Lingering Hatred: Wildfire (35K)

"Ah!"

Blood spurted out. Wildfire cried out in agony, his body tilting backward before he suddenly rolled in an extremely abrupt motion, instantly opening a distance of four or five meters.

Bai Cangshu looked at his hand. Under the effects of Transparent World and Sensen no Sen, he was certain that his opponent had not mastered any sophisticated Force Dissipation technique.

Yet the strike that should have driven the scope straight into the opponent’s brain had merely pierced his right eye before its force landed on empty air.

That abrupt rolling motion was clearly not some technique, but a highly unusual ability—probably a guaranteed evasion effect with a certain degree of priority, something like dodging the current attack.

Like the "invincibility frames" in certain games.

There were indeed quite a few abilities with similar mechanics in Infinite Dimensional Space, such as parries, blocks, and dodges. Such abilities generally had an average upper limit but an exceptionally high lower limit. In a sense, they were "godly skills."

"Ho, not bad."

Bai Cangshu praised him, his hands hanging naturally at his sides. He had not actually noticed this Reincarnator at first. It was only when he instinctively marked everyone using Omen of the Evil God: Gaze of Arrogance that he noticed a dead person among them.

Under the effects of Gaze of Arrogance, living creatures would be marked. But an unmarked creature was walking forward—such a sign was far too obvious, and he noticed it instantly.

Then, through Mantra’s scan, he realized that this controlled corpse was probably meant for a suicide attack. Combined with the fact that the other party had been following Fubuki’s group without attacking during the journey here, their objective became clear.

They wanted to kill Hellish Blizzard in front of him, then lure Tatsumaki the Terror into killing him.

It was a simple, brutal, yet effective tactic. Tatsumaki, as one of the ceiling-level beings in this world, was certainly not as powerful as Saitama, but to a Reincarnator of Bai Cangshu’s level, there was no real difference.

Being smashed to death by one punch from Saitama was death. Being twisted into a pretzel by Tatsumaki and turned into dust was also death.

More importantly, Tatsumaki was not some reasonable hero. She had an obsessive desire to protect her younger sister, Fubuki. Once Fubuki was killed, this world might well suffer another Great Cataclysm.

A Supernatural Ability User who could casually pull an entire city out from 1,500 meters underground, easily summon meteors, and effortlessly reflect every shell fired by an alien giant warship capable of destroying a whole city in one strike—if she turned evil, the damage she inflicted on the world would likely surpass even Shigeo Kageyama’s.

That was why Bai Cangshu had reacted instantly, shielding Fubuki from the explosion. And because the attacker had been preparing to strike, Mantra immediately detected the shooter’s location.

In Wildfire’s earpiece, his teammates had already realized that his mission had failed and began reporting calmly.

"Wildfire has entered combat. No energy response above Tiger level detected. Wildfire’s mission is now judged a failure. Proceeding with Plan B."

Tap, tap.

Bai Cangshu stepped forward. Standing on the sunward side, his shadow stretched long behind him, completely covering Wildfire’s body.

"Ha, they abandoned you so quickly? What cold-blooded teammates."

Bai Cangshu spoke words meant to provoke him. Purple Satsui no Hado flowed continuously between his hands. Wildfire kept trying to retreat. Whatever expression Mercenary Tao wore, that grim killing intent was like a bone-chilling wind.

Light flared in his hands, and two sniper rifles appeared simultaneously.

He did not aim at all. The instant the rifles appeared, he fired.

Bang!

Bai Cangshu’s body jolted, and he slid back several meters. Looking down at his chest, he found it drenched in blood. His Iron Body had been instantly shattered by the immensely powerful anti-tank sniper rifles, and the bullet fragments had then broken through the Flame Dragon Scales and entered his body.

Whoosh!

Flames ignited all over Wildfire’s body. He cried out in pain again and rolled backward. As the flames went out, the coat on his body had already fallen away, revealing clothing beneath that shimmered with magical radiance.

At the same time, Wildfire spoke calmly.

"Record: Mercenary Tao possesses surface-level defenses capable of ignoring ordinary firearms. He also possesses some form of damage reflection ability. Attacking Mercenary Tao causes the attacker to suffer burns from flames called Radiant Flame."

His Mental Power was inferior to Mercenary Tao’s, so the information he received was incomplete. Still, he continued retreating while relaying the intelligence.

Wildfire did not reload. He simply released his grip, and the two anti-tank sniper rifles were stored in his Backpack. Then, two heavy machine guns appeared in his hands.

He still did not aim. The moment the guns appeared, he pulled the triggers.

This time, Bai Cangshu could clearly see the trajectories of the bullets roaring from the two heavy machine guns. Like two streams of flame, they curved through the air and continuously struck his chest and abdomen.

Pfft, pfft, pfft…

At first, Bai Cangshu was driven back two steps. But soon, he merely raised his left hand in front of his chest and abdomen. The ammunition, like a torrent of steel, all struck his palm and turned into shriveled metal pellets that fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Wildfire put away the heavy machine guns. As he continued retreating, he summarized his report.

"Mercenary Tao’s left hand possesses abnormal defensive power. After suffering high-frequency attacks, red flames ignited across Mercenary Tao’s body and his aura increased. He is suspected to possess a trait that increases his strength after taking damage."

"Mercenary Tao possesses high combat intelligence…"

Tap.

Light footsteps landed in front of him. Wildfire looked at Mercenary Tao, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. That extreme speed, beyond the limits of ordinary human vision, made him completely abandon any remaining hope.

"Mercenary Tao possesses physical speed beyond the limits of what ordinary human vision can track."

"That is all the intelligence I was able to gather. Friends, good luck."

Wildfire then crushed his earpiece, rose calmly to his feet, and stood before Bai Cangshu.

Bai Cangshu clapped his hands, applauding the series of decisions the other man had made.

"What was that attack ability that could lock onto a bullet trajectory? Magic, or a superpower?"

Bai Cangshu asked. When the other man had fired without aiming for the second time and every attack had struck the same location, he had realized that Wildfire had likely used some ability to lock onto his chest and abdomen. For a Reincarnator specializing in shooting, it was a fairly good type of ability.

"It’s Nen."

"The Nen Ability I developed. I call it Lingering Hatred. How is it? Not bad, right?"

Wildfire looked calmly at Mercenary Tao. The rumors in the Space had not been wrong. The other man was indeed an exceptionally powerful Reincarnator. His speed, strength, and defense were all terrifying. His actual combat power was likely above the middle rank of Strong-tier.

"Lingering Hatred… An interesting ability." Bai Cangshu rarely praised an enemy again.

The moment he noticed Bai Cangshu’s arrival, Wildfire had immediately identified himself in an attempt to avoid combat. When he found it ineffective, he decisively gave up, rather than letting useless pleas for mercy interfere with his abilities and getting himself killed.

While rolling away from the attack, he had attached his Nen Ability to himself. Then he continuously retreated, gathering intelligence through his attacks and passing it on to his teammates.

Bai Cangshu had seen such composure only in that woman from Fifth Element and the female swordswoman from the Critical Sniping team he had encountered in One Piece World.

Bai Cangshu stepped before him and extended his index finger, pressing it against the center of Wildfire’s forehead.

"One last question. Are you interested in telling me the name of your leader?"

Bai Cangshu made no effort to conceal his killing intent. Wildfire’s face twitched slightly. Just Mercenary Tao’s finger resting against his forehead was enough for that killing intent to make his entire body tremble.

But he gritted his teeth, forcing down the frustration, despair, and oppressive emotions continuously rising from the depths of his heart.

He had killed many people—Reincarnators, Plot Characters, and ordinary people. He had once been a mercenary who traveled between many countries. He had taken lives, and he had also prepared himself to have his own taken.

Hearing Mercenary Tao’s question, he thought for a moment before finally smiling.

"You violated the Iron Rule of the Title-level Reincarnators. It is not one person who wants to kill you. Those Title-level Reincarnators… all want you dead."

Bai Cangshu lowered his eyelids, feeling no fear.

Hummm—

A fierce aura suddenly condensed. The next moment, with a soft pop, it pierced through Wildfire’s forehead. Warm brain matter and blood flowed from the back of his skull before he collapsed limply to the ground.

You killed a Reincarnator in a team survival mode world. This kill cannot generate a Scarlet Drop Card.

Based on the effect of Omen of the Evil God: Cocoon of Greed, this kill grants Karma Points ×1 and forcibly generates a Scarlet Drop Card. Rewards increased by 50%.

Scarlet Sheen emerged from Bai Cangshu’s right hand. Then, a Drop Card spun into existence before him.

Whoosh!

Only then did Fubuki arrive from low altitude, blue light flashing around her body. She was far from capable of flying at high speeds as freely as Tatsumaki. After covering a distance of merely three kilometers, Fubuki already looked somewhat exhausted when she landed.

"You killed him?"

"Why didn’t you interrogate him for information? Who exactly are these people, and why did they attack us?"

Fubuki was still shaken. She had just questioned Eyelashes and Mountain Ape. Everything about the new member had seemed normal before this—his mental state and personality had both been quite likable. No one had expected something like this to happen.

"Us?"

Bai Cangshu sneered, further angering Fubuki. The woman’s chest heaved violently.

Bai Cangshu casually crushed the Scarlet Drop Card, which she could not see, then said, "He knew he couldn’t kill me. You were the only one he wanted to kill."

Though Fubuki had sensed the man’s terrifying physique and speed in the instant of the explosion, hearing him state so directly that I’m stronger than you still left her displeased.

Fubuki stood on the ground now. Bai Cangshu lowered his head and naturally looked down at her. Their eyes met, and Fubuki suddenly felt a chill spread through her body. There was none of the passion other men showed when looking at her in his gaze—only a coldness that seemed to peel back her skin and strip her to the bone, seeing through everything about her.

"They wanted to kill you, then have your sister eliminate me…"

As Bai Cangshu spoke each word, he bent down, his face drawing closer and closer to Fubuki’s. That powerful aggression made Fubuki’s face turn pale. She staggered back two steps, all traces of her former arrogance gone.

Fubuki looked somewhat alarmed. She had sensed a hint of malice from the "hero" before her, but it vanished in an instant. She was not sure whether she had merely imagined it.

Just then, Eyelashes, Mountain Ape, and the others caught up. As she moved closer to her group members, she said, "I’ll investigate the people behind this. If you find any information about them, you can inform me as well."

A blue-glowing business card drifted down before Bai Cangshu under the woman’s superpower. Fubuki then left with the others in almost a panic.

Bai Cangshu rubbed the business card between his fingers and watched Fubuki walk away. In the end, he did not activate Omen of the Evil God. He could use Omen of the Evil God: Heart of Slaanesh to try controlling Fubuki. Even if her powerful Mental Power allowed her to resist, he could use unconventional means to break through the woman’s psychological defenses.

But he was unsure whether the mental control of Heart of Slaanesh would alert Tatsumaki. The purpose of controlling Fubuki was to use her to obtain Tatsumaki’s combat power. But if that control were discovered, he would be killed instantly.

In the end, he did not choose such a crude method. Since that group had already made a move against Fubuki once, the initiative had fallen into his hands. When the opportunity arose, Tatsumaki would naturally be made to act…

You have opened a Scarlet Drop Card.