The Traitor

He had not lost control; at the very least, he still knew what to eat and what to avoid.

However, while she felt fine, the members of the Administration felt terrible. The predatory aura radiating from Su Mian—that raw, unbridled hunger—made them feel less like humans and more like a row of walking rotisserie chickens.

Officer Jiang, in particular, felt that Su Mian’s gaze toward him was far greedier than it was toward the others. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was reminiscing about the taste of his blood.

Fortunately, Su Mian remained relatively lucid. After clearing out that massive Hate Demon, they were finally very close to the core area.

Only three or four minutes passed.

BOOM!

Just as they approached the region of the crimson light pillars, a massive explosion erupted ahead. Through the hazy, drifting blood mist, the group saw a building suddenly shatter into dust.

A large object was sent flying out of the collapsing structure, soaring dozens of meters and smashing through several billboards before slamming heavily into the ground.

Only after it landed did they see that it was a man. He looked to be in his forties, with a buzz cut and the robust build of a soldier. The most striking difference between him and a normal human was his height—he stood at least four or five meters tall.

However, upon impact, the man’s body quickly deflated like a leaking balloon, returning to normal human size. His condition was pitiful; his upper clothing was shredded, and his exposed skin was covered in blood and lacerations. Mangled flesh mingled with a strange black substance in his wounds, emitting wisps of ominous black smoke.

“Cough… cough-cough… Argh!”

The man struggled to rise, but halfway up, he suddenly clutched his chest and coughed violently, spitting out a large mouthful of blackish-red blood.

At that moment, Zhi Yuan and the others recognized him. The girl with the ball-shaped pigtails cried out instinctively, “Captain Xiao? It’s Captain Xiao! Go, check on him!”

She immediately ran toward the man, while Zhen Zhu quickly explained to the others.

“That’s Xiao Yongan, the Vice Captain of the First Squad. He took over the duties of the First Squad leader after that traitor defected.”

Jiang Xun nodded, realizing that another team had reached this area first, and by the looks of it, things hadn’t gone well. He didn’t hesitate, quickly leading the group toward him while keeping a wary eye on the direction from which Xiao Yongan had been thrown.

The heavily injured Xiao Yongan struggled to his feet after spitting out the blood, but his condition was dire. He only noticed Zhi Yuan when she reached his side.

“Zhi Yuan? Why are you here? Did Lan Yun send you? Quick, notify her immediately… tell her Gray Eagle is here! My communicator is broken, you must…”

The man froze for a second upon seeing Zhi Yuan, but he reacted quickly to relay the intel. Before he could finish, however, an ear-piercing whistle cut through the air, closing the distance instantly!

Xiao Yongan and Zhi Yuan couldn’t even react. Only Jiang Xun saw the source clearly, as he had been guarding that direction from the start.

Su Mian hesitated but didn’t move. Jiang Xun’s body erupted in flames as he accelerated instantly, punching away a steel pipe that had been hurled from the distance.

The pipe was made of ordinary steel, but it was coated in a layer of ominous black gas, giving it exaggerated speed and power. When Jiang Xun struck it, it deformed and crashed into the distance, resulting in a violent explosion!

“It’s the [Claw of Anles], a Forbidden-class relic. It looks like a black dragon-scale glove. It grants the wearer dragon-like strength and can distort any object touched, endowing it with extraordinary properties. The price is that it cannot be used for long; otherwise, it will fuse with the user, turning them into a mindless dragon-like monster…”

As Zhen Zhu spoke rapidly, a figure emerged from the dust in the distance.

The man had a handsome face entirely ruined by scars. He was expressionless and shirtless—not because his clothes were destroyed, but to better release the relic’s power. His right arm and the surrounding torso were covered in black scales; his fingers were sharp as dragon claws, and a black barb grew near his wrist.

As his emotionless eyes looked over, his pupils seemed to shift into black vertical slits.

“Traitor!”

While Jiang Xun was still observing the man, Zhi Yuan could no longer restrain herself. The moment she recognized the figure, she raised her gun without hesitation.

[Blood Thorns] was activated. Transparent thorns pierced her arm, drinking her blood before instantly firing white bullets that smelled of iron.

Bang—!

Gray Eagle raised his hand to block the bullet aimed at his brow. The terrifying force sent him back several steps, and the white light shattered the dragon scales on his arm, embedding deep into his flesh and causing blood to flow.

However, it didn’t pierce through. As the man dug out the bullet with his other hand, the seemingly severe wound squirmed and healed almost instantly.

He dropped the specialized bullet casing. Gray Eagle’s gaze fell on the girl who had fired, but he ultimately just shook his head. Once, they might have been teammates who trusted each other with their lives, but now they were simply enemies who would fight until death.

Nothing more.

Gray Eagle cared nothing for the angry shout and didn’t bother with words. He snapped his right arm, and the restored black dragon scales emitted a dark, murky halo. Then, a roar—half-human, half-dragon—erupted from his throat. He stomped, shattering the ground beneath him as he lunged at the group like a cannonball!

The man was incredibly fast, moving like a bolt of black lightning, covering a hundred meters in a single breath.

Just as he closed in on Zhi Yuan and Xiao Yongan, a ball of fire smashed into his face and exploded. The burst of flame obscured his vision, and a sudden, invisible force made his head throb with pain.

His rhythm was broken. The mental blade stabbing his consciousness caused Gray Eagle to pause. By the time he reacted, Jiang Xun’s flame-wrapped fist had already slammed heavily into his face.

Taken off guard, he was sent reeling.

However, as a former member of the Administration and a squad leader, the scarred man was no pushover. Before he even hit the ground, he reacted, slapping the earth to dodge Jiang Xun’s follow-up kick in a bizarre movement before quickly creating distance and rising.

But Gray Eagle was alone. The Administration was not. When dealing with a traitor, there was no talk of one-on-one duels—ganging up was the only truth!

As his arm bulged and he prepared to counterattack, a second gunshot rang out. Zhi Yuan’s bullet was fired from a tricky angle. Faced with that terrifyingly holy white light, Gray Eagle couldn’t ignore it and was forced to raise his hand to block.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to dodge, but the bullet speed of [Blood Thorns] in its special state was too fast. Combined with the interference from the others, blocking was the best he could manage.

Fortunately, as a more dangerous Forbidden relic, the [Claw of Anles] didn’t just grant strength; the dragon scales possessed exaggerated defensive capabilities. While he couldn’t completely ignore the damage, he at least wouldn’t be shot through.

That was what Gray Eagle thought—until he heard the third shot. It followed the second almost instantly.

The man blocked the second bullet with his hand, but the third bullet hit the exact same spot with pinpoint accuracy, pushing the previous bullet and forcibly gouging through his arm!

Pfft!

Although the [Claw of Anles] resisted most of the damage, the bullet still had enough momentum to plunge into Gray Eagle’s skull!

Jiang Xun didn’t miss the opening. Transforming into a fire giant, he delivered a blow that sent the traitor flying.

Gray Eagle’s body skidded across the ground for over ten seconds, leaving a long trail of blood. Half his body was charred black, and there was a gaping hole in his forehead. He lay motionless, as if the battle were over.

As Jiang Xun approached to check, Zhi Yuan quickly downed a potion and shouted a warning: “He’s not dead! This guy has a freakish self-healing ability. One or two shots won’t kill him!”

Her judgment proved correct.

Just as Jiang Xun was about to strike again, the man on the ground pushed himself up. He was covered in blood and charred black, looking wretched, but his cold eyes remained unchanged.

“Watch out! He’s going to release the [Claw of Anles]!”

The warning came from Captain Xiao. Zhen Zhu had just used her miraculous white flames to treat his injuries. Recovering slightly, he saw the scene and immediately spoke out. As the Vice Captain of the First Squad, he knew the former captain well and guessed his intent immediately.

Though he didn’t really need to warn them—the change was obvious.

The wounds on Gray Eagle’s body were healing at a visible rate. Simultaneously, his relatively normal human body was being rapidly covered in dense scales!

The black scales that originally only covered his right hand spread across his entire body in the blink of an eye. His form mutated, his face and body twisting.

Finally, after exhaling a thick cloud of white mist, a humanoid creature over two meters tall appeared before them—covered in black scales, with dragon claws and a tail.

To put it bluntly, he had turned into a small black dragon-man.

“He looks quite cool.”

Su Mian stood in the distance, watching the scene and debating whether to help. Mainly, she felt absolutely no appetite for this guy; the crimson aura that had been restless earlier showed no reaction now.

The rest of the Administration members didn’t seem to want her help yet, either.

After thinking it over, the girl decided to wait and see.