Chapter 199: Sometimes, I Just Want to Stretch My Legs

"Why no alarm?" Yuan Fei's scalp tightened, but the AI's response sent a chill down his spine—

"No biological signatures detected, no thermal signature, no bio-magnetic field, no brainwave disturbance…"

"Could it really be a ghost? No, wrong—I already knew the target was a deity. Ghosts and gods, what's the difference!" Yuan Fei's teeth chattered; the squad channel suddenly fell silent, as if the other squads had vanished without a trace.

"Damn it, AI, issue direct assembly commands to the others' auxiliary AIs, abandon visual lock, rely entirely on signal tracking, and switch target acquisition mode to pattern recognition!"

Though a traitor, Yuan Fei had undergone specialized training, and after a brief panic, he regained his composure.

As squad leader, his calm steadied the team; as their nerves settled, Yuan Fei immediately ordered:

"If we truly couldn't handle this, we'd already be dead. Since we're still alive, that means the enemy lacks the ability to kill us instantly. Since the cameras can capture it, the enemy has a physical form—and since it hasn't charged us directly, kinetic weapons must work! And we've got AI that can break illusions! The He Xing destroyed eight million gods. A single remnant—what's there to fear? Snap to it! Form a three-sided formation, share tactical window feeds, advance slowly!"

"Yes!" Inspired by Yuan Fei, the squad's morale slowly rose; they grouped in threes, forming a triangle facing three directions, while auxiliary AIs stitched together the soldiers' visual feeds and displayed them as split-screens on their tactical visors.

Yuan Fei walked in the center, eyes locked on the screen—suddenly, a shadow flashed past; the instant a red glow flared in his visor, he pulled the trigger.

Not just him—the squad members facing the shadow raised their weapons almost simultaneously, but…

The triggers wouldn't depress!

Damn it!

Yuan Fei's heart lurched, but then he saw the red marker flash across his visor—he exhaled in relief:

"Who's up front? Send your biocode!"

"Is that Captain Yuan Fei? I'm Captain Daisuke of the Third Squad!" The voice replied instantly over the channel; after AI verification, Yuan Fei finally relaxed.

"What did you encounter?"

"Don't know—the AI says it's some kind of mental disruption… My men got spooked, a few ran off, only three of us left." Daisuke grumbled as he led his squad forward—but Yuan Fei's scalp prickled instantly, because four men were walking out!

"Damn it, open fire! Daisuke, stay put—enemy identification is active!"

Though Yuan Fei spoke rapidly, his gun's trigger had already been pulled the moment he began speaking.

The friendly-fire system prevents firing on allies—so if it's not an ally, you shoot!

"Shh-shh-ta-shh-shh…"

Low, stuttering gunshots rang out; Daisuke instinctively raised his weapon to return fire—but it wouldn't fire. Only when a warning buzzed in his ear and his feet began moving did the gunfire abruptly stop.

"Phew…"

As Yuan Fei exhaled, the slow-reactors were just raising their weapons; those who'd fired alongside him only now realized what they'd done on instinct.

"Captain Yuan Fei, what was that…?"

Daisuke gasped for breath, barely escaped death—then he saw the image Yuan Fei had sent over the squad channel, and his blood ran cold. He spun around—and behind two paralyzed soldiers stood a paper doll, riddled with bullet holes.

The paper doll was no bigger than a palm, its perforations like needle pricks—but the rounds fired by their weapons were five-millimeter rounds!

"Paper doll…"

Pale-faced, Daisuke kicked each of his men to their feet, then panted:

"I owe you my life!"

"Hmph." Yuan Fei didn't believe such promises—but now wasn't the time to argue; he merely nodded.

"The enemy seems capable of creating illusions. Our hearing, vision, smell—all could be fake. Luckily, the alien AI isn't affected. You'd better activate all scanning and identification systems."

…

"Oh wow, not bad! Group illusions are detectable by AI, but ghost walls can mislead drones too… Is it because ghost walls don't directly target the brain, so AI can't detect them?"

Feng Xue watched half his "paper soldiers" vanish instantly, and his own alertness sharpened.

"Even traitors are stronger than I expected. Clearly, widespread auxiliary AI has drastically lowered the barrier from rookie to veteran!" Feng Xue muttered inwardly, yet didn't intervene yet.

With a fresh batch of test subjects, he naturally wanted to test the practicality of various spells.

Tap-tap-tap…

As he pondered, paper dolls returned one by one, dragging back soldiers; Feng Xue's lips curled:

"Looks like not everyone's top-tier…"

"Actually, not bad—just judging by their qi and blood, they've just had sex. Conscious, but reactions are sluggish," Seeing Mo Ying remarked offhandedly, controlling the paper dolls. Feng Xue rolled his eyes.

Their combat ability's fine, but their behavior's like a bunch of deserters returning home… Wait, Japanese—never mind!

He cast a sleeping spell on each, then turned his gaze to their gear. He couldn't help but be curious about the equipment that could break Seeing Mo Ying's brute-force illusions—but for the sake of the plan, he didn't touch anything, only instructed Seeing Mo Ying to drag the paper dolls and transport them to the earlier graffiti spot.

"Looks like these dozen or so are the strongest. Time to play."

Jin Shen Zhou activated; Feng Xue's skin shimmered with a faint glow. He wasn't fond of putting himself in danger—but the battle between the Sea God Admiral and the Moon Goddess's avatar had taught him he couldn't hide forever.

If he truly meant to improve his combat strength, waiting until he faced a strong enemy was too late. Experience gained from Liu Yunxi's obviously lenient sparring could only get him to "two thousand simulated wins"…

Well, he also kinda wanted to experience the thrill of bullying the weak.

After all, the saying goes: once you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

You learn a whole arsenal of spells—can't just use them for static defense, can you?

"Click!"

"Click!"

"Click!"

The Jade Seal was pressed in sequence; qi and blood flowed in sync. This was his first time testing the "Xuanwu Mutual Cultivation Pact" derived from the little bell—but as he felt the power surge in tandem with his magic, Feng Xue thought:

…Not bad?

(End of Chapter)