"Ah Zhe—" Ke Yiming's eyes bled as he witnessed the death of his good brother, staring intently at the killer. Flames erupted from him, transforming into a fire dragon that soared forward.
Andorf said slowly, "Hand over the meteorite or research it together. We don't have to keep fighting like this. If you insist on your ways, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
As the fire dragon approached him, a stream of water suddenly emerged, shielding the fire dragon. Even as the fire dragon burned relentlessly, it could only cause the water to evaporate into steam, unable to break through this water flow.
"You killed my brother, and now I will avenge him. Just wait for death!" Ke Yiming's eyes were bloodshot, his anger reaching its peak. The thought of revenge consumed him, making him incredibly agitated and oblivious to everything else.
This was a brother who had shared hardships with him, and now he had died at the hands of an enemy. It happened in an instant; he was killed before he could even leave a last word. Perhaps his heart was shattered, or his brain instantly destroyed. Regardless, his brother's death ignited countless fighting spirits within him.
A person emerged from Andorf's side. He was a sinister-looking fellow with a gloomy expression and wicked eyes. He said, "Your opponent should be me. Don't disturb him from fighting now!"
Andorf said, "Shen Feng and I had a good relationship before. When he visited my home, I even treated him to a meal. However, I've always wanted to spar with him, to know whether the disaster brought by earthquakes is stronger or the disaster brought by typhoons is stronger. No one should stop me now; let me fight Shen Feng!"
With that, he charged directly towards the mountain peak, intending to achieve his ultimate goal: not only to seize the meteorite but also to defeat Shen Feng. Shen Feng was currently recognized as the strongest in the world, being the only ninth-tier esper. If he could defeat Shen Feng, the title of the strongest would fall upon him.
"If you want to approach our City Lord, you'll have to get past me first!" Lin Yue stepped forward. He was different; he wouldn't underestimate his opponent.
With a wave of his hand, a powerful sonic wave formed into a projectile and shot out.
Since a ranged attack was needed to restrain the opponent, the problem became much simpler. Lin Yue was suited for this role because he could continuously attack with sonic waves from a distance. This attack was invisible to ordinary people and impossible to dodge, as its trajectory was unknown, making it impossible to anticipate when it would arrive.
Lin Yue had expected his attack to pose a threat to the opponent, at least to stop their advance. After all, his skill was considered a natural-type esper ability, and while not extremely powerful, he was confident in dealing with ordinary espers.
However, as these sonic wave projectiles were launched, they vanished the moment they reached Andorf, disappearing as if ice and snow met the sun, without causing even a ripple.
"What's going on? Why are my sonic waves ineffective?" Lin Yue was stunned when he realized his attack had failed. He couldn't understand it; it was the first time his esper ability had proven useless.
As if seeing through the other's confusion, Andorf opened his mouth to explain, "You might be wondering why your esper ability isn't working. But I want to tell you something: sound is produced by vibration. Only vibration creates sound, you understand this. And my esper ability is superior to yours. Vibration produces sound, but here, I can control the vibration of the air. Therefore, the sound you create naturally disappears when it encounters an environment of absolute stillness!"
Andorf could control vibrations and could also stop them, much like Shen Feng. Shen Feng could control the flow of wind and also bring raging winds to a standstill, thus forming a solidified wall of air for defense. Andorf could currently control the air around him to form absolute stillness, making it impossible for sound to transmit.
Lin Yue, upon hearing this, said, "You others go and stop them. His skills counter mine, and I can't do anything against him now. I can only stop others!"
Even among powerful espers, there were strengths and weaknesses. Some weaker espers could even counter stronger ones, and this was related to the inherent attributes of the esper abilities. It was like how Shi Weitian had countered Su Liuying back then.
Lin Yue had now encountered such a situation. When he realized that the enemy's esper ability countered his own, he found it difficult to accept and had to ask others to deal with it first.
"Don't rush. This guy is for me to handle. I've wanted to kill him for 16 years, but I never had the chance. Now it seems it's time for me to take his life!" At this moment, Gong Changfa stepped forward, carrying a person with all four limbs severed on his back.
After these few days, He Qiuan also understood that helping outsiders fight against his own people was completely wrong and solely for his own power. Now, putting those matters aside, he realized that relying on his own countrymen in China would lead to a better future, rather than defecting to those foreigners who merely treated him as a pawn.
Therefore, He Qiuan said, "Brother Gong, put me down. Don't carry me anymore. If you have to fight, then go ahead. I'm not important anymore!"
Gong Changfa replied, "What nonsense are you talking? Only if I protect you now will you not be killed. Besides, carrying you doesn't mean I can't defeat the opponent!"
After saying this, Gong Changfa walked forward, actually intending to fight the opponent while carrying someone. He knew that if he put down his brother behind him, no one would protect him, and he had to escort him back to China. Therefore, even if it meant facing a dangerous battle, he couldn't abandon him!
"Do you think you alone can stop me? Others couldn't do it, and neither can you!" Andorf asked.
"How can we know who will win without fighting? We met before, and I had the ability to kill you then. Don't forget that after so much time, I've also been getting stronger!" Gong Changfa said slowly.
Andorf continued to advance, saying, "Of course, I'm very aware of that. You can also directly unleash your esper abilities, which are very powerful. Especially now, with countless radioactive substances in the sea, they are even more potent. But you have a constraint; you can't attack others freely because your methods involve attacking indiscriminately. If you unleash your esper abilities, many people around you will be implicated!"
"Since you know that, you still dare to come here? Here, let alone you alone, even if several more strong individuals like you came, they wouldn't be able to break through our defenses. Dreaming of seizing the meteorite is just a dream!" Gong Changfa said.
The two continued to walk on the ice mountain. Suddenly, a gust of wind from afar dispersed the dense fog. Since Chang Haojie was not present to maintain his esper ability, the mist eventually dissipated. The moon shone on the ice mountain, making it sparkle, and countless auroras danced in the sky. The battle now would not affect their vision.
The others, seeing the two approaching, scattered. They didn't want to get involved in a battle between powerful individuals. Both were seventh-tier espers and natural-type espers. Once the battle erupted, the damage they unleashed would be unbearable for ordinary people.
But at this moment, Andorf suddenly said, "It's a pity my opponent isn't you. You should go find someone else to fight!"
Just then, two people leaped out of a rubber dinghy. They were twins, both female. Standing by the sea, they looked like two dolls, with delicate features as if carved from white jade. However, the moment they appeared, they unleashed their esper abilities. One let out a piercing sonic cry towards the sky, causing everyone within earshot to instantly become deafeningly deaf. The other gathered a ball of light in the air, emitting countless white rays that shone upon people's faces, causing blindness and making them unable to see their surroundings.
The various sensory organs of humans have thresholds for acquiring information from the outside world. Once these thresholds are exceeded, problems arise. The most troublesome are the eyes, because once the eyes are damaged, 70% of information from the outside world cannot be effectively acquired.
This pair of twins had targeted this human weakness. The moment they appeared, they caused those present to become both blind and deaf.
Strong light shining on human eyes can cause temporary blindness, and it takes several minutes for this sensation to alleviate. Complete recovery from blindness requires a longer period. Thus, the people present began to stumble in confusion, unable to even see the figures in front of them.
Moreover, these European debaters were very cunning. They wore devices that blocked sound in their ears and sunglasses on their eyes, thus avoiding friendly fire. These individuals were unaffected and thus used this advantage to slaughter the charging espers.
Andorf did not fight Gong Changfa because he knew the man was a formidable opponent. Entangling with him could also lead to his own injury. The damage caused by the radioactive elements was extremely potent, capable of destroying a person's vitality in an instant. Moreover, this attack was unavoidable, as the speed of radiation could reach the speed of light. Therefore, he ultimately avoided it.
Andorf then used his esper ability to control the surrounding air, preventing it from vibrating. This made it difficult for sound to transmit. Relying on this, he directly entered the ice fortress, intending to cause widespread destruction within the castle and seize the meteorite.
Outside the ice fortress, the European espers had gained the upper hand. Using their ability to see their opponents, they were relentlessly slaughtering the Chinese espers. The Chinese side suffered heavy casualties, and even figures like Wang Ao Ye were injured, eventually having to bury themselves in sand for protection.
Andorf quickly rushed into the ice fortress. Although he was alone, he was confident. At worst, he could trigger an earthquake, causing the entire ice mountain to collapse, and he would find a way to escape in the chaos, not be easily killed.
However, his actions were immediately detected.
Lu Xian suddenly sensed an esper with powerful heat energy rushing into the ice fortress and immediately issued a warning.
"What do we do now? The more powerful espers have already left, and we still have a large number of people outside blocking the enemy. There aren't many people inside!" Yu Renshu was somewhat panicked, clearly not expecting someone to break through the defenses and charge in.
Mu Ying pondered for a moment and said, "The two of us will have to fight now. No matter what, we must ensure Shen Feng is not disturbed. If necessary, I will control the entire ice mountain to help him. Then, no one will be able to find Shen Feng within the ice!"
The two women also stepped forward to fight, as they had not expected to be ambushed. Their side was also very powerful, and it was generally impossible for someone to sneak attack under the cover of night. If they couldn't win, the opponent would surely suffer heavy casualties. However, they didn't expect the other side to have anticipated their actions, appearing around them when Chang Haojie led people away. In such a dangerous situation, the only ones who could react were Yu Renshu and Mu Ying from their side.
Now, it was too late to call back the people who had gone out to fight. Even if they wanted to return, they wouldn't be able to arrive in time. Therefore, they could only let their own people confront the enemy.
"You mere women and children want to stop me? Die!" Andorf, upon entering the ice fortress, immediately saw many young men and women charging forward. He showed no mercy, not even to these very young youths.
As he charged forward, he dodged their attacks, and with his uninjured left arm, he continuously swung his fists. As soon as his fists made contact with a person, those youths would instantly explode. This was the power generated by vibration, a vibration that would shatter their bodies.
"Boom..." Explosive sounds continuously echoed from within the fortress. Upon closer listening, it became clear that these were the sounds of human bodies exploding, a dull yet heart-wrenching sound. With each explosion, a living life would leave this world, blood and bones scattering onto the pristine snow, staining the ground or walls.