330: Suddenly appeared

Shen Mingyuan and Lin Xun drove to the vicinity of the Evergreen Group building.

Centering their search on this newly cordoned-off skyscraper, the two began searching the surrounding blocks while simultaneously retrieving and reviewing surveillance footage from nearby roads. They focused on screening for anyone injured or behaving abnormally who might have left the building's direction on the night of the incident.

"Our goal is to find anyone who may have come into contact or been infected, even if it's just a suspicion," Shen Mingyuan said to Lin Xun as he observed the street conditions.

"Once discovered, find a way to bring them back to the base for comprehensive blood and genetic testing without causing panic. It's better to over-check than to let one slip through."

Lin Xun nodded in agreement. "Understood. We'll start with the surveillance and neighborhood inquiries."

However, their screening plan had only just begun when an accident occurred unexpectedly.

Just as the two walked onto a relatively quiet side road, terrified screams and the sound of chaotic running suddenly erupted from not far ahead!

Two figures, slightly hunched but moving with exceptional speed, rushed out of an alleyway. Their bodies were covered in coarse, incompletely formed keratinous scales, their faces were distorted, and non-human roars escaped their throats—

They were Dinosaur Persons! Judging by where they appeared and their slightly staggering yet aggressive posture, it was highly likely they were recently infected individuals undergoing transformation!

These two Dinosaur Persons seemed to have completely lost their sanity, their eyes filled only with a destructive desire for fresh life and some twisted 'transmission' instinct. They lunged straight at several pedestrians who were paralyzed with fear by the roadside.

"It looks like we don't need to search slowly anymore," Shen Mingyuan's eyes sharpened as he made an instant decision. "The infected have jumped out on their own! Lin Xun, go! Stop them, and try not to let them touch anyone else!"

"Right!"

Before his voice faded, Shen Mingyuan had already charged forward, shouting low, "Transform!" The shadow armor instantly covered his entire body. At the same time, he swiped his hands across his waist, and his signature "twin stars" firearms were already in his grip, their dark muzzles pointing straight at the targets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Shen Mingyuan raised his hand and fired a series of precise shots. Specially made non-lethal concussive rounds or high-energy bullets whistled through the air, intended not to kill, but to block and draw attention.

The bullets hit the Dinosaur Persons, bursting into halos of light or gouging into their scales. Stung by the pain, the Dinosaur Persons immediately turned their crimson gazes toward this sudden black armor.

Meanwhile, Lin Xun also moved. He unhesitatingly pressed the activation button on his GUPA-standard armband. Simultaneously, the Suppressors on his neck and limbs lit up with a faint blue light, seemingly adjusting their power output.

"Ugh—!" A suppressed low growl escaped his throat. Visibly, a set of armor "grew" out from within his body! This was different from the initial bulky giant beast form or the later slender High-speed Form.

The new armor displayed a color scheme of interwoven black and white, with lines that were smooth yet solid, balancing protection and flexibility. While not as thin as the High-speed Form, it was by no means bulky.

The generation of the armor burst through his outer layer of ordinary clothing, but there seemed to be a special elastic lining underneath. The entire process was fast and stable, clearly much more controllable than the previous two forms.

Having completed his transformation, Lin Xun's speed exploded. Though he didn't reach the near-teleportation extreme of before, his agility and reaction speed far exceeded those of ordinary people. He sprinted like a cheetah, instantly entering the battlefield and delivering a powerful side kick aimed straight at the waist of one Dinosaur Person trying to pounce on a civilian!

The Dinosaur Person reacted quickly, roaring as it turned to block with its thick arms.

Thud!

In the dull sound of impact, Lin Xun's kick was blocked, but he used the counterforce to land lightly. He immediately used dazzling footwork to circle to the Dinosaur Person's side, his punches and kicks falling like raindrops, specifically targeting joints and soft ribs, firmly entangling the target.

His combat style was fluid and precise, often allowing him to avoid bites and claw strikes by a hair's breadth and respond with even faster counterattacks. The new armor form granted him excellent reaction speed and physical coordination.

The Dinosaur Person entangled by Lin Xun was furious, several times trying to break past him to attack Shen Mingyuan or the civilians behind, but its rhythm was always interrupted by Lin Xun's faster movement and tricky attacks.

Meanwhile, Shen Mingyuan moved with ease on the perimeter, his twin guns firing continuously. His bullets accurately struck the other Dinosaur Person trying to bypass Lin Xun, forcing it back, while also providing fire support whenever Lin Xun needed it to break the opponent's fierce assault.

With one close and one far, the two coordinated with surprising tacit understanding despite it being their first time, successfully suppressing the two suddenly appearing Dinosaur Persons in the center of the battlefield and preventing them from spreading further harm.

"What should we do? We can't use lethal force, right? They might still be..." Lin Xun asked urgently while evading the Dinosaur Person's bites with high-speed movement. His attacks mainly consisted of joint locks and precision strikes, aimed at paralyzing the opponent's movement rather than being fatal.

Shen Mingyuan, continuing his suppressive fire from a distance, replied:

"Infected to this degree, even their basic form has changed. The hope of reversal... unless there's technology on the level of Ultraman's cell conversion beam. If all else fails, why don't you go buy a Tiga Ultraman doll and try believing in the light?"

His tone was calm. "The primary goal now is to subdue them. Moreover, the fact that two ran out suggests there's likely more than one source of infection, or... there's a 'The Mother' further upstream continuously spreading it."

Just as he finished speaking, an extremely faint sound, different from ordinary vibrations, came from the ground beneath his feet. Simultaneously, in the shadow armor's super-sensing mode, a fast-moving heat source underground suddenly became clear! Shen Mingyuan exerted force in his legs and leaped toward the side and upward without hesitation!

Almost the instant he left the ground, a third Dinosaur Person burst through the loose pavement stones, roaring and drilling out with soil, its sharp claws narrowly grazing the soles of his feet.

"There's more?!" Shen Mingyuan landed, his heart sinking. "Just how many people have been infected? If it was only the individuals who fell that night and didn't die immediately, at most only one or two eyewitnesses or rescuers would be infected... unless those who were infected actively went to infect others during or after their mutation... Oh no!"

In the split second he was analyzing the situation, the decorative relief on the wall behind him suddenly shattered! A fourth Dinosaur Person had been hiding there all along. It now lunged out, its thick arms firmly grabbing the gaps in the shoulder armor of Shen Mingyuan. With immense strength, it swung him up and slammed him hard toward the ground!

"Senior!" Lin Xun cried out.

"Ugh—!" Shen Mingyuan's back hit the ground heavily. The violent shock, even with the armor's buffering, made his vision go dark, and he groaned in pain.

In the moment of crisis, Shen Mingyuan's consciousness remained incredibly clear. With a sharp turn of thought, his armor form switched instantly! A pair of powerful bionic wings suddenly unfurled from his back, their feathers showing distinct layers of "five-colored black," shimmering with shades of deep blue, dark purple, and forest green under the light—Falcon Dive Form!

Simultaneously, the "twin stars" firearms in his hands instantly disassembled, reorganized, and transformed, turning into two long, slender dark-red biological arm-blades extending from the back of his hand armor. The energy circuits in the center of the blades lit up, and dangerous red-black electrical sparks danced along the edges. This was his strongest melee armament in aerial form.

Using the buffer and extra thrust from the unfurling wings, Shen Mingyuan slightly bled off the force before being slammed flat and performed a backward flip, crossing his arm-blades in front of him.

The ambushing Dinosaur Person pounced again, claws swinging down! Shen Mingyuan didn't take it head-on; instead, he gave his wings a powerful beat, using the hard and highly resilient side of the wings like a shield to block the attack!

Thud! In the muffled sound of the collision, Shen Mingyuan's figure swayed slightly, but the wings firmly blocked the attack. He took the opportunity to exert force, the muscles in his wings bulging as he forced an opening in the Dinosaur Person's guard. Immediately after, he stepped forward and slashed with both arms!

Slash! Slash!

The arm-blades, carrying red-black electricity, slashed hard across the Dinosaur Person's chest and abdomen, leaving two charred deep gashes. The electricity surged into its body, causing a fit of convulsive spasms.

Shen Mingyuan didn't stop for a second, twisting his body to swing a blade and parry the claw strike of another pouncing Dinosaur Person, the blade and claws grinding together with a piercing screech and sparks.

On the other side, Lin Xun faced a sudden increase in pressure from the pincer attack of two Dinosaur Persons. Strength was not the forte of his new form, but he pushed his agility and reactions to the limit. He made full use of the obstacles in the narrow street, dodging and weaving like a slippery fish. Seeing an opportunity, he feigned a slip, baiting one Dinosaur Person into lunging at empty air, then his body sprang up like a compressed spring. He executed a perilous "Sacrificial Flying Kick," legs together, concentrating his entire weight and kinetic energy into his soles, slamming them hard into the side of the other Dinosaur Person's neck!

Thud! The neck of the kicked Dinosaur Person made a tooth-aching sound as it staggered into a wall. Lin Xun didn't stop after landing. Relying on his ultra-fast reactions, before the first Dinosaur Person could turn and grab him, he had already ducked under its arm and delivered a backhanded elbow strike to its lower back.

The battle on Shen Mingyuan's side broke through first. He caught a gap and precisely stabbed his left arm-blade into the relatively weak scale gap on the side of the Dinosaur Person's waist. The red-black biological electricity on the blade surged violently through the edge!

Sizzle—!!

The violent electric shock caused the Dinosaur Person's entire body to twitch violently. It let out a short wail, the fierce light in its eyes quickly dissipating as it collapsed like a falling tower, white foam spilling from its mouth and nose, completely unconscious.

Almost at the same time, the claws of another Dinosaur Person reached him from behind. Without looking back, Shen Mingyuan suddenly swung his massive wings to the side, taking the blow like a shield with a dull thud. Then, putting his waist into it, the powerful muscles at the base of his wings instantly contracted and then expanded, driving the entire wing to swing back like a giant hammer!

Bang!

The heavy wing-strike slammed solidly into the Dinosaur Person's chest, knocking it off the ground and flying backward, where it hit a roadside fire hydrant hard. Not waiting for the opponent to get up, Shen Mingyuan beat his wings, his figure charging forward like an arrow from a bow. Using the speed of the dive, his crossed dark-red arm-blades carved two sharp arcs of light!

Ripping sound—!

Two more deep, bone-deep cross-shaped wounds appeared on the Dinosaur Person's chest, the smell of charring filling the air. Shen Mingyuan's footsteps didn't stop; with a swift slide, he circled behind it, and his right arm-blade stabbed mercilessly from below the shoulder blade, piercing through the chest cavity! The violent electricity erupted again, and this Dinosaur Person also lost consciousness after a fit of intense trembling.

Having dealt with his two opponents, Shen Mingyuan immediately looked over to Lin Xun's side. He saw Lin Xun still contending with two Dinosaur Persons. His movements were still agile, making the enemy's attacks miss repeatedly, but his attack power was indeed insufficient to cause decisive damage to the thick-skinned Dinosaur Persons. Multiple hits only left shallow marks. Instead, his own breathing had clearly become heavy, and his physical exertion was immense.

Shen Mingyuan didn't hesitate. With a beat of his wings, he glided directly onto the roof of a three-story shop nearby. After a brief aim, he dove down from the height toward one of the Dinosaur Persons whose back was turned to him! The acceleration granted by the Falcon Dive Form turned him into a blurred black shadow, with twin blades in front, like a bird of prey hunting!

Puchi!

The twin blades accurately pierced into both shoulders of this Dinosaur Person simultaneously! The massive impact carried it forward, slamming it down. Shen Mingyuan took the opportunity to increase the electrical output, and the Dinosaur Person collapsed before it could even scream.

Seeing this, the last Dinosaur Person roared and turned to pounce on the newly landed Shen Mingyuan, attempting to attack his seemingly undefended back.

But Lin Xun, who had been waiting for an opening, seized this fleeting opportunity. He took a deep breath, pushing his remaining stamina and speed to the limit, and once again performed that perilous "Sacrificial Flying Kick," his entire body like a cannonball as he kicked horizontally into the Dinosaur Person's knee joint!

Crack! A clear sound of bone fracturing rang out, and the Dinosaur Person lost its balance, kneeling forward.

Shen Mingyuan turned in a well-timed move, his arm-blades on the left and right piercing into the sides of its chest and abdomen like a pair of scissors. The final surge of powerful electricity completely ended its resistance.

On the street, four unconscious Dinosaur Persons lay scattered about, the air filled with the smell of charring and a faint fishy scent. The battle had temporarily come to an end.

Shen Mingyuan deactivated his arm-blades, panting slightly. Lin Xun also knelt on one knee, sweat dripping from his forehead, clearly having exhausted himself greatly.