Chapter 14: Accomplice +1
After a deafening explosion, the main gate of the fortress shattered into pieces, the broken edges revealing curled metal inward, with biological structures inside ruptured and dark green viscous liquid flowing out.
After Su Xiao's straight kick, the path ahead opened up, and a sense of being locked onto immediately greeted him. He sidestepped to the right.
Dense gunfire erupted from within the fortress, spiral-shaped elongated bullets flying out. Just as Su Xiao thought he had dodged these bullets, they emitted tail flames, arcing and turning on their own to pursue him.
Clang, clang, clang…
With consecutive slashes of his long blade, Su Xiao deflected over a dozen incoming bullets, each possessing intricate internal structures.
The dozen or so bullets were knocked away by Su Xiao, exploding within a two-meter radius around him. The "diethyl phosphorus propane" ignited upon contact with oxygen, bursting into flames like phosphorus powder, capable of adhering to anything and burning.
Compared to the biological science of this world, firearms were somewhat backward, but that was relative.
In this world, firearms indeed did not dominate; they played more of a supporting role. However, heavy cannon-class weapons were each a "daddy-level" existence in their series.
If someone withstood a barrage of bullets and subsequent explosions, no one would care. But if someone endured a heavy cannon-class weapon from this world, everyone would give a thumbs up and exclaim, "Awesome."
The gunfire continued without pause, finger-length tracking bullets arcing through the air, striking the crystal shield in front of Su Xiao, each exploding on impact.
Su Xiao stood by the wall beside the broken gate, waiting for over ten seconds. He found that the firepower on the first floor of the fortress remained intense. Judging by the momentum, the attack wouldn't stop anytime soon; bullets were being spent like they cost nothing.
Several hexagonal crystal shields floated around Su Xiao, interlocking with each other. He stepped out from behind the wall, advancing with the crystal shields blocking the firepower.
Over a dozen blood spears formed above Su Xiao, and with a series of muffled thuds, they shot one after another into the first floor of the fortress.
Su Xiao's remaining 86% blood energy rapidly decreased as numerous blood spears formed above him, sequentially firing into the fortress.
Deafening blood energy explosions echoed from the first floor. Under the suppression of "Blood Spear: Hunt," the clan guards suffered heavy casualties, their wails incessant, and the firepower output was completely silenced.
Su Xiao entered the first floor of the fortress. Its layout was almost identical to the Doom Fortress, with over a dozen metal supports being the most prominent, hanging elevators leading down to the mine shafts.
At the central pillar on the first floor, sleeping pods were stacked layer upon layer. The innermost part of the first floor had a conveyor belt transporting living ore to the second floor.
Dozens of clan guards were killed by blood spears or died in blood energy explosions. Su Xiao walked across the bloodstained floor. After a few steps, he manipulated a blood spear to strike out.
Bang!
The blood spear pierced through a gust of air, skewering several sleeping pods over ten meters away. It pierced through these metal sleeping pods as easily as cardboard.
Blood flowed from one sleeping pod, accompanied by a rapid beeping electronic sound, and then a bomb was detonated.
Su Xiao continued forward, while Tide Hunter led Hausman and Steel Fang down the mine shaft. Tide Hunter was responsible for dealing with the clan overseers, while Hausman and Steel Fang gathered the pig-headed men in the mine and brought them out.
Following the metal ladder to the second floor, Su Xiao saw that the clan guards stationed there had all laid down their weapons and surrendered. This was normal; Baha had infiltrated the top floor earlier to subdue the clan siblings in the main control room, the leaders of this fortress.
These clan guards were all hired for money. With their boss, the fortress leader, ordering surrender, they naturally gave up.
Su Xiao ignored these clan members and headed straight for the top floor. Moments later, he pushed open the door to the main control room and saw a pair of clan siblings sitting behind a wooden table. They were dressed in luxurious attire. The sister, around 30 years old, had particularly captivating eyes. The brother, about 20, was a handsome blonde man with skin better maintained than many women's.
"Scavenger, do you know we are…"
Slap!
The younger brother of the clan siblings had just started speaking when he received a slap from his sister—a very harsh one. It stunned the handsome blonde on the spot, a red handprint gradually appearing on his fair face, and his eyes reddened along with it.
This clan lady was named O'Niia. She placed one hand on her chest, the other behind her back, and stepped forward slightly with her right foot. Using the unique ceremonial posture of this clan, she bowed to Su Xiao.
"I apologize for his inappropriate words. He is still young. Someone like you, please don't bother with this 'child.' He is only 19, only 19 years old."
O'Niia appeared calm, but inwardly she felt like crying. She deeply loved her younger brother, but he, along with her and their parents, had spoiled him to the point of not knowing his place.
Ask yourself, who could breach a T5-level fortress and then, without a word, kill dozens of clan members? This was a ruthless murderer who killed without blinking.
O'Niia understood this well, and she also knew one truth: life was the most valuable thing; staying alive was more important.
"Madam, we only want the living ore. We have no interest in your brother's life."
Baha spoke as he landed on O'Niia's shoulder.
"Behind that wall, there are 27 standard units of living ore."
O'Niia pointed to the wall on the right side of the control room. The standard unit of ore she mentioned was 1 unit = 100 kilograms of ore.
Hearing this, Baha flew toward that wall. After entering a four-layer password, O'Niia performed a retinal scan. The wall slid open to both sides, revealing rows of neatly stacked boxes of living ore.
Su Xiao picked up a piece of living ore. It felt warm to the touch, appearing as a translucent emerald green. This was a high-concentration crystallized form of life force, a mineral formed after prolonged exposure to underground pressure and combination with certain natural elements.
The process of attacking this fortress seemed simple, but it was not. Almost all hunters and scavengers were blocked by the fortress's external defenses. They had tried various methods but all failed.
Obtaining heavy cannon-class weapons from the "Clan Alliance," "Watchtower," or "Aurora Council" to breach the fortress's external defenses was simply impossible. Heavy cannon-class weapons were strictly controlled.
Under O'Niia's watchful gaze, Su Xiao left with Baha. Outside the fortress, they met up with Tide Hunter, Hausman, and Steel Fang.
Li'Xiniwei had been sitting in the car the whole time, staring at the sky, questioning his life. From the moment Su Xiao kicked open the fortress gate, Li'Xiniwei had officially become an accomplice. Who would believe he hadn't participated?
"Your share."
Su Xiao tossed a bag containing dozens of pieces of living ore to Li'Xiniwei. Li'Xiniwei continued staring at the sky. It wasn't just joining the group anymore; he had also shared the spoils, adding another crime to his record.
After tallying the loot, Su Xiao was quite satisfied. In total, he obtained 3,456 kilograms of living ore and 62 units of premium food. These were stored in the team storage space, one of the benefits of the adventure group being promoted to SSS rank—the storage space was larger.
Besides these supplies, all 679 pig-headed men in the fortress were taken away. Even if these pig-headed men couldn't serve as warriors, bringing them back to mine was a huge profit.
This fortress, named "Iron Rose," was no longer worth lingering over. Su Xiao led the retreat. He, Tide Hunter, and Baha continued to the next clan fortress.
Li'Xiniwei, Hausman, and Steel Fang were responsible for bringing the 679 pig-headed men back to the Doom Fortress, their base camp.
After counting, Su Xiao found that the current living ore had reached 5,481 kilograms, and the total number of pig-headed men was 1,322.
To start rapid development, this foundation was far from enough. Su Xiao took out the map, looked at the five T5-level fortresses marked on it, and made up his mind.
Throughout the afternoon, the open-top armored car was on the move. By 10 PM, Su Xiao and the others drove back to the Doom Fortress.
As the armored car entered the first floor of the fortress, the sight that greeted them was almost entirely filled with pig-headed men. Even more amusing was that the six fortress leaders who had been looted had all come to the Doom Fortress and were arguing fiercely with Li'Xiniwei. It looked like they were about to launch a six-on-one group beating against Li'Xiniwei.