Chapter 52: Full Recovery and Toying with Everyone

Taking advantage of this opening, the woman seized the moment, and her whip instantly lashed across Naya's body.

"Ugh, ah!"

Despite the intense pain wracking her body, Naya paid it no mind whatsoever, continuing to sprint toward Su He.

Just as the fat man's iron fist was about to connect with Su He, Naya successfully reached him, pulling him into her embrace and using her own back to shield him from the blow—just as Su He had once protected her.

The force of the fat man's strike successfully sent both of them flying toward the Golden Antlers.

Witnessing this scene, the tech geek roared angrily at the fat man, his voice laced with disappointment:

"Are you out of your goddamn mind? I told you to stop him, not help them get across!"

The fat man scratched the back of his head sheepishly, offering an awkward smile as he replied:

"Don't worry, boss. Even so, I can still finish them off. Just leave it to me."

Meanwhile, a weakened Su He scrambled to his feet, gently laying the unconscious Naya down on the ground. Seeing blood continuously spilling from her lips, an expression of sheer disbelief washed over his face. He gently shook her by the shoulders.

"Hey, wake up! Stop playing games with me, you hear? Hey! Wake up!"

Seeing Naya remain utterly unresponsive, panic began to take root in Su He's heart.

"You—stop pretending! I'm telling you, if you think you can use this trick to make me forgive you, no way! Do you hear me? Can you say something?"

Yet, aside from his own voice, not even the sound of Naya's breathing could be heard. Su He was terrified; all the events of the past were instantly swept from his mind.

He could not understand why the resentment and disgust he had previously felt toward Naya, nor the hatred for what she had subjected him to, could no longer stir even the slightest ripple in his heart. Right now, all he wanted was to see her open her eyes.

At that moment, an obnoxious voice broke the silence. The fat man strode over, loosening up his joints and mocking them with a sneer:

"Hehe, in this state and you're still playing lovebirds? Whatever, let's just finish you two off so I can report back to the boss."

Hearing that voice and looking down at Naya, whose fate remained unknown, Su He's fury reached its absolute peak. He snapped his head up, glaring viciously at the fat man.

"You son of a bitch, damn you!"

With that, he pressed both palms flat against the grass. As if responding to a call, countless wisps of blue spiritual energy surged from the earth, converging rapidly into Su He's body.

"Huh? What the hell is this? What did you just do?" The miraculous sight unfolding around them left the fat man slightly startled.

Su He completely ignored him. He felt the injuries within his body healing at a rapid pace as his spiritual power continued to soar. A bone-chilling cold radiated from him, instantly encrusting the surrounding grass in a layer of heavy frost.

"Playing mystic, are we? Let's see you try and stop me!"

The bizarre phenomena surrounding Su He had begun to unnerve the fat man, prompting him to strike first and disrupt Su He before his recovery was complete.

Seeing the fat man charging toward him, Su He stood up to meet the attack head-on, but within moments, he was sent flying by a heavy blow from the fat man, crashing straight into a massive boulder and becoming embedded deep within the rock face.

"Hahahaha! So those fancy tricks were just for show after all! To think I was actually scared for a second—what a joke."

After mocking him for a moment, the fat man leaped forward once again, raising his iron fist to smash into Su He trapped inside the boulder.

Suddenly, a slender hand thrust out from the rock, instantly gripping the incoming iron fist.

"Th-This is impossible! These are Iron Man gloves..."

Seeing his attack blocked, the fat man immediately activated the thruster built into the iron fist, hoping to accelerate and crush Su He, yet the gauntlet refused to budge an inch.

Refusing to believe it, the fat man raised his other hand to strike, but at that instant, another hand shot out from the boulder to catch his second fist as well.

Su He planted his feet firmly on the ground, slowly pulling himself out. He gazed coldly at the fat man before unleashing a ferocious kick that sent him flying dozens of meters away.

"Damn it, recovering to peak condition this fast... I'm still a bit unaccustomed to it."

With a single bound, Su He leaped in front of the fat man, eyeing his suit of steel armor and iron fists.

"Aren't you quite the badass with this gear? Come on, I'll fight you bare-handed."

Scrambling back to his feet, the fat man was driven into a blind rage by Su He's arrogant demeanor. He cranked the configurations of his steel armor up to maximum output.

"Let's see how cocky you are in a second!"

With that roar, he lunged forward, trading blows with Su He in close combat.

While the fat man threw his entire weight and strength into every single strike, Su He appeared entirely at ease, effortlessly deflecting every attack. From the start until now, he hadn't even released his true abilities.

In truth, he had discovered a hidden skill back at White Bear Mountain: as long as there was an endless supply of spiritual energy to draw upon, his combat power would continue to scale infinitely, and so far, it seemed to have no upper limit.

Back when Tuanzi had flown into a rage, he had believed his Spirit Snake's Breath could completely freeze the creature solid, though the ambient spiritual energy had panicked and fled from the black-fevered Tuanzi at the time, resulting in failure.

Just then, the fat man noticed Su He's momentary distraction and roared:

"What the hell? You're fighting me and you dare let your mind wander? Do you even take me seriously in my prime?"

"Ha! Not gonna lie, I really don't take a piece of trash like you seriously at all." Saying this, Su He glanced past him toward the skinny man and the woman watching from afar.

"Hey, your buddy is about to be beaten into scrap metal. If you don't come help soon, I'll dismantle the two of you as well."

Hearing this, the woman and the skinny man immediately felt insulted. Brandishing their weapons, they charged into the fray.

"You're getting way too arrogant just because you're beating up a fat guy. Watch me blow you into dust!"

The skinny man pulled two small red spheres from his backpack and hurled them at Su He. While still parrying the fat man's iron fists, Su He didn't even turn his head as he flicked his wrist, sending two frost-tipped arrows through the air to detonate the fireballs prematurely.

At that moment, Su He felt something wrap tightly around his arm. He turned his head to see the woman.

"Fatty, now's our chance!"

"Coming!"

Seeing the fat man's iron fist closing in fast, Su He raised his free hand, channeling the condensed might of a blizzard into his palm as he met the attack head-on.

A deafening explosion echoed through the clearing. When the woman and the skinny man finally looked over, they were horrified to find the steel armor on the fat man shattered into frozen scraps of metal, his arms completely encased in thick ice as he collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood.

"Fatty! How did you..."

Before the woman could finish, she felt a powerful yank on the whip in her hand. Instantly, she was dragged violently toward Su He, who caught her by the throat.

"Ugh... ugh..."

"Hehe, you were acting pretty high and mighty just a second ago. Let's see how I should deal with you."

Su He flicked the whip in his hand, pausing for a moment in deep thought.

"Hey! Let her go right now!"

Before Su He could even turn around at the shout, a dozen small spheres came hurtling toward his back in a barrage of explosions. The skinny man smirked, thinking he had scored a direct hit.

Yet, as the smoke cleared, nothing was revealed except a shimmering expanse of brilliant snake scales.