Chapter 1076. Battlefield

"

AHHHHHH!

" Gao Zhiming's eyes burned with rage as he furiously squeezed the trigger again and again. In his crazed mode, he almost stood up from cover.

Beside him, Jackal hurriedly yanked him back down and forced him into a prone position on the snowy ground.

"Calm down! Do you want to get your head blown off?" Jackal chided. Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Gao Zhiming by the shirt and dragged him away from the center of the battlefield.

All of a sudden, a thunderous explosion sounded from behind them, followed by a surge of heat waves. It felt as though flames were licking their backs.

Gao Zhiming looked over his shoulder to see that the snow-gliding assault vessel had now turned into a giant fireball.

His gut wrenched into a knot, his instincts screaming at him to rush over.

"Big Sister's there!" Gao Zhiming shouted.

"No! She won't die that easily! If you go now, you'll only drag her down!" Jackal replied as he restrained the boy.

Just then, the blazing fire took on a green, sickly hue and turned into a roaring inferno of emerald flames. Only then did Gao Zhiming let out a sigh of relief. But almost at the same time, he felt regretful that he could not be of much help.

I could help her... I just need to kill more people.

On the other hand, Jackal didn't have the luxury of time to be concerned about Gao Zhiming's inner turmoil. He led the group to a shallow trench that offered temporary cover before he scanned the battlefield and analyzed the situation based on his past combat experiences.

The High Priestess, alongside the Clown, was engaged in a brutal clash against the enemy. The IMF's Mobile Task Force could only scramble around the fringe and could hardly deal any damage.

Regular hot weapons were useless against both Anna and the Clown. Their real enemies were the ones who had descended from the hovercraft.

Each of them wielded different strange abilities from the Anomalies they had absorbed. On top of that, they could even coordinate with each other with uncanny precision, making them hard to deal with.

Fortunately, the tides were still in Anna's favor. Be it combat finesse or mastery over the Anomaly-fused abilities, Anna outclassed them by a long shot.

These amateurs were no threat to her. After all, they had been sent here to pursue Tobba, and the IMF wouldn't have thought of sending the heavy hitters to deal with an infant.

Having been through countless battles, facing these rookies was nothing short of a one-sided slaughter for Anna.

After swiftly testing the abilities and limitations of these test subjects, Anna began her counterattack.

Evidently, they couldn't hold the line and started to retreat. But the scythe hanging over their heads was the fact that their evacuation vessel had already gone up in flames. Escape was no longer an option.

After sitting on the bone-chilling snow for a while, Gao Zhiming struggled to his feet again. His hands trembled as he reached out toward his pistol. He still wanted to help Anna.

But now that the adrenaline coursing through him had faded, the pain sank in. His hands hurt; they were numb and swollen. He struggled to lift the pistol. The web of his thumb had split open, and his palms were covered in deep, ugly bruises.

Even if it was a standard pistol, the recoil was still too much for a child to bear.

A pair of slightly cold hands reached out from the side and gently held Gao Zhiming's hands. They belonged to Olivia.

Cradling Gao Zhiming's hands, Olivia gently rubbed over the bruised areas with gentle pressure in an attempt to ease the internal bleeding.

After all, she was still just a teenager. She couldn't help but sympathize with the young boy upon seeing his condition.

"Πονάειακόμα?[1]" Olivia asked softly.

Gao Zhiming couldn't understand a single word she said, but the evident kindness and warmth in her voice were unmistakable.

"Thank you," Gao Zhiming replied as he forced a faint smile.

Olivia felt sorry for Gao Zhiming and pulled him into a gentle embrace. She planted a kiss on his forehead and whispered in her own tongue, "Είσαιτόσοαξιολύπητοςόσοκιεγώ...[2]"

From the side, Tobba watched them with a pitiful look.

"Why does he get all the sympathy?" Tobba lamented. "Why don't you pity me? I'm younger than him, you know. I'm the one who needs someone comforting!"

"Alert! Something's heading this way! They're trying to flank us!" Jackal shouted. Immediately, everyone snapped to high alert.

Without saying another word, Li Lu picked up her son and stuffed him into the thick down jacket against her chest. She then reloaded her handgun.

"I'm running low on bullets. How many magazines do you have left?"

Before Jackal could respond, several Mobile Task Force members glided in from the side on snow sleds. Their weapons were raised and aimed at Jacakl and his group.

Just as the mobile task force was about to open fire, something unexpected happened. Without any warning, the agents' bodies went limp and collapsed onto the snow. Motionless.

The polar creatures that had appeared with them mirrored the same behavior. They, too, dropped onto the snow.

Even those who were hiding in the darkness couldn't escape from the same fate. One after another, dull thuds sounded as body after body fell onto the snow.

The perilous situation was resolved, just like that, in the blink of an eye.

Sob...sob...

Tears streamed down Olivia's cheeks as she used her ability to stir and dissolve the enemy's consciousness into paste. She really didn't want to kill. Taking a life was a weight too heavy to bear for a high schooler like her.

However, if she hadn't killed them, they would have killed her.

Li Lu stared at Olivia in surprise. "Where did Anna find this girl? How is she so powerful?"

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Beside her, Gao Zhiming's face was painted with envy. His desire burned for such power. If he possessed such a power, maybe he could actually be of help to Anna.

Very soon, the battlefield grew quiet. Those lying in ambush in the snow dared not approach them anymore.

Fwoosh!

A sickly green flame ignited and burned yet another victim into ashes. Anna stood in the middle of the encirclement. Her chest heaved as she panted heavily. Her eyes were still locked onto her enemies. She looked as though she was battle-worn.

However, it was all just an act. She was playing weak. She wanted to sell an illusion to the IMF's forces—that they had a chance of defeating her.

These people knew her identity now; there was no way she would allow even a single person to walk away alive.

Controlling one of the fallen bodies, the clown moved in close and stood back-to-back with Anna.

"I can handle them here," Anna whispered. "Go meet up with Tobba. Don't let anyone near Gao Zhiming. He's the key to the Subterranean Sea. Everyone else can die, but not him!"

The clown nodded in acknowledgment. He lifted the throwing knife in his hand and slashed his own throat. He then peeled the clown mask off his face and hurled it high and far into the air.

Just then, invisible silk threads drifted down from above, aiming for Anna's joints.

Anna gritted her teeth and pushed off with her feet. She charged head-on toward the encirclement before her. Green flames ignited and enveloped her.

The corrosive flames served a dual purpose. They ignited any enemy that came close. Yet, at the same time, even projectiles were scorched to ash.

It didn't take Anna long to break through the encirclement. For a moment, the IMF forces thought that 315 was retreating. But then, new figures began to emerge from the snow.

They weren't Anna or anyone from her group. Rather, they were flesh monsters—amalgamations made from the corpses littering the battlefield.

Anna had once regretted absorbing such an ability. Under normal circumstances, there weren't many corpses for her to utilize. But now that the ground was strewn with bodies, such a power had become her greatest weapon.

The more corpses there were, the more allies Anna had. Moreover, every one of the allies came armed with their own weapons.

Raising their firearms, the flesh puppets continuously pulled the triggers.

Whoosh~

The clown came spinning back in the air and snapped itself onto the face of a corpse beside Anna.

"Didn't I tell you to go watch over them? Why are you back here?" Anna snapped in annoyance. She was busy creating more allies.

The clown crawled onto its feet and shrugged. Cards fluttered from its left palm to its right palm. "They don't want help. Olivia killed anyone who got close."

1. Does it still hurt ☜

2. You're as pitiful as I am. ☜