?

The voice paused for a moment, seemingly resisting the urge to retort, "Who'd want to drink your bathwater? It's not like you're some superstar worth hundreds of millions," and said nothing.

Li Ang's heart leaped with joy. The voice in the mist had reacted. This indicated it was intelligent, and intelligence meant it could be negotiated with.

"Kid, I've encountered others with this strange quirk of liking bathwater before."

Li Ang advised earnestly, "Once, the director of our orphanage casually mentioned he craved a bowl of chicken soup from his hometown. Out of respect for my elder, I immediately went to a nearby bath center, stole a ladle of bathwater for him, and subsequently received a stern lecture. I guess he was just afraid his peculiar habit would be exposed. As a youth from the Japan Islands, it's quite normal for you to have such a quirk. However, you shouldn't drink my bathwater. If you insist, you can turn left outside and go to the next bathhouse; the flavor there is purer, more potent. Just don't overindulge."

The voice in the mist seemed utterly shocked, unable to utter a word for a good while. Finally, it said weakly, "If you won't bathe, then just go die."

Before the words had fully left its mouth, the showerhead behind Li Ang erupted, spewing an even more torrential volume of scalding water towards him.

Li Ang pivoted on his toes, spinning around to dodge the stream. Simultaneously, he swung the steel rod in his hand, smashing it towards the shower compartment.

The marble, single-person shower compartment shattered under the steel rod's strike. Shards flew everywhere, scattering into the hot water pooling on the floor. Lоvе this stоry? Shоw yоur suppоrt оn

Li Ang swung his steel rod, demolishing one shower compartment after another as if in a violent demolition.

The bathhouse's water pipes, originally embedded within the walls and floor, were now all exposed due to Li Ang's destructive rampage.

"Hah!"

Li Ang roared, heaving up a massive stone slab that had fallen from a shower compartment wall. He slammed it down hard onto a metal water pipe.

There was a BUZZ as the pipe, still gushing hot water, was forcefully bent out of shape.

BANG—

Li Ang let go, ramming the stone down onto the pipe. The surging hot water now blasted against the stone's surface, quickly forming a small puddle on the ground.

"I'm actually a very refined and agreeable person. As long as you're willing to converse properly, I'd prefer not to resort to violence," Li Ang announced loudly, all while continuing to smash things with his steel rod. "But since you refuse to show yourself and allow for a reasonable discussion, I'm left with no choice but to adopt this approach."

His threat still garnered no response. However, the pipes pinned beneath the stones stopped spraying scalding water. Instead, they began to emit hissing jets of high-temperature steam, several meters long, with a continuous HISSING sound.

This steam didn't dissipate quickly. It rapidly merged with the dense fog, causing the temperature inside the men's bathhouse to climb swiftly.

At standard atmospheric pressure, water boils at only 100 degrees Celsius, but the temperature of steam can far exceed this. Steam in low-pressure boilers is typically at saturation temperature, not exceeding 400 degrees Celsius, while steam in high-pressure boilers can reach over 500 degrees Celsius.

Now, all the water pipes were spraying high-temperature steam. Even as Li Ang twisted and dodged, trying to avoid the direct blasts from the pipes, he couldn't prevent the overall temperature in the bathhouse from steadily rising.

Forty degrees, fifty degrees, sixty degrees...

If this continued, staying in this bathhouse would be no different than soaking in a boiling water bath. He would be steamed alive like fish and crabs.

The intense, surging heat eroded the special operations team uniform Li Ang wore, and the full-face respiratory mask he had on even began to show signs of melting.

Li Ang ripped off the mask in a fury. Anger surged from his heart, and with reckless courage born of desperation, he gripped the steel rod tightly and smashed it against the wall on the right side of the bathhouse.

THUMP—

The wall caved in with a bowl-sized indentation. Surrounding ceramic tiles clattered to the ground, sending shards flying.

Li Ang held his breath, focusing his Ripple Energy into the tip of the steel rod, and swung again.

With a BOOM, the wall was blasted open, creating a man-sized breach leading outside the pool area.

The heat wave was much less intense at the breach. Li Ang stood before the rubble, caught his breath, and launched the Mocking Taunt consumable skill into the dense fog.

"Kid, the cherry blossoms back home are blooming. The koi flags flutter in the wind, the wind chimes hang under the eaves, ringing gently with each breeze. Come back and take a look; your mother and I miss you."

Li Ang said with great emotion, "If you come out now, I can spare your life. You might even be reborn and live as a student again, experiencing a wonderful school life. You could strive to improve your college entrance examination scores over and over, ultimately getting into that prestigious university for the elderly you so desire."

Li Ang's mockery was surprisingly effective. After a moment of silence, the intangible, scorching fog boiled over, condensing into a tornado and charging toward him.

Li Ang shouted, "Chaichai Combine!"

"Who are you calling Chaichai?!" Chai Cuiqiao yelled angrily, yet she still obediently manifested eight arms behind Li Ang.

Li Ang, once more in his humanoid spider form, embedded his Spider Claws firmly into the wall. He gripped the steel rod with his hands and pushed his Ripple Breathing Method to its limits.

The Spider Claws tensed and flexed, then suddenly recoiled, propelling Li Ang like a cannonball towards the swirling mist.

BANG—

The steel rod, imbued with vast Ripple Energy, sliced through the fog as easily as a hot knife through butter. A vague, humanoid shadow fell from within the mist.

Before the shadow could react, a Spider Claw descended from above, piercing straight through its chest.

[Task Objective: Solve seven supernatural incidents, currently completed 5/7]