Forty-Nine Doomsday Chapter 272: Metal Detonation vs. Shadow

Guan Tong took Wu Wang's camera and glanced out the window.

He saw the hooded young man running toward the abandoned building with furious rage on his face, which was exactly what he wanted.

Fighting on the main street wasn't a good idea.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Accompanied by swift, powerful footsteps, Guan Tong saw Wu Wang charge up from downstairs, glaring at him fiercely.

"Give me the camera."

Wu Wang reached out to Guan Tong, but the latter casually waved his hand, and the camera vanished, stored into the Storage Ring.

"You're Wu Wang. I've been looking for you for a long time."

After learning from the thugs' hideout that Wu Wang was filming material downtown, Guan Tong immediately released a large number of shadow lines to search for him.

Even though Wu Wang's appearance was quite distinctive, it still took him half an hour to find the man. After all, while Antu City's downtown area wasn't huge, it was still the downtown of a city.

By the time he actually found him, it was a bit late. Wu Wang had already used his ability to detonate two cars, causing casualties.

So, to provoke him and make him leave the street and return to the dangerous building, Guan Tong could only take his camera.

Now, seeing his camera vanish, Wu Wang was extremely annoyed.

He didn't know who this guy in the baseball cap was, nor did he care much. All he cared about was his camera.

"Whoever you are, if you dare touch my camera, I must teach you a lesson..."

After being called out by name, Wu Wang knew the visitor meant trouble. Knowing this guy was targeting him, he must be an Ascendant with some strength.

He glanced at Guan Tong's right hand and saw the ring on his finger.

First, I'll cripple one of your hands!

"Explode!"

Wu Wang pressed his palms together, activating his ability, intending to blow off Guan Tong's right hand by detonating the ring.

However, after activating the ability, the ring did not explode.

He was shocked: Could it be that the ring's material isn't metal?

That ring was a Storage Ring Guan Tong obtained from a reward, a product of Mind Power, so its material naturally wasn't metal.

And when Wu Wang activated his ability like this, the "Insight" effect of Guan Tong's title kicked in, displaying information about the former's ability before his eyes.

[Metal Detonation]: Can consume Mind Power to detonate metal constructs within a certain range of the user. The detonation distance and explosion power are related to the amount of Mind Power consumed by the user.

A decent ability, but unfortunately, it has limitations.

Guan Tong thought, and with a mental command, the shadows lying in ambush in the corners of the room rushed toward Wu Wang's body.

However, the moment they made contact, they were blocked by an invisible barrier. Clearly, a defensive item against Mind Power attacks was in effect.

Receiving the alert, Wu Wang looked down and saw the shadows surrounding him. His pupils contracted sharply as he identified the enemy.

Shadow!

Earlier, the bald guy and others, upon learning the enemy before them was Shadow, almost all immediately lost their will to fight, only knowing how to beg for mercy.

This was the oppressive force brought by fame.

Ever since Shadow took first place in the second rule, he had remained active within the global Ascendant community.

Later, he also took first place in the first Ascendant Challenge Tournament, was the one who collected all the Kimos Star fragments and revealed the secret during the Nightmare Beast rule, then single-handedly opposed the country of Andai State, and participated as a main force in reducing the destructive power of the super earthquake...

This series of deeds meant no Ascendant in the world would doubt Shadow's strength, nor would they consider him someone whose "reputation exceeds reality."

Therefore, those who opposed him, upon actually encountering him, would find it hard to muster much fighting spirit.

Only battle maniacs with outstanding strength and immense self-confidence, like Lucifer, would crave and actively seek to fight Shadow.

As for the current Wu Wang, while not a battle maniac, he similarly possessed a kind of craving.

"If I could film footage with Shadow as the theme, it would definitely become my most classic work!"

Wu Wang felt fanatical inside, quickly thrusting both hands into his pockets.

The next moment, when he pulled them out, each hand held a handful of steel balls, which he forcefully hurled at Guan Tong!

"Taste this! Shadow!"

Guan Tong saw dozens of steel balls flying toward him, and as Wu Wang pressed his palms together, flames rapidly burst forth.

"Explode!"

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!

Each steel ball exploded under the ability's activation, a series of flames instantly engulfing Guan Tong.

Wu Wang stared wide-eyed. When the flames dissipated, what he saw wasn't a Shadow on the verge of death from the explosion, but a Shadow whose entire body was covered in thick shadow armor.

Shadow Armor!

Just like the shadow spikes, this was another of Shadow's abilities widely known among Ascendants.

Seeing his steel ball explosions fail to damage the Shadow Armor, Wu Wang wasn't disappointed but instead grew more excited.

"Haha, if you were so easily blown up, the audience would be disappointed, right!"

He took out his phone, turned on video recording, and filmed Guan Tong as he spoke.

Guan Tong couldn't be bothered to talk much with this mentally deranged person, continuing to manipulate the shadows to attack.

Numerous shadow spikes attacked Wu Wang from all directions, but each time they touched his body, they were blocked by a layer of light shield.

"It's useless, Shadow, you can't hurt me," Wu Wang said. "The defensive item on me was obtained from Lado. Do you think a prince of his stature wouldn't know how to spend effort protecting himself?"

Wu Wang was right.

Andai State was a small country. As the prince, under his dictatorship, Lado could maximize the exploitation of the populace by his ruling group. After confiscating large amounts of Ascension Coins from the people, buying the most top-tier items through the Market was no problem.

Don't think the few million Ascension Coins Guan Tong currently had were a huge sum. Before the earthquake rule, petty dictators of small countries like Lado could casually produce tens of millions of Ascension Coins. They weren't even on the same level.

However, everything has two sides.

The more powerful an item's effect, the higher its Mind Power consumption. This is a rule and an inevitability.

Guan Tong's Shadow was formidable, but its consumption was also extremely high. If not for his high Upper Limit of Mind Power and his large reserve Mind Power, he couldn't use it as freely as he did now.

But did Wu Wang have such conditions?

Guan Tong didn't stop attacking because it was ineffective, nor was he deceived by Wu Wang's words.

On the contrary, he kept manipulating the Shadow to launch a storm of attacks, consuming the Mind Power Wu Wang needed to activate the top-tier defensive item.

Seeing his strategy fail, Wu Wang's heart sank.

His Mind Power was indeed being rapidly consumed by the defensive item. If this continued, in less than a minute, he wouldn't be able to meet the defensive item's requirements.

This Shadow guy... wasn't fooled by me.

I need to finish this quickly!

Wu Wang didn't take out more steel balls he carried. He knew explosions of that level couldn't breach the Shadow Armor's defense.

To deal with a powerhouse of Shadow's level, he had to use "that."

And...

A thought struck Wu Wang, and he suddenly turned and ran downstairs.

Running away?

Seeing this, Guan Tong felt something was off. Although it was their first encounter, he felt that given Wu Wang's obsession with filming, it was unlikely he'd give up on his camera.

And this guy probably wasn't stupid enough to think he could outrun Shadow's speed.

Rather than fleeing, it seemed more like he was trying to lure me away from the dangerous building.

Guan Tong thought, leaving a backup plan himself.

When Wu Wang reached downstairs, he saw Shadow jump down from the window, as if to intercept him.

Outside on the street now, drawn by the previous two car explosions, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

This was exactly what Wu Wang wanted.

He quickly took a metal canister from his Storage Box, pulled the ring, and threw it on the ground.

"Hiss—"

The next moment, large amounts of pale gray gas erupted from it, spreading across the street.

This pale gray gas spread extremely fast. Many passersby couldn't leave in time and were enveloped, including the Shadow that jumped down from the window.

Seeing this, a smug smile appeared on Wu Wang's face.

"Shadow, you've already lost."

Shadow didn't speak, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

"Even if you're wrapped in armor, you still need to breathe. And once you breathe, hehe... this pale gray stuff isn't fog."

Shadow still didn't speak.

Thinking Shadow was arrogant, Wu Wang sneered, "Do you think being World Number One makes you invincible? Let me tell you, this pale gray gas is specially made metal powder! You're not stupid, you should have guessed my ability is Metal Detonation... So guess what happens if I immediately detonate the metal powder you've inhaled into your body now?"

"That's why I said, you've already lost."

Wu Wang raised his hands, looking at Shadow.

"Even if your Shadow Armor's defense is incredibly high, can it defend against an explosion originating from inside your body? Now, with just a simple clap of my hands, your body will be blown to pieces."

"If you don't want to die, that's fine too. Just cooperate with my filming... Huh?"

Before Wu Wang finished speaking, the defensive item on him activated again.

This undoubtedly meant Shadow was attacking him once more.

His expression darkened slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Didn't you hear what I said? Do you really want to be blown to pieces?"

The attacks continued to consume his Mind Power.

Wu Wang's Mind Power was almost depleted. Unable to restrain his emotions, he threatened loudly, "If I activate my ability, not just you, but everyone on this street who inhaled the metal powder will be blown to death! Do you want to get them killed?!"

Shadow's movements paused briefly, then a somewhat mechanical voice sounded, "You're the one killing them. What does that have to do with me?"

The tone, filled with disdain and mockery, completely enraged Wu Wang.

"Then go die! Shadow!"

He violently clapped his hands together.

"Explode!"

Bang bang bang bang bang bang!

Blood mist... instantly spread across the street...

Just as Wu Wang said, the Sakura Prayer Country passersby who had been watching the car explosions earlier and inhaled the specially made metal powder all exploded from the inside out at this moment.

Wu Wang, who committed this horrific act, froze before the smile on his lips could even fully form.

He stared ahead in disbelief, "This! How is this possible?!"

The Shadow he thought would be blown to pieces stood before him completely unharmed, as if unaffected.

What he didn't know was that the Shadow before him was just a shadow, not "Shadow."

The real "Shadow," Guan Tong, was currently far away, remotely controlling the shadow in battle.

Now, through the vision shared by the shadow, Guan Tong looked at Wu Wang's stunned face and thought, "This kid's methods are indeed vicious."

By making the enemy inhale metal powder and then detonating it from inside, if it were the earlier Guan Tong, he might have truly been caught off guard by this move.

However, when Wu Wang suddenly pretended to flee earlier, Guan Tong sensed something was off. So, his true self used Body Swap to distance himself from the battlefield, leaving only the shadow disguised as his true self to fight.

In Wu Wang's eyes, he could only see the Shadow Armor and had no idea there was no one inside anymore.

But even if Guan Tong's true self were still there, the current him wouldn't be killed by this trick. After all, when his entire body was wrapped in Shadow Armor, he wouldn't inhale any metal powder. Besides, he also carried the [Life-Saving Pendant], a survival item that could negate one fatal attack.

It's just... the others on the street suffered terribly.

Wu Wang wanted to use these lives to threaten Guan Tong into submission, but the latter didn't accept any coercion. Enraged, Wu Wang activated his ability, and over twenty Sakura Prayer Country people were killed by the metal powder detonating inside their bodies.

Seeing this, Guan Tong understood deeply that someone like Wu Wang had long lost his humanity. Such a person must not be allowed to continue living and harming the world.

Swish swish swish swish swish!

More shadow spikes besieged Wu Wang. The latter's Mind Power could no longer sustain the consumption of the top-tier defensive item, reaching the point of exhaustion.

"Damn Shadow... You won't live either!"

Before exhausting the last trace of his Mind Power, Wu Wang charged forward in large strides, lunging at the shadow.

The shadow didn't dodge, allowing him to rush up and embrace it.

Wu Wang wrapped his arms around the shadow, clapping his hands together behind its back.

His entire body began to emit a bright light. Seeing this from afar, Guan Tong thought, does he intend to self-destruct?

Wu Wang hugged the shadow's body tightly, his tone carrying a hint of madness, "I have a super metal bomb and hundreds of steel balls on me. The power is enough to blow up this entire street... Haha, let's die together, Shadow..."

The next second, Wu Wang suddenly felt emptiness in his arms.

The shadow he held so tightly had actually dematerialized from a physical form into a true mass of shadow.

After the shadow dematerialized, a phone on speaker mode fell to the ground.

A mechanical voice similar to the earlier one, Guan Tong's voice, came from the phone, "Let this phone die with you instead."

Wu Wang froze, finally understanding that "Shadow" was never at the scene.

What he had been entangled with was just a fake shadow.

The real "Shadow" was hiding somewhere unknown, remotely controlling the fake shadow to fight him. He had been completely fooled!

This caused him to have a complete psychological breakdown in an instant, and he roared, "Shadow!!!"

Boom!!!!!

A massive explosion erupted from Wu Wang's body as the center, covering over half the street.

In an instant, the roads and buildings on the street were engulfed and destroyed by flames. Even a dazzling mushroom cloud rose into the air, allowing witnesses to perceive the immense scale of the explosion.

Now, far from the battlefield, Guan Tong personally witnessed the mushroom cloud in the sky and couldn't help but feel shocked inside.

"This guy... the power of his self-destruction is actually this immense..."