Chapter One Hundred and Eleven: Ambushed

Xie Liu was the first to reach the edge of the plaza where the airdrop was located. However, he did not dare to rush in blindly. Who knew if a group of lurkers was waiting in ambush around the plaza?

Crouching behind a decayed vending machine, Xie Liu slowly poked his head out. Activating his Level 4 Infrared Eye, the world before him shifted into shades of blue and green. His gaze swept across the plaza, but he saw no red thermal signatures of active living beings. He raised his hand, lightly pressing the sensor in his palm, and brought it to his lips. "Area looks clear. No one nearby. Lin Yang, do you want to head over first and grab the airdrop?"

Yet, there was no response.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Xie Liu called out a few more times before finally realizing the issue. "Damn it, we're out of range." The sensor was a makeshift device Xu Xiong had cobbled together from salvaged materials, with a maximum range of only two to three hundred meters. Having rushed to the front line while Xu Xiong lagged at the very back, they were separated by at least five or six hundred meters.

In other words, until Xu Xiong caught up, he had no way of contacting Lin Yang, Gong Hou, or the others.

Pressing a hand against the hilt of the blade at his waist, Xie Liu crept forward along the wall. In the center of the plaza stood a half-man-tall, dark red metallic cube. As if fearing someone might fail to recognize it, the words "THIS IS AN AIRDROP" were printed on all sides. Xie Liu slapped his forehead in exasperation, truly having no energy left to criticize the developers' bizarre sense of humor.

But whatever was going through the developers' heads was none of his concern right now. His sole focus was the airdrop before him. Under normal circumstances, Lin Yang's spatial ability would allow him to teleport directly to the crate, grab the loot, and vanish. But with Lin Yang's current whereabouts unknown, Xie Liu had no choice but to take the risk himself. Xie Liu scanned the surroundings once more using his Level 4 and Level 5 abilities. Seeing no one within at least a hundred meters, he relaxed slightly and loosened his grip on his blade.

"This circular plaza has a diameter of at most a hundred meters, and the crate is about fifty meters from the exposed edge," Xie Liu calculated roughly. "At my current speed, excluding the run-up, it will take me about two and a half seconds to cross at full sprint." He paused for a moment. "I can do this!"

With that thought, Xie Liu backed up slowly to give himself room to build up speed.

In the distance, Chen Chong signaled his teammates to emerge from behind a wall covered in metal sheets. "It's safe now. Our detector just picked up a sweep of exo-force. It must have been Dead Eye's Level 4 Infrared Eye."

Several figures stepped out from behind the wall, among whom was Chu Feng. Shaking his head, Chu Feng said, "It's a good thing you remembered how to make this shielding metal. Otherwise, Dead Eye would have spotted us for sure."

Chen Chong led them to the window of a ruined building. Crouching behind a collapsed wall, he poked his head out to look down at the plaza below. "I said before the battle started that Team Doom would be a formidable opponent. The fact that they took down Ace proves their strength. However, I am all too familiar with Dead Eye's playstyle."

"He is adept at utilizing every resource at his disposal, and every step of his plans is built upon information gathered on his opponents. Many of their moves seem risky, but they always choose the option with the highest probability of victory." Chen Chong put down the pack on his back and assembled a sniper rifle.

"Dealing with someone like him is extremely difficult, yet also extremely simple." Chen Chong pulled a dark red bullet from his pocket. "This is a Level 5 bullet. Its recoil is massive and will temporarily take me out of commission. The rest will be up to you."

Chu Feng and the others nodded. He gestured to one of the people behind him. "Yuting, you stay here." The youth named Yuting nodded repeatedly. Chu Feng made a hand gesture of holding a phone to his ear. "Keep in touch." With that, he led the rest of the team downstairs.

The youth, Nangong Yuting, sat down beside Chen Chong and asked curiously, "Brother Chen Chong, you still haven't told me how you plan to deal with him."

Chen Chong, who was observing the plaza below through his scope, smiled at Nangong Yuting's question. "It's actually quite simple. Dead Eye's strength lies in his mastery of information. But this mastery relies on a premise: if no one alters their own moves to counter their plans, their plans remain perfect. They have never failed in this regard because they were always considered the weakest team, so no one ever bothered to devise a counter-strategy against them."

"So that's the legendary 'playing the pig to eat the tiger' strategy," Chen Chong laughed. "Therefore, to force him into making a mistake and defeat him, the best way is to feed them incorrect information."

"I'm sure that when they were calculating our roster, they assumed our sixth member would possess a Level 8 Full-Body Enhancement to bridge the gap in combat power."

"But..." Nangong Yuting hesitated, turning to look at a girl sitting in the corner, sulking. "Why did you choose Xia Muxue? She only has Level 4 Visual Enhancement."

"Because we needed a sniper, plain and simple." Chen Chong stared intently at the plaza below. "This battlefield is like a wilderness survival match. Aside from raw combat power, what we need most are assassination and reconnaissance skills. In this regard, a sniper is paramount. And a good sniper requires exceptional vision. Dead Eye is exactly that kind of sniper, but they probably don't know that we have one of our own."

Having said that, Chen Chong focused entirely on the plaza, waiting for the first victim to show his head.

Eager to move, Xie Liu had no idea his plan had already been read like an open book. He stretched his arms and legs, then suddenly burst forward.

Accelerating, he dashed out of the alleyway and entered the wide-open plaza!

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Xie Liu caught sight of Gong Hou, who had charged out from another direction first.

"What the hell? Where did that fat guy come from?" The curse barely had time to form in Xie Liu's mind before a sudden, intense sense of danger gripped his heart.

"Damn it! An ambush!" That was Xie Liu's first reaction. Then, he spotted the sniper rifle on a high building a hundred meters away!

Chen Chong's brow twitched. "Now!" Without a shred of hesitation, he adjusted his aim and pulled the trigger!

Although a Level 5 bullet lacked the world-shattering power of a Level 7, the moment it left the barrel, the recoil sent Chen Chong flying backward. As the bullet's secondary propulsion kicked in, the air, unable to withstand such immense pressure and speed, erupted with a deafening sonic boom.

"It's over!" The thought flashed through Xie Liu's mind. Yet, the Level 5 bullet was not heading toward him—it was hurtling straight at Gong Hou.

Gong Hou's reflexes were incredibly sharp. The moment he burst onto the open path, he sensed the danger. The red scythe on his back flew out, spinning to shield his front as he threw himself backward. However, the power of the Level 5 bullet was simply too immense. The ground in front of Gong Hou exploded instantly, and the colossal force slammed into his body before he could even come to a stop, swallowing him in a cloud of dust.

"Gong Hou!" Xie Liu cried out in shock. But he did not dare to stop. Running at full tilt, he heard someone shouting "Attack!" from a distance. Suddenly, he felt a barrage of bullets raining down on him.

He threw himself flat onto the ground. Bullets buzzed past his hair, kicking up trails of dust along the path he had just run. Rolling and crawling in a desperate attempt to dodge the incoming fire, Xie Liu crashed headfirst into the airdrop crate ahead, diving behind it to catch his breath.

"How did they bypass my detection?" Xie Liu panted heavily. The gunfire behind him ceased; it seemed the airdrop crate was sturdy enough to withstand their bullets.

However, there was another matter that concerned him even more: whether Gong Hou was dead or alive.

"Fatty, are you alive?" Leaning against the airdrop crate, Xie Liu pressed the sensor in his palm and called out to Gong Hou, but there was no response. "Hey, Fatty, answer me! Fatty!"

No one answered.

The dust kicked up by the Level 5 bullet had not yet settled. Ignorant of Gong Hou's condition, Xie Liu felt a surge of anxiety. Suddenly, he sensed a cold gleam flashing above his head. With lightning-fast reflexes, Xie Liu shoved the crate behind him. The heavy box slid forward, and using the recoil of the push, he propelled himself backward several paces.

The shoved crate seemed to collide with something. Xie Liu heard a muffled grunt as a figure tumbled down from the top of the box. It turned out to be a member of the Azure Dragon Team attempting a sneak attack from behind the crate. However, Xie Liu's sudden push had sent the crate crashing into the attacker's thighs, causing him to lose his balance and tumble to the ground.

The attacker rolled twice along the ground. Before he could even stand, Xie Liu drew his blade and lunged forward, slashing down. Yet, as if suddenly activating a speed boost, the man transformed into an afterimage, not only evading Xie Liu's strike but also reappearing directly behind him!

"Time Acceleration!" Xie Liu immediately realized who it was. It could be none other than Chu Feng, the captain of the Azure Dragon Team. Even as the thought crossed his mind, a cold sensation washed over his back. He took a hasty step forward, but the blade still found its mark. Chu Feng's slash came down, nearly splitting Xie Liu in two!

Xie Liu's reaction was incredibly fast; he leaped away the instant Chu Feng swung. But while suspended in midair, he heard the crack of a gunshot, followed by an orange streak of light tearing through his shoulder.

Xie Liu screamed in pain, spinning halfway in the air before crashing onto the moss-covered ground.

Everything had happened too quickly. Before Xie Liu and his teammates could even react, they had been utterly disoriented by the relentless onslaught. With Gong Hou's fate still unknown, Xie Liu struggled to move, but he could not get back on his feet.

"How... did you bypass my search?" Propping himself up with his blade, Xie Liu felt a burning sensation searing through his shoulder. He was clearly gravely injured.

Chu Feng seemed in no hurry to finish him off. Walking slowly up to Xie Liu, he let out a cold sneer. "Did you really think you were the only ones who knew how to scheme?"

"I admit, you've done remarkably well to make it this far. But your journey ends here." With that, Chu Feng raised his blade, poised to strike the final blow.