“Do you really think that if you help him take me out, he’ll actually keep his promises to you? He’s said the same things to everyone—you’re just another pawn on his chessboard! How about this: work with me instead. We take him down together, and after that, we’ll share the position of bishop. The entire shelter will have to answer to us!” Priest Jiang still believed Shen Ge had been sent by the bishop to eliminate him, and he was pulling out all the stops to try and win him over.
Shen Ge couldn’t be bothered with the nonsense. Now that he’d figured out the principle behind the man’s ability, he directly expanded his own Weird Domain to clash with the priest’s, burning through Weird Energy to break through Jiang’s deflection effect.
Seeing that Shen Ge had no intention of letting up, Priest Jiang began to panic. He concentrated all his power into maintaining the invisible barrier before him, once again deflecting Shen Ge’s attack.
“Let’s see how many punches you can block!” Shen Ge rained down several blows in succession. At his Tier 5 rating, there was no way Priest Jiang’s Weird Energy could hold him off.
Crack.
Crack.
Strange fissures began to appear in the air—it was clear that the Weird Domain Priest Jiang had set up with his Weird Energy equipment was about to give out.
“Don’t push me too far!” Priest Jiang suddenly rose from his seat, a fierce aura surging from his entire body, even sending a wave of pressure through the cabin of the combat vehicle.
Shen Ge, who hadn’t moved an inch: “?”
Boom!
Shen Ge slammed his fist straight into Priest Jiang’s face, sending him flying backward into the rear cabin, where he dented the metal and warped the back of the vehicle—which, in turn, affected the speeding car’s handling.
Liang Yin didn’t know how to drive a combat vehicle to begin with; she’d been managing solely by gripping the steering wheel with all her might to keep the car moving forward. This sudden jolt sent the vehicle into a complete spin, and she screamed in terror from the driver’s seat.
Shen Ge leaned back and reached out to steady Liang Yin, who was about to topple over. He couldn’t help but complain: “Either hold the wheel steady or just step on the brakes. What good is screaming? You think this thing runs on voice commands? Keep it together, don’t panic. This kind of vehicle won’t flip, and even if it did, you wouldn’t die. But your yelling is killing my ears.”
Just then, Priest Jiang—whom Shen Ge had assumed was dead—suddenly sat up from the crumpled rear compartment. Half his head was gone, yet he was still alive. That actually caught Shen Ge by surprise.
Priest Jiang’s mouth twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but half his jaw was missing, so all that came out were strange gurgling sounds.
Then, Shen Ge watched as the priest pulled out a red syringe, jabbed it into his neck, and injected the crimson liquid into his body.
“Hey, if you can’t win, there’s no need to resort to self-harm, is there?” As Shen Ge spoke, he threw another punch at Priest Jiang.
Thump!
This punch was stopped by “air.” Shen Ge could clearly feel the sensation of his fist hitting a mass of soft, spongy gas.
And then—Priest Jiang’s half-destroyed head began regenerating at a visible speed, gradually restoring itself to its original form. He licked the blood off his face, revealing a hideous grin, then cracked his neck. At the spot where he’d injected the red agent, a pus-filled lump the size of a fist swelled up, grew larger, burst open—and from it sprouted an identical head.
“Hm?” As a longtime adversary of the Twelve Branches, Shen Ge was no stranger to this kind of head-growing trick. He had initially thought there were no Celestial Stems and Earthly Branches here, but it seemed he’d jumped the gun on that conclusion.
“Where’d you get that stuff?” Shen Ge asked, genuinely curious.
Priest Jiang’s face twisted into a ferocious smile. “I told you to cooperate with me. Regretting it now? Too late. Even if I die, I’m tearing you apart first!”
Clearly, Priest Jiang had no intention of wasting more words on Shen Ge. But from his tone, it was obvious that using this agent meant he had no chance of surviving either.
“Die!” Priest Jiang roared. With a sickening crunch of bones, four new arms—each as thick as a human thigh—burst from his body. His entire frame swelled like the Hulk transforming into some kind of muscular monster.
“Two heads and six arms? Dude, you’re missing a head!” Shen Ge remarked.
Priest Jiang hadn’t expected that, despite his terrifying transformation, the man before him showed no fear—and even had the nerve to joke about it. Enraged beyond reason, he hurled a punch at Shen Ge.
Shen Ge raised one hand and caught the punch with a single palm. Then, with a twist of his fingers, he ripped—squelch—and tore the arm clean off, sending blood and flesh flying everywhere. Shen Ge had already taken down several Three-Headed, Six-Armed opponents; this two-headed, six-armed half-finished product was nothing.
Though, to be fair, Shen Ge had misunderstood. The Strange Human serum Priest Jiang had used was actually a manufactured “Three Heads and Six Arms” characteristic serum. But Priest Jiang had already lost one head to Shen Ge’s earlier attack, and the serum’s regeneration factored that missing head into the count.
In other words, if Priest Jiang had used the serum while uninjured, he would have become a genuine Three-Headed, Six-Armed monstrosity—not this two-headed version.
Priest Jiang never dreamed that his Strange Human body could be so easily dismantled by his opponent. Thinking back to their earlier exchanges, he was now certain that Shen Ge was also a Strange Human. But no matter who had sent him, it was clear by now that there was no backing down.
With a furious roar, Priest Jiang lunged at Shen Ge with his remaining hands. Five arms stretched out like rubber, their tips morphing into razor-sharp wolf claws.
However, his massive size worked against him. Although the combat vehicle’s interior was spacious compared to ordinary cars, Priest Jiang still found himself cramped and restricted. In a fit of rage, he punched upward, downward, left, and right, determined to tear the vehicle apart—which sent it completely out of control.
Seizing the moment of chaos, Priest Jiang tried to grab Shen Ge and hurl him under the “Four-Unlikes'” enormous elephantine leg. In his mind, even if they were both Strange Humans, neither could survive a stomp from a high-tier Weird.
Just as he was about to get his hands on Shen Ge, Priest Jiang’s vision blurred. When he came to his senses, Shen Ge had vanished—along with Liang Yin, who had been in the driver’s seat.
Priest Jiang had no time to wonder where Shen Ge had gone. The vehicle was completely out of control, threatening to flip under the “Four-Unlikes'” feet at any second and get crushed into a metal pancake. He had to escape while he still could.
With a crack, Priest Jiang tore the car door off its hinges. Using his rubber-like elongated arms and wolf claws, he dug into the flesh of the “Four-Unlikes'” thigh and hauled himself upward.
The next second, the “Four-Unlikes'” elephantine leg came crashing down. The combat vehicle below stood no chance and was flattened along with the buildings on the street.
Meanwhile, Qian Weiguo and his team were still waiting for word from Shen Ge. Without confirming the man’s strength or the situation, they didn’t dare drive off recklessly. After all, their families were still in the New God Cult’s hands. If Shen Ge failed and they fled, there was no guarantee the cult wouldn’t take it out on their loved ones.
Qian Weiguo waited, but he didn’t dare stray too far from the “Four-Unlikes.” He could only rely on his driving skills to keep dodging its stomping attacks.
Just then, Luo Zi suddenly shouted in excitement: “Boss! Boss! The priest’s combat vehicle got flattened by the giant Weird! Hahahaha! Even with the ‘New God’s protection,’ the only place he can pull strings now is underground, right? Damn, that’s satisfying! If I get to see a priest die today, it’ll be worth it even if I don’t make it out!”
Qian Weiguo frowned and stayed silent. Even if Priest Jiang really was dead, that only meant half of Shen Ge’s so-called “plan” had succeeded. What mattered most was how things played out next.
Now that the high-tier Weird “Four-Unlikes” had been lured away from the New God Cult’s temporary base, the original plan was to guide it toward the Penguin Building. Once that was done, their mission would be complete. At that point, if Shen Ge didn’t show up, Qian Weiguo would have no choice but to return to the cult to “report back.”
Then, A-Pao—who was usually quiet—spoke up: “Luo Zi, aren’t you forgetting the priest’s special ability? I’ve seen him catch rockets with his bare hands before. If he’s really that strong, he might have escaped before the vehicle got crushed.”
“Uh…” Luo Zi was momentarily speechless. Given the power Priest Jiang had demonstrated before, that was actually a real possibility.
Luo Zi quickly grabbed his Weird Energy binoculars and looked toward the “Four-Unlikes'” front left leg. Sure enough, he spotted a dark figure climbing up onto the creature’s back.
“Holy crap! That bastard really didn’t die! Wait—he… he has two heads?! Four, five—no, five arms?!” The first time Luo Zi laid eyes on Priest Jiang, he thought the man was carrying someone on his back. But upon closer inspection, he realized it was just Priest Jiang alone—transformed into a monster with two heads and five arms.
“It’s just a Strange Human. Why are you so worked up? Have you never seen one before?” A voice came from behind Luo Zi—Shen Ge’s.
Luo Zi jumped so hard he smacked his head against the roof of the vehicle, stars swimming in his vision. “Dude! Next time you pop up out of nowhere, could you at least give a warning?! Huh? Wait… isn’t that… the Saintess candidate? Holy crap, boss, you’re insane! You even managed to grab the Saintess candidate?!”
Shen Ge had appeared in the empty seat behind Luo Zi without anyone noticing. As Luo Zi turned, Shen Ge was just placing the unconscious Liang Yin into the seat beside him.
“Keep an eye on her. She’s our key to dealing with the New God Cult. As for the priest—don’t worry, I’m not letting him go back alive.” With that, Shen Ge handed Liang Yin over to Luo Zi and the others. The next second, he vanished from before Luo Zi’s eyes again.
Luo Zi stared in disbelief and muttered: “B-Boss… s-stop the car… come see God… he just poof—gone.”
Qian Weiguo glanced back at the unconscious Liang Yin. He recognized her—another poor soul whose parents had been brainwashed by the cult and offered her up to them.
When Qian Weiguo had been working at the New God Cult’s secret base, he’d crossed paths with Liang Yin. She stood out from the other girls who had been completely indoctrinated. He could see a glimmer of hatred toward the cult in her eyes. He’d actually considered helping her escape and sending her to a Weird-hunting group—but unexpectedly, Shen Ge had saved her first.
Regardless, Shen Ge had already demonstrated overwhelming power—strength on par with a priest. That was exactly what the shelter needed.
Even though Qian Weiguo wasn’t sure whether Shen Ge was friend or foe, there was an old saying: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” As long as Shen Ge was fighting the New God Cult, he was an ally!
At that moment, Qian Weiguo made up his mind. He wrenched the steering wheel hard, abandoning the route the cult had dictated, and tried to shake the “Four-Unlikes” Weird off their trail and escape this dangerous district.
“A-Pao, fire the decoy missiles! Buy me a window to break right!” Qian Weiguo shouted as he spun the wheel.
“On it!” A-Pao acknowledged immediately, switching the cannon to rapid-fire mode and unleashing a barrage of explosions at the “Four-Unlikes'” front-left flank, followed by decoy missiles.
Luo Zi was stunned: “Boss, so we’re just going all in with him? No more thinking? The vehicle has a tracker on it. The second you turn, there’s no going back.”
“Five combat vehicles rolled out. Only ours is going back alive. Do you really think they’ll go easy on us? And on top of that, they lost a priest—and you saw what he turned into. Knowing that kind of secret, do you think they’d let us live?” Qian Weiguo replied.
He paused, then continued: “Honestly, from the moment that man appeared, we were already on this boat. But… the fact that he saved the Saintess candidate gives me a rough idea of what he’s planning. Either way, we’ll just have to take it one step at a time.”
“Alright. I owe my life to you, boss. Whatever you say, I’ll follow,” Luo Zi answered.
Boom!
Not long after Qian Weiguo changed course, the “Four-Unlikes” crashed into the ruins of the Penguin Building, swallowed by thick black fog, with a deafening impact.
Meanwhile, Priest Jiang—after a grueling climb using his elongated arms and wolf claws—finally made it onto the “Four-Unlikes'” back.
Just then, a taunting voice rang out from the dense mist before him: “You’re slow. I was about to doze off waiting.”
Priest Jiang’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared into the fog. When the hell had this man gotten onto the Weird’s back?
Had he been following him all along? Or had he vanished earlier just to get up here first?
Recalling Shen Ge’s earlier uncanny agility, Priest Jiang began to suspect that the man possessed some kind of teleportation ability.
But before he could brace himself, a hand reached out of the black fog and grabbed his wolf claw. The next instant, an immense force yanked him into the air—and then smashed him down into the ground.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The “Four-Unlikes'” hippopotamus-like body was rock solid. Priest Jiang was slammed repeatedly onto its back, and even with his Strange Human constitution, the impacts left him dazed and disoriented.
He wanted to beg for mercy, but he’d already talked big more than once—and besides, he’d tried pleading before, but the guy simply didn’t care. It was clear he intended to finish him off.
In an instant, Shen Ge “pulled off” Priest Jiang’s remaining arms. Even with his Strange Human physique, at just Tier 3, he was like paper against Shen Ge’s Tier 5 Weird Energy-enhanced strength. In the blink of an eye, he was reduced to a limbless torso.
“If you can still grow a head after this, I’ll let you live,” Shen Ge said, stepping on the priest’s chest and looking down at his one remaining head.
A flicker of hope lit up in Priest Jiang’s eyes. If that was really the deal, he might actually survive. But that thought had barely formed when a dark revolver barrel extinguished it.
Bang!
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Shen Ge’s habit had always been to empty the magazine. The Weird-killing revolver turned Priest Jiang’s head into a fine paste. In his final moment, with half a face left, the only word he could manage was—
“F*ck.”
You son of a btch—you broke your word!
