Chapter 164 My Woman

Chapter 164 My Woman

"Look at you—half-dead and barely standing. What exactly are you going to protect that delicate little woman behind you with?"

Rusty Nail swaggered two steps closer, his heavy mechanical legs sinking into the swamp and sending up sprays of foul-smelling black mud.

Penelope gripped the silver handgun—seven bullets left—with both hands, her ice-cold eyes showing not a trace of retreat.

She could feel it clearly: Dominic's body, shielding her, was trembling slightly.

Severe muscle spasms from blood loss.

"Dominic, don't push yourself. We'll retreat from the side. His armor's too thick—we can't win a head-on fight."

Penelope spoke quickly in a low voice near Dominic's ear, her mud-soaked fingers clutching the edge of his tactical vest.

But Dominic stood like an immovable tower, rooted to the spot.

He turned his head slightly, a bloodthirsty grin curling his lips.

"Penelope, when have you ever seen me run from a fight? This bastard delivered himself to my doorstep today. I'm taking his head off."

The moment the words left his mouth, Rusty Nail across from them let out a sinister laugh, his thick mechanical arm suddenly lifting.

"Still talking tough when you're about to die. Mr. Ward specifically said I only need to bring Penelope back alive."

The armor on Rusty Nail's mechanical wrist suddenly snapped open, revealing a row of needles glowing with an eerie blue light.

With the sharp sound of a spring mechanism, three steel needles laced with lethal neurotoxin tore through the air, shooting straight for Penelope's forehead.

The sneak attack came too suddenly.

The needles were terrifyingly fast. Penelope had no time to dodge.

In that split second, Dominic's heavy body exploded with speed that shouldn't have been humanly possible.

He spun around violently, pulling Penelope into his arms and using his broad back to block those three deadly needles.

A dull thud of metal piercing flesh rang out in the darkness.

Dominic let out a suppressed grunt from his throat, his tall frame swaying sharply.

Penelope, held in his arms, felt her heart pierced by a knife the instant she heard that sound.

"Dominic, are you insane? You could have dodged—why would you use your body to block that thing!"

Her eyes instantly turned red, on the verge of bleeding. She desperately tried to push away the weight of Dominic pressing on her, but he locked his arm around her waist.

Dominic slowly turned his head.

Those once-deep eyes were now filled with crimson bloodshot veins, like a truly rabid beast.

The toxin spread through his bloodstream, but the dominant perfect antibodies in his body activated instantly, beginning to devour the poison.

Two forces battled inside him, his internal organs feeling like they were being scorched by fire. The excruciating pain only pushed the killing intent in his eyes to its peak.

He spat out a mouthful of black blood and rasped, "The needles were poisoned, but my blood can handle it. I'm fine."

"Dare to touch my woman in front of me? Even if you had nine lives, I'd kill you dead today!"

Dominic let out a beast-like roar, shoving Penelope aside and charging at Rusty Nail like a cannonball.

Rusty Nail watched Dominic explode with such terrifying speed even after being hit by the needles, and a flicker of panic finally crossed his eyes.

But he quickly steadied himself. Relying on his impenetrable exoskeleton armor, he swung his mechanical arm down hard at Dominic's head.

If that blow landed, even a block of iron would be crushed, let alone a fragile human skull.

Penelope stood behind them, watching that mechanical arm come down with horrifying force. Her heart leaped into her throat, her breathing stopping completely.

But Dominic showed no intention of dodging. His crimson eyes held a recklessness ready to die together.

Just as the mechanical arm was about to smash into his head, Dominic jerked his head to the side. The sharp alloy claws grazed past his scalp.

The fierce wind tore open the skin on his cheek, creating a gash so deep the bone showed. Blood gushed out immediately.

Dominic didn't even furrow his brow.

He suddenly raised his left hand and drove it straight into the joint of the mechanical arm.

His fingers were like five steel spikes, forcibly breaking through the gaps in the exoskeleton's armor and jamming into the hydraulic gears.

With a piercing sound of metal shattering, the high-speed rotating gears ground the flesh on Dominic's left hand into a bloody pulp.

But like a monster that felt no pain, he tensed the muscles in his left arm and used his flesh and blood to forcibly lock the mechanical arm's power system.

Rusty Nail's prized mechanical arm instantly burst with sparks, frozen mid-air and unable to move.

"That's impossible! You absolute lunatic—are your bones made of high-grade titanium alloy or something?!"

Rusty Nail roared in terror, desperately trying to pull back his mechanical arm.

But Dominic's left hand clamped down like a hydraulic press and wouldn't let go.

Dominic's lips curled into a cruel smile. The wound on his abdomen, just stitched up, had completely torn open. Blood soaked through his tactical vest.

But he didn't care at all.

His right hand smoothly pulled the tactical knife strapped to his outer thigh, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a corpse.

"I already told you—I'm taking your head off today. You really think wearing a layer of scrap metal will save your life?"

The moment the words fell, the tactical knife in Dominic's right hand shot forward like black lightning, driving hard into the gap between Rusty Nail's chin and his armor.

The razor-sharp special steel blade instantly pierced through Rusty Nail's throat, even punching out through the back of his skull, trailing a string of crimson droplets.

Rusty Nail's eyes bulged wide, bloodshot veins spreading across his eyeballs. His throat made a gurgling, leaking sound.

His massive body convulsed a few times, then collapsed like a pile of mud, kneeling heavily in the freezing swamp.

Dominic brutally yanked out the tactical knife, then planted a boot on Rusty Nail's still-twitching shoulder and used the leverage to extract his left hand.

He gasped in ragged breaths, glancing down at his left hand.

Mangled flesh, bone visible.

But he only tore off a corner of his tactical vest, wrapped it tightly around the wound, and let out a low hiss.

Penelope scrambled over, not caring about the mud and water everywhere, and threw her arms around Dominic's swaying frame.

"You reckless bastard—do you know you almost died just now?!"

She looked at his left hand, where bone was nearly visible, and tears finally broke free uncontrollably, falling in heavy drops onto his hand.

Dominic wrapped his other arm tightly around her, resting his chin on top of her head, his crimson eyes coldly scanning the pitch-black jungle around them.

"I've chosen you as the only woman in my life. Anyone who dares hurt you—this is what happens. Even if Death himself stood in front of me, I'd kill him too."

Penelope leaned against his broad, burning chest, listening to his heart pound like a war drum. All her fear gradually dissipated in that moment.

She reached up with her mud-covered hands, cupping Dominic's blood-smeared face, her eyes holding an unprecedented resolve.

"Fine. I'll remember that. From today on, my life is yours. If you dare die before me, I won't let you go even as a ghost."

Dominic looked into her red but exceptionally bright eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing. He said nothing more, only lowered his head and pressed his forehead hard against hers.

Their foreheads touched, their breaths tangling—worth more than a thousand words.

Just as the two were immersed in this intense emotion, the corpse of Rusty Nail beneath Dominic's boot suddenly emitted a faint mechanical whirring sound.