Chapter 281: Thunderstorm Tank

The wolves raked the surface of the cliff with its claws, creating “ka ka” sounds as they did so. Their sharp claws were able to peel some of the surface of the weather-beaten rocky cliff!

Seeing the ever increasing number of wolves beneath the red coloured mountain peak, Han Bi who was hiding inside the Chameleon Tent felt the chill in his heart grow colder.

Some of the more powerful looking wolves had begun their attempts to jump up the cliff. Some used their claws to rake the surface of the rocky cliff while others tried jumping up. Those who did, their head reached a height parallel to the entrance of the tent!

Cold sweat broke out from Han Bi’s forehead!

…

“These fellows sure are energetic.”

Sawakita Mitsuo fanned himself with his fan as he stood atop the rocky platform; he observed the pack of wolves beneath the peak with a smile on his face. The smile was one of gentleness and there was a kind expression on his face. It was as though he was not looking at a pack of ravenous wolves but his own pet dog instead.

Phoenix pursed her lips to the side.

The night is already so cold, yet he is still fanning himself…

The middle-aged man within this old man’s team is obviously just here to fetch soya sauce. Even so, he is showing a great deal of loyalty and reverence toward this old man.

We can probably ignore this fellow.

Turning to the bald girl, Phoenix felt a certain feeling of discomfort.

How should it be described as…

She was like a sword that had just drawn human blood! She was brimming with an aura of danger!

Nagase Komi was coldly seated on the rocky platform as she observed the snarling pack of wolves below. It was unknown what she was thinking of at that moment.

The same coldness was emanating out from her eyes and she casually flexed her fingers in a seemingly playful manner. Her sharp fingernails had easily pierced through the hard rocky cliff, leaving behind deep incisions upon the surface of the cliff – it had seemed as easy as cutting tofu.

Monster who had noticed that could not restrain himself from frowning.

This girl is just too cold. She doesn’t speak at all, seemingly having an aversion toward speaking. Even the face she uses to look at others is like a block of ice.

Putting it in another way… Monster felt that the girl did not give off the atmosphere of a human!

“Earlier, we were attacked by a pack of wolves. Thankfully, the young in my team are quite strong and were able to chase the pack off. Unexpectedly, after using guns, a change occurred. The more we kill, the more wolves appear. Additionally, they also grew stronger. The strongest one is the alpha wolf, not even bullets can pierce its thick hide anymore. That was when I realized that something was off. Since we have no idea what was going one, we decided to run away first. However, these wolves are relentless. They pursued us all the way here… we ended up dragging you into this, Guild Leader Phoenix.”

Sawakita Mitsuo said in a courteous tone.

Phoenix was silent as she observed the pack of wolves beneath their position. After some time had passed, she said in a heavy tone, “Sir Generalissimo, do you have any good ideas? Considering how many wolves there are, if we are unable to use guns…”

After saying that, Phoenix paused before continuing, “Could it be you want to use magic? You can’t possibly be suggesting that we go down and fight them with our bare hands, right?”

Sawakita Mitsuo laughed before replying, “It is presently night. I want to wait until dawn arrives before we do anything. Who knows? Maybe by dawn, these wolves would have dispersed.”

The words of an irresponsible person.

Phoenix harrumphed.

She was aware that the old man was putting on an act. However, there was no way for her to expose him.

Even so, Phoenix was not someone who favoured the idea of putting her life in the palms of another.

She turned to face Monster. Seeing the expression on confidence in Monster’s eyes, she nodded her head.

“Let’s test it out and see for ourselves what these fellows were talking about. After all, seeing is believing,” Monster secretly said to Phoenix through the guild channel.

Phoenix nodded her head.

Monster immediately pulled out a rifle and went into a shooting posture.

“Wait! Wait! What are you trying to do? Didn’t you hear what Teacher Sawakita said?”

The middle-aged man’s face contorted and he anxiously rushed forward to hold the muzzle of the rifle.

“Take your hand away,” said Monster with a sneer.

The middle-aged man’s face was ugly to behold.

Phoenix spoke leisurely, “Sir Generalissimo, is this how the people of your team behaves? Do you like pointing out the actions of others?”

Sawakita Mitsuo did not become furious. He gave a light smile and quickly said something to the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man bitterly removed his hands.

Bang!

A clear sound of gunshot echoed out!

A huge black coloured wolf that was crouching among the pack of wolves abruptly shuddered before tilting over and falling to the ground. A bullet had smashed its head.

The bullet of the large calibre gun had instantly split open the wolf’s head!

The surrounding large wolves were shocked by the sound of the gunshot and they jumped away. However, it did not take long before the sound of howls came out and they rushed toward the corpse of the wolf. The wolves competed with one another for the corpse as they tore into it. The resulting scent of blood attracted even more wolves to come over and more competition ensued.

In just a moment, the dead wolf’s corpse had been split apart and over 10 wolves were devouring those parts.

It was then that Monster’s eyes suddenly lit up and he shouted in surprise, “Guild Leader! Killing the wolves gives points! This shot of mine gave me a point!”

Phoenix’s eyes too, lit up!

Killing the wolves using guns will give them points?

Back then, both Monster and her had fought off against the pack of wolves, killing off quite a number of them. Yet, they had not obtained any points.

Monster was overjoyed at obtaining the point. In his joy, he fired with his gun once more!

Bang bang bang bang!

After several consecutive shots were fired, four wolves had died. Just as quickly, the pack of wolves fell into a frenzy once more!

Even more wolves rushed forward to fight for the corpses! Chaos broke out beneath the red coloured rocky peak.

“Four dead wolves, four points!” Monster laughed. “This is a good deal!”

Seeing that he had already switched to automatic mode for his rifle and was about to continue shooting… Sawakita Mitsuo suddenly said in a low tone, “Isn’t that enough? Guild Leader Phoenix?”

“Mm?”

“You just want to see for yourself what is going on here. Four wolves will be enough for you to see what is going on. Why not wait and see what happens before you decide if the points are worth it?”

Phoenix’s heart skipped a beat and she said, “Monster, wait for a bit.”

Monster frowned. However, he was willing to obey Phoenix’s order. He directed the muzzle of his rifle down the ground and threw a stare at the old man before directing his gaze down below the red coloured rocky peak.

They did not have to wait long. Phoenix was able to quickly see a change happening!

Among the wolves, a small number of them had transformed!

They were the ones who had been competing for the corpses earlier.

Those wolves suddenly lay on the ground and howled at the sky. As they howled, the bones in their bodies emitted “ka ka” sounds. Their fur increased in length and the muscles seemingly increased in size…

A cursory glance would have revealed nothing. However, when observed in detail, it was clear that, when compared to their surrounding companions, there were slight differences on those wolves. It seemed that in the span of a few moments time, those wolves had grown somewhat stronger.

“If you continue to use guns to kill them… these wolves will become even stronger and stronger,” Sawakita Mitsuo said coolly. “If you do not believe me, you can try to throw down a few grenades. Who knows? These wolves might transform into werewolves.”

Phoenix’s eyelids twitched.

She took a deep breath and said, “Monster.”

“Guild Leader.”

“I need you to kill a few wolves. Use conventional methods to kill them, your weapons and combat skill.” Phoenix pondered before continuing, “Go down for a bit, but be careful.”

Monster grinned and replied, “All right, I like the sound of that.”

He put away his rifle and pulled out his blade and iron hammer once again. He walked to the edge of the rocky platform and looked down. Then, with a loud laugh, he jumped!

His silhouette descended like an artillery and a loud boom could be heard when he arrived within the middle of the pack of wolves!

Dust and sand filled the sky, stirred from the impact of Monster’s descent, which had created a huge crater!

The moment he landed, his blade slashed out, hacking off the head of a large wolf standing beside him! His iron hammer swung out and another wolf was smashed into pulverized paste even as it was sent flying!

Two wolves charged him from behind. However, Monster turned around and his iron hammer made a round arc and two consecutive “bang” sounds could be heard before the two wolves were sent flying!

At the same time, Phoenix who was on the rocky platform above suddenly retrieved a bow and a quiver of arrows. She knelt down on the ground and was quick to nock an arrow and let loose.

Xiu! Pu!

A sharp arrow struck the left eye of one of the wolves, piercing its way through its head!

“Good archery!” Sawakita Mitsuo who was standing beside applauded.

There was a cold, unresponsive look on Phoenix’s face as she continued to fire another arrow.

Xiu!

This time, her arrow struck a large wolf that was in the process of pouncing toward Monster. Her arrow pierced through the wolf as well and stabbed itself into the ground!

“Thanks, Guild Leader!” Monster laughed as he executed a backhanded blade attack, which cleaved a wolf into two. Next, he tossed his iron hammer forward and several wolves were sent flying together with it.

Monster strode toward the red coloured rocky peak and pulled up his iron hammer, which he then used to smash a hole through the stomach of another wolf. After that, he lashed out with his leg, kicking away a wolf that was planning to launch a sneak attack from the side.

Monster fought courageously. However, he was deep in the middle of the pack of wolves. The wolves kept surging forward one after another and Monster appeared to be on the verge of being swarmed.

Phoenix suddenly grabbed out five arrows…

Xiu xiu xiu xiu xiu!

Not a single one was shot in vain!

After the five air piercing sound was heard, a small part of the wolves beside Monster was cleared.

“Five successive shots! Brilliant! Brilliant!” Sawakita Mitsuo laughed loudly.

Phoenix inhaled and shouted, “Almost! Monster, get back!”

She pulled out several more arrows and let loose the arrows, which killed off the large wolves beside Monster, helping him pave a way out. Monster laughed loudly and swung both his hands around. His iron hammer spun around rapidly like a windmill and he strode forward.

His entire being was like a human tank as he crushed all opposition in his way. After charging until the bottom area of the red coloured rocky peak, he kept his iron hammer and leapt up.

Monster’s figure jumped a full three meters up into the air and thrust his blade into the rocky cliff! Using the blade as leverage, he sent his other hand out to grab the crevice on the cliff before pulling out the blade. Rinsing and repeating the actions, he quickly climbed his way up.

A large wolf attempted to launch a sneak attack on him but was shot down by Phoenix’s arrow.

Soon, Monster made his way up and jumped onto the rocky platform. His body was stained with blood and pulverized flesh, but he paid no heed to them. He felt his face and shouted, “Great! That was enjoyable!”

Sawakita Mitsuo regarded Monster with narrowed eyes and smiled, “If you were born in the ancient times, you would have been a rare and fearsome figure.”

Phoenix quietly observed what was happening beneath them.

There was a commotion within the pack of wolves. Just now, Monster had killed off around 20 large wolves. Realizing that Monster had gone beyond their reach, the pack of wolves that had lost their target suddenly charged toward the corpses of the wolves lying on the ground. Another round of intense competition ensued between them as they tore the corpses apart.

The wolf corpses were once again cleanly divided between them.

“I did not obtain any points,” said Phoenix coolly.

Monster shook his head and said, “Me too. This is very strange. When I killed them using my rifle earlier, I had clearly obtained points.”

Phoenix silently regarded the pack of wolves milling about beneath them. She waited for a good 10 minutes.

Her expression loosened somewhat.

“It seems we now have a clear picture,” said Phoenix coolly. “Killing the wolves using ordinary skills will not give us any points. It will also not cause it to become stronger. The system prompt had stated that the usage of technological and magic type weapons or skills would affect the difficulty of the later phase. This is what it meant.”

Monster frowned and asked, “What do we do now?”

Looking down, they saw a thick crowd of wolves, seemingly numbering in the several hundreds!

Although their individual combat strength was not a threat, a swarm of ants could still kill off an elephant!

Back then, Monster had gone down and was able to go on a rampage. However, if he truly had to go down and engage in a melee to kill off several hundred wolves… even if he were to fight to his death, he might not be able to do it!

“We now have the high ground. These wolves won’t be able to reach us.” Phoenix shook her head and continued, “If we try to go down and break through their encirclement… no! After running away from here, if these wolves succeed in surrounding us, we’ll be forced into a bitter fight. When that happens, we’ll suffer losses. Besides, our vision will be affected by the darkness of the night. Wolves have the advantage at night. Rushing out into the wasteland to fight against a pack of wolves would just bring trouble to ourselves. We’ll stay here until dawn!”

After saying that, Phoenix suddenly turned to Sawakita Mitsuo and her face broke into a smile. “Sir Generalissimo, I have a suggestion.”

“What is it?”

“Didn’t the system state that we can form alliances? Since we have to stay here through the night to fight off this pack of wolves, I suppose that is a form of destiny. Why don’t we…”

Hearing those words, Sawakita Mitsuo smiled with squinted eyes and said, “Guild Leader Phoenix had taken the words from my mind.”

Pausing, he then quickly continued, “However, I had already inspected the restrictions and rights given by the alliance function. Once an alliance is formed, we will be unable to break the alliance until the end of this instance dungeon. Is Guild Leader Phoenix willing to trust me?”

Phoenix smiled faintly and replied, “The name Shogunate Generalissimo is like thunder in my ears. I have long since heard of your renowned name. To be able to meet a legendary figure in this line of occupation and cooperate with you in an instance dungeon is an honour.”

“After an alliance is formed, it would become the equivalent of forming a temporary guild. Then, the guild channel of the original guild will no longer be usable… those would be merged with the alliance channel. Guild Leader Phoenix… are you sure that would not be an issue?”

Phoenix revealed a smile and said, “Since we are going to be forming an alliance, there should be no reservations! I trust Sir Generalissimo.”

“Very well!”

Sawakita Mitsuo laughed and inserted his fan into a fold in his clothes before rolling up his sleeves. “Let’s slap our palms as a pledge.”

Phoenix did not refuse. She walked toward Sawakita Mitsuo and slapped his palm three times.

The two Guild Leaders were soon accessing their system. Selecting the alliance option, they confirmed the decision to form an alliance with each other.

[System prompt: Alliance formed. Coffeehouse Guild and Shogunate Guild have formed an alliance. This alliance will continue until the end of this instance dungeon. Members of this alliance are prohibited from killing each other. Those found in violation of this prohibition will be severely punished! As long as this alliance is in effect, the guild channel of the original guilds will be temporarily unusable while the alliance channel is activated to replace them. Regardless of which guild the alliance member is from, they may freely utilize the alliance channel.]

After seeing the system prompt, both Phoenix and Sawakita Mitsuo exchanged glances but chose not to comment on it.

At present, they appeared to have come to an agreement.

However, it was at that moment that a roaring sound could suddenly be heard coming from the distant wasteland…

It sounded like… some type of engine?

They turned their gaze toward where the sound was coming from and saw a light slowly emerging from the wasteland while approaching their position.

As the distance between the two sides narrowed, they caught sight of a tank that screamed of science fiction. The tank charged unimpeded through the wasteland at great speed!

Flat shaped turret muzzle that was equally science fictional in shape…

Monster who was standing beside widened his eyes and he exclaimed, “Thunderstorm Tank! Thorned Flower Guild?”

The moment those words escaped his lips, everyone standing on the rocky platform were stunned!

The thing approaching them through the wasteland was indeed a Thunderstorm Tank.

In the system, it was a [B+] class technological equipment.

But that was not the main point.

While it was a [B+] class equipment and was quite pricey, veterans like them could still afford it.

However, after spending a long time participating in the system’s instance dungeons, they knew that the Thunderstorm Tank was the favoured equipment of the infamous… Thorned Flower Guild!

The Thunderstorm Tanks were pretty much the standard symbol for Thorned Flower Guild’s sub teams!

Most importantly, there was the guild symbol painted upon the surface of this Thunderstorm Tank!

A large Thorned Flower symbol could be seen shining brightly upon the cold surface of the tank’s turret…

“The symbol of the Thorned Flower Guild!” Monster whispered. “Why would people from the Thorned Flower Guild participate in a punishment instance dungeon?”

Phoenix’s face was ugly to behold… in the last instance dungeon, she was in the same faction with members of the Thorned Flower Guild. In the end, they lost and the fellow from Thorned Flower Guild also died in the hands of Chen Xiaolian.

To think that she would end up encountering someone from the Thorned Flower Guild once more. Could they be here to settle the accounts for what happened last time?

It was at that moment…

The Thunderstorm Tank suddenly came to a halt.

The reason for that was that a good number of large wolves had started bounding toward it.

After the Thunderstorm Tank came to a halt, it’s turret muzzle was suddenly raised before adjusting itself… the flat shaped muzzle aimed directly at the middle of the pack of wolves and a blue coloured light appeared from the muzzle!

“Not good!”

Phoenix’s face quickly contorted!

The same expression of despair appeared on Sawakita Mitsuo’s face!

The force behind a Thunderstorm Tank’s artillery fire was far greater than that of ordinary tanks.

Additionally, Thunderstorm Tanks were the standard equipment of the technological type! It was the best technological type equipment of the [B+] class!

An ordinary rifle was enough to transform these wolves, let alone a Thunderstorm Tank!

This one blast… how many wolves would die to it?

With such a kind of destructive power, to what extent will these wolves transform?

…

“Do we open fire?” asked Roddy who was seated in the gunner position.

Chen Xiaolian, who had a cigar in his mouth replied, “Incinerate them!”

Roddy laughed, “Great! Me likey! This is the chance to earn points, only idiots will choose not to!”

…