Apocalypse: I Can See the HP Bar, Killing Monsters Drops Loot
Chapter 1278 - 527: Battle Against a Fifth Order Awakener_2

Chapter 1278: Chapter 527: Battle Against a Fifth Order Awakener_2

Additionally, Wang Tao had to admit, the muscle man’s acting was convincing.

Hu Zhe died in front of Wang Tao. The muscle man, standing so far away, killed a Fourth-order Awakener with a mere wave of his hand, and the death was terrifyingly immediate—it was as if his words alone had power. Then the muscle man said, "Do you realize your crime?" Had it been someone else, they might have actually been frightened.

But Wang Tao clearly witnessed Hu Zhe’s death.

When the muscle man waved his hand, some faint patterns appeared on the ground. Although they were hardly noticeable, Wang Tao’s spiritual power allowed him to see them clearly.

After these patterns appeared, the internal impurities in Hu Zhe’s body suddenly surged, and he began bleeding from all seven orifices.

When the internal impurities in Hu Zhe reached 100%, faint black vapors appeared around him, and a status appeared on his attributes—

[Curse: Instant Death]

[Instant Death: Immediate Death]

Then the blood bar of Hu Zhe, already low, instantly dropped to zero, his blood spurting out, flowing along those patterns. That was the most terrifying moment, but by then, Hu Zhe was already dead.

Clearly, Hu Zhe’s death was related to the impurities in his body—more precisely, the muscle man had a way to increase the impurities within Hu Zhe.

It was uncertain whether the impurities inside Hu Zhe were the same as those inside other survivors.

After all, when humans fused with too many Crystal Cores, and their internal impurities became excessive, especially reaching 100%, they would immediately turn into zombies. However, in Hu Zhe’s case, reaching 100% impurity immediately triggered the "Instant Death" curse, and he died instantly!

The same internal impurities led to two different outcomes, which confused Wang Tao. Could it be that the impurities produced by human fusion with Crystal Cores and those in the people from Mammoth Base were not the same?

However, Wang Tao had no impurities within his body, as he had already cleared them with a Cleansing Potion; even the "Internal Impurities" option had disappeared from his attributes, so he wasn’t worried about dying instantly.

Of course, he wasn’t worried, but he remained vigilant and was ready to act at any moment. However, he was curious about the muscle man, so he decided to inquire first.

"Who are you? What happened to those who came from the Ocean Base before?"

Wang Tao asked directly.

Seeing that Wang Tao didn’t seem afraid and could even question him, the muscle man’s face stiffened momentarily.

But he considered himself a man of distinction, facing these willingly sacrificed primes, he said with a hoarse voice,

"You can call me Tian Hua, or Stone God’s Envoy. I’m the leader of Mammoth Base and a devout follower of the Stone God. As for the people you mentioned from the Ocean Base... they gave themselves to the Stone God voluntarily before you arrived."

"...Voluntarily."

Wang Tao figured those people might have run into trouble, and now it seemed like it was indeed the case. But the more that was true, the more justified he was in taking action!

"So you killed our allies? Then there’s no need for Mammoth Base to exist anymore."

Wang Tao spoke indifferently, in a tone much like Tian Hua’s.

Tian Hua’s expression stiffened again, and he finally couldn’t maintain his composed demeanor. A hint of anger appeared on his face. This big, unknown man dared to outdo him in his facade?

"You’re seeking death!"

Tian Hua waved his hand again, and faint lines invisible to the naked eye appeared on the ground where Wang Tao stood.

But nothing happened to Wang Tao.

Neither Jiang Shixue, nor Lightning, exhibited any changes either.

"...How is this possible? How is there no curse?"

Tian Hua was stunned.

This reaction made Wang Tao frown.

Wang Tao had been guessing that the impurities produced from the fusion of Crystal Cores and those present in people like Hu Zhe were not the same.

But now it seemed that was not the case. From Tian Hua’s reaction, it appeared he had triggered this instant death curse in outsiders before. So seeing that Wang Tao and his companions were unaffected, he was taken aback.

Tian Hua’s method must have involved increasing the existing internal impurities in others. But Wang Tao and Lightning had not a bit of impurity in them, so they wouldn’t have any problems.

As for Jiang Shixue... while she currently had 25% impurities in her body, her physiology differed from humans—it was more accurate to say she was a zombie, as she couldn’t fuse with Crystal Cores, unlike humans. That’s why Tian Hua’s method was ineffective on her.

After being stunned briefly, Tian Hua soon stood up.

He was extremely tall and robust, towering a head above Wang Tao, probably around two and a half meters tall.

"Perhaps you are just lucky, but that’s all. Handing you over to the altar will be just the same."

Tian Hua picked up a pair of gloves studded with spikes from nearby. The gloves were crafted from a dull, greyish metal, and the spikes were stained with black and red blood.

After putting on the gloves quickly, a yellowish rock shield appeared around Tian Hua’s body.

The lion still uses all its strength to strike down a rabbit—he did not underestimate Wang Tao.

Wang Tao had managed to break in and nearly beat Hu Zhe to death, indicating that Wang Tao was at least a strong fourth-order Awakener, and possibly even a fifth-order Awakener.

So, Tian Hua instantly used Awakening and then, in a flash, he appeared in front of Wang Tao.

Facing Tian Hua’s large, dirt-yellow fists, Wang Tao did not dodge or evade; rather, he too swung out with his fist.

Bang!

A muffled sound.

Wang Tao didn’t move an inch; he didn’t lose a single drop of HP.

Meanwhile, Tian Hua was sent flying back even faster than he came, crashing heavily into a stone wall not far away. Surprisingly, the wall didn’t break despite the impact.

Tian Hua didn’t lose any HP either, but the color of his dirt-yellow shield had clearly faded.

Tian Hua clumsily got up from the ground, his eyes bulging like a bull’s.

"No, no way!"

He could not accept that he had been overpowered.

So, he charged again, throwing another fierce punch at Wang Tao.

Bang!

Once more, he was sent flying back, his dirt-yellow shield now very dim.

This time, Wang Tao pursued the advantage; before Tian Hua could hit the wall, he struck him with another punch.

Bang!

Crash—

Wang Tao heard a crisp cracking sound, and Tian Hua’s dirt-yellow shield disappeared.

This meant that Wang Tao had shattered Tian Hua’s "Rock Shield" Awakening with three punches.

Tian Hua was dumbfounded.

Since acquiring the "Rock Shield" Awakening, even though it had been completely shattered several times, it was either because he was surrounded by a large number of enemies or he encountered an enemy of a higher level, all reasonable incidents.

But after he became a follower of the Stone God and his power greatly enhanced, he had advanced to a fifth-order Awakener! He believed that with his current strength, he should be invincible among humans!

And yet, not long after he ascended to the fifth order, he had his shield shattered by a human today, and in just three punches...

Losing the shield, Tian Hua immediately felt his power weaken.

He had been quite confident before, but now, having lost some of his power, he panicked.

"Kill him!"

Tian Hua shouted, ordering others to attack.

But Wang Tao simply cast a glance at those people, and their furious, bloodthirsty eyes instantly became vacant, and then they just stupidly stood there motionless.

It was a bit difficult for Wang Tao to control dozens of people at once, even if they were only level 3; however, turning them into idiots instantly was rather simple.

With one psychic blast, Wang Tao turned the group into imbeciles. Although they were not physically dead, they might as well have been.

"You..."

Tian Hua was truly frightened; this big guy’s methods were weirder than his!

Wang Tao appeared beside Tian Hua once again, and directly dealt him two more punches. Tian Hua resisted fiercely, but the disparity in strength was too great, and the resistance was futile.

As Wang Tao left Tian Hua critically wounded, clutching his neck, he even had some critiques.

"So weak. Your fifth-order power is fake, right? Aren’t you the so-called envoy of the Stone God? Is this all? The Stone God’s judgment is lacking too!"

"..."

There are unspoken rules that you don’t humiliate a soldier!

Tian Hua was about to beg for mercy, but he couldn’t bear it when Wang Tao insulted the Stone God.

Thus, with difficulty, Tian Hua spoke up:

"Please... descend, Stone God!"

Rumble—

The entire hall began to tremble, a presence that startled Wang Tao slowly emerged.