Kamen Rider ZZZ from the American comic book world

Seeing this, Li Ai raised his gun and aimed without hesitation. His finger quickly pulled the trigger, and the semi-automatic pistol fired at a rate of fire equal to that of a fully automatic gun. In the blink of an eye, the magazine was emptied.

All the bullets landed on Freddy's head and neck, the impact causing him to fall backward onto the grille passage with a loud thud.

"You avenged Tina?" A hint of joy flashed in Nancy's eyes.

"No, not yet." A hint of seriousness flashed in Li Ai's eyes.

The next moment, Freddy's figure seemed to have been pressed backward, and he stood up in a way that defied the laws of physics. He tipped his hat to the two men, then said sarcastically:

"You truly are the most delicious prey. I think we can play a little longer."

Li Ai didn't quite understand the sentence, but he knew that Freddy enjoyed tormenting teenagers, and that someone like him who dared to rebel could bring Freddy more joy.

“You can have anything in your dreams.” He gritted his teeth, constantly strengthening his resolve to resist the pressure Freddy was putting on him.

Anything is possible in dreams. The pistol suddenly reloaded with bullets, and he fired at Freddy again, shouting:

"Nancy, you must stand by your convictions and not be afraid of Freddy!"

The bullet, imbued with conviction, knocked Freddy back several steps.

Freddy pulled his hat back up, making a creepy gurgling sound from his throat.

"You're the smartest one; everyone else just runs around aimlessly."

With that, Freddy's steel claw seemed to come alive, transforming into a venomous snake and, in the blink of an eye, slashing a bloody gash across Li Ai's left forearm.

The intense pain almost made him unable to hold the gun, but he couldn't afford to be afraid. If he were to be afraid, he would truly lose to Freddy.

“Then I want to leave this place!” Nancy concentrated all her energy and imagined a door that would allow her to leave. After exhausting all her energy, she indeed conjured a white wooden door behind her.

Nancy pulled Li Ai along, then broke down the wooden door, bringing the two of them to the hospital.

The smell of disinfectant wafted into her nostrils. Nancy hurriedly found some disinfectant and poured it onto Li Ai's hand without a second thought. Then she wrapped the wound with a roll of gauze. There was no regard for any rules or procedures, but the most important thing right now was to survive.

"Thank you." Li Ai's face was pale. The lights in the hospital corridor suddenly flickered, and the two of them immediately became alert.

Freddy appeared at the end of the corridor and greeted the two men with great interest.

"Die, you bastard!" Li Ai's eyes narrowed, and the pistol transformed into a pump-action shotgun. He then fired at Freddy, attempting to stop him with a wide-range attack.

"Hehehe, this is really interesting." Freddy's body was riddled with holes, but a surge of black mist quickly restored his body to its original state.

Freddy tilted his head slightly, a smile spreading across his狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious/hideous) face, as if he were talking about him.

Freddy placed his hand on the wall of the hospital corridor, and the next moment, the hospital began to collapse. Large amounts of dust fell from the ceiling, plaster fell off the walls, and the floor underfoot cracked continuously.

“Let’s go.” Nancy imagined another door and was about to lead Li Ai away, but the collapse was too fast, and the ceiling completely collapsed before the two could push the door open.

At the critical moment, the two silver crosses simultaneously emitted a burst of light. The light emanating from Nancy was the brightest, enveloping her entire body and covering part of Li Ai's body. The latter also had light, but only with the addition of Nancy's light could her vital parts be protected.

Protected by the light, the two pushed open the door just before the hospital collapsed and entered a silent, dark forest.

“Li Ai, your leg!” Nancy said, pointing to Li Ai’s left calf.

His left calf was pierced by a steel bar. Although there was no immediate bleeding, it was still a serious injury.

"Damn it." Li Ai cursed under his breath, and the pump-action shotgun in his hand suddenly transformed into a six-barreled Vulcan machine gun.

"Nancy, get away from me!" Li Ai shouted, then aimed her gun at Freddy in the darkness.

The six gun barrels spun at high speed, spewing fire at the same time, and countless spent cartridges were ejected. In just a few breaths, nearly a thousand bullets were fired.

The ferocious firepower seemed to briefly suppress Freddy.

There are no issues of ammunition consumption or gun barrel overheating in dreams, but they do consume a lot of mental energy. He has a great talent for controlling the power of dreams, but the time is too short, and he has not yet grown to the point where he can contend with Freddy.

"No wonder there's always been a voice deep in my soul telling me I must devour you."

Li Ai was only slightly tired when Freddy appeared out of thin air in front of him.

bang——

With a muffled thud, Freddy punched Li Ai in the stomach. Li Ai winced in pain and retaliated with an elbow strike to Freddy's temple.

But Freddy's head was like clay, and Li Ai's elbow was stuck deep inside, making him unable to move.

Freddy seized the opportunity and kept punching him in the stomach until the latter was foaming at the mouth.

At this point, Freddy deactivated the rubber coating on his head and then pushed Li Ai away.

“I know what you’re trying to do.” Freddy smiled, and with a slight movement of his hand, a cage appeared out of thin air, trapping Nancy inside.

"Trying to be a hero and save the damsel in distress? You won't have the chance. As for that eyesore of a cross, I'll find a way to make her give up her faith, then that thing will be useless, and that will be her death day."

Freddy, believing his victory was assured, became increasingly arrogant.

He was a psychopath from the start. As a child, he tortured and killed animals for fun at school. In his youth, he enjoyed the beatings from his adoptive father. After marriage, he began to torture and kill children at will. His mental state cannot be measured by the standards of a normal person.

Suddenly, Freddy appeared in front of Li Ai, pulled out the steel bar, and then raised the hand with four steel claws attached to it.

Four steel claws stretched out wildly, two of them pinning Li Ai's legs together, while the other two pinned his palms, forcing his hands to remain outstretched.

"You simply don't have the power to save others."

"I can't do anything."

"You will only sink into an endless nightmare."

Freddy's words kept questioning Li Ai's heart. At the same time, he slammed down his 'prey' and then lifted it up again, repeating this process over and over.

"Li Ai!!!" Nancy cried out in anguish at the sight before her.

How could a human being possibly withstand such harm?

"Cough cough cough..."

Li Ai lay on the ground, barely breathing, spitting out blood and foam. He felt as if all his bones and internal organs were broken, and there wasn't a single unharmed spot on his body.

"Still alive?" Freddy looked at Li Ai's miserable state, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. "Probably only a last shred of will left... In that case, let me give you the most profound nightmare!"

The scene changed again; Li Ai was now standing on an asphalt highway, the road ahead illuminated by lights. He struggled to lift his head and saw a speeding van hurtling towards him.

The van was exactly the same as the one that killed him in his previous life, except that Freddy's hideous face was now in the driver's seat.

Is it going to be the same as my past life? Last time it was to save a complete stranger's child, and this time it's to save a friend. I'm so unlucky... A multitude of thoughts flashed through Li Ai's mind.

But he doesn't regret his choice. Even if he could do it all over again, he would make the same choice and face human traffickers and Freddy again.

"Run away from the fear of death!" Freddy's sinister laugh echoed through the night.

"Run away? Even if I had to do it a hundred times, I would still make the same choice!" Li Ai roared as his body was on the verge of collapse. The headlights grew brighter and brighter, and as the distance grew closer and farther, he actually stood up again with his broken body.

A force from the depths of his soul pieced Li Ai's body back together. He stared intently at the oncoming van, clenching his right fist tightly despite the pain.

"Fool, even in a dream, a human could never have the power to fight a vehicle!" Freddy scoffed.

"That's hard to say." Li Ai smiled, a red light enveloping his right fist. Just as the vehicle was about to hit him, he swung his fist and met the van head-on.

At that moment, something incredible happened.

Boom—

With a loud bang, the van was punched through by Li Ai, and Freddy was thrown out of the window by the recoil, landing hard on his backside.

"Impossible! Humans cannot possess such power!" This time it was Freddy's turn to be surprised.

“You might be right.” Li Ai looked up, and a cloud of black mist gathered around him, forming a strange object on his chest.

The object was dark green overall, with silver ribbons extending from both sides, securing it firmly to his body.

Its material is neither like steel nor bronze, but it exudes a warm and lustrous color.

There is a groove in the center of the object, and on the upward-facing side there is a switch whose function is unknown.

He opened his right hand, and a sphere appeared in his hand. The two ends of the sphere were red, the middle was transparent, and a small human figure could be seen inside.

"I am in position."

Li Ai's voice became incredibly confident. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his left hand, then placed the red sphere into the groove of the object in front of his chest. The object in front of his chest immediately emitted a light like the rhythm of a pulse. He pressed the switch, and a voice rang out out of thin air.

【Impact!】

Awaken! Awaken! Awaken!

After regaining his senses, Freddy tried to control objects in the dream world to launch an attack, but these attacks were blocked by an invisible force field just as they were about to reach Li Ai.

“HENSHIN,” Li Ai said, sliding the sphere in front of her chest.

A force transformed his body into a black and red mist, rendering him immune to physical attacks. Even when Freddy extended his steel claws, he couldn't cut through Li Ai's body and could only miss.

The black and red mist gradually solidified, and the body that was originally on the verge of death became stronger and stronger. Every inch of its muscles, organs, nerves, bones, and skin was thoroughly strengthened.

Good Morning! Rider! Z·Z·Z! Impact!

As the voice faded, Li Ai had transformed into a completely different person. His physical abilities had been greatly enhanced in all aspects. His muscles swelled, a crimson hue filled his eyes, a red crystal appeared on his forehead, his black enhanced skin was filled with red and green, and his body was covered with conduits for transmitting energy.

Li Ai looked up, staring at the culprit behind all this, and said, word by word, "The mission this time is to eliminate the criminals (Annihilate Criminal)."

Chapter 4 Impact and Demise

Freddy stared at the suddenly changed Li Ai, and then discovered that the other party actually possessed a power similar to his own, and then began to make subjective assumptions.

"So you're the same kind as me. Do you want to tell me how you tortured and killed those sacrifices?" Freddy waved his limbs, his eyes showing no fear, but rather the joy of discovering a kindred spirit.

In Freddy's view, they were all the same people, who gained the favor of the dream demons through extremely cruel and brutal rituals, and thus were able to obtain the power to control dreams.

But Li Ai remained silent, only pressing forward, and the distance between him and Freddy shortened in the blink of an eye.

"What..." Freddy was about to speak when he was punched in the jawbone. The force was so great that it crushed Freddy's jawbone and destroyed his vocal cords, rendering him unable to speak.

Freddy also wanted to retaliate with his steel claws. He combined all his claws into one three-meter-long claw, intending to tear Li Ai apart.

But Li Ai met the attack head-on with her fists, the fists colliding with the steel claws.

click-

Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the steel claws, then continued to spread until one of Freddy's arms was smashed into a pulp.

Freddy was also shocked by this terrifying power; it overwhelmed him with pure violence without any skill whatsoever.

Li Ai didn't give Freddy even a chance to think, and landed a punch on his stomach, the powerful force spreading wildly and turning Freddy into a pile of minced meat.

Seeing this, Nancy, who was locked in the cage by Freddy, beamed with joy and shouted happily, "Li Ai, you beat that guy!"

The next moment, Li Ai arrived in front of the cage, placed her hands on the bars, and the iron cage immediately shattered, the scattered fragments turning into scarlet flower petals.

Nancy felt incredibly safe and secure in his strong physique. She instinctively wanted to get closer to him, as that would give her a greater sense of security.

"Is our nightmare over?" Nancy asked, puzzled. But if the nightmare was over, why were they still in this space?

"Not yet." Li Ai gave Nancy a definite answer, then looked in one direction.

Seeing this, Nancy also looked in that direction.

Freddy, who had been smashed into a pulp, was rapidly reassembling. However, compared to before, his lower body had formed an eight-legged structure resembling a spider and was covered with sharp bone spurs, transforming him into a spider monster.

"Since we can't be like them, let's be food!"

Freddy's murderous intent surged, and his eight legs granted him wind-like speed. He quickly approached the two men, supporting his body with his four hind legs, then raised them high, bringing his four front legs together so that their tips transformed into a high-speed rotating drill.

Li Ai still did not answer, and his movements remained simple as he faced the whistling drill.

Clench your fist, pull back, and punch.

The moment the punch made contact with the drill, the drill made a 'crackling' sound as it broke metal, and Freddy was once again sent flying.

"How could you possibly be stronger than me right after you just awakened?!" Freddy shouted in disbelief.

As Freddy flew backward, he felt a dizzying sensation as the dream space around him seemed to transform into a soft silk ribbon, enveloping him and drawing him deep within it.

Until the silk was pulled away by a tremendous force, he landed back on solid ground. He looked around and found himself in a scene.

clang--

A bell tolled, sending a chill down Freddy's spine. He realized he was in a church, with the iconic stained glass windows directly above him. Warm sunlight streamed through the glass onto him, but he couldn't feel happy at all.

The benches around us have disappeared, so the environment has become somewhat empty.

boom!

Two fiery serpents rose into the air, burned along the wall, and finally closed in a loop, forming a wall of fire that blocked any escape route.

Freddy was burned alive by the victim's family before his death, and even after becoming a nightmare ghost, he was still most afraid of fire.

The combination of the church and the flames almost made Freddy forget to act, until he was jolted awake by a kick from Li Ai, who appeared out of nowhere on his right.