Chapter 792

“Ready?”

Lun Tai stretched his body slightly before turning to look at those behind him.

“Preparations complete. We are ready for battle at any time.”

Qiao Qiao continued wearing the red trench coat. Roddy was inside a Star Sand-reinforced Sentinel mech. Bei Tai stretched his liquid metal arm slightly. Xia Xiaolei’s Bug Armour had already enveloped his whole body. Qimu Xi gently tapped the short sword in each hand together.

“Xia Xiaolei, give us the situation report of the base.”

“According to the information that Brother Roddy obtained before, the army below consists of a brigade of mechanized infantry and two battalions of marines. The Bug Armour senses over 7,000 life signatures. The number roughly matches.” Xia Xiaolei then quickly added, “The reason for the slight deviation may be because some researchers were temporarily transferred over.”

“They have quite the force, but they don’t seem to be in a state of alert.” Roddy’s voice rang out from the Sentinel mech’s external speaker. “My scan shows that almost all of their big equipment are not ready for combat. I am somewhat worried now. If some other teams attack, this base might not be able to withstand it.”

“The suppression operation is already over. They are now resting.” Lun Tai nodded.

“Still, there is no need to worry too much. No matter what their level of alert may be, the US Army will not simply become targets. Given their number, as long as they react instantly, ordinary teams will not be able to easily defeat them.”

“The problem is, there is no need to kill all the soldiers here to snatch the meteorite. They just need to launch a raid. All they need is to snatch the meteorite before the soldiers can react. Right now, I am thinking. Should we give them a boost?” Roddy snickered.

The head of the Sentinel mech turned to look at the others. “Me, Xia Xiaolei, Bei Tai. The three of us possess long-ranged attacks. How about firing one or two shots to scare them and raise their alert level?”

Lun Tai considered it carefully before shaking his head.

“Better not. By attacking and causing them to raise their alert level, it would also become inconvenient for us to monitor them from such a close distance. It’s better to just observe. Besides… even if the other teams managed to obtain the current location of the meteorite, when they see how many soldiers the US Army is deploying, they probably will not choose to attack directly.”

“Do we wait for them to transport the meteorite?” Roddy smacked his lips. “If this tranquil atmosphere continues, they will probably not send too many men to transport the meteorite. Teams with a level head will probably wait until that moment before attacking. But I fear… some teams might not have such a level head.”

“Even if there are, it’s not a big issue.” Lun Tai smiled. “With our current level of strength, is a protection detail that difficult? Unless…”

“Brother Lun Tai!”

Xia Xiaolei had suddenly jerked his head backwards, his voice somewhat serious. “Other life signatures have appeared.”

“Direction and number?” Lun Tai quickly directed his attention towards Xia Xiaolei.

“The west.” Xia Xiaolei turned to look at the west. Faint light flashed across the crystals covering his eyes. “Ten… twenty… thirty… mmm, there are over eighty men.”

“Over eighty?”

Lun Tai had been somewhat wary at first. But hearing that number, his expression loosened. “With that kind of number, they shouldn’t be Players or Awakened ones. They are probably a small team from the US Army.”

“No…” There was a hint of hesitation in Xia Xiaolei’s voice. “But their movement speed… very fast!”

“How fast?” Lun Tai’s face turned serious again.

“One minute… no, thirty seconds, they’ll arrive at the base in thirty seconds!”

Xia Xiaolei had only just said that when they heard a faint humming sound.

The humming sound was something that every one of them was familiar with.

The engine of a Tidal Fighter!

Without warning, several missiles suddenly appeared in the sky. They flew towards the armed helicopters and tanks resting on the ground.

At the same time, tens of small combat drones were promptly released. The combat drones dove and strafed the ground non-stop.

A high number of laser beams swept the ground, transforming it into a sea of fire.

“Lun Tai…”

Roddy poked his head out of the Sentinel mech and gave Lun Tai a wry smile. “Back then, were you thinking of saying: Unless… it’s the Thorned Flower Guild?”

…

“The f**k?!”

Tian Lie looked at the distant sea of fire down there before raising his head to look at the sky.

After attacking two more times, the Tidal Fighter deactivated its stealth and began landing. The combat drones, however, continued to dive and fire at the enemy without respite, dispersing the soldiers from the US Army who were trying to regroup.

Each of the wings on the Tidal Fighter’s side had a large picture of a thorned flower. It was a display of power.

After landing, the Tidal Fighter immediately opened its hatch. Tens of Players rushed out, dispersing to surround the base.

Several of them swiftly brought out high-grade equipment like Thunderstorm Tanks and infantry mechs.

As for the others, they used ordinary equipment. That said, a good number of them also summoned their War Beasts and began slaughtering the soldiers who had yet to figure out what was happening.

“To be meeting your old guild in an instance dungeon. How do you feel? Back then, if you had charged in, we’ll be having an interesting scene now.” Nicole gave Tian Lie a glance.

“Humph!” Tian Lie replied with a disdainful snort. “With these… little runts?”

“Oho? That’s some confidence you’re showing.” Nicole then looked at the Players from the Thorned Flower Guild down below. They had already entered a battle formation.

Nicole chuckled. “This must be the so-called, even if the donkey falls, the cart must not fall.”

“Can’t you word it in a nicer way? It should be, even in death, a tiger’s might is not diminished… hey!” Tian Lie, who was speaking halfway, suddenly stopped. “Damn it! I’m still alive!”

“Enough. The question now is, what do you plan on doing next?” Nicole gave Tian Lie a ridiculing look.

“Do you think that by relying on your past prestige, you can make them give up on the quest and hand over the quest item to you? I think it will be very hard.”

“It’s Team B… I fear it would indeed be very hard.” Tian Lie smacked his lips.

“If that Gaza fellow did not get himself killed in some instance dungeon, he will likely be the one leading this team. Although I did not personally see it, this guy likely laughed the most after hearing of my death. That said… I really do want to see his reaction when he sees me appear in front of him.”

“You want to go down now? There are too many of them.” Nicole frowned.

“What then? Are we supposed to just watch as they take the quest item away?” Tian Lie snorted.

“This is the Thorned Flower Guild. I know very well just how strong Team B is. Judging by the number of men they have, the US Army here is simply incapable of stopping them. Beside us, there are no other teams capable of becoming the oriole here. If we don’t take action now, they will obtain the meteorite. Rather than waiting that long to take action, it’d be better to take advantage of this chaos.”

“You are sure you can win?”

“No. Gaza is not weak. Moreover, the number of men they brought into the instance dungeon this time is too high. However… do you only take action when you are sure you can win?”

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“Fine.” Nicole considered it for a moment before accepting Tian Lie’s reasoning. “Let’s go.”

Tian Lie turned to look at Nicole. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “Fine, let’s go.”

They had been working together for some time now. Thus, he had come to accept it. Even if he were to tell her to stay here, she would never listen. He’d be better off not wasting the effort.

…

“Woo-ha!”

A muscular black man sporting flat top haircut was standing on a Thunderstorm Tank. There was a rocket launcher-like equipment in each hand and he opened fire while aiming straight ahead. The equipment did not fire out rockets, but balls of light that flew at high velocity.

There was a thorned flower painted on the Thunderstorm Tank that he was riding.

Behind him were two other Thunderstorm Tanks. The tanks were advancing at medium speed and their turret muzzles would occasionally flash with light.

Upon coming under attack just now, the US Army had responded in record time.

Although many of their equipment were destroyed in the first round of bombings, they still had many AH-64 Longbow Apache helicopters and M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks. Immediately, they were launched forward in an attempt to counter attack.

The sudden appearance of these raiders, however, caused their perimeter to collapse immediately.

Their 120mm armour-piercing sabot rounds using depleted uranium were capable of penetrating upwards of 650mm of homogeneous steel armour if the target was within two kilometres. And yet, they could not even leave a mark on these strangely-shaped tanks.

Every time their tanks opened fire, a layer of blue light around the Thunderstorm Tanks would deflect the attacks. As for the Hellfire missiles from the Apache Longbow helicopters, all they could do was create pointless explosions around it.

On the other hand, every time the turret muzzle on the Thunderstorm Tanks opened fire, the arc of light it fired out would cleave tanks and helicopters into two – like cutting tofu – causing them to burst into flames.

Having to face these technologically advanced arsenals was bad enough. But to the soldiers’ horror, amongst the enemies they had to face were monsters that had only existed in legends.

Gigantic scorpions, armoured skeleton soldiers, squishy jelly-like creatures…

Those monsters were not invincible. In the face of a hail of bullets, even those monsters could end up wounded or dead. Even so, the mental damage they inflicted pounded the mental state of the soldiers.

“Team Leader! Is it really alright for us to be so flashy?” A voice came from the communicator. “If we make too big of a ruckus, the other teams might besiege us.”

“Besiege us? We are Thorned Flower Guild. Have we ever feared a siege before?” The black man laughed wildly, continuing to open fire.

“The Guild Leader has disappeared for so long now. No Inspector was assigned to this instance dungeon. So, I make the shots here! Even if some brain-dead fellows decide to target us, do not forget, I still have my Magic Mech!”

“It’s because there is no Inspector…” The voice from the communicator was still somewhat hesitant. “What if we bump into some formidable enemy…”

“Formidable enemy?” The black man continued laughing wildly. “Those fellows from Zero City have already been wiped out. Zack, tell me, where could these formidable enemy come from?

“Listen up, Zack! As a newcomer, you should understand what the words ‘Thorned Flower Guild’ means! Even if our Guild Leader is temporarily missing, we, Thorned Flower Guild, are still the biggest and strongest guild in the Player world!”

“Alright…” The voice hesitated somewhat, but did not continue to object.

Quickly, the heavy equipment were wiped out and the US Army fell into a rout.

“Let’s go! Tidy up the battlefield. Do not let any of those small fry teams get ahead of us!”

The black man jumped down from the Thunderstorm Tank. He looked at the retreating soldiers and laughed loudly as he walked forward.

Up ahead was a row of simple field camps surrounding a large plastic building, also simply constructed. Clearly, the crater that the meteorite caused was within the building.

Several more Players emerged from the three Thunderstorm Tanks. They were all wearing high-grade protective suits and they held energy-type weapons in their hands. There was an unruly look of arrogance on their faces.

“Turn down the power output of your weapons and don’t casually open fire.” The black man turned his head to look at his subordinates before warning them.

“If any of you damage the item, I’ll beat you up!”

Then, he strode towards the camps ahead, complaining as he did.

“To think that the location of the quest item would not be shown on the radar. Just how did the Development Team design this instance dungeon?”

After making his way through the camps, the black man kicked open the door of the plastic building. Following that, bullets flew towards him. However, as he was wearing a protective suit, the bullets failed to do anything.

“Die, trash!” Despite his warning to his subordinates earlier, the black man seemingly forgot what he just said as he brought both hands up, an energy blaster in each, and opened fire. His attacks ripped apart the resisting soldiers and even their bunkers. As he opened fire, the black man’s face became increasingly excited.

Thankfully, the signs in the building were fairly clear. The black man led his team members forward, taking down the occasional resisting soldiers and moving deeper in.

“The central storage room. Here!” The black man grinned as he aimed an energy blaster at the closed door before him. Then, he pulled the trigger.

Inside, several researchers in NBC suits were hiding behind desks, their hands placed on their heads as they shivered. In an isolated research room behind a glass door was an oval-shaped stone. It was half the size of an average human and was contained within a glass cover.

The black man strode inside. Keeping one of his energy blasters, he then brought out a laser gun from his storage gear and shot the researchers, one shot each. Finally, he shot one last time at the glass wall of the research room, melting a large hole there.

“Team Leader…” A man wearing windshield goggles who was behind the black man said in a hushed tone. “Put on protective gear. Don’t just use your hands to take it. According to the intel we obtained from the US Army’s network, this meteorite contains alien genes. It may possess the ability to infect others.”

Judging by his voice, he was the same person who was taking to the black man through the communicator earlier.

The black man was startled by that. After considering it for a moment, he nodded and turned towards one of the dead researchers. He grabbed the NBC suit from the dead researcher, took a metal box from the table and walked back to stand before the glass wall.

“No… must not open…”

A weak gasping sound rang out from the corner of the room.

A researcher was struggling to prop up his upper body as he stared at the black man. “This thing… too dangerous…”

There was a large hole on his abdomen, courtesy of a laser beam. Even his internal organs could be seen spilling out. He was already in a critical state.

“Thank you for the reminder!”

The black man revealed a cruel smile. Aiming his gun at the researcher’s head, he pulled the trigger.

Turning around, he walked into the isolated research room, the metal box in his arms. After finding the switch to open the glass cover, his hand – wearing the rubber suit – touched the meteorite. Instantly, his figure froze.

“Team Leader?”

After staying silent for a few seconds, the man in goggles tentatively asked.

He did not know what exactly the meteorite was. Although it carried alien genes, it should not be able to infect others through air, right?

“Son of a bitch! To think that there was this quest!” The black man suddenly roared.

“Damn it! Why am I not an Awakened? Why don’t I have an Exclusive Account?!”

The few members from Thorned Flower Guild behind him looked at each other, uncertain of what was happening.

“Forget it. Looks like we won’t be getting this benefit.” The black man roared again, his voice filled with rage and unwillingness. Hugging the meteorite with both hands, he moved to place it in the metal box.

“Come on, take it away. Find a zoo or something and let it absorb more genes until it hatches.”

“Hatch?” The man in goggles grew curious. “This thing…”

“This damned thing is not a meteorite! It’s an egg!” The black man’s voice indicated that he was still in a bad mood.

“Then, after hatching… will it attack us?” Another member asked hesitantly.

“After it hatches, the quest will be completed. Our objective is to protect it until then,” the black man said in a low tone. “This thing’s genes can only affect NPCs. We will not be infected. Let’s go. Head to Los Angeles, kill off those all in our way…”

“Team… Team Leader!”

A terror-laden scream rang out from the black man’s communicator.

Even if the donkey falls, the cart must not fall. An idiom meaning one who refuses to admit their mistakes despite having suffered some losses.