Chapter 692: Ambush and Stealth Attack

"Sniper!"

"Sergeant! Protect the sergeant!"

"They're picking off our commanders!"

When the position of the third officer was swallowed by a vast expanse of purple lightning, the guards outside the boarding tower guessed what the men inside intended to do—shield-bearing soldiers immediately rushed toward the sergeants.

Though they couldn't fathom how the men inside the tower had launched lightning ore, so fragile it shattered on contact, over three hundred meters, in this moment, setting up pneumatic shields was the most reliable defense.

These tactical shields, requiring continuous airflow from the base to reduce weight for single-person mobility, featured three layers of 50-millimeter-thick composite plating, each side offering protection comparable to powered armor shells.

Though slightly less effective when carried handheld, when aligned side by side, they became hard enough to briefly withstand medium-caliber bombardment—sufficient to serve as temporary field positions; so as long as the shields were erected to block the flight path of the lightning ore…

"Boom!" "Hiss~"

Once the shields were set, the targets became even more obvious.

…

After firing another nail as a marker, electrocuting the sergeant and five or six surrounding soldiers, Leon almost laughed aloud as he watched the hastily erected temporary positions below—even though he was now trapped and couldn't escape, the tower's rooftop still offered him perfect conditions.

Originally, he'd had to spend time locating targets, aiming carefully before firing, and even had to relocate after every two shots to prevent his sniper rifle from being destroyed by counterfire—inefficient, to say the least.

But now, with the enemy marking their own positions, he saved the effort of searching, didn't even need to aim—just fire near the approximate location, letting the young Ha find the spot, then directly toss the lightning ore into the center of the formation.

"No! Don't cluster together!"

"Spread out! Quickly, spread out!"

"These shields won't hold—we need to break out!"

As the frequency of purple electric arcs suddenly increased, several sharp-witted sergeants realized the truth and immediately ordered their men to disperse—but it was too late; Leon had already memorized the approximate locations of over a dozen sergeants.

"Boom!" "Hiss~"

"Boom!" "Hiss~"

The muffled reports of the sniper rifle and the sharp, high-pitched crackles of arcing electricity alternated in perfect, steady rhythm—the soldiers who rushed into the tower held out for two full minutes, but the sergeants outside didn't last thirty seconds, one after another collapsing to electric shocks.

Without a command system, the soldiers quickly descended into chaos; their once-tight encirclement began to loosen…

Time to move out!

Seeing the encirclement now visibly fractured, Leon, having descended to the ground floor, took a deep breath, fired several final nails toward the ambush team and firepoints to distract the most troublesome suppression, then retracted his sniper rifle and burst out the main entrance, sprinting toward the area with the thinnest soul flames!

"He's out! Someone's out!"

"Not one of ours! Quick! Suppressing fire!"

"Shoot! What's the ambush team doing?!"

Facing the sudden emergence of the enemy, some seasoned soldiers opened fire immediately—but due to the collapse of command and the intermittent interference from the young Ha, several firepoints descended into disarray, failing to form effective suppression.

With the mental shield of the Sacred Spirit Pendant, Leon endured roughly eighty to ninety rounds before he'd already crossed the most dangerous open zone and plunged into the temporary position formed by the pneumatic shields. Safe!

Feeling the gunfire thin out sharply upon entering the position, Leon exhaled slightly in relief.

Unlike the "civilian" models used by the Police Force, military firearms had far greater caliber and power—after just six or seven seconds of concentrated volleys, his stamina had already dropped by eighty percent.

It was right not to charge out recklessly relying on immortality; at his five-point corruption level, a combat weakling, he could barely withstand one hundred and thirty to forty rounds before the Sacred Spirit Pendant's shield would shatter completely.

If that happened, even if he didn't die, he'd be riddled with nails, immobilized until his body repaired itself—nothing but an immortal target.

But now, having successfully breached their position and avoided further concentrated volleys, he had a chance: with the infinite endurance granted by War Diagonal, he could keep advancing, shield held high.

Time to accelerate!

Taking a deep breath of the gray, sulfurous smoke, Leon's lungs burned with searing pain—but his nearly depleted stamina instantly returned to full.

After reorienting himself, Leon, his physical state restored to peak, pushed forward through the thinned gunfire, shield held firm by the Sacred Spirit Pendant, and smashed straight through the temporary position, bursting out of the initial encirclement formed by over four hundred guards.

"God… he got out?!"

"He didn't die? What kind of new armor is he wearing?!"

"Don't chase yet! There might be others inside the tower!"

Faced with Leon's breakout, the soldiers, now leaderless, failed to organize immediate pursuit; after firing a few meaningless volleys behind him, they obeyed the sergeants' final orders before collapsing—returning to surround the boarding tower, preventing more enemies from emerging.

Yet before Leon could celebrate his escape, his spine chilled—he felt as if a supremely dangerous predator had locked onto him.

…

"Sss~"

A low, sinister hiss echoed.

Accompanied by this strange sound, like air rushing through a throat, a colossal serpent's phantom appeared in Leon's vision—its base color pitch black, its body covered in dense, luminous white spots—and it lunged straight at his shield.

Simultaneously, a tiny snake, a thousand times smaller than the giant serpent, appeared silently against Leon's chest, coiling around the Sacred Spirit Pendant, smiling with its eyes full of terror at the toad inside, its mouth widening…

"Pop!"

A sound like a bursting bubble echoed in Leon's mind.

Leon felt a slight dizziness—the mental shield that had protected his entire body instantly melted away, leaving him utterly exposed; the Sacred Spirit Pendant on his chest, now entwined by the black snake, dimmed completely.

"Damn! Snake Spirit of the Scale Gold Sect?!"

Amid Black Goat's shriek, Leon, fighting dizziness, reached out to tear off the tiny black snake gnawing at the pendant.

But his hand passed through nothing—there was no physical form to grasp—and yet the black snake slithered up his arm, its fangs like twin obsidian nails, sinking deep into the artery of his wrist.

(End of Chapter)