Chapter 656: Charge Out (1)

Chapter 656 Charge Out Part 1

Chen Xiaolian had imagined it countless times. How would his reunion with Qiao Qiao look like?

Perhaps she would glare fiercely at him and spat out, “Chen Xiaolian! What took you so long!”

Perhaps she would be in a dangerous situation. When she was in her most desperate situation, his visage would appear within her eyes. Then, they would both carve a path out from that dangerous situation.

Chen Xiaolian had even imagined a most unlikely scenario – of Qiao Qiao sitting in a cell with a depressed look as she looked out the window. When she turned around, her face would reveal a look of shock. Then, she would jump into his arms as she cried… Naturally, that scenario had only appeared in Chen Xiaolian’s mind once before he got rid of it.

That was not Big Miss Qiao’s style at all.

However, the scenario unfolding before Chen Xiaolian at that moment was something that he had never imagined before.

Looking through the entrance, he saw hundreds of laser beams extending out from the wall, intersecting each other to form a fence of sorts.

Beyond the fence was a simple cell with a bed, a table and a chair.

Qiao Qiao was wearing a white hooded robe. Her upper body was lying on the bed while her legs rested on the chair beside the bed, revealing her dangling, slender alabaster legs. Her long black hair was scattered on the surface of the bed.

There was a bag of potato chips in her hands. At that very moment, though, she had finished eating the contents of the bag. Flattening the bag, she then raised it up to pour whatever remained into her mouth.

Beside her were two big metal boxes. One was partially filled with snacks while the other was filled with leftover wrapping bags. The latter was already nearly full.

Qiao Qiao then crumpled the bag of chips into a ball. Next, with an elegant shooting gesture, she threw the balled-up bag into the trashcan.

Then, her eyes met Chen Xiaolian’s.

Chen Xiaolian was stunned.

Qiao Qiao, too, was stunned.

After a moment of silence, Chen Xiaolian finally spoke up, “Qiao Qiao, you… … you’ve been doing fairly well.” 

Hearing Chen Xiaolian’s voice, Qiao Qiao flipped herself up from the bed. She stared with widened eyes, incapable of believing what she was seeing. Her lips quivered.

“You… you…” Qiao Qiao quickly stepped forward, seemingly wanting to reach out with her hand to feel Chen Xiaolian’s face. However, when her fingers reached the laser fence, they stopped. As for her, she was unable to find her words.

“You are not dreaming. I came for you, Qiao Qiao.” Chen Xiaolian forced down the intense pounding of his heart as he extended his hand through the gaps in the laser fence.

Qiao Qiao bit down on her lower lip as she, too, extended her fingers and they moved slowly toward Chen Xiaolian’s fingers.

The two of them were panting, their eyes locked onto each other through the laser fence. It was as though they wanted nothing more than to devour each other.

Two clumps of redness emerged on Qiao Qiao’s fair face, growing more noticeable with each passing moment.

The tip of her finger was about to make contact with Chen Xiaolian’s.

Then…

Big Miss Qiao suddenly straightened her arm as her index finger moved forward, ignoring Chen Xiaolian’s outstretched fingertip. Instead, her index finger moved to point at Chen Xiaolian’s nose while her left hand moved to rest on her waist. Then, she began cursing.

“Chen Xiaolian! You bastard! Who said you could die? Who allowed it? Don’t you already have Skyblade’s power? Aren’t you already a quasi-[S] class? How could you die? Why?!”

As she continued, she grew more agitated and her voice rose louder. In the end, her index finger, which was pointing at Chen Xiaolian, trembled.

The redness on her cheeks grew deeper. Finally, almost every part of her face had turned red. Tears welled within her eyes as she did her best to hold them back.

Chen Xiaolian said nothing. He did not retract his hand either. He allowed his hand to remain extended through the fence made of laser beams as he smiled at Qiao Qiao.

As Qiao Qiao continued cursing, her voice gradually weakened and she began quavering. Finally, she crouched down. Clutching her head, she then hid her face between her knees as she finally broke into tears. With a sobbing and quavering voice, she said, “Chen Xiaolian… … you… how can you die? You… … you died, what should I do? What should I do? Since arriving… … arriving in World’s End… … not wanting to see you is all I could think of! Not wanting to see you! You… … why did you die?!”

Looking at the girl crying before his eyes, Chen Xiaolian felt as though his heart was being sliced. At the same time, a feeling of sweetness and tenderness filled it.

Naturally, he understood the conflicting emotions within Qiao Qiao.

Originally, she had thought that after sacrificing herself, they would have to say goodbye forever. Unexpectedly, there was a World’s End after death.

Just as how he would miss Qiao Qiao, she would miss him that much.

Every single day, the girl had been missing him for who knew how many times.

However, she understood that if she actually got to see him, it would mean that he had died.

The conflicting emotions were probably torturing Qiao Qiao to the point of near madness.

Regardless of the strong front she would usually put up, regardless of how ill-tempered she could be, when facing Chen Xiaolian, her inner thoughts came bare, revealing her most gentle side.

The situation they face here was completely different compared to when Qiao Yifeng had forcibly tried to split them.

Back then, although the two of them were far apart, they were still in the same world. Be it Chen Xiaolian or Qiao Qiao, both had believed that there would come a day when they could reunite with one another.

This time, however, the thing standing between them was not Qiao Yifeng. It was death.

“Qiao Qiao, calm down and listen to me.”

Chen Xiaolian suppressed the aching in his heart to force himself to smile as he looked at Qiao Qiao. “We do not have much time. You need to calm down as fast as possible. It is true, I am dead. However, I had deliberately killed myself to come find you. No, don’t interrupt me, hear me out first.”

Qiao Qiao had jumped to her feet, her finger outstretched, pointing at him. Seeing that Qiao Qiao was about to speak, Chen Xiaolian hastily withdrew his finger to make a down gesture to silence Qiao Qiao. “I am not being suicidal. I killed myself because I had utilized a prop which allows me to enter World’s End and bring you back. So, right now, you need to quickly tell me how to break this fence.”

The moment she heard Chen Xiaolian said he could bring her back, she became flabbergasted. When Chen Xiaolian was done speaking, she then stared at him with widened eyes. Forcing out a laugh, she said, “Xiaolian, you… … you are not joking with me, are you?”

“I am not the type to make a joke out of something like this. You should know that, Qiao Qiao,” said Chen Xiaolian with a serious air.

“All right… … but I need some time to calm down… … give me three seconds… … no, five seconds…”

Qiao Qiao nodded her head sluggishly before closing both her eyes. Then, she counted with her mouth, “One… two… three… four… five!”

When she uttered the word “five”, Qiao Qiao took a deep breath. At the same time, she opened her eyes.

The redness and tears on her face had been cleared off. At that moment, there were only clarity and resolution on her face.

“Reporting to Meteor Rock Guild Leader, Chen Xiaolian. Guild member, Qiao Qiao, reporting back to the guild!”

Chen Xiaolian smiled and nodded. “Welcome back to the guild, Qiao Qiao.”

“Now, I will explain the situation. Uncle Bluesea! I didn’t think I would be able to meet you here. However, you probably do not remember me now.” In just an instant, Qiao Qiao had entered a different state, becoming straightforward and orderly. Her gaze had only rested on Bluesea for a moment before she quickly ascertained the situation. She gave a courteous nod but did not ask about the matter. Then, she continued, “There is no physical switch for these laser emitters, only a portable remote switch, which the Coalition leader carries with him at all times. He would only open it when he is bringing me food. I tried to steal it twice and even seize it by force once. Unfortunately, all my attempts failed. He… … is just too strong.”

Seeing the puzzled look on Chen Xiaolian’s face, Qiao Qiao quickly explained, “After activating my Exclusive Skill, the Child of Darkness, the Anti-materialization skill should have allowed me to move through physical walls. However, this energy-based barrier could stop me.”

Chen Xiaolian furrowed his brows as he recalled their time in the Jerusalem instance dungeon. Back then, Qiao Qiao, who had already unlocked the Anti-materialization skill, had been restrained by the enemy’s electric net.

Although her Child of Darkness appeared to be of the magical type, it was not impervious to energy-based attacks.

Chen Xiaolian reached out with his hand to point at the wall behind Qiao Qiao. “Doesn’t this fence only cover one side? The other walls should be normal solid objects, right?” 

“Yes, they are. However, be it the three walls or the ceiling or even the floor, all of them contains a type of power. It is one that is even more powerful compared to the laser fence.” Qiao Qiao shook her head. “I have tried it before only to get thrown back. The only difference is that it does not hurt me.”

As Qiao Qiao spoke, her body began emitting black energies and turned translucent. Then, she floated toward the wall on her left.

Next, she disappeared.

A cry of shock came from the room beside the cell.

Chen Xiaolian ran. When he made his way to the entrance, he saw that Qiao Qiao had made her way into the storeroom, utter disbelief on her face. “This… … this is impossible! I would try to do this everyday only to be thrown back while my Anti-materialization skill gets cancelled. This time… … how…”

Her earlier attempts had all resulted in failure. For it to suddenly succeed now, Qiao Qiao, who had finally regained her calm, was shocked once more.

“Before this… did you hear a loud crashing sound?” Chen Xiaolian had a guess in his mind. “Previously, an ancient monster had put down a restrictive barrier on this Mt Olympus and the Pantheon Temple to protect it. It was a very powerful restrictive barrier. That was probably the reason you could not phase through the wall using your Anti-materialization skill. However, just now, our companion had broken that restrictive barrier.”

“Your… companion… …” Qiao Qiao looked at Chen Xiaolian sceptically. “Could break such a powerful restrictive barrier?”

“That person is another ancient monster as well.” Chen Xiaolian gave a simple reply. “She is slightly weaker compared to the one who set up the restrictive barrier. Even so, she is extremely powerful. Thanks to her holding the Coalition members outside, we are able to sneak in. Enough, I will explain the rest to you when we return. We need to hurry.”

“All right.” Qiao Qiao nodded. “Lead the way.”

“Let’s determine a plan before making a move.” Chen Xiaolian waved toward Qiao Qiao before turning to ask Bluesea, “Mr Bluesea, how should we get out? Do we continue the charade from earlier and pretend to be members of the Coalition?”

He gave the crappy firearms inside the storeroom a glance. Then, picking up two of the firearms, which appeared to be the best among all available, he tossed one to Qiao Qiao while he held onto the other.

“Impossible.” Bluesea shook his head. “The Irregularity who came in with us will not be going out with us. Additionally, Qiao Qiao is with us. Considering what the Irregularity had said earlier, a number of the Coalition’s members must have seen her before. If even one of them sees her, our charade will be exposed on the spot.”

Chen Xiaolian frowned. “What should we do, then? There is only one path leading down this mountain. We need to pass through the square in front of this temple.”

There was a calm expression on Bluesea’s face. “Back when you were talking with Brother Qiao’s daughter, I had been considering this issue. However, no matter how I think about it, there is only one way to go about it.”

“What is it?”

“Force our way out.”

Hearing Bluesea’s opinion, both Qiao Qiao and Chen Xiaolian grew shocked.

“Force our way out?” Chen Xiaolian smiled bitterly. “In the square outside, there are tens of people on the ground and the sky. Most of them are experts while there are only three of us. Mr Bluesea… … are you serious?”

“They do have quantity, but the quality may not be there,” said Bluesea with a calm smile. “Among the Irregularities within this temple, those that are truly powerful, either through the use of flight props or their own power, are up in the sky. As for those providing fire support from the ground, they are not that strong.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head slowly as Bluesea continued, “Besides, when I said force our way out, I did not mean kill our way out the moment we emerge. Given our present situation, a pre-emptive strike may end up disadvantaging us. Even now, the Irregularities do not know that we are here to save Brother Qiao’s daughter. I think they may not be able to respond immediately if we are to charge out from this Pantheon Temple.

“Later, we will leave through the main hall. The moment we enter the line of sight of those Irregularities within the square, we will make a run for the foot of the mountain. Do not make any offensive moves until they discover that something is not right.

“Once they discover that something is amiss, we will attack while withdrawing. If it comes down to it, I recall… … you still have one last decisive move that can temporarily restore you to your peak state, right?”

“Yes. This restoration skill includes surrounding companions. Additionally, it will also increase all attributes by 10 per cent. However, this skill only lasts for 15 minutes. After that, everyone’s state will return to that prior to the utilization of the skill. Later, we will still need to meet up at the appointed spot. Thus, unless absolutely necessary, we should not casually use the skill.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “Still, hearing your plan, I think this approach is quite feasible.”

“All right. Brother Qiao’s daughter, do you have any objections?”

“No.” Qiao Qiao quickly shook her head. “I’ll follow you.”

“All right, then. Let’s… … go!”

…