The oddly-dressed woman who had appeared immediately attracted the attention of many people in the lounge. It wasn’t because of her looks, but simply her outfit that drew all their gazes.
A black man from an unknown organization wolf-whistled, and laughed mockingly. “Miss, are you an escort? I like your look. How much will you charge for a night?”
At that, a huge group roared with laughter.
The woman paid no attention to the teasing or strange glances she was getting, but swept her eyes slowly across Rhinoceros and the other mercenaries from the Panther lying on the floor, and then glanced back at the panting Sloth.
For some reason Sloth was kneeling on the floor, and kowtowed to the woman, before speaking in an indigenous language no one understood.
After listening to him, the woman nodded and walked towards the four from Blue Storm.
“You’re their chief? A fitting leader for trash indeed. Who knows where these savages come from? So are you going to be their saviour?” The female poweruser of sound waves Millie laughed coldly.
The strangely dressed woman didn’t reply, but crouched and placed a gentle hand on the shattered shoulder of Rhinoceros…
The baldy Rhinoceros was in unbearable pain, but as she moved, he still nodded his head to convey his gratitude.
Blue Storm were clueless as to this lady’s origins. As she didn’t answer their question, they were too lazy to be bothered with that.
“Looks like they’re just licking each other’s wounds. That’s boring. We might as well clean up and stop wasting time here,” said the tall Allen drily.
“I think so, too. Let’s go, fellows.” The man with the sunglasses gave those on the floor a mocking smile and turned to leave.
However, before the four could leave, Rhinoceros, who until now had been silent, suddenly yelled from behind, “Stop right there!”
Stunned, the four turned back and saw in surprise that Rhinoceros, who was previously cradling his shoulder, in too much pain to speak, was now standing as if completely uninjured, glaring at them with fierce rage.
“How’s this possible… His humerus should have been shattered.” The vibration poweruser shifted his sunglasses as he mumbled.
Before they could deduce how Rhinoceros had healed so quickly, the other three of the Panther Mercenary Group had also gotten up!
Those observing by the side had clearly seen that it was because of the woman in the strange clothes, who had placed her hand for a moment on their bodies before completely healing them!
After allowing the four mercenaries to recover, the woman returned to Sloth and placed her right hand on his chest wound.
This time, the Blue Storm four saw clearly that a white halo surrounded the woman’s hand—only it was very faint.
In a few seconds, Sloth stretched his arms, still wincing, and bowed to the woman to express his thanks. Then he looked in fury at the Blue Storm four. “You will pay for your arrogance!”
Tall Allen narrowed his eyes at the strange woman, and said, “Although I don’t know who you are to them, it seems like you are indeed capable of witchcraft. However, although you may heal them quickly, this doesn’t mean that they are on the same level as us.”
“What are you babbling for? Finish off the woman first!”
The sunglasses-wearing man was more impatient, and in a flash his lean speedy frame was already in front of the woman.
That palm who could shatter bones in a second was about to touch the woman’s thin shoulders…
SSSS-SSSS!!!
Suddenly, an arc of fiery lightning burst in the space between the two!
The indigo current formed into a great shield. Just as the sunglasses man was about to touch the woman, he was shocked into paralysis by the current!
From the side, the eye-piercing sparks didn’t seem insignificant. If the Blue Storm member didn’t have an extraordinary physical constitution, he probably would’ve been shocked to death on the spot!
As it happened, the sunglasses-wearing man gave a yelp and fell back. His hand had entirely blackened, just like a roasted bear paw!
Those bystanders who were just enjoying the show were stunned—their opinion of this seemingly soft woman made a 180 degree turn.
Wh—what technique is this? A lightning poweruser? That’s not right—she could also heal?!
Her healing speed was way more powerful than that of the Vatican!
At the counter, Abbess Yun Miao was astonished as well, and noticed that Yang Chen was completely unsurprised. “You know that woman?”
Yang Chen shrugged. “Nope.”
“Then how did you know that she was the key person?” asked Abbess Yun Miao curiously.
Yang Chen said, “Although I don’t clash much with the Panther, I was tasked with some duties and did some training in the Amazon rainforest prior to this. So I have some understanding regarding their composition and capabilities.”
As Abbess Yun Miao listened quietly, Blue Storm faced off once again with the five of Panther and that woman.
Only this time the Blue Storm members didn’t know whether to attack or swallow their pride and retreat—with this mysterious woman, they didn’t know what was the best plan....
“The Panther are a mercenary group with a long history. They were already beginning to form back when the Europeans first landed in the Americas. Then, it was the aboriginals of North America and the surviving Native Americans who banded together to fight off the invading forces.
“It was a shame that although the Panther were experts in forest combat, they couldn’t withstand the number of Europeans and their cannons and guns. In the end, they could only retreat to a few hidden strongholds. After hundreds of years of operations, the group changed from resisting invaders to a mercenary group.
“The members of the Panther came almost entirely from American aboriginal tribes and a few poor American countries. Although they weren’t rich, their bodies were quite remarkable, and many were descendants of runaway slaves. Surely you know that those slaves who could survive the journey from Africa to America must’ve had outstanding physical essence. Those who could further escape from the plantations were even better. You could say that with each subsequent generation, their bodies were getting stronger and stronger.
“If you want to talk about the physical constitutions of mercenary group members all over the world, the Panther is undoubtedly the best.”
Yun Miao nodded to show her understanding, but asked doubtfully, “They are physically impressive indeed, but were so easily defeated by Blue Storm just now, letting down their name… or is that woman the primary factor here?”
Yang Chen paused to order another whiskey, and pursed his lips. “That woman is a shaman.”
“What?!” Abbess Yun Miao thought that she misheard.
“The Panther mercenaries have amazing physiques, extensive combat experience, and firearm skills, but these alone aren’t enough to make you the world’s best mercenary group. Their main strength is the profession that has been passed down from the Native American civilization—the shaman.”
Yang Chen narrowed his eyes, and continued. “Shamans are like the witchmen of the aboriginal tribes, but make no mistake, they are as true as their legends. The true shamans passed down from the Native American civilization, besides offering sacrifices and soothsaying, are masters of some amazing powers. For instance, the rapid healing powers just now are a technique of witchdoctors, whereas the use of current as defense and offense is from the shaman’s ability to harness natural elements. That female shaman had only used lightning, but in fact may be able to call upon elements like wind, water, and fire. I learned all this after witnessing a battle of the Panther.”
In a daze, Abbess Yun Miao asked, “Based on what you said, it’s too incredible. Aren’t they essentially multi-ability powerusers then?”
“Haha,” laughed Yang Chen. “Abbess, that’s not right. The shaman’s power stems from their faith, while the poweruser’s force comes from themselves. If you don’t believe that faith can bestow such powers, then what about the Vatican’s holy paladins and crusaders—don’t they get their power to fight against the Dark Parliament based on their faith in the Holy Spirit?
“You think that the shaman’s healing and elemental powers are unbelievable, but don’t outsiders also think that the martial arts of China’s Yellow Flame Iron Brigade are quite unbelievable in its own right? Even some Chinese ordinary citizens still can’t fathom the powers of martial arts. Yet there are people in China today who can walk on walls and fly over roofs.”
Abbess Yun Miao frowned in agreement with Yang Chen’s reasoning. Indeed, it’s not surprising that the different civilizations of the world will have different capabilities. Often we don’t believe in what we haven’t seen, but in fact, so many things exist—it’s just that we haven’t seen them before.
“Oh, oh, look, Abbess, the real show is starting.” Yang Chen pointed at the two groups with an evil grin.
Abbess Yun Miao looked over and couldn’t pull her eyes away.
The five Panther mercenaries and the four Blue Storm powerusers were in one battling group. The five had formed a pincer movement, using the trapping method of the mercenaries to surround their target before delivering vicious attacks!
Strangely, the four powerusers weren’t able to easily overcome the other five this time—as if the shaman had their powers multiplied.
Allen’s main skill was his control of the atmosphere. He wanted to compress the air to increase the pressure, and use that advantage to take down his opponent, the baldy Rhinoceros. However, no matter how much he compressed the atmosphere, Rhinoceros paused for a moment at most, and continued lunging at him in battle.
The sound wave poweruser Millie was even more helpless. She constantly tried to use her sound waves to provoke her opponent’s mind, but he seemed to be completely unaffected. Instead, he kept the barrage of punches going. There was already a scar on Millie’s face!
The remaining man with the sunglasses was farring no better than his team. From the start his speed had surpassed everyone else’s, but now, the five mercenaries were as fast as he was, plus their strength seemed to have increased in power and stamina.
Every time the sunglasses-wearing man wanted to shatter their bones, he was depressed to find out that their physical resilience had increased many times over—the vibrations were in fact no longer enough to shatter their bones!
And behind the warring groups, the woman shaman stood quietly, one raised hand occasionally tracing strange, transparent red patterns in the air, just like an idle, elegant painter. Each symbol, after being traced out completely, would attach itself to one of the mercenaries and vanish in the blink on an eye…