Chapter 200: Spell Experiment

As his team grew to around twenty members, Yuan Fei's expression grew increasingly grim; over ten minutes had passed without finding any new recruits.

Although the team channel's life sign monitor showed everyone was still alive, he had lost all hope.

The drones overhead still flew like headless flies, and four of the dispatched reconnaissance robots had gone missing; to conserve ammunition for future engagements, Yuan Fei halted this pointless waste and ordered the team to hold position.

According to legend, when encountering divine disappearance or ghostly maze phenomena, one must avoid eating local food and simply wait quietly until the next Fengmo Moment (outdoor Fengmo occurs at dawn or dusk, indoor Fengmo at midnight); after enduring a few more hours until daylight, one naturally returns to the real world.

Although Yuan Fei didn't know if this legend was reliable, now that they were utterly lost, conserving energy was always better.

"Shhh-shhh-shhh!"

Another volley of gunfire erupted; Yuan Fei didn't even bother checking—no doubt, those cursed paper dolls again. Fortunately, this time the aliens had finally been generous: their electromagnetic rifles cut pellets directly from solid magazines, allowing thousands of rounds per magazine. Had they still been using the old laser rifles—energy-hungry, unreliable, and prone to over-penetration and friendly fire—they would have run out of ammo long ago.

Suddenly, a chill spread through the air; Yuan Fei shuddered violently, then noticed his auxiliary AI had switched to waterproof mode—he only then realized it was raining.

"Raise alertness, maintain formation spacing, preserve network connectivity; everyone stay in team status with your three nearest comrades, check each other's status, and report anomalies immediately for reinforcement."

Although rain in Youta City by the coast was normal, he clearly remembered the downpour during the former Gui Xie Wei building incident—the storm that nearly disabled all the security personnel's laser weapons.

According to weather forecasts, that rain had drained all surrounding clouds; no rainfall was possible for three days.

So this rain was no ordinary occurrence.

His voice echoed simultaneously through earpieces and alleyways; the subtle time lag between electromagnetic signals and sound vibrations made it sound distorted.

Light rain tapped against the exoskeleton armor, producing a drowsy white noise. It was already past midnight—the time when humans are most fatigued, let alone that several team members had just returned from a "major battle" and were barely keeping their eyes open.

Suddenly, a shrill alarm exploded through the team channel; the red-flashing avatar on the screen instantly snapped everyone to attention!

"Don't panic! Stay at your posts!" Yuan Fei shouted orders while glancing toward the alarm source—and as expected, in that instant, several dark figures emerged from the alleyways.

"Shhh-shhh-shhh!"

Electromagnetic pellets shredded the shadows; Yuan Fei finally locked onto the alarmed team member, who now lay slumped on the ground, two comrades performing CPR. Inside the opened helmet visor, a layer of frost had formed, and through his tactical visor, his body temperature was plummeting rapidly.

"Damn it! Everyone monitor temperature changes—activate internal circulation mode!" Yuan Fei scrambled for a solution in his mind, but the next moment, his tactical visor flashed red.

Yuan Fei had no time to identify the threat—he immediately activated auxiliary targeting.

Dozens of pellets formed a continuous stream, sweeping the red-marked location; amid a burst of sparks and cracking sounds, a neon sign reading "Tax-Free Cosmetics" shattered into fragments.

"No paper dolls?" The neon sign exploded into thousands of glowing points, but Da Fu suddenly noticed something different from previous encounters: within the bursting sparks, AI's image recognition had highlighted a human silhouette.

"Seven o'clock!" Da Fu didn't report to Yuan Fei—he issued the order directly. He himself held captain-level authority; as he gave the command, the two soldiers who had returned with him raised their weapons instantly.

"Shhh-shhh-shhh…"

Bullets fired—everyone assumed it was another paper doll attack, but the figure wrapped in swirling air had already launched a sprint.

"Damn it!"

Da Fu immediately stepped back two paces, retreating to the innermost defensive line Yuan Fei had assigned him. Yuan Fei, about to curse, also noticed the unusual shadow.

"Shhh-shhh-shhh!"

Gunfire continued, but the figure seemed utterly immune to bullets, charging straight through the barrage. Worse still, AI's identification showed no life signs whatsoever.

"It's a fake!" Yuan Fei recalled previous encounters and shouted:

"AI, refresh my neural signal!"

"Shhh!" Since the safety lock had been pre-disengaged, the AI executed without confirmation; as a sharp pain darkened his vision, Yuan Fei's sight turned crimson—and his world shifted again.

"It's an illusion! Paper dolls are mixed with illusions! Everyone, refresh neural signals in groups by number! Those waiting for refresh, attack under my orders!"

Yuan Fei issued commands rapidly, his rifle aimed at the figure charging alongside the "illusion."

"Ding-ding-ding!" The sound was entirely different from before—each pellet struck like metal. Yuan Fei immediately doubled the electromagnetic rifle's power.

At this moment, the first batch of soldiers who had refreshed their neural signals realized the problem and opened fire in unison—but firearms, being straightforward weapons, were too predictable. Feng Xue advanced as calmly as if strolling through a garden, and every bullet that reached him was instantly teleported away by Mo Ying.

This was—【Spirit Ghost Transport Technique · Instant】!

Yuan Fei watched the thermal signature on his visor and the ripples on the ground, realizing this was no paper doll or ghost—it was a living "person." Though he didn't understand how the electromagnetic rifle vanished, he was certain: it had physical collision volume.

He gritted his teeth and barked:

"Don't be afraid! This is the psychic ability mentioned in intelligence—immune to ranged attacks! Switch to close-combat mode! Soldiers numbered 7, 8, 9—prepare for assault! Others provide cover! If you don't move, I'll activate AI takeover mode—choose whether you fight with your own body or let AI use it for you!"

Feng Xue didn't quicken his pace; the spell's energy had already circulated three times through his meridians, mingled with blood and qi, accumulating a far more violent force within than any external speed boost could provide.

As Yuan Fei completed his order, three soldiers charged forward!

"Good!" The Shénxíng technique's power erupted instantly from Feng Xue's meridians; his body surged forward with astonishing speed. Before the three soldiers could close in, one spun violently—before he could even hit the ground, the other two, under AI module takeover, raised their weapons.

But Feng Xue's target wasn't either of them—

He had become a tiger among sheep!

(End of Chapter)