Chapter Twenty-One: Advancing Together

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The difficulty of this mission exceeded everyone's expectations. The Qimen Squad encountered the first wave of enemies two kilometers from the base. The terrain here was hilly, but the Qimen Squad was positioned at the lowest point, while most of the enemy bio-warriors, wielding energy swords of various colors, stood on the slopes above.

“They’re from the Holy Federation, no need to check,” said Ugly yet Handsome.

There was indeed no need to check; every member of the enemy faction had a yellow cross above their head, while their own team bore a blue four-leaf fan emblem.

“OK, now watch us.” Both Potato and Sun finished taking off their combat suits, revealing gleaming metal armor underneath. With every step, their armor creaked and groaned, making them look like Transformers.

Wu Hua recognized this as the signature of chip warriors. While chip warriors and gene warriors were considered the same origin, in truth, they were quite different. Chip warriors had technological smart chips implanted in their bodies, which activated all their cells to produce power. This power could even be harnessed to control various kinds of energy.

The flesh and blood of chip warriors was actually quite frail, even more so than controllers, but they could equip high-intensity alloy armor, making them extremely resilient, and their weapons were also highly lethal. The mere presence of a chip warrior exuded an awe-inspiring, murderous aura, making the class a favorite among many players, though chips were even harder to obtain than multi-alloys.

Gene warriors were the opposite; they relied on cellular growth, taking not the technological route but depending entirely on physical prowess.

What Wu Hua and his companions didn’t know was that the group on the slope were also the enemy’s elite, numbering thirty-four and guarding the most perilous position.

The opposing commander, Stone Egg, was the first to notice the Qimen Squad. The entire group stared in disbelief as the squad of only twelve strode boldly up the path without a hint of hesitation.

They’d seen bold people, but never anyone this audacious.

Though surprised, Stone Egg felt a grudging admiration for the other side’s commander—clearly a veteran. At this distance, unless they had a sniper, it would be impossible to land a shot.

The Qimen Squad halted about three hundred meters up the hillside. Potato, standing below, shouted, “Listen up there! We’re from the Radiant Federation, here on a mission. If you know what’s good for you, put your weapons on the ground, squat with your hands behind your head, and each pay a hundred credits as a sign of goodwill. Then sing the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. We’re all reputable people—promise we won’t harm you.”

The group on the slope nearly burst with rage.

Several warriors, red-faced with anger, nearly charged down, but Stone Egg quickly held them back. “Don’t be rash. It’s a provocation. If we don’t go down, they can’t come up.”

Potato, even more emboldened, pulled out a megaphone and shouted louder, “Who’s the captain up there? Come down and duel me if you have any guts! My name is ‘Chop Your Neighbor’s Horse,’ a level-20 chip warrior and a renowned hero in Dream Star City. I keep my word. If you’re going to be a coward, I won’t blame you. If you’re a real man, come duel. If you lose, let us pass. If I lose, I’ll give you this pile of A-grade fire crystals and we’ll leave straight away. See for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

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Of course, Potato couldn’t have come up with all this himself—it was Wu Hua egging him on. Only Wu Hua could devise such a seemingly honorable but actually devious tactic.

The scout above took out his binoculars, hesitated, then turned and said, “Boss, the guy really did put a pile of fire crystals at his feet.”

Stone Egg asked uncertainly, “How many? Did you see clearly?”

“At least thirty,” replied the scout. “I’d bet my life on it.”

Stone Egg hesitated. He knew well the value of thirty A-grade fire crystals—just selling them to a shop would net eight hundred credits apiece; on the black market, thirty would be worth over five thousand yuan.

For this survival quest, the Holy Federation had also given each player five hundred credits. That kind of money wasn’t enough for Stone Egg and his kind to risk their lives.

“Brother down there, I’ll come down—but your team needs to move back. We’ll fight fair and square. I have a bit of a reputation in Holy City. You can look up the Tianjue Family—every one of us keeps our word,” Stone Egg called out.

“OK, OK, we’ll move back.” With that, Potato signaled for Wu Hua and the others to slowly retreat, and sure enough, Stone Egg started ambling down.

He completely overlooked one point: Potato couldn’t possibly be level 20. But greed clouded his mind—he was a level-25 gene warrior and felt certain of victory. Besides, the others were retreating, so he descended at his own pace.

As the distance narrowed, Potato’s features became clearly visible.

Stone Egg drew his fiery red energy sword. “Come on, show me a level-20 warrior’s signature move.”

Potato grinned wickedly. “Friend, if you have your men move aside, I’ll even give you thirty more.”

“Really?” Stone Egg could hardly believe it. Was he really this lucky on this mission? “How about you let me pick these up first and then we talk?”

“No problem, go ahead and pick them up.” Potato stepped back a few paces as he spoke.

Stone Egg was overjoyed, thinking, “What an idiot—once I pick these up, why would I bother with him?”

But his happiness was premature. The moment he bent down, he heard a metallic clatter in the distance, more like the grinding of heavy gears, powerful and resonant.

Shoot You Without Guilt’s M249 heavy machine gun spat a ferocious tongue of flame in an instant, bullets raining down on Stone Egg from all sides.

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“Thud thud thud thud, -987, -998, -1001…” The effective range of the M249 heavy machine gun was three hundred meters, but even at this distance, it dealt half its normal damage. Anyone could see this was high-tier equipment above the Red grade.

“Damn your—” Stone Egg’s curse was cut short as he turned into a beam of white light.

“Hahaha! Brother, this is what it means when a man dies for wealth and a bird for food!” Potato laughed wildly, shouting up, “Come on, brothers, come down and avenge your leader! I’m not going anywhere—if I run, I’m your son!”

Chaos erupted above. No one expected the other team to have a machine gunner. Shocked and enraged, over a dozen front-line warriors could hold back no longer. Swords drawn, they charged down, followed by the gunmen and controllers in the rear.

Several scouts, carrying light loads, sprinted ahead, opening fire with their MP5s from over a hundred meters away.

Potato left the Holy Federation dumbfounded; he stood there unmoving as bullets pinged and clanged off his armor, none dealing more than “-20” damage—a testament to his formidable defense.

“Incredible,” Flying Girl exclaimed in admiration.

Wu Hua laughed. “If Sighing Girl hadn’t buffed him with an energy shield, do you think he’d dare take them head-on?”

The enemy gunmen made the same fatal mistake as their hapless leader: if you can hit them, why couldn’t they hit you?

Shoot You Without Guilt’s M249, Ugly yet Handsome’s Chicago Typewriter, and Motorola’s FAMAS formed a tight web of firepower. Under Dragon Starfield’s command, the trio coordinated perfectly.

The Chicago Typewriter pinned down the controllers in the back; the M249 locked on for rapid kills; the FAMAS harassed other gunners; and the warriors were left for Potato to bait.

In just one minute, three controllers and two gunners on the enemy side were down, and the front-line warriors were all wounded. The M249 truly deserved its reputation as the fighter jet among heavy machine guns—its firepower was brutal.

Potato, ever the schemer, slowly retreated down the hill to rejoin the main force.

Finally, as the two sides closed in, the real core of the Qimen Squad made their move. Jianghu Floater, who had been mostly silent, raised his energy staff. A beam of light flashed, and three watermelon-sized white lightning orbs floated slowly toward the hillside.

One mustn’t underestimate these lightning orbs; this was a skill only a level-25 controller could use. Though slow, within a twenty-meter diameter, anyone struck would not only take electrical damage but also be paralyzed for two seconds.

As the three lightning orbs were unleashed, shouts of alarm rose: “Watch out! Dodge, quickly!”