25: fail

"Bzzzz—!!!"

A visible, air-distorting blue-white electromagnetic pulse ring erupted violently from White Star's Frontal Boss! This wasn't a diffuse interference, but a highly concentrated energy burst with physical impact properties!

Lu Jianchuan had no time to make any effective evasion before the devastating pulse wave, like an invisible heavy hammer, slammed squarely into his chest armor and helmet!

"Bang—Crack!"

He felt as if he'd been hit head-on by a speeding high-speed train. The terrifying impact instantly tore at his body, while the energy circuits on the armor's surface emitted an unbearable, glass-shattering screech. He was flung uncontrollably backward like a stone hurled with force, crossing over a dozen meters before his back smashed hard against the wall of a rusted container!

"Clang—!!!"

The massive impact sound echoed endlessly. The thick container wall was dented into a clear human-shaped crater by the force, with the metal at the edges twisted and torn.

Lu Jianchuan grunted, a sweet, metallic taste rising in his throat before he forced it back down. His internal organs felt displaced, and the violent shock made his vision darken intermittently. He struggled to stand immediately but found the energy transmission in the armor's limbs had become abnormally sluggish. The azure glow of his visor flickered intensely, dimming and brightening unpredictably, as if it might extinguish at any moment.

White Star let out an ear-splitting roar mixed with pain and release. Its massive body no longer hesitated, its limbs moving like an out-of-control heavy tank as it charged toward Lu Jianchuan, who had temporarily lost mobility, intent on crushing this final obstacle! The ground groaned under its weight.

The shadow of death loomed.

Lu Jianchuan's vision was blurred by pain and shock, but his survival instinct and the responsibility he bore forced his brain into overdrive. His gaze swept rapidly over his surroundings, landing on a pile of heavy steel beams covered in dust and rust. The memory of that unexpected incident in the training ground flashed through his mind—Molten Iron!

No time to hesitate!

Gritting his teeth against the burning pain in his chest, he raised his left hand and pressed it firmly against the cold, rough surface of a steel beam! His consciousness, wound tight like a spring, desperately urged the armor's core to convert all remaining energy, along with the sliver that had just recovered, into a violent high-frequency oscillating current, concentrating it in his palm!

"Sizzle—Sizzle—!!!"

Not dazzling electric sparks, but a deeper, more dangerous dark red light erupted from the point of contact between his palm and the steel beam!

Under the influence of this energy that surpassed conventional limits, the hard steel visibly darkened, softened, and bubbled with boiling molten metal on its surface, eventually melting into a scorching, viscous, orange-red Molten Iron that radiated destructive heat! Pungent metallic steam filled the air.

Lu Jianchuan let out a low roar. The armor on his left arm seemed to transform into a greedy living entity, generating a powerful, precise suction force that, like a sponge absorbing water, frantically drew and fused the scalding Molten Iron onto his forearm, shoulder armor, and part of his chest armor!

The process was swift and intense. The dark red metallic liquid flowed rapidly over the silver-white biomaterial armor, covering it to form a rough, thick, dark composite armor covered in condensation ripples, yet radiating oppressive heat! The surrounding air was distorted by the high temperature.

At that moment, White Star had already charged to his front. Its claws, capable of shattering concrete, descended toward his head with a stench of death and a gust of foul wind!

No way to dodge! A flash of ferocity crossed Lu Jianchuan's eyes. His left arm, covered in the searing metal layer, didn't retreat but instead advanced, like a red-hot giant blade, blocking upward from below!

"Clang—!!! Sizzle————!!!"

First came the heavy impact of claws against the high-temperature metal layer, followed immediately by a scalp-tingling, intense reaction sound like a red-hot branding iron searing raw flesh! "Sizzle" sounds echoed as green smoke instantly billowed!

"Oww—!!!"

White Star let out its most piercing, agonized howl since the battle began! Its thick hide, capable of defending against small-caliber bullets, lost most of its effectiveness against this close-range, sustained high-temperature conduction!

The terrifying burning pain shot through its forelimb like an electric current. It jerked its claw back as if shocked, seeing the claw tips and contact areas of its hide charred black, even exposing the red tissue beneath, emitting a strong, scorched smell!

Effective! It really worked!

A surge of intense exhilaration dispelled the severe pain in his body. Lu Jianchuan was about to seize the momentum to counterattack and expand the high-temperature Domain further.

But White Star's survival wisdom and combat instincts far exceeded his expectations. The intense pain didn't make it retreat; instead, it triggered a calmer response.

It didn't continue to clash head-on with the high temperature that countered it. Instead, it leaped backward abruptly, its thick, pillar-like forelimbs striking the turbid, stagnant water puddle it had previously inhabited with immense force!

"Boom—Splash!!!"

Like detonating a naval mine, a massive amount of foul, murky water was thrown up by the terrifying force, forming a nearly vertical, several-meter-wide thick wall of water that crashed down on Lu Jianchuan from head to toe, leaving no angle uncovered!

The water wave impacted Lu Jianchuan's high-temperature armor, instantly erupting into a dense cloud of white steam that swallowed him whole! The "sizzle" cooling sounds were as dense as rain pounding on a tin roof!

The searing metal armor was frantically washed by the cold water, its temperature plummeting. The dark red glow on its surface rapidly extinguished, replaced by a layer of dull, fragile, and unusually heavy oxidized crust.

His originally agile left arm now felt as if shackled with heavy chains, its movements becoming sluggish. Worse, the drastic temperature change placed a significant burden on the armor's own biomaterial structure, transmitting subtle, unsettling sensations of strain.

The dense steam hadn't fully dissipated yet, and visibility remained blurred.

Lu Jianchuan knelt on one knee, the metal oxidized crust on his left arm heavy and fragile. His entire body ached as if his bones were falling apart, the energy circuits inside the armor in disarray. The azure glow of his visor flickered urgently, like a candle in the wind.

At that moment, the massive shadow on the other side of the steam moved!

White Star clearly had no intention of giving him any breathing room. Its limbs pushed off the ground violently, its massive body bursting with an astonishing initial speed that belied its size. Like an out-of-control heavy tank, it lowered its head, aiming its mutated, incredibly hard Frontal Boss covered in thick bone at Lu Jianchuan, and launched a brutal, savage charge! This was the purest, most barbaric force of crushing power!

Lu Jianchuan's pupils contracted sharply. He wanted to dodge, but his severely injured body and sluggish armor response were a step too slow! He could only barely cross his arms in front of his chest, pouring all remaining energy into defense.

"Boom—!!!"

It was like being hit head-on by a small mountain!

The terrifying impact instantly shattered his barely maintained defensive posture. He clearly heard the sound of his arm armor cracking under the strain and the muffled noise of his bones feeling misaligned inside. He was sent flying through the air like a kite with its string cut, smashing hard into a pile of discarded metal parts behind him with a clattering crash, completely buried within.

"Ugh... Gah..."

A mouthful of blood finally couldn't be held back, spraying out and staining the inside of his helmet. The intense pain and excessive energy depletion caused the armband on his left wrist to emit a piercing alarm beep. The silver-white biomaterial armor could no longer maintain its form, shattering and disintegrating into countless points of light like a sand sculpture weathering away, dissipating into the air.

Lu Jianchuan reverted to human form, collapsed in the cold metal wreckage, his body wracked with pain and almost immobile, only heavy breaths remaining. He watched as White Star slowly emerged from the steam in the distance, its eyes gleaming with even fiercer malice as it approached step by step. A sense of helplessness welled up in his heart.

Is this the end...