Chapter 232: Three’s Company (IV)

“Whatever,” Li Hao whispered. “We stand a high chance of success. I’ve noticed after a few times that it’s only one Black Armor patrolling at the back end of the alley, while one comes first at this front end, then the squad of ten! We can remove the two who patrol by themselves and think of a way to get a third suit of armor. There looks to be Black Armors on every street. They’re either solo or part of ten!”

Prolonged observation had helped him collect some information. The squads of ten were difficult to manage. It wasn’t that they were impossible to fight, but that once the disturbance grew too big, it would bring over a much more sizable company.

The solo Black Armor that came first might be a scout for the rest of the squad. Li Hao didn’t really care about the particulars. If the soldiers mobilized en masse, it would likely be for the Yama delegation.

Liu Long quickly came to a decision after thinking it over. “Let’s do it!”

Liu Yan wasn’t part of the decision-making process at a time like this. Since the two had come to a consensus, they sprang into action. Hunched over, they crept to the back end of the valley and waited for the individually patrolling soldier to pass by. There was already a plan of action when it did.

“Chief, I’ll erupt with the aura of the earth and shake the Black Armor off the ground! Your task is simple—attack fiercely. Throw it up into the air until it loses support from the ground and reverts to being a suit of armor. We win then! We’re not supernaturals, so we don’t have special crowd control skills. It’s all up to you!”

All previous efforts would be in vain if Liu Long let their quarry hit the ground! This would be an immense test of a martial master’s mastery of control.

“I watched Yama’s fight with them earlier. It takes approximately a minute before Black Armors are unable to put up a fight. The squad of ten arrived roughly one minute later. So you have to find a way to keep things moving, chief. Drag it into the alley if possible!”

Liu Long took a deep breath.

Hot damn, your requests are getting harder and harder to fulfill!

But he still nodded after thinking it over. “Don’t worry!”

Black Armors were just Darkmoon, he was a Dominator. Although it would be difficult, he could still accomplish the task.

......

Moments later.

A Black Armor marched their way with resolute steps, mechanically scanning the premises around it. Li Hao activated the aura of earth when it approached the alley. A soundless tremor ran through the ground, but the young man wanted to vomit blood. The ground contained a unique energy that came with a backlash. It nearly shook him to the point of coughing up blood!

However, earlier experimentation told him that he would be able to maintain the operation of his aura under these circumstances.

As expected, Black Armor was jolted off the ground. Liu Long struck like a cheetah, dashing out to punch the soldier up into the air like a missile strike. This required extreme control; the man executed it with trepidation. Thank goodness these soldiers didn’t make a sound! He’d wrapped his fist with the waves to deaden the sound of impact as much as possible. Neither did he dare take to the air to continue the job. He could only wait for the soldier to fall down before carefully punching it again.

This was similar to preventing a balloon from landing on the floor. He couldn’t hit the soldier so hard that it deviated from its original trajectory. If it flew toward the other end of the alley, it would quickly bump into the team of ten.

Liu Long punched rhythmically with great apprehension. As he cocked his hand back for the next blow, Black Armor suddenly struggled off the flight path and redirected itself toward the other end of the alley.

Liu Long jerked with shock and Li Hao rushed forward. The young man punched forward as well, throwing the soldier back to the path they determined for it. Both martial masters were drenched with sweat! The crisp sound of impact from Li Hao’s blow traveled a little too far in the quiet streets.

Li Hao swallowed hard. When the soldier next drifted down, Liu Long grabbed it by the head and dragged it into the alley. Heart in his mouth, Li Hao quickly followed his companion. Repositioned inside the alley, the two of them furiously punched the soldier upward.

Time ticked by as Black Armor began to stiffen. The next time it descended, Li Hao and Liu Long grabbed its legs and head, pinning it in place. Both of them froze, waiting for something.

The expected footsteps sounded once more. A small team passed by the alley they were in. The two were soaked with sweat when the soldiers moved away; there was no further movement from their Black Armor.

Li Hao smiled, Liu Long answered with a grin. They’d gotten their first suit of armor!

The young man groped around their battle spoil. This thing seemed to be one solid whole—how did one put it on? There had to be a special way, but this wasn’t the time to study the treasure. Li Hao gripped Stellaris and tried to pinpoint where to make an incision. They needed to be able to wear it properly after he damaged it—it couldn’t split open in the middle of battle.

“Go in through the crotch area!” Liu Long whispered. “We’ll burrow in from a small hole there. While martial masters aren’t in the habit of practicing body contortion, we can do it when the situation calls for it. No one pays attention to the crotch, it's more discreet!”

Cutting an opening in the seams of the crotch and crawling in through there wouldn’t be too conspicuous. Thus, Li Hao nodded after some thought. It was a good idea.

He quickly slashed his sword over the armor. There was no questioning Stellaris’ keen edge. Armor that Sunflares could not damage quickly gave way to his blade. While Liu Long didn’t say anything, his mind swirled with judgment.

This was the true sword of the Lis! Its sharpness knew no bounds!

Li Hao saw a faint glimpse of white bone when he sliced the armor open—it was quickly reduced to dust and vanished inside the armor. He didn’t feel much for these ancient soldiers. They faithfully executed their standing orders in an admirable display of professionalism. But sadly, he needed their equipment. There was no time to grieve or honor these ancients.

The young man looked at himself, then at Liu Long. The captain’s body shape seemed to fit this suit of armor more.

“Chief, you go in!”

Liu Long cursed under his breath and lifted the suit up. He shoved his head into the crotch area, bones popping and cracking as he did so. He fitted himself inside after a while, but his legs were still exposed outside. He tried withdrawing his legs; it took numerous attempts before he stuffed them into the armor. However, that widened the split in the crotch in the process.

Li Hao took a close look at the armor after Liu Long was fully inside. There weren’t any abnormalities to be seen so long as one didn’t look at the crotch area. Liu Long had ripped his own pants as he shifted into his equipment. The young man couldn’t help but say, “Chief, your legs are kinda pale. They’re a bit conspicuous in the dark!”

Since there was an opening in the lower body and they didn’t have a way to close it, some flashes of white could be seen from the inner thighs. Liu Long’s legs really were a bit pale. The captain cursed lowly, a sound mostly muffled by the armor.

Li Hao ignored him and scuttled over to one of the walls, swiping some black dust from the corner. He quickly ran back to wipe it over Liu Long’s legs. That more or less covered the flashes of white.

Liu Long tested his new equipment with a few punches. “The armor is durable, but very agile to control on the inside,” he remarked with appreciation. “It’s very soft. The ancient civilization was incredible! This doesn’t affect martial master prowess at all!”

A solid set of armor was a shackle at times, but this one didn’t detract from his movement at all. Liu Long was astonished. This kind of craftsmanship had truly reached its peak in the era of the ancient civilization!

“Stop admiring it, we need to get another!” Li Hao didn’t have time to talk about this with the man. Red Moon had entered shortly after Yama. There might be a large crowd of supernaturals here soon, so they needed three suits of armor as quickly as possible.

As for whether or not Yama would pose as Black Armors themselves... They could if they could bring themselves to damage the armor. Not to mention, this equipment didn’t seem suited for supernaturals. If that kind of superhuman wore it, it might isolate their mysterious power.

While Li Hao was yet to confirm this theory and wasn’t a supernatural himself, he’d noticed that none of the earlier supernatural attacks had pierced through the armor. If it was ineffective from the outside in, would it be effective from the inside out?

It wasn’t likely!

Martial masters were the only possible candidates. Of the three great organizations, the strongest martial master that the young man knew was Hong Yitang’s daughter. She was a late Sunderer, so he wasn’t worried at all about her. The others, including Hong Yitang himself, were all supernaturals.

Therefore, Li Hao wasn’t worried about meeting fake Black Armors. If he did, they were looking to die. He had the Dominator Liu Long on his side. Even if they ran into a disguised Solar, that supernatural was just going to their death since the armor restricted supernatural abilities.

The trio began their second hunt. Armed with previous experience, they conducted the second hunt with skill and quickly bagged their second suit of armor. This one went to Liu Yan because it was much shorter. Li Hao was concerned that his calves would remain outside if he tried it on.

The third set was harder to obtain because they needed to visit the street that Yama’s scouts were on. They would find the third solo Black Armor there.

Two Black Armors and one young man ran toward the street ahead. Some clangs could be heard in the distance—more supernaturals had likely encountered the soldiers. None of the trio were in the mood to gather information. They needed to disguise themselves first.

......

The process for the third suit was full of excitement. Some supernaturals arrived as soon as they immobilized the soldier. Thankfully, the trio ran off too quickly to be seen. The streets were no longer quiet as others had arrived. Plainly, Red Moon had reached this area throughout the course of them handling Black Armors. The bulk of their delegation was yet to convene—these were their scouts.

......

Three Black Armors stood on the streets a few minutes later. They seemed a bit awkward and stiff, their footsteps unable to be in unison like regular Black Armors. If one observed them closely, they would discover damage to the crotch area.

However, this was the best disguise that the trio could think of.

A group of three was also a stark contrast to the other soldiers. They were usually one or a team of ten. However, Li Hao was betting on the fact that the other explorers wouldn’t notice this peculiarity.