189. The Battle of Calamities
Bang!
In the distant sky, a scarlet lightning bolt tore through, moving at near-light speed. It split the heavens and abruptly changed direction mid-air, descending straight down.
—————————— Boom!
Smoke and dust billowed, quickly dispersing to reveal Li Aozi holding a baby in his arms.
"Hobbs, Lucite!"
The gravitational force swept away the dust as Li Aozi's gaze sharpened.
"…Oh? Isn't this Junior Leoz?"
Remaining Moon slowly turned around, glancing at Li Aozi with surprise.
"I thought you'd hide until the very last moment?"
Saying this, Remaining Moon turned fully, revealing the ground behind him devoid of any figures.
Noticing Li Aozi's gaze fall behind him, Remaining Moon suddenly understood. He reached into his pocket and pulled out four cards:
"I suppose you've come for these, haven't you?"
The setting sun dipped lower, casting Li Aozi's figure into shadow.
Bathed in the bloody remnants of the sunset, Remaining Moon's features appeared even more radiant and dazzling.
"Leoz, as fellow Ascenders on the [Domination] path, I do quite admire you."
Remaining Moon spoke with a hint of mockery. Worried Leoz might not recognize him, he added helpfully:
"I'm Mordot, your senior from the disciplinary squad, remember? This is my true appearance."
Li Aozi said nothing, his gaze growing colder as he held Diaran in the swaddle.
"Your aura… hmm, it seems you've forcibly raised yourself to Zeta-tier somehow? But judging by your appearance and presence, you're still far below me."
Remaining Moon stroked his chin, suddenly struck by a thought. He exclaimed with excitement:
"Come to think of it, we're alike."
"You enjoy infiltrating schools and living the campus life, while I enjoy role-playing."
"Maybe this is a shared hobby among [Domination] path practitioners."
As fellow Zeta-tiers, Remaining Moon spoke to Li Aozi with a modicum of politeness.
"So, what is your objective?" Remaining Moon tilted his head, asking.
Li Aozi remained silent, his expression revealing no emotion.
"…Since you won't answer, I'll pretend I didn't see you."
Remaining Moon shrugged. Behind him, the architecture began to shift and transform. Dimensions compressed and flattened; in an instant, a dark gray, wavelike tower appeared at his back. Remaining Colonized Soldiers phased in from various dimensions, forming neat, imposing rows on either side.
Remaining Moon turned away, waving dismissively:
"Until we meet again, Junior Leoz."
Buzz!
The moment his words fell, the heads of all the Colonized Soldiers simultaneously exploded. Each spine shot like nails into the ground. Even Remaining Moon stumbled, his form flickering out of two-dimensional space as he swiftly retreated.
Turning back, he saw golden rings glowing faintly in his junior's eyes.
"Hey~ hey~ hey~"
Remaining Moon spread his hands wide:
"Leoz, why the need for all this? We're on the same path, share the same hobbies, and possess the same beauty—do we really have to oppose each other?"
"Leave the people," Li Aozi demanded.
"Do you think that's possible?"
Remaining Moon narrowed his eyes.
"Leoz, as a fellow external Omega Energy user, you should understand why I'm here. They're witnesses; how could I possibly let them go?"
"Then let's fight."
Li Aozi spat to the side, sending Diaran into a temporal rift before crossing his arms.
[Dictator Mode Activated]
Remaining Moon laughed:
"Hey! You're not seriously going to start a fight, are you?"
[Never Disobedience]
The faux Colonized Soldiers' heads instantly shattered as temporal ripples spread under Li Aozi's gravitational influence. The earth itself offered up its metals and rocks, forging armor around him. His skin porcelainized, regenerating beneath sharp, angular helmets. Omega Energy rapidly consolidated into silver-white armor that shimmered brightly on Li Aozi's body.
Remaining Moon's gaze sharpened.
Echoing Power tore through dimensional rifts!
In the next moment, Li Aozi surged through the ripple, striking fiercely at Remaining Moon's face.
[Eighty-Two • Bloodline]
Boom—
The air seemed to implode as Remaining Moon, hands still casually in his pockets, leisurely dodged Li Aozi's punch.
To be precise, he didn't dodge—it was unnecessary.
He simply stood still.
At the moment of impact, Remaining Moon descended in dimension to the surface of an air molecule, instantly re-emerging a dimension higher.
For a [Psion] with mastery over Omega Energy, this maneuver was as simple as breathing.
"Too slow, too slow. With mere physical enhancements, even at Omega-tier, how could you match the speed of dimensional traversal?"
Li Aozi's punches were ferocious, each blow creating terrifying shockwaves that left gashes across the earth and the metal hull of the towering structure.
"No matter how strong you are, if you can't hit your opponent, it's meaningless."
On 69BookBar for accurate content!
Remaining Moon's expression remained nonchalant.
"Leoz, give up. Against a dimensional jumper, brute strength is laughable."
It wasn't entirely impossible to fight him physically.
After all, there are only 2.6875×10^19 molecules in a cubic centimeter of air. Simply punching through all of them in an instant would suffice to deal damage.
A simple theory—practical, however?
This couldn't be simpler. Theoretically, all it takes is having hands. If your punching speed is fast enough, it's not impossible to catch him in the instant he activates Omega Energy.
Of course, for someone to achieve that, they'd have to be a seasoned powerhouse—not a newbie barely carrying the title of Zeta-tier.
Li Aozi said nothing, coldly launching his assault, punch after punch, only for every blow to be evaded.
"Why insist on these meaningless actions?" Remaining Moon said earnestly. "We have no real conflict, Leoz. If anything, we're just two classmates and friends."
Li Aozi continued to throw punches, his violet-red eyes expanding like a swirling nebula.
"You should know when to advance and when to retreat, Leoz."
[Seventy-Seven • Calamity]
I curse you… your body will certainly malfunction.
Cursing a Zeta-tier consumed an immense amount of energy. Li Aozi could only rely on the strength and speed provided by [Bloodline] to mask his true intentions.
"Won't listen to me, huh? Leoz, I really admire you. You're calm, clever, pragmatic, and efficient. Given time, you might surpass me. No, it's inevitable that you'll surpass me. So why are you throwing your future away here?"
A typical [Psion] focuses on one or two types of Omega Energy. Judging by Remaining Moon's performance and reaction, he clearly hadn't mastered [Physical Enhancement] or other body-strengthening abilities.
Gravitational manipulation couldn't operate finely enough on a molecular level to yank him out directly. In that case, the solution was simple—keep punching.
—You will make a mistake.
Li Aozi swung another punch, tearing through the vacuum.
"Why don't you understand? Can't you act like your name—like Leoz—and learn when to advance and when to retreat?"
Remaining Moon sighed.
"If you keep this up, I might just retaliate."
—And when you make a mistake, you'll pay the price.
Ding.
Just as Remaining Moon prepared to activate Omega Energy, his heart skipped half a beat.
'What's going on? The interaction nerves in this Colonized Soldier body are lagging?'
Perhaps it had gone too long without maintenance. After all, this body had been in deep cover for three years. A slight malfunction, even with a million-to-one probability, wasn't impossible.
But with such a dominant advantage, even if there were issues, it wouldn't matter—
Bang!
In that split-second delay, Li Aozi closed the gap, landing a precise punch squarely on Remaining Moon's face.
Remaining Moon's body was instantly sent flying backward, but Li Aozi wasn't about to let him go that easily.
[Sequence Ninth • Gravity]
Gravitational Suppression.
Li Aozi raised his hand and shouted, his voice commanding:
"Remaining Moon the Outlaw, kneel before me!"