Chapter 45: Escape

Scared?

In the brief shock, Ming Yan almost couldn't help but grin: Too late!

Unfortunately, he was happy too soon.

He didn't understand at all what it meant on the battlefield when an enemy assumed such a posture...

Immediately after, he saw the figure revealed after Lu Feng lay prone.

Ji Jue.

And the heavy weapon in his hand, with a scale so exaggerated that it was shocking, a full shoulder-height of Ji Jue. It was less like a gun and more like a cannon!

Mammoth Type-II Assault Gun, standard weapon module for Federal military-use powered exoskeleton armor. After decades of fighting in the Central Plains, the muzzle, stained red by countless bloodstains, still bloomed with a chilling light.

Just like that, using his own body as a support, he braced the butt of the gun against the A-pillar of the car frame. Ji Jue tapped the gun body with his finger, his smile gentle:

【Fire】.

At that moment, it felt as if the entire building shook suddenly!

All the glass shattered "silently," because everyone's hearing had been stolen by the terrifying thunder that whistled in. Amidst the violent ringing in their ears, only a scalp-numbing silence remained.

The unadulterated weapon of war roared again from its deathbed, spitting out fire, majesty, and destruction!

It was equipped with 22.4mm caliber anchor-type high-speed armor-piercing rounds specifically tailored by the Sentry Military Industry. Although the effect in long-range shooting could be said to be almost non-existent, its purpose was not to bring death to enemies ten thousand meters away, but to stir up a hearty slaughter at close range.

On the battlefield, armored knights holding such weapons, when facing the same opponents, would brace it against the opponent's armor and then pull the trigger.

It was called the "Can Opener."

No matter how difficult and tricky the can was, after being chiseled through head-on by it, it would flow out sweet and delicious tomato sauce!

Now, after the thunder and shock, when everyone looked up, they saw Lu Feng slowly climbing up from the ground, and even the shattered wreckage in front of him.

The giant shield was gone, the armor was useless, cracks spread rapidly from the steel, collapsed, and fell, revealing that bloodless, sluggish face.

Right on his chest, a terrifying large hole had appeared that had almost beaten him into two sections.

Through that hole, one could see the wall behind being torn open, penetrated, penetrated, and penetrated again, until it flew out of the building, soaring in the vast night sky, and finally, falling into the sea.

I'm afraid no one would ever find that remaining bullet head again.

And no one could save Ming Yan, who had fallen backward toward the sky.

"Go! Boss, run quickly!"

Bai Yi's face changed drastically. He didn't even have time to feel heartbroken for his shadow beast, which had been pressed to the ground and beaten, and dragged the limp Jiang Jin up.

Even if a local snake like Jiang Jin, who did shady business, didn't know, the mercenary from the Central Plains had seen such scenes countless times in his nightmares.

From the moment the opponent pulled out such an outrageous thing, their resistance had no meaning anymore.

No, they should have made a decisive decision the moment they rushed in here!

This wasn't the "chub" they wanted to fish up at all, but an unadulterated two-headed man-eating shark!

He blew the whistle again, causing the invisible shadow beast to return instantly. After carrying himself and Jiang Jin, they broke out the door from behind.

"Boss, you go first!"

He pushed Jiang Jin, "I'll go hold them off!"

Unfortunately, just after Jiang Jin turned the corner, he had already impatiently ridden the shadow beast, rushed toward the window, landed safely from the building, and ran away rapidly!

Rear guard? Delaying?

At this moment?

Are you kidding me?!

He just wanted to make money, not have a cheap life and find someone to sell it to, and he didn't have to die to be happy. How could he not distinguish whose life was heavier, the boss's or his own?

A boss, if he dies, he dies. Bye-bye is bye-bye, the next one will be more obedient!

But in the midst of the galloping, the shadow beast's footsteps came to a screeching halt.

No matter how much he scolded and ordered, it couldn't move forward.

It couldn't, or rather, instinctively didn't dare to cross that invisible boundary.

In the deserted alley, a slender figure sat on the steps, concentrating on playing with their handheld console. The faint glow illuminated their shoulder-length short hair, and their beautiful, exquisite face had a beauty that was hard to distinguish between male and female.

A cane leaned diagonally against the wall beside them, drawing an invisible boundary.

"Please stay there, don't move, wait for me to finish playing."

The newcomer was concentrating but clumsily trying to use a dragon-climbing slash on the monster on the screen, but repeatedly failed to land, and the tone of their voice carried a hint of impatience: "Take one more step forward, and you're dead..."

Bai Yi froze in place.

Not daring to move again.

At this moment, in the ruins of the office, Ji Jue finally recovered from the violent ringing in his ears and dizziness, barely recovering a little.

He felt as if he were holding a scorching iron pillar, his fingers almost scalded.

He lowered his head, took a breath, and looked at the weapon in his arms: 【Are you satisfied?】

【... Thank you.】

After one shot, countless cracks had appeared on the gun body of the Mammoth, and it could only rely on the "Goodness" emblem 【Wasteland】 engraved on it to barely maintain its integrity.

But at this moment, within the gun body, that murderous intent accumulated from countless killings welcomed its dissolution with unparalleled relief and satisfaction.

Like an old man who had fought and won against an enemy again at the end of his life.

It peacefully welcomed death and scrapping, with no more regrets.

Only wisps of spiritual quality flowed out from the gun body, merging into Ji Jue's ability without any resistance. Immediately, in his perception, the emblem of the Goodness group became brighter and more complex.

Experience bar surged!

"Hoo..."

Ji Jue slowly let go, carefully dismantled it, and put it back into the bag. He had promised Sister Laila it was a loan, so he had to return it as it was.

Then, he heard the returning footsteps.

"So slow, Brother Feng." He complained.

"Can't blame me."

Lu Feng dragged Jiang Jin, who was like a dead dog, panting: "This old guy runs really fast, damn it, agile as a fucking athlete. I almost didn't catch up."

"What about the other one?" Ji Jue asked.

"Ran away, right?" Lu Feng answered indifferently: "Looking at his skin color, he should be a Central Plains person. He was scared out of his wits when he saw the powered exoskeleton weapon. Ever since the people from the Federation and the Empire came, the locals don't even talk about demons and ghosts to scare children at night. They've seen too much on the battlefield, they're experienced. If they want to run, you can't stop them."

"So lucky."

Ji Jue sighed, lowered his head, looked at the old face covered in dust in the ruins and dead bodies, and suddenly smiled: "Mr. Jiang Jin, right?"

Jiang Jin's expression twitched, white hair hanging from his temples, stained with blood, so disheveled.

"If you wanted to find me, you could have just come at me. Why go through so much trouble?"

Ji Jue reached out and counted: "Look, so many people have been killed by you... one, two, three, four... at least seventeen or eighteen, right?"

"You have no idea what you're doing!"

Jiang Jin gritted his teeth, squeezing the sound from his throat: "You can't escape, Ji Jue!"

"Why would I want to escape?"

Ji Jue smiled, asking curiously: "In Yacheng, I have a home and family, teachers, and backers. Why would I run? Besides, shouldn't you be the one running—even if I don't kill you, do you think you can live until tomorrow morning?"

For a moment, Jiang Jin's face turned pale.

Especially when he discovered that Ji Jue was holding his phone, carefully and seriously taking pictures of him, his heart sank to the bottom.

For so many years, he had done so many shady things, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was enough to anger both gods and men. Once he lost power, his backers might not even be willing to pull him up, and even other peers would definitely kick him while he was down without hesitation, just like his former self...

He wouldn't live until tomorrow morning.

This wasn't empty talk.

It was a true portrayal of his fate.

"So, run, Jiang Jin."

Ji Jue smiled and encouraged, patted his shoulder, and said earnestly: "Run, let us brothers see how far you can run."

Jiang Jin's expression changed, wanting to curse or denounce, but when the muzzle in Ji Jue's hand pointed at his face, he finally didn't speak, gritted his teeth, climbed up from the ground, and ran wildly toward the door on his hands and feet.

Bang!

A sharp scream rang out, and the running Jiang Jin fell to the ground, wailing and cursing, holding his shattered knees.

"Come on, Teacher Jiang!"

The culprit Ji Jue's smile became brighter, waving his pistol, enthusiastically encouraging: "A true warrior will not be defeated by temporary setbacks. You must bravely stand up, hurry, faster, faster... otherwise, you're going to die!"

Bang!

Another bullet hit his temple, shattering his ear.

Jiang Jin wailed, dragging his broken leg, struggling to crawl forward, but immediately after, the gunshot rang out again, causing him to fall to the ground again, rolling disheveledly.

This time, it was the right leg.

Lu Feng whistled, blowing away the smoke from the muzzle: "You say, how long will it take him to reach the door?"

"Don't know." Ji Jue shook his head, noticing his thought, and followed suit: "Want to make a bet? Fifty bucks, I bet ten minutes."

"You're on!"

Lu Feng grinned, raising his gun: "I bet he can't crawl to the door."

"Hey, Jiang Jin, did you hear that?"

Ji Jue raised his voice, shouting: "You have to work hard, don't be afraid, the manga says, effort + friendship = victory! Believe in yourself, you can definitely do it!"

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah—"

Jiang Jin screamed, cried, and cursed in the pool of blood, using all the dirty words and threats he knew.

Bang!

Lu Feng pulled the trigger again, this time the left hand, chiseling a blood hole from the palm, tendons broken and bones fractured.

"Knew you would cheat."

Ji Jue sighed, raised his hand, also aimed, and fired, Jiang Jin's right hand!

Alright, now all four limbs are gone, bad news.

But the good news is, he can at least still squirm a little, in his own blood, wailing and wriggling, rolling forward.

Just like a lost child who can't find their mother.

"Looks like you lost."

Lu Feng shook his head, for the last time, pulled the trigger.

Aiming at his head.

At that moment, in the air, a cold snort sound came.

So low, but suddenly erupted, turning into an unadulterated... thunderous roar!

Making the two of them almost forget to breathe.

Dazzling electric light suddenly erupted from the night sky, galloping, descending from the sky in an instant, stirring up strong winds and loud noises. And amidst the violent shock, a figure appeared from the thunder without warning, raising their hand.

Lightly, pinched the flying bullet.

Electric light flashed.

Between their fingers, melted copper juice slowly dripped.

And the contracted five fingers were actually unscathed.

——Entropy System, Matrix·Awakening!

At this moment, the newcomer's long, narrow, and cold gaze slowly lifted, looking around, and finally, when it landed on the two of them, realization appeared.

Seeing the opponent appear, Jiang Jin seemed to have found his backbone, crying out in ecstasy, like a loyal dog seeing its master. If it weren't for the lack of hands and feet, he would have almost pounced: "Team Leader Yu, save me... I, I..."

"Shut up."

Yu Hanguang glanced at the disgraceful thing on the ground, finally looked at Ji Jue, and sighed softly: "Sure enough, a little bastard who only knows how to cause trouble."

Without warning, without any gap.

He reached out and pointed.

More than ten meters away.

But in the broken space, it was already filled with infinite thunder. Amidst the mighty thunder, the ten thousand feet of fierce light converged, rushed, and whistled toward him.

Instantly, swallowing the two of them completely!

No bones left!

Unfortunately, there wasn't.

Ji Jue didn't even lose a hair, and neither did Lu Feng. He even yawned, his nose hair itching.

And right on their collars, an inconspicuous crystal button shattered silently, the crystal grew, turning into gorgeous and sharp petals.

Easily, stalling and freezing the wild thunder in front of them!

——Wasteland Path·Stasis Zone!

At that moment, Ji Jue finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the twitching calf muscles returned to calm.

Safe.

He looked toward the door: "Sister Wen, if you don't come, the two of us are going to surrender."

"Patience is the only way to catch big fish, isn't that what you said?"

Along with the words, Wen Wen's figure walked out from the dancing dust, looking at Yu Hanguang, whose expression had stalled, with a half-smile: "Team Leader Yu, what a coincidence, actually meeting you here?"

Yu Hanguang's expression changed, and he didn't speak.

"If I remember correctly, Beishan seems to be my jurisdiction, right?" She tilted her head and asked curiously: "Since when is it Liying District's turn to intervene?"

Her slender five fingers clenched, knuckles rubbing, making a crisp sound like crystal breaking.

She asked coldly:

"Don't plan to explain?"

Launching early tomorrow morning, there will be updates, and the launch speech will be presented later.