Chapter 11: Convertible, Danger!
About 2 kilometers behind the T5·395 Fortress.
The terrain here was relatively flat, with a row of earthen slopes ahead providing good cover. A convertible armored vehicle was parked beneath the overgrown slope.
According to Li Xiniwei, T5-level fortresses had weak perimeter alertness, unless they were equipped with detection devices or had symbiotic perception-type semi-metallic lifeforms.
In this continent full of danger, chaos, and equally abundant opportunities, those two types of goods were exorbitantly priced. At least, the commander of a T5 fortress wouldn't be willing to buy them.
In most cases, T5 fortress warnings were handled by transcendent beings. But transcendent beings skilled in perception were mostly poached by T3 to T1 fortresses, commanding generally high prices.
Su Xiao half-crouched behind the earthen slope, watching the mobile fortress in the distance. To 'get rich,' this path wasn't the safest, but it was the fastest. He decided to act.
"Baha, you're responsible for infiltrating the top level of the fortress, going to the control room to capture the enemy commander..."
"Woof!"
Before Su Xiao could finish, Bubu Wang barked. The next second, it and Baha merged into the environment and the other into an alternate space.
Bubu meant that contractors were surrounding the area. They had a perception-type providing misleading senses. Bubu could sense them because the enemy's perception-type couldn't block Bubu Wang's fully open aura. This was a buff—once affected by the aura, Bubu would immediately detect it.
The enemy had at least 9 people, not excluding other healing types. For aura abilities, healing types could naturally block them with their own body energy, one of their hidden advantages.
Bubu and Baha were fine, having experienced this often. If Liechao faced contractors, the tank and assassination types would be instantly shut down.
Baha was skilled at fighting contractors. Back when Baha faced the drowning-type Tianba clan, it was instantly shut down, let alone Liechao, the leader of drowning.
Haosiman and Gangya, the two pig-headed men, had great growth potential, but facing contractors now would likely end badly. Bringing them along this time was both for training and other purposes.
Li Xiniwei was even more important. Whether for future trade with the fortress city or dealing with the tribunal over various matters, losing Li Xiniwei would add all sorts of trouble.
"Liechao, take them and withdraw first."
"Mm."
Liechao immediately agreed, which slightly surprised Su Xiao. Liechao was from the Tianba clan and rarely avoided battle. Despite her beauty, she never backed down from a fight because she had an addiction—when arrows nailed into an enemy's head, she felt a slight, inexplicable pleasure.
Su Xiao looked at Liechao with confusion, only to find her already in the driver's seat of the convertible armored vehicle. Bubu Wang, seeing this, had a gradually terrified look in its eyes.
"Get in."
Liechao's voice was cold, her driving movements skilled. When she was in the Alliance Star, she often drove when traveling alone.
Haosiman, Gangya, and Li Xiniwei all got in.
The convertible armored vehicle's engine roared like a wild beast, tires kicking up black mud and grass clippings. The whole vehicle seemed to bite into the ground, lurching forward in a spine-chilling manner, then clanked as it stalled, causing everyone on board to lurch forward violently.
In the back seat, Li Xiniwei's expression suddenly turned serious. He frantically searched for a seatbelt, found none, and quickly grabbed the door handle with both hands. Haosiman also looked solemn, and even Gangya adjusted his sitting posture.
"Junk car."
Liechao muttered softly. As the convertible armored vehicle helplessly 'groaned,' it was driven away, running over the only dirt mound on the road, jolting so hard that Li Xiniwei nearly lost his glasses.
"It seems you've already found us."
A ponytailed man walked over, seemingly alone, but Su Xiao sensed locking presences from all directions.
One by one, contractors emerged from the surrounding hiding spots. Counting the healing type not surrounding Su Xiao, there were 10 in total, but he sensed 2 assassination types locking onto him.
The enemy totaled 12. The first to appear, the ponytailed man, ranked around 2nd or 3rd in strength. From his aura and body energy fluctuations, this was likely a physical or gravity-type control contractor.
Such people were useless in the early to mid stages except for flashy abilities, but they became troublesome in the late stages.
Besides the ponytailed man, there was a tank-type wielding a heavy tower shield. Most eighth-rank tanks could open domains to suppress enemy mobility. By convention, kill the tank first.
Apart from these two, an assassination type gave Su Xiao a decent feeling, with a slight stinging sensation in his perception.
Finally, there was a combat healer. Her unique aura, from a hundred meters away, told Su Xiao it was Guangmu. Her body energy emitted a life force fluctuation too vigorous. As Heiqiangwei would say: 'So full and juicy, it must be Guangmu.'
Besides these four, among the remaining eight, one healer's aura wasn't weak either, with plenty of healing power—a big healer in every sense.
"Xi, are you sure this is a summoning type?"
The ponytailed man spoke.
"Probably... confirmed."
The woman called Xi spoke from over ten meters away. This was a perception-type mature lady.
Su Xiao looked at Xi. When their eyes met, Xi's eyes widened slightly, her pupils contracting. Confirming the look, this guy was off, very off!
Xi hadn't sensed it earlier, but upon approaching Su Xiao and meeting his gaze, as a perception-type, she was sure she had been affected by something influencing her perception.
"This friend."
Perception-type lady Xi had just started speaking when she was interrupted by the cloaked man beside her. The black-cloaked man said:
"Don't waste words with him. Just act."
"Wait, I..."
Xi tried to make a final effort, but it was too late.
Zzzt!
A blue-purple laser shot out, hitting Su Xiao's back shoulder. The attack's speed was astonishingly fast, but its power was somewhat underwhelming~
Crack! The crystal layer on Su Xiao's back shoulder shattered and dissolved. At the same time, the sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in his hand. Drawing the long blade, he inserted the sheath into his waist, holding the sword with his right hand, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.
Threads of blood energy dispersed from Su Xiao. The aura disguise permission was immediately turned off.
Boom! Blood energy erupted from Su Xiao as the center. The ponytailed man, the burly main tank, the assassination girl, Xi, and Guangmu all sensed something was wrong.
Their thought was: Were Apocalypse Paradise contractors' auras this ferocious now? Why did this feel so close to Reincarnation Paradise's style?
For a moment, everyone present felt as if Reincarnation Paradise had also participated in this world war.
"Charge!"
The burly main tank roared. Things had reached this point. Even if they explained or knelt to kowtow, it was useless. Besides, they would never do that. Since they had provoked, they would kill.
Thud.
Two heavy pressures descended on Su Xiao simultaneously. One was the tank's domain, the other the ponytailed man's gravity ability.
The ground beneath Su Xiao, in a ten-meter-diameter circle, sank like a pancake. His body shattered inch by inch, turning to ash, but as the ash dispersed, it gradually turned into blood energy.
Su Xiao was no longer there. What bore the heavy pressure was a shell made of blood energy. After mastering the Blood Spear Grandmaster, Su Xiao's control over blood energy had undergone a revolutionary change.
This control over blood energy wasn't limited to blood spears; it could be used for other things too.
"He's behind you, no, in front of you."
Perception-type lady Xi's voice echoed in the burly main tank's mind. Receiving this information, he was first shocked, then confused.
Shocked because the enemy had rapidly struck behind him. Confused because the enemy used some spatial ability to move in front of him.
The burly main tank found this operation baffling. He held his nearly 2-meter-tall, door-like tower shield and blocked it in front. Why would the enemy, instead of striking him from behind, use spatial ability to move in front?
Before he could figure it out, a loud bang came from the front. A tremendous force hit his right hand holding the shield. The inner side of the tower shield showed dense cracks. As the cracks grew and widened, the most concentrated point began to bulge.
The burly main tank was sent flying backward, plowing a long trench in the ground before stopping. His pride was severely damaged. As a tank, being broken through the shield in one hit, even if he survived, this would be a lifelong shadow.
One could imagine: a nearly 2-meter-tall, broad-shouldered tank with multiple knockback resistance abilities, kicked this far. Not only did his beloved shield explode, but his armor also shattered. He now sat in the trench, mud on his face, his shocked and aggrieved expression seemingly saying: 'Pay for my shield!'
PS: (Recommending a friend's book, titled "I'm Really Not Her Disciple," written by Lan Bai, also the author of "Dungeon Players.")