The distance between them vanished in a crackle of bronze lightning.

  ?Jiang Chen slammed into the First Foreman's knee.

  He didn't punch; he drove his [Void Claws] into the joint like climbing pitons.

  SHUNK.

  ?The smoky, intangible tips of his claws phased through the calcified bone armor, materializing inside the cartilage.

  Jiang Chen torqued his hips and ripped outward.

  CRACK.

  ?The Foreman's leg buckled. The ten-foot giant tilted, his balance compromised.

  But he didn't fall.

  The tubes connected to his spine pulsed violently, pumping blue luminous fluid into the wound. Before Jiang Chen could disengage, the knee began to knit itself back together with a wet, slurping sound.

  ?Infinite regeneration, Jiang Chen realized. The Heart feeds him.

  ?The Foreman roared—a psychic blast that made Jiang Chen's nose bleed—and swung the greatsword downward.

  It wasn't a slash; it was an execution.

  ?Jiang Chen looked up. The shadow of the blade covered him.

  He couldn't dodge in time. The [Thunder-Blood Burst] was on a two-second cooldown.

  He crossed his arms.

  [Bronze Skin: Overcharge.]

  [Qi Reinforcement: Layer 5.]

  ?CLANG.

  ?The impact drove Jiang Chen into the stone floor up to his shins.

  A crater erupted around him. Dust and sparks filled the air.

  His arms screamed. The bronze skin over his forearms cracked, revealing red muscle underneath, but the bone held.

  He had tanked a strike from a Half-Step Foundation beast.

  ?"Heavy," Jiang Chen grunted, spitting blood.

  ?The Foreman tried to lift the sword for another strike, but Jiang Chen clamped his hands onto the blade.

  "My turn."

  ?He vaulted over the sword, running up the flat of the blade.

  He sprinted up the giant's arm, aiming for the head.

  The Foreman swatted at him with his free hand—a massive fist wreathed in blue flame.

  ?Jiang Chen saw it coming.

  His [Void Eyes] saw the energy gathering in the Foreman's shoulder a split second before the muscle moved.

  Dodge left.

  Jiang Chen slipped under the fist, sliding across the Foreman's chest.

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  ?He was face-to-face with the cluster of blue mushrooms that replaced the giant's head.

  He raised his claw.

  Slash.

  ?He took the head off.

  The fungal clump exploded into blue mist. The headless body staggered back.

  ?But there was no "System Kill" notification.

  The headless body didn't collapse. The tubes on its back writhed like angry snakes, and a new head began to bubble up from the neck stump—a wet, rapid growth of bone and spore.

  ?"Annoying," Jiang Chen hissed, landing back on the floor.

  ?[Observation (Void Eyes): Target is a puppet. The Soul is not in the body.]

  [Critical Weakness Detected: The Umbilical Tethers.]

  ?Jiang Chen looked at the thick, fleshy tubes connecting the Foreman's spine to the beating heart floating above.

  The lines of white light—the Qi flow—were thickest there. The Heart was the engine; the Foreman was just the chassis.

  ?The Foreman finished regenerating his head. He opened his mouth and vomited a stream of pressurized, corrosive bile.

  The acid hit the floor, melting the stone into bubbling slush.

  ?Jiang Chen didn't move. He stood in the path of the spray.

  The acid hit his [Bronze Skin].

  It hissed. It burned. It pitted the metal.

  But inside, the [Venom Core] spun to life.

  ?[Toxin Detected: Corrosive Spore Acid.]

  [Absorption: 100%.]

  [Poison Qi: Charging.]

  ?Jiang Chen inhaled the fumes, his eyes glowing violet.

  "Spicy."

  ?He activated [Thunder-Blood Burst] again.

  This time, he didn't aim for the Foreman. He aimed for the air behind him.

  ?He launched himself vertically, bypassing the giant entirely. He soared thirty feet into the air, reaching the apex of the jump right where the tubes dangled from the Heart.

  ?The Foreman realized the mistake. He spun around, howling, reaching up to grab Jiang Chen.

  Too late.

  ?Jiang Chen grabbed the bundle of fleshy tubes.

  His claws extended, turning into shadowy scythes.

  [Void Claw: Sever.]

  ?SNICK.

  ?He sliced through the connection.

  Blue fluid geysered into the air, spraying the cavern like rain.

  The connection was severed.

  ?The First Foreman froze.

  The light in his fungal eyes flickered. The infinite regeneration stopped. The overwhelming pressure of his "Half-Step Foundation" aura collapsed instantly.

  ?He dropped to his knees, the greatsword clattering to the ground.

  He wasn't dead. But he was mortal again.

  ?Jiang Chen landed on the Foreman's back, his boots digging into the spine.

  He grabbed the severed stumps of the tubes sticking out of the Foreman's neck.

  "Phase Two," Jiang Chen whispered into the giant's ear. "Now you die."

  ?But the boss wasn't done.

  The Floating Heart above let out a shriek—a sound of pure, alien rage.

  If it couldn't power the puppet... it would detonate it.

  ?The Foreman's body began to glow blindingly bright. The blue veins under his skin bulged to the point of bursting.

  [Warning: Self-Destruct Sequence Initiated.]

  [Blast Radius: 50 meters.]

  ?Jiang Chen looked at the swelling monster beneath him.

  He could run.

  Or he could eat.

  ?He jammed both hands directly into the Foreman's open neck wound.

  [Skill: Energy Siphon (Max Output).]

  [Venom Core: Invert Flow.]

  ?"You want to explode?" Jiang Chen roared, his jaw unhinging slightly, revealing rows of shark-like teeth. "Explode into me!"

  ?He didn't just drain the Qi. He drank the explosion.

  The blue light that was building up inside the Foreman was sucked upward, channeled into Jiang Chen's arms, through his meridians, and into the hungry void of his Dantian.

  ?The Foreman thrashed, trying to throw him off, but Jiang Chen held on like a tick on a dying dog.

  Slurp. Gulp.

  ?The light in the giant's body dimmed. The swelling receded.

  The Foreman shriveled, his skin turning grey and brittle.

  ?Finally, with a dry rattle, the Foreman crumbled into dust.

  ?[Target Neutralized: The First Foreman.]

  [EV +1,200]

  [Achievement: Puppet Master.]

  [Bonus: Foundation Essence Fragment acquired.]

  ?Jiang Chen fell into the pile of dust, heaving.

  Steam rose from his body. His bronze skin was glowing red-hot from the heat of the siphoned energy.

  He felt bloated. Drunk on power.

  ?[Current EV: 671 + 1,200 = 1,871 EV.]

  [Status: Energy Overload (Temporary).]

  ?He lay there for a moment, letting the cavern stop spinning.

  He had won.

  But above him, the Heart was still beating.

  And it was angry.

  ?The vines holding the Heart began to unravel.

  The massive organ dropped slowly, descending toward the floor. It split open, revealing rows of spinning teeth and a single, giant eye.

  ?[Boss Phase 3: The Heart of the Rot.]

  [True Form Revealed.]

  ?Jiang Chen pushed himself up from the dust. He wiped blue blood from his mouth.

  "Of course," he muttered, cracking his neck. "Why settle for one boss when you can have two?"