The moonlight was hazy. Hongyue Comrcial Street was brightly lit, yet completely deserted. Only a few cars lay abandoned on the road, tilted and skewed with their doors hanging wide open.
This was the visible, undeniable deterrent power of the super criminal known as Ghost Bell.
To put it in perspective, if a minor character like Green Wing were causing trouble, people might want to stick around and watch the fight after seeing Blue Arc show up.
That was because they firmly believed Blue Arc would take down Green Wing while keeping every single bystander perfectly safe.
But compared to Green Wing, the na Ghost Bell struck sheer terror into people's hearts. Even if Blue Arc arrived, no one would dare linger at the scene, terrified of getting caught in the crossfire.
Not to ntion, the one who had actually shown up here was Tun Yin, a guy whose public image had recently plumted from a popular hero to a complete codian.
On the long street, Tun Yin was currently standing on top of a traffic light. The culprit responsible for turning his public image upside down was presently holding a book, leisurely hanging upside down beneath an advertising billboard just ahead.
One looked down, the other looked up. Their eyes t across the long street.
"Black Cocoon," Tun Yin paused, his voice grinding through clenched teeth. "I have been looking everywhere for you..."
"That sounds a bit heavy-handed, like an obsessed stalker from a TV series. To be honest, I find it a little cringeworthy... Mr. Ghost Bell really likes
too, but he expresses his affection with an iron fist."
Black Cocoon flipped through his book as he spoke. He pondered for a mont before continuing, "I feel like it would be better to add a touch of Japanese literary subtlety. Like, uh... the moon is beautiful tonight?"
"These past few days, I have been thinking about how I would slaughter you a thousand, ten thousand tis once I finally caught you, you little bug." Tun Yin cracked his knuckles, his tone dark and nacing. "The weather is indeed nice tonight. It is perfect for sending you to hell."
"That is not sothing a Transgressor should say. Careful, your public image might hit rock bottom... Well, I suppose there is not much room for it to drop anymore."
At this point, Black Cocoon lifted the finger he used to turn the pages and scratched his chin.
"Before we fight, I need to hire a lawyer to determine if a Transgressor like you has the legal right to kill . Otherwise, this just falls under the category of a lynching. If word gets out, the cute and soft image I so carefully crafted for you will collapse overnight."
He paused. "All my hard work has gone to waste. I already paved the way for your career as a codian. You just needed to take that final step."
"Shut up!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, tal vents snapped open on the backs of Tun Yin's legs, his back, and even the backs of his arms.
Furious flas spewed from within as all five thrusters fired at full power. Tun Yin's body transford into a massive silver bird, rocketing straight toward Black Cocoon.
"Alright, that perfectly fits my stereotype of you."
Black Cocoon shrugged. As he spoke, he snapped his book shut, letting it slide smoothly into the sleeve of his trench coat. Four Restraining Bands instantly shot out from his fingertips, and in the blink of an eye, he activated Restraining Band Blades.
With a sharp tallic ring, silver-white blades sprang out, clinging tightly to the edges of the Restraining Bands.
Maintaining his upside-down posture, he forcefully slashed the Restraining Bands forward, wielding them like a flurry of long sabers.
A deafening crash erupted as Tun Yin's fist, wrapped in a terrifying shockwave, smashed against the surface of the Restraining Bands, slamming right into the four layers of blades.
Sparks flew from the blades. Every Restraining Band undulated like a rolling tide, smoothly distributing the trendous impact across his entire body to ensure his defensive line would not be breached.
The blades on the Restraining Bands vibrated with a loud hum, the piercing screech tearing through the dark night!
Black Cocoon narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew he was no match in a contest of brute strength, so he planted a kick directly on Tun Yin's stomach. His body instantly flew backward like a paper kite, seamlessly plastering itself against the surface of a glass curtain wall.
Tun Yin pushed his fire thrusters to the limit, giving chase. However, at that exact mont, a curtain ford by Restraining Bands wrapped around his field of vision, completely obscuring Black Cocoon's figure.
"Trying to play tricks again!" Tun Yin scowled.
He did not rush forward recklessly. Instead, he quickly bit down and crushed a piece of red tal in his mouth, then raised his right palm. A sheet of roaring flas erupted forward, instantly setting the curtain of Restraining Bands ablaze with a crackling roar.
Just then, another Restraining Band darted out from beneath the black curtain. Like a venomous snake that had been lying in wait, it lunged at Tun Yin, the blades attached to its edge slashing upward in a vicious arc!
Amidst the flickering firelight, a cold gleam flashed across the Restraining Band's blade as it cleaved straight through Tun Yin's tallic chest plate, carving a horrifying gash across his chest.
With a sickening tear, blood sprayed out like splashed ink, staining Tun Yin's armor and neck crimson.
At the sa ti, the curtain of Restraining Bands burned completely away, revealing Black Cocoon behind it. He extended a single Restraining Band, his quick reflexes allowing him to use the blade to sever the burning ends of the other bands.
They turned into drifting embers that scattered downward, unable to spread the fire to Black Cocoon's body.
"I am just saying... if the blades on my Restraining Bands were laced with a neurotoxin, would you be kneeling on the ground by now?" Black Cocoon mused. "Hmm... that is actually a pretty good direction for developnt. I wonder if there is an ability like that on my skill tree."
Tun Yin glanced down at the wound on his chest, his face twitching slightly. Then, overwheld by blinding rage, he charged forward.
Black Cocoon distributed his gravity across the Restraining Bands spanning his entire body.
Relying on the high mobility of his Restraining Bands, he vaulted back and forth between the glass curtain walls and neon signs. All the while, he used the blades of his Restraining Bands to clash against the incoming iron fists, doing his utmost to offset the trendous force.
In clash after clash, fierce sparks showered from the blades of the Restraining Bands, and Tun Yin's tal gauntlets were gradually scored with a web of deepening cracks.
Most of Black Cocoon's Restraining Bands began to show faint signs of overheating due to absorbing far too much force.
In the next instant, Tun Yin pulled back to create so distance. He violently bit down on a chunk of silver oozing from his palm. Imdiately after, his tal gauntlets expanded several tis in size, his five fingers clenching to form an absolutely massive iron fist.
He spun around to build montum, the thrusters on the backs of his hands spewing a curtain of roaring flas. Wrapped in terrifying kinetic energy, the giant fist swung toward Black Cocoon like a devastating wrecking ball!
Black Cocoon had anticipated this. He grabbed onto a Restraining Band to his right that was tethered to an aerial work platform, swinging away to dodge the massive iron fist. The howling gale whipped his swallowtail trench coat wildly into the air.
With a thunderous explosion, the glass curtain wall was completely obliterated by Tun Yin's giant fist.
Shards of shattered glass rained down like a torrential downpour, clattering as they spilled over the awning of a supermarket and the roofs of parked cars, echoing with sharp, crisp reverberations.
Suddenly, Tun Yin whipped his head toward Black Cocoon and clapped his hands together. He conjured a gigantic tal cage in midair, trapping Black Cocoon inside. The cage imdiately began contracting at a rapid pace, seemingly intent on crushing Black Cocoon's body into a puddle of bloody pulp!
Black Cocoon reacted with godlike speed. Right before his body could be crushed flat by the tal cage, he curled into a tight ball in midair and unleashed his host body skill—Restraining Belt Maelstrom.
[Restraining Belt Maelstrom: Centered on oneself, causes a large number of Restraining Bands to spin at high speeds, generating a maelstrom around the body. (Even under crowd control effects, "Restraining Belt Maelstrom" can still be used.)]
In an instant, countless Restraining Bands churned and spiraled violently within the tal cage.
Using Black Cocoon's curled body as the epicenter, the Restraining Bands spun at a dizzying velocity. The silver-white blades ford a raging storm that howled as it shredded the silver-white cage to pieces.
It was like peeling a waterlon from the inside out, bursting right through the rind.
The next mont, the Restraining Bands ceased their spinning. The storm of blades faded, and a torrential rain of tallic debris plumted from the sky.
Black Cocoon's body resembled a spiraling autumn leaf in freefall. Stepping lightly upon the scattered tallic scraps, he drifted down toward the ground without an ounce of urgency.
Tun Yin was utterly dumbfounded. "What? Why did his Restraining Bands suddenly get so fast? With only fractions of a second to react, he moved that quickly to shred my tal cage?"
This was his ultimate killer move to date. The whole reason he had dared to confidently challenge Ghost Bell was because he believed that not even Ghost Bell could escape this cage—that he would be instantly crushed into a bloody mist by its contraction!
Yet right before his eyes, Black Cocoon had shattered his cage in a way that completely defied human imagination!
In a re tenth of a second, he spun his Restraining Bands at high speed to create a storm of blades?
No, that was fundantally impossible for a human being... Yet it had all unfolded so seamlessly right in front of Tun Yin.
Only one phrase could truly describe this scene: 'divine intervention.' It was as though a player had perfectly exploited a special ga chanic or a blatant glitch.
While he was lost in thought, both Black Cocoon and Tun Yin touched down on the ground at almost the exact sa mont.
Not giving Tun Yin even a second to breathe, Black Cocoon crossed his arms in front of his chest, and two Restraining Bands shot out violently from his palms. Their black tips latched onto the walls on either side of the street. He pulled his body backward, pulling the bands taut, and then released them at their absolute limit.
With a booming crack that split the air, his body was launched forward like a coiled spring instantly snapping loose.
Imdiately after, he unleashed Blue Arc's ability midair. His entire body was instantly enveloped in a blinding layer of deep blue lightning.
[Released the supernatural ability stored in the Restraining Bands—Currents surge from within the body, allowing precise control over every arc of electricity. (Ability Source: Superhuman "Blue Arc")]
Amidst a deafening roar, electricity surged through Black Cocoon's body, stimulating his cellular activity. His speed skyrocketed to a terrifying extre.
Simultaneously, Tun Yin, who was directly opposite him, saw a streak of black and blue lightning rocketing toward his face.
"Blue... Arc?" Tun Yin froze, almost hallucinating that Blue Arc was charging at him. Black Cocoon looked like a peacock fanning its tail, or an expanding hedgehog. Electrified Restraining Bands spread outward from his back, rising upward like a massive, woven curtain of black and blue.
The curtain scattered, separating into more than a dozen Restraining Bands that surged from all directions, entirely overwhelming Tun Yin as they coiled toward him.
Tun Yin raised his arms and crossed them in front of his chest. The coverage of the Restraining Bands was too vast, like a colossal whale opening its maw to swallow him whole. There was no point trying to block them all, so he settled for protecting his most vital organ—his heart!
A second later, Tun Yin's contorted face was illuminated by the black and blue lightning. Furious arcs of electricity flooded into every single one of his joints.
His entire body convulsed wildly. With a tortured roar, he fell to his knees. The electricity traveled down his knees and into the ground, scattering in all directions like a swarm of little black and blue snakes.
The neon signs along the street flickered on and off before the entire world finally plunged into darkness.
Several seconds passed before the electrical currents blanketing the Restraining Bands slowly faded away, bringing an end to the brutal electrocution.
The neon lights flickered back on, and Tun Yin was finally able to gasp for air. By this ti, the pitch-black Restraining Bands had completely bound every joint in his body, turning him into a trapped beast with no strength left to struggle.
He heaved heavy, ragged breaths. After a brief mont of silence, his Adam's apple bobbed. Still kneeling on the ground, he asked in a hoarse voice,
"Why... do you have... Blue Arc's ability?"
"A man only kneels to the heavens and his parents. You really shouldn't be kneeling like this."
Black Cocoon covered his eyes, shaking his head and waving his hand. His expression was just like soone receiving red envelopes from relatives during the New Year—verbally protesting with "Oh, I couldn't possibly," while their body language eagerly welcod it.
"Answer !" Tun Yin's pale lips trembled.
"Oh, Mr. Tun Yin, seeing as you are still so energetic after a fight, why not do a set of elentary school radio calisthenics? It promotes longevity and strengthens the body."
As Black Cocoon spoke, he used a Restraining Band to bind Tun Yin around the waist, hoisting his limbs right off the ground.
He crossed his arms over his chest. While manipulating Tun Yin's paralyzed body into the calisthenics routine, he humd a steady rhythm, "One, two, three, four; one, two, three, four."
He looked exactly like a gym teacher blowing a whistle to supervise students during morning exercises.
The atmosphere of a life-and-death bloodbath instantly completely relaxed, gaining an odd trace of youthful innocence. Fortunately, there was no one around to witness this spectacle, or Tun Yin would have definitely acquired yet another humiliating nickna.
"Why do you have Blue Arc's ability!" Tun Yin ground his teeth. "Why!"
"Good question... Why indeed?" Black Cocoon scratched his chin. "Could it be because... I just butchered Blue Arc?"
Tun Yin's pupils shrank to pinpricks. He stared at Black Cocoon for a long ti before finally spitting out a single word from between his teeth:
"No..."
However, that was far from the truth.
Two days ago, Black Cocoon had stolen Blue Arc's ability inside the Auction House—yes, at the exact mont he used Robert to make a deal with Qi Yuanli and exchanged hostages.
At that ti, he had bound the unconscious Blue Arc with his Restraining Bands. Figuring it would be a waste to pass up such a golden opportunity, he had conveniently snagged Blue Arc's ability while he was at it.
Due to the influence of the skill [Capacity Expansion] from the Somber Night branch, Black Cocoon's Restraining Bands were allowed to store two distinct abilities, while the maximum storage duration was increased to forty-eight hours—exactly two days.
The reason Ji Minghuan had rushed out so urgently to find trouble was clearly because the ability stored within his Restraining Bands was on the brink of reaching its maximum preservation limit.
—Forty-seven hours and fifty minutes had passed since he stole the ability.
In less than ten minutes, this precious ability was going to vanish forever. Thus, he had hastily controlled Host Body One to sneak out of the house, looking for an opponent to satisfy his craving.
This was Big Brother's ability, after all!
He had only reaped the spoils as a third party this ti, scoring it out of pure, dumb luck. It definitely wouldn't be this easy to steal again. Managing to bind Blue Arc with his Restraining Bands under normal circumstances was harder than ascending to heaven.
Ji Minghuan's mindset was similar to playing an online ga and lucking into a legendary, single-use item right before it expired. If he didn't use the item in a fitting scenario and just let it disappear, it would be impossible not to feel like he had suffered a massive loss.
On the other hand, Ji Minghuan also did this to save Tun Yin's life. Heaven only knew if Old Man Ghost Bell, with his temper, would just roast Tun Yin Mouse and eat him alive if pushed to the brink.
Of course, beyond all that, the most important reason was that he wanted to test the combat strength of Host Body One.
If he couldn't even defeat Tun Yin, it ant Host Body One still needed a lot more tempering.
However, judging from the current situation, Host Body One's strength was undeniably approaching the pinnacle of the Dragon-tier. After all, even without utilizing Restraining Band Avatar, he had already utterly defeated Tun Yin following his Anomaly Evolution.
'The Near-Calamity Tier is just around the corner...' Ji Minghuan thought. 'Once I reach that level, Black Cocoon will finally be ready to step onto the grand stage.'
At that thought, Black Cocoon spoke up. "According to a friend of mine, Mr. Tun Yin, you were originally at the very peak of the Commander-tier... But you seem to have grown significantly stronger over the past few days. You have even reached the mid-stage of the Dragon-tier."
He paused. "What a pity. Compared to , your rate of improvent is still much too slow. Continue to elevate yourself amidst all this sha and resentnt. Who knows, maybe one day you will actually have a chance to take
down."
"Shut up!" Tun Yin roared with humiliation and fury as he rhythmically continued bouncing through the calisthenics routine. "I will kill you!"
"Honestly, I just ca to borrow your ability for a bit. There are no other underlying motives."
With that, Black Cocoon abruptly tightened the Restraining Bands around Tun Yin's body and imdiately activated Ability Theft, storing Tun Yin's ability within his bands.
[Activated "Ability Theft". The ability of Superhuman "Tun Yin" has been stored in the Restraining Bands. The duration of existence is 48 hours.]
As the system notification faded, Black Cocoon narrowed his eyes. He suddenly noticed that a set of lips and teeth had grown out of the top of one of his Restraining Bands.
Yes... an incredibly bizarre set of lips and teeth. This mouth was clearly hungering for tal. Saliva dripped from it, dampening the Restraining Band.
But with a re ntal command from Black Cocoon, the lips and teeth slowly closed together, reverting back into an expanse of deep, night-like pitch black.
'I see...' he thought. 'Do I have to use my Restraining Bands to devour tal to satisfy the release conditions for this ability? It looks like I will not have to gnaw on raw iron with my own mouth like Tun Yin Mouse. That actually sounds pretty user-friendly. As expected, my abilities tweak themselves based on my personal preferences.'
Now that the ability was successfully stolen, Black Cocoon resud his manipulation of the Restraining Bands, forcing Tun Yin to continue his elentary and middle school calisthenics routine right there on the long street.
"Just why exactly do you have Blue Arc's ability?!" Tun Yin was still screaming. "Did you really kill him?"
"Alright, alright, I know you two are great buddies with a deep bromance. Do you have to yell so loudly?" Black Cocoon shrugged. "Blue Arc is sleeping soundly in his own bed. I have his ability because I lent him a helping hand at the underground auction. That is all."
"You had better not be lying to ."
"Mr. Tun Yin, I really have no intention of making you my enemy. I think you are at least a Superhuman with a tiny bit of potential. Sure, that 'tiny bit' might be taking things to an extre, but potential is still potential." Black Cocoon paused. "One day you will need . How about we exchange contact info?"
"Piss off..." Tun Yin lowered his head, blowing out breaths like a rabid water buffalo.
"The moon is beautiful tonight," Black Cocoon said as he continued reading his book.
"You complete animal! Get the hell out of here!" Tun Yin shrieked in utter exasperation, still bouncing through his gymnastics routine.
"The moon is beautiful tonight."
"Get lost, you bastard! Beautiful my ass!" Tun Yin cried out, wanting to weep but having no tears left. He was screaming internally: 'Are you leaving or not? If you don't screw off right now, so pedestrian is going to walk by and see
doing calisthenics in front of you! Do you want to strip
of my humanity entirely?!'
"Okay, okay, I am leaving, I am leaving."
Black Cocoon shrugged and loosened the Restraining Bands binding Tun Yin. He then shot out a band to latch onto a streetlamp, swinging upward into the air until his figure completely vanished into the shattered neon lights.
Tun Yin's entire body instantly went slack, his limbs drooping heavily to the ground. He slowly raised his head, his face shrouded in gloom as he watched Black Cocoon disappear.
On his way ho, Black Cocoon used his mobile phone to send Ghost Bell a ssage.
[Black Cocoon: By the way, Mr. Ghost Bell, didn't you want to know the intelligence on the mbers of Rainbow Wing?]
[Black Cocoon: As luck would have it, I have exactly what you need.]
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