Chapter 54 – Grey Aura

At this moment, Lu Yuan was in a rather extraordinary state.

Under the Level 3 [Absolute Concentration] state, his martial arts instincts were developed to their current peak.

His mind was as calm as a lake frozen over in winter.

Yet, on this icy lake, a blazing fire was fiercely burning.

That fire was the temporary surge of muscle inflation brought about by a sudden increase in strength, a powerful destructive urge that demanded release.

It was the frustration and anger from previously being pinned down by the Ratman.

It was the deep disgust and nausea from the intense stench that clung to the Ratman.

“Boom!”

The Ratman, held by the neck, was slammed to the ground by Lu Yuan like a helpless chick.

Before the Ratman could react.

Lu Yuan’s other hand had already grabbed its tail.

Then, like swinging a toy, he lifted it fiercely and flung it away.

“Bang———”

The cement wall that was struck immediately broke open, creating a large crater. Fragments of shattered cement flew everywhere, hitting the nearby trash and debris, causing a series of crisp “crackling” sounds.

“Roar!”

Even after being swung and smashed around like this, the Ratman, still held by the tail, remained fiercely aggressive.

Its long, slender body arched forward, as if doing a sit-up out of thin air, and it extended two sharp claws to counterattack Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan let go of his grip.

The Ratman was flung away.

It hit the wall, using its feet and tail to push off from the wall, propelling itself back at Lu Yuan with even greater speed.

Lu Yuan’s face remained expressionless. As the Ratman touched the wall, his right leg was already raised high, almost above his head. Then, with a powerful force, he kicked down hard, like a giant axe chopping forward, precisely hitting the approaching Ratman. It was as if he had calculated it perfectly.

“Thud!”

This kick was extremely powerful.

The Ratman, hit by the kick, instantly fell. It was like a baseball struck down at high speed.

After his strength attribute reached 13 points, Lu Yuan’s power surged significantly.

Based on previous calculations, his boxing power was now estimated to exceed 300 kilograms, possibly approaching 400 kilograms.

Naturally, the explosive power of his legs had also grown considerably. When this kick landed on the Ratman’s back, the clear sound of bones breaking could be heard.

Lu Yuan, however, felt no pity. Instead, he stepped on the Ratman even harder, stomping it several times.

A series of crisp bone-cracking sounds echoed.

“Squeak——”

At that moment, a large shadow rushed up quickly, but before it could get close, Lu Yuan casually kicked it away.

It was a giant rat trying to protect its master.

Lu Yuan reached down and grabbed the Ratman lying on the ground, swinging and smashing it around wildly a dozen more times.

He kept smashing until he felt the Ratman in his hand had almost stopped struggling before tossing it to the ground like trash.

He then began to search the surroundings.

Pushing aside the scattered garbage, waste, and empty beer bottles, Lu Yuan finally found his mobile phone, still lit, inside a few tied-up plastic bags.

Using the phone’s light, he continued to search for the rusty rebar he had flung earlier or any other sharp object.

He was preparing to deliver a final blow to the Ratman.

While searching, he suddenly heard a “huff—huff—” sound behind him.

Lu Yuan quickly turned around.

To his surprise, the Ratman, which had just been lying immobile on the ground, was now standing up.

It stood about five or six meters away.

Its body was slightly hunched, and its sunken chest heaved up and down like a bellows.

The Ratman’s stance was awkward and strange, with many parts of its body showing signs of broken bones—all courtesy of Lu Yuan.

The Ratman’s bloodshot eyes, almost entirely crimson, stared fixedly at Lu Yuan. Even in the darkness, the deep-seated malice flowing from them was unmistakable.

“It can still stand?”

Lu Yuan was a bit surprised.

He estimated the Ratman’s constitution points to be above 12; otherwise, its life force wouldn’t be so tenacious.

“Then I’ll just knock you down again.”

Lu Yuan’s eyes turned cold and hard once more.

He slowly placed his mobile phone on the ground, took a deep breath, and spread his fingers wide before clenching them into fists.

Just then.

The Ratman in front of him suddenly began to utter strange syllables from its mouth.

“Arka… Ru… Mi…”

These syllables were similar to the ones the Ratman had uttered before, as if they were some ancient language or perhaps a spell.

By the light of the mobile phone’s flashlight at his feet, Lu Yuan could clearly see—

A large amount of grey aura was gradually emanating from the Ratman’s body.

This grey aura formed into a column and was quickly inhaled by the Ratman through its mouth and nose.

Then, “Crack——”

The dent in the Ratman’s chest, caused by Lu Yuan’s kick, suddenly bulged out.

“Crack, crack——”

In the blink of an eye, the broken bones in the Ratman’s chest and abdomen, as well as other injuries, were all mended. Its muscles swelled up as if inflated.

The entire body had slightly expanded.

A violent and ferocious aura swept through the alley like an invisible hurricane.

Lu Yuan watched the changes happening to the Ratman, his mind pounding like a war drum.

“What is this?”

“Berserk mode?”

“But why in this way?!”

The scene before him had far exceeded Lu Yuan’s understanding, as if a straightforward sci-fi movie had suddenly taken a sharp turn into the realm of fantasy.

That eerie grey aura looked unmistakably like some kind of supernatural power!

There was no time for Lu Yuan to ponder further.

“Roar——”

The berserk Ratman, eyes blood-red, let out a deep, hoarse roar.

Its transformed body, now nearly two meters tall, exerted a heavy pressure on Lu Yuan in the narrow alley.

“Thud, thud——”

Lu Yuan instinctively took two steps back.

As he retreated, the transformed Ratman suddenly exploded forward with a muffled boom.

Its wild, formidable body shot towards Lu Yuan like an arrow from a bow.

The six or seven meters between them were crossed in an instant.

Lu Yuan’s pupils contracted sharply, his heart gripped by an invisible giant hand.

A familiar, icy sensation crept up his spine like a venomous snake.

It was a feeling he had experienced countless times in the Consciousness Space.

The feeling of facing Lin Zhiqin’s fury, the sense of drowning, the despair and helplessness he felt when Qin Feng attacked—a near-death experience!

“Ah!”

In the face of imminent death, Lu Yuan erupted with a burst of energy, his face contorted in a snarl, roaring like a cornered beast.

He threw a fierce punch at the berserk Ratman, now just inches away.

The veins in his right arm bulged, and his streamlined muscles tightened to the extreme, resembling twisted steel cables.

In that instant, a switch in his mind quietly flipped.

Countless images flashed rapidly before his eyes.

“Crane call——”

In a daze, Lu Yuan heard a cry in his ears, louder, higher, and sharper than before.

He even seemed to see the faint, dancing silhouette of a white crane before him.

A moment of inspiration!

Crane cry punch!

“Boom!”