Chapter 221

Feiguang finished speaking, pulled a flag of red and black from his hand, and slammed it violently into the ground.

A faint red-black glow emanated from the flag, sweeping instantly across the entire instance area.

After the red-black glow flickered, Buk and Kerton were stunned to find their forced-exit items for the instance had failed.

The space within the instance had been locked down by Feiguang's item.

This meant that unless the instance was completed, there was no other way to leave.

Feiguang looked at them with a half-smile, "Since you don't want to leave, then don't leave."

Feiguang's actions exceeded Buk and Kerton's expectations.

Guang, you're serious?

Their faces showed disbelief as they stared at the Iron Armor Corps members closing in, wanting to ask: How dare you? Aren't you afraid of our teammates?

This wasn't because they'd been brain-dead by Bai Ta, thinking their Bai Ta title made them untouchable.

It was simply that the titles of core members of the Four Major Organizations were that powerful—any rational player, especially high-ups of minor factions, would never lightly touch a core member of the Four Major Organizations.

The reason was simple: the Iron Armor Corps, known for attacking players and possessing extreme retaliation tendencies, were called a tumor gang.

But when it came to attacking players and having extreme retaliation, the Iron Armor Corps were the lowest of the low compared to the Four Major Organizations.

Anyone who provoked the Four Major Organizations would face not just in-game retaliation, but real-world doxxing and violence.

And for transcenders, their retaliation didn't care about "innocent bystanders" or "only the guilty."

A minor faction that dared to strike at the Four Major Organizations—especially by initiating an attack—would face annihilation, down to the last dog and chicken.

Like in a quiet little town, even if the three Iron Armor Corps members weren't afraid of Sword Star, they still wouldn't dare show any disrespect if they heard the name of the Administration.

Like in the Midnight Cemetery instance, when Lei Hu appeared, he effortlessly killed Fire Cannon, leaving every other player in the area too terrified to even breathe—but even then, facing the seemingly weak and insignificant Wu Chang, they only dared isolate him, never attack him directly.

For such malicious events, any report, regardless of involvement, would be met with amnesty and a substantial reward by the Four Major Organizations.

The participants and their factions would be completely purged afterward, with no fear of retaliation.

With these two rules in place, every informed party could be a snitch.

Aside from the Three Xieshen Sects, no faction dared openly oppose the Four Major Organizations.

The Iron Armor Corps were a tumor organization of the Wasteland Realm; countless players wanted them dead, yet they still thrived because they understood the way of survival perfectly—they never provoked beings they couldn't handle.

But now, the Iron Armor Corps had dared to strike at Bai Ta.

They're insane, truly insane!

Buk and Kerton didn't know the Iron Armor Corps' source of confidence, but now they had to escape alive first.

No matter how brutal the retaliation would be against the Iron Armor Corps after today, if they died, it would mean nothing to them.

Shhh~

Buk shoved his thumb and index finger into his mouth and blew a piercing whistle; the next moment, soil beneath his feet surged upward into a mound.

The mound shattered, and a massive motorcycle—nearly two meters tall, over four meters long, with enormous tires like a road roller—burst forth.

Buk grabbed Kerton beside him, leapt onto the motorcycle, and charged toward the weakest side of the defense.

Buk lifted the front wheel; countless sharp saw blades shot out from it, instantly smashing a nearby Iron Armor Corps member into bloody pulp and flinging him sideways.

Kerton stood on the rear seat, pulling out two decks of playing cards in each hand, fanning them open.

The two decks, one hundred and eight cards, were all Kings.

He hurled the cards—they shot out like throwing knives, attacking every Iron Armor Corps member simultaneously, each receiving seven cards.

The Iron Armor Corps members dared not block them directly, instead using various abilities to defend.

The instant their skills or items touched the cards, they sensed something wrong—the cards carried no force; upon contact, they flopped limply against their defenses.

The next moment, they saw clowns with strange smiles crawling out of the cards, slipping through their defenses, hugging their bodies at various points, then exploding violently.

Hundreds of violent explosions erupted, nearly deafening everyone present.

Taking advantage of the explosions and thunderous noise, Buk sped away on the motorcycle.

The few players who remained in the instance were all confident in their own strength—not one was a fool.

The moment they saw Buk move, they prepared for battle; now that the moment was right, they followed Buk in fleeing.

Buk's motorcycle was fast, and Kerton's cards were hard to counter—if only the Iron Armor Corps had been ordinary elite combat members, they might have truly escaped.

But here gathered were the squad leaders and two of the strongest group leaders of the elite combat unit—all three possessed hidden classes and extensive combat experience; in raw power, they were stronger than Buk and Kerton.

Chiye opened her palm; a rose appeared in her hand, dissolving into petals that stuck to the flying cards—each card covered by a petal instantly became an ordinary playing card, falling to the ground.

Yowu was more direct—he dissolved into a mist, then reappeared behind Kerton.

In his hand was a dagger formed of mist; he stabbed it into Kerton's lower back.

Kerton pulled out a card to counterattack, but Yowu flashed again, appearing beside Buk and stabbing him in the waist too.

Yowu's movements were steady, precise, and brutal—only someone who'd cut hundreds of waists could strike with such ruthless accuracy.

If the two Bai Ta players escaped and sought revenge, finding the target would be simple: go to X North, no mistake.

Fortunately, Buk's vehicle was fast enough; when Yowu struck his second time, he fell off the motorcycle, and by the time he tried to flash again, the motorcycle had already left his skill's range.

Helpless, he teleported behind another player who had been trembling but hadn't fled, and began stabbing his waist relentlessly.

The other trembling player had already been marked by Chiye; he was still running, but his body had frozen in place.

Inside his skin, worm-like creatures wriggled through his blood vessels, absorbing his nutrients; within a few breaths, they grew as thick as fingers, bursting through veins and skin, "breaking ground" into vibrant flowers.

From the moment Chiye controlled him, within ten breaths, his skin, flesh, and bones were entirely consumed, leaving only a human-shaped bouquet on the ground.

The bouquet was vivid and beautiful, blending over a dozen colors, like a meticulously crafted floral art piece.

Of the twenty-four players present, excluding the fifteen Iron Armor Corps members, the three who fled with Bai Qi, the two dead, and Wu Chang Zhenwo hiding nearby watching, only three remained.

Yowu and Chiye each had their moments; as the leader, Feiguang naturally wouldn't just stand by.

Buk's motorcycle was fast, swiftly escaping Yowu and Chiye's attack range, accelerating further, clearly intending to flee entirely.

Seeing this, Feiguang immediately activated his ability, turning himself into a humanoid light form.

A moment ago, Feiguang was standing in place; the next, only a streak of light remained in the air—if one paused that instant and followed the line of light, they would see Feiguang transformed into a luminous figure wreathed in white flames, having sprinted to within ten meters of Booker.

He looked like a comet, hurtling straight toward Booker; no one would doubt the force of that collision.

Even if he couldn't severely injure Booker and Colton, he could flip the motorcycle and leave both of them behind.

At that moment, the last female player, who had remained silent until now, suddenly appeared at the rear of the motorcycle; in each hand, a colored light orb materialized—one pressed against the motorcycle, the other blocking Feiguang. Upon contact with the colored orbs, Feiguang instantly reverted from his luminous form to his ordinary shape, his light and flames sucked away, becoming Nurse Zhu Li propelling the motorcycle.

Booker's motorcycle seemed to have gained rocket engines, vanishing in an instant.

"Interesting."

Feiguang remained in place for several seconds, waiting for his skill cooldown to end; as he once again transformed into a luminous figure and prepared to resume pursuit, this time he moved with none of his earlier speed—instead, he froze in place as if in a hundredfold slow motion.

A slow, drawn-out voice came from nearby.

"Take it easy. Don't rush."

"The essence of work is slacking off."

"I'm already doing it. Don't hurry me."

Following the fragmented, sluggish voice, Feiguang saw a giant tuna, over four meters tall, with limbs like simple stick-figure lines, eyes half-closed, muttering to itself as it passed by him.

Where the tuna passed, time slowed to an extreme; dust kicked up and stones about to fall hung motionless in midair.

Feiguang knew the tuna before him was the disqualified monster unique to the Saint Song Corporation's instance.

!

He sighed. With this monster interfering, he wouldn't catch those three today.

But it didn't matter—there was plenty of time. All three were badly wounded; they couldn't hide forever. He would catch them eventually.

Feiguang turned to the elite combat team members who had followed him and spoke through voice comms:

"Don't enter its ability range. Stay outside and use ranged attacks to block its movement paths. Its movements are slow—once your attacks form a circle, it won't escape."

On the other side, realizing they had shaken off the Iron Armor Squad, Booker retracted his motorcycle and collapsed to his knees beside Colton, clutching his waist as he gulped down a large health potion.

Youmu's attacks carried a severe injury effect; Booker downed two large health potions and a premium healing tonic, yet the wound on his waist showed no sign of healing.

Both Bai Ta players were severely wounded; the final female player was no better—once the motorcycle stopped, she spat blood, her hand that had absorbed Feiguang's impact hanging limp and useless, clearly fractured in multiple places.

Yet her condition was merely severe injury—no abnormal status effects—and after using a healing consumable, she barely regained mobility.

She grabbed one in each hand and dragged Booker and Colton beneath a bridge arch.

As she dragged them, Booker asked: "A woman as strong and beautiful as you is rare. Mind introducing yourself?"

The woman's reply was brief: "Veronica, Evolution Committee."

Hearing Veronica's name, both men looked startled—it explained why she could block Feiguang's attack; she too was a member of one of the Four Organizations.

The three sat beneath the bridge arch, waiting for their injuries to heal.

Right now, the Iron Armor Squad held absolute dominance in the instance; main quests and completion didn't matter—surviving and escaping was all that counted.

If they moved before healing, and the enemy spotted them, they'd be doomed.

As the three each focused on recovering their condition, someone suddenly crawled into the bridge arch.

"You seem to need help."

The three turned to the sudden arrival—they recognized him. This guy was the most cowardly; before the Iron Armor Squad even spoke, he'd hidden himself the moment he entered the instance.

During the breakout, he'd slipped away silently while they drew fire.

No one liked this kind of cowardly player.

If you start a fight and lose a teammate right away, what's the point of fighting?

Booker's face darkened as he sneered: "Oh? Isn't this our invisible man? You hid so thoroughly, I thought you didn't need anyone."

Wu Chang shrugged. "I can get you jobs at Saint Song Corporation. Maybe even heal your injuries."

Booker's expression changed instantly, as if he'd trained in face-changing: "Welcome to our team, my friend! I didn't mean anything by what I said—believe me, back in high school, watching Sakura Island movies, my dream power was invisibility."

Wu Chang said: "Then I guess your dream job must be a plumber."

After connecting with Booker and the others, Wu Chang redirected most of his attention back to his main body.

His claim that he could get Booker and the others Saint Song Corporation employee status wasn't empty.

He looked at the nameplate on his desk.

"Manager, Fully Automated Defense System Department—Xiao En."

Coincidentally, the local identity he obtained through the True Traveler was also named Xiao En—and he was a department manager.

Saint Song Corporation's employee ranks, from lowest to highest, are levels one through nine.

Levels one to three are regular employees—the position players occupy upon joining Saint Song Corporation.

Levels four to six are Bronze, Silver, and Gold employees—these are the company's backbone.

Levels seven and eight are management, responsible for departmental sales and operations.

All employees from levels one to eight share one common dream from the moment they join Saint Song Corporation.

That is to reach level nine and enter the board as a partner.

This is not an unrealistic dream—Saint Song Corporation's sole evaluation criterion is performance.

As long as your performance is good, you keep rising.

As long as your performance is good, you gain all the authority your position grants—you can do as you please.

Saint Song Corporation is a high-tech arms company—not a high-tech and arms company, but a pure arms company.

Fully Automated Defense Systems is Saint Song Corporation's core business; as department manager, Wu Chang began at level eight.

Unless something unexpected happens, hiring a few staff members would be a simple matter for him.

But right now, there truly is an unexpected issue: his performance as department manager is the lowest among all level-eight employees.

If he shows no improvement soon, he will face demotion.

His current status within Saint Song Corporation is called the Observation Period—during this time, he may perform normal duties but cannot arbitrarily assign personnel.

Whether it was for the sake of his Level 8 employee status, or for the sake of Buck's three useful tool-men, what he needed to do now was boost his performance and keep his position.

Just as he was thinking about how to act, his secretary knocked and came in, telling him the chairman wanted him in the office.

(End of chapter)