The Ultimate Evolution

In the end, the Arbitrator chose to give up. When he stepped out of the operating table again, besides the residual power of the ‘Beast of Corrosion’ in his body, the rest of his injuries had recovered by at least 80%!

In addition, this special operating table had Bloodspear’s own personal blood bank. Bloodspear would have his blood drawn once a month to be stored in the operating table, and it had already accumulated to 10,000 ml. The Predator had already undergone a blood transfusion to replenish the massive amount of blood he had lost!

This meant that the Predator who was about to re-emerge in front of the contestants was an Arbitrator in nearly perfect condition. Although he no longer had his armour, his best weapon, the bloody spears, had been replenished. Compared to his previous role, the current Bloodspear was a perfect long-range assassin! An assassin who walked in the shadows!

When all the robotic arms stopped their operation, the Arbitrator jumped off the operating table and stood naked on the ground. He dipped his hand in the blood beside the operating table and carefully drew strange, mysterious symbols on his body. The symbols seemed like tattoos, but also looked like words. Finally, he painted a pattern on his face similar to those of the Indians. All the strokes on his body interweaved, creating a fiercely majestic sight.

Bloodspear picked up his special spear sack and tied it to his body with wild vines. In the spear sack were six long, sharp spears the colour of fire. He was totally naked aside from that! He did not even wear the mask that could filter poisonous gas!

Although the atmosphere on Uplos was toxic, it could only cause slow-acting damage to a person as strong as him. What Bloodspear wished for was the feeling of a natural hunter that came from nature and conquered nature, the feeling of wildness which he had not felt for a long time!

He did not carry any melee weapons with him, because this formidable creature had enough confidence in his spear throwing. At a distance, with his amazing speed, he was king!

The Arbitrator once again arrived at the battlefield where he had previously fought with the humans with light steps. He did not rely on his high-tech scanner this time. Instead, his trapezoidal mouthpiece kept moving, and the two small holes on his nose which were only as big as mung beans kept expanding and contracting. The bristles on his face stood erect. He very quickly judged, based on his own experience, that there was no ambush here.

Arbitrator Bloodspear circled the battlefield and laid his hand on the wet ground. His thick, nailed fingers started to move dexterously on the ground, touching and feeling various spots. He seemed to be separating and memorising the characteristics of each person’s footprints.

Bloodspear rested his fingers on Sheyan’s footprints last, which meant that he viewed Sheyan as the most dangerous, and also the most valuable, prey!

‘The skull of this prey has the right to be soaked in blood three times and be hung around my waist.’

So thought Bloodspear. The reason why he identified Sheyan as his primary target was mainly because he was impressed by that one shot from ‘Verdict’ and that one punch of the ‘Beast of Corrosion’. They were so impressive that he would never forget them.

Those attacks made Bloodspear feel like he could do naught but wait for his death!

This could only mean one thing. Although the strength of that person was still very weak presently, the power of those two combat skills he had displayed would far surpass the strength of Bloodspear when they were trained to their peaks!

There was an indescribable pleasure in crushing the tender saplings that may grow to far surpass his own power.

But at this moment, from behind the half-squatting Bloodspear appeared a weird shadow. The shadow raised its hand, and Bloodspear immediately felt his vision turn dark. Not only his sight, he had also lost his hearing, touch and other senses!

Then, a huge illusion of a grinning skeleton appeared on top of his head. It was Ronnie!

Ronnie figured that Bloodspear would return to the battlefield, so he had lain in ambush here to wait for a chance to assassinate the Predator! Only he had the confidence to avoid being detected by Bloodspear, and thus successfully ambush the Predator!

Before Bloodspear could respond, Ronnie had flashed continuously and created 11 phantoms of himself in an instant, surrounding Bloodspear from all sides. He had truly gone all out this time.

Ronnie held a dagger with a strange handle. When he grasped the handle tightly, a long strip of red light appeared ahead of him, flickering uncertainly like a gentle fish swimming through the air.

All eleven phantoms suddenly glowed with a dazzling light. They then collided into Bloodspear simultaneously at an amazing speed!

It was not so much a collision as fierce penetration. A piercing light was left in the wake of every phantom. Eleven bright, snowy lights passed through Bloodspear as if he were transparent! If one were to look down at this from above, one would find that they formed what seemed to be a devilish giant flower!

This was Ronnie’s ultimate ability, ‘Phantom Ghost Flash’!

An ability to rush at an enemy with incredible speed and strike the enemy with full power, thus causing astonishing damage!!

The ability was not too powerful by itself, but with eleven phantoms of Ronnie performing it at the same time, its power was multiplied by 11!

Its power was so terrible that it had to be limited to a certain extent when used against a contestant, in that its maximum damage could not exceed 70% of the maximum HP of the victim.

Ronnie’s decision was not that difficult to understand. Anyone who could enter a nightmare realm not only had potential, but were often stubborn people with tragic experiences.

And Sheyan was absolutely the most formidable MT Ronnie had ever met!

Ronnie was completely suppressed by Sheyan in this world, to the point that he could not even die if Sheyan wanted him to live. However, Ronnie was a powerful Awakener with his own pride. The shadow of Sheyan loomed over his heart like a towering cliff. Since he could not defeat Sheyan head-on, he could only free himself from the shadow in his heart in another way.

And that was to defeat the opponent that Sheyan could not defeat! If he could do that, he would naturally be freed. This was his counter attack!

***

Five kilometers away from there, Sheyan was steadily moving forward.

He suddenly asked Cyborg No. 1 behind him, “There’s a good chance that both of us will die. Are you afraid?”

Cyborg No. 1 bowed slightly and answered without hesitation, “I’m afraid. If I’m not afraid, I would’ve died forty years ago. Why would I turn myself into what I am now?

Sheyan muttered softly, as if to himself. “That monster will surely come after me, because I hurt him the most and the most deeply, especially with the ‘Beast of Corrosion’… He should catch up in a few minutes.”

“Then why did you ask the others to leave? Oh, could it be that you know you’re bound to die, so you want to create the chance for them to live?” asked Cyborg No. 1.

“I’m not that selfless,” Sheyan smiled and said, “More hands is not always better. In my plan, it’s preferable to have fewer people present. All the equipment of that Predator has been destroyed, so that fellow should have changed from direct confrontation mode to that of an assassin, and the most troublesome long-range assassin to boot. His throwing spears are indeed fierce.”

“That’s why we have to go to a place that’s disadvantageous for his spear throwing. To fight him on this plain and in sparse forests is simply too stupid.”

Cyborg No. 1 hesitated for a moment before he said, “You actually have another choice. If we take off right now, we might not necessarily die. I think it’s a much safer bet than you beating that guy.”

Sheyan shook his head without even considering the idea. “That would mean handing our fate to the Predators still on the mothership. I much prefer to decide my own fate. Let me ask you this. You have to drive on a mountain road on a snowstorm night. A hired driver has a 30% chance of meeting an accident, while there’s a 40% chance that you’ll meet with an accident if you drive yourself. Which one would you choose?”

“I’ll bet on myself,” answered Cyborg No. 1 after a moment of silence.

“That’s right,” Sheyan smiled and said, “Even if we die, we die by our own hands. There will always be less regrets that way.”

While the two men continued on their journey, Sheyan suddenly said, “Actually, you have another choice too. You can leave me and go your own way. That guy has no interest in your skull.”

“Yes, but that means I’ll be stuck on this damn planet. If you happen to win, you’ll bring a loyal cyborg back with you, but if I walk away now, you’ll just leave me behind,” replied Cyborg No. 1.

“You know me well,” Sheyan laughed. “And you’re absolutely correct. Mistakes can be forgiven, but not desertion.”

Seeing the vegetation in front gradually turn lush and feeling the hot humidity in the air, Cyborg No. 1 came to a sudden realisation.

“You’re going to fight him in that canyon….or perhaps in the water?”