard!?"

“Conventional weapons are useless, Jiang Siqi, try to weaken it!” Honglian also got into the zone and began to fulfill her responsibilities as team leader.

"Understood, it's bone-deep and heart-burning!" Jiang Siqi raised her hands and shouted at the living specimen number one.

This time, the other creature reacted, but not with a painful howl. Instead, it turned and lunged at Xiaojiu—its speed was incredible, and its arm stretched out seven or eight meters in an instant, catching everyone off guard. Xiaojiu, who hadn't expected to be the first to be attacked despite being in the safest position in the group, was momentarily stunned.

Honglian was quicker, forcefully pushing her aside and shielding her teammate!
"No way! You're really not taking your own safety seriously with this fighting style!" Chen Xuan's heart jumped into his throat, and he almost activated the recall function.

Fortunately, the mannequin's hand wasn't a weapon; it grabbed Honglian and tried to pull her back.

At the same time, its body suddenly swelled up, a crack appeared in the center, and then expanded into a huge, vertically opening maw!
Like a front-loading washing machine, its opening is a purely mechanical structure with many intersecting blades inside, making it essentially a meat grinder!

"It's agonizing, it's agonizing! No way... it can't possibly feel pain, can it?" Jiang Siqi cried out in despair.

As Honglian was pulled toward the gaping maw, she pointed two fingers at her brow, initiating the royal carriage substitution.

A fire hydrant instantly took her place, and was stuffed into the enemy's mouth!

With a series of crackling explosions, sparks and iron filings flew out, and the fire hydrant was instantly shredded by the blade disc.

Wang Baihu felt a chill run down his spine. If he had been pounced on by the enemy from the start, he probably wouldn't have been left with even a bone fragment.

"Don't panic, this thing is inanimate, let's use Tactic Four!" Honglian shouted. "Jiang Siqi, you go first!"

"Ah? Ah... Okay!" Jiang Siqi took out two miniature dolls from her bosom and placed them on the ground. She used the "Summoning the Gods" spell on them, and the dolls immediately started moving, spreading their wings and flying towards Living One.

She can actually control objects to perform such complex movements? Chen Xuan was somewhat surprised. It seems she's been practicing diligently ever since she gained these abilities...

The two dolls continued to emit strange laughter, and their LED lights flashed incessantly, clearly only serving a harassing purpose. But this harassment was surprisingly effective; the mannequin was obviously drawn to them, and its hands slapped left and right like multi-sticks, moving so fast that afterimages were left, knocking all the dolls to the ground in less than five seconds.

Five seconds was enough for Honglian.

As she was grabbed by Living One and dragged toward Big Mouth, she tossed a coin at its feet. After the castling began, she teleported behind the mannequin and placed her hand on its calf.

Marking objects takes time, and Jiang Siqi bought her that opening.

When Living Person Number One smashed the doll, only to find an extra person at her feet, Honglian switched places with the coin for the second time.

The enemy stepped on it, but could only step on the coin.

"Wang Baihu!" Honglian called out.

"I'm ready!" Wang Baihu had already loaded the special bullets into the chamber, and as soon as the team leader spoke, he immediately fired into the air.

The bullet left the barrel at the speed of sound and was already thousands of meters in the air three seconds later.

Honglian silently counted to three, then used "Shadow Shift" to target the mannequin and the bullet!
With a whoosh, Living Man No. 1 vanished from the spot and reappeared in the sky!

In this field, gravity reigns supreme.

Any object that cannot fly cannot escape its inevitable fate: to fall.

So it fell heavily from a height of 1,000 meters.

The moment it hit the ground, even the earth seemed to tremble slightly!
boom!
The violent impact sent it flying several meters into the air, breaking both its legs and deforming its internal blade disc. Even so, it didn't die; it slowly crawled on the ground with its two hands, seemingly trying to find its lost parts.

But division means vulnerability.

A dense net woven from sword shadows completely enveloped it, and then a cold light flashed, instantly dismembering Living One into pieces!

Ruri has dealt with her enemies and is now able to return to support the Crimson Lotus Group.

On the other side, Chen Xuan also unexpectedly discovered that the splitting and remelting process had marked the nano-living organism as a "special mortal enemy," and the cost was within an acceptable range. For example, for this humanoid living organism, the cost was four of himself. There was no need to hesitate any longer. He directly switched to the "Seed of Flesh and Blood," causing flesh and blood to grow out of thin air on the other party! This flesh and blood intertwined with the blade disc, gears, and joints, causing the model's movements to suddenly slow down.

It seemed confused as well, raising its hands as if trying to tear off the muscles and fascia that kept sprouting from its body, but the two were more and more deeply intertwined, and it was impossible to separate them by brute force.

Its deformed knees could no longer support it, and after two unsteady steps, the mannequin collapsed to the ground.

The Thousand Thoughts Swords surrounding it rushed forward and chopped it into pieces like minced meat.

Bright red blood even oozed from those cuts.

Chen Xuan checked himself and found that the "Seed of Flesh and Blood" was still green LV2, which meant that the price he had just paid was basically equal to the gains of his mortal enemy. Overall, he still made a big profit because the enemy had been truly eliminated.

He had a slight question in his mind. According to the description, the "Seed of Flesh and Blood" absorbed and stored the flesh and blood of specific enemies after they were destroyed, and could use this flesh and blood as fusion targets or as a price when needed—a fairly reasonable logic. But the problem was, where did these nanite organisms get their flesh and blood? They were fundamentally different from demons and those insect-faced beings; their entire bodies were composed of nanites, with not a single speck of flesh to be found. Since they had no flesh, how could the Seed of Flesh and Blood recharge itself by destroying them?
(End of this chapter)