Chapter 70: The Old Yinbi Surnamed Lan Named Zuo
Su Xiao stretched his neck, his entire body's muscles tensing. After over a dozen wounds on his body sprayed out blood, the bleeding stopped, and the ground beneath his feet gradually cracked.
The entire room shook. Su Xiao charged straight at Mask. As for retreating now, it was simply impossible. The enemy was a "scheming cat." Once Su Xiao chose to retreat, the opponent would definitely find a way to entangle him.
Clang.
The long blade sliced through the air, cutting over Mask's head. A cat ear flew off—it was a "decoration" on Mask's helmet.
However, this was not a decoration. As a Fourth Rank contractor, how could Mask generate useless decorations on her helmet? Those two cat ears were respectively a signal receiver and a signal amplification device.
Narrowly dodging Su Xiao's slash, Mask crouched down, pressing both hands against the ground.
"Shockwave!"
With a hum, pulses radiated from Mask's body surface. Su Xiao's vision blurred; the enemy was vibrating the water molecules inside his body.
Su Xiao experienced a moment of dizziness. Just as Mask prepared to tear open Su Xiao's throat with a claw, a tremendous force struck her lower abdomen.
Bang!
Mask crashed through the ceiling, flying upward.
Su Xiao swung his left arm down, the Realm Severing Thread connected to his arm tightening. After a miserable scream, Mask was forcibly yanked down from the hospital's top floor, crashing heavily into the ground.
Su Xiao stomped one foot onto Mask's back, his long blade slashing down. A soft metal helmet flew up, but no blood appeared.
Mask's entire soft metal outer armor had extended by a section, allowing her to retract her head into the armor covering her torso, thus avoiding decapitation.
Mask's pupils trembled. She had nearly lost her head just now. In a frontal battle, she had already lost. According to normal procedure, shouldn't there first be an attempt at extortion? What kind of logic was a direct decapitation?
Dragon-Slaying Flash reversed in Su Xiao's hand. Gripping the blade in a backhand, he stabbed toward the outer armor's torso, aiming straight for Mask's head.
"Wait a moment—"
Bang!
Su Xiao staggered a few steps to the left. A sniper bullet embedded itself into his shoulder, the energy shield layer wrapping around the bullet.
Su Xiao exerted force in his shoulder, shattering the shield layer.
On a high-rise building a kilometer away, a burly man chewing gum pulled the bolt.
"Little wildcat, for the sake of Brother Mad Fox, I'll save you this once."
The shell casing hit the ground. The sniper's sights locked onto Su Xiao.
"So this is the ruthless guy who beat Brother Mad Fox? Surprisingly ferocious, actually pinning the little wildcat down and grinding her into the ground."
The sniper didn't fire again. He needed to change sniping positions immediately. The shots from earlier left a deep impression on him. This sniper was certain that Su Xiao had already spotted his position and could charge over at any moment.
Inside the abandoned hospital, Su Xiao's gaze shifted into the distance. The feeling of being locked onto had vanished.
Mask, who had been lying on the ground, had already leaped up. Without her helmet blocking the view, Su Xiao saw her face—a delicate-featured girl with black eyeshadow.
Suddenly, electric arcs spread across the surrounding walls. The entire abandoned hospital collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Boom!
Dust surged up. The hospital completely collapsed within seconds, turning into a massive pile of rubble.
Within the rubble, flashes of blade light flickered. Large chunks of concrete debris flew up as a figure leaped into the dust.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
After a bout of dry coughing, Mask also crawled out from the rubble.
The dust slowly dissipated, with faint electric arcs flickering.
"Little wildcat, what were you screaming about? If you hadn't screamed, I would have saved you long ago."
A faint, indistinct figure approached through the dust. When the dust cleared, Su Xiao saw a bald man.
"Bullshit! You old Yinbi were definitely tailing me the whole time, waiting for me to die before making a move."
Mask, leaning against a half-collapsed concrete pillar, spoke up. The soft metal outer armor on her body had already repaired itself, looking no different from before the battle. However, beneath the armor, her body was covered in wounds, unable to even stand steadily.
"Thanks to your screaming, those lone wolves have been attracted again. This place is no different from the Gunpowder Tavern now."
The bald man, also known as Lan Zuo, rubbed his shiny head.
"Supposedly, bald heads add critical hits. I wonder if that's true or false."
Lan Zuo's gaze drifted toward Su Xiao. From his earlier words, it was clear he believed Su Xiao would definitely die here.
Lan Zuo's reasoning wasn't strange. On the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, lone wolves stood or sat one by one.
"So this is that sniper? How did he do it?"
"Not sure, but I know Roger's Gun is on him."
"Going in circles, another group fighting over one gun. This really is no different from the Flame Tavern."
"I don't care. If I can't have it, no one else gets it either."
The lone wolves leaped down from the buildings, encircling Su Xiao.
"You've finally met your match. This is so gratifying."
Mask showed a delighted smile. She had been pinned down and rubbed into the ground earlier, nearly sparking from the friction.
"Making others take the blame... feels good, doesn't it?"
From start to finish, Lan Zuo wasn't actually angry. He only wanted to know how Su Xiao had managed a certain step in this matter.
"Lan Zuo, give it up. This guy is mute."
Mask waved her hand, implying that this guy wouldn't respond to you.
"Is that so? Bai Ye?"
Lan Zuo had naturally recognized Su Xiao.
"Too bad that black pot didn't crush you to death."
Su Xiao spoke for the first time since the battle began. Mask nearby was stunned, then felt a surge of frustration.
"Of course it couldn't crush me to death. Speaking of which, our Tuanzhang is quite interested in you. Are you sure you don't want to join us? If you're one of us, past grudges are wiped clean. I'll help you break out, and we'll split the reward for Roger's Gun equally."
Hearing Lan Zuo's words, Su Xiao's first reaction was that it was a trap.
"Has Lan Zuo gone mad?"
A lone wolf stared at Lan Zuo in disbelief.
"Has he... ever been normal?"
"Eh~"
Under the astonished expressions of the many lone wolves, Lan Zuo extended an invitation to Su Xiao. This seemed absurd but was actually a decent choice.
If Su Xiao were surrounded and killed, the scene from the Gunpowder Tavern would repeat itself—a group guarding Roger's Gun, with whoever touched it dying.
But if Su Xiao and Lan Zuo worked together to break out and found a way to split the reward for Roger's Gun, the situation would be different.
However, would Lan Zuo really split the reward equally with Su Xiao? That was highly unlikely. If Lan Zuo were sincere about cooperation, he would at least draft a contract.
Moreover, Lan Zuo hinted at another meaning: anyone willing to cooperate with him to seize Roger's Gun and fight their way out would share the benefits equally.
"This old Yinbi."
Mask muttered, slowly retreating to the periphery. She had been beaten out of contention.
"I refuse."
Su Xiao naturally didn't believe Lan Zuo's nonsense.
"Indeed, not easy to fool."
Lan Zuo muttered softly. A lone wolf nearby heard this, and his eyelids twitched. Whether from Lan Zuo's expression or tone, he felt Lan Zuo had seemed quite sincere earlier. Unfortunately, those words were entirely a trap. This was a guy who devoured people without spitting out bones.
If it were just an old Yinbi, that wouldn't be too terrifying. But an old Yinbi with formidable strength was truly frightening.
To be precise, Lan Zuo hadn't joined the Lütuan through an invitation. He had killed the previous 10th member of the Lütuan, thereby obtaining the [Phantom Lütuan Invitation Number], joining the Lütuan in that manner.
Su Xiao had also once obtained a [Phantom Lütuan Invitation Number], but he chose not to join the Lütuan, instead selling that number for World Source. That was the number for the 11th Lütuan member, Karl.
For this reason, Lan Zuo had always remained the 10th member of the Lütuan.
"So, you're prepared to take on 1 versus 43?"
The smile on Lan Zuo's face faded.
Pale blue light surged across Su Xiao's body surface. His gaze swept around. Now... he had to use that.