"Lorenzo Connolly?" Matthew repeated the unfamiliar name. "I don't recall offending you."
"Someone like you isn't even worthy of offending me." Lorenzo sneered.
"If I haven't offended you... why did you call me here?" Matthew's face remained blank as he tried to understand the situation.
"To kill you, of course," Lorenzo replied coldly.
"Why?" Matthew was caught off guard.
"A dead man doesn't need answers," Lorenzo stated flatly.
Matthew mentally commanded the exoskeleton to clench his fist, the titanium alloy responding beneath his sleeve. He challenged, "Let's see who'll be the last one standing!"
Lorenzo stopped walking and looked at Matthew like he was an idiot. "You can't seriously think you can fight me."
Dylan, eager to redeem himself in Lorenzo's eyes, jumped in. "See those fallen horsetail reeds? Each stalk was as thick as your calf. Mr. Connolly broke each one with a single punch. Think you can survive a hit like that?"
Matthew studied the broken reeds more carefully. Though the distance and lighting made it difficult to see clearly, if those breaks were indeed from punches, this man's striking power was beyond anything he had encountered before.
"Don't be afraid," Lorenzo said with contempt, noting Matthew's silence. "I'll only hit your heart once. One punch to shatter your sternum and rupture your heart. Quick and painless."
"One punch?" Matthew raised an eyebrow.
"You've had your punch," Matthew said coldly. "Now it's my turn."
"You think you can hit me? Die!" Lorenzo snarled, raising his fist again.
Suddenly, he let out an agonized scream. "My hand!"
Dylan and Cameron watched in horror as Lorenzo's raised fist hung limply at an unnatural angle, like clay that had been warped before drying. Blood poured from his mangled hand under the car headlights.
The reality of what they had just witnessed struck them like lightning. Lorenzo's punch, powerful enough to snap thick reeds, had landed squarely on Matthew's chest.
Yet, instead of harming Matthew, it had shattered every bone in Lorenzo's hand. Matthew's strength was beyond anything they could have imagined.

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