Chapter Ninety-Eight: Ma Sheng's Pinnacle

"My goodness!"
"This is absolutely blinding..."
"Is this Need for Speed?"

The residents of the neighborhood, initially anxious due to the appearance of aliens, now watched in amazement as a group of strange individuals engaged in a MOBA-style battle with these extraterrestrials. Their tension eased; today was an eye-opening experience.

Not only did they witness aliens, but also magical girls wielding sorcery, martial arts heroines, the legendary Guan Yu, and a six-legged horse—now even equipped with a nitrous oxide boost shooting from its rear.

At the Crystal base, Zhao Yulong and Huang Jiang twitched at the corners of their eyes.

Yan Luo’s steed had six accelerators, two of which had been modified into nitrous oxide boosters.

By compressing carbon monoxide into a high-pressure liquid, then mixing it with air inside the engine to serve as an oxidizer and fuel, the engine’s power output was significantly enhanced! This alien booster operated on principles similar to Earth’s nitrous oxide systems, only miniaturized for portability.

Yan Luo’s nutrients allowed for upgrading two of these boosters. Upon activating both, twin blue flames erupted from the horse’s hindquarters, and he suddenly understood the sensation of “flying.”

If the horse, Cream Chocolate, previously ran like a wild dog off its leash, now it was a swift arrow cutting through the air! The powerful thrust propelled the horse forward instantly, prompting Huang Jiang to liken it to the skyrocketing firecrackers during Chinese New Year.

“Crack, crack, crack...”

However, after less than fifty meters of sprinting, Cream Chocolate tragically broke three of its legs. Such immense force and speed overwhelmed even its chitinous joint armor. To put it simply, it was like fitting a Ferrari engine into a tricycle—the frame simply couldn’t hold up.

Yan Luo was forced to shut down the boosters and lead the horse, now limping on three legs, to the middle lane to seek Chen Beixue’s healing.

After treatment, Yan Luo cleared a wave of neutral monsters, then rode back to the Crystal to reinforce Cream Chocolate’s skeleton. The six legs were doubled in thickness, capable of withstanding higher stress. With this upgrade, activating the nitrous boosters would no longer risk breaking the legs.

Over the next period, Yan Luo eliminated numerous neutral creatures and provided support across the top, middle, and bottom lanes, engaging in several skirmishes.

Strictly speaking, these Martian entities were formidable, comparable to mid-level mini-bosses.

Yan Luo’s own resistances faltered under the acidic spit of a Martian worm, threatening to dissolve his flesh and leave only bone. Even Guan Yu’s powerful persona nearly succumbed to a Martian mantis’s lethal strike.

But Yan Luo was not fighting alone.

The Butcher and the Chef on the bottom lane were level 3 enhancers capable of holding their own, while Dong Qing on the top lane was a level 4 Weapons Master who could take on three enemies single-handedly without turret support.

Chen Beixue, in the middle lane, was level 5.

Yan Luo had no intention of using the nutrients on himself—humans could not undergo biochemical modifications, and exchanging them for equipment was of little use and non-transferable. Instead, he focused on strengthening his mount, making repeated trips back to the stronghold.

“Since the legs are fortified and can endure higher running frequencies, let’s upgrade two more boosters.”

...

“Four nitrous boosters are so powerful? Even with six legs strengthened, they can’t handle it. Might as well add two more legs—an eight-legged horse. Eight is a lucky number, after all.”

...

“The horse’s defense is too weak. At such speeds, the impact force is tremendous; even the rider could suffer severe injury or be killed by a collision. Better upgrade the chitin armor into a full-body exoskeleton.”

...

“What if we install a horn on its head? That would be impressive.”

...

“And let’s upgrade the remaining two boosters, making six nitrous boosters firing simultaneously!”

...

“Even with eight reinforced legs, the drive is too much. We’ll have to add two more legs—ten in total. But the space under the abdomen isn’t enough for so many legs… Maybe we should lengthen the horse’s body.”

...

In the following half hour, Yan Luo and his teammates destroyed three outer towers and three middle towers belonging to the polluted Martian faction, pushing closer to the stronghold. Meanwhile, Cream Chocolate transformed dramatically.

Now, the horse was fully encased in an exoskeletal armor reminiscent of the “Beast Soldier” bio-armor, its brown carapace completely enveloping the body except for a pair of eyes. From its forehead protruded a half-meter long red horn, like a unicorn’s lance.

This heavy horse was taller and sturdier than a typical Mongolian horse, measuring between 2.5 to 3 meters in length. Yan Luo’s steed had been extended to over 5 meters! Aside from the front and rear legs, there were three additional rows of legs beneath its belly.

In total, ten horse legs!

To be honest, riding such a long horse was quite a spectacle. Yan Luo’s teammates and the neighborhood residents were all stunned. Horses were ancient transportation—today, they were akin to compact cars. Riding an elongated Cadillac naturally stood out.

Mounted on this giant horse, Yan Luo looked as though he were sitting atop a long banquet table.

He could lie down or even roll around on its back comfortably.

Fully modified, this horse was the epitome of cool! While other horses were only 2 to 3 meters long with four legs, this one stretched over five meters with ten legs. Its body was armored with thick, sturdy exoskeleton plating, crowned by a vivid red horn.

Such a mount would be impressive even in the legendary battles of the gods—perhaps even more so than Jiang Ziya’s mythical chimera.

Cream Chocolate had truly reached the pinnacle of its existence.

A glorious moment!

“It’s like I’ve had an endless energy drink!”

Yan Luo rode atop the horse as six rocket-like boosters flared behind it. The ten legs beneath moved so rapidly they blurred into indistinguishable afterimages, twisting into spirals.

The powerful gusts generated by the legs whipped up thick clouds of dust along the path.

There’s an old saying: Absolute speed equals invincibility.

Now, riding this horse in the Evergrande Oasis neighborhood, Yan Luo was practically unbeatable. With such velocity, a single swing of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade could slay a wild monster. Moreover, if he circled the enemy’s stronghold, the tracking energy projectiles from their defense towers couldn’t catch up to a mount propelled by six nitrous boosters.

With just over ten minutes left in the one-hour mission, Yan Luo’s team had destroyed the alien faction’s stronghold towers. All that remained was to defeat the five aliens gathered near the Crystal and destroy it to complete the mission.

“Push the Crystal; I’ll go jungle.” Yan Luo rode away from the stronghold.

His target was the neighborhood’s dominant neutral boss creatures:

Codename: Colossus and Mercury Spider.