Sandton felt a wave of nausea, but fortunately, he immediately suppressed the discomfort with his Jigsaw Relic.
But he quickly realized something was terribly wrong—just as he arrived at the target location, his lower body lost all sensation.
And an excruciating pain emanated from his abdomen.
"Teleportation?"
"Daring to set your destination right in the enemy’s den... I can’t decide if you’re confident or just stupid," Qi Suian taunted, looking at the bisected Sandton.
He didn’t know much about spatial abilities, but he did know one thing: the Dark Energy Beams from his Floating Cannons could interfere with most of them.
If the opponent’s ability was like Ghost Spider Post’s spatial jump—instantaneous, with a fast cooldown and minimal spatial fluctuations—then the Floating Cannons would never be able to land a hit. Interference wouldn’t even be a possibility.
But this time, his opponent was far too brazen. The entire process, from locking on to teleporting, took nearly three minutes. They were clearly taking Qi Suian for a fool.
So he scrapped the original trap, timed it perfectly, and fired a Dark Energy Beam from the Floating Cannons right at the spatial fluctuation.
It had to be said, the guy wasn’t just tough—he was lucky. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have just been sliced in half at the waist; he would have materialized as a pile of ground meat.
"Butto! He’s a spy for the Xuan Empire!!!" Sandton roared, his expression contorting with rage as he saw the other half of his body sprawled a short distance away.
He didn’t think Qi Suian was the one who had interfered; after all, the teleportation was a covert matter.
That meant the only one at fault could be the School Officer who had teleported him.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know that Qi Suian had dealt with plenty of people who possessed spatial abilities.
In Sandton’s eyes, spatial abilities were exceedingly rare—and they were. It was just that Qi Suian’s enemies were so numerous and so high-level that encountering such powers was unavoidable.
"I suppose my methods were a bit too obvious if you managed to figure it out."
"But it doesn’t matter. You’re going to die anyway, so knowing changes nothing." Qi Suian admitted it with a casual air, as if he couldn’t care less.
’The reason he didn’t mention a name was because he had no idea who was involved.’
’Just because Sandton mentioned some Butto, did that make it true? What if he was just trying to bluff me?’
’The less said, the fewer mistakes. Better to just move on.’
With that said, Qi Suian prepared to snatch the man’s Jigsaw Relic first.
’The fact that he came to hunt me alone means he was very confident in his strength, so his Jigsaw Relic must be extraordinary.’
Just as he drew near, Sandton suddenly lunged, but the Tai Sui God dodged with agile grace.
Then, he watched as a mass of fleshy tendrils sprouted from the other man’s lower half, squirming and coiling around it until the transformation was complete.
The head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion.
This was the ability granted to him by his Jigsaw Relic: the Lion Scorpion Beast.
It also granted him passive abilities: immunity to toxins, resistance to disease, and invulnerability to plagues.
It was precisely because of these passive effects that he had been put in charge of this operation, and they were the source of his courage to come alone.
As for healing and regeneration, it naturally had those capabilities as well.
A full recovery was a trivial matter; the relic’s power was no joke.
"Your reflexes are far beyond what I imagined," the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton said. Its voice was incredibly sweet, with a captivating, melodious tone.
It was a good thing Qi Suian wasn’t exactly normal and had a series of protective modules; otherwise, anyone else would have been instantly enthralled.
"Uh... you’re..." For a moment, Qi Suian was at a loss for words.
’To look so ferocious, yet possess such a fine voice and a talent for enchantment... what a bizarre combination.’
However, the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton paid Qi Suian no mind. It lunged forward, its scorpion tail whipping through the air like a javelin, constantly shooting out poisoned needles... no, they were more like poisoned spikes.
Qi Suian wasn’t about to humor it. His AI immediately projected the contents of the "Chapter of Disease" while simultaneously activating the Holy Orchestra.
The beast was too fast; the Holy Orchestra wouldn’t activate in time. Therefore, broadcasting the text directly would have to do.
A look of human-like derision appeared in the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton’s eyes. It saw the text, and it saw the Holy Orchestra beginning to form.
But in the face of absolute power, such things were merely the desperate struggles of the dying.
A nice thought, but just before its lion claws could make contact with Qi Suian, it noticed a problem. ’Why do I suddenly find this hunk of metal so... attractive?’
It had the strange illusion of wanting to spend the rest of its life with the machine.
But it was, after all, a battle-hardened Warrior. It quickly realized the enemy was affecting its mind and immediately tried to manage its emotions.
And in that single moment of hesitation, it took a heavy blow from the Tai Sui God.
The hit instantly drew blood, smashing its head and shattering several of its jagged teeth.
A pity that its attack had missed.
"Despicable tricks are ultimately... UGH—" The Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton instinctively opened its mouth to let fly a stream of curses.
Before it could finish, the Tai Sui God shoved a fist right down its open mouth, punching it square in the throat. The blow completely stunned Sandton.
The punch was not only painful and sickening but also immensely powerful. Combined with the earlier blow to the head, it made Sandton see stars; he simply couldn’t take it.
Qi Suian saw this and figured it was likely the effect of the Dumbing Aura. Otherwise, the beast wouldn’t have paused to spout such clichés mid-battle.
’And it leaned in so close, too. It would have been a waste of a golden opportunity for the Tai Sui God not to land that punch.’
’He was starting to understand why villains always die from monologuing.’
’When your opponent starts blabbering in a fight, just shut them up by aiming for the throat.’
’Either they choke on their words, or their throat gets a fist.’
As the Tai Sui God withdrew its fist, it didn’t come back empty. It had smoothly latched onto the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton’s tongue and gave it a sharp pull.
He had to admit, it was surprisingly tough; a single hard tug wasn’t enough to rip it out.
But no matter. The Tai Sui God had a contingency plan. Its other fist smashed down on the Lion Scorpion Beast’s forehead once more.
The blow slammed the Lion Scorpion Beast’s jaw shut.
CRUNCH. The tongue snapped right off.
’Using an enemy’s shield to break their own spear is a damn good tactic.’
This entire combo thoroughly enraged the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton, and then... it was met with a Rising Dragon Fist, delivered by the very hand that was still clutching its severed tongue.
The blow landed right on its chin—an absolute weak point.
The punch sent the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton flying backward. Its massive leonine body crashed heavily onto the ground. It was no longer just seeing stars; it was knocked out cold.
"This physique is the real deal."
"I’ve smashed Level 1 Fire Seed Armor before, yet your head is completely fine."
"If it weren’t for the advantages my plot armor grants me, you might have actually eaten me," Qi Suian mused, his expression complex as he looked at the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton, whose human face was only slightly misshapen.
At a glance, it looked like a one-sided beatdown, but in truth, if he had made a single misstep and given the creature a moment’s respite, Qi Suian’s only option would have been to run.
He didn’t know what rank Sandton held in the Eternal United States, but the man was clearly a cunning and vicious old fox. From feigning death at the start to launching a surprise attack, he had no regard for his own dignity.
People like that not only live long, but they also climb high the moment they seize an opportunity.
Qi Suian hadn’t seen through the disguise at first; it was only thanks to his AI’s quick reflexes.
But the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton was valuable; otherwise, he wouldn’t have approached it in the first place.
To avoid making the same mistake twice, Qi Suian sent over the Evil Dragon and Evil Tiger from a distance.
He sent about ten pairs of them, and when there was still no reaction, he finally went over to investigate.
"It’s really out cold," Qi Suian said, and began injecting the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton with a large dose of anesthetic.
"I need to dissect it quickly, before the pathological changes set in. It’ll be too late then."
Sandton’s immune system was incredibly strong; the plague created by the Holy Orchestra was being constantly suppressed within his body.
It would take at least half an hour for the plague to take full effect, and an entire hour for him to turn into a zombie.
Once it took hold, its intensity would skyrocket. The hardest part was always getting it started from scratch.
Qi Suian was extremely curious about the physiological structure of the Lion Scorpion Beast. He desperately wanted to understand how it worked.
It was purely because of its physiological impossibility. Biologically, the structural characteristics of a Lion Scorpion Beast should not allow it to perform its necessary bodily functions.
A lion’s body isn’t suited to having a scorpion’s tail and stinger, as the two structures serve entirely different biological purposes.
Furthermore, as a mammal, a lion possesses an efficient pulmonary respiratory system to support the high oxygen consumption required for running and hunting.
A scorpion, however, breathes using book lungs—a respiratory method completely different from that of a mammal, better suited to a sedentary or slow-moving lifestyle.
And these were just the most basic, surface-level problems. There were also the impossibilities related to its digestive, nervous, and motor systems.
He just wanted to know how such a mishmash of a creature could possibly stay alive.
’The beast was indeed a transformed Extraordinary Creature, but that didn’t mean it could just defy all logic, could it?’
After beginning the dissection, Qi Suian was stunned.
"Wait, you’ve got to be kidding me..."
"It’s you in there." Upon dissecting the creature, Qi Suian discovered Sandton’s own body deep within the flesh and blood.
His lower half was still regenerating slowly. As long as he deactivated the transformation, his bisected body would eventually recover.
"So, apart from your head being exposed for sensory input, your transformation is just the lion-scorpion body wrapped around you like a plastic bag..."
"So you’re just wearing armor like me. And it’s not even good quality armor—it leaves your whole head exposed."
Qi Suian was deeply disappointed. It didn’t involve any novel biological structures at all; it was simply a form of bio-armor sustained by a relic.
Just like that, Qi Suian lost all interest.
’And here I thought I could find something useful by studying its physiology.’
In the end, this was all it was. The only thing left to do was pull out Sandton’s Jigsaw Relic and toss him into the Melting Furnace for fuel.
"Then the transformations I saw before, like the Ghost Spider and the Earth Element Monarch, probably worked on a similar principle. At most, their operational logic might be different."