The standard longsword in the middle-aged man's hand started to change. The originally straight blade turned into a [T] shape, basically a morphing to have a longer handguard that curved backwards in order to protect the wielder's hands.
The sword's shape changed, is this a unique characteristic of a soul-bound weapon activating its power?
Chen Di Xi stopped his advance and cautiously observed the middle-aged man, only to see the man charging straight at him while wielding his strange T-shaped sword.
Feeling a bit indecisive, Chen Di Xi chose to retreat. Thanks to his armor, both his strength and speed surpassed the middle-aged man, as he dashed through the sports section, Chen Di Xi randomly picked up two tubes of tennis balls.
He then threw a tennis ball straight towards the middle-aged man to attack him, who instinctively tried to avoid it, but the tennis ball had already been sliced in half and landed on either side before it even reached him.
Did he swing his sword just now?
Seeing the split tennis ball, Chen Di Xi continued to run while throwing another tennis ball in his hand towards the middle-aged man.
Sure enough, as the ball approached the man, it was directly cut apart, while the middle-aged man only held the T-shaped sword in his hand without swinging it at all.
After using his ability, he gained an invisible layer of protection around his body that cuts anything that approaches him apart?
Chen Di Xi might be quite a talented fighter. Although his combat skills were garbage and his fighting prowess wasn't particularly awe-inspiring, his combat senses were accurate.
After engaging in combat, he was able to keep his calm and quickly analyze the other party's ability while estimating both sides' advantages and disadvantages. Once he was a bit more experienced, he had the potential to become a strong combatant.
"This kind of ability shouldn't last for very long, after all, it hasn't been that long since this man obtained the Disasforce weapon and released his [Origin]" Chen Di Xi calmly assessed the situation: "First I'll kite him around using my speed advantage, once he's tired and his ability loses its effectiveness, I'll go on the offensive"
"Although, there's a faster way as well" Chen Di Xi's gaze briefly glanced at the sullen girl who stood a bit away from their battle.
That girl seems to be this man's daughter, if I'm able to catch and use her as a hostage, this battle will end a lot quicker.
"You scum, what are you trying to do!?" the middle-aged man immediately noticed Chen Di Xi's gaze and loudly cursed him, quickly increasing his speed as he charged towards Chen Di Xi with his sword in hand.
Chen Di Xi broke through the wall of the supermarket and declared with a grim voice from underneath his mask: "There is indeed that method, but don't worry, I won't resort to that"
"I can utilize any strategy in battle, but using the family members of other people to threaten them can't be called a strategy" Chen Di Xi slowly spoke: "Defeating you and taking back my Disasforce weapon is the only thing I'm after. I'm not interested in harming a fellow human"
Glancing at the middle-aged man's slightly relaxed expression, Chen Di Xi silently felt a small bit of triumph. His words just now managed to weaken the man's fighting spirit. He was purposefully leaving a path for him to escape, like encircling an enemy with only three generals instead of four, this way, he successfully prevented the man from resorting to certain desperate measures.
Although his kiting tactic was working, it wasn't very easy for Chen Di Xi to do so.
Firstly, the other party wasn't that much slower than he was. Although the main advantage of achieving the first stage of release was obtaining an [Origin] ability and a greater soul quality, the releasing of [Origin] also somewhat improved his constitution.
Secondly, his opponent's ability to predict his movement was incredibly accurate. The middle-aged man was able to predict where Chen Di Xi was about to run, so if he made just a single mistake, he would be caught up without fail, and Chen Di Xi wasn't confident that his Biomass Gear would be able to defend him against the man's ability.
Thirdly, Chen Di Xi's Biomass Gear was combat effective, but it also had considerable consumption. At this point, he could already feel the Biomass Gear screaming in hunger, so he would have to eat a very hearty meal after this fight in order to replenish himself.
…
Oh no, I can't keep this up.
The middle-aged man was breathing heavily as he felt his head aching in pain. Just as Chen Di Xi had predicted, having only just obtained his [Origin] ability, he couldn't utilize it for a very long period of time.
His ability was called [Blade of Protection], after activation, everyone behind his sword would fall under its protection, and any act of aggression would be met with automatic counter-attacks from the sword.
But if I give up now, what would become of Lan Shan? She's still too young, how would she survive in this world?
The middle-aged man's eyes were already blood-shot, his head aching so much that he could feel it breaking apart, but as he thought about his daughter, he could only persevere.
…
How could he still be so insistent when there's no hope to be seen?
Chen Di Xi silently complained in his mind. The feeling of hunger coming from his Biomass Gear was becoming increasingly more severe, to the point that it had begun to affect his mind and movements.
He could clearly tell that the man would soon collapse, while he appeared completely unfazed from the outside, so how could the man still keep this up?
"Is it because of his family?" Chen Di Xi gritted his teeth, contemplating retreat. If he persevered any longer, the Biomass Gear might just go on strike and put him into a dangerous situation.
A Disasforce weapon might be precious, but this wasn't the only one, if the other party could actually continue, then the correct decision for him right now was to retreat.
…
The middle-aged man glanced at his young daughter hiding in the corner with a slightly lonely expression. His thoughts already becoming blurred, the events of the past three days flashed through his mind.
His wife couldn't survive the attack of the virus and was turned into a zombie, then mindlessly attacked their daughter who was right next to her. Fortunately, the middle-aged man managed to arrive just in time. In order to protect their daughter, he had to kill his wife who had turned into a zombie at the time.
This already left an irreversible trauma in their daughter's heart, so if her father, what if he were to fall right in front of her as well? Would that not cause her mental scars to worsen?
'To protect my family', this was the only wish of this middle-aged salaryman who had suffered throughout his daily life. Because of this, his ability was the [Blade of Protection], however, just as he was able to kill his zombified wife in order to save his daughter, his ability had a certain hidden side to it.
Wielding the T-shaped sword in his hand, he pointed it straight at Chen Di Xi, in order to protect his family, a sword that was originally just to protect could also be turned to hurt others.
The middle-aged man abruptly swung his sword forward, then powerlessly fell to the ground.
The air was split apart, an invisible slash came flying and struck Chen Di Xi on his chest, cutting through the jet-black bodysuit to reveal the soft flesh underneath. The slash then continued forward, ripping his skin apart and splattering his blood everywhere, causing Chen Di Xi to scream in extreme pain and desperation.
In the end, his combat experience was still too lacking, unable to predict that the other party's ability could change, leading to him suffering a heavy injury.
Even worse than that was the fact that his Biomass Gear was broken, causing a maddening pang of hunger to attack his psyche. Whether it was to replenish his vitality or to repair his armor, he needed a large amount of food.
The supermarket right next to them had already been raided a few times by other survivors, so its food supplies had already dwindled quite a bit. Due to this, the closest source of food suited for his needs was the man right in front of him, and the symbiotic Biomass Gear was already urging him to take action.
