Chapter 581.2: Into The Net

At the same time teams C, D, and E were entering the side hall, Team A that had been sent outside, finally had the New Alliance plane in their sights.

"Enemy aircraft in range."

"Fire!"

An Executioner stepped forward, kneeling with the rocket launcher. The semi-transparent visor locked onto the arc glinting in the night sky. He snapped a picture, then squeezed the trigger.

Boom!

A missile streaked forth trailing fire, once again chasing the plane.

Just as it was about to strike the New Alliance aircraft, something strange happened.

As though it was blinded, the missile veered, streaked past the craft, and detonated midair into a fiery blossom 100 meters away.

The Executioner holding the launcher gaped wide-eyed, utterly bewildered at what had happened.

Elsewhere, Ample Time crouched at the edge of the plane, lowering his bow.

Watching the blast in the distance, Quit Smoking beside him was equally wide-eyed.

"Holy shit... that worked?!"

Falling Feather was stunned as well.

"Fuck! Shooting down a missile with a bow?!"

That was insane.

"Of course it was impossible if I shot a normal arrow." Ample Time chuckled at their shock. "It’s just an EMP arrow fitted with a proximity fuse. I attached a warhead modified from an EMP grenade."

It was designed to counter drones, but it worked against missiles too.

After all, no one bothered to install EMP shielding on shoulder-fired rockets with a two to three kilometer range. The arrow had fried its tracker.

That moment of failure was enough to let it miss.

That was all they needed.

The pilot’s back was drenched in cold sweat. When he’d seen the missile closing in, he thought they were finished. Who would have thought that all of them would be perfectly alright?

Before he could heave a sigh of relief, he eased the throttle and shouted back to the others, "Where do we land? Roof or lawn? "

Old White, just off comms with Night Ten, tapped his helmet and spoke without hesitation.

"Through the atrium!"

The pilot froze."T-The atrium?!"

"Yes! The atrium at the center of the side hall! We’ll land inside it!"

Realizing he wasn’t joking, the pilot’s eyes bulged. "You’re insane! This is a transport plane, not a tank!"

"Trust me!" Old White gripped his seat and locked eyes with the pilot. "The atrium’s wide enough for us. In fact, it can fit two planes! We don’t know how many surface to air missiles they’ve got left. We won’t be lucky every time. Using the hall’s walls for cover is safest!"

The pilot gritted his teeth and shoved the stick forward.

Madmen! These bunch of fools are crazy!

He swore this was the last time he would play along. He would never take another job with them again.

...

As the New Alliance’s Viper descended toward the side hall, 15 fully armed Executioners had already entered through the north gate.

Learning from earlier losses, they were cautious, checking every corner for traps.

Soon, they arrived at the atrium.

It was a scene of carnage. Scattered limbs and corpses lay everywhere.

A battle had already been fought. The Guesthouse had been slaughtered clean and the blood on the ground turned it into hell.

At one side of the atrium, Li Jie spotted Wu Zhe tied to a pillar.

His body was drenched in blood. He was bound tightly, a bloody cloth over his head hiding his face.

At the sound of footsteps, Wu Zhe thrashed violently, muffled cries escaping him.

Seeing their comrade so brutalized, rage flared in Li Jie. Thinking of the five brothers killed earlier, he wanted nothing more than to shred the sniper hiding in this building.

"Cut him loose."

"Yes!"

An Executioner crept forward, checking for traps, then pulled off the bloody cloth.

He froze.

Wu Zhe’s mouth was gagged, and around his neck hung black blocks strung together with wires.

In his bloodshot eyes, there was no joy at rescue, only deep despair.

The Executioner didn’t know exactly what the device was. There was no label, but instinct screamed it was nothing good.

Before he could react, there was a faint click. A flash of white cut off his awareness.

Bang!

The explosion thundered, a shockwave blasting across the atrium.

The two at the center died instantly, bodies hurled away with the rest of the corpses.

Hot air, dust, charred flesh, and gore surged like a beast at the other Executioners, forcing them to stagger back.

Blood rained across the atrium and even the dust reeked of iron.

"I’ll kill you!" Li Jie roared with fury.

The sniper was definitely watching. He was waiting for them to spring the trap, then triggering the explosives on Wu Zhe.

Li Jie ground his teeth nearly to splinters.

The next second, a hot gust swept overhead.

Two burning arcs appeared at the edge of the smoke, like swords stabbing the night. Before the Executioners could see clearly, the New Alliance’s plane loomed above.

Li Jie’s pupils contracted.

The New Alliance plane!

But how...?

No time to wonder how it survived Team A’s missiles. Tracers rained from its side ports.

With the storm of bullets came joyous shouts.

"Hahaha! Die!"

Clutching the mounted gun, Dog Good Names fired in a craze, muzzle flashes lighting his grinning, savage face crimson.

The Executioners, still reeling from the blast, were caught again off guard. Casualties piled instantly.

Exoskeleton-clad soldiers jumped from the opposite side of the plane, splitting into two groups to flank the pinned Executioners.

They were like fiery pincers closing on hot iron.

An Executioner raised his rifle to fire back, only to meet a cleaving axe.

Panicked, he tried to block, but sparks flew as his gun was split in two. The blunt axe smashed into his helmet.

Bang!

Feeling the helmet crack, Old White yanked back his Thermal Cutting Axe, swapped to his rifle, and laid down more fire.

He hadn’t even charged up for the last blow. The flat side of the axe had simply knocked the man unconscious.

The prisoner Night Ten caught was dead. Now, they needed two more.

Luckily, there were plenty all around.

The Executioners had stepped boldly into the open. If they hadn’t, catching them all would’ve been difficult.

As the smoke cleared, the battle in the atrium was over.

Of 15 Executioners, 11 lay dead, three were gravely wounded. One of them was lightly wounded and surrendered. Another team remained outside, but at some distance.

It would be better if they all had the balls to rush over at the same time.

However, Old White doubted they had the guts.

When the gunfire ceased, the pilot of the Viper finally breathed again.

He sat up in his chair, opened the side window, and shouted to the soldiers cleaning up below, "Hey, are we evacuating or not?"

Old White looked back as a smile formed on his face.

"Forgot to mention, our plans changed. The administrator ordered us to locate the Spirit Interference Device. If we find it, we hold it here until reinforcements arrive.

"The Heart of Steel is coming and we have gliders bringing more men soon. Why don’t you return, resupply, and bring back a few more brothers and more ammunition?"

The pilot blinked at his seemingly casual response.

Night Ten, who had just come down the stairs, also looked stunned. "Wait... that’s a thing? We have a mission now?"

Ample Time nodded. "If you logged off to check the mission tab, you would know."

Inside the jamming zone, they couldn’t receive updates. But players could check missions on the official site.

It was technically exploiting a game bug.

Ample Time also wondered...

Did the NPC who assigned missions know players could do that?

If so... that was interesting.

The pilot didn’t understand their chatter, nor how they got orders. He only grumbled, firing the engines. "Next time, give me a warning if our plans will change!"

Old White smiled apologetically. " Of course!"