The fat man rose shakily to his feet.
"Hey, hey, hey—uncle, you don't have to be this persistent." Exusiai spread her hands. "At the end of the day, I'm just following my boss's orders. If you've got a grudge, take it up with him. Why are you picking a fight with a wage slave like me…? Hm? Why are you pulling me?"
She turned back, looking at Lin Ji with genuine confusion.
"And why haven't you left yet? Aren't you afraid you'll get dragged into trouble?"
The corner of Lin Ji's mouth twitched. "You already dragged the trouble to me."
From Lin Ji's perspective, the thing standing up from the ground wasn't a clumsy fat man at all.
It was a monster—its entire body wrapped in muck, radiating a palpable sense of danger.
But Exusiai couldn't see that at all. So she assumed Lin Ji was just complaining about the fat man himself, and casually waved a hand.
"Relax. He's here for me, not you. You can go."
I doubt that, Lin Ji thought.
He knew it would be hard to explain anything to Exusiai right now, so he quietly backed off to the side, ready to observe and react.
Seeing he still wasn't leaving, Exusiai couldn't help snarking, "You weirdo—do you just love watching drama…? Hm?"
Something felt off.
Her eyes shifted back to the fat man.
"Sir… you didn't smash your head when you fell, did you?"
Even if she couldn't see the black sludge directly, the fat man's abnormality was obvious: hunched posture, twisted neck, lips stretched into a grotesque grin. Thick saliva leaked between his teeth, and the sound coming from his throat was no longer human—more like a beast's rasping snarl.
"What's wrong with you?" Exusiai frowned. "What did you take—some kind of drug?"
The fat man didn't answer.
He charged straight at her.
In truth, his target was Lin Ji behind her, but Exusiai didn't know that. All she saw was the fat man suddenly bursting out with an inhuman speed, and her heart jolted.
In an instant, his thick palm slapped toward her head.
Exusiai reacted fast. She dropped her body and dodged cleanly.
Whoosh—
A few strands of red hair were sheared off in the wind of the strike. But immediately afterward came the crisp, familiar click of rounds being chambered.
A compact submachine gun was already in her hands—smooth, practiced, all in one motion.
"You swung first." She aimed and squeezed the trigger at his thigh. "Then don't blame me. Stay down!"
Muzzle flashes spat.
Several rounds slammed into the fat man's leg at the same time.
So cool…
Lin Ji, lurking at the side, couldn't stop himself from admiring it.
He'd underestimated her—she looked harmless, but she could move. No wonder she was a named character.
So… could she take this thing down?
A dull, heavy thump answered him.
A massive force hurled Exusiai backward. She barely managed to spin herself midair twice, then stumbled on landing—awkward and unsteady.
…Okay. Maybe not.
"What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Exusiai bared her teeth, shaking her right hand like it had gone numb from pain.
The fat man had abruptly driven a knee up; she'd blocked with her hand, and that single block had sent her flying. Her hand nearly snapped.
It made no sense.
Where did that brute strength come from?
And more importantly—the leg he'd attacked with was the very same leg she'd just shot. Even with non-lethal rounds, at this distance the impact should've been enough to shatter bone.
Yet he moved like nothing had happened.
Absurd.
No choice then.
Wind's up—time to retreat.
Exusiai had good survival instincts: if you can't win the fight, you don't fight it. She could always call people to deal with him later.
But just as she prepared to bolt, her peripheral vision caught Lin Ji skulking nearby.
She froze for a split second, then almost lost her composure.
"Why are you STILL here?!"
"BOOM!"
The fat man moved—launching forward like a heavy artillery shell.
Damn it, I got distracted!
Exusiai instinctively prepared to dodge… only to realize the fat man wasn't going for her at all.
He was going for Lin Ji—the spectator in the corner.
What?!
Exusiai's mind blanked.
And from Lin Ji's side, it was even worse.
Oh, come on—still me?!
The reason he hadn't run was twofold:
One, he was worried Exusiai might get into real trouble.
Two, he knew this thing would find him wherever he fled—so he might as well stay and see if Exusiai could handle it.
Turns out… she couldn't.
Which made things even more catastrophic.
Even without possession, Lin Ji couldn't beat that fat man. Now that the thing had boosted him, there was no universe where Lin Ji stood a chance.
In the blink of an eye, the fat man was right in front of him, both hands raised high—ready to smash Lin Ji into paste.
That was when gunfire rang out again.
Blood mist burst from the fat man's body, slowing him down—just a fraction.
A red figure flashed to Lin Ji's side.
Exusiai grabbed him by the collar.
"BOOM!"
When the fat man's fists crashed down, the two of them were already several meters away.
Lin Ji, being dragged along by his collar at full sprint, yelped, "Thank you, heroic lady, for saving my life!"
"Save you, my ass!" Exusiai gritted out. "I ate one piece of your pie—ONE—and you're trying to get me killed?!"
"Uh… this is an accident."
"Like I care!" Exusiai snapped. "When we hit the alley mouth, you run left, I run right! And we never meet again in this lifetime!"
"Isn't that… kind of bad?"
"What is wrong with you NOW?!"
"I just think…" Lin Ji lowered his gaze to her right leg. "You… probably can't run anymore."
Her right leg was soaked with blood. She must've been clipped earlier when saving him—now she was limping as she ran.
"That's because of you—…!" Exusiai's voice spiked. "What are you doing?!"
Lin Ji had lifted her—one arm under her knees, the other around her waist.
"Don't be stupid!" she yelled. "Like this, neither of us will get away!"
Lin Ji knew that.
He could already hear the fat man's footfalls pounding closer like rolling thunder.
"I know!" he said fast. "That's why—if we want to live, there's only one way."
"What way?!"
"We fuse."
Exusiai's eyes blew wide. "Are you insane?! At a time like this you still want to get into my—AH!"
Pain flared in her backside.
Because Lin Ji had pinched her—hard.
"Shut up and listen!" he roared. "I don't want to screw you! I mean fusion! I mean transform! Do you understand?!"
"Who the hell would understand that, you idiot?!"
Lin Ji ducked suddenly.
A gust of wind skimmed his forehead—then a deafening crash. A fist pulverized the wall beside him, stones blasting outward.
A shard sliced his cheek open.
Blood poured down his face.
No time.
The next punch would be his head.
"Just trust me!" Lin Ji said.
His face was almost pressed against Exusiai's.
They could both feel each other's breath.
"Don't resist. Don't reject me." He stared into her orange eyes, enunciating each word. "Leave it to me."
Exusiai still didn't understand what he was planning, but behind them the fat man had already swung his arm back for another punch.
She had no choice.
She clung to Lin Ji tightly.
"I don't care what you're doing—just DO IT, NOWWW!"
In that instant, Lin Ji heard a prompt ring out in his mind:
"Match complete."
It was time.
He whispered, "Transform."
Then—
He "pressed" Exusiai into his body.
Seconds passed.
BOOM!
The fat man flew backward as if struck by a cannon, slamming into a wall so hard that spiderweb cracks exploded across the surface.
Dust roared into the air.
And as it settled, a red-and-white figure slowly emerged from within.
Transformation…
Successful.
-------
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