Chapter 8.4 - Incomplete Mission

Wind blew through the night. This wind was rather chaotic; it could suddenly become quicker or slower at any time.

Within the darkness, a fiery light suddenly flickered. O’Brien’s complexion changed greatly. It was already too late to cry out. He quickly reached out towards Laiknar who was several meters away!

A soft bang sounded. With Laiknar at the center, a powerful gust of wind was raised. O’Brien’s gray hair continuously flew about chaotically, and his black uniform stuck tightly to his body. The second level ability users were caught off guard, staggering backwards without a way to defend against the wind’s pressure. Li Gaolei stood unmoving from his original position, but he was still greatly shocked by the powerful wind that was slamming against his face.

A light ripple sounded. A ball of fiery light suddenly emerged in front of Laiknar’s body. The front of the bullet seemed to have collided with an invisible wall, quickly slowing down its speed. Then, the bullet began to undergo an intense transformation. A normal bullet would have likely split open here without accomplishing its goal, but this bullet’s momentum was too great, far surpassing that of an ordinary one. Even though the bullet began to emit fiery red light under the powerful, high speed friction, to the point where it almost became molten iron, it still ultimately broke through that invisible wall with a pu sound. It turned into a propulsion of fiery metal and screamed towards Laiknar’s chest! Even though the speed of this propulsion had been greatly decreased, its power and heat could still easily penetrate thin steel plates.

However, when the bullet was temporarily blocked, Laiknar was given a chance to react. His eyes became suffused with a bright red color, and his body suddenly erupted with a blazing storm! When this metallic propulsion entered these flames, the frantic whirlwind immediately engulfed, tore apart, and scattered it. Large drops of metallic fluid brushed past Laiknar’s side, creating large amounts of smoke as they landed on the ground.

Once the scorching gale quickly rotated several dozen times, they suddenly dispersed in various directions. Everything within ten meters of Laiknar’s surroundings was burnt to a crisp. An intangible force field seemed to have appeared around Laiknar, separating his body from the scorching winds. However, this all happened too quickly, and so the range of the forcefield couldn’t be adjusted as precisely. As a result, the Black Dragonriders uniform he wore couldn’t endure the heat, and large amounts of cloth began to burn.

Only now did the muffled sound of a gunshot faintly ring through the air.

While standing within the blazing flames, Laiknar looked at the scorched earth that was still emitting strands of smoke not too far off and suddenly broke out in cold sweat! The trajectory of that bullet was aimed straight at his heart. If not for O’Brien sensing that something was off and placing a timely forcefield around him, there would be a large hole in his chest right now.

With Laiknar’s ability and the Black Dragonriders’ technology, even if he had been shot in the chest by a sniper, as long as his brain was left intact, his life could still be saved. However, the power of this gun was far greater than that of an ordinary sniper rifle, comparable to even an anti-material rifle. If that shot had hit its target, it was entirely likely that the larger half of Laiknar’s chest would have been blasted flying. At that time, no matter how advanced the Black Dragonriders’ technology was, they still wouldn’t be able to save him.

One of Laiknar’s subordinates chose a suitable place to set up his long-range sniper rifle and then used the advanced sighting device to search for signs of Su. The remaining subordinates got into a battle formation and prepared to head for the area where the bullet came from.

“There is no need to go.” O’Brien stopped the subordinates that were just about to move and calmly said, “He has already moved far away.”

Under the bright fiery light, O’Brien’s face appeared extremely pale. Sweat completely soaked his forehead. His normally free-flowing and soft gray hair was glued to his forehead, and his eyes had lost quite a bit of spirit. Right now, he looked like a large frail and pale boy. If his clothes had been changed, he could easily become a rather pretty androgynous-looking female.

However, Li Gaolei was not misled in the slightest by O’Brien’s weak outer appearance, for he was deeply shocked at his powerful and mysterious abilities. Not to mention that powerful defense, the fact that he was able to detect the incoming danger and even promptly protect Laiknar from such a terrifying attack was inconceivable.

If that shot had been aimed at Li Gaolei, he had already inwardly realized that he would have died.

The extremely knowledgeable, calm, meek, and even somewhat delicate young man was like a bottomless pit. It was simply impossible to measure the depth of his skills.

Laiknar suddenly released a roar, and a ring of flames rushed in all directions. Everything within ten meters turned into a sea of flames! The group of subordinates immediately moved away to avoid the flames, for they definitely didn’t dare to stand inside these seemingly ordinary flames. These unusual flames possessed extraordinarily high temperatures, and they only needed roughly ten seconds to completely burn through a person’s body.

“He couldn’t have gotten far! I will personally kill him!” Laiknar roared. Not only were his eyes red, but even the skin on his face became covered in a faint red color. The high temperature flames continuously burned around him, as if they could burn through everything.

O’Brien spread his arms and blocked Laiknar’s way. In a serious tone he said, “He is far more dangerous than what we had originally thought! The two of us alone aren’t enough. Let’s go back to headquarters and ask for reinforcements!”

“Reinforcements?!” Laiknar roared, “Why do we need to ask headquarters for reinforcements? Why do we need to share credit with them? Do you know what kind of promotion we will receive once we return? Do you know how much power we will gain?!”

Faced against Laiknar who was in a violent rage, O’Brien could only sigh. “I understand all of this. However, if we continue to chase him like this, we might suffer severe casualties.”

After venting out his anger for a bit, Laiknar’s mood calmed down slightly. The high temperature flames around him disappeared as well. He pushed O’Brien away and replied in a similarly serious tone, “The purpose of these subordinates is to assist us. Even if they have to give up their lives, they should not hesitate in the slightest.”

“But…” O’Brien wanted to retort, but in the end, he didn’t say anymore.

Laiknar pointed at the hunter, and with an unquestionable tone, he commanded, “You, lead the way. Find that little bastard!”

The hunter had some hesitation, but in the end, he still complied and said, “Yes! Commander!” He was O’Brien’s subordinate, but he was also an outside member of the Black Dragonriders. As a lower officer of the the Black Dragonriders, Laiknar was the highest ranking individual here. An order he gave had to be obeyed unless O’Brien clearly opposed it.

After firing a bullet towards Laiknar from a kilometer away, Su immediately evacuated from his location. He did not cover up the location he fired from, and as such, the hunter and Laiknar quickly found the location.

There was a hole there that wasn’t particularly large or small, just enough to bury one person. There was only a bit of sparse grass around this place that didn’t offer much in concealment.

The hunter inspected this place and said to Laiknar, “It seems like he buried himself here during the day to avoid our pursuit. It seems like he should have left east.”

“Chase!” Lainknar’s face darkened as he gave this order.

Ten people turned and headed east. Laiknar had already decided to completely ignore the biochemistry specialist and the two soldiers he left behind in the manor. The only thing in his mind right now was catching Su.

Nevertheless, doing so only lead them closer to death.

As soon as the group advanced, O’Brien suddenly stopped his footsteps! He stopped extremely suddenly, to the point where the subordinate behind him couldn’t stop himself in time and collided into him!

“What is it? Did you find him?” Laiknar turned around and asked in a rather troubled manner. He understood O’Brien’s skills.

O’Brien’s face paled even more, and sweat once again moistened his hair. He smiled with difficulty and said, “I’m fine. Let’s continue.”

Laiknar had some suspicions, but he didn’t dwell on them. O’Brien had enough ability to protect himself. If he couldn’t even protect himself, then there wasn’t much Laiknar could do to help him. The hunter ahead had already found the route Su took, so he began to quicken their pursuit. Laiknar hurriedly followed behind.

O’Brien moved at the very back of the group, and this was actually to protect the entire latter half of the group. He advanced silently while contemplating what he felt in that moment.

When the group was just about to chase after Su, O’Brien suddenly felt as if a needle pierced him right between his brows. O’Brien clearly understood that at that very moment, he had already been targeted by another! Just as he was about to deploy the force field, the pricking feeling disappeared.

O’Brien suddenly understood the message that was transmitted when he had been aimed at just now: Next time, I will kill you first.

Within the boundless night, O’Brien had no way of sensing Su’s location and no way of finding signs of him when he had been targeted just now. This meant that Su was outside the range of his detection. However, from just two short interactions alone, Su shouldn’t be able to guess O’Brien’s range of detection. As such, the next time he revealed himself, O’Brien might be able to lock onto him.

After all, O’Brien’s detection range was 800 meters.

Borrowing the protection of night, Su was like an agile black cat as he moved at a speed of roughly ten kilometers per hour. It wasn’t that he couldn’t travel faster, but rather that if he traveled any faster, the wounds that were barely closed might open again and leave behind drops of blood. These drops of blood would be enough to attract the group of wolves behind him and expose his current route. However, despite doing this, there was still difficult terrain and hiding scavengers that required Su to take action, affecting his wounds.

Most of the time, Su would lean down and use his tongue to lick up all traces of blood. He already couldn’t hear any sound, and within his head, unbearable stabbing pains would flare. There was even less of a need to describe the anguish his entire body was going through. Su’s perception was also extremely sharp, signifying that the pain he felt was also several times that of what a normal person felt. Once the pain reached a certain degree, it became a numbing sensation. As a result, both his senses and perception became a bit sluggish. Only the sensation at the very tip of his tongue had not declined, allowing him to suck back all of the blood that fell.

Su was determined to save every bit of energy he could. He was going to completely crush the group of wolves behind him. From the moment he could remember, he had constantly struggled between life and death. Right now, what Su was gambling on was that these wolves who were clearly accustomed to a superior lifestyle were inferior to himself who could endure pain, fatigue, hunger, and filth.

On the fourth day, enormous city ruins entered Laiknar’s field of vision. This city was precisely linked to Base N11’s underground region.

At this moment, he already lost his calm, graceful, and slightly arrogant bearing. His eyes were sunken, and his blonde hair was a terrible mess as they sat in chunks on his head. The scorched and tattered Black Dragonriders uniform was even filthier, and the originally faint golden insignia could no longer be seen. Even Laiknar's appearance was like this, so the subordinates were in an even more battered and exhausted state. Many times, they doubted whether or not Su was even injured. Otherwise, how could he endure for so long, almost as if he had been running away non-stop? However, every ten kilometers or so, they would find several drops of blood and even a piece of flesh, restoring their confidence.

O’Brien was slightly better off. His youthful face was full of fatigue, but his eyes were still full of luster. Apart from himself, no one knew the pressure he endured this entire time.

As for Li Gaolei, his face was originally covered in beard stubble, and his appearance was that of a beaten and dejected style. Right now, his beard merely grew a bit longer and his clothes a bit filthier. Apart from this, there wasn’t much difference from the past.

Laiknar released a cold laugh and walked into the city. O’Brien pulled him back and frowned. “It seems like this is the place he has chosen to fight in. We should still go back and ask headquarters for reinforcements. Inside this kind of large city, a sniper will bring about great troubles.”

“What are you scared of?! Isn’t this perfect? The mouse is finally going to stop running.” Laiknar’s eyes were full of bloody streaks, making him appear rather malevolent. “We’ve all received anti-sniper training. Moreover, a third level sniper only has the chance to fire a single shot in your presence, right?”

O’Brien’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper. However, he couldn’t stop Laiknar and could only follow him into the city.

For these ten people, the city in front of them was like an incomparably large monster. It was coldly watching them, waiting for its prey to walk into its mouth.

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