Chapter 162: Chang Wei Mode!
"Nuclear Fission!"
Garou and Chang Wei's fists clashed head-on before Blast teleported them to a remote, uninhabited corner of the galaxy.
Chang Wei actually felt that teleportation was unnecessary. With Green Baby's ability, he could infinitely shrink both himself and Garou down to the size of particles, limiting the destruction to just continental-level at most.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Mushroom clouds rose from the ground one after another.
Garou, now in his cosmic form, was convinced that his punch would at least injure Chang Wei in some way.
But then—a fist tore through the mushroom cloud.
Even the violent shockwaves from the explosion were shredded apart and dissipated into nothingness by that very punch!
BAM!
Chang Wei's fist landed squarely on Garou's face, sending him flying.
"Nuclear fission, huh? I haven't played with that in ages."
Chang Wei still looked exactly the same, standing at the heart of the nuclear explosion with his hairstyle intact and not a speck of dust on his clothes.
"Your attacks can only kick up some dust."
Then, he followed up with a dramatic line.
Garou's pupils contracted. Someone who could withstand a nuclear blast without the slightest damage—what was he?
Was he even human?
"No matter what you are, I'll show you my strongest technique—All Life Eradication Fist!"
To fight Chang Wei, Garou needed even greater power. Without hesitation, he tapped into the flow of cosmic energy and converted it into his own strength.
"Gamma-Ray Burst!"
A gamma-ray burst is the most powerful known explosive event in the universe. It theoretically occurs when a massive star collapses upon exhausting its fuel, or when two dense celestial bodies—such as black holes or neutron stars—merge.
A gamma-ray burst can last from milliseconds to several hours, releasing an enormous amount of energy in a short time.
Compared to the Sun, a gamma-ray burst releases energy in just a few minutes that exceeds the Sun's total output over a trillion years. Its emitted photons carry hundreds of thousands of times more energy than typical sunlight.
"Noted."
Chang Wei didn't dodge. He took Garou's gamma-ray burst head-on!
His body was seemingly washed over by a violent cosmic torrent, but he remained completely unscathed. He walked out of the gamma-ray storm as if parting raging rapids, untouched by the destruction.
"Impossible!!!"
Garou was in utter disbelief.
"Why is it impossible?"
In truth, Chang Wei's body, while absurdly strong, wasn't inherently indestructible. After all, everything—people and matter alike—experiences wear and tear. Nothing is truly impervious.
The reason he seemed like an unbreakable object was because he used telekinesis to lock his molecular structure in place. Rather than tanking Garou's attack, he simply let it slide off him.
The gamma-ray burst didn't harm him—it slipped away from his body.
Of course, if it had been a real gamma-ray burst, even he would have taken damage—that kind of force can tear apart atoms themselves!
He was currently learning to lock down each of his atoms using telekinesis. Once he mastered it, he'd reach a state close to absolute rigidity—far surpassing the water droplet weapon from The Three-Body Problem!
Compared to using the four fundamental forces, telekinesis was just more efficient.
Among the four fundamental forces, the strongest is the strong nuclear force, followed by electromagnetism, then the weak nuclear force, and finally gravity.
Magnetism and gravity act over long distances, while the strong and weak forces act only at short ranges.
At the atomic level, the weak and strong nuclear forces are negligible.
Since atoms as a whole don't exhibit a net charge, electromagnetic interactions between them also cancel out.
Between adjacent atoms, chemical bonds can cause attraction or repulsion.
Gravity, however, is always attractive.
In short, at the atomic level, none of the four fundamental forces play a major role in maintaining macroscopic integrity.
By using telekinesis, Chang Wei could neutralize his own electric charge, eliminating electromagnetic interactions with regular matter.
At that point, he would be truly indestructible.
"You should read more books."
Chang Wei commented, feeling pleased that all the scientific knowledge he had absorbed was finally proving useful.
"It seems I can't beat you with ordinary techniques."
Garou had calmed down.
"Oh? So you're going to use that?"
Chang Wei was intrigued.
"Did you know? In martial arts, there's a principle where fighters mimic the movements of other creatures to draw upon the power of nature. This principle is called 'Borrowing Strength.'"
"To make it sound cooler, I call it... 'Mode'!"
"Borrowed Strength—Chang Wei Mode!"
Suddenly, Garou's starry, cosmic face transformed—he now bore Chang Wei's face!
"Cooler? You actually care about that?"
Chang Wei smirked. He knew that this version of Garou could finally let him go all out—without holding back his intelligence.
If he did use his full intelligence, he could just manipulate the electromagnetic forces between Garou's molecules, ripping him apart at a subatomic level. That would instantly erase him from existence.
"The more I think about it, the more terrifying scientists seem. You can copy my strength, speed, and technique... but can you replicate the inspiration and intellect of the scientific community that supports me?"
Chang Wei made a mental note—he needed to keep studying. He wouldn't become like Garou, relying solely on brute force without understanding how to develop his abilities properly.
His team of scientists had already devised over ten battle strategies against Cosmic Garou, and with the ongoing collection of molecular data, they were calculating even more.
But for now?
He just wanted a good old-fashioned, no-holds-barred fight.
A battle of raw strength—no tactics, no calculations.
Just pure, unfiltered brawling.
Garou struck first, throwing a punch as fast as lightning.
This time, it really was as fast as lightning. Now that he had become Chang Wei, he finally understood just how strong Chang Wei truly was.
Chang Wei also threw a punch.
This was probably close to his full power—though he hadn't activated Meteoric Burst, let alone its advanced version, Supernova Burst…
BOOM!
The moment their fists collided, the planet beneath them—one with an atmosphere, potentially capable of supporting life—had its entire atmosphere blown away.
The surface was ripped apart by the sheer force of the shockwave.
Even under gravity several times that of Earth's, the impact was so overwhelming that debris was blasted off into space!
Garou's arm cracked open, and he was sent flying thousands of kilometers before he managed to stop himself.
"I'll adjust the planet's magnetic field and gravity using telekinesis... Let's make it heavier. Otherwise, it'll break too easily."
Chang Wei modified the celestial body's properties.
Immediately, Garou felt a sudden increase in weight pressing down on him.
"The planet's gravity changed?"
With his current awareness of cosmic forces, Garou could sense the shifts in energy flow. Chang Wei's actions did not go unnoticed.