Chapter 793: Your So-Called Higher Beings... Are a Bit Weak

Chapter 793: Your So-Called Higher Beings... Are a Bit Weak

"Die!"

The gun is fast beyond seven steps!

Within seven steps, the gun is both fast and accurate!

Staring at the figure full of openings, the Hunter's lips curled into a barely perceptible sneer. Before the man could finish speaking, he raised his muzzle and pulled the trigger all the way.

Though the Gauss rifle, lacking a charged capacitor, couldn't unleash its full power, it was more than enough to suppress the target with a barrage of high-velocity mass projectiles!

At the same time, he freed his left hand and deftly reached for the metallic hydrogen grenade tucked at the side of his armor, ready to deliver a fatal blow to this arrogant fool.

But just as his scheme was clicking along nicely, something he could never have believed happened.

The old power armor seemed to take flight, charging straight at his face with an unbelievable speed!

The concentrated mass projectiles scraped across the gleaming armor surface, throwing off sparks, but failed to leave even a single dent!

This was definitely not a "Dragoon" armor!

Neither in mobility nor in armor hardness!

The Hunter's pupils contracted sharply. He instinctively let go of the now-useless grenade and reached for his combat knife, intending to slash at the wrist holding the short axe—but in the end, he was a step too slow.

"Too slow."

The searing pain and the mocking voice came almost simultaneously. The bursting molten metal slammed heavily into his left shoulder armor!

He felt only a wave of scorching air rush toward him from the blunt edge of the axe blade, and then the dazzling sparks exploded on his shoulder!

"Ahhh!!!"

A tearing agony shot from his left shoulder. He staggered back two steps, faintly catching the burnt smell of charred flesh.

His entire left arm went completely numb!

A horrifying gash was etched into the left shoulder. The metal jet that had poured into the armor severed his flesh, nerves, and bones.

The overwhelming force filled him with dread.

Especially when he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye: his arm hung limp from his shoulder like a broken limb, connected only by a bent layer of steel...

"What is this thing..." He panted, backing away, trying to create distance.

Old White paid him no mind, merely watching this "boss," who seemed a bit too weak, struggle in vain.

"You mean this thing?"

He shook the short axe in his hand, grinning as he spoke. "The technical name is a thermal melt cutting axe, though we usually call it an armor-piercing axe."

In principle, it was similar to armor-piercing rounds. Though its pre-war purpose was as a demolition tool, after practical testing by the players, it turned out to be surprisingly effective against infantry armor like power armor.

Ever since the B7 processing center was unlocked, this thing—like Fang Chang's Dawn Mechanical Bow—could be purchased directly from the VM official store.

The Hunter stared at him intently, his eyes roaming over the gleaming chest plate, as if wondering why his mass projectiles hadn't pierced it.

It was clear the guy hadn't given up yet.

Thin wisps of white smoke drifted from the gap in his left shoulder armor. The severed flesh was healing at an incredible speed.

Without guessing, it had to be some kind of biological implant or gene modification—Torch's specialty was biotechnology.

Unconcerned, Old White looked at him and said succinctly,

"Surrender. Your Holy Son has already given up. Even if you keep struggling, it's meaningless."

Prisoners gave more battle points than corpses, so he still intended to persuade him, to see if he could convince the man to lay down his weapon.

But clearly, his persuasive skills weren't as good as Fang Chang's.

After hearing his words, the Hunter only sneered coldly.

"Surrender? Hah, dream on!"

He paused, then ground out through clenched teeth,

"And we have never given up—not the great Holy Son, nor the Forerunners... Just wait. Our Heaven is destined to descend upon this land, and in the end, it will be you rotten ones who are swept into the grave!"

"Heaven... that Heaven again."

Old White sighed, scratched his helmet, and looked at this obsessed man with incomprehension.

"Actually, there's one thing I don't understand. Is your Heaven something inconvenient to explain to others?"

"Words are useless... Die!" The Hunter roared, suddenly lunging forward, charging straight at Old White.

His speed had more than doubled!

The swollen flesh burst through the gaps in his armor, spreading like crimson moss over the outside of the armor.

At this moment, he was no longer human; he had become some kind of unstable subspecies, his flesh and the power armor completely fused into one!

Offering his body wholly to the supreme Heaven, embracing the glorious evolution without reservation!

This was his final trump card!

Once he used this move, there was no turning back. Even if he survived this duel, he would only wander the ruins like a walking corpse.

But he didn't care!

He only wanted to tear apart this arrogant bastard completely!

Watching this utterly mad man, Old White sighed silently, hefting his thermal melt cutting axe.

The Limit Break talent granted him a 150% to 200% strength boost for three seconds.

Combined with the dynamic vision provided by his Agility attribute, the man charging at him now moved as slowly as a snail.

"To be honest..."

The viscous air was compressed by the axe swinging at high speed into a wall as solid as reality!

A piercing sonic boom echoed through the abandoned floor. The scorching air, like a hurricane, blasted into the Hunter's face.

The searing airflow, along with nearly vaporized metal, poured into his helmet, instantly charring the flesh beneath the steel into cinders.

It was too fast!

He didn't even see what happened, didn't even have time to be stunned.

Just as his consciousness was about to fade like a snapped telephone line, a faint, pitying voice drifted into his ears.

"Your so-called higher beings..."

"Are a bit weak."

...

At the same time that Old White smashed the Hunter into pieces with two blows of his axe, Fang Chang's "Power Armor Company" had also successfully cleared the Punishment Squad guarding the shelter entrance.

The entire battle was without suspense—a one-sided slaughter.

But unfortunately, though the fight ended quickly, they didn't capture a single prisoner from the Punishment Squad.

These men, who had carved their loyalty to Torch into their very souls, were utter fanatics. They cared nothing for their own lives.

Especially when they learned that their captain, "the Hunter," had fallen, the remaining dozen or so followed suit, transforming themselves into mindless monsters in exchange for greater combat power.

Facts have proven that this was nothing more than a deathbed struggle.

For now, the players have no idea what has happened to these zealots, or what kind of inhumane technology the Torch has developed.

However, after retrieving these samples, the Alliance’s biological research institute should be able to provide them with an explanation.

The entrance to Vault 20 loomed before them.

Fang Chang made a gesture, signaling the two squads to press close to the gear-shaped giant door, while he himself strode to the entrance, rifle slung over his shoulder.

As an agility-type powerhouse, he had enough confidence to dodge any fatal attack—no one could be faster than him!

Of course.

If he messed up, pretend he never said that.

The drone controlled by Kallen floated to the vault’s entrance, turned its lens to glance at Fang Chang, and repeated in a pleading voice over the communication channel.

“You will help me… right? I was forced too—everyone who refused to cooperate was disposed of. They’re crueler to their own than to outsiders. We had no choice but to follow the First Sanctum’s pioneers’ orders.”

“Of course we’ll help you. That’s why we’re here, after all… we need your technology to clean up this mess,” Fang Chang urged patiently. “Hurry up and open the door. I don’t want to be retrieving a corpse later.”

It seemed she was frightened by that remark.

Finally realizing she was doing something very dangerous, Kallen hesitated no longer and turned the drone’s lens toward the tightly sealed gear-shaped giant door.

Fang Chang released the safety on his rifle, staring intently at the door’s other side, ready to open fire at any moment. But to his surprise, no vault security personnel were lying in ambush behind it.

The entire front hall was empty.

It was as if the Torch’s high-ranking members had completely given up resistance, handing over this most defensible vault entrance to them.

After carefully checking the front hall for any traps, Fang Chang confirmed there was no ambush, then signaled to his teammates and led a squad of infantry deeper into the vault.

The two buffer doors separating the vault’s internal and external atmosphere stood before them. Kallen, who had already hacked into the vault’s security system, opened both doors for them.

Through the narrow buffer chamber, he could faintly hear the commotion and hurried footsteps from beyond the door.

The Torch, having committed every evil, had finally met its destined doom, and those so-called high-ranking members were like monkeys on a crooked tree, chattering and wailing.

To be honest, Fang Chang felt a bit disappointed.

He had thought A-Guang had left him a big surprise in this vault—like some doomsday weapon the Torch Church had developed against the Alliance—but instead, they had easily taken out the Punishment Squad and then breezed through the main entrance.

“Where are you?” Fang Chang turned his gaze to the drone hovering nearby. “Just in case, we’ll come straight to you.”

“Thank you!” Kallen said gratefully, then flew ahead. “To be honest… our core researchers’ bodies are all stored in culture tanks deep in the vault. The First Sanctum uses that as leverage to force us to work for them.”

Bai Gei Dai Ju interjected with a question.

“So you usually operate using drones?”

Kallen explained.

“There’s an android modeled after my biometrics, but it’s currently in the security room… After setting up a series of commands, I locked myself inside. The guards shouldn’t be able to get to me for a while.”

The Saint had already left.

She was certain that guy wasn’t here—otherwise, sneaking into the security room to gain control of the vault’s safety system would have been a pipe dream.

Bai Gei Dai Ju nodded blankly, not understanding why the Torch would use such a roundabout method to turn living people into androids.

Standing beside him, Qiang Jiao Lao Liu’s eyes lit up, and he blurted out.

“Are you still using that android?”

“Still using it?” Kallen paused, then shook her head. “No, I just want my own body back.”

Qiang Jiao Lao Liu grinned sheepishly, rubbing his hands together.

“Then… after this is over, can you give it to me?”

Kallen: “?”

“Give you my ass—can’t you have some ambition and buy your own?”

Fang Chang smacked Lao Liu on the head, ignoring the latter’s aggrieved expression, and gave a concise order.

“First squad, head to the security room—we need to secure control of the vault’s safety system. Second squad, follow me—we’re going straight to that… canned goods warehouse.”

“Ignore the non-combatants, unless they pick up weapons and point them at you.”

“Move out!”

In the brief moment of their exchange, Kallen had already sent the vault’s map to his visual battlefield system.

Hearing Brother Fang Chang’s command, the usually unserious players immediately dropped their grins and replied with firm resolve.

“Yes, sir!”

A group of players clad in exoskeletons and power armor swiftly moved out, advancing toward their designated targets under the guidance of the visual battlefield system.

As these bloodthirsty Alliance soldiers stormed into the vault, almost all the researchers’ faces showed expressions of despair.

“Don’t kill me… I was forced.”

“The Saint above… oh no, I mean our Saint has left—he’s completely abandoned us.”

“I can work for you…”

Most researchers clearly didn’t want to sink with the Torch’s sinking ship; some of the bolder ones even stepped forward voluntarily.

Fang Chang looked at them with some exasperation. Though glad they were surrendering, he couldn’t help but sigh that these people had completely thrown away the Torch’s dignity.

Kallen also felt a bit embarrassed, but she tried to explain quietly.

“Some of these researchers were indeed captured by the Torch from other vaults… they really had no choice.”

“We’ll sort out that part,” Fang Chang said, then fired a burst at the ceiling. Watching the researchers scream and crouch with their heads down, he continued succinctly, “As you can see, the Torch is finished. Your leaders have fled with their tails between their legs. Surrendering and following our orders is your only way out.”

He paused, and seeing no one dared to object, he went on.

“Now, stay where you are. Those who come later will tell you what to do… If you don’t want to get hit by stray bullets, it’s best not to run around.”

Almost everyone nodded.

Those who hadn’t moved, after meeting his gaze, also bobbed their heads like chicks pecking at rice.

Satisfied with their cooperation, Fang Chang led his brothers past the researchers and continued deeper into the vault.

When they reached level B5, a door resembling a bank vault stood before them.

“It’s here…”

Kallen’s voice carried a hint of excitement as she flew over impatiently and opened the alloy door.

But the scene that met her eyes made her, who had eagerly flown into the warehouse, freeze on the spot…

“How can this be?”

Hearing the despairing voice from the communication channel, Fang Chang frowned slightly and stepped through the door.

“What happ—”

His words died on his lips.

What lay displayed in the warehouse were not culture pods with living people, but rows of cylindrical culture tanks.

Pinkish brains soaked in dark green liquid, with crisscrossing tubes entangled with each brain.

From the very beginning, she had no physical form; the upper echelons of the Torch had deceived her...

The drone controlled by Kallen landed on the ground in despair.

Fang Chang couldn't help but swallow, and beside him, Baigei Daiju, the sniper, stood dumbfounded in the same spot.

"What the hell?!"

Had this mission succeeded or failed after all?

Just as everyone was thinking this, a slow, leisurely voice drifted from straight ahead.

"Are you surprised?"

Fang Chang narrowed his eyes toward the direction of the voice, and saw a young man draped in a holy white robe standing there.

Kallen's voice trembled.

"Holy Son..."

Fang Chang wasted no words, directly aiming his gun at that guy posing amidst a group of brains, and gave a deep order.

"Capture him alive."