“Nine Dragons Street has always been relatively independent; they have specialized ‘Maniacs’ to monitor discipline. I didn't expect the underground of Nine Dragons Street to be like this. These mechanical puppets broke away from the Hera Network long ago; these plants are the ones providing them with power.”
“They use these mechanical puppets to spread plant seeds. This underground space must have become what it is today because of that. This is the first time I've seen such an eerie symbiotic state.”
More monsters closed in, but the girls didn't linger to tangle with them. With Angelina leading the breakthrough, they quickly bypassed the densely populated monster zones and continued south. Half an hour later, they stopped at a cross-pipe intersection where the soft stamens of purple plants covered the rust-stained pipe walls. Not far away, several figures passed behind iron grates, and the fan-shaped red light of a drone scan spread from the end of the pipe.
“They know our location and have set an ambush in advance,” Xu Xiaoyou said.
The four girls beside her weren't surprised. From the moment they entered the underground, they had constantly encountered enemy search teams. It was as if the opposition had a full-map view, as they could always pinpoint their area and send reinforcements to surround them.
Fortunately, the journey had been more tense than dangerous, and they successfully avoided all enemies to reach the final sector. Her gaze looked into the distance of the cylindrical space. Everywhere the eye could see, there were pools of water deep enough to submerge shins. The black water surface was disturbed by purple droplets, creating ripples of fluorescent light, while twisted silhouettes wandered and paced, their components clicking and clacking.
There wasn't just the Hanging Man they had seen earlier, but also the ‘Dance-Wheel’ with spherical bodies surrounded by blade disks, and the ‘Valiant Guard’, tall figures wielding massive glaives. All were entwined with purple vines, with flower buds growing between their armor plates.
As long as they passed through this section of pipe and crossed the circular waterway ahead, which was about a hundred meters long, they could reach Fire Street. Fire Street was adjacent to Nine Dragons Street, and Xu Xiaoyou intended to have the decisive battle with the Golden Navigator there, launching the final Visiting Battle by Overstepping Authority.
The problem was that the enemy had deployed layers of defensive lines here in advance, and the guards were heavily armed. It clearly wouldn't be easy to break through head-on. Since a direct assault was out of the question, only one choice remained.
Xu Xiaoyou spent another two hundred league points to purchase seven ‘tactical optical camouflage blankets’ from the shop and handed them to everyone.
“Is this thing really reliable?” Angelina weighed the optical blanket, which felt as if it had no weight at all.
Once she stopped moving and let the flowing optical blanket hang down, a magical scene occurred. The light near the girl's entire arm began to distort, slowly merging with the environment and creating rings of transparent ripples until it vanished completely.
The group looked at each other.
“Don't worry, the priority of items in the league shop is the highest. As long as the effect is specified, even legacy grade items cannot detect them. The duration is only three minutes. Time waits for no one, let's go.” As Xu Xiaoyou spoke, she draped the optical blanket over herself and suddenly vanished into the air.
Seeing this, the others didn't say much and followed suit, draping their own optical blankets. They huddled together in a small circle, sticking close to the wall as they slowly moved forward.
“Say, if we really catch Dark Gold Rose, do you think we'll become famous?”
Two search team members were dressed in the ‘Death Angel’ series of exoskeleton battle armor. One carried an ‘Electric Spiny Dragon’ electromagnetic rifle, while the other held a square box stun gun that resembled a briefcase.
“Definitely, man. She’s a luminous prism grade fixer. In reality, we wouldn't even dare look her in the eye. If I get to catch her in the Oasis... hmph.”
“I’ll definitely make her give me an autograph first!”
“Then I... I’ll definitely make her give me two autographs!”
“That’s nothing, bro. I’ll make her sign autographs for me forever!”
“Just thinking about the great Dark Gold Rose looking all embarrassed, having to bite her lip while signing her name, man, I’m so excited. It feels like she’s right next to me.”
The group moving slowly turned back to look at Xu Xiaoyou. The blonde girl facepalmed.
Was there something wrong with these two?
Did they have some kind of misunderstanding about her?
What kind of fantasy was this?
Sigh, it was her fault for having too much charm.
“All units, attention. We have temporarily lost the position of Dark Gold Rose. The target has used a concealment item. Pay attention to identifying environmental anomalies.”
Just as the group continued forward and was about to pass through the tunnel, the voice of the squad leader came through the two men's communicators. One of them seemed to sense something and turned around warily, squinting at the empty wall in front of him.
“Bro, what’s up?”
“Just now, did that wall move?”
“Is it just my imagination?”
A drone flew out from behind the shoulder of the man holding the stun gun, unfolding its wings in the air to scan the direction ahead. It displayed a ‘No Life Sign Signal’.
Crouched under the optical blanket, Akabane Tsubaki was sweating profusely. Damn it, why did she have to be the one walking at the very back?
“You're making a fuss over nothing. Have you been under too much stress lately?”
The man with the gun didn't respond. His eyes narrowed. He clearly saw a small red cowlick swaying.
It looked like it had grown out of thin air. As he slowly approached, the speed at which the cowlick swayed became faster and faster.
Just as he suppressed his breath and intended to reach out and pull that cowlick, the light began to distort. Rings of transparent ripples flowed downward, revealing the face of a girl with grinding teeth.
“Shit! It’s Dark Gold Rose and the others! Visiting Battle by Overste—”
Before the four words could leave his mouth, Akabane Tsubaki suddenly lunged, covering his mouth with her hand to prevent him from saying those god-forsaken words. Then, she slammed her dagger into his throat, pinning the man against the wall and restricting his movement until he stopped struggling.
“Visiting Ba—”
Similarly, the other man failed to finish the four words before Xu Xiaoyou covered his mouth. Her calm voice rang in his ear: “Didn't you want my autograph? I’ll give it to you right now.”
In the next moment, her dancing whip slashed several bloody trails across his chest. While signing her name in artistic script, she instantaneously emptied the man's health bar.
“Visiting Battle by Overste—”
The drone in the air vibrated twice and even emitted an electronic sound. However, before it could form a complete sentence, Angelina reacted first, rushing forward and kicking it into an explosion against the wall.
The previous commotion subsided, and the narrow pipe returned to silence as darkness spread from the borders.
Having escaped the danger, the five continued to wear their optical blankets and left before the enemy's main force could surround them.
They were temporarily unclear about the overall composition of this squad.
What was certain, however, was that most search teams had at least one grade 4 or higher elite. Even with the loss of two members, they would still have the strength to fight back.
Xu Xiaoyou naturally couldn't let these two launch a Visiting Battle by Overstepping Authority against them. Even if they could win, they wouldn't be able to achieve the highest score and might even suffer casualties.
Looking at the grid wall emerging not far ahead, Xu Xiaoyou narrowed her eyes, an imperceptible cold sneer curling her lips.
Next, it was time for Light-Chaser Garden to counter-attack.
Rate on N.U.
