pjbooks Ch. 213 - No Way. It Can't Actually Be THAT Bandit, Right... [1]
Ch. 213 - No Way. It Can't Actually Be THAT Bandit, Right... [1]
"Little Lei, how are your skills looking?"The Mutant Thunderbird waggled its butt, signaling that everything was ready -- it could ignite at any time!
A savagely gleeful grin spread across Chen Shu's face. This was his second time using the genuine Explosion Potion.
When he'd blown up Taiping Mountain, he'd used the Mini Explosion Potion. That hadn't been satisfying at all.
"Since everyone's gathered here -- let me say a few words before the detonation!"
Chen Shu cleared his throat twice, turned to address the countless beasts below, and put on a smile.
"First of all, I feel deeply honored--"
PAP!
Fang Si's mouth twitched. She slapped the back of his head.
She'd seen people play music to cows before, but she'd never seen anyone give a speech to fierce beasts. Was this guy not clinically insane?
Chen Shu said, "Sis Fang Si, film this for me! You're witnessing a historic moment -- aren't you moved?"
"Are you actually fucking insane?!"
Fang Si looked at the potion vial and said, "I can wait. The beasts can wait. Do you think that thing can wait?"
Chen Shu's expression froze. He looked down at the grey vial in his hand.
"Holy shit!"
Because of the scorching temperature inside the Alternate Dimension, the Explosion Potion had practically started boiling. The internal pressure was hammering against the cap from the inside, pushing it upward with every passing second.
If Chen Shu had stalled any longer, the two of them would've blasted straight into the afterlife...
His hand trembled. The Explosion Potion slipped from his grip and tumbled down toward the beast horde below!
The moment the world had been waiting for had finally arrived.
The Mutant Thunderbird was clearly experienced. Lightning radiance surged across its feathers as it bolted like an unshackled mutt, speed maxed out beyond reason...
Below, the beast horde still gaped upward with their massive jaws, staring blankly at the grey vial tumbling through the air.
They judged danger by scent. In their eyes, the grey potion was no different from a rock.
True fierce beasts dared to face the impact of a nuclear bomb head-on. [2]
Chen Shu turned around. His fists clenched tight, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
His eyes locked onto that vial, witnessing the miracle unfold!
The grey vial's cap popped open on its own, and the liquid inside spilled out.
The beasts below were all fire-attribute. They ignited the potion fluid with almost no effort.
WHUMM!
In an instant, a searing blaze of white light bloomed, then expanded in the blink of an eye.
A horrifying white sun materialized inside the Alternate Dimension.
The expressions on the beast horde seemed to freeze in place. Terrible heat swept outward, and massive numbers of beasts were dissolved in an instant, not leaving a single drop of blood behind.
Even Variant-level Black Iron beasts couldn't withstand it, reduced to ash in the span of a breath.
In that second, countless beasts dissolved into the light...
ROAR!
The Black Iron Lords howled in agony. Their raw vitality and defensive power let them tough it out, barely surviving the Explosion Potion's blast through sheer endurance.
The white sun continued expanding at terrifying speed. Even the Silver Lords couldn't escape its reach.
And what made it truly horrifying -- this was a volcanic Alternate Dimension!
The explosion's radiance spread outward, engulfing the nearby volcanoes, and in an instant, the magma reserves deep inside were triggered.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Cataclysmic detonations reverberated through the air. Every volcano caught in the blast erupted!
Scorching lava surged upward, intertwining with the explosion's energy. Beasts inside the volcanoes howled as they suffered a disaster they'd done absolutely nothing to deserve!
"Oh my--"
Chen Shu's eyes went wide, his expression beyond excited.
He pulled out a phone and recorded this beautiful moment...
The Mutant Thunderbird was running at full speed, and since it had opened up a head start from the very beginning, it managed to avoid the blast radius.
Disaster always trailed it by one step...
"ROAR!"
Countless Lords went berserk. They could survive, but their entire tribes had been wiped out. Every last subordinate -- gone. They'd become commanders with nothing left to command.
The Mutant Thunderbird quickly reached the corridor entrance. Countless beasts were still massed here too.
That Silver Lord -- the Giant Lizard -- was still guarding this spot.
It looked up at the Thunderbird in the sky, let out a low growl, and was about to attack.
Then it glanced past and caught sight of the white sun behind them.
What is that?
The Giant Lizard's tiny eyes were filled with enormous confusion. It had no idea why such a phenomenon had appeared in the Alternate Dimension.
"Take care of yourself!"
Chen Shu flashed a grin and gave the Giant Lizard a close-up with his phone, then immediately made for the exit.
Just as he turned his head without thinking, his expression suddenly froze.
Huh? What's that?
Far in the distance, the peak of one of the volcanoes was swaying back and forth.
Not because it was collapsing -- it was moving as if it were alive.
The distance was too far. Chen Shu couldn't see clearly. He just assumed a volcano had achieved sentience.
But if you could close that distance, you'd see it with crystal clarity -- that was a monstrous beast's head!!
A dragon's head wreathed in blazing flame emerged, its body still hidden within the volcano. The magma inside roiled and boiled, but it couldn't harm this creature in the slightest...
Seeing its territory laid waste, its eyes burned with fury!
It didn't take long for the Fire Dragon to lock onto its suspect.
Its eyes blazed with crimson light, and even across that vast distance, it could clearly make out Chen Shu's face.
It could even see that smug grin, clear as day!
All that was missing were four words carved into his forehead: I AM THE KILLER.
It's him! It's definitely him!
Its intelligence was no lower than a human's. It understood everything in an instant.
But in the very next moment, Chen Shu vanished into the Space Corridor.
...
Chen Shu exhaled heavily, then couldn't help but exclaim: "Thrilling! That was genuinely fucking thrilling!"
He had no idea that a terrifying beast had memorized his face.
If he ever dared set foot in that Alternate Dimension again, the entire dimension would hunt him down.
Chen Shu had been added to the fierce beasts' blacklist...
"You two--"
Xue Ziming was still waiting at the corridor entrance.
The moment he saw the pair emerge, he immediately tried to ask what had happened -- what exactly had they done in there?
But Chen Shu and Fang Si said nothing. The Mutant Thunderbird didn't slow down at all, bolting straight toward the outside of the mist.
One look at this, and Xue Ziming's gut tightened. Almost instinctively, he tried to take off.
But he was one step too slow.
BOOM!
A white shockwave erupted from the Space Corridor, blasting the Black Giant Eagle clean off its feet.
"What the fuck! What the hell was that?! An attack that works through a dimensional barrier?!"
Xue Ziming's face went pale. Beneath him, the Black Giant Eagle beat its wings in a single violent tremor.
A deep, dark glow spread across both wings as it released a skill -- and teleported a short distance!
Then the eagle let out a shriek and started its frantic escape.
Outside the mist, Qin Chuan saw Fang Si running for her life. His brain kicked into gear instantly, and he bolted in the opposite direction without a word.
Dragon Guard duty is important, but living is more important!
The Explosion Potion's power had punched straight through the Space Corridor and hit Blue Star!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A terrifying explosion erupted. Searing white light consumed and crumbled the mountain peaks around the corridor.
The Mutant Thunderbird finally stopped, panting heavily, tongue hanging out -- looking completely wrung dry.
"Should be safe now!"
Fang Si spoke up, a trace of lingering fear in her eyes.
Even diminished after passing through the Space Corridor, the Explosion Potion had still leveled several mountains on Blue Star.
No wonder they dared call it a nuclear bomb...
But the Alternate Dimension -- that was where the real catastrophe had landed!
Where the nuke had passed, not a blade of grass survived. Rivers of lava flowed in every direction. Countless beasts hadn't even left corpses behind.
Volcanoes collapsed one after another. Lord-rank beasts howled ceaselessly, the air thick with devastation...
A terrifying Fire Dragon stared blankly at its territory, which now looked like a ruin. It had completely shut down...
How did it end up like this? What the hell happened?
I JUST TOOK A NAP!
...
"Finally dealt with!"
On Blue Star, Wang Xuanyang let out a breath of relief. The three Dragon Guards had fought together and finally slain the Silver Lord.
"Move in -- support the others!"
The three of them didn't let their guard down. As long as the Space Corridor existed, the crisis wasn't fully resolved.
"Why haven't Fang Si and the others contacted us?"
Wang Xuanyang frowned, confusion in his eyes.
Ten minutes later.
Three Dragon Guards circled overhead, absolutely dumbfounded.
One of them spoke up. "Where the hell is the corridor?!"
Xu Yi's mouth twitched. "Forget the corridor -- where the hell are the mountains?!"
Wang Xuanyang fell silent. He had a vague feeling that this scene was somehow familiar...
No way. It can't actually be THAT bandit, right...?
[1] 辣个 (la ge): Dialectal phonetic spelling of 那个 (na ge, "that"). Originates from a 2013-2015 League of Legends esports broadcast meme: commentator Xiaoxiao, describing OMG team's top-laner Gogoing, kept saying "那个男人" ("that man") -- but his Sichuan/Southwestern accent rendered it "辣个男人," which went viral across Chinese gaming culture. "辣个" spread beyond LoL as a general internet marker: writing 辣个 instead of 那个 signals you're deploying the viral "surely not THAT person" recognition-meme. Wang Xuanyang is having his LoL-commentator moment.
[2] 真正的凶兽，敢于直面核弹的冲击 (zhenzheng de xiongshou, ganyu zhimian hedan de chongji): Parody of the famous line from Lu Xun's 1926 essay "In Memory of Liu Hezhen" (纪念刘和珍君): "真正的勇士，敢于直面惨淡的人生" ("A true warrior dares to face the grim realities of life"). Lu Xun's essay is taught in every Huaxia school and his phrasing has become a structurally recycled template across Chinese internet culture. Here, Chen Shu's narration substitutes "true warrior" with "true fierce beast" and "the grim realities of life" with "the impact of a nuclear bomb" -- elevating the beasts' blind confidence into a perverse form of heroism.