"Beast, stay right there for me!"

Er Long, eyes red with anger, emptied his rifle and then, holding a broadsword, leaped from a high place. He was determined to sacrifice his life to hold back the fusion body, giving Huang Sheng a chance to launch the rocket.

But to everyone's surprise, the fusion body paused when faced with the oncoming Er Long, its body twitching as it turned to flee.

Wait, it could have easily swatted Er Long away or devoured him, so why change direction?

Was it scared?

No.

No, it wasn't!

"Zhang Can, Zhang Can, I know it's you, stay for me, stay for me!"

Er Long chased madly, and when he reached the edge of the wall, he hurled his broadsword with all his might.

The blade spun and struck the back of the fusion body, but it didn't even scratch the surface.

It merely caused the creature to turn blankly, revealing a face coated in mucus from a gaping hole in its body.

"Zhang Can, it's really Zhang Can!"

"He is the fusion body; he has turned into the fusion body!"

The face was full of pain, eyes tightly shut, only opening a sliver when Er Long shouted.

But that was all.

In the blink of an eye, the fusion body had completely disappeared into the gaps between buildings, leaving the militia warriors on the streets seething with rage.

Everyone understood that when the monster reappeared, it would be fully regenerated.

The wasted ammunition, fallen brothers, and Inspector Cheng...

Cheng Ye?

Long suddenly turned his head, about to roar for someone to go rescue, but saw a figure stumble up from the pile of trash.

"Don't, don't chase, regroup the lines first!"

Cheng Ye's voice was hoarse, the dizziness from the blast's impact still whirling in his mind.

When he was blown away by the shockwave, his head spun, but he felt no pain whatsoever in his body.

The strange sensation intertwined, putting him in a state between waking and fainting.

To use a gaming term.

It was... stiff!

His mind was fully alert, yet he was unable to make any moves.

Luckily, this state didn't last long. As he shed the Iron Body, sharp pain stimulated his nerves, and his body quickly regained sensation.

"Captain, don't move!"

Zhu Xiang was the first to burst from the line, carrying a makeshift medical kit, completely disregarding the possibility of the fusion body's surprise spit attack from the shadows.

Only after clearing the debris off Cheng Ye did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Though the battle armor was damaged in many places, it wasn't completely shattered, and Cheng Ye's breathing was relatively stable, not appearing to be in severe injury.

"I'm, I'm okay."

He took out a red potion from his side pocket and swallowed it in one gulp. The intense heat flowed down his throat, dissipating some of the swirling pain.

To recharge the Iron Body, he could only endure the discomfort and force himself to stand up.

"Sir, that monster is Zhang Can; he's become the fusion body, seeking revenge on us!"

Long also rushed over, helping him up with an absent-minded and lost expression.

"Zhang Can?"

Cheng Ye was momentarily stunned.

He vaguely heard someone shouting a name but couldn't quite catch what it was.

"Is it that young man who wanted to leave the community?"

"It's him, it's him; he's come back as the fusion body to take revenge on us!"

Long clenched his fists, "If I had known, I should have shot this... bastard!"

But there was no forewarning.

Cheng Ye was slightly dazed, he even thought of those he had let go when opening the warehouse, but Zhang Can hadn't crossed his mind.

This isn't right; they only exchanged glances, not even speaking a word. Why harbor such intense negative resentment, insisting on killing him to vent the grudge?

But now wasn't the time to delve into the reasons.

"Don't worry about me; quickly organize the defense line and distribute the ammunition!"

Instructing Long to regroup the line, Cheng Ye took out the Defense Communication. Thankfully, it wasn't shattered. The screen showed the real-time location and footage of the fusion body:

A community of apartment buildings on the verge of falling, Zhang Can leaped down from above, his three remaining tentacles forcibly grabbing the infected body and stuffing it into his enormous maw.

When a discontented infected body lunged at him, he lashed it backwards with a single tentacle, leaving the survivors within the community dumbfounded, thinking it was an infighting among infected bodies.

In just over ten seconds, the formation of hundreds surrounding the community crumbled in chaos under Zhang Can's frenzied devourment.

Cheng Ye also noticed the relation between devouring and recovery.

"His recovery needs more consumption, indicating there's a limit to his ability!"

Initially, after being shot a few times by him, Zhang Can could repair completely by picking up just one infected body.

But now, it took at least five infected bodies to barely heal a single wound.

The tentacles on his back demanded more; despite devouring a dozen, new tentacles had yet to grow.

"So... this is actually a war of attrition?"

Having caught the key to victory, Cheng Ye stood up, no longer feeling much pain.

This realization immediately struck him as the correct usage of the Iron Body.

"Since I can't feel pain in battle, if I can stack the thickest armor and infinitely increase defense, wouldn't I be able to withstand any attack?"

The thought arose, and a deafening buzz occurred overhead.

Huh?

Instinctively looking up, Cheng Ye saw a transport drone, seven to eight times the size of an inspection drone, skim low above the building gaps. Its metal hatch opened, precisely dropping a silver-gray box.

[Supply has been delivered, please verify the badge to receive]

?

There's also a supply drop?

Cheng Ye was momentarily stunned, taking out the Defense Communication which displayed no new alerts.

But intuition told him this box of supplies was directly linked to whoever had sent him the message.

Was it the inspection station?

Or some faction within the Inner City?

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