Redd slowly opened his eyes. Without turning his head he said, "I understand."
With that he stood up and looked toward the far end of the road, where gray mist swallowed everything and nothing could be seen.
Wei Gaocheng produced a purple serum, stared at Redd's back, and said in a low voice, "Duke Redd, our president asked me to deliver this Monster-ification potion to you. Once you take it you'll gain tremendous power; dealing with the enemy will be much easier."
Hearing this, Redd remained calm. "Turn into something neither human nor ghost like you lot? Forget it—I prefer staying human."
Though his tone was mild, it brimmed with disdain for Monster-ification.
Behind him Wei Gaocheng's face darkened, but he said nothing; with a flap of his wings he took off and left.
He glanced back at Redd on the rooftop and snorted coldly. "Stubborn old fool. Monster-ification is the new path; the human body is fragile. You'll suffer for your stubbornness."
On the rooftop Redd walked to the edge, looked down at the street shrouded in gray mist, and jumped straight off.
Elsewhere, on the gray-mist street.
Adolf stood before a pile of Ao Gang Society corpses, his expression ugly.
Every corpse was soft and pulpy; if not for the skin keeping a rough human shape, Adolf would have thought it a heap of rotten meat.
These wounds look like the work of a palm or fist technique. Could this gray mist be man-made?
He studied the bodies, analyzing nonstop, feeling he was about to lift the veil hiding the gray mist's secrets.
"Not enough intel—I need to push deeper." Adolf turned and advanced further inside.
He had a hunch: the answer he sought lay at the very center.
He hadn't gone far before he stopped, staring ahead.
Gray mist billowed, limiting vision, yet Adolf curled his lips in a cold smile. "Skulking rat—get out here!"
Tap, tap.
Footsteps echoed from the mist, and Redd walked out, expression serene.
The instant Adolf saw Redd's face his own tightened. "Redd Dominic—what are you doing here? Don't you know this turf belongs to my Ao Gang Society?"
Redd regarded him without emotion. "That green kid has grown up. I remember teaching you a lesson once."
Adolf's face soured; back when he was Level Four he'd been arrogant, until he met Redd and ended up hospitalized for half a month.
"Did you kill my Ao Gang Society men?" Adolf ignored the taunt, eyes narrowing at Redd.
Now that Redd had appeared, there was no doubt who'd murdered Hariman and his group.
Redd excelled in various palm and fist techniques; pulverizing flesh and bone without breaking skin was child's play to him.
"Yes." Redd relaxed, arms hanging naturally, white qi swirling around his hands.
Hearing this, Adolf's temples throbbed. "Arrogant as ever, Redd! You're old—do you still think you're the duke of old?"
In fury Adolf punched the air toward Redd.
Buzz! A ten-meter-long arm mirrored the motion above his head, tearing through the mist to smash down from ten meters away.
At the same instant Redd snapped his right arm up, white qi coiling around it as he blasted out a punch.
Boom! The large and small fists collided; the shockwave scattered the gray mist for several meters.
"Kid, you were useless before—and you're useless now!" Redd sneered, his right arm bulging as he shattered the giant arm with a surge of force.
Bang! The arm exploded into countless motes of light that faded away.
Yet Adolf showed no dismay; after that punch he'd caught a momentary waver in Redd's aura.
It lasted only an instant, but he'd sensed it.
His stamina isn't what it was—grind him down and I can kill him! Another giant arm materialized above Adolf.
This time the single arm multiplied into ten. "Useless? Let's test that!" he roared at Redd.
Boom-boom-boom! Ten fists instantly blanketed the spot where Redd stood; Redd's eyes flashed as he darted aside.
They fought on the city's main avenue—over twenty meters wide, lined with ten-storey buildings on both sides.
Redd bounded more than ten meters in a single step, veering into an alley beside the left-hand building.
Seeing this, Adolf spun and gave chase, the giant hands above him slamming into the building ahead.
Bang-bang-bang! One punch after another sheared the ten-storey structure in half, sending it toppling.
Any building in his way was pulverized in a single barrage; rubble and dust mingled with the gray mist in the air.
As for anyone inside—Adolf couldn't care less; if they died, blame their own bad luck.
"Redd! All you do is run now—hahaha, you're a coward who still loves to posture!" Adolf mocked with a loud sneer.
He could faintly sense that Redd was just ahead, but his speed couldn't keep up; he could only keep smashing the giant hand above at wherever Redd might be.
Boom! The whole district thundered; countless buildings were destroyed by the terrifying force, collapsing, and the billowing dust turned the already low-visibility space even hazier.
Boom! Another building fell. Adolf's gaze swept the area, searching for Redd's figure.
Whoosh! Suddenly a tearing sound came from behind him, and Adolf grinned savagely, "You old thing, trying to ambush me?"
He spun around, the fist above his head smashing down without hesitation.
Bang! A stone was shattered by the blow.
"Fighting isn't just about strength—experience matters more." An icy voice sounded behind Adolf.
Redd appeared behind him, face full of killing intent, white vapors coiling around his hands as he drove them toward Adolf's back.
"Finally took the bait." Adolf, however, gave a cold smile; a burst of white light erupted from under his feet.
It instantly covered both Adolf and the approaching Redd.
Boom! A massive explosion burst between them; a powerful shockwave swept the surroundings, driving the gray mist hundreds of meters away and clearing a mist-free zone.
When the blast faded, a crater some forty to fifty meters wide had been gouged in the ground; a ten-meter-tall, naked Adolf stood in its center.
"Didn't kill you? What a pity." Adolf glanced dozens of meters away at Redd, whose shirt was in tatters, and clicked his tongue in disappointment.
This was his awakened ability—Colossus God. As his body grew, so did his strength and defense.
Redd casually tore off the ruined shirt, revealing muscles covered in scars. "After so many years, looks like you've finally learned something. Time for me to get serious."
Hearing this, veins bulged on Adolf's forehead and he roared, "Redd! You love putting on airs—I'll beat the crap out of you!"
His hands turned into blurs as he punched toward Redd; the colossal fists carried piercing whistles through the air.
Redd didn't flinch; white vapor wrapped his own hands as he met the giant fists head-on.
Rumble! The ground beneath them shattered, cracks spreading out as clouds of dust billowed everywhere.
Bang! A figure burst through the dust, smashed through a building behind, and crashed to the ground on the other side.
Bang!
Inside the dust cloud, the ground under Adolf's feet exploded in a depression; his ten-meter form shot toward Redd, pulverizing a ten-story building in his way.
"Die!" With Redd now in sight, Adolf's face was ferocious as he stomped down viciously.
"So hot-headed." Redd lifted his hands, eyes calm as he watched the ten-meter-tall, terrifying giant. The vapor around his hands began to warp, shaping into a dragon's head.
'Dragon Path: Mountain-Crushing Fist!' Accompanied by a white dragon-head aura, Redd's fist shot out straight at the stomping foot.
Dragon Path: Mountain-Crushing Fist—using a special frequency to control the flow of qi, every punch carries shattering force, making it lethally powerful.
Bang! A deafening impact shook the surrounding ground; cold sweat broke out on the brow of the previously furious Adolf.
Staring at his vanished left leg and at the blood-spattered Redd below, he exclaimed in disbelief, "How—how can you still have this much strength!"
Whoosh! The answer came as Redd instantly leapt to Adolf's head and rained down a flurry of punches.
Bang-bang-bang!
Ahhh!" Adolf's face was beaten black and blue, cheekbones caving in and shattering.
His two arms reached for Redd, only to be casually punched into clouds of blood and flesh that sprayed everywhere.
'At this rate I'll die!' Adolf's eyes were filled with unwillingness; in the past he'd admit defeat after a beating, accepting that he was weaker.
Now he was Level Five, while the other man had grown so old—yet could still thrash him. Had he wasted all these years of his life?
The thought drove him mad; his eyes turned frantic as he glared at Redd and bellowed, "If you want me dead, then let's die together!"
He opened his mouth; wedged between his teeth was a ring—the life-saving trump card his teacher had given him.
Bzz! An invisible flame surged from the ring and struck Redd squarely in the chest.
Redd felt his whole body burn; gritting his teeth against the agony, he kept punching Adolf.
The instant the ring activated, far away in the capital of Tizi Country, Doyle—standing in a church with hands clasped in prayer—suddenly opened his eyes.
A trace of sorrow crossed his face. "My poor disciple… why must you leave me like this?"
Through the residual mental imprint on the ring he could sense Adolf's aura rapidly fading.
Opposite that aura was another presence—one he knew all too well.
'Redd, we never bore any deep hatred—why ravage my country and kill my disciple? I'll make you pay with your life.'
Doyle's face showed a flicker of despair; with Adolf's death, the Ao Gang Society would have no successor after he himself was gone.