The four-armed Minotaur kept charging at Jason, pressing the attack relentlessly. Jason fought to fly upward, trying to put distance between them and dodge the Minotaur's blows.

  But a powerful whirlwind surrounded Jason at every moment, coiling around him tightly. Under its influence, his flight speed dropped sharply, making it nearly impossible to shake the Minotaur off.

  Unable to escape, Jason had no choice but to use his hands to block the four-armed Minotaur's attacks.

  Two sharp smacks rang out as two of the Minotaur's fists struck Jason's palms — caught and blocked. But at the same moment, the other two arms were already coming in —

  Two dull thuds. The Minotaur's remaining two fists smmed into Jason's chest and abdomen, sending him crashing down from mid-air. Jason coughed up a mouthful of blood and forced himself back to his feet.

  "It's no use," the Masked figure said from a short distance away, his voice ced with mockery. "Only your palms have the ability to deflect attacks. You can block two strikes at most — but A-Niu has four arms. You can't stop him."

  "Damn you…" Jason shot a furious gnce at the Masked figure. As much as he hated to admit it, he had no rebuttal.

  The Minotaur charged again, unleashing a storm of blows. Jason strained to fly and break free, but wherever he went, the fierce whirlwind followed, severely hampering his movement and making it impossible to escape through flight.

  The Minotaur's fists rained down on Jason like a hailstorm. Jason scrambled desperately to block with his palms, but just as the Masked figure had said, he could only intercept two strikes at a time — no match for a four-armed opponent. Blow after blow nded on Jason's body, leaving him dizzy and spitting blood.

  The Rebels watching from a distance were utterly stunned by the sight of Jason being beaten senseless. Their mouths hung open in disbelief.

  "Holy hell, that Minotaur is terrifying — it's pounding Jason like an adult beating a child. He can't even fight back."

  "That Jason wasn't even afraid of the armored soldiers, and now he's getting thrashed like a dog, running around all over the pce. That's absolutely insane."

  "Who are that Minotaur and the person in the bck cape? Are they on our side?"

  "Probably not — there's nobody like that among us Rebels."

  "That's strange then. If they're not with us, why are they helping us?"

  "Who cares — just hope they finish that Jason off fast, and we're saved."

  The Rebels were still buzzing among themselves when an unfamiliar young male voice suddenly came through their communicator: "Listen up, Rebels. If you want to defeat the Sanctuary and rescue your people, then follow my command and do exactly as I say!"

  "Who are you? How did you get into our channel?!" The Bald scarred man didn't recognize the voice and assumed it was a Sanctuary spy. He snapped harshly into the communicator.

  "You people forgot me that fast? Don't you remember, five days ago — the underground room at the Dadong Hotel in Haitian Town? The person who barged into your secret meeting?"

  "The person who crashed our meeting?" The Bald scarred man strained to recall, then suddenly it hit him. "It's you!" he shouted. "You're the assassin who tried to kill Governor Suwen!"

  "Heh, coming back to you now, is it? Looks like you do still remember me."

  "You little punk," the Bald scarred man barked. "We haven't settled the score from st time, and now you're back stirring up trouble. We don't have time for you — get lost!"

  "Are you sure that's wise? If you won't take my orders, then I'll leave — and I'll take that four-armed Minotaur with me."

  "Hold on — you said the four-armed Minotaur…" The Bald scarred man looked uncertainly toward the Minotaur still pummeling Jason, then shifted his gaze to the bck-cloaked Masked figure standing by the truck. Suddenly it clicked. "Wait — don't tell me that bck-cloaked figure in the mask is YOU?!"

  "That's right. And I'll be blunt — without my help, you will lose to the Sanctuary. Every single one of you will die here. I'll give you one more chance: are you willing to follow my command, yes or no?"

  "Well, that's… uh…" The Bald scarred man felt deeply conflicted — he wanted to agree, but his pride made it hard to give in. The others stayed quiet too. Deep down, they all knew: this Masked figure was their only hope. Without him, none of them would walk away from this alive.

  Then Captain Guan's voice came through the communicator: "I understand. We'll do it your way — Ru… we'll go along with what you've said. Everyone listen up: this is Captain Guan. From this moment on, all of you follow the voice you just heard. He is your commander now."

  "Fine. If Captain Guan says so, then so be it." The Bald scarred man had his reservations about the Masked figure, but survival left him no room to hold out.

  "Just better have a real pn to beat the Sanctuary — not just talk."

  "Tell us what to do. As long as we can take down the Sanctuary's people, we'll do it."

  The rest of the Rebels raised no objections either. After all, they had seen with their own eyes how helplessly Jason was being beaten by the Minotaur, and they had no other way out. For now, trusting this Masked figure was the only path forward.