Chapter 423: Great Xia Dragon Group, Codename Jade Emperor (1)

Lin Wan secretly observed the scene, feeling a surge of anger rising within her. She had heard of the Great Xia Dragon Group, the official special forces organization of Great Xia walking in the shadows to defend the light, known as the Apostles of the Dragon. The short-haired woman called Xuan Huang was clearly on a special mission, yet she was ambushed and intercepted by the new militant forces of the Mechanical Eternity faction.

This was an act of hostility against Great Xia. It was treason. Lin Wan glanced at the masked man beside her. She noticed he had no intention of intervening.

"Senior..." She whispered softly.

"Let’s wait and watch." The masked man replied.

At that moment, Lin Wan realized that a faint layer of cold air was spreading around them. She wasn’t slow-witted. She immediately understood that this chill was masking their body temperatures, making it impossible for the distant mechanical combat armors of the new faction to detect their images through infrared.

"Release her first, and I can give you what you want," Xuan Huang said as she removed her specially designed backpack. "I’m alone here and you were lying in wait. Are you still afraid of a single weak woman?"

"Why wouldn't we be cautious?" The opposing leader replied, "You’re the captain of Wing of the Wind, one of the six ultra-class A special operations teams of the official Great Xia Dragon Group. A prodigy who, at under thirty, has already set one foot into the Dao Union Realm, and the inheritor of the Immortal Phoenix bloodline, code-named Xuan Huang. Your combat record is nothing short of astonishing. Even if you are the last member of Wing of the Wind, we won’t be careless."

Xuan Huang tossed the backpack five meters in front of her.

"This is my utmost sincerity." She said gravely. "For the Dragon Group, the safety of a teammate's life always comes before a mission item. I only need Ruo Shuang alive. I am willing to hand over the Corpse Emperor Sacred Crystal to you. But if you push me too far, I won’t hesitate to destroy it and take us all down together."

The opposing leader thought for a moment, then instructed his team over their communication channel to release the severely injured Ruo Shuang.

Ruo Shuang lifted her head with difficulty. "Captain, don't worry about me."

Xuan Huang shouted sternly, "If you’re not dead yet, then crawl over here."

Tears welled up in Ruo Shuang's eyes. She suppressed the searing pain and began crawling slowly, leaving two deep, bloody trails behind her as she painstakingly made her way to Xuan Huang's side.

A heavily armored soldier approached, bending down to pick up the specially designed backpack.

In that instant, Xuan Huang sprang into action. With a flick of her fingers, the backpack suddenly leaped into the air, spinning around the armored soldier in four or five tight circles before the soldier could react.

The soldier roared in anger. A faint blue shield shimmered across the surface of his armor as his automatic rifle fired streams of energy rounds, heartlessly targeting the crawling Ruo Shuang on the ground.

But Xuan Huang was ready. In one swift movement, she darted forward, wrapping her left arm around Ruo Shuang. She threw herself into a rapid tactical roll, narrowly dodging the barrage of energy rounds. At that moment, she lightly tugged with her right hand.

Thunk.

The mechanical armor-clad warrior froze. A strange, transparent thread, as thin as hair, had already tightly woven itself around the outer layer of his armor. Whatever material the thread was made from, it was incredibly sharp, slicing thin, precise lines across the custom-powered armor and swiftly cutting deeper and deeper.

The armored warrior roared, trying to break free. But in the next instant, the threads tightened, sending blood spraying into the air. The massive figure of the armored warrior was instantly torn apart into a heap of glowing, broken metal pieces and steaming chunks of flesh.

A swift kill. The specially designed backpack, still attached to the thin threads, returned to Xuan Huang’s hand.

The scene caused Lin Wan, watching from afar, to light up with admiration.

Incredible!

This is indeed the Dragon Group of Great Xia. They have skills beyond mortal comprehension and the courage for a last-ditch counterattack. But how would they escape now?

There are still four armored warriors remaining on the other side, including the leader, who appears formidable. Escaping with a severely injured teammate is nearly impossible for Xuan Huang.

However, if the masked man stepped in...

She looked at the tall figure standing before her.

He glanced back at her and said, “My Sword Harnessing Technique can carry only two other people besides myself.”

Lin Wan paused, then gritted her teeth and said, “Then I’ll hide. You can take them and escape, then come back for me.”

“How would you hide?” The masked man’s tone was calm. “Where would you hide? If the people from Mechanical Eternity find you, they’ll kill you to silence witnesses. You’ve seen something you shouldn’t have.”

An open ambush on the Great Xia Dragon Group was treason. The enemy would never allow any survivors. Lin Wan fell silent, at a loss for words.

The masked man asked, “You have no ties to them. Why are you willing to take such a risk for them?”

Lin Wan replied without hesitation, “They’re from the Great Xia Dragon Group. They’re our heroes. If my one life could be exchanged for the two of theirs, it’s worth it, isn’t it?”

The masked man looked at her silently, as if seeing her in a new light.

Lin Wan continued, seemingly to herself, “Just, Senior, if you could do me a favor and deliver these thirty-six fifth-level star cores to my parents... My father’s name is...”

“I was joking.” The masked man interrupted suddenly.

“What?” Lin Wan was taken aback.

The masked man winked, leaned in, and whispered, “Actually, my Sword Harnessing Technique can carry a dozen people without any problem. I even thought of using it to start a ride-sharing business; high capacity, low cost; it’d be a real moneymaker.”

Lin Wan was speechless.

The masked man gently patted her head. “Don’t jump to heroic sacrifices so quickly. Sacrificing oneself to save others isn’t always noble. Don’t be so eager to throw your life away.”

“Oh.” Lin Wan lowered her head.

“Keep watching; things aren’t that simple.” The masked man added. “When the time comes, I’ll step in.”

“Alright.” Lin Wan kept her reply brief.

In the distance, Xuan Huang of the Dragon Group had already slung the custom backpack onto her back.

She showed no intention of fleeing immediately. Instead, she pulled out a device resembling a remote control and said coolly, “Now, you have two choices. One, withdraw ten miles and let us go. Two, I’ll blow up the electromagnetic barrier and alert the Supreme Corpse Emperor to all your presences. We’ll all be buried in a sea of corpses together.”

Lin Wan's heart stirred. So, the reason there had been no zombies to break up the fight despite the prolonged battle was because this ruined town had an electromagnetic barrier in place, preventing high-grade zombies from detecting or searching within the area.

This must have been a pre-arranged rendezvous point set up by the Dragon Group. Had it not been for the ambush by Mechanical Eternity, Xuan Huang and her team would have completed their mission by now.

But this raised a troubling question. The Dragon Group’s internal secrecy should have been extremely tight for a mission of this level. How did Mechanical Eternity learn of the mission details and manage to ambush the Dragon Group members sent as support?

The leader of the armored mechanical warriors, his voice edged with fury, growled, “The Dragon Group of Great Xia aren’t the only ones unafraid of death in this world. If necessary, we’ll all die together... Attack!”

After being played once, they launched their assault without hesitation.

Zzzzz.

In a low hum, a heavily armed mechanical warrior towering over two and a half meters raised his hellfire magnetic gatling gun and began firing mercilessly. Energy rounds, forming nearly six unbroken lines, tore through the air, aimed relentlessly at Xuan Huang and Ruo Shuang.

Xuan Huang did not dodge. At such close range, the onslaught was too overwhelming. She might have been able to evade, but the severely injured Ruo Shuang at her side would surely be killed.

She shouted as she drove her Dragon Group straight blade into the ground. Clasping the hilt with both hands, she channeled her powerful inner qi, activating a secret ancient martial technique. A massive blade aura shield sprang forth, protecting both her and Ruo Shuang behind its solid barrier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullets from the gatling gun pounded against the blade shield, sparking endless bursts of flames and energy ripples. The terrifying impact forced Xuan Huang, along with her blade, to be driven back step by step.

At the same time, two additional armored mechanical warriors drew their power longswords, advancing rapidly from both sides toward Xuan Huang. Xuan Huang gripped her blade in one hand while drawing the magnetic air cannon from her waist with the other. Just as she was about to strike...

Shhh.

Sword light flashed as a power short sword suddenly sliced through the strap of the backpack on her back and aimed directly at her heart from behind. The sudden assault caught the renowned captain off guard. She barely managed to dodge, but the short sword still embedded itself in her left shoulder blade.

The intense pain shattered her concentration, and she could no longer maintain the blade shield. Several bullets tore through her body even as she tried to evade. She crashed heavily into the dirt.

The one who had launched the surprise attack was none other than her teammate, Ruo Shuang, from the Dragon Group. The supposedly grievously injured Ruo Shuang had somehow miraculously recovered. She walked up to the leader of the mechanical warriors and handed the backpack over to him.