Chapter 600: All eyes on him, but don’t forget about the little guys
=Oh it’s fine, we already extracted enough blood, teeth and hair samples to do kaijin, zako and daemon shenanigans with. As well as possibly implement that tattoo once we get that daemon running again.=
=Yeah…while I’m not inclined to believe that the ability to defy the odds is genetic, I’m starting to think its infectious at least.=
=Exactly.=
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‘Well, shit. I honestly did not expect anybody to actually be able beat that dragon otter. And the way he defeated it too, that could only mean…tsk! Damn. Looks like the competition this year is about to get a lot more interesting…no matter. As long as those branch kids are eliminated, it doesn’t matter how many other hidden dragons there are in this…huh? Wait…what? When did that happen?!’
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“…and that’s why I freaked out when I heard that someone managed to defeat that stupid thing.”
“That is…huh.”
Iona had a weird expression on her face as she stared at Zhen Liu, as she was trying to digest everything that she was just told about.
A little bit after it was announced that Ren Jin Yan had defeated the Thunderscale Dragon Otter and Zhen Liu had his freak out, Iona had asked him why he was freaking out.
Due to being caught up in the mood of the announcement, Zhen Liu proceeded to tell her a slightly redacted version of events that had led to him and his family capturing the dragon otter as a gift to the Zhen Clan all those weeks ago.
After he was done, Zhen Liu could swear he could hear the gears turning in Iona’s head.
If he had to hazard a guess, she was evaluating whether or not it was actually a good idea for her cousins to be bonded to such a family…but that was Zhen Liu being optimistic. Realistically, she was probably thinking more for herself…and seeing if Zhen Liu and his family could be of use to her in her fight for the throne back home.
Whatever the case was, Zhen Liu saw this moment as an opportunity to close the conversation with Iona and get back to focusing on his cousins’ well-being.
Well…at the very least, making sure they didn’t get injured/killed by sneaky ass bullshit.
“Anyways…it was nice talking to you, Iona, but I have to get back to watching my cousins’ matches. I want to at least try and provide spiritual support for them.”
“Huh? Oh. Yes, of course…I actually have something to take care of anyways. It was nice talking to you…cousin to be.”
“Likewise.”
And with that, Iona proceeded to leave Zhen Liu so he could go back to watching the screens…(and also scold the kaijin).
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‘Ok, that handles Iona…real quick question, were you guys talking about me behind my back, in the back of my own head again?’
[No.]
[Yes.]
[Yes…]
[Maybe.]
[I’m not involved.]
‘Hurricroak, you remember I can technically read your souls…or cores…or…whatever is somehow fueling your guys existence, right?’
[Shit, right…]
[Should we be worried that not even we understand how we’re alive?,] Spring Brawler asked Razorstella.
[Probably not. Most mortals don’t know the meaning of life either.]
‘I will address what you guys were talking about later, anyways,’ Zhen Liu continued while ignoring the existential statement made by the kaijin, ‘I already know y’all probably saw how the dragon force guy I saw earlier took out the Thunderscale Dragon Otter, but did you all remember to keep an eye on my cousins’ matches?’
[Yes,] all the kaijin answered at once.
‘Okay, cool…what happened?’
[Well starting from my observations…,] Spring Brawler began to explain.
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*Bing-bong*
The following scenes technically happen shortly after the initial encounter between the Zhen branch Clan scions and the elites from the main clan.
For a complete picture, please refer back to the chapters marked: “We can’t all be brutal”.
Thank you.
…
Again, you do realize most of your readers probably have object permanence, right?
|It has been at least…three chapters…since we talked about these fights. People need a refresher, I know I do.|
…oh honey…
|Shut up.|
*Bing-bong*
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Zhen Hai’s Countershock
“Get ready to fry, little boy!,” the whip wielding warrior woman shouted as a surge of aether coursed through her body before entering the handles of her whip and transforming into lightning aether that then energized the whips themselves.
Visible bolts of lightning could be seen jumping through his body at this time as the aether treasure whips proceeded to pump more and more electricity into Zhen Hai.
Now, normally when the [Thunder Boa Whips] make contact with someone, the recipient on the other end of the whips would be pumped up with enough electricity that their entire body would burn out, much like how one ends up if they were continuously struck by lightning several dozen or so times.
The whip wielding woman expected that, with Zhen Hai now ensnared by her deadly whips of lightning, that she would just have to sit back, relaxing and laugh as the power of her aether treasure did its thing and turn the boy into a burnt corpse.
However, that was not the case…at all.
“HAHAHAhaha…hah…hold up…”
The elite warrior woman was about halfway through her laughing when she realized that not only was her target not screaming in pain or begging for mercy, but that there was a feeling of somebody pulling against her whips.
It took a second to realize that Zhen Hai was the one pulling against her.
“Wait what?!,” the woman shouted in alarm, “you should be writhing in the mud in pain right now! How are you defending yourself against my lightning?!”
“I-I-I-I’m not!,” Zhen Hai replied with a buzzing voice, “I just know how to re-re-redirect it, so it doesn’t hurt me!”
“What? How?!”
“Fuck you, that’s how!”
Instead of answering the woman’s question, Zhen Hai proceeded to wrap the whips around his arms even tighter before forcefully yanking her towards himself in a violent manner.
“Mistress Shan Hua!”
“No! Stay back!”
Seeing their leader suddenly getting displaced in such a violent manner, the soldiers maintaining the running barrier proceeded to break formation and try to rush at Zhen Hai with their fastest aether arts. Unfortunately for them, Zhen Hai was waiting for this.
“Finally! RAH!”
While the warrior woman elite was still airborne, Zhen Hai quickly whipped the whips around his arms to the side and swung her like a flail into the charging soldiers, catching them all in the length of the whip connecting him to her and taking them for a painfully spinning ride.
The soldiers caught in the whip length had to forcefully use their aether to try and defend themselves from the electricity that was still surging throughout it. Granted, they weren’t exactly trained to deal with redirecting lightning.
“Alright you assholes!,” Zhen Hai shouted as he kept spinning, “get ready for a-huh?”
At this moment, Zhen Hai was all set to just throw these guys into the distance and follow up with a [Megalodon Thrash] to finish the job.
However, before he did so, a strangely profound image flitted through his mind.
This image was an aether art, one that he had never read up on or learned about until this moment, but it was also one that could leverage all of the lightning coursing through his veins and allow him to end this battle in a rather spectacular manner.
Although, he was very confused on how this could happen.
‘When the hell did I-ah, forget it! Let’s just end this!’
With a mighty roar, Zhen Hai suddenly stopped spinning and pulled the whips, the soldiers and the elite warrior directly towards himself.
The main clan warriors sailed through the air towards Zhen Hai,but the latter didn’t care as he entered into a fighting stance, with his arms curled toward his body, and his aether circulating in a way that he never thought of until that image flashed through his mind.
As his aether circulated, the surrounding water began to act up and float around him until condensing into the shape of a vicious looking shark that looked like it could swallow a bear whole. Meanwhile, the lightning that was once coursing through his body, proceeded to flow into the shark surrounding him.
While all this was happening though, the faint shadow of a frog-like woman laughing could barely be seen, hidden in the aether itself.
Once the soldiers and the elite were in range, Zhen Hai lashed out while calling out the name of this art he had just learned on the spot.
[Storm Jaw Magnum!]
ROAR!
The giant shark made of water and lightning surged forward at Zhen Hai’s behest and opened its jaw at its targets, revealing an internal whirlpool that was completely energized with electricity.
Needless to say, Zhen Hai secured his qualification for the next round with this single move of his…and the warriors struck by this attack weren’t able to feel their fingers for about a week.
Electrified water does horrible things to one’s nervous system.
“Well shit…I gotta keep notes on how to do that again.”
