by <unknown>
The cat-like woman struggled hard in Li Yao's iron arms. Looking at the 'innocent' faces of the two little fellows, she was almost amused. After catching her breath, she said, "Listen up. I don't care where you idiots come from and how seriously out of your mind you are to be determined to play heroes on the Bloody Plateau, but I will take care of my own business. You have saved me, and I cannot thank you enough. Now, let me go, or you will regret it, and you two idiots will die!"
"The shuttles of the Flying Leopard Hall cannot catch us," Han Te said confidently.
"Even if they do, we are not afraid of them." Liu Li waved her tiny fists and smiled at the cat-like woman. "You don't need to be scared, either. Whatever happens, we will protect you."
The woman's fury had already been condensed to such an extent that it was about to burst out, but Liu Li's words simply pressed it back.
Looking at Liu Li's eyes that were as clear as water, the cat-like woman was almost suffocated. She was at a loss as to how to deal with the two unconventional little fellows.
"Idiots," she mumbled. "Who's talking about the Flying Leopard Hall?"
Liu Li blinked. "Who are you? Why were the people of the Flying Leopard Hall chasing you?"
The woman was hesitating about how to respond when feeble explosions suddenly took place behind them.
It did not feel like the explosions of cannon fire or crystal bombs but more like the crashes of a few meteors.
Li Yao even sensed the ripples that were spread out when the meteors soared through the air.
Something fell from the sky, but it was not the common relief from the Heavenly Rails, which was always buffered by parachutes and quite slow. Also, the parachutes were always very colorful and could be seen from a long distance away in order to trigger a bloody competition.
Not only did those 'meteors' fall at a high speed, they had also activated some sort of stealth technique, which was so brilliant that even Li Yao did not detect them despite his senses in the Divinity Transformation Stage.
Therefore, they intentionally avoided being seen.
Of course, the meteors from the sky would always leave traces when they crashed at a high speed despite the remarkable stealth and buffer system.
When the 'invisible meteors' hit the ground, it was inevitable that explosions were raised and mud walls almost ten meters high stood up.
Their landing points were not far away from the shuttles of the Flying Leopard Hall. Those bandits were probably rather curious and sent out half of the shuttles to check the landing points of the 'invisible meteors'.
Then, there were intense explosions, crazy gunshots, and desperate screams!
Chapter 1992: Visitors from the Sky |
"What's going on?" Han Te and Liu Li were both surprised. "The Flying Leopard Hall is engaged in a fight. They seem to have been slaughtered!"
Li Yao's interest was aroused. The cabin cover on the chassis glided without a sound, and Neltharion, which had entered stealth mode, darted out quickly and ascended into the sky, marching toward the crashing points of the meteors for investigation.
The first thing he saw were three overlapping craters. The force of the crash was so huge that every crater was almost five meters deep. The soil around was like waves that had been frozen into orange folds, with white smoke popping up nonstop.
At the center of the crater were three ball-shaped metal cabins no more than two meters in diameter whose shells were as rough as insect eggs. The vortex stripes carved on the surface made them look like the fruits of some devils.
Right now, the three 'devil eggs' had all been opened. Buffer gel that looked like jelly, and a human-shaped dent could be vaguely seen inside, but nobody was in them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Right then, the three 'devil eggs' exploded at the same time. Not only did they blow themselves up into pieces, they also messed up the traces of the collapsed meteors. Nobody could deduce what had happened there based on the marks.
In other words, those who had fallen from the sky in the 'devil eggs' did not want the sinners in the Land of Sins to know their origins.
However, there were still eyewitnesses—the bandits of the Flying Leopard Hall.
Half of the shuttles of the Flying Leopard Hall were enshrouded in the black smoke after the explosion, as if they had been mired in a swamp at the deepest level of hell. After half a minute of engagement of fire and screams, there was nothing but dead silence.
The other half of the bandits of the Flying Leopard Hall had been chasing Li Yao, Han Te, Liu Li, and the woman who was as mysterious as a cat. Seeing that it was not good, they were wise enough to make the most correct choice. They turned around and escaped at top speed!
It was a pity that however fast they were, they were not as fast as the three streaks of brilliance that dashed out of the black smoke.
The red, blue, and yellow brilliances rushed close and landed before the tough bandits of the Flying Leopard Hall instantly, beginning a new round of massacre.
Crystal suits!
Li Yao's soul constricted violently.
There were crystal suits in the Land of Sins, too. However, in Li Yao's eyes, other than the few creative and experimental units, the main parts of the crystal suits were all mediocre goods that had been refurbished and modified far too many times. Even Li Yao had to be careful when he modified or upgraded with those components, fearing that he might blow up the garbage if he poured too much spiritual energy into them.
The crystal suits of the three guests from the sky, on the other hand, were certainly mature, high-end models that had a steady structure and a remarkable performance. Golden light glowed on their surfaces like scales, indicating that the crystal suits were 'light suits' that applied the membrane theory. Together with their professional and sophisticated skills, they had practically turned slaughter into an art.
The muscular man on the left was wearing a black crystal suit, with two heavy cannons crossed on the back and an emblem of a bear head before his chest. He was at least 2.2 meters tall and did not need any weapons to tear a tank in half.
The one in the middle was a woman in a red crystal suit, whose breasts rose high and whose waist was as slim as a viper. She was holding a crimson whip that seemed to be made of magma in each hand. They had a temperature of almost a thousand degrees, and it was not difficult for her to slash the tanks of the Flying Leopard Hall in half.
It was needless to mention what happened when the whips hit people—they would immediately be chopped in half, and their wounds would instantly be cauterized.
The crystal suit of the shorty on the right had extended thin and transparent daggers from his fingers, elbows, knees, and toes. His crystal suit also boasted very advanced stealth functions and could change color even during high-speed movements. He was like a breeze of death, butchering the bandits who were escaping in a hurry.
It was a cruel enjoyment to watch them killing people at ease.
The tough bandits of the Flying Tiger Hall had been playing the game of 'cat and mouse', but they suddenly discovered that they were actually the 'mice' instead of the 'cats'.
No. They were too weak to even be mice. Very soon, they were all executed by the three guests from the sky.
They are all experts!
Li Yao analyzed silently.
The three guests from the sky obviously did not try their best. Therefore, Li Yao was uncertain how strong they exactly were. But by his preliminary estimation, they were at least experts at the peak of the Core Formation Stage. The woman who held scorching whips was likely in the Nascent Soul Stage.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
The crystal suits on the three guests from the sky suddenly vanished, replaced by the brown protective capes that were very common in the Land of Sins and goggles that almost covered half of their faces.
However, before the capes and the goggles blocked their faces, Li Yao still managed to see their appearances.
The guy on the left was a super muscul
ar man more than two meters tall, with a greasy skin and a pair of eyes that were practically growing muscles.
In the middle was an indifferent-looking woman who had a viper tattoo on her check. There was no telling how old she was.
The shorty on the left seemed to have performed half-mechanical modifications on himself. His eyes had been replaced by two protruding crystal cameras that could be rotated 360 degrees. What was weird was that there were another two pairs of crystal cameras above and below those two, which meant that six crystal cameras in total had been embedded on his face. Emitting bluish brilliance and rolling at the same time, those man-made eyes made him appear creepy.
Besides their eccentric appearances, Li Yao also sensed an air that was entirely different from the people in the Land of Sins from them.
In the terrible Land of Sins, the sinners lived a turbulent, insecure life. Even the toughest bandits always had panic and desperation written all over their faces, like a bunch of shocked birds. Every second could be the last second of their life.
The three guests from the sky, on the other hand, had arrogance, disdain, and laziness on their faces, which were the expressions of the absolute dominators of other people's lives.
The mental devil's voice echoed. "What have you found?"
"Those people are not 'old grandpas form the sky' but out-and-out Immortal Cultivators," Li Yao said very confidently. "According to Han Te and Gu Zhengyang, most of the 'old grandpas' do not attack other people voluntarily after they fall. Even if some of them did, it was their instinctive reactions when they were panicking.
"The three guests from the sky, on the other hand, obviously massacred those people carefully in neat and well-rehearsed teamwork. They appear very rational and do not appear to have lost their memories."
"Anything else?" the mental devil asked.
"Different from the 'old grandpas' and the 'relief assets' that are usually very eye-catching, they did not want anybody to notice that they had landed from the sky. Therefore, their landing cabins boasted stealth functions, and they blew up the cabins and killed all the eyewitnesses. In that case, nobody will be able to tell where they are from!"
After pondering for a moment, Li Yao continued his analysis. "They are not very old, especially the black giant on the right and the six-eyed guy on the left, but their Cultivation is appallingly high. They are almost among the most exceptional elites and rarest geniuses. Together with their high-end crystal suits with such remarkable performances, let me see… assuming that their highest combat ability is five times what they demonstrated just now, I'm afraid that it will take me ten to twenty minutes to finish all of them. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Impressive. How impressive!"
"…Enough of the cr*p," the mental devil said. "I'm asking you to pay attention to their Cosmos Rings. They all have Cosmos Rings with them!"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Right. They have just stored their crystal suits into their Cosmos Rings. Interesting. Three mysterious Immortal Cultivators have landed in the Land of Sins with Cosmos Rings and high-level crystal suits. What are they here for? Also, the woman seems to have foreseen the arrival of the Immortal Cultivators. What role is she playing exactly?"
Li Yao shifted his attention to the woman whom he had just saved.
It seemed that they had indeed meddled in other people's affairs.
Even if they had not shown up, the three Immortal Cultivators would have landed and killed the bandits of the Flying Leopard Hall. Was that the aim of the woman?
The cat-like woman was unlikely to be an Immortal Cultivator. Li Yao was quite certain about that.
She did not seem to even know the three Immortal Cultivators. Hearing the explosions and screams behind her, she shuddered hard and put on an expression that was a hundred times more horrible than just now before she shrieked, "Stop! Stop now! You cannot outrun them. Stop the shuttle if you want to survive!"
Li Yao thought of something and hit the brakes in time, floating in midair.
What she said was true. He sensed that three rather powerful telepathic thoughts had caught up and locked onto them. With the performance of the enemy's crystal suits, it would be simple to catch up with them.
Seeing the ignorance on Han Te's and Liu Li's faces, the cat-like woman was apparently struggling and hesitant. She gnashed her teeth. "Hey, you two little idiots didn't really come to rescue me, did you?"
Han Te and Liu Li looked at each other and nodded. "Of course we did. Why else would we do it?"
"F*ck!" The woman cursed very rudely. Scratching the bird nest on her head helplessly, she punched Li Yao's body heavily again as if she were venting her anger. Naturally, she grimaced in pain again. "What kind of spiritual puppet is this? It looks like a garbage can but has a rather hard shell!
"Forget it. Let's leave it aside. Listen. Your life and death will be decided in the next moment! The three brutal people over there are all monsters who consider killing the same as drinking water. You have seen what became of the bandits of the Flying Leopard Hall, haven't you?
"As for people like you, they will not bother to blink after they kill two hundred of you in a row. I'm not kidding!
"All in all, you will not speak a word later. Let me handle everything!
"My name is Xin Xiaoqi. I'm quite famous in the area. However, you two are obviously stupid bumpkins, and you must've never heard my name before. Whenever you want to sell first-hand intelligence, get something from somebody else's pocket, sell some risky goods quickly, or hire some assassins, you can always come to me!
"I must be out of my mind to help you for no good reason. You must calm yourselves down and consider yourselves on the same team as me. Do not move or say anything stupidly, or you will get me killed too. Do you understand, you two idiots?"
Chapter 1993: Arrival of the Players |
Han Te and Liu Li were apparently intimidated by Xin Xiaoqi. Liu Li shyly said, "Sister Xiaoqi…"
"Cut it. Who's your sister?" Xin Xiaoqi snorted. "You have yourself to blame for your misfortune. It's nobody else's fault. If the three monsters go on a killing spree, don't count on me to rescue you, and I won't be capable of rescuing you. Do you understand?"
Han Te and Liu Li looked at each other in bewilderment and gulped at the same time. Then they looked at Li Yao.
"Why are you looking at this thing? Are you hoping that the garbage can will save you?" Xin Xiaoqi was very dissatisfied with their distraction. Knocking Li Yao's head several times, she said, "This is just a spiritual puppet that will be torn into pieces any minute. All in all, keep your mouths shut. Whatever I say and whatever they ask you to do, do it. That is the only way to save you sorry lives. Do you hear me?"
Xin Xiaoqi crawled out of the shuttle, yelling. She then stood on top of the shuttle, took off her protective suit, and waved into the distance.
Li Yao observed in silence. It seemed that this Xin Xiaoqi was a thief and an intelligence dealer in the Land of Sins. Such people were not rare, but how exactly did she reach out to the Immortal Cultivators?
The mental devil, on the other hand, steered Neltharion to approach the three Immortal Cultivators, trying to collect more intelligence.
The three Immortal Cultivators could never have foreseen the existence of Neltharion even in their dreams. Under the illusion that everybody nearby had been killed, they chatted with each other, chuckling.
The muscular man who was tall, strong, and had caramel skin grinned at the broken limbs on the ground. "Is this the legendary, mysterious, much-expected 'Extreme Survival Challenge'? It is just so-so in my eyes. Those guys are too weak. They are not worthy enough even as a pastime."
"Why are you so hasty? We have only just landed. This place is only a 'novice village' at best. It is meant for us to grow familiar with the air, environment, and gravity of the place."
The shorty with six crystal cameras on his face smiled and warmed his arms up. Then he took a deep breath and licked his lips with a bloodthirsty expression. "I kind of like this plac
e. The air here has the most intense stench of blood, which is truly intoxicating. I can't wait to go on a killing spree."
"You two must pull yourselves together. Do not think that this place is a playground where you can do anything," the woman who had a viper tattoo on her face and looked more senior said coldly. "This is different from all the trials and the training sessions you had in the Grand Illusionary Land. There is no guidance, no directions, no game rules, and no operational logic in this place! The behavior of all the monsters and natives is unpredictable and uncontrollable. They may attack you at any time for no good reason. It is impossible for you to sign any effective pact with them.
"There are also a lot of wild creatures whose level far exceeds yours, including 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie and Xiahou Wuxin, the leader of Liberty City, whom we are going to meet this time. They are two toughest bosses here, and either of them can beat you to death easily!
"Remember, if you die here, you will stay dead. Even the odds of you being revived as a spectral Cultivator are little to none. This is what a perfectly simulated Extreme Survival Challenge is. No. This is not a simulation but the most authentic battlefield!
"If you are caught in extreme danger because of your own foolishness, nobody will come to help you. The other 'players' will only take advantage of you! In the meantime, if your stupidity affects my operation, I will kill you without any hesitation. Is that clear?"
The viper-tattooed woman's voice was not loud, but the graveness in her words made the muscular man and the six-eyed shorty both shudder in fear. They hurried to nod and said, "Absolutely. We will listen to the captain on everything!"
"That's good." The viper-tattooed woman nodded in satisfaction. Then she reassured them. "Be patient. The Battle of Liberty City is a 'golden quest' that is rarely open. Other than the main quests to fight on the side of the Fist King and the side of the leader of Liberty City, there are also a lot of silver, bronze, and iron secondary quests. As long as it does not hinder us from accomplishing the most important mission, it won't hurt if we spare some time playing for a while."