Chapter 731: Nonoptimal

That caught Old Lion and Chaos Reflection off guard. They were at a loss for a moment.

“I stand no chance.” Lithe Snake cast away his weapons and raised both hands while getting on one knee. “Don’t kill me. I’m surrendering.”

Chaos Reflection hesitated.

Although Elder Yan Liang had ordered them to kill every member of the Nine Scions on sight, he got cursed out by Zhong He and Heavenly Dog for “killing Can” the last time. Would the same happen again if he killed Lithe Snake?

He should just leave Old Lion to make the decision. Then he would be the one getting cursed at. He wouldn’t be blamed.

Whoosh.

A bullet hit Chaos Reflection in the thigh.

Nine Frost had aimed at his head, but he was too far away with the poisonous mist obscuring his sight, and he wasn’t a professional sniper, neither did he have God of Firearms. It was good enough that he even hit the target.

“Ugh!”

Chaos Reflection bled from his thigh. He collapsed to the ground and wiggled around, attempting to hide in a reflective surface. But then two throwing knives stabbed into his back. He fell with a muffled groan.

Lithe Snake bolted, frustrated.

Dammit, I was so close to him, but I failed to hit his heart!

Lithe Snake knew that it was because of the freezing poisonous mist. His body was getting exhausted, and his limbs were getting stiff in the cold.

Old Lion had jumped to the side the moment Chaos Reflection got shot, dodging a bullet that should’ve pierced his abdomen. That was why he failed to give chase.

Not long after Lithe Snake bolted, he saw a large gray bear catching up to him on all fours.

Nine Frost, hiding in a tall building, started a group telepathy.

[Nine Frost: Our base was hit. The situation is unclear.]

[Lithe Snake: How’s Captain?]

[Nine Frost: Not dead, but close to. The others...are most likely gone.]

[Gray Bear: Then what are you waiting for? Go help them!]

[Nine Frost: It’s too late. And I must keep an eye on the overall picture, or you’ll all die.]

[Gray Bear: Fuck. The poisonous gas is despicable. Who the hell did it?]

[Nine Frost: Look up.]

Lithe Snake and Gray Bear looked up as they ran. Two meters up in the air was a well of thick poisonous gas, unleashing an endless supply of purple mist in all directions. Suffice to say that it was the source of the poisonous mist, but it was difficult to tell what exactly was there.

[Lithe Snake: Have Can scatter the mist.]

[Nine Frost: She’s out and hasn’t returned.]

[Gray Bear: Fuck. It just has to rain when the leak is housing.]

[Lithe Snake: When the house is leaking.]

[Gray Bear: Shut up!]

[Nine Frost: Wait...I see Can!]

...

Meanwhile, at the center of the poisonous mist above the Starcatching Pavilion, Flower Turtle, Six Rime, and Xiao Xin remained combined with Three Heads Six Arms. Xiao Xin continued to shoot out purple poisonous mist, and Six Rime mixed it with her frosty chill before spreading it.

Flower Turtle, amid the poisonous mist, scowled with sweat beading his forehead. Thankfully, Nagging Mister had buffed his elemental and poisonous resistance, and Three Heads Six Arms increased his overall defense somewhat, too. Otherwise, he would’ve died for sure whether they managed to kill their targets or not—well, he had taken a resurrection pill, though.

Zero Hatred created a wind element barrier to shield himself from the poisonous damage without difficulty. However, his expression was dark, and his gaze increasingly vicious.

This is boring. I’m here to kill people, not to play support.

“Small Luo,” Zero Hatred called out irritatedly.

“Yes,” the slightly chubby girl with blue evenly cut fringe responded nervously, a large backpack on her back. She was shielded from the poisonous mist by Zero Hatred’s wind elements, too.

Her Talent was Toys, serial number 71, Summon-type.

She could inject any toy with her energy to turn it into a fighting tool for a few minutes.

“Keep Flower Turtle up here,” said Zero Hatred. “I’m gonna kill some people.”

“Huh? Me? But I...” Small Luo could do it, but once Zero Hatred was gone, she would be exposed to the poisonous Mist as well. She wasn’t sure how long she could endure.

“I’ll give you ten seconds.” Zero Hatred huffed. “Or I’ll kill you first.”

“Yes sir!” Small Luo knew that Zero Hatred meant it. He was a murderous psychopath. No one could control him outside of Yan Liang.

She reached back into her backpack for a small UFO toy, injecting it with energy.

Blue ripples of energy spread from the UFO, increasing in size and turning into a translucent UFO with a ten-meter diameter.

Flower Turtle and Small Luo stood on it. They weren’t going to fall from the sky.

“Hmph!”

Zero Hatred pulled back the wind elements in the area, and a pair of wings consisting of wind elements unfurled from his back with a flap. He quickly flew out of the poisonous mist toward the battlefield.

...

Meanwhile, amid the ruins of the Starcatching Pavilion, Gao Yang had concluded his best option when seeing Yan Liang, Core East, and Nagging Mister—run.

He didn’t know how wide the range of the poisonous mist was and if other people were circling him. Given his Talents and speed, though, he still stood a good chance of escaping.

Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to choose the best option.

There were three or maybe four surviving companions he must save.

Nainai and Zhang Wei had just been reset and were unconscious.

Chen Ying had broken down over Little Tian’s death and was severely weakened by the mist, losing her will to fight for her life.

And there was no telling if Herb Snail would survive having a third of his body sliced off.

Outside of them, Nine Frost, Lithe Snake, and Gray Bear must be fighting in the poisonous mist, too.

Gao Yang was their leader. He would not leave until he saved those he could save.

Thus, Gao Yang made the least optimal option.

He would kill these enemies as quickly as he could and destroy the source of the poisonous mist above him. A full power level 6 Fire Punch would’ve taken down the source of the mist for sure, and he could even kill those at the source.

However, Yan Liang wasn’t going to give him the chance. And after using two Time Resets, Gao Yang would’ve lost the ability to fight by making such a powerful attack.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Yan Liang believed he had secured victory, but he didn’t underestimate his enemy at all. He splayed his hands and used Spatial Blender on a large scale. Tens of hundreds of small spatial vortexes emerged all around Gao Yang.

He teleported away, shooting two formidable fireballs at Yan Liang and Nagging Mister.

Yan Liang and Nagging Mister dodged the fireballs easily. Gao Yang teleported again to reach Core East.

“Fuck off!!”

Core East strummed his guitar and cursed, unleashing a destructive sonic attack. Dust and stones flew and scattered everywhere in the area.

Gao Yang stopped attacking and jumped behind a broken stone wall.

Do you think that’s enough to avoid my sonic attacks?

Core East felt ire rise in his heart, feeling like Gao Yang was looking down on him. He would make the man pay for that!

“Aghh—”

He shouted and strummed three times.

Three sonic shockwaves condensed into three incredibly sharp intangible cutting threads, hitting the stone wall one after another.

Crackle.

The stone wall was instantly sliced into seven to eight pieces, falling to the ground, but Gao Yang was nowhere to be seen behind it.