Superhumans of the Dome City

Minutes ago, near the sewage pool.

Gongsun Ce retreated downwards due to the stormy exchange of blows, while the masked woman relentlessly pursued him, slashing at his vital points with her longsword. There was little emotion in her voice, yet it carried an undeniable determination.

"Even if I have to sever your limbs, I will make you give up."

She was serious.

The conviction in each of her moves left no room for doubt; this woman truly intended to maim him to the point where he could no longer fight. To reach such lengths was far from protective. It was akin to breaking a child's legs in advance to prevent them from drowning while swimming or blinding a driver to avert a car accident; violence intertwined with action, resulting in such ludicrous outcomes.

This was not a kindness any normal person could comprehend, as it was fundamentally filled with an insane veer from the start. To this unusual martial artist, negotiation was never an option. So, so...

"Since you're so determined, Miss Expert..."

Gongsun Ce squinted his eyes, focusing on the mask that kept drawing closer.

"Mr. Gongsun here will have to get serious too."

In an instant, violent winds erupted within the sewage treatment plant! Exceedingly rapid movements whipped up a tempest, stirring up a whirlwind of dust and debris close to the ground. Gongsun Ce disappeared without a trace, but the woman with the longsword caught his movement: the superpower user increased his telekinesis output drastically, "slamming" himself to the side!

"You—"

The woman with the longsword quickly withdrew her attack and jumped back to evade with one hand on the ground. In the moment her gaze shifted, she caught sight of the gray-haired youth in the air. Gongsun Ce, wiping the blood from his lips, spoke nonchalantly:

"What's so surprising? Just injuring oneself a little, I wouldn't care."

Treating his body as an object and his flesh as a weapon to be expended, such a brute method of combat naturally had an immediate effect, but it would surely harm the fighter himself. But this man didn't care, he was indifferent, and just like his opponent with the longsword, this superpower user was also an aberration, deviating from common sense!

"I indeed haven't fought seriously in a while. Make a dramatic move and my body creaks, feels like it's about to fall apart. You're right, at this level, participating in events just doesn't work..."

Gongsun Ce moved his neck a little, raining down countless telekinetic missiles, binding the martial artist's movements. He also released a sturdy white substance in front of his body, which under his will, kept forming, extending, and even temporarily obscured the vision of the woman with the longsword...

That was a white substance dome about a hundred meters in radius!

"Are you ready, Miss Expert?" Gongsun Ce punched the top of the white dome, "Here I come!"

Under his punch, the white dome shattered into thousands of sharp fragments, which propelled by telekinesis, shot towards the ground like a meteor shower, creating a wave of destruction. Gongsun Ce knew how agile his opponent was; he gave up precise strikes and instead opted to restrict her movements with a wide-range barrage!

The white substance rain seemed chaotic, yet was precisely controlled with the aid of telekinesis. The woman with the longsword made a decision on the spot. She used her swift pursuit speed to move out of the attack zone and used her strange ability to affect the air for assistance. Black walls of air formed by her side, these makeshift barriers could only withstand the barrage of white shards for a moment, yet, in what seemed like an insignificant duration to a common person, to a highly skilled martial artist, it became a precious "opportunity."

Her longsword transformed, its blade morphing from metal-like hardness to water-like clarity, reforming under her deft control into a liquid state, reshaped and divided, instantly turning into a longbow and a black arrow. The woman with the longsword leapt lightly, crossing the extensive reach of the attack, turning mid-air to draw the bow. The bowstring twanged softly, the black arrow disappeared from sight, carrying the force to split mountains and rocks!

"Shooting Yue."

The woman with the longsword used her real technique, a strike powerful enough to penetrate mountains! Gongsun Ce's white substance couldn't match the arrow's speed, and pure telekinesis defense couldn't block its impact. He reused the tactic of forcibly moving himself, almost self-destructively changing his position. But the woman with the longsword didn't miss this chance, swiftly predicting his location and rushing right beside Gongsun Ce, morphing the bow back into a longsword and thrusting!

"You really have a lot of confidence in me!" Gongsun Ce narrowly evaded in mid-air, "If I got hit, not just limbs but my whole body would've exploded, right?"

"Not at all. The force is precisely controlled, creating at most a 3-meter radius hole."

"That's even worse, obliteration without a trace! What are you even protecting?!"

"You won't get hit anyway."

Boom! Boom! Boom! The sound of cannonfire-like booms continued to erupt, the density of the noise akin to a torrential downpour. Explosive shockwaves continuously formed under the night sky, unceasing, every ring-shaped sonic boom signifying an exchange, and the myriad sounds of explosions were traces of battle that had yet to dissipate. Their movements were nearly impossible to capture, only the gray and black phantoms could be seen colliding, clashing, flickering in the air and on the ground.

A storm of blows was met with Invisible Fist, a pointed knife-hand strike was countered with a multi-directional attack of buckshot, and actions that disrupted the atmosphere's landing spot provided power to the opponent; thus, use the scattered fragments to create traps in return... Counter for counter, tit for tat, the superpower user and the martial artist fought with increasing ferocity, both fully alert. They didn't want to damage the environment extensively... nor did they wish to inflict truly dangerous injuries on each other!

"Disperse!"

The battle couldn't go on like this, it had to be swiftly resolved! Gongsun Ce aimed for the moment the martial artist would land and created a massive telekinetic bullet, which he then shattered into hundreds of peculiarly routed telekinesis beams shot all at once. The woman with the longsword, using air currents to discern the attack's orientation, seized the fleeting opening to advance.

"Shift."

However, telekinesis isn't a tangible substance and could change shape at any moment. Gongsun Ce clapped his hands together, and the evaded telekinetic beams immediately turned and struck towards the woman with the longsword's back. The martial artist didn't turn to defend, throwing her longsword backward instead. She abandoned her weapon!

The dark longsword, charged with an earlier thrust of force, exploded in mid-air, and the martial artist used the recoil from the detonation to dodge the telekinesis attack, reaching right in front of Gongsun Ce. She angled her body, striking Gongsun Ce's abdomen with a single hand.

"Invisible Strike!"

Once again, she unleashed her true abilities, a secret technique beyond mere skills. This seemingly soft strike masked a ruthlessly powerful force that would entirely enter the enemy's body, destroying it from within.

The Martial Artist's heart hesitated for a moment, but having resolved to stop her, there was no reason to hold back. As she threw her punch, she watched Gongsun Ce's eyes, thinking they must carry disbelief and confusion, along with his usual anger…

But the grey-haired young man's eyes shimmered only with mirth, the pleasure of a successful scheme.

"!"

A massive, invisible force pressed down from above, telekinetic power unleashed without reservation, dense as the terrible pressure at the depths of the ocean. A three-story office building five meters away instantly collapsed with a wail, the concrete ground shattered like porcelain, and the surrounding grass was blasted upward by the pressure! Gongsun Ce had limited this power to just a five-meter radius, drawing the Martial Artist into a decisive charge as he built up his energy. The woman wielding the Longsword could move under this pressure, but the drastically altered environment slowed her reactions for a critical instant, and in a fight at this level, a single instant could determine victory or defeat.

As the Longsword-wielding woman momentarily seized up, Gongsun Ce reached out his right hand…

Without any force, without any technique. He simply, gently, placed it on her head.

"…Hmm."

Caught off guard, the Martial Artist let out a cute grunt.

Gongsun Ce gently stroked his opponent's head, smiling as he said, "It seems Mr. Gongsun is the stronger one after all. Now you have no reason to protect me."

The Martial Artist could find no retort, murmuring quietly, "…Don't take liberties."

"Alright, alright, I'll do as you say."

Gongsun Ce patted her head, contentedly withdrawing his hand.

There was no need to be lethal, no need to cause her harm. The obsessive yet maniacal benevolence was still kindness, and he, far from normal, could fully comprehend her feelings.

In Gongsun Ce's eyes, this Martial Artist was never a madwoman seeking to harm him…

She was just a girl, wanting to protect him.

Gongsun Ce withdrew his telekinetic power and descended from the air. The masked girl stood silently before him.

What a cute creature.

"You feel better now, right?" Gongsun Ce asked with a smile, "Nighttime public safety is quite poor these days. It's better for a girl not to walk alone, hurry and go to a safe place with that annoying uncle."

"…I'm still not at ease," the girl said sulkily, "Especially when you, an amateur, haven't even resolved your own issues."

Gongsun Ce couldn't think of an appropriate response and said with an awkward chuckle, "How about I treat you to dessert?"

"You see! That's an annoyed response. Do you think I'm a child?" She stamped her foot angrily, "I want a chestnut cake."

"Alright, alright…"

After the intense battle, the two had no more reason to fight. The once tense atmosphere gradually relaxed, like the carefree time during a school break.

What they didn't know was that a pair of eyes were observing them from the shadows.

·

It was time to make a move.

The Impermanence Law Enforcer made his judgment from the darkness.

Their combat will had diminished, their vigilance no longer as sharp as before. The plan was to reduce their numbers through internal strife among the experts, but it was a pity the swiftly moving target was too difficult to hit, so he had to wait for the right moment…

And now was that moment.

A sewage pool, almost forgotten by all, saw a mass of sludge rise to the surface, silently transforming into the shape of a beast. It suppressed its aura, compressing the water inside its body, before the filthy high-pressure water jetted out like a bullet, a strike with enough force to cleave trees, aimed straight at the hearts of the two in the distance!

However, the water jet scattered the moment it was shot, blasted apart by another powerful force aimed directly at it, shattering the high-pressure water jet along with the sewage beast itself.

Gongsun Ce, expressionless, reached out to the side, his telekinesis fueled by his fury striking the sewage pool. A roaring repercussion echoed throughout the factory area, the impact causing the sewage to erupt like a fountain!

"Has anyone ever told you…"

The Superpower User scattered the assaulting water with his telekinesis, pushed up his glasses, and in a markedly different tone, remarked.

"Launching a sneak attack during someone else's conversation is very impolite."