“Going all out!”
“Lao Zhen has gone crazy!”
“Lao Zhen’s eyes are bloodshot!”
How shocking!
Even when pushed to the limit, she couldn’t help but feel a hint of surprise, along with a barely concealed irritation.
Yun Ruoxi knew this was a weakness born from her own hostility, but seeing him seize the opening so quickly, exploit it to the fullest, and casually stake his life on the gamble—
What if he guessed wrong? What if her strength wasn’t enough to protect him?
It was utter recklessness!
Still.
Everything at hand… was ultimately under her control!
The moment this thought crossed her mind, Yun Ruoxi hesitated no longer.
Star energy erupted with full force around her.
Immense telekinesis condensed into an invisible giant hammer, smashing viciously into the side of the two metal cones.
Bang!
A grating clash of metal echoed through the entire forest.
The two lethal attacks were forcibly knocked off course, streaking past Lin Zhen’s body at extreme speed, narrowly avoiding him by a hair’s breadth.
But before Yun Ruoxi could catch her breath.
A trace of dangerously subtle presence, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, suddenly assaulted her from in front.
She instinctively traced the source of danger.
Like snow meeting a blazing flame, it vanished without a trace in an instant.
Lin Zhen had broken free from Yun Ruoxi’s control!
The telekinetic force that had been firmly gripping his body, upon colliding with these flames, melted away as quickly as ice and snow.
Silver flames suddenly flared up across Lin Zhen’s body.
He had slipped out of Yun Ruoxi’s grasp!
Not to flee, but to…
Attack!
He suddenly curled his body.
Red liquid metal surged and condensed in his right palm, instantly transforming into an eerie dagger gleaming with an ominous red light.
Gripping the dagger tightly, liquid iron beneath his feet coalesced into a solid plate.
Pushing off the ground with all his strength, he crashed into Yun Ruoxi’s arms without regard for anything, then drove the dagger with all his might straight toward her heart!
After his earlier sneak attack had wounded Dark Dust and he saw the droplets of fresh red blood falling, Lin Zhen had already realized how wrong his previous assumptions were.
Star energy was a supernatural power produced by living beings.
So how could the enemy in front of him be an AI-controlled mecha or a cold cyborg?
He should have realized long ago—Dark Dust… was a person.
A emotionless weapon, meticulously cultivated by the Saints’ Hand Society.
Just like they once were, only even more so!
And to deal with a star energy user, naturally, you aimed for the true weak point—the heart, the central control of star energy circulation!
‘This move was originally prepared to subdue Xiao Xi. I never thought I’d have to use it here in advance!’
Lin Zhen thought silently.
“Oh no, I have a feeling Dark Dust might be Xiao Xi.”
“Still saying Xiao Xi, Xiao Xi? Didn’t she already appear?”
“If it were Xiao Xi, Lao Zhen would lose it, but that’s impossible.”
“Damn, so he prepared a killing move for Lao Xi? Are you trying to send her to her death?”
“Hehe… Loving someone means stabbing them hard with a dagger.”
“Uh oh, it’s gravity.”
Squelch…
The top-tier bio-alloy was sliced through like thin paper before the red dagger.
The Starforce Battlesuit beneath was torn open as well.
During battle, pain was a major component of the sixth sense, so Yun Ruoxi had not activated Pain Shield.
She clearly felt a sharp, piercing pain in her chest.
Then, a chilling, eerie force invaded her body from the wound, brutally interfering with her star energy circulation.
The milky white psychic halo on her body flickered wildly like a faulty lightbulb under the interference.
With Lin Zhen pressing down on her, Yun Ruoxi instantly lost control of her telekinesis and plummeted several meters toward the ground before barely regaining her balance and floating once more.
“That dagger… is off!”
Yun Ruoxi suppressed the sharp pain in her chest and raised a hand to mobilize her telekinesis.
Perhaps it was the humiliation of a setback, or maybe genuine fear.
This time, she held nothing back.
Terrifying telekinetic power, carrying her pent-up fury, erupted violently, blasting Lin Zhen—dagger and all—off her body in an instant. He shot into the distant sky like a blinding white light, flying several miles away.
“Ugh!”
Critically injured, Lin Zhen coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.
Star energy users could precisely control their own physical condition through the flow of star energy.
So without any examination, he clearly knew that at least half the bones in his body were broken, and his internal organs had suffered severe shock damage.
“Damn…”
“So this is Dark Dust’s full strength?”
“Telekinesis this powerful… it’s exactly like Xiao Xi’s back then. Could telekinesis be her innate supernatural power?”
“But why didn’t that last strike hit a vital spot?”
Lin Zhen looked at the dagger in his hand, confusion and puzzlement written on his blood-streaked handsome face.
The dagger’s length was clearly enough to pierce the heart.
Was the armor too thick?
Or…
Lin Zhen suddenly recalled the subtle sensation that had spread along with the dagger when he stabbed it in.
At first, there was the resistance of piercing the biometal and the battlesuit.
Then came a softness, like stabbing into warm fat.
Wait—Dark Dust was a woman?!
Lin Zhen’s pupils contracted sharply. An absurd yet increasingly clear notion wildly took root in his mind.
Telekinesis as powerful as Xiao Xi’s, the same gender.
Xiao Xi was supposed to appear on Shell Star, yet there was no news of her. Instead, Dark Dust—possessing telekinesis—had abruptly surfaced.
Moreover, if you removed the armor…
Their height and body type seemed nearly identical…
Could Dark Dust be Xiao Xi? Had she been forced into this armor due to a failed capture or some other reason, temporarily losing her sense of self?
The guess was sudden and far-fetched, lacking any solid evidence.
But considering how Dr. Forefinger had always disliked Xiao Xi, constantly trying to brainwash and remodel her into an emotionless weapon, everything strangely made sense.
He had almost killed Xiao Xi just now…
The mere possibility made Lin Zhen’s heart clench as if in a vice.
And moreover…
Even if this guess had only a one in ten thousand chance, still, what if… what if…
‘No. Until I confirm Dark Dust’s true identity, I can’t go all out without holding back like I just did…’
Flying backward, Lin Zhen covered his face in anguish, his whole body radiating helplessness and torment.
“Holy crap, logic genius. Dark Dust and Lao Xi have never appeared at the same time, and their abilities are both telekinesis, plus both female… Following that reasoning, I’m almost convinced.”
“Bushij???”
“Did he open the Insight Eye?”
“Piercing cold, heart soaring.”
“If that’s true, then Lao Zhen stabbed his wife’s already not-so-big chest. Damn, the kid’s probably gonna starve.”
“Not-so-big? Want to try some telekinetic boob-squeezing, huh?”
This guy… he’s this sharp when it comes to things about me?
He can even guess it’s me…
Telekinesis isn’t exactly a rare supernatural power, after all.
Really creepy. Frightening.
Yun Ruoxi glanced at the anime screen in the upper right corner of her vision and frowned slightly.