Death Train: SSS-level talent right from the start!

Chen Ye looked up and met Zheng Xiao's gaze: "I'll play along to the end."

At the very moment he finished speaking, the two rings on his right middle and index fingers flashed simultaneously.

White flames instantly covered his entire body, and four pale blue light shields made of pure energy appeared out of thin air around him at the same moment, each occupying a position and slowly rotating.

Extreme Shadow Mode activated!

Xuanwu protects you, activate!

The moment Zheng Xiao saw the white aura emanating from Chen Ye and the four cyan light shields, the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

Chen Ye didn't want to waste a single moment of the item's time, so he pushed off the ground with his right leg as soon as the two rings were activated.

The stone bricks beneath his feet shattered into fine cracks at the point where he stepped, and his figure shot out from the spot, so fast that he left only a blurry afterimage in the air.

The Dragon Scale Halberd spun half a circle in his hand, its tip tearing through the air with a dull whistling sound as it pierced Zheng Xiao's chest.

Zheng Xiao's reaction was equally astonishingly fast.

He took a half step back with his right foot, lowered his center of gravity, and held the black spear horizontally in front of him, the shaft of the spear colliding head-on with the tip of the Dragon Scale Halberd.

"clang--!"

A deafening clang of metal clashing against metal exploded within the arena. Sparks flew from the point where the two spears collided, flickering briefly in the cold white light before quickly extinguishing.

Chen Ye's body slid back nearly five steps due to the impact, his feet plowing two shallow grooves in the stone brick ground, and his shoes made a short, sharp sound as they rubbed against the brick surface.

Zheng Xiao only took three and a half steps back. He stopped steadily on his fourth step. The crack under his feet was shorter and shallower than the two behind Chen Ye.

This was the first time Chen Ye had been at a disadvantage in a pure power clash.

A tingling, numb sensation spread from his knuckles to his shoulder blade through his right arm.

But he didn't have time to feel the numbness, because he saw a change happening on the black spear in Zheng Xiao's hand.

Fine, blue-white arcs of electricity emanated from Zheng Xiao's hands as he gripped the gun, rapidly climbing up the gun barrel.

The brightness of those electric arcs changed from faint to blinding in just one second, weaving into a dense network of electric light on the dark gun body.

Behind Zheng Xiao, a blue and white phantom was slowly emerging.

The silhouette of the phantom resembled that of an ancient warrior clad in armor, tall with broad shoulders and a wide back.

The electric arcs around its body resembled live snakes coiled around the surface of its armor.

S-rank skill [Thunder Spear Suppresses Prison] activated!

Zheng Xiao thrust his right arm forward, and the black spear, crackling with electric arcs, pierced straight out.

The sound of the gun tip tearing through the air was so sharp it almost pierced the eardrums. The trajectory, wreathed in arcs of electricity, was like a lightning bolt compressed to its extreme, leaving a blue-white afterimage in the field of vision.

Chen Ye was not to be outdone.

His right hand had already gripped the shaft of the Dragon Scale Halberd again the moment the spear was retracted.

The four azure light shields protecting him spun around him at an even faster speed, while thick black energy surged from the silver-white spear in his hand.

S-rank skill [Ferry to the Underworld] activated!

Black mist coiled from the butt of the spear to its tip, leaving a winding black trail in the air.

The hunched, grotesque phantom of a demon appeared behind him, its empty eye sockets locked onto the figure in front of him, crackling with electricity.

The two spears clashed for the second time.

"boom--!"

This time the sound was even more muffled than before.

The black gas and the blue-white electric arc exploded simultaneously at the point of collision. The two completely different energies eroded, tore, and devoured each other, creating a visible ring-shaped shockwave in the air.

The shockwave spread outwards, crashing into the transparent barrier at the edge of the arena and creating a dense ripple.

The entire arena trembled slightly.

Chen Ye could feel the immense force traveling through the gun to his right arm, then along his bones to his shoulder blade, and finally penetrating into his chest and abdomen.

His superior physique, coupled with the protective aura of the Black Tortoise, shielded him from most of the impact at that moment, but the shock that penetrated his body still made his internal organs tremble slightly.

He gritted his teeth, suppressing the metallic taste rising in his throat, and didn't take a single step back.

Zheng Xiao was clearly much more relaxed than Chen Ye. His body also paused for a moment under the impact, but in that instant, a dragon-shaped phantom emerged from his body.

The phantom coiled around his body, shielding him from the aftershocks.

This is his S-level defensive skill, [Coiling Dragon Protection].

The two separated almost simultaneously.

They each took a few steps back, readjusted their center of gravity, and faced each other across a space of more than ten meters.

Zheng Xiao exhaled a breath of stale air, his gaze falling on Chen Ye, his expression relaxed: "You only managed to fight me to a standstill by activating two items, but those items only last for 30 minutes. Your protective item probably won't even last 30 minutes. What will you use to fight me then?"

Zheng Xiao's talent is SS-level [Titan Power], with a fourfold growth in strength and constitution attributes, and he has allocated all points to strength. His base strength is also comparable to Chen Ye's.

However, with the support of the S-level defensive skill [Panlong Protection], his physique is a level above Chen Ye's.

Chen Ye ignored Zheng Xiao's sarcastic remarks; all he wanted to do was to deal even more damage with the help of the two rings.

He flipped the silver spear in his hand again, pushed off the ground with his right foot, and his body shot out.

This time, instead of aiming for a fatal blow, he increased the frequency of his attacks to an unprecedented level.

The spear thrust out, but was parried.

The second shot followed immediately, rising from below, the tip grazing Zheng Xiao's ribs and leaving a faint scratch on the surface of the dragon-patterned protective shield.

The third shot came out horizontally, the gun barrel making a dull whistling sound as it struck the shaft of Zheng Xiao's parrying gun.

The fourth shot followed immediately, without any pause.

The attacks continued relentlessly.

Zheng Xiao thrust out his black spear with all his might, blue and white arcs of electricity exploding on the spear, unleashing the full power of his skill and forcing Chen Ye back several steps.

The two spears clashed repeatedly on the arena, creating a dense, resounding clang of metal.

At the long table below the stage, Qin Zhaoyang's clenched fists were covered in sweat.

He could see Chen Ye's every block and thrust, and he could hear the dull, almost ear-shattering impacts, but he couldn't tell who had the upper hand.

Gu Qinghuan's gaze remained fixed on the arena. Her expression remained unchanged, but the fingertips of her right hand, which was hovering over the table, unconsciously twitched slightly.

Lu Qingchuan stood ramrod straight, his gaze fixed on the two figures that were moving back and forth on the arena.

Yang Minghui pushed up his frameless glasses, his expression not relaxed. At present, Chen Ye is indeed at a disadvantage. Once Chen Ye is defeated, who will be Zheng Xiao's opponent?

The three squad leaders across the long table who hadn't participated in the death guessing game also focused their attention on the arena.

In a sense, the outcome of the duel between Chen Ye and Zheng Xiao determined the fate of the passengers on both trains.

On the arena, the two figures continued to clash.

Each clash between the silver-white and jet-black gun barrels sent sparks flying through the air, with black smoke and blue-white arcs of electricity repeatedly engulfing and recombinizing at the point of impact.

At this moment, Chen Ye's breathing became rapid, and in each exchange of blows, he was actually slightly at a disadvantage.

The four cyan light shields protecting him from the Black Tortoise were already riddled with cracks. Once the Black Tortoise protection was gone, his physique would plummet, making it difficult for him to fight Zheng Xiao head-on.

Zheng Xiao's defensive skills can be released at any time, and he has not used any items yet.