Chapter 17: Hehehe, Your Doctor Daddy Has Arrived!

"Bang!"

The wooden stake beside Wei Long suddenly dissipated into white smoke. Replacing it was Super Niuniu, his hands formed into sword fingers crossed over his chest, his face flushed with excitement.

"I’m here, baby! Mission accomplished!"

Wei Long lifted his hand to check his mechanical watch. "Hmm, good work, Niuniu. The time is almost up; less than three minutes remaining."

A flicker of hidden reluctance crossed Ye Hongyuan’s eyes as he looked toward the entrance of the survivor camp. As a doctor who fought daily against the Grim Reaper, this was not a situation he wished to see. But he knew that if he did not do this, this dungeon city would soon fully manifest itself upon the land of Shenzhou.

"You may not be willing to fight to the death, but I still wish to do everything in my power to save my world," he thought, "even if it means breaking the oaths I once swore."

As the second hand of his military watch hit the twelve, a deafening roar erupted from beneath the ground. One explosion was far from the end; it was merely the beginning of everything. The self-destruct sequence of the underground fortress had been initiated.

The continuous, terrifying explosions felt like a mountain dragon turning over, threatening to pull the entire city block into the embrace of Mother Earth. Fireballs shot into the sky, and towering buildings cracked and collapsed. The creations of human civilization were being effortlessly erased from the map by another kind of human might. Even though the three were at a safe distance, they still felt the ground shaking as if from a magnitude twelve earthquake.

After a long while, the terrifying explosions and tremors finally ceased. The three men drew their weapons in unison and cautiously approached the man-made crater. The entire block had collapsed, filled with the pungent scent of blood and gunpowder. The destruction of the bunker had progressed from the bottom upward. Some of the faster-reacting "contaminated ones" who had remained on the surface had miraculously survived. There were a few dozen of them, all injured. Their bizarre biological structures and tenacious vitality had allowed them to survive the cataclysmic earthquake. The luckiest ones had only lost a few tentacles and still retained their combat capabilities.

The situation was not optimistic. Even though most of these dozens of creatures had seen their combat power drop sharply, their numerical advantage was overwhelming. There were only three players. A single punch from each of the enemies would be enough to beat a master to death through sheer volume.

Wei Long didn't waste a word; he raised his gun and fired. The terrifying power of his heavy sniper rifle was on full display. A single shot blew the head off a D-rank contaminated one. Before individual strength reaches a certain level, human firearms remain highly effective. The roar of heavy weaponry was the most beautiful symphony on the battlefield.

Super Niuniu, finding courage from some unknown source, felt his blood boil, his entire being reaching a peak of excitement. He let out a roar, wielding two machetes, and instantly clashed with a heavily wounded D+ rank contaminated one, his blades biting deep into bone.

"Whoosh!"

Not far away, a thick tentacle, carrying a powerful gale, lunged toward Ye Hongyuan, the most harmless-looking of the three.

"I really didn't want to do this," Ye Hongyuan muttered. His seemingly elderly body suddenly erupted with incredible, astonishing strength. His legs pushed off the ground, and he soared into the air like a monkey king. As his body descended, a massive mountain-clearing axe appeared in his hands.

With a standard high jump followed by a powerful vertical cleave, a cold, almost tangible white light shimmered upon the massive blade.

"Slash!" "Bang!"

The axe blade entered flesh as smoothly as a hot knife through butter, cleaving all the way to the ground. In an instant, the creature attempting to ambush Ye Hongyuan was split in two, falling into a limp, lifeless heap.

D-rank contaminated one, dead!

Ye Hongyuan remained unscathed. Seeming unsatisfied with the axe, he pulled out a gruesome-looking chainsaw sword and turned to charge into the fray. With a chainsaw sword in his left hand and a mountain-clearing axe in his right, he swung wildly and powerfully. In a blink, Ye Hongyuan managed to push back a six-man siege of contaminated ones all by himself! He even seized an opportunity to kill one, helping stabilize the situation for the struggling Super Niuniu.

On the battlefield, his pristine white doctor's coat was splattered with large patches of crimson blood. If you told anyone this was a doctor, they wouldn't believe you—he was more like a butcher!

"Holy crap! Director Ye, I had no idea you could fight like this!"

Super Niuniu, who had originally intended to support Director Ye but ended up being the one who needed support, exclaimed in shock. He was in a sorry state, having relied entirely on his adrenaline to keep going. His actual combat skills were abysmal.

"Heh... kid, your Uncle Ye is an orthopedic surgeon. If I didn't have some strength, I wouldn't be able to perform surgeries on players who have become transcendent beings."

After pushing back the contaminated ones, Ye Hongyuan calmly slung the axe over his shoulder. He adjusted his glasses, wiped the gore from the chainsaw sword, and offered a kind, grandfatherly smile. Beneath his blood-stained coat, thick, sturdy muscles bulged. The power hidden within them surpassed even that of Wei Long, a special forces squad leader who spent his life on the battlefield. It was clearly the result of years of dedicated weight training.

"If we're talking about familiarity with medical instruments, after years of diligent practice, I suppose I could barely be considered a grandmaster."

On the personal panel Ye Hongyuan chose to display, two skills shone brightly:
Surgical Craniotomy Axe Technique [Grandmaster]
Medical Instrument Mastery [Grandmaster]

Beyond that, there was a long list of luxury medical skills at the [Proficient] rank. This string of skill names blinded the two men. Even though most of them had no direct combat utility and were meant only for saving lives, the two were still too shocked to speak.

Is this the power of a top-tier orthopedic surgeon?
Orthopedic Surgeon ×
Bone-Crushing Berserker √

Super Niuniu's expression was blank, and he almost dropped his machete. "Is this what you called 'some self-defense capability' earlier? What kind of doctor uses a mountain axe and a chainsaw sword as medical instruments, Uncle?! I’m starting to suspect you could kill me in a second!"

"Haha, your Uncle Ye is just countered by this advanced dungeon due to my specialization, but that doesn't mean I lack strength! Relying on medicine alone isn't enough to save the land of Shenzhou." Ye Hongyuan laughed heartily and charged forward once more. "Since you are all reliable comrades, this old man, with one foot already in the grave, will certainly give his all!"

With that, the roaring chainsaw sword in his hand swept, slashed, and chopped like a bolt of lightning. His fluid, seamless combos left no room for hesitation. The three D-rank contaminated ones who had just rushed to surround him hadn't even had a chance to show their strength before being hacked to pieces by Ye Hongyuan, leaving behind only scattered limbs as a testament to the doctor's astonishing combat record.