Chapter 104: An Unexpected Airdrop

"Where is Li Shizhu?" Gong Hou and the others frowned as they saw Ye Ling helping Xie Liu into the city. A bad feeling rose in his chest.

Xie Liu and Ye Ling exchanged a glance and gave helpless shakes of their heads. Seeing the bitter expressions on their faces, Gong Hou and the others understood what had happened. Lin Yang let out a long sigh. "There was no helping it. We were careless this time. The hunting teams are not easy opponents."

"Even though we lost a psychic ability user, most of our combat strength is still intact. That is already fortune amid misfortune." Xu Xiong sat down cross-legged nearby and opened the small computer in his hands. "From now on, we no longer have Li Shizhu's spirit link."

Only then did everyone realize the problem. In the past, whenever they fought, they relied on Li Shizhu's spirit link, which made coordination and communication extremely convenient. But at this moment, they simply could not achieve the same precise teamwork as before.

Even simple communication became difficult if they strayed too far apart.

Li Shizhu had always been the sort of person whose presence was faint. His ability had no real offensive power, no direct combat use, and his physical strength was not particularly impressive either, so he had always been overlooked within the group.

Yet everyone seemed to have forgotten that without Li Shizhu quietly sustaining the team from behind with his power, they would never have been able to win so many brilliant battles so perfectly.

Xie Liu's expression darkened. Without Li Shizhu, they might as well have lost half their fighting strength.

In the silence, Xu Xiong handed out several small devices. "Take these." Everyone received a tiny patch-like item from his hand. "Stick this on your back."

"This is a simplified communication device. Since we don't have a psychic ability user now, we'll have to rely on this to transmit information. Here, give me your hand." Xu Xiong fiddled with a pistol-shaped instrument in his hand, grabbed Ye Ling's small hand, and gave her palm a light tap.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Ye Ling jerked her hand back, then saw red and blue lights flashing across her palm. "Did you inject a blinking light into my hand?"

Xu Xiong then gave each of his teammates the same treatment. Afterward, he gently clenched his fist and pressed the spot where the red and blue lights were flashing. "This is a signal-recognition device I assembled on the fly. For the time being, we can share our thoughts through it."

As he spoke, he held up a tiny transistor still blinking with red and blue light. "These red and blue lights can emit synchronized electromagnetic fields. Under normal circumstances, it's in a sealed state. As long as a slight amount of pressure is applied to the transistor, I can use this device to link your minds and temporarily replace Li Shizhu's spirit link."

Then he pointed to the patch on their backs. "Don't lose this. It's what I used to scan your physical characteristics. If you lose it, I won't be able to determine your current condition, and I won't be able to synchronize your bioelectric currents either."

"Not being able to synchronize bioelectric currents... what does that mean?" Ye Ling asked curiously.

Xu Xiong answered with a serious expression. "It means that if I use my power to contact you, I won't be able to control the electrical energy precisely. To you, my electromagnetic ability would no longer serve as a means of communication. It would become an attack."

Having more or less understood what Xu Xiong meant, Ye Ling nodded. The group rested for a while at the edge of the city, and half an hour later they set off toward the city center.

"Where will this circle shrink to next?" Lin Yang asked casually, looking at the luminous curtain behind them.

Xie Liu unfolded the map in his hands.

"Judging from the map, this city has a diameter of about five kilometers." Xie Liu looked up at the towering buildings before them. "Aside from the corner damaged by Franny and Tianhe Qianye, the remaining area can be divided into three parts."

"The first is the outer ring." Xie Liu pointed to the circular highway on the map, then toward the road ahead suspended between countless buildings, the long road threading through the forest of skyscrapers. "The boundary is that elevated road."

"The second part is the area between the outer ring road and the inner river, also known as the middle ring. And the last is the core of the city. It is not large, and I estimate that is where the luminous curtain will finally shrink to." Xie Liu shook his head as he spoke. "The curtain has already shrunk five times. If we go by the earlier statement that it will shrink ten times in total, then it will swallow the outer ring in three waves, consume the middle ring in two, and leave only the central area at the end."

Everyone agreed with Xie Liu's analysis.

"Let's think carefully. Each time the luminous curtain shrinks, what determines its range?" Xie Liu spread the map on the ground. "Lin Yang, you go first."

"The first and second shrinkages, we don't know, because we couldn't see the curtain in the distance. The third one should have passed the place where we landed before." As Lin Yang spoke, Xie Liu drew a circle on the map.

"The first two aside, the third stopped not far from where we were hiding." Xie Liu pointed to the stronghold where they had previously sheltered. "You should remember there was a small town nearby, right?"

"Then what about the fourth time?" Xie Liu continued.

Ye Ling raised her hand. "It stopped behind the woods where we were hiding, and the town was right in front of us."

"Yes, another town." Xie Liu drew yet another circle. "And the fifth time was the city's edge." Xie Liu drew the final ring.

"Take a look." Everyone leaned over the map.

"What did you see at the edges of these third and fourth circles?" Xie Liu asked.

Xu Xiong took one look and noticed the anomaly. "The stopping points were all near small towns. Aside from the town we saw, in other directions too, when the curtain stopped, it always did so near a town."

"Exactly. What do small towns usually have?" Xie Liu snapped his fingers and pointed at Lin Yang. Lin Yang said calmly, "Small towns are usually supply stations for equipment. So the city chooses its curtain locations based on the next supply point nearby?"

"Excellent comprehension." Xie Liu gave Lin Yang a thumbs-up. "But we can also reverse the logic. If we can predict where the curtain will shrink next, wouldn't that let us find the next supply point?"

"I understand what you mean," Gong Hou said, resting his chin on his fingers. "But what pattern are they using to shrink the circle?" He looked at the three circles Xie Liu had drawn, then suddenly lifted a brow. "Xu Xiong, calculate the pattern in the radii of these three circles."

"Mm, let me work it out."

But just then, Xie Liu spoke. He first stopped Xu Xiong, then took up the pen and began drawing on the map.

"Wait. Try calculating it like this." He added the first and second circles. "Based on the earlier theory, these are roughly the positions I estimated. Xu Xiong, I know you want to use a regression equation to reverse-engineer the formula for the radius shrinkage. The more parameters, the more accurate it should be, right?"

Xu Xiong studied the data from the circles and connected his mind to the computer to calculate. More than ten minutes later, he displayed a very interesting curve on the screen.

"According to the data, the next circle should be here." Xu Xiong marked the position of the sixth circle. After everyone looked at it, all eyes converged on a tiny square at the edge of the circle.

"Here it is!" Even Ye Ling could see that this place was unusual, so everyone focused on it.

"Since everyone has chosen this place, I think it's probably here. But before that..." Xie Liu smiled at his teammates. "Don't forget, we're still near the luminous curtain too. There should be quite a bit of supply here as well..."

An hour later, a crowd gathered from all directions.

"Is this all we found?" Xie Liu sifted through the pile, and in the end selected some firearms, replaced his gear with a higher-grade mobility belt, and even received a combat suit.

"This is an external exoskeleton." Lin Yang opened a box, then began fitting the tendon-like frame onto his body.

Ye Ling, meanwhile, pulled out a white outfit that looked extremely revealing. "What the hell is this thing?"

"They actually still had this!" Xie Liu said in surprise as he put the combat suit on.

"This is the combat uniform used by the songstresses of the Rhythm-Seeking Alliance back then."

"It looks like cosplay," Ye Ling muttered after turning it over for a long time. The pure white garment was untouched by even a speck of dust, though it was rather excessively revealing. "Why does a combat uniform need cat ears and white stockings?"

"Uh, the cat ears may be someone's twisted taste. As for the white stockings, don't misunderstand. They were made from the greatest technological breakthrough of the time. Not only are they incredibly tough, they also function as an external exoskeleton." The more Xie Liu explained, the more he felt sweat breaking out across his forehead. "Anyway, just endure it for now. Really, it's a good thing."

Ye Ling looked at the wildly talking Xie Liu with complete disbelief, but still put the thing away.

After everyone finished gathering their spoils, Gong Hou was carrying a massive compressed-energy cannon and had also found a foldable energy shield.

Xu Xiong found the overload medication he had wanted most.

"All right, brothers. We've looted this side clean. Now then..." Xie Liu glanced at the watch on his wrist. This time, aside from equipment, he had also found a watch specifically for counting down. "There are still thirty minutes until the circle starts shrinking again. Let's move."

Everyone had equipped mobility belts. In this city of towering buildings, they were extremely important gear. "Our target is the small square ahead. Let's hope we don't run into another team, or it'll be another fierce battle..."

As Xie Liu walked, he turned back with a smile to the others behind him, only to slam headfirst into Gong Hou in front of him.

"Why did you stop?" Xie Liu clutched his nose and cursed under his breath, only to see Gong Hou pointing at the sky in the distance, dumbstruck.

Xie Liu and the others followed his gaze and immediately burst out with an expletive.

Far away, they saw a simple flying craft sweep across the sky and drop a small crate. After a parachute opened, the little box drifted toward the very place they had been aiming for.

"Oh, you're absolutely messing with us!" Xie Liu shouted, clutching his head. They had actually run into an airdrop at this moment, and judging by where it was descending, it would land not far from the square.

"Now there's no avoiding a fight!"