Under Lin Zhan’s urging, Zhang Haoran managed to pilot the Dharma boat with the fervor of a speed boat, charging towards the opposite bank shrouded in a cloud of black smoke.
In Lin Zhan’s words: "How many crystal cores is your Dharma boat worth? A small Dharma boat from the Celestial Master’s Mansion costs at most one mid-grade platinum crystal core, and that’s the selling price. But this deal with Adam is worth at least five lord-class initial stage crystal cores. You, Zhang Haoran, are not bad at calculations. Poverty is not your fault, but being stupid is. If you can’t even grasp an opportunity to get rich, you deserve to eat a meager meal."
His eyes reddened from the lecture, Zhang Haoran now risked his life. What Dharma boat? He would buy as many as he wanted once he had the money.
With a deafening “Clang,” they successfully landed, and Zhang Haoran’s Dharma boat completely disintegrated.
“Ying Xuan, Zhang Haoran, lead the team to ambush nearby. Zhang Cong, prepare to go into the water. Bai Zhanlong, Xiao Hanyi, be ready to support Zhang Cong at any time. He Dazhuang, you guys keep an eye on Baldy.” Lin Zhan quickly assigned tasks to everyone.
Led by Leng Shan, Lin Zhan arrived at a high ground by the riverbank. It was more of a small hill about ten meters high than a true highland.
Lin Zhan summoned Xiao Jin and Xiao Hei and asked, “Can your Xuanwu Cannons control their power to initial-stage platinum? Don’t blow that Adam to death.”
“No problem, boss. My and Hei Zi’s Xuanwu Cannons now have a maximum power equivalent to a full-strength platinum high-stage attack. Controlling it to initial-stage platinum is a piece of cake,” Xiao Jin boasted.
“Old Leng, have the little darlings track them and attack them about a hundred meters from the riverbank.”
Adam Thor, accompanied by two teammates, sped towards the opposite bank in a speed boat.
“Adam, I suddenly have a bad feeling. We need to be careful,” said Avril, the vice-captain of the American team.
“You’re just overthinking it. If the Chinese dare to attack, I’ll make them taste hell,” said a cloaked youth who resembled a skeleton. Besides Adam and Avril, this youth, who was unknown in the data, was the third member of the American team.
The youth’s name was Blaze, a mixed-race descendant of a Death Knight from the Undead race and an American.
In this regard, the American Special Zone was indeed formidable, capable of having children with the undead. It was unclear how this was achieved, but it was worthy of a nation adept at interbreeding, regardless of whether they were human or living, as long as they could interbreed.
“Blaze, China is a magical nation. Put away your arrogance. Avril is right; Succubi have a stronger sense of danger than we do,” Adam said, displeased with Blaze’s overconfidence.
As Adam approached the shore, he took out a replica of Thor’s Hammer and activated his Asgardian armor.
While Adam was preparing his defenses, a two-meter-diameter sphere of water, enveloped in lightning, hurtled towards them. It was the Xuanwu Cannon, Xiao Jin and Xiao Hei’s combined skill.
The three of them each deployed their defensive measures. Blaze transformed into a flaming skeleton. However, this fool didn’t realize he was on the water and still dared to ignite himself, making his situation even worse.
Avril’s Succubus bloodline relied on mental allure for survival, and her physical defense was not strong. When the Xuanwu Cannon struck the boat, she was instantly reduced to a charred corpse by the violent lightning.
Blaze, engulfed in flames, appeared powerful. However, the combination of the Xuanwu Cannon’s lightning and water elements caused him to explode into pieces, becoming several flaming bone fragments that scattered and fell into the river, emitting a puff of smoke.
Since Adam had activated all his defenses early on, he was not fatally wounded. He was merely knocked unconscious by the immense impact and fell into the water.
“Holy cow, Old Lin Black really has cannons, and they hit!” Ying Xuan exclaimed as the American speedboat was blown to smithereens.
“Don’t be surprised. Old Zhang, hurry up and go into the water to see if there are any survivors. Old Leng, release the hounds, everyone else on alert. Those with ranged attacks, be ready. Eliminate everyone except Adam.” Lin Zhan shouted at everyone.
After speaking, he mounted Xiao Hei and, with Xiao Jin, swam towards the shattered speedboat.
Seeing the signal from Zhang Cong, Xiao Jin quickly dived down. Before long, it emerged, dragging two human bodies with its tail, back to the shore.
Lin Zhan quickly examined them and found one was a charred corpse, and the other was the unconscious Adam Thor. Zhang Cong also swam back, holding a few bones in his hand.
“Old Lin, look, these bones are from that guy who was on fire. They are clearly not human,” Zhang Cong said, handing the bones to Lin Zhan.
“Zhang Haoran, come and take a look.” Lin Zhan called everyone over and handed the bones to Zhang Haoran.
“Old Lin, this is the bloodline of hell. These bones themselves carry the aura of the undead. But these guys can also research. How did they manage to have such offspring with a skeleton?” Zhang Haoran, a direct descendant of the orthodox Celestial Master’s Mansion, was highly sensitive to hell, demons, and the undead, as Taoists had always dealt with subjugating demons, expelling ghosts, and suppressing zombies since ancient times.
“You guys tie up Adam. Don’t kill him. He’ll fetch a good price if we keep him alive.”
“Done. Leave this job to us.” He Dazhuang volunteered, gathering his brothers and Zhang Haoqing and his fellow disciples.
“This should be Avril, the vice-captain of the American team, right? Old Zhang, why did you retrieve her too?” Lin Zhan and the others looked at the charred Avril.
“Zhang Cong was right to bring her up. Avril is not a pure human either; she carries the aura of the demon race. What kind of nation is this America? Why aren’t they picky at all, getting involved with everything?” Zhang Haoran, being from the Celestial Master’s Mansion, was particularly sensitive to non-human races like those from hell, demons, and the undead. After all, Taoists had always been involved in subduing demons, hunting ghosts, and suppressing zombies.
“Never mind the research. You can put this corpse away too. Let the seniors of the Celestial Master’s Mansion have a look when we get back. What is the situation in this American Special Zone now? How are so many wild beasts appearing? We should report this to the higher authorities when we return, lest they cause any trouble,” Lin Zhan said to Zhang Haoran.
“Old Lin, Adam is awake. Come and see,” He Dazhuang called out to Lin Zhan.
Lin Zhan and the others walked towards Adam Thor upon hearing this and were shocked by his appearance. “Old He, is this your handiwork? He’s a person; what did you tie him up as?”
Adam’s hands and feet were tied separately, bound several times with the sinews of a platinum-level fierce beast. His mouth was gagged with a round object attached to a rope, and over a dozen lightning talismans were stuck to him. A large wooden pole was passed through the ropes binding his hands and feet, carried by Wang Er Zhuang and Meng Gang.
“What’s with all these knots? Back when I was outside the Great Wall, my eighth uncle and I used to tie up wild boars like this. Even a 600-pound wild boar couldn’t escape, let alone Adam. Zhang Haoqing also pasted over ten lightning talismans. If he dared to run, he would be blown to pieces without even a whole corpse,” He Dazhuang proudly explained to everyone.