Chapter 25 : Have You Eaten? If Not, Eat My Fist!

“Your opponent is me!”

Su Xinran threw a full-powered punch straight at Gantz!

“So reckless… like a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger. Courting death!!”

Gantz sneered at the incoming iron fist, spreading his arms wide as if to welcome it.

“Thunderflame: Purgatory!”

A black ball of lightning suddenly erupted into a web of electric current, blocking Su Xinran’s path.

If she didn’t stop, she’d crash right into it.

But Su Xinran had no intention of stopping—on the contrary, she silently increased the power output of her mechanical exoskeleton.

Hurt herself a thousand times, but kill the enemy in the cradle!

She didn’t know exactly what a disaster-level “Ghost-God” class opponent meant, but Su Xinran was absolutely sure that if she hit him with a full-power punch, no matter what trump cards he had, he’d be finished!

“Threat to host detected. Activate protective shield?”

“Do NOT activate it!”

The mechanical voice echoed in her mind, but Su Xinran firmly rejected the system’s suggestion.

The egg-shaped shield would tear open her disguise suit.

Just imagine: a huge, muscular man suddenly exploding in midair like a popped balloon—only to be revealed as a cute girl… that’d be way too much.

As she tore through the lightning net, her whole body spasmed.

Thankfully, the mechanical exoskeleton dispersed a good chunk of the electric current.

Otherwise, she might’ve passed out from the shock.

Gantz was slightly surprised that Su Xinran forced her way through but remained unshaken.

Confident as ever, he even clasped his hands behind his back—intending to tank the punch with his body just like her.

But when the fist was only 10 cm away from him, he regretted it.

His years of combat experience screamed a death sentence at him.

At 5 cm, three golden lights flared up from his body—his life-saving charms.

The first and second golden shields shattered instantly like tissue paper, doing nothing to slow Su Xinran’s iron punch.

Only the third, marked with dragon patterns, resisted.

A dragon’s roar echoed as the bright golden light clashed with her fist.

It managed to hold out for two to three seconds before—

CRACK!—it shattered.

BOOM!

Su Xinran’s punch landed squarely on Gantz’s chest.

A visible dent in the shape of a fist appeared where she struck.

Gantz’s eyes bulged as he vomited a mouthful of dark blood and was sent flying, crashing into the spectator stands.

The ground cracked like a spiderweb, chairs and debris blasted outward.

“Cough… puh… No… impossible…”

His ribs had been completely broken and stabbed deep into his lungs, even his heart had suffered damage…

Gantz stared in disbelief as he assessed his internal injuries.

Weren’t these entrance exam candidates supposed to be E-rank newbies?

Wasn’t it said most of them hadn’t even met the standards for junior enforcers?

What the hell is this kid!?

That punch nearly knocked his eyeballs out of his skull!

If not for the three dragon scales he’d earned from a lifetime of crawling through battlefields…

The dragon scales! My dragon scales!!

Realizing something, Gantz frantically reached to check his chest.

The three triangular scales were now covered in cracks, their luster completely gone.

At this point, they looked more like fish scales tossed at a seafood stall.

His heart broke—though to be fair, Su Xinran had literally broken it just now.

Still, if not for those dragon scales, even with his demon body, he’d already be dead meat.

“Oh… still alive, huh…”

Su Xinran climbed a flagpole to check on the situation.

She saw that Gantz wasn’t dead yet.

The hostages on the main platform had already been rescued.

Over there, students were clashing with the Wildborn faction’s black-robed attackers.

Though those enemies had impressive individual strength and the candidates varied in ability, sheer numbers were tipping the scales.

Many black-robed figures were being pinned down and beaten senseless.

If not for the invigilators stopping them, some might’ve been beaten to death.

[Overheat cooldown remaining: 1 minute 30 seconds… 1 minute 29 seconds…]

She had to hurry.

Who knew what backup Gantz might have?

At the very least, she needed to save a minute to deal with any unexpected moves.

The mechanical voice in her mind continued counting down.

Su Xinran cracked her knuckles and leapt toward Gantz.

Finishing off enemies is a good habit!

Lying in a crater, Gantz felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

Forgetting his heartache over the priceless treasures he’d gathered over his life, he quickly pulled out a jade bottle, popped the cork, and swallowed a golden pill the size of a candy.

With a gulp, the shattered bones snapped back into place, his collapsed heart resumed beating.

Revived a bit, Gantz scrambled away like a fleeing dog.

BOOM!

The ground shook violently.

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat.

“Don’t run!”

Su Xinran’s punch missed, and she immediately gave chase.

“Wait—wait—no more! I give up!!”

Gantz cried out in panic, almost sobbing, begging as he fled.

Forget running, forget crying—he was ready to roll over and play dead.

“Give up? Did you stop when the broadcaster begged for mercy?!”

Hearing Gantz’s plea, Su Xinran felt not a shred of sympathy—only rage.

Just thinking about the look on that broadcaster lady’s face before she died made it impossible for Su Xinran to show any mercy.

She raised her fist and unleashed a blow that seemed capable of tearing the heavens apart toward the fleeing Gantz.

“AAAAHHH!!! MAMA!!!”

Gantz shrieked in terror, his voice cracking.

His knees almost buckled then and there, but survival instinct kicked in, forcing him to use his ultimate move to flee.

Thunderflame Body Reinforcement!

He electrocuted his own body with Thunderflame, explosively boosting his speed—barely managing to dodge the blow.

However, the shockwave from Su Xinran’s terrifying punch still sent him flying high into the air, before he landed hard on the ground with a sickening splat.

Looking down at the miserable Gantz sprawled on the ground, Su Xinran was boiling with fury.

“Don’t you love playing vigilante games? Fine! I’ll play with you to the very end!!”

“No, no, no… hero… I don’t like that game, I don’t want to play anymore… no more, please…”

Gantz scrambled backward on the ground, terrified, watching Su Xinran close in step by step.

“Now you regret it? Now you’re scared? Fine, I can forgive you…”

Su Xinran paused her steps—but hearing Gantz’s pitiful begging only made her even angrier.

“But who’s going to forgive the people you killed?!”

She suddenly raised her fist high.

“No!!!”

A chorus of cries rang out from the examiners who were still trying to break up the chaos on the main platform.

They were so shocked by Su Xinran’s raised fist, their jaws nearly hit the floor.

They all raised their hands and shouted for her not to do it—but Su Xinran’s fist was already coming down.

A violent shockwave of wind burst out from the motion, making it impossible for anyone nearby to keep their eyes open.

Yet Su Xinran’s fist —was caught by a pair of slender, delicate hands.

“Hmm?”

Truth be told, Su Xinran hadn’t really intended to kill Gantz.

She had only wanted to stop her fist right in front of his face—to scare him.

To let this scumbag feel what it was like to have his life completely controlled by someone else, to feel the fear of death hanging by a thread.

But her full-power punch had actually been caught by someone.

As the dust settled, Su Xinran saw clearly who stood before her.

“Principal?!?”

“Tsk tsk tsk… Kid, you know who I am?”

Elisha tilted her head playfully, striking a thoughtful pose.

“But if I remember correctly… you’re not supposed to know me, right?”