Chapter 100: Liang Jing Gravely Injured

"Quick! Hurry! Keep up!"

"Come on, everyone! That devil Liang is almost finished!"

"To take so many hits from an autocannon and still manage to flee this far—this devil Liang must be invincible!"

"Invincible? What does that matter? Even the invincible will perish when faced with the state's war machine!"

...

Liang Jing gritted his teeth, his eyes cold and unyielding, devoid of any wavering. His footsteps remained steady and rapid as he ran. Scarlet blood flowed continuously from his mouth, mixed with fragments of his own internal organs. The special metal armor on his back had been almost entirely shattered, as had the "Steel-Spine Beast Plate" and the bulletproof vest beneath it. A gruesome, bloody wound was exposed, deep enough to see bone, and embedded within it were jagged shards of metal shell casings. As Liang Jing ran with reckless abandon, the massive, horrific wound bled profusely. This was only the result of the various extraordinary equipment and abilities Liang Jing possessed.

It was only because it was Liang Jing!

If it were an ordinary person, never mind internal organ damage or a wound so deep the bone was visible, they would have been dead long ago, let alone running for their life with such vitality.

He seemed to have no reaction to the shouts and calls that drifted faintly from behind, growing smaller and more distant. He felt nothing of the immense, agonizing pain in his body. His unyielding will endured it all; he clenched his teeth, his entire body tense, forcing his muscles to keep moving forward. There was no despair, no surrender, no agony—only a firm fixation on the dense, massive mountain looming ahead. That was his destination, his sanctuary, and his battlefield.

*Ugh!*

Liang Jing pulled another bottle of replicated life potion from the leather pouch at his waist. He had synthesized these over the last two days. Having killed so many and harvested so much life essence, Liang Jing had managed to create quite a few useful things. This was his third full bottle of life potion. Perhaps it was due to his robust constitution, but while the potion was effective, the results were not as dramatic as they were for others.

*Damn it!*

He had underestimated the government forces. They were indeed the state’s instrument of violence. He had seen videos of how powerful autocannons were, but he had only known they were dangerous without truly grasping the extent. He hadn't expected the armor-piercing rounds to cause such devastating damage. Back in the village, he had seen an autocannon demolish a building, but those were high-explosive shells—area-of-effect weapons that posed less of a direct threat. He hadn't anticipated the destructive power of armor-piercing ammunition. If not for the "Beast Guardian" scroll he had used, if not for the "Sorrow of Baroque"—ten times tougher than any short blade—blocking half the impact on his back, if not for the life essence constantly healing his wounds, if not for the life-saving potion, and if not for a physical constitution twenty or thirty times that of an ordinary human, even someone as strong as he was would have been shredded to pieces!

No wonder that Political Commissar Gong had been so arrogant and condescending, treating him like a slightly larger ant. At this stage, the military still held unparalleled dominance and an overwhelming advantage. For a considerable time to come, the relationship between the government forces and the Awakened would likely mirror that of the imperial court and the martial arts world in ancient novels: while individual martial artists were formidable, they were helpless against the imperial army. Of course, it would still be easy for them to assassinate officials, but they would remain under the control and suppression of the state.

*Hah!*

Forcing himself to ignore the constant signals of protest and shutdown coming from his body, Liang Jing stopped treating his flesh as his own. He ignored the pain, his will as firm as ever, his heart burning with an infinite fire. The "Beast Guardian" effect was about to expire, and he had reached his destination. He glanced back at his pursuers, specifically a plain-looking man of medium build, his eyes flashing with icy, murderous coldness. Liang Jing had never felt so restricted and constrained as he did today. If not for his immense strength, he would have been dead long ago. Throughout the chase, he had realized that this plain-faced man with thick brows was the one directly commanding the operation. One could only imagine how much Liang Jing loathed him.

*Just you wait!*

No matter who they were, if they raised a hand to kill him—good or evil, saint or wretch—they were his enemies. The verdict was always the same: death!

Liang Jing plunged into the green shrubbery of the mountainside. Like a dragon entering the sea or a tiger returning to the hills, he vanished into the dense trees and tall grass amidst the sound of gunfire. This was his home turf; anyone who followed him would inevitably face the threat of death.

"Damn it!"

Seeing Liang Jing disappear into the mountains in a few quick strides, Wu Yong’s pupils constricted. His plain face turned incredibly ugly, and he let out a loud curse. He looked at the dense vegetation on the mountain; the trees, shrubs, and grasses were vastly different from before. They had grown taller, lusher, and more tightly packed. Some plants were so mutated that one couldn't even recognize their original form.

Over the past ten days since the world began to mutate, the transformation of flora had finally begun to show results. Entering this mountain was now like stepping into a primeval forest—or something even stranger, denser, and exponentially more dangerous.

"Pursue! Whoever finds the target, fire a signal flare!"

"Autocannons and heavy machine guns, get ready! If you spot the target, open fire with everything you've got!"

"Awakened, you lot..."

...

Wu Yong was no longer as composed as he had been. Although his telepathic ability gave him insight into his subordinates' thoughts, allowing him to command them with relative ease, he had poured immense effort and planning into setting traps for Liang Jing. He hadn't expected the man to be this powerful, nor this bold—daring to charge directly at their temporary headquarters. While his own reactive measures had caused Liang Jing trouble, they had failed to subdue him.

Although Liang Jing was severely wounded and currently relying only on his indomitable will and powerful vitality to hold on—even risking death at any moment—he would likely not survive for long even without further pursuit. The dense mountain was crawling with mutated monsters, and the scent of blood would draw them in. In everyone’s eyes, Liang Jing was in a situation far worse than nine-deaths-to-one.

However! Wu Yong remembered the icy glare Liang Jing had cast before vanishing into the mountain. Remembering his immense strength and his vengeful, unforgiving nature—the man had caused all this chaos just because one of his underlings died!—Wu Yong couldn't rest. He wouldn't be able to sleep until he saw Liang Jing's corpse. With a hardened heart, he gritted his teeth and ordered his men into the mountains to pursue. Even if it caused unnecessary losses, he had to buy himself peace of mind.

The pressure Liang Jing had placed upon him was simply too great!

Soon, the soldiers and underlings, organized into ten-man squads, entered the mountain with their gear. They were accompanied by five Awakened, split into two groups. On one side were the lackeys bought by Commissar Gong and the leaders of two factions; on the other were Dai Wu and Yu Supu. Of the faction leaders who had tried to curry favor, only three remained—Yu Supu and the two in the other group—as the rest had been killed during Liang Jing’s initial assault.

Tu Guiwu had been severely wounded by Liang Jing's sword. Although the ancient blade had blocked the dark golden greatsword, the kinetic force had left Tu Guiwu, who possessed the "Iron Bone" ability, critically injured, his bones deformed and nearly shattered. Uncle Xie had to stay behind to guard him, so they couldn't pursue.

"Go back, check on Commissar Gong’s injuries, and report the situation."

Wu Yong remained with about a hundred soldiers. The two autocannons and six heavy machine guns on the tanks were set up on a high point, ready to fire at any moment. Yet, even with a hundred fully armed soldiers and so much heavy weaponry around him, Wu Yong, an Awakened with telepathic powers, felt a baseless, creeping sense of dread in his heart.