Chapter 39

As Ma Le bent his elbow to strike down, Zhao Renfan had already drawn his surgical knife and vanished once again. Ma Le reached for the wound on his waist, feeling a chill but no pain, and there was not a drop of blood. However, the Miracle Badge clearly showed that this blow had cost him 32 points of health.

Facing an invisible enemy, Ma Le was helpless. In a fit of anger, he pulled up a small tree nearby to use as a weapon, swinging it around in place, but it was all in vain. Zhao Renfan, hidden in the shadows, seized the opportunity when Ma Le's strength waned and lunged forward to stab him again. Ma Le quickly retaliated, but still missed. This standoff lasted for over ten minutes, during which Ma Le was stabbed more than ten times, and his health was now less than half. More critically, Zhao Renfan's knife seemed to carry a strange icy force. The wounds were not painful and did not bleed, but they were covered in frost. At first, Ma Le did not take it seriously, but as he was stabbed more and more, he felt several cold currents invading his body, moving around inside him, and his counterattacks became increasingly slow.

This fight was truly frustrating, with no place to exert his strength! Ma Le held the small tree, looking at the already yellowing leaves and the fallen leaves on the ground. Suddenly, an idea came to him. He planted the small tree in the ground and stood still.

Zhao Renfan's invisibility cooldown was only one minute, and he relied on this advantage to strike and retreat quickly. Seeing the cooldown was up, Zhao Renfan approached, this time with more determination, aiming for Ma Le's back and stabbing fiercely. Ma Le retracted his attack and turned to counter, but still missed. Zhao Renfan successfully turned invisible again. However, Ma Le had a plan this time. He turned the small tree upside down, using it like a broom to sweep up the leaves and dust, which flew up and filled the surrounding space. Ma Le focused his gaze and saw a faint human silhouette among the flying leaves.

"Got you!" Ma Le shouted, swinging the tree trunk at the silhouette. Zhao Renfan, overconfident, did not expect his enemy to spot him and was caught off guard. He was hit solidly by the tree trunk and was thrown out, revealing his form. Ma Le pressed his advantage, swinging the tree trunk down, but Zhao Renfan rolled away in a panic, throwing his surgical knife, which embedded itself in Ma Le's left eye. Ma Le, injured in the eye, dropped the tree trunk and clutched his face, howling in pain.

Zhao Renfan adjusted his breathing and quickly recovered from his internal injuries. Ma Le, on the other hand, gritted his teeth and pulled out the surgical knife, which had a bloody eyeball still attached. Both men panted heavily, facing each other from a distance.

Zhao Renfan was also shocked. He had already stabbed this guy nearly twenty times, yet he was still alive and kicking. Although there were no suitable weapons in the real world, Zhao Renfan's attack power with the surgical knife exceeded fifty, and with the added effect of the icy true qi, each strike could cause over a hundred points of damage, especially when targeting vital areas! Yet, this guy remained unbroken, and Zhao Renfan could sense that, despite his ragged appearance, he was not in mortal danger. This made Zhao Renfan uneasy, as his invisibility also consumed his mental energy, which was now almost depleted, preventing him from continuing his previous tactics.

Ma Le was also in a tough spot. Since the start of the fight, he had only landed a few punches and one tree trunk strike, dealing less than two hundred points of damage. This was not a favorable situation to continue.

Zhao Renfan pulled out two more surgical knives from his pocket and sneered, "Kid, you're lucky. Most of my skills can't be used in the real world, but don't think that means you can win. I admit you're tough, but toughness alone won't kill you!"

Ma Le, with one eye open, glared at Zhao Renfan and said, "Try me, I still have a thousand health points left!"

"Fine, let's see how long you can last!" Zhao Renfan held both surgical knives in his right hand, clenched his left fist, and used the ring on his middle finger to draw a spatial door in the air, reaching inside. Ma Le knew the ring was likely Zhao Renfan's Miracle Badge and expected him to pull out a secret weapon, so he picked up the tree trunk to defend himself. However, Zhao Renfan did not pull out a weapon but instead a... alarm clock?!

Seeing Ma Le's surprised expression, Zhao Renfan smiled, "Never seen one before? Today, I'll give you a lesson. This is called a Liberator, a one-time consumable item that lasts three minutes. Its effect is to prevent an adventurer's attribute from being weakened in the real world!" With that, Zhao Renfan pressed the "alarm clock," and the digital display showed a countdown of three minutes.

Ma Le was startled. Before he could react, Zhao Renfan charged forward with his surgical knives. Ma Le raised the tree trunk to block, but the sharp surgical knife cut through the thick trunk and pierced into Ma Le's stomach without slowing down! This strike was different from the others, directly costing him over seventy points of health! Feeling his life threatened, Ma Le, in a fit of rage, grabbed Zhao Renfan as he lunged forward, intending to engage in hand-to-hand combat. However, Zhao Renfan, with a sinister laugh, exerted his strength and broke free from Ma Le's grip, delivering a kick that sent Ma Le flying, leaving a long trail of blood as he rolled on the ground.

Ma Le, hit twice, was almost out of health, coughing up blood, and barely managed to stand up. It was clear that Zhao Renfan's liberated attribute was strength, which eliminated Ma Le's slight advantage!

Zhao Renfan walked up to Ma Le and taunted, "Kid, I thought you were a veteran, but now I see you're clumsy and inexperienced, at best a high-attribute ordinary level. But you're impressive, forcing me to use my trump card. Too bad I had to use my Liberator on a rookie like you!"

Ma Le roared and swung a punch at Zhao Renfan's face. Zhao Renfan, calm and collected, caught Ma Le's fist with his over a hundred points of strength, making Ma Le's fingers crack. Ignoring the pain, Ma Le swung his other fist, but Zhao Renfan, with a cold laugh, grabbed a surgical knife and stabbed it into Ma Le's palm. Ma Le, determined, tried to kick, but Zhao Renfan easily deflected it. It was like a grown-up toying with a child; no matter what Ma Le did, he could not harm Zhao Renfan in the slightest.

Finally, Zhao Renfan grew tired of the game, grabbed Ma Le by the neck, and said with hatred, "I hope you drop enough rewards to compensate for my losses!" With that, he raised his surgical knife and accurately stabbed it into Ma Le's heart!

Ma Le stopped struggling, his eyes gradually losing focus, and he fell to the ground, his body convulsing reflexively. Soon, Zhao Renfan's Miracle Badge chimed, "You have killed Adventurer 110405 in the real world. You can claim the kill reward..."

Zhao Renfan, who had clearly killed adventurers in the real world before, skillfully searched the body. However, after a long search, he found no rewards, and a sense of unease began to grow. Before he could identify the source of his unease, the "corpse" suddenly jumped up and punched him.

Caught off guard, Zhao Renfan had no time to defend, and the punch hit his chest with such force that he felt his heart might be pushed out. It was as if he had been hit by a solid iron hammer rather than a human fist!

Zhao Renfan was thrown back, clutching his chest and convulsing. The punch had broken his ribs and damaged his heart, causing him to lose over 200 points of health in a single blow! The "corpse" had pulled out a bottle of potion and injected it, and his hands seemed to have changed, covered in a thick layer of black armor... Not just his hands, but his entire body had become much stronger!

Ma Le, taking advantage of Zhao Renfan's shock, pounced. Zhao Renfan, in a fit of rage, grabbed his surgical knife and stabbed it into Ma Le's chest again. But Ma Le, seemingly mad, did not defend himself and instead pushed forward, chest first. The combined force of both men drove Zhao Renfan's entire arm into Ma Le's chest, the knife piercing through to the back, impaling him completely!

Despite this fatal wound, Ma Le did not die but instead laughed maniacally, raising his black fist to pound Zhao Renfan. Even Zhao Renfan, who had never seen such a reckless opponent, panicked, focusing on pulling his arm out. He was hit by several punches from Ma Le, his health plummeting... Finally, Zhao Renfan managed to pull his arm out, but both men were now on the brink of death. Ma Le, screaming, continued his frenzied attacks, while Zhao Renfan, in a last-ditch effort, poured all his icy true qi into the knife and stabbed Ma Le again!

In the end, Zhao Renfan's knife was faster, not only piercing Ma Le's body but also injecting a powerful icy true qi into his meridians. This kid is done for, Zhao Renfan thought happily, this battle is mine... Wait, why is he still smiling? Hold on, why does he look so familiar... Isn't he that rookie who died in the Prototype world? How is that possible... Wait, why are his hands turning into black tentacles! Could it be... No, no, no, no...

This was Zhao Renfan's final thought before he died...

This was also the first memory Ma Le read...

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