"You little brat, you actually have some strength." Dead Fist sneered, his smile filled with excitement and cruelty. His other empty hand shot out like lightning, grabbing for Lux.

Lux immediately sidestepped, decisively releasing the nearly broken club, narrowly avoiding the large, fan-like hand. However, at that very moment, a loud "thump" came from behind her, followed by a tearing, intense pain. "Haha. I hit him." It was the club-wielding thug from behind who had recovered. This blow was incredibly forceful; the pain felt like 'scalding hot oil poured on ice cubes,' a searing agony intertwined with a bone-chilling numbness that instantly swept through her entire body. Lux's vision blackened, and she almost lost her footing. And a deadly sense of crisis struck again. She instinctively leaned sharply to her right, and a bright blade slashed past her cheek. A fiery sting came from her left cheek; a small flap of skin had been sliced open by the blade, and blood instantly gushed out, dripping down.

"Take it easy. Don't fucking kill the kid now. We still need to find out where he hid the money," Dead Fist said viciously, simultaneously slamming the meat cleaver stuck in the club against the wall. With a "crack," he completely shattered the broken club.

Lux quickly scanned her surroundings. Including Dead Fist, three enemies had completely surrounded her, forming a triangular formation. And further away, the thugs who had been blinded by the powder or knocked down were beginning to struggle to their feet. The situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse, becoming extremely dangerous.

Lux made a decision in an instant. She gritted her teeth fiercely and, instead of retreating, charged straight towards the club-wielding thug who was still standing and closest to her.

Seeing Lux, who had just taken a heavy blow, suddenly burst forward with such astonishing speed, the club-wielding thug was greatly alarmed, not even having time to assume a defensive stance. Jack, seeing an opening from the side, also immediately swung his knife and rushed forward, attempting to attack from the flank.

At this critical juncture, Lux leaped up abruptly, reaching a height of almost one person. The club-wielding thug instinctively raised his club horizontally to block, which was exactly what Lux wanted. Her forefoot tapped the club for leverage, her body spinning rapidly in the air, her target the Jack behind him. Lux’s body spun like a top, and a vicious horizontal kick, whistling through the air, slammed hard into Jack's chin. The immense impact kicked Jack’s body sharply backward, instantly stiffening him.

It wasn't over. Before Lux even landed, her body twisted again forcefully, and an elbow strike, gathering all her strength, followed closely, once again heavily smashing into Jack's already unprotected chin. As one foot landed steadily, her other leg shot out like a cannonball. This kick, like a powerfully swung hammer, landed squarely on Jack's unfortunate chin. The dull sound of breaking bones was clearly audible; Jack didn't even grunt before collapsing softly to the ground, the cleaver in his hand clattering away. His accomplice behind him was completely stunned by this sudden, brutal turn of events, his face drained of all color as he retreated in terror.

"Damn it. Are you fucking human?" Dead Fist's eyelids twitched, shocked by the terrifying combat power Lux had just unleashed, but he didn't retreat, instead advancing even more fiercely.

"Of course I'm human. The kind that slaughters livestock like you," Lux retorted coldly. Her toe flicked the cleaver on the ground precisely into her hand, and then she, too, walked towards Dead Fist without showing any weakness.

"Clang." The two sharp blades, carrying the killing intent of both sides, clashed violently, like the fangs of two enraged wild beasts tearing at each other. Dazzling sparks flew in the dim alleyway.

"Not enough. Even if you're not human, it doesn't matter. I'll still slaughter you." Dead Fist roared, and the beast-tooth necklace around his neck suddenly erupted with a dazzling red light—it was actually a magic item. A violent red aura began to surge from his body, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. With his power suddenly surging, Lux immediately felt the pressure multiply, and she was forced back step by step.

Just then, Dead Fist twisted his wrist, and the blade turned strangely, slashing towards Lux's knife-wielding wrist. Lux reacted extremely quickly, decisively releasing the knife handle, while her other hand shot out like lightning, accurately striking the flat of Dead Fist's blade. With a crisp "slap," the blade was knocked slightly off course, narrowly grazing past her shoulder.

"Keep dodging. Let's see how many more times you can dodge?" Dead Fist sneered, his left fist whistling through the air as he punched out. Lux sidestepped the punch and simultaneously returned a punch, hitting him hard in the abdomen. [Is this guy's stomach made of stone?] Lux felt a sharp pain in her knuckles, but Dead Fist seemed completely unfazed, the cleaver in his hand whistling as it came chopping down again.

But this time, Lux didn't dodge. She suddenly stepped forward, actively closing the distance, and deliberately used her body to ram into Dead Fist's knife-wielding arm.

The force of this collision was immense, nearly knocking Lux to the ground. The dull pain was even more intense than when she was hit by the wooden club earlier. But Lux gritted her teeth tightly and, seizing this brief close-quarters opportunity, lightning-fast pulled out a small knife she had prepared long ago from her clothes and viciously stabbed it towards Dead Fist's lower abdomen. However, Dead Fist also reacted extremely quickly, actually catching the stabbing blade with his other empty hand. Blood instantly gushed from his palm, but the deadly small knife was firmly clamped by him.

"What a cute little knife," Dead Fist said with a cruel smile, blood dripping from his fingers. "You think you can kill me with this piece of junk?"

"Really? Then try this." Lux seized the moment and, without hesitation, lifted her right foot and, with all her strength, viciously kicked Dead Fist in the groin.

"Aargh—!" Clearly, the necklace's enhancement didn't cover vital areas. Dead Fist let out a heart-wrenching scream, his body doubling over like a shrimp. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Hey, no-balls," Lux sneered. "I told you I'd make you eat dirt. Remember to open wide and savor it later."

As her words fell, Lux’s right hand lightning-fast released the small knife, her arm coiling around Dead Fist's cleaver-wielding arm like a nimble snake, and she used it as leverage to launch herself upwards. At the same time, her other leg lashed out like a whip, viciously kicking Dead Fist in the head.

"Die for me." Dead Fist was completely enraged. He violently slammed Lux's captured arm against the wall, trying to smash Lux against it as well. At the same time, his other hand released the small knife, clenched into a fist, and, gathering all his strength, he punched towards Lux in mid-air. At the critical moment, Lux, relying solely on her grip on Dead Fist's wrist, actually managed to support her body and perform an incredible inverted flip in the air, narrowly dodging the fatal punch. But the huge impact still slammed her hard against the wall, and then she fell to the ground.

"I'm going to tear you limb from limb. Chop you up and feed you to the dogs." Dead Fist's entire skin now had a terrifying crimson hue, as if blood was about to seep from his pores. His eyeballs were filled with horrifying bloodshot veins, clearly on the verge of losing all reason. "Die." He lifted his foot and stomped down hard towards the head of the fallen Lux.

However, just as his foot was about to land, Lux slammed both hands on the ground and suddenly sprang up like a cat. That powerful stomp ultimately landed heavily on empty ground.

"What the hell?" Dead Fist stared in astonishment at Lux, who was standing up again, and for a moment, he somewhat doubted whether he was hallucinating from overusing the magic item. But he was also incredibly certain that, in that instant, he seemed to see the tips of Lux's hair turn red, and something appear out of thin air in her hand…

But Lux gave him no time to think or react. Her figure flashed, and she had already picked up the small knife that had fallen to the ground earlier, and then, without hesitation, viciously plunged it into Dead Fist's thigh. "Ah—bastard." Dead Fist once again let out a painful roar. At this moment, the dual impact of the magic item's side effects and the intense pain and rage in his brain made his already shaky body unable to support itself any longer. And for Lux, this was the perfect opportunity for a kill.

Lux mercilessly kicked Dead Fist's ankle. He finally lost his balance completely and, with a "thump," knelt on one knee. "Look, your face is as red as a tomato now." Lux picked up the half-broken wooden club that Dead Fist himself had chopped, a cold smile on her face. "Let me juice this 'tomato' for you." With that, she swung the club with all her might, smashing it hard across Dead Fist's face.

"Splat." Teeth mixed with blood flew out like ripe pomegranate seeds. Just as Dead Fist was about to fall backward, Lux grabbed the back of his head, slammed his face hard onto the ground, and rubbed it vigorously a few times. "This is your 'Shitty Alley Restaurant' special dirt platter, please… enjoy it slowly," Lux said coldly, then casually removed the still faintly glowing magic necklace from his neck. "Is this the tip? You're so generous." Then, she looked up, her gaze sweeping over the few thugs at the alley entrance who had long been scared out of their wits and stood dumbstruck, and asked coldly, "Would any of you… like a serving as well?"

How could those few thugs dare to say another word. Scared out of their wits, they dropped their wooden clubs, scrambled to push aside the obstructing wooden planks, and fled the terrifying alley, tumbling over each other in their haste.

Lux coldly surveyed the surrounding mess. She hadn't expected such an ambush just because she happened to want to go home early today. If she had walked slowly as usual, with her alertness, she definitely would have detected their scent and ambush beforehand. Also, why weren't these people afraid of Pony? And how did they know her way home? Most importantly, she hadn't dared to use that skill at full power just now. That would have been too conspicuous; if even one of them had escaped, she would be in great danger. And… how was her sister doing now? Although they were currently living in Boss Pony's territory and should theoretically be relatively safe, the worry in her heart could not be calmed.

Lux took a deep breath, forcibly enduring the excruciating pain that felt like her whole body was falling apart, and dragged her exhausted body, stumbling, towards home.