Chapter 1146

As he was blown away, the mechanical servants rushed forward and launched a fierce attack.

Earlier, these mercenaries had underestimated the mechanical servants, but now several of them lay dead, struck in vital spots.

"Counterattack! Counterattack! Don't fear these little things—watch out for strange explosives underfoot!"

"The pursuers from behind are catching up—hurry and go!"

"We can't escape! These little metal things are a nightmare—what do we do?"

Mechanical servants and landmines blocked both front and rear, while the Eternal Night Legion closed in from behind.

For a moment, the mercenaries were truly trapped between rock and a hard place—even their leader didn't know what to do.

He didn't know how many more explosives like the last one lay ahead. As he hesitated, violent explosions erupted again ahead and to both sides—each blast jolted his nerves, and cold sweat traced down his temples, dripping from his cheeks.

If he triggered such an explosion, he'd probably die on the spot too.

The leader thought this.

But behind them, soldiers of the Eternal Night Legion were still chasing, and fighting them was unrealistic—only more deaths would follow.

Were they truly going to perish here?

Wait!

Their target is Master Jianong—we're just mercenaries. If we hand over Master Jianong, won't we be safe?

As long as we live, who cares about professional ethics?

Once we reach another city, we can still live freely.

"Boss, what do we do?" His trusted aide's face was drenched in sweat—half from fear, half from dread.

To be honest, his own back was soaked in cold sweat too, just like the boss, terrified that some eerie explosive might be under his own feet—he doubted he'd even react in time if it detonated.

"Wait!"

"Wait for what?" Master Jianong suddenly felt something was wrong.

These mercenaries aren't about to betray him, are they?

But the mercenary leader didn't answer Master Jianong—only gave him a cold glance.

If it weren't for Master Jianong, they probably wouldn't be in this mess now.

When the Eternal Night Legion soldiers closed in and began to encircle them.

Lin Cheng withdrew all the landmine-style mechanical servants from the other side—black, identical in appearance, emerging one by one from the ground ahead of the mercenaries' path, retreating in the same direction as the original mechanical servants.

This stunned both the Eternal Night Legion and the mercenaries—how could these hard-shelled little things be so obedient? Weren't they some kind of alchemical lifeform?

The landmine-style self-destruct mechanical servants were Lin Cheng's modified version: retaining the mechanical servants' self-destruct function and mobility, removing their iron fists, adding subterranean digging capability, and setting them to trigger when any object exceeding a certain weight stepped on them.

Their practicality had already been proven in the previous battle—the trigger mechanism worked perfectly; even these experienced mercenaries were helpless against the unexpected landmines.

In fact, to prevent detection, Lin Cheng had also programmed them to detonate if forcibly dug up from the soil, or if their eyes detected an enemy approaching within a certain distance.

This left people utterly torn—even modern bomb-disposal experts would be powerless.

A modified landmine, once endowed with a degree of intelligence, decides when to explode based purely on its own mood.

· ·······Requesting flowers····· ·····

"Run! Why aren't you running anymore?"

General Ji Xia strolled slowly to the front of her soldiers and taunted the mercenaries.

In the midst of the mercenaries, Master Jianong had been watching his surroundings warily; seeing the mercenary leader's intent to betray him, he swiftly pulled out a syringe filled with serum and stabbed it toward the leader's neck.

Strike first, gain the advantage!

But the mercenary leader had long anticipated this move—he dodged instantly, then swept out a left roundhouse kick.

.......... 0

The gruesome state of the disciples earlier was still fresh in mind—yes, turning into a werewolf was powerful, but what happened afterward?

Failed ambush!

Master Jianong didn't succeed in injecting the mercenary leader—his right leg was shattered by the leader's heavy kick, and he collapsed to the ground, moaning in pain.

"Aaaah! My leg! You bastard, treacherous bastard, you'll die a miserable death! Aaaah! You broke the leg of a sixty-nine-year-old man—you have no honor!"

The mercenary leader scratched his ear, pretending not to hear, his face filled with contempt for Master Jianong.

"Save your breath, Master Jianong. You've done plenty of evil yourself—I know exactly what you've been up to. The Empire won't tolerate you." The leader leaned down, revealing a cruel grin.

"I merely take money to solve problems. Compared to you, I'm nowhere near as wicked."

Seeing Master Jianong's venomous expression as he tried to raise the syringe again, the leader kicked twice more—crushing both of his hands, to stop him from moving again.