Chapter 628: Dangerous Place

Chapter 628 Dangerous Place

When Chen Xiaolian woke up, he saw that the view outside the SUV was different.

The vehicle was still moving forward. However, it was not moving upon any road. Instead, they moved forward through a lush savannah dotted with large trees.

“How long was I unconscious?”

Chen Xiaolian exerted himself to straighten his body and turned to look at Bluesea, who was beside him.

“Two hours,” answered Bluesea who continued driving. He continued, “Due to fear of reinforcements, we did not stop down to let you rest. You will have to wait until we reach the town before you can get a good rest.”

“Mm.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “How much longer?”

Bluesea considered the question for a moment. “After we make it past this grassland, we will enter a desert area. After that, we will reach the little town. It will take roughly one or two hours.”

“Excellent.”

“We have already safely made our way through two instance dungeon areas. For the desert area next… … when we first set out, we had encountered some ants there. Thankfully, they were not too fast and were unable to pursue us,” said Bluesea as he looked at Chen Xiaolian.

Looking back at Bluesea, Chen Xiaolian nodded silently.

“If you are feeling very tired, you should rest up first. After we return to the little town, we should be safe. Right…” Bluesea looked at Chen Xiaolian again. “Thank you for saving us.”

“No need for thanks. Just remember, after returning to the little town, help me gather information about the one I am looking for.” Chen Xiaolian shut his eyes and leaned back once more on the seat.

Just now, after having regained his consciousness, he had tested it out. As expected, his physical attributes were now that of an ordinary human.

It would appear that the price for utilizing the Goddess of Dawn’s attribute combusting skill remained the same even in World’s End.

More importantly…

Skyblade’s power within his body was no more.

Chen Xiaolian’s comprehensive level of power was, at best, no greater than [A+] class.

However, that was the comprehensive level.

The calculations for that level included his ability to summon the adorable Four-Eyed Cat, Bai Qi, his weapon, the Sword in the Stone, and his various equipment.

When it came to personal strength, Chen Xiaolian’s highest basic attribute was his Physique, which was only at [A] class.

One Overwhelming Sunlight Purification attack obtained through the combustion of those basic attributes alone would never be enough to defeat an [S] class expert like Wu Ya.

Only by combusting Skyblade’s power as well could Chen Xiaolian unleash that powerful attack. However, the price of doing so - 

All of it was combusted and he was now a genuinely ordinary human.

Thankfully, in the Tokyo instance dungeon, Chen Xiaolian had taken a Power Propagation Serum. The serum will allow his combusted basic attributes to automatically recover until it reached its original state.

The problem, however, was that it required time.

The last time Chen Xiaolian utilized the Overwhelming Sunlight Purification skill was in Zero City when he had to face Shen. After that, it took him roughly 10 days for his basic attributes to fully recover.

At present, Chen Xiaolian could only stay in World’s End for 140 hours.

Around four to five hours had passed since Chen Xiaolian entered this World’s End. There were only five plus days left. That was far from enough for him to return to his normal state.

But most importantly, he had lost Skyblade’s power.

“All right, we’ve reached the desert.”

Bluesea’s words interrupted Chen Xiaolian’s thoughts.

Opening his eyes, Chen Xiaolian saw a noticeable dividing line in the distance.

There, the lush grassland suddenly disappeared and was quickly, without any transitional stage, replaced by a stretch of endless desert.

“Everyone, get your rifles ready. Be careful,” said Bluesea with a serious expression as he looked back at the three seated behind. After that, he turned back to face Chen Xiaolian and explained, “Sometimes, the ants will hide themselves beneath the sand only to pop out all of a sudden. Although their speed is inferior compared to a vehicle, they are still rather troublesome.”

The two men nodded and began checking their firearms. However, Grace pursed her lips to the side. “What is there to fear? Don’t we still have him? He is so powerful. How can those few ants compare to him?”

“Chen Xiaolian just had a fight with the monster. He needs to rest. Besides…” Bluesea continued coolly, “What right do we have to put everything on him?”

With a sigh, Chen Xiaolian turned to Bluesea and said, “Give me one as well… … a rifle.”

Bluesea turned to give Chen Xiaolian a glance, a look of surprise on his face. However, he did not question Chen Xiaolian. He simply nodded before handing the automatic rifle beside his seat to Chen Xiaolian. “Do you know how to use it?”

“Yes.” After accepting the rifle, Chen Xiaolian carefully checked the rifle’s bullet magazine and barrel. Then, he turned to look out the window, not saying anything else.

Their SUV quickly made its way into the desert. The amount of resistance on the SUV’s tires immediately increased and its movements became sluggish. The expressions on those at the back grew anxious.

Ten minutes later, tens of black spots appeared on the horizon ahead.

“Hold on tight. Do your best to conserve bullets. Unless they are at a certain distance, do not open fire.” Bluesea, who was driving, said grimly.

The three figures behind all gave their assent in hushed tones. It would appear that they were not feeling too anxious.

At any rate, they had encountered the giant ants before. Additionally, when compared to the Karra beasts and Wu Ya, those giant ants were nothing.

Thanks to the roaring sound coming from the SUV’s engine, the giant ants discovered the existence of their prey. Each of them rushed toward the SUV on their six, long limbs.

Bluesea rolled down all four windows. With the exception of Grace, who was in the centre seat at the back, and Bluesea himself, Chen Xiaolian, Yang Lin, and Daniel had raised up their rifles and aimed them outside.

As their SUV approached the giant ants, Chen Xiaolian was able to get a clear view of the monsters.

Each of them was as long as a normal human. Looking at them gave Chen Xiaolian a better view of the ant anatomy compared to when looking at an ant through a magnifying glass. As they crawled forward, the antennas on their heads quivered while their compound eyes glittered with a variety of colours.

The movement speed of those giant ants was not too high. It was only roughly on par with that of an ordinary human running at full speed. After discovering the SUV’s existence, the giant ants rushed forward to surround the SUV from the front. However, given their rate of movement, they were not much of a threat.

“Shoot the ones in the front.” Bluesea swerved the steering wheel slightly, moving the SUV toward the weakest spot of the giant ants’ encirclement.

Chen Xiaolian nodded. Raising the rifle, he aimed carefully at a giant ant and fired out a burst of five shots.

Although his physical attributes had fallen to that of an ordinary human, his marksmanship skill remained. Not a single one of his shots missed and all the bullets struck the giant ant’s head, piercing through its thorny shell.

The impact from the bullets caused the giant ant to stumbled backward. Yellowish-green fluids trickled out from the bullet holes and its slender limbs flailed for a bit before it tumbled down the ground.

Very weak.

Chen Xiaolian was quick to reach that evaluation.

The weapon in his hand was just an ordinary M4 carbine. Yet, it was capable of hurting the giant ant.

Yang Lin and Daniel opened fire at the same time.

Although both had decent marksmanship, theirs were only at the standard of ordinary humans. At that moment, the SUV was moving across a desert while the giant ants were constantly on the move. As both sides were moving, only some of their bullets hit home while most ended up missing.

Unlike Chen Xiaolian, even when their shots struck the giant ants, their bullets failed to hit the giant ants’ heads. Although the ants’ abdomen area was softer, they were still able to move somewhat after taking two to three bullets there.

“You guys, stop firing,” said Chen Xiaolian without looking back. At the same time, he rapidly opened fire with the assault rifle in his hand. In the blink on an eye, he had shot the heads of two giant ants.

After struggling for a bit, the two giant ants flipped on the ground. However, they were not dead. Their six limbs flailed about in the air.

Bluesea, who was driving the SUV forward quickly, knitted his brows.

More ant giants had appeared before them.

“One of you, come take the front passenger position. Unless absolutely necessary, do not open fire.”

Looking at the giant ants, which continued to pop out from beneath the sand before the SUV, Chen Xiaolian’s face turned grim. Reaching out his hand, he slid open the SUV’s sunroof. Next, he pushed himself up, crawling up and sitting on the roof of the SUV; only his legs remained inside the SUV. Then, he took aim at the giant ants in front and opened fire once more.

“Affirmative.” Without showing any hesitation, Yang Lin leaned forward and crawled into the front passenger position. The three inside the SUV held onto their rifles and aimed at the ants outside the SUV. However, they did not open fire.

Only Chen Xiaolian, who was up on the roof, opened fire. Every time he did, a giant ant would fall.

As the SUV moved forward, it left not only a trail of tire tracks, but also the corpses of the giant ants.

However, there was an issue…

There were too many of them.

“Magazine!”

“Magazine!”

“Magazine!”

Even though Chen Xiaolian had already emptied three bullet magazines, more giant ants appeared from the front, swarming toward them.

By then, Yang Lin and the others had also started to open fire, albeit sporadically. Occasionally, some giant ants would pop out near the SUV and Chen Xiaolian could not handle so many of them by himself. When those giant ants came within a certain distance, Yang Lin and the others had no choice but to open fire.

The rate at which they were using up ammunition was greater than expected.

When Bluesea and the others left the town, they were unable to bring too much ammunition with them. After having undergone a number of battles, there were only a small amount left. As for the ammunition he found in the police department, he had failed to bring them along to the convenience store.

“Magazine check. How many more do we have?” Chen Xiaolian tossed another empty magazine down the sunroof.

“Three.”

“Four.”

“I only have two left! If this continues, we will not be able to get out of this place! Why aren’t you going down to fight them?” Grace spoke up in a state of panic. “You can even beat that monster. Go kill them!”

Chen Xiaolian ignored the annoying woman. He quietly pulled the trigger, knocking down a giant ant, which was only 10 metres away from the SUV.

However, he too, was feeling somewhat worried.

Up front, more giant ants continued popping out from the sand, endless in number. Given the current situation, once they ran out of ammunition, they will likely die within the desert.

“Take a detour. If we continue on like this, I fear we won’t make it.” Chen Xiaolian shouted down.

“We cannot,” Bluesea shouted back. “There is not much fuel left! The area covered by these ants is too large. If we take a detour, we will not have enough fuel to make it back to the town! Not to mention, we are now surrounded. There is no way for us to turn!”

Chen Xiaolian quickly looked behind and saw that the swarm of giant ants behind them were no less compared to the swarm before them.

“Damn it! How did you make it past them the first time?”

Chen Xiaolian shouted loudly.

Bluesea frowned and replied, “The first time around, we only encountered around ten of them. There weren’t so many!”

“Shit! You guys, stop firing. Leave the ammunition for me!”

Chen Xiaolian inhaled deeply and switched his M4 to semi-automatic mode. He took extra care for each shot, and every bullet he fired out struck the centre of the giant ants’ heads, silently going in between their two antennas. 

Even so, giant ants continued to appear across the desert before them and all of them rushed toward the SUV.

As Chen Xiaolian held his breath to concentrate on shooting the giant ants, he secretly confirmed the state of his body.

No use. It had only been a few hours since his usage of the Overwhelming Sunlight Purification skill. The present Chen Xiaolian was no different from an ordinary human. Additionally, he had no weapon in hand. Jumping down to engage in a melee battle against the swarm of giant ants was simply suicide.

Chen Xiaolian kept swearing to himself.

Damn it! If only my storage equipment is still here, these ants are nothing.

Judging from the combat prowess shown by the giant ants, it would appear that the instance dungeon had among the lowest in terms of difficulty level. It was purely for training newbie Players and Awakened ones. Other than their numbers, the giant ants’ combat power was nothing to fear.

Back then, Chen Xiaolian managed to acquire a great harvest after successfully helping Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild seize the rights for the C11 mine. Forget the Thunderstorm Tank and Tidal Fighter, even a Sentinel mech was enough for him to wiped out all those ants.

However – he could no longer access those equipment.

The three inside the SUV had stopped firing and Chen Xiaolian had switched to semi-automatic mode. However, the number of bullet magazines remained insufficient.

By Chen Xiaolian’s estimate, the SUV will only be able to travel forward for another kilometre before running out of ammo.

Then, the giant ants will tear apart the SUV and devour all five of them.

“You… … get down and fight!” Seeing that even more giant ants were appearing from the sand, Grace was finally unable to stop herself from screaming out, “You said you will protect us!”

“Shut your damn trap! You want someone to get down? Then you go down!” 

Chen Xiaolian finally lost his temper.

Since the very beginning, this woman only knew how to cause trouble and scream. She was of not help at all and only knew how to complain.

If not for the fact that she was one of Bluesea’s people and his serious need to ask around their town regarding Qiao Qiao, he would have kicked her out long ago.

“Xiaolian, this won’t do. Do you have any plan?” asked Bluesea.

“I… … no. If we run out of bullets, we can only wait for death together!”

Even a good housewife cannot cook up a meal if there is no rice. All Chen Xiaolian could do was to smile bitterly.

Additionally, seeing as how Bluesea had asked him that, it meant that Bluesea had also realized that the fight with Wu Ya had left Chen Xiaolian bereft of his extraordinary abilities.

“Wait!”

Light suddenly flashed across Chen Xiaolian’s eyes.

Not far before them, a metal plate was glittering from behind a mound of sand.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Xiaolian then shouted down.

“Bluesea! Turn to the left!”

…