Chapter 791 Half An Hour

Run!

He had to run. There was no longer a need to fight.

Because their enemy this time was too strong.

A mech that could withstand a fully-powered Mountain Quaker Blow.

A monster whose regenerative ability was so strong it was practically immortal.

An assassin with a stealth skill and an extremely formidable offensive power.

Moreover, he still did not know if those three were the only ones from the other party.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Damn it! Why did we bump into such a strong team? To have three such powerhouses, could it be… the resident guild of Zero City?

But Zero City was destroyed long ago.

Clenching his teeth, the armoured man then crushed the pendant hanging from his neck.

Guardian Crystal, a [B] class one-time consumable defensive item. By manually triggering it, the user would become impervious to any attacks beneath [A+] class.

The mech’s gunfire and beams struck his back like a tempest, but all of them were blocked. It was as though they had met an invisible barrier.

“Brother Roddy?”

Qimu Xi flew, chasing after the armoured man. At the same time, she quickly asked using the guild channel.

“Keep the weakest little guy! I’ll handle this fellow.”

Amongst the three of them, Roddy was the one with the seniormost position. He was also the temporary leader after their team split up. After giving the order through the guild channel, he activated the rear thrusters to chase the armoured man.

Qimu Xi, who had accelerated to her top speed, suddenly slammed down with her right foot. Like a hook, she then turned 180 degrees and rushed back.

By then, another Player had been shot by the lasers coming out from Xia Xiaolei’s left hand to the point of becoming like a sieve. His corpse fell to the ground.

The thin youngster continued holding his two laser pistols. He looked at Xia Xiaolei, who was in front of him, and Qimu Xi, who was behind him. His legs went weak.

“Put down the gun.”

Xia Xiaolei said in a hushed tone. His right hand had also transformed into a bio-laser blaster and both his hands were aimed at the thin youngster.

Qimu Xi, on the other hand, had dispelled her stealth skill. Her two short swords struck each other twice, creating clanging sounds as she stared coldly at the thin youngster.

The thin youngster only hesitated for a moment. Next, his legs instantly went limp and he knelt down, putting his two laser pistols on the ground.

“Very good.”

Xia Xiaolei moved over swiftly, his right hand maintaining the form of a bio-laser blaster while a spike emerged from his left hand. He stabbed the spike into the thin youngster’s carotid arteries.

In but a few seconds, the thin youngster’s eyes rolled up. He twitched a few times before falling softly to the ground.

“Will he die?” Qimu Xi frowned and looked at Xiao Xiaolei.

“Don’t worry.”

As the thin youngster was falling down, the hard carapace covering Xia Xiaolei’s entire body began disintegrating apart to reveal his body.

“The dosage is calculated based on his weight. He’ll sleep for between ten to twelve hours. It is definitely not fatal.”

“Alright.” Qimu Xi nodded.

…

The armoured man endured the barrage of bullets aimed at him from behind. By the time he arrived at the window, his hand was already holding onto a submachine gun, which he fired at the glass window. The glass shattered and his figure charged through the window.

He was fifteen stories high, with solid concrete below. However, with the Guardian Crystal activated, falling from this height will not inflict any damage upon him.

Additionally, both his hands had finished forming the necessary hand seals.

Earthslip! A secret earth-type skill.

The instant he reached the ground, his body melted into the ground to disappear from sight.

Despite pushing the Sentinel mech’s thrusters to their maximum limit, Roddy was still one step too late. The moment he charged out the window, he saw that the armoured man’s figure had slipped into the ground.

“Do you think running underground will help?”

There was neither panic nor regret on Roddy’s face. Instead, it revealed a sneer.

The Sentinel mech suddenly disappeared, leaving Roddy in a freefall.

Then…

A giant mech, several times bigger than the Sentinel mech, suddenly appeared in the air.

In but an instant, Roddy had kept the Sentinel mech into his storage gear and summoned out the Gundam.

After appearing, the Gundam did not fall. Instead, it activated its thrusters and flew tens of metres upwards. The armour plates on its shoulders lifted to reveal two red blaster barrels aimed at the ground.

Mega Particle Cannon. 50% power.

Fire!

Two purple beams of light shot directly downwards.

A massive burst of light flashed outwards before disappearing without making a single noise. All that was left in the end was a deep crater with a radius of 10 plus metres.

As for the armoured man who slipped into the ground, the attack from the Mega Particle Cannon had utterly obliterated him.

The Gundam’s armour plates moved back into place and it slowly descended while stretching its palm towards the window that Roddy had just charged out from.

Qimu Xi and Xia Xiaolei, who was carrying the thin youngster on his back, rushed out through the window to land right on the palm.

After the Gundam landed, Roddy rushed out from its cockpit and returned the Gundam to his storage space.

“Let’s go!”

…

Inside a moving van…

Roddy was in the driver’s seat while Xia Xiaolei and Qimu Xi were in the rear.

The thin youngster that they had only just captured was still unconscious, with several types of restraining devices placed upon him. Even so, Xia Xiaolei and Qimu Xi continued to keep watch over him, one on the left and one on the right.

“Lun Tai, we have already obtained our target,” Roddy said to Lun Tai through the guild channel.

“Did everything proceed smoothly?”

“Very.” Roddy laughed. “Given our current strength, this small team is not worth mentioning at all. Only, in order to ensure the death of their leader, I had to use the Gundam in the end.”

“It’s fine. In the next few hours, we shouldn’t be coming across any situation that requires us to go all out.” Lun Tai sounded very confident. “We are currently close to the target location. I’ll send you the coordinates to a place nearby. We’ll meet up there.”

“Alright.” Roddy checked his coordinates and the coordinates that Lun Tai sent over.

“This instance dungeon’s area is not that big. There is no need for us to move using the Tidal Fighter. We should be able to arrive in less than one hour just by car.”

“Mmm, there is a risk of exposing our location in using the Tidal Fighter. If there is no need for it, we should strive to not use it.” Lun Tai agreed with Roddy’s suggestion. “The coordinates I sent you is for a vantage point. Meet us there in one hour’s time.”

“Understood!”

…

“Greendale… it’s here.”

Nicole looked at the signboard at the three-way intersection up ahead and stopped the car.

“According to the map, by turning here and continuing for 15 kilometres, we’ll find the town that was destroyed by the alien meteorite.”

Tian Lie looked at the road sign and grew slightly puzzled. “There are still 15 kilometres left. Why did you stop here?”

Nicole shook her head.

“For Greendale, this is the only road leading out. I read the plans of the hacked database. The transportation of the meteorite will be done using a land route. Thus, this road will surely be sealed off. If we head deeper, we will encounter the military’s surveillance.

“You’re such an idiot.” Tian Lie rolled his eyes at Nicole. “We’re already here. Do you really plan on waiting for them to start transporting the meteorite before taking action?”

“Of course I’m not that stupid! By then, the coordinates of the meteorite will appear in the personal radars of all participants…” Nicole frowned.

“Then, what are you planning?” Tian Lie interrupted Nicole. He looked as though he wanted to slap Nicole.

“Don’t forget. Other teams also raided the building right after we left. They must surely have obtained information about the meteorite!”

“Can you let me finish?” Nicole glared at Tian Lie. “It is precisely because other teams had raided the building for information of the meteorite that we should not immediately take action. Do you want to be the cicada, the mantis, or the oriole?”

“Naturally, I would want to…” Tian Lie understood what Nicole meant and he snickered.

“Be the hand that holds the slingshot.”

“That’s it, then.” Nicole spread her hands.

“That team and us, there is only a small time difference between us. We’ll set up an ambush first and monitor the surroundings. Once they take action to snatch the meteorite, we’ll attack them from behind. Defeat them instantly and retreat right after.”

“Fine.” Tian Lie shrugged.

With his temperament, he would have preferred to just charge in.

Given his strength, there were not many Players or Awakened ones who could threaten him. Even if he were to strut into the US Army’s base and turn it upside down in his quest to obtain the meteorite, he need not fear that someone might ambush him.

That said, Nicole was still weaker than him.

For the past few months, Tian Lie and Nicole had completed several instance dungeons together. Nicole was no longer in the state that she was in back when she was just resurrected, having only her Floater and nothing else.

Due to their defective personal systems and the disappearance of Zero City, however, they were unable to – despite having obtained some points – redeem any skills or equipment that could improve their strength.

Of course, Nicole was still able to improve her combat power somewhat by relying on the rewards and loot from the instance dungeons. Still, for safety’s sake, Tian Lie accepted Nicole’s suggestion.

It was almost dusk. The two of them kept the car into their storage gear and walked into the sparsely wooded hills.

The physical attributes of their bodies were far superior compared to ordinary humans. Thus, despite the lack of roads on the hills and the existence of plants and trees in between, the two of them were able to smoothly make their way through. It didn’t take long before they made their way through two hills. Looking down, they could see the US Army’s military base set up at the foot of the hill.

The little town marked on the map could no longer be found. The whole place had been utterly levelled, leaving only some broken walls.

The US Army had already set up a blockade on the road leading to the town and there was a large base at the southern part of the town.

Although the military force there was considerable, they were not in a state of high alert. The armed helicopters on the distant tarmac were not flying in the sky and the tanks were not moving. Only the searchlights were sweeping back and forth.

“So slack? Look at their attitude. Just a few fellows would be able to wipe them out.” Tian Lie looked at the US Army’s military base at the foot of the mountain and shook his head.

“We are on US soil. How could a foreign enemy easily invade? Since they have wiped out the mutant creatures, it is only natural for them to not be in a state of alert. If it weren’t for that, this hill we are on would have night sentries.” Nicole smiled.

“It’s been peaceful for too long!” Tian Lie shook his head, a disappointed expression on his face. “How about… you just wait here. I’ll go handle it alone.”

“… do you like standing out so much?” Nicole frowned as she glared at Tian Lie. Pondering for a moment, she then said, “How about this? We’ll wait for half an hour. If no other teams take action, we’ll go snatch the meteorite ourselves.”

“We?”

“Nonsense. Of course it’s we. Were you thinking of taking the reward alone?” Nicole gave a light harrumph.

“Fine.” Tian Lie did not argue with Nicole. He lay down on the ground and crossed his legs.

“It’s agreed then. Half an hour.”

Nicole did not respond. She brought out several electronic telescopes from her storage gear and set them up, aiming them at two areas of the military base. She then linked them to a small monitor. With the exception of the areas illuminated by the searchlights, the entire military base was shrouded in darkness. However, the pictures that appeared on the monitor were bright and clear. Moreover, they looked neither red nor green.

The mantis hunts the cicada, unaware of the oriole from behind. An idiom about the hunter becoming the hunted.