Chapter 66

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At night, Hao Qi was sound asleep, dreaming that he had sailed the seven seas and finally reached the end of the Grand Line, where he found a great treasure and fought with Luffy to decide who would become the last pirate king of the Great Age of Navigation. Suddenly, he woke up, feeling an indescribable palpitation. He immediately flipped up and, without thinking, struck the top of the tent with his palm.

A loud explosion echoed as Hao Qi was fiercely thrown to the ground, his legs almost sinking into the sand. However, the entity that had struck his palm was in even worse condition. From the sensation, Hao Qi could tell that the entity's hands were almost shattered. Even if it didn't die, it would likely have no fighting power left.

The loud noise from Hao Qi's strike woke Zhang Heng and Lan Ling'er. Although Zhang Heng's reaction was slightly slower, he immediately sprang up, holding his longbow, which he had kept close by while sleeping in the tent. Lan Ling'er, on the other hand, seemed quite dazed when she woke up and didn't react immediately.

On the other side, the Su family's camp also erupted with various noises and fighting sounds. Hao Qi didn't pay attention to them. Although the Su family's Inner Force Realm strength was slightly weaker than the average, there were five of them, and Su Shiyun was very powerful. They wouldn't be wiped out in a short time. After pulling his legs out of the sand, Hao Qi immediately ran to where the attacker had fallen.

When he got close, Hao Qi was shocked to see only a corpse lying there... It was definitely not killed by his palm strike. The corpse was already rotten in many places, looking like a zombie, with the skin on its forehead rotted down to the bone.

"What, what the hell!? A biohazard!? Could the ancient sect era be a high-tech era? Could this ancient sect ruin contain the T-virus!?"

Hao Qi was truly shocked. With his memories from his past life and having seen countless zombie movies, he immediately recognized that this was a zombie. The corpse was clearly already rotten and dead, yet it was still moving.

Hao Qi's palm strike had shattered the zombie's arms, and its body was rotten in many places, with much of its internal organs missing. Yet, it was still not completely dead, lying there convulsing, seemingly trying to stand up. Hao Qi, standing nearby, was unsure whether to attack. After all, zombies were very terrifying in his past life. While the zombies themselves might not be that scary, the T-virus inside them was extremely dangerous. He recalled that the Inner Force Realm member who brought back news of the ruin had died of poisoning, and he suspected it might have been from the T-virus.

"This is a Fierce-level puppet! Brother Hao Qi, strike the corpse's chest!"

At that moment, Lan Ling'er's voice rang out. Hao Qi turned to see Zhang Heng and Lan Ling'er standing not far away. Seeing that Hao Qi hadn't immediately attacked, Lan Ling'er urgently shouted, "Brother Hao Qi, hurry! The puppet is about to take form. Once it does, it will be much harder to destroy!"

Hao Qi didn't hesitate. Since Lan Ling'er said so, and he trusted her, he ignored the threat of the T-virus and rushed to the corpse, striking its chest with a powerful punch. The punch penetrated the corpse's chest, completely shattering it. As he did so, Hao Qi felt something strange inside the corpse, as if he had hit... metal? Metal wires?

As Hao Qi's punch shattered the corpse's chest, dozens of silver metal wires suddenly sprang out from the various rotten and wounded areas. As Hao Qi stood there, slightly stunned, the corpse disintegrated, splattering him with rotten flesh. A large mass of metal wires shot into the sand at an astonishing speed. Just as they were about to disappear, Hao Qi grabbed them with one hand.

It was a dense mass of metal wires. After Hao Qi grabbed them, the wires continued to wriggle, and some even tried to stab his arm. In the center of his palm, at the core of the metal wire mass, was a crystal-like or heavy crystal chip. Without hesitation, Hao Qi crushed it, and a burst of light and sound erupted. When he looked again, the metal wires were no longer moving, like ordinary metal wires.

Lan Ling'er rushed to Hao Qi's side, looking at the metal wire mass in his hand and carefully examining his palm. Seeing that he was unharmed, she sighed in relief, "All Inner Force puppets are highly toxic. If they pierce the skin and inject the poison, it will be fatal. The poisons vary, including paralysis, unconsciousness, and death. Fortunately, Brother Hao Qi, you weren't hurt."

Hao Qi shook his head and lifted the metal wire mass. "Was this thing controlling the corpse? By the way... what exactly is this? When it attacked, the corpse had at least the strength of a Quasi-Inner Force Realm. I almost got hit. It's a very powerful thing."

Lan Ling'er paused for a moment but then said, "This is from the ancient sect ruin, the most basic sect protection system. It's a Fierce-level puppet. The silver metal wires and the central silver crystal chip. If it were a Mad-level puppet, the corpse it controls could reach the Inner Force Realm. However, the requirements for the corpse are very high. If the corpse isn't at least a Quasi-Inner Force Realm, it would easily disintegrate... Fortunately, this is just a Fierce-level puppet."

"Fortunately...?"

Hao Qi shook his head, discarded the puppet, and looked toward the Su family's camp. Some tents were on fire, and there were screams and fighting sounds, with occasional explosions from palm strikes. Clearly, there were multiple puppets, and there might even be Mad-level puppets, which could reach the Inner Force Realm. If that were the case, the Su family would be in danger.

Even so, Hao Qi stood still, and Lan Ling'er, looking at the distant fire and fighting, urgently said, "Brother Hao Qi, aren't you going to help? You seem stronger than Sister Su Shiyun and the others. These metal wire puppets simulate the Inner Force circulation system. Once they pierce the body, they can kill a person and use their body to reach the Quasi-Inner Force Realm or even the Inner Force Realm. They also store a large number of martial arts techniques, far surpassing ordinary Quasi-Inner Force Realm or Inner Force Realm practitioners. Brother Hao Qi, you need to help!"

"No, I won't."

Hao Qi looked deeply at the Su family's camp and then turned to Lan Ling'er and Zhang Heng, decisively saying, "Since Su Shiyun hasn't made any calls or tried to contact me, it means their situation isn't severe, and they can defend themselves. I'll stay here to guard against any major threats."

Although he said this, it was clear to anyone that Hao Qi was staying to protect Zhang Heng and Lan Ling'er. When Hao Qi had fought the metal puppet, he felt a powerful, solid, and continuous force, mixed with explosive and hidden power. If described using the martial arts techniques from his past life, this force was already at the level of transformation. More terrifyingly, the metal puppet's palm strike was at the peak of mastery. If he weren't at the Inner Force Realm, even a Quasi-Inner Force Realm practitioner wouldn't be a match.

Lan Ling'er, who didn't know martial arts, was one thing, but Zhang Heng, although his physical strength had reached the Quasi-Inner Force Realm, was still lacking in martial arts skills. Even though he practiced bow fighting techniques every day, it would take at least a year or two to make significant progress. If he went, the two of them would be dead if they encountered just one metal puppet. He couldn't leave!

Thus, while Hao Qi guarded Zhang Heng and Lan Ling'er, the Su family finally ended the battle. By then, it was almost morning. The Su family had lost two people, six were severely injured, and the rest were mostly wounded, including one Inner Force Realm practitioner with a minor injury. Fortunately, the metal puppets that attacked at night were all Fierce-level, equivalent to the Quasi-Inner Force Realm, and no Mad-level puppets appeared. Otherwise, the casualties would have been much higher.

When the sky brightened, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, tidied up, and treated the injured. Hao Qi also went to the oasis to wash off the dirt. Just as everyone was about to discuss the origin of the metal puppets, Hao Qi rushed out of the city. He had just been washing by the lake when he saw...

The lake was filled with human corpses, all submerged. At first, it was just shocking, but Hao Qi quickly realized something was wrong. Many of the corpses opened their eyes and swam toward him. More and more corpses began to move, and eventually, thousands of corpses in the lake started moving toward Hao Qi...

Metal puppets!

These were the corpses of people who had died in the desert city, all parasitized by the metal puppets!

Quantity led to a qualitative change. Thousands of Quasi-Inner Force Realm puppets... even if there were no Mad-level puppets, thousands of Quasi-Inner Force Realm puppets...

If they were surrounded, he, they...

Would all be dead!