Chapter 629: Devourer

Chapter 629 Devourer

Hearing Chen Xiaolian’s words, Bluesea did not hesitate. He swiftly swerved the SUV toward the mound of sand.

Thanks to the bullets Chen Xiaolian fired out, the SUV was able to drive toward the mound of sand, leaving only a trail of giant ant corpses.

After closing the distance between the SUV and the mound of sand, Chen Xiaolian was unable to stop himself from exclaiming joyfully to himself.

Deus ex my luck!

The glittering piece of metal that he saw earlier was exactly what he thought it to be, a pristine Devourer fighter aircraft.

It was not a system-produced aircraft, but a type of aircraft unique to Zero City. It was much smaller compared to the Tidal Fighter. Likewise, its engine and weapons system were also not as advanced or powerful. Even so, it was still a rare and expensive piece of aircraft.

In Zero City’s final battle, a number of Devourer fighter aircrafts were fielded for the counter attack wave.

As expected, this is one of Zero City’s aircrafts. After it was utterly destroyed in Zero City, it was refreshed into this desert instance dungeon.

“Cover me!”

After the SUV halted before the Devourer fighter aircraft, Chen Xiaolian tossed down the assault rifle in his hand as he shouted. Next, slapping the roof of the SUV, he jumped off the top of the vehicle before proceeding to run at full speed toward the aircraft.

After hitting the brake, Bluesea picked up the assault rifle that Chen Xiaolian had tossed down from the sunroof and took aim at the nearest giant ant before shooting at it.

The Devourer fighter aircraft was only partially exposed. Its other half remained buried in the sand. When Chen Xiaolian reached the aircraft, he discovered that the hatch was partially buried by sand.

“Damn it!”

Chen Xiaolian pressed the open button for the hatch, but the hatch remained stuck in place due to the sand. It only made two creaking sounds while remaining shut.

“Bluesea!” Chen Xiaolian shouted as he bent down to start pushing the sand away.

After the SUV stopped moving, even more giant ants appeared in quick succession and they all rushed toward them.

Bluesea swiftly jumped down from the SUV, the rifle still in hand. Then, he opened fire again. “Yang Lin, go help him! Daniel, Grace, provide cover!”

Nodding his head, Yang Lin quickly rushed out of the SUV and ran to Chen Xiaolian’s side. The two of them stood side by side and furiously shoved the sand away from the hatch.

As there were no tools available, the two of them could only rely on their hands for that.

“Two minutes!”

As Chen Xiaolian was struggling to shove the sand away, he shouted out to Bluesea.

“Faster! We don’t have much ammo left!”

Bluesea, who had jumped down from the SUV, placed his rifle on the vehicle’s hood. Steadily, he opened fire on the giant ants.

The number of giant ants surrounding them gradually increased. Even though Bluesea and the others were continuously shooting the giant ants, the encirclement by the giant ants slowly grew and the space between the two decreased.

…

“This is the last magazine! Chen Xiaolian! Are you not done?”

Bluesea shouted at Chen Xiaolian.

A good portion of the sand on the hatch had been cleared off. Chen Xiaolian slammed the open button with all his might. Next, the hatch gave another two creaking sounds. Finally, it opened up slightly, creating a small gap.

Without hesitating, Chen Xiaolian slipped inside.

“Bluesea! Look! He… … he went in alone!”

Bluesea and Daniel were both concentrating on shooting the giant ants. Only Grace heard the sounds coming from behind them. After turning to look at what was happening behind, she screamed.

That very moment where she became distracted caused a gap to appear in their cover fire. As a result, several giant ants rushed forward with their long limbs.

“Grace!” Seeing the three giant ants closing in on them, Bluesea’s face sank instantly. He turned his rifle; without putting time into aiming, he fired out in succession. Struck by the bullets, the three giant ants flinched back before falling down to the ground, where they flailed about.

However, doing so caused Bluesea to use up all his bullets.

“We can't get in!”

There was a pale look on Yang Lin’s face as he exerted his all in an attempt to push open the fighter aircraft’s hatch. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to make the gap any larger.

Among Bluesea’s group, all the three men were fairly large in size. The slight opening on the hatch, which Chen Xiaolian had slipped through, was too small for them.

Grace glanced back. After a moment’s hesitation, she gritted her teeth, turned around and ran toward the Devourer fighter aircraft.

Her hands were still holding onto an assault rifle.

Having lost Bluesea and Grace, the protective cover fell solely on Daniel. The surrounding giant ants quickly rushed forward. It did not take them long to close the distance between them and Bluesea’s group.

“Blue… Bluesea!”

Daniel released a panicked scream. Due to his state of panic, he forgot about the need to conserve ammo and furiously fired out continuously at the giant ants. With one successive burst, he used up all the bullets in his rifle. That was his last magazine.

Bluesea sighed, a look of despair on his face.

By then, Grace had already made it to the fighter aircraft’s hatch. After checking the size of the opening, she released a sigh of relief and moved to squeeze herself in through the opening on the hatch.

However, as her head was moving in, she saw a foot rushing toward her.

Bam!

The kick from Chen Xiaolian sent Grace flying onto the sandy ground.

“Catch!”

Ignoring Grace, who was rolling on the sand, he tossed out two sleek looking rifle-like items. “Back up a little!” 

One of the rifles landed onto Yang Lin’s hands while the other fell onto the sand. Without asking anything, Bluesea pounced forward and picked up the rifle.

The design of the weapon that Chen Xiaolian had tossed out was not that different from an ordinary rifle. Just by giving it a glance, he figured out how to use it. Next, he took aim at the nearest giant ant and pulled the trigger.

He felt no recoil on his shoulders and saw no muzzle flash coming out from the rifle. The only change he felt from the rifle was a very faint air-piercing sound, almost like the sound of falling rain.

The giant ant which he was shooting at was no more than 20 metres away from him. Suddenly, fine holes appeared on its body. It was as though a volley of numerous needles had just pierced through the ant, turning it into rags in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the power of the rifle shocked Bluesea. Next, he fired out while moving the rifle in an arc, instantly clearing the giant ants within a semi-circle area. He also did not forget to shout toward Yang Lin, who was behind him. “Yang Lin! Help Grace up! Move away from the fighter! Daniel! Get behind me!”

As he shouted, Bluesea ran forward to place himself before Daniel. Then, he released another arc of bullets, ignoring how much ammo there were in the rifle that Chen Xiaolian had tossed out.

Yang Lin used his left hand to pull up Grace, who was still on the ground, while his right hand opened fire alongside Bluesea. They laboured to run toward Bluesea’s position.

After the two of them had ran a distance of 10 metres, a blue light suddenly shone out from behind them.

The Devourer fighter aircraft’s engine, which was partially buried under the sand, started up. In a flash, the aircraft soared to a height of hundreds of metres up in the air. Then, it dived, flying above the heads of Bluesea and the others.

A seemingly flat metal plate that was on the bottom part of the fighter aircraft suddenly rotated around to reveal two black artillery barrels. The two barrels moved to aim downward before unleashing a strafing fire at the giant ants beneath it.

As it circled the sky, its artillery blasts were like a plough, clearing the grounds around the SUV.

Looking up at the fighter aircraft, Bluesea then released a long sigh of relief.

Chen Xiaolian set the Devourer fighter aircraft to circle another two times to clear out an area. After he was certain that the giant ants in the distance will not swarm over anymore, he slowly lowered the aircraft to a halt beside the SUV.

“Move it!” Seeing the hatch on the fighter aircraft opening up, Bluesea waved his hand before taking the lead in moving into the aircraft. Yang Lin, however, gave the SUV a hesitant look. “The food…”

“We need to leave first. We don’t have the time to move them!” There was also a hesitant look on Bluesea’s face. Still, he did not stop. “Go back first! We’ll figure out the rest later!”

Yang Lin understood how critical their situation was. Nodding, he quickly made his way into the cabin.

“Is everyone inside?”

Chen Xiaolian, who was seated on the pilot’s seat, glanced back to confirm that everyone was aboard. Next, he quickly closed up the hatch and restarted the engine.

The Devourer fighter aircraft was not exactly an air superiority fighter aircraft. It was more of a mobility and transport type aircraft. Its size was roughly that of a container truck. In addition to the two pilot seats in the front, it had two rows of seats at the back that could accommodate up to 10 people and another two gunners.

At the back of the cabin was an opened firearms cabinet. At present, there were only three rifles inside. The two empty spaces inside the cabinet had housed the two rifles that Chen Xiaolian had tossed to Bluesea and Yang Lin.

“Mr Bluesea.” After the fighter aircraft lifted off once again, Chen Xiaolian finally heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he turned to address Bluesea, who was behind him.

Bluesea quickly moved to Chen Xiaolian’s side. There, he sat down on the other pilot’s seat. Likewise, he too, released a long sigh of relief as he leaned upon the seat.

“You are not injured, are you?”

“No.” Bluesea shook his head and turned to look at the three people behind. After a moment’s hesitation, he lowered his voice and said, “Your strange abilities… … are no more?”

Looking at Bluesea, Chen Xiaolian nodded.

“It cannot recover?”

“It can, but…” Chen Xiaolian thought about it but did not continue his reply. “I will tell you about it after we reach your little town. However, there is one thing I need to talk to you about.”

“I know what you want to say.” There was a rueful smile on Bluesea’s face.

Chen Xiaolian sighed. “If one is hesitant when decisiveness is required, the consequences will be disastrous. Some people are not worth keeping.”

“I know.” Bluesea nodded his head. “I am not an idiot, nor am I some soft-hearted old man. It is just, before we set off, I had made a promise when selecting those people. I will bring them back safely. At the very least, until we return to the village, I will not abandon my responsibility.”

“Very well, then.” After giving Bluesea a long and deep look, Chen Xiaolian relaxed somewhat.

The Bluesea he knew had to support Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild for years. He was by no means a soft-hearted leader.

“How could this thing … … be in a desert?” Bluesea shifted to a more casual topic. “And that vehicle from before… … that thing you call Thunderstorm Tank. Where did these things come from?”

“After their destruction, they were refreshed inside. It is just like what happened to you all after your deaths.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and continued, “It is probably because my luck is fairly good. If not for the fact that so many things were destroyed alongside Zero City’s fall, there is no way we could accidentally stumble upon this aircraft here.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian turned and gave Bluesea another deep gaze.

Earlier, Wu Ya had informed him that the only ones that could enter World’s End were Irregularities, Awakened ones who no longer possess their memories as Awakened ones, cleared instance dungeons, and some system-related equipment. 

The Devourer fighter aircraft that they were in was in pristine state. Even the weapons remain untouched. That could only mean – 

Back then, it had been instantly destroyed.

Chen Xiaolian suddenly recalled the battle that led to Zero City’s fall. Once again, he recalled the orderly formation of the aircrafts and how they struggled to fly out through the only exit point available amid the countless echoes of artillery blasts being fired on the ground.

Back then, this Devourer fighter aircraft must have been filled with people from Zero City. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was turned to ashes…

“Turn right a little.” Bluesea’s reminder interrupted Chen Xiaolian’s thoughts. “On our way out, we were travelling through land. Right now, I can only make a rough estimate on the direction we need to take. However, once we reach the edge of this instance dungeon, I will be able to get our bearings.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and adjusted the flight path of the Devourer fighter aircraft according to Bluesea’s instructions.

Originally, they had thought they would need more than one hour’s worth of driving to make it through the place. However, they were now in a Devourer fighter aircraft. After just five minutes, Chen Xiaolian could see the edge of the desert instance dungeon.

Across the desert was a stretch of desolate flatlands. Although it had a faint yellowish colour, it still had some vegetation the likes of cacti.

“It is here.” Bluesea pointed forward. “Fly straight along that road and you will soon see a small town.”

…