Zhan Zhouzhou took the Ion Light Saber, got reacquainted with its feel, and nodded in satisfaction: "No problem."
"Hmm."
Li Zheng scanned the crowd, lingering slightly on Phoenix Mountain and Yan Guang before speaking: "We’re all adults here, you should understand the priorities!
If anyone has issues with this arrangent, speak now. Otherwise, if you cause trouble after we set out, don’t expect to get any Genetic Potion from in the future."
"I have no objections."
"Neither do I."
The final threat was evidently more effective than any warning, causing Phoenix Mountain and Yan Guang to behave much more obediently, their inexplicable emotions significantly subdued.
"Since there are no objections, let’s get moving!"
Li Zheng was satisfied with their attitude, imdiately waving his hand to order the team to set out.
They hadn’t delayed long and weren’t disturbed by any monsters. Li Zheng speculated that this tallic tunnel might be a buffer zone left for the players.
"Stay behind , and when we encounter a monster, I’ll go first. Once my Genetic Force is nearly depleted, you take over."
When it ca to combat topics, Phoenix Mountain’s deanor beca incredibly arrogant, even going so far as to direct Zhan Zhouzhou around.
"Okay."
Zhan Zhouzhou didn’t mind Phoenix Mountain’s tone, following a step behind him, the two of them leading the way deeper into the tallic tunnel.
Behind them, Yan Guang adjusted his silver chanical arm and followed closely.
"Let’s go."
Li Zheng nodded to Xiao Siyuan, took out the Desert Eagle to check the number of Snake Grass Needles in the cartridge, and replaced its Power Core with a full-energy one.
The tunnel wasn’t long; after walking a distance, they encountered the first corner.
"Zing!"
Just as Phoenix Mountain turned the corner, before he could clearly see behind it, a sharp, cold tallic flash ca towards him, forcing him to quickly step back.
A sharp blade nearly grazed his nose, coming just short of splitting his upper skull.
Phoenix Mountain broke out in a cold sweat.
"What is this?!"
The attacker, having missed the mark, retreated, revealing its form.
It turned out to be a half-human-tall mantis-like machine with a pair of sharp blade legs gleaming under the lights, exuding a chilling aura. Its two tal wings flapped rapidly, extraordinarily agile.
[chanical Sword Mantis]
The Matrix System only provided a na, without even offering its tier, let alone detailed attributes.
"Damn!"
In terror, Phoenix Mountain beca furious, cursing as he charged with his fist raised.
"Burst·Quadruple Amplification!"
Thump!
"Die!"
Phoenix Mountain roared, his burst-amplified heavy fist striking towards the head of the chanical Sword Mantis.
Thinking about how he nearly died at the hands of this treacherous chanical creature, his emotions got the better of him. All the accumulated negative feelings transford into pure rage, released through the heavy punch.
The chanical Sword Mantis’s tal compound eyes rotated, locking on to this rapidly incoming fist, and it slightly ducked, gracefully avoiding it.
A pair of sharp blade legs slashed forward, crossing in an attack. Clearly, the tal blades weren’t sothing flesh and blood could withstand, forcing Phoenix Mountain to retreat.
When he retreated, it advanced. The chanical Sword Mantis wielded its tal blade legs as if they were dual swords, launching continuous and rapid slashes.
"Damn it, bullying because I don’t have armor?"
Phoenix Mountain repeatedly dodged, unable to face the attack head-on, finding himself in a disadvantageous position.
"You’re really not going to help him?"
Li Zheng had also reached the corner by this ti and saw Zhan Zhouzhou watching the fight with folded arms, so he asked.
Zhan Zhouzhou scoffed, saying, "You heard his bragging earlier; his Genetic Force isn’t exhausted yet—how could I intervene?"
"You knew he was bragging, yet you listened to him." Li Zheng aid his gun, thinking of assisting Phoenix Mountain.
"Eh~"
Zhan Zhouzhou raised an arm, blocking the Desert Eagle, and calmly said, "He’s not dumb; if he needed help, he’d ask."
"Just watch, it’ll be over soon."
As the words were leaving his mouth, Phoenix Mountain, who had been dodging embarra.ssingly, suddenly had a fierce look in his eyes. Seizing the opportunity, he landed a heavy punch on the side of the chanical Sword Mantis’s blade leg.
"Clang!"
The blade leg deflected from the punch, and Phoenix Mountain sidestepped, using his five-fold burst amplification speed to advance on the chanical Sword Mantis, swiftly punching its head.
Crack!
Surprisingly fragile, the head of the chanical Sword Mantis shattered from the punch, with wires exposed and tiny electrical arcs flickering.
Whirr~ Crackle~
The sound of tal screeching to a halt slowly stopped. Phoenix Mountain maintained his punching posture, motionless, allowing a tal blade leg to co within a centiter of his neck, finally losing montum and stopping.
"Ha, still acting cool at a ti like this."
Zhan Zhouzhou sneered and turned to Xiao Siyuan, saying, "Hey you, aren’t you dical? Go bandage him."
"My na is Xiao Siyuan."
Xiao Siyuan said in a deep voice as he walked toward Phoenix Mountain, who was still posing, taking a roll of bandages from his capsule dwelling.
Only then did blood seep from a cut on Phoenix Mountain’s left arm, where earlier he had been grazed by the chanical Sword Mantis during a dodge.
"When did this happen..."
Li Zheng was astonished; his Bronze neural reaction speed hadn’t been fast enough to spot which attack had injured Phoenix Mountain.
And yet, Zhan Zhouzhou, with a physique far inferior, had seen it?
It’s known that neural reaction speed correlates with dynamic vision—the faster the reaction speed, the better the ability to capture dynamic visual information.
How did Zhan Zhouzhou see sothing even Li Zheng couldn’t?
"Now you know why you lack martial talent, right?"
Zhan Zhouzhou quipped, stepping past Phoenix Mountain and continuing deeper into the tunnel.
"What’s there to be so smug about?"
Li Zheng showed a disgruntled expression, moving next to Phoenix Mountain and asking, "How is it?"
Xiao Siyuan tied off the bandage in his hand: "The wound isn’t big, but the blade was very sharp, causing a sowhat deep cut. It’ll take about three minutes to fully heal."
"Three minutes?"
Li Zheng looked at the bandage, and with Prelis’ Eye offline, he couldn’t see the attributes of the item. "Another attribute-imbued dical equipnt?"
"Yeah."
Xiao Siyuan explained, "Bought it yesterday, a Black Iron Level hemostatic bandage with built-in antiseptic and decontamination functions, works great for bleeding wounds."
"Much appreciated."
Phoenix Mountain softly thanked him.
"No worries, we’re all comrades."
Xiao Siyuan finished treating the wound, stood up, and followed in Zhan Zhouzhou’s footsteps.
As he passed Li Zheng, he noticed Xiao Siyuan’s emotions becoming increasingly somber, as if a mory surfaced under the influence of emotions, his expression sorrowful.
"..."
Li Zheng had no intention to console him.
To make a retired veteran this sad, it was probably related to sothing he experienced in the military.
Sorrow, unlike anger, can sotis be exacerbated by consolation.
"Tch, loser!"
Yan Guang passed Phoenix Mountain, offering a disdainful taunt.
"Damn, that woman is seriously nuts!"
Phoenix Mountain cursed before following after, sprinting a few steps to catch up with Zhan Zhouzhou.
Li Zheng approached the now power-less chanical Sword Mantis and placed a hand on its cold tal surface: "Decompose!"
[Decomposition Restricted.]
With the attempt failing, Li Zheng muttered to himself again: "Collect!"
The Matrix only indicated decomposition was restricted, not "Invalid Target" or "Cannot Decompose."
Li Zheng simply tried to store it in his capsule dwelling, planning to test it again after leaving.
However...
[Invalid Target.]
The collection attempt also failed; unbothered, Li Zheng raised the Desert Eagle and shot two tal blade legs until they were severed.
He still couldn’t collect or decompose them, but he could carry them as weapons. He holstered the Desert Eagle, took a blade leg in each hand, and caught up with the others.
"Carry this, just in case."
Handing one to Xiao Siyuan, Li Zheng freed up his hand again to wield the Desert Eagle once more.
Xiao Siyuan accepted it in silence without speaking.
For a while, the whole team fell into silence.
Soon, the team encountered more chanical Sword Mantises.
The numbers grew from two at a ti, gradually rising to six at once.
All were decisively and cleanly cut down under Zhan Zhouzhou’s Light Saber.
After comparing the two, Phoenix Mountain’s expression grew increasingly sour,
watching a girl apparently younger than himself who showed no signs of using Genetic Ability casually dispatch the chanical Sword Mantises as if it’s as simple as drinking water.
Every ti she engaged, she’d decapitate the tal head with the first strike.
This made Phoenix Mountain, who had used his Genetic Ability to fight off one mantis and ended up slightly injured, feel particularly disgruntled.
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