Chen Luo did not waste words. The instant the stranger had a chance to react, he seized the man's arm, turned, and hurled him over his shoulder. Caught off guard, the man managed only a few trigger pulls as he lost his balance; the bullets missed and struck the rock wall. Chen Luo used the momentum to throw him into the bottomless ravine without even looking back. Almost at the same moment, a point of light silently followed the path Chen Luo had just taken, keeping close behind him. As soon as Chen Luo reached the surface, the light shot into the sky, emitting an ominous alarm signal.
-"Tch, the Cloud-Piercing Jade Pendant again. I forgot to destroy it." Chen Luo frowned slightly. He immediately used the Quick Summon skill to summon Hina to his side.
Hina understood what had happened at a glance. She knew that troublesome pendant all too well: last time, it had exposed their location while the two of them were fleeing. A trace of displeasure crossed her face at the memory. Chen Luo was about to tell Hina to get ready to leave when a cold voice suddenly rang out:
-"Where do you think you're going?"
Chen Luo raised his head. Eight to ten figures dressed in black had spread out to block the passage. He recognized them without needing a closer look: the Black Net had sent another group to hunt him down. Judging by their clothing and bearing, Chen Luo knew a fierce battle would be hard to avoid this time.
Far away, Chen Luo's image was displayed on a screen in front of a mysterious woman. After listening to her subordinate's report, she spoke calmly:
-"Let him fight. If he can pass this test, we don't need to interfere for now."
-"Understood, Demon Queen."
The Demon Queen gently swirled the wine in her glass. Just as her servant withdrew, another person entered. The moment she saw the newcomer, her expression darkened and her voice turned icy:
-"What do you want?"
Back with Chen Luo, he lowered his center of gravity and prepared to fight. Hina understood his intention and immediately rushed outside to deal with the monsters that had just appeared. Meanwhile, the black-clad men chanted in unison. The space around Chen Luo rippled, then closed in, cutting him off from the battlefield outside.
Chen Luo paid no attention to their movements. He ordered Hina to keep clearing out the monsters and leave the men in front of him to him. Before Hina could even turn around, the entire group was pulled into the air by an invisible force and transported into an isolated arena.
Without hesitation, Chen Luo quickly equipped the Black-and-White Society outfit. He had originally intended to prioritize restoring his sword, but the situation left no time for delay; that would have to wait.
-"Looks like you've killed quite a few of our comrades, huh?" one black-clad man said, looking at Chen Luo with malice. They did not seem to realize what he was preparing and regarded him only as prey about to be cornered.
-"Just looking at you makes me sick. We'll finish you off right here!"
-"What are you waiting for? Everyone, attack!" another man snapped impatiently and charged first.
-"Floating Shadow—Shuriken!"
At his shout, countless shuriken tore through the air like a rain of metal. Chen Luo did not dare to be careless and kept dodging sideways. The black-clad men were not attacking at random; they coordinated rhythmically, throwing shuriken from multiple directions and forcing him to keep moving. Chen Luo swung his dagger to deflect each incoming blade, but the attackers stayed relentlessly on his heels, leaving him no opening to counterattack.
Their figures overlapped and flickered in and out of sight across the arena. This seemed to be their home ground: each moved at astonishing speed, darting back and forth in numbers too great to track, like a swarm of mosquitoes surrounding their prey. Despite Chen Luo's best efforts to hold them off, he could not quickly find a way to defeat the entire group.
-"What are you waiting for? Brothers, cut him down!" one of the black-clad men roared and charged straight at Chen Luo.
Chen Luo immediately threw a smoke bomb and used the smoke to create some distance. But as soon as the men recognized it as irritating smoke, they quickly put on gas masks. The discomfort it caused was not enough to slow them down.
At that moment, Chen Luo also finished equipping the final piece of the Black-and-White Society set. Only then did the black-clad men truly notice his appearance. They realized his outfit reminded them of their sworn enemy, and immediately abandoned their coordinated tactics, rushing at him viciously as if they had lost their minds.
-"Die, you lackey of the Black-and-White Society!"
Chen Luo glanced at the system interface. There were only a handful of songs in the Spectrum Headset's list. Without hesitation, he selected one. At the same time, the Guardian's words came back to him:
-"Hey, if I remember correctly, you made that headset, didn't you? Its function seems to be amplification. As for how it amplifies things, only you would know."
-"Don't joke around, old man. How am I supposed to know how to use this thing?"
Back then, Chen Luo had looked at the Guardian as if he were an idiot. Only later did the Guardian remember that Chen Luo had lost his memory—or so he believed—and patiently teach him how to use the Spectrum Headset.
Following his instructions, Chen Luo selected the song "Heresy." The melody immediately flooded his ears, and the system's voice rang out:
-"Congratulations, host. You have successfully combined Sound Art Enhancement with the Spectrum Headset. The skill has been unlocked. You have gained the effects of "Madness," "Speed," and "Damage," with a maximum duration of 3 minutes and 46 seconds."
A strange aura suddenly flared around Chen Luo. He was like a wild beast swept up by the rhythm, allowing madness to overwhelm reason. Every strike fell perfectly in time with "Heresy"; the blade in his hand flashed again and again, intertwining with the rapid music in his ears. As the tempo accelerated, Chen Luo's movements grew faster, cleaner, and more decisive.
The clash of metal rang out repeatedly, sometimes sharp, sometimes dull. At first, Chen Luo had been slower than his opponents, but he gradually caught up with their attack rhythm. He kept swinging his blade, leaving almost no opening.
-"Hey, don't you... think something's wrong with him?" one black-clad man asked, barely holding his ground, panic creeping into his voice. He had never expected that, within just a few minutes, the prey they had underestimated would begin to match the speed they had once prided themselves on.
-"Kill him! Stop dragging this out!"
Before they could say anything else, the melody began to reach its climax. Chen Luo suddenly stopped, as if he had unwittingly triggered some strange ritual. Even as the black-clad men charged at him frantically, he stood still, storing the Venomfang Wolf Blade in the system before taking it out again. The strange action left his enemies confused. Then he repeated it, slowly drawing the blade from its sheath.
At the exact moment the lyric "Do you know the truth behind it?" rang out, a sharp, icy clang echoed throughout the arena. The system immediately announced:
-"Releasing Speed. Removing the protective barrier."
In an instant, Chen Luo became a bolt of lightning. Everything around him seemed to slow down, while blades flashed through the air one after another. Before the black-clad men could even understand what was happening, Chen Luo's voice rang out, merging with the lyrics of "Heresy." With every line he sang, he swept past another man; blade-light flashed again and again, too fast for the naked eye to follow.
The men stood with their mouths open, unable to utter a word. By the time Chen Luo sheathed his blade, every enemy had been cut to pieces and was falling to the ground, one after another.