Chapter 4: First Encounter

The twelve pirates at the epicenter of the three explosions were blasted beyond recognition, their intestines and entrails scattered across the ground, not a single corpse left whole; severed limbs and shattered bodies were hurled far and wide. The dozen or so who stood slightly further out managed to survive, but were grievously wounded, their fighting strength all but lost. They had been too close, clustered together in too dense a group, allowing the destructive power of those three grenades to reach its fullest potential.

Fortunately, the grenades strapped to the pirates did not detonate in the secondary blasts; otherwise, their entire force would have been annihilated. Barry reacted swiftly enough, and being farther from the explosions, he dove to the ground at the moment of detonation, avoiding the flying shrapnel, though he ended up covered in dust and debris.

“Quick, drag that woman onto the truck!” he shouted.

Two henchmen, dazed and battered by the blast, struggled to their feet and hauled the girl onto the vehicle, then rushed back out.

After the explosion, Han Feng leapt straight from the second floor, sword in hand. He brought the blade down upon a pirate who was scrambling to his feet to fire, then charged single-handedly into the crowd, unleashing a massacre.

Since equipping the Kenshin Himura card, Han Feng’s strength had multiplied several times over; what was once a moderately heavy sword now felt weightless in his grasp. The great sword flowed through the air with a fierce momentum—though the feel was somewhat different, his attack speed had increased tremendously.

The pirates had no time to react before they were cut down in a flurry—within moments, Barry’s pirate crew was reduced to just Barry himself, the lone commander.

Barry, true to his reputation as a bloodthirsty pirate, faced Han Feng’s ferocity without fleeing or begging for mercy, despite knowing he was outmatched. Instead, he silently drew out a syringe and stabbed it into his arm, growling, “Who the hell are you?!”

Han Feng watched Barry quietly, offering no reply. He had no idea what effect the injection would have, but guessed it was likely some sort of stimulant.

Barry, annoyed at Han Feng’s lack of response, demanded again, “Are you here for the woman too, or is she your lover? Kid, give your name—my hammer won’t kill nameless ghosts!”

Barry grabbed a two-handed war hammer from nearby, its head bristling with spikes and weighing at least fifty pounds.

“Bounty hunter, Li Ao,” Han Feng lied without a hint of embarrassment.

“Bounty hunter? Damn, I hate bounty hunters the most!” Barry snarled.

As he spoke, the injection took effect—his veins bulged like vipers writhing beneath his skin, blood surging through them as if swarms of venomous insects were rampaging inside him. His strength and speed multiplied, joints crackling with explosive force. His once squat body stretched to a towering height of two and a half meters; the flabby belly vanished, replaced by solid abs and a broad chest. His face flushed red, and a violent aura radiated from him.

From Han Feng’s memory, such all-encompassing enhancement drugs were illegal everywhere—they consumed the body’s potential, overdrawing its functions, and so were explicitly banned by every empire. Only one place had the technology, capital, and dedication to research, produce, and sell these illicit stimulants: the Viper Group, one of the three major pirate factions in the universe.

Barry launched the first attack. Han Feng did not back down, sword in hand, meeting Barry head-on. In the blink of an eye, they exchanged dozens of blows.

Barry raised his hammer and sprang forward, the heavy spiked head whistling through the air as it crashed down.

Han Feng pushed off with his feet and dodged with ease. With a thunderous boom, the hammer smashed a one-meter crater into the hard ground.

Barry, missing his mark, swung again, sweeping the hammer sideways.

Han Feng leapt high, both hands gripping his broad-bladed sword, waist and legs twisting back, arms suddenly surging with power—he brought down a mighty slash.

“Dragon Hammer Flash!”

Han Feng’s strike was fierce, as if cleaving through all evil.

Barry, enhanced by the drug, reacted swiftly; missing with his sweep, he spun his body with the momentum, swinging upward. Barry’s hammer and Han Feng’s sword collided with a ringing clang!

Barry’s feet sank. In all those previous exchanges, he had never expected that Han Feng’s seemingly slender frame would contain such overwhelming strength—equal to, or even surpassing, his own drug-enhanced might.

The blow failed to land. Han Feng used the rebound to flip backward, landing firmly, one hand planted on his sword. He said coldly, “Warm-up’s over.”

Han Feng gripped his sword with both hands, dragging it behind him, then shot forward like a bullet.

Barry’s spiked hammer was not to be outdone; he raised it high and brought it down upon Han Feng.

“Tornado Flash!” As the hammer descended, Han Feng spun rapidly, slipping past it in a whirlwind. The fierce sword wind, like a devastating tornado, slashed forward with unstoppable force.

Barry couldn’t bring his hammer back in time to defend and could only step back to dodge.

The tip of the broad-bladed sword left a striking crimson line across his chest.

Han Feng pressed his advantage; after the diagonal slash, he followed with a sweeping stroke. Barry leapt to evade, but it played right into Han Feng’s hands.

After the sweep, Han Feng immediately changed his tactic, gripping his sword tightly, following Barry’s leap, and tracing a graceful arc through the air.

It was an upward strike—from bottom to top.

Dragon soaring a thousand miles, leaping across the nine provinces!

“Dragon Soar Flash!”

Barry barely managed to hold his hammer horizontally in front of him before the “Dragon Soar Flash” sent him flying. His massive body crashed like a cannonball into the second-floor shack.

The fragile wall shattered instantly.

Barry climbed to his feet, seething with rage.

He held his hammer upright, gripping it tightly, and leapt down from the second floor. His huge body spun faster and faster, like a wheel of wind and fire; the hammer shrieked as it swept through the air, and with a world-shaking roar—

Fragments of stone flew, clouds of dust billowed!

Barry stood at the center of the dust, panting heavily, his mind racing.

The effect of the enhancement drug was not permanent; its astonishing power lasted only three minutes. The strain it placed on the body was immense—if he failed to defeat his opponent within those three minutes, he would be in dire straits.

Once the effect wore off, he would be extremely weak, and the drug’s potent side effects would consume much of his potential and vitality. The costly enhancement drug was his trump card for survival.

Yet his all-out attack had achieved nothing; power and force meant nothing if they could not strike the enemy.

Han Feng had already slipped away before Barry’s thunderous blow landed.

“Nine-Headed Dragon Flash!”

Han Feng’s cold voice came from behind Barry. This was another sword skill activated by the Kenshin Himura card, following “Dragon Hammer Flash,” “Tornado Flash,” and “Dragon Soar Flash.”

Barry shuddered in alarm, spinning around, hammer raised. Nine dazzling sword lights streaked through the dust at incredible speed!

Nine sword lights, nine directions—there was nowhere to escape!

The sword light faded, the dust settled.

Barry was drenched in blood, his hammer split in two, nine wounds crisscrossing his body, each speaking of the danger he had just survived.

“Hah, I’m not dead!” Barry grinned, blood dripping from his mouth.

Han Feng said nothing, his blood-stained sword already sheathed across his back.

“I killed…” Barry began, but his words were cut short as he realized, in panic, that his consciousness was plunging into darkness—he could no longer feel his body.

Blood spurted from every inch of him.

His head and torso were completely separated!

All martial arts are invincible—none can withstand speed!

The fatal sword skill was so fast that even after the slash, Barry did not die immediately.

Han Feng did not spare another glance at Barry’s corpse. Instead, he opened his portable light-brain, pulled up Barry’s bounty notice: “Barry, leader of the Barry Pirate Crew. Bounty: 1 million star coins. Danger level: E. Status: Eliminated. Killer: Han Feng (confidential, visible only to the killer).”

The portable light-brain, connected to the ISC (Interstellar Security Council) central server, could automatically identify and record pirates and dark races under bounty. The killer’s information was kept confidential to protect their safety.