A figure shot out from the thick dust filling the corridor.
In an instant, it crossed dozens of paces to appear before the two smugglers like a terrifying, ethereal specter. The dagger in its hand reflected a cold, steely glint. Like a nimble butterfly among flowers, it danced lightly across their necks.
A torrent of blood gushed from their severed necks, dyeing the surrounding floor and walls red.
The two smugglers clutched their necks and collapsed to the ground. Their hands were quickly soaked crimson by the gushing blood. Within monts, they were dead.
Zhou Chen picked up a rifle from one of the n—its magazine had yet to be reloaded. With a few practiced motions, he slapped in a new one, spun around, and opened fire at the end of the corridor dozens of ters away.
RAT-TAT-TAT...
Four smugglers, guns raised, had just sprinted around the corner when a sudden burst of gunfire tore through their bodies and skulls. Blood splattered as their bodies went limp and crumpled to the floor.
The smugglers running behind them screeched to a halt, their hearts pounding in terror.
One of the bolder ones cautiously peeked his head out to pinpoint Zhou Chen’s position. The next second, a bullet from nowhere blew his head apart.
An Ascender’s powerful hearing and Perception Power gave Zhou Chen a perfect grasp of all nearby movents. Not to ntion, Jiang Che was behind the scenes, having already hacked the factory’s surveillance system to provide a God’s Perspective. It was like having a wallhack, revealing every enemy’s position.
Zhou Chen searched the two corpses in front of him, pocketing four spare magazines. He then advanced, rifle at the ready.
’This thing is way more useful than a dagger.’
After mowing down the remaining few "rats" as if he were cutting vegetables, Zhou Chen headed for the second floor.
"This office building has four floors. The people you’re here to kill are in office 405 on the fourth floor. And I’ve got two unexpected bonuses for you."
The roar of gunfire echoed over the comms channel, but Jiang Che paid it no mind, gently stirring the extra-strong coffee in her cup.
"There’s a Forbidden Object deal going down in the factory right now. The other party is one of Lady Grey’s subordinates, and they seem to be high-ranking. Iron Python sent his most trusted steward to oversee it, and he’s hiding in room 405. Capturing him would be like grabbing Iron Python by the throat. It’s enough to uproot his entire organization."
"Even better. I’ll try to take him alive..."
On the second floor, several open doorways were completely shredded. Bullets flew wildly, and concrete chips sprayed through the air.
Zhou Chen squeezed the trigger, spraying a volley of fire. Red-hot 7.62mm rounds flew from the muzzle, precisely ripping the tops off the last five smugglers’ heads and splattering their brains.
The hallway was now littered with bodies, and blood pooled on the floor.
Behind him, a flurry of footsteps echoed from the bottom of the stairwell. More smugglers must be on their way to provide backup.
Zhou Chen snatched a grenade from a nearby corpse, casually pulled the pin, and tossed it down the stairwell.
He imdiately found another, pulled the pin, and threw it after the first.
A brief calm was shattered by two consecutive explosions that rocked the entire office building. The frantic footsteps in the stairwell vanished, not even leaving behind a single scream.
Zhou Chen calmly reloaded and started up the stairs.
·
"Dammit, what kind of monster is he? He’s killed twenty n in less than three minutes!"
In room 405, the steward watched the monitor as his n were slaughtered one after another, as if they were nothing more than cannon fodder. His eyes were wide with fury; he was on the verge of losing his mind.
"Almost! Just give us two more minutes!" an anxious voice called out from nearby.
Three large n were frantically helping a burly man don a suit of iron-black armor.
This was the most powerful weapon in their arsenal: a military-grade Exoskeleton Armor.
It had a high-tech appearance with a tallic, insect-like exoskeleton. Developed by the Star Association, it was a piece of single-soldier combat equipnt that provided the wearer with protection and enhanced mobility. It significantly reduced fatigue and augnted the user’s physical capabilities, boosting their power, speed, reflexes, and balance to the absolute human limit.
It also ca equipped with powerful weapons like a machine gun, an Electromagnetic Cannon, and a grenade launcher. An experienced operator could single-handedly take on an entire squad.
Unfortunately, this was an older model, not equipped with Alchemy Equipnt or an Alchemy Matrix. Otherwise, its lethality would have been on another level.
Suddenly, an explosion erupted from below. The floor trembled violently, and dust rained from the ceiling. In its final monts before being destroyed, the surveillance cara dutifully transmitted one last image: five or six n being blown to bits by a grenade.
"Goddammit, how much longer are you going to take? That bastard is already on the third floor!" the steward roared, his eyes bloodshot.
"It’s ready! It’s ready!"
CLANK. The tal helt’s visor snapped shut. As the system booted up, the walking fortress of steel officially activated.
"The battery only has enough charge for ten minutes. You have to hold him off as long as possible," the steward said, his face grim.
"Leave it to ."
The burly man replied in a deep voice, then smashed straight through the wall and charged downstairs in heavy strides.
STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
Zhou Chen, who was in the middle of his rampage on the third floor, heard heavy, chanical footsteps approaching. At the sa ti, Jiang Che’s warning sounded in his ear.
"Exoskeleton Armor?"
Zhou Chen was stunned. "These guys even have equipnt like this?"
He imdiately realized these were smugglers running a transnational operation. It was only natural for them to have so high-end gear. Never mind Exoskeleton Armor; they might even have Forbidden Objects or, worse, Abyssal Cursed Objects.
Two seconds later, an Exoskeleton Power Armor with a black iron fra leaped down from the stairwell and into Zhou Chen’s line of sight.
The instant they locked eyes, the machine gun mounted on the Exoskeleton Armor’s back swiveled on its bracket to rest on the shoulder.
The barrel began to spin, the air growing thick and suffocating.
’Shit...’ Zhou Chen’s eye twitched. Without a mont’s hesitation, he smashed through the window and leaped out.
The next second, a chain of incandescent light erupted. A storm of hot tal roared to life, howling down the corridor and tearing everything apart. The smugglers still in the hallway who couldn’t escape in ti were blasted into a fine red mist. In an instant, the entire corridor was riddled with holes, as if a hurricane had torn through it.
The burly man ignored his dead comrades. He stopped firing, leaped out of the window, and landed smoothly with the aid of the Exoskeleton Armor. Then he suddenly launched himself more than ten ters to the left.
RAT-TAT-TAT... Just as he dodged, a stream of bullets stitched across the spot where he had just landed.
"That’s the integrated warning system’s auto-dodge function," Jiang Che explained.
"Unbelievable. I’m reporting this son of a bitch for hacking!"
Zhou Chen furiously tossed aside his empty rifle and sprinted deeper into the food processing plant.
’Birdman already had soone hide my gear inside the factory.’
’Once I have my gear, I won’t have to fear a simple Exoskeleton Armor.’
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