Chapter 529: Kill The Guild Leader Of Thorned Flower Guild!

90 seconds.

That was a total of one and a half minutes.

What could be accomplished with this amount of time?

In times of peace, this little amount of time was probably only enough to drink a glass of water or finish one cigarette.

If this was the ‘business’ between and a man and a woman, that amount of time was not even enough for foreplay.

However, 90 seconds was how long it took to throw the newly formed ‘Alliance’ from the vaunted peak of the Heavens down to the depths of Hell.

…

This counter offensive was almost suicidal in nature and intensity. The losses the invading Player forces suffered was high to the extreme.

In the Alliance Players’ opinion, such a counter offensive by Zero City was simply illogical.

Given such an amount of battle reserves, any reasonable commanding officer on the defender’s side would certainly commit them into defence – with so much combat units and equipment, they would be able to defend for far longer if they were to put those units into defence.

However, the amount of losses the defenders incurred from this counter offensive was simply… …

This was simply a self-destructive act with the intent of damaging both sides.

…

“A ruthless war?”

Miao Yan was standing at a distant spot on the south street. She had been careful to stay away from the counter offensive. At present, she was hiding on the terrace of a building. It was safe enough for her to use her pair of binoculars to view what was going on in the distance.

This war was pure ruthlessness.

There was no concern for losses, only who would bleed more.

Could it be? The commanding officer for Zero City’s defence doesn’t intend to defend anymore?

Committing all combat reserves into this kind of pointless attack…

The areas affected by the counter offensive no longer resembled a residential area.

If the earlier state of the intersection was the image one would see after a war, at present… … it would be difficult for anyone to guess that this was originally part of a city.

Not a single building had its original appearance intact.

The stretch of ground was in ruins. Remnants of blown up tanks, mechs, aircrafts and battle androids littered the area.

There were also… … various bloodied corpses.

The Alliance Players were retreating.

This violent wave of counter offensive finally brought struck fear into the Players’ hearts. After suffering from this intense counter offensive, the losses they suffered made them decide upon a most rational choice: A temporary withdrawal.

Everyone was withdrawing. They retreated to the central square to gain a safe distance before reorganizing their forces and plan their next move.

This was a very rational decision.

Miao Yan put down her pair of binoculars and knitted her brows as she contemplated the matter.

Something… … is not right.

She then raised her head to look up at the sky.

Zero City was essentially a virtual space. Thus, it was only natural for this place to not have any sun or moon – those things should have been simulated out by the system here. At present however, the sky had become a vast expanse of grey.

Yet, Miao Yan was able to sense something abnormal about the air.

It was a very subtle and distant sound.

It was as if she was standing in the field during summer. If her surroundings were quiet enough, she would be able to hear the distinct and combined buzzing sounds coming from the mosquitoes.

Those sounds reached her through the air, creating only minor traces. However, the sounds continued non-stop to form… …

Miao Yan listened to the sound for a few seconds and her brows suddenly jumped up.

…

Alpha carrier.

It was the most widely used type of small-scale transport aircraft among the resident guilds and even the Angel Corps.

It was characterized by its high level of technology, a small frame, easy to operate, highly responsive and a good velocity.

Its biggest advantage was the low amount of noise produced.

Naturally, aircrafts in the real world would not be able to compare with this hi-tech equipment.

After powering up, the Alpha carrier drew energy from its energy reactor instead of some common fuel-based engine. Thus, it would not generate as much noise as a normal aircraft.

Zero City was the one to provide them with this piece of technology. After gaining it, the resident guilds came to use it far and wide and would even replicate its designs.

However, no matter how much better its level of technology was, no matter how much lower the sound generated was compared to the aircrafts commonly used in the real world… … there were presently over 100 of those Alpha carriers in operation. There was no way to suppress the noise generated from such a large operation.

Chen Xiaolian stood behind the line of defence and observed the Alpha carriers parked on the square before the Board of Patriarchs’ building. All of them were operating at full power. Although it was not yet time for them to fly up, they had started up the aircrafts so that they could take off at any moment.

Chen Xiaolian felt as though he was standing in the middle of a swarm of bees. Buzzing sounds reverberated throughout the area.

He was unable to help himself from raising his voice as he shouted, “How is the situation?”

Bluesea had already put on a black coloured protective suit – Chen Xiaolian noted that he was unable to identify the level of the protective suit. That suit was likely the special equipment exclusive to Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.

Bluesea jumped down from atop a War Bastion. After the earlier counter offensive, this War Bastion’s energy reactor had blown up. However, Bluesea chose to use it as a watchtower and used a pair of binoculars to observe what was going on in the distance. After jumping down, he shouted back, “Very good! Area A is all clear! We can take-off at any time! The enemies are retreating en masse!”

Chen Xiaolian checked the time and saw that there were still three more minutes before the appearance of the temporary passageway portal.

Everything… … will proceed smoothly, right?

…

Angel Wu had also obtained the first-hand report.

His report came from the remaining Angel Guild member inside the Board of Patriarch’s control room. To be more accurate… … it was the one IT staff member who chose to remain inside the control room.

A portion of Zero City’s surveillance cameras was still operational. Although over 70 per cent had been damaged, the remaining surveillance devices were still able to send back information from various corners of Zero City back to the control room.

Angel Wu’s mech rushed out from the building.

“Everything is proceeding smoothly! They have retreated! We have obtained precious time and space!” Angel Wu did not hush his voice. Instead, he turned on his loudspeaker while standing in the middle of the buzzing sounds and shouted, “Now! Take off!”

Bluesea’s palms were soaked with sweat.

He turned around and looked at the square where the Alpha carriers had parked themselves in formation. He looked through the window of the nearest Alpha carrier and saw the members inside – anxiousness and grief filled their faces.

“Then… … begin!” Bluesea then gritted his teeth.

He had already made his bet and did everything he could.

Even if he wanted to do something else, their side no longer possessed the ability to execute a counter offensive as large as the one they did earlier.

He tapped his earpiece and shouted in a grim voice, “Start the operation! Follow the sequence. Group A, begin take-off! All units must follow the sequence; no one is allowed to disrupt the order! Supervision team be ready to maintain the order!”

After Bluesea was done giving his orders, Angel Wu issued out his own, “Combat personnel from Angel Corps, enter your respective combat units and be ready to engage the enemy! Target range of 500 metres! Anything enters your fire zone, fire with extreme prejudice! Ignore the loss of ammo and energy! Everyone is to maintain a state of combat and not leave!”

The square area at the back of the Board of Patriarchs’ building opened up to reveal a large underground hangar and a fleet of aircrafts slowly rose up to the sky…

Time was ticking away…

“Now, all we can do is pray.” There was a withered look on Bluesea’s face as he looked at the aircrafts rising up into the sky. The formation of aircrafts slowly approached their target location…

…

“Pray… … although I know that this world has no Gods – but if you exist, then please bless us! Bless my brothers and sisters so that they may safely escape this destroyed home.”

In the dark control room, one control desk’s monitor continued to emit light.

The man who chose to remain behind whispered as he put both his hands together in a praying posture.

Even then, his eyes did not turn away from the monitor for even an instant.

There on the monitor screen were several smaller windows showing what was happening on the battlefield in real time.

…

Three minutes was not a long time.

Normally, 180 seconds would seem fleeting.

At this moment however, everyone was clenching their teeth heavily and the time seemed to be moving at a snail like pace.

Even so, this damned wait continued.

Up in the sky, the formation of aircrafts flew at a very low altitude. The vanguard units had already moved beyond Zero City’s line of defence and were approaching their passage of life.

Everyone felt their hearts beating up to their throats.

“Eight more seconds… seven seconds…” Bluesea looked at the time.

“Five seconds, four seconds..” Angel Wu stared at the sky.

“Three seconds, two seconds…” Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath.

Bluesea’s face flickered.

He had received a report from the vanguard units from the fleet of aircrafts.

“Report, temporary teleportation portal found! Temporary teleportation portal found!”

The voice contained excitement.

Bluesea’s body trembled and he shouted with all his might, “Forward! Enter the teleportation portal at full speed! All units, follow the set sequence and forward! Charge!”

When the first Alpha carrier reached the coordinate in the middle of the sky, it instantly disappeared. At that very instant, all the remaining combat personnel who were on the ground cheered.

They understood… … the door of life finally opened up for them.

…

In the control room, tears filled the face of the man who had chosen to remain behind. His left hand was now holding onto his gun.

It was an old-fashioned revolver. He observed the monitor screen and watched as one of the aircrafts reached the teleportation portal and disappeared.

Tears filled his eyes and a smile appeared on his face.

His fingers moved to insert the bullets into the revolver.

“Good, as long as I am the only one left, that is good.”

At that moment however, his face suddenly sank.

“That, what is that?”

Through the monitor screen, he watched as a beam of golden light shot forward from afar, instantly covering a distance of hundreds of metres.

All the detection devices could see was a line of light.

A line of light.

…

Before Bluesea and Angel Wu’s smile could fade, they heard an emergency warning.

“A unit is approaching! It is too fast! Estimated time of contact… … 20 seconds!”

“How many?” Bluesea roared quickly.

“One! Just one!” An anxious voice responded through his earpiece.

Bluesea’s face instantly took on an ugly countenance as he turned to look at Angel Wu.

“[S] class! It can only be [S] class!”

Angel Wu’s mech had already stood up. It pulled out a huge war blade from its back. “I will stop him! We cannot allow this person to interrupt our retreat!”

After that, Angel Wu’s mech bent its knees and vaulted upward, moving toward the front most line of defence.

“Bluesea, you are in charge of giving the orders!”

Those were Angel Wu’s last words.

With just a few jumps, the mech covered a distance of over a hundred metres as it rushed far toward the south street.

Behind Bluesea, the white-haired and red-faced Ronan and Aderick suddenly laughed out. “Excellent! I did not think there would be a chance to kill off an [S] class Player in the last second! There is only one? Let us go together! Killing off an [S] class is a pretty good thing!”

The two of them flew out as they chased after Angel Wu…

Bluesea looked at Chen Xiaolian. Seeing that Chen Xiaolian had also wanted to move out, Bluesea stopped him.

“Xiaolian!”

“Mm?”

“Don’t go.” Seeing that Chen Xiaolian was about to argue against this decision, Bluesea said in a grave tone, “You are the last [S] class on our side! Stay here just in case something unexpected crops up!”

…

After charging out a distance of around 500 metres, Angel Wu finally saw his target objective that was moving forward from afar.

His mech swiftly stabilized its position. Next, it went down on its knees and its left hand rapidly pulled out a rifle from its waist.

It was an Electromagnetic Rifle.

The body of the rifle was mounted on the mech’s arm and Angel Wu then aimed at the incoming figure that looked like a golden meteor.

Without showing any hesitation, he opened fire.

A loud buzzing sound erupted from the Electromagnetic Rifle as a blue beam of light shot out and flew toward the incoming golden light.

Angel Wu could clearly see his shot striking the target objective in the middle of the sky.

In the next second however, Angel Wu’s mech abruptly jumped up from the ground to hastily leap backward.

The collision failed to inflict any harm upon the enemy. The golden beam of light casually shattered the blue beam of light as it pierced its way through it.

Angel Wu’s mech had just jumped away when the golden beam of light struck the very place that it was standing on just now.

While the mech was still in the middle of the air, it activated its energy shield to full power. However, an explosive light washed over it.

Angel Wu felt his mech’s body shook. It was as though it was an insect trapped within a storm. It was instantly sent flying.

Angel Wu utilized his high level of skill to control his mech’s position as it was being thrown into the sky. When he finally stabilized his mech, he saw the figure on the ground.

It was… … a man.

He was in a sleek metallic, combat equipment. It was a seamless mech armour and his entire being resembled a shiny metal human.

To say that this was a mech armour… … the entire body was covered with a layer of metal. Not a single gap could be seen on it.

The only gap was at the eyes. There, a narrow line of crystal could be seen.

This opponent had no weapon in his hand and he simply stood there.

Compared to Angel Wu’s mech, the size of this opponent was much smaller.

However, there was solemnness in Angel Wu’s heart and he did not recklessly take action. Instead, he put up his guard as he faced this opponent.

The fellow suddenly turned to look at Angel Wu. Next, Angel Wu heard a calm voice speaking out.

“Are you the one who opened fire just now? Pretty good marksmanship, very accurate.”

The metallic man stood still.

Then, two swooshing sounds could be heard as two figures landed behind the fellow.

Ronan and Aderick stood behind the enemy. Along with Angel Wu, they formed the ‘品’ formation as they encircled this enemy.

Angel Wu used his mech’s surveillance system to assess their surroundings and even far into the distance to verify that there were no other targets nearby.

In other words, this was a 1 VS 3 situation.

His heart calmed down.

There were three [S] class experts on his side. Even if this opponent was strange… … surely, he would not be able to create an unexpected situation.

Angel Wu, Ronan and Aderick had the same idea.

Since their enemy sent just one [S] class expert, they should take advantage of this opportunity to kill this person.

Killing off an [S] class expert here would undoubtedly inflict a heavy loss upon the Player faction.

Although this would in no way make up for their loss of Zero City… … it could at least help them vent some of their resentment and rage.

Boom!

The mech landed on the ground and Angel Wu slowly raised the war blade in the mech’s hand. He pointed it at the opponent.

“Angel Wu from the Angel Corps, Zero City!”

Behind the opponent…

“Ronan from the Prestige Guild!”

“Aderick from the Knights of Darkness Guild!”

As [S] class powerhouses, it was only natural for them to have a certain dignity and way of doing things. The three of them spoke out their names loudly.

This opponent was silent for a few seconds. Then, the three powerhouses from Zero City heard a voice coming from this figure.

After releasing a few gentle chuckles, this opponent then spoke in a somewhat curious voice.

“Three [S] class masters. Your names resound like claps of thunder.” This opposing figure suddenly revealed a smile and the face part of his metal suit suddenly slid away to reveal the parts above the neck.

Blond hair, a handsome face, a pair of sapphire like eyes and the charming yet heretical smile.

He gave a light bow.

“Shen from Thorned Flower Guild.”

The three leading figures from Zero City were startled.

Shen from Thorned Flower Guild!

If one were to ask who was the strongest figure within the Player faction, this name would undoubtedly be the one to crop up.

This was a legendary name.

Angel Wu suddenly sensed that this could be the best chance.

“Ignore the rules! Kill him!”

With a roar, Angel Wu’s mech leapt forward, its war blade hacking down.

The white-haired, red-face Ronan unleashed a sphere of golden coloured flames. He appeared to be bathed in the flames.

As for Aderick, he pulled out a knightly sword from his cloak and stabbed forward with his sword.

The same thought was coursing through their minds.

Kill! Kill the Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild!

…