Chapter 668: Continue

Chapter 668 Continue 

A group of figures stood around the wooden cabin, surrounding it to the point where it was impossible to escape. The number of people there was likely over a hundred.

Every one of them held a gun in their hands.

The very moment Chen Xiaolian, Bluesea and Qiao Qiao rushed out, the hundred firearms rose to take aim at the Chen Xiaolian’s group.

Neither the life detection function of Bluesea’s Bug Armour nor Chen Xiaolian’s life signature detector had managed to notice the presence of the hundred people there.

They were, a group of corpses.

Chen Xiaolian and Bluesea exchanged glances. They saw the same thoughts within each other’s eyes.

“Killing one of my doppelgangers…” The female corpse before them laughed out. The voice coming out from her mouth was that of Lei Hu’s.

“Is it useful?” Another male corpse spoke up in succession. Likewise, the voice coming out from his mouth was also that of Lei Hu’s. 

“Is there any point?” This time, the voice had come from behind Chen Xiaolian’s group, the wooden cabin.

Chen Xiaolian jerked his head to the back to see that the corpse belonging to the ‘Lei Hu’ that he had just decapitated earlier was slowly standing up.

The voice had come from the head, the one that had fallen onto the floor.

The corpse made its way to the head, bent over and picked it up before placing it in between its shoulders. Tens of vines emerged from the decapitated part of the corpse’s neck to wrap around the head.

As the vines continued the wrapping process, the wound on the neck closed up to restore the corpse to its former appearance.

What a powerful healing ability!

However, after seeing that, Chen Xiaolian did not panic. Instead, he felt somewhat fortunate.

“Let’s forget about it, Xiaolian.” With an inscrutable expression, Bluesea whispered to Chen Xiaolian, “There is no need for us all to die here. You can just leave this place with him and Qiao Qiao.”

“No way. Mr Bluesea, I will not talk about that again.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head.

“Well then, Mr Chen Xiaolian. I believe you have seen enough of my power.” The ‘Lei Hu’ inside the little cabin smiled without moving forward. He remained standing still.

“Power? They are just a group of Awakened ones. In World’s End, is there any difference between them and ordinary humans?” Chen Xiaolian sneered. “Just by bringing out a hundred puppets with zero bodily enhancements, you think to stop us?”

One of the Awakened ones laughed and shook his head. “These bodies may only be that of Awakened ones, but the bullets they shoot out are all the same. You all… … don’t seem to be wearing protective suits, no?”

Chen Xiaolian fell silent.

The enemies they now face were likely Awakened ones that Lei Hu had killed off here in World’s End. Lei Hu had then utilized a type of ability to implant the vines into their corpses to control them, making them an extension of himself. Be it the ability to aim or open fire, they were all controlled by him alone.

It was also precisely due to the fact that these were corpses that had died long ago that Chen Xiaolian’s life signature detector cannot detect their presence.

As for the vines within the corpses… … as they were plants, the life signature detector could not detect them. Were it not for that, given how many trees there were within the snowy plains, his life detector would have been filled with dots.

However, there was no dot within his life signature detector. That meant…

Lei Hu himself was nowhere near.

“Mr Bluesea, when I make my move, use a low-powered heat blast to sweep through them.

“Qiao Qiao, use your Child of Darkness skill to disintegrate them. It needs to be done quickly.”

Chen Xiaolian’s lips moved as he whispered with a near undetectable tone toward the two standing behind him. Due to the falling snow, anyone around five metres away from him would be unable to hear what he had just said.

“If I surrender now, will you let Mr Bluesea live?” After whispering to them, Chen Xiaolian increased his tone as he shouted toward the group of corpses.

“Of course.” Lei Hu laughed. “Since I can leave this place, why would I care about who gets left behind in World’s End?”

“It seems you really want to go back.” Chen Xiaolian sighed and took a few slow steps forward. “So, that makes me curious about one thing.”

“What is it?” The Lei Hu’s frowned and all the bodies there moved the guns in their hands, maintaining their aim at Chen Xiaolian.

“Whether or not… … you are willing to kill me!”

Chen Xiaolian abruptly roared out and charged into the group of bodies before him.

Every face within the group simultaneously turned into one of shock. Although they had their guns aimed at Chen Xiaolian, they were unable to pull the trigger.

It took Lei Hu one second to react, moving the target of the muzzles away from Chen Xiaolian to target Qiao Qiao and Bluesea.

Killing intent had finally radiated out from Lei Hu.

Unfortunately, he was too late.

When Chen Xiaolian was charging into the group, the Sword in the Stone had already appeared within his hand. The blade of the sword gleamed as a flower of blood blossomed.

As for Bluesea, one tentacle after another emerged from both his arms to quickly form four small-scale organic heat blasters.

The four organic heat blasters shot out. The puppet bodies of Lei Hu were merely that of ordinary Awakened ones. Not one of them wore protective suits. Thus, they were easily cut by the sweeping heat beams and their bodies broke into pieces before falling onto the ground.

Although the bodies had also opened fire, releasing a hundred bullets forward, most of them missed as the bodies wielding the guns had lost their balance. Only around 10 of the bullets managed to fly toward Bluesea.

However, even those 10 bullets failed to hit Bluesea. Rather, they hit Qiao Qiao’s Anti-materialization form. 

After transforming into the black silhouette, Qiao Qiao defended Bluesea and all the bullets which struck her black silhouette were disintegrated.

Then, fine vines emerged from the cut areas on the puppet bodies, be it the ones that Chen Xiaolian had cleaved apart or the ones that Bluesea’s organic heat blasters had cut to pieces. The vines had emerged the moment the bodies fell to the ground.

The vines intertwined with one another as they grew out, pulling the pieces of the corpses to attach them together.

However, before they could succeed, the black silhouette of Qiao Qiao had spread out.

The snow and wind continued raging, but they were seemingly incapable of affecting the black fog that Qiao Qiao had transformed into. The thick black fog enveloped the battlefield. Every time it reached one of the puppet bodies, it would stop. After that, however, the puppet bodies would break apart into ashes only to disperse away in the winds. 

In but an instant, Qiao Qiao had successfully cleared off all of them.

The ground had been cleared and the marks left behind by the puppet bodies were quickly turned flat by the falling snow, which erased all signs of their existence on the ground.

The black fog converged together to form Qiao Qiao’s tangible body, kneeling on one knee with a pale face. To suddenly expand her black fog to encompass such a large area had taken a large chunk of endurance from her.

“Can you hold on?” Chen Xiaolian kept the Sword in the Stone and ran toward Qiao Qiao. As he was propping her up, he asked.

“I am fine.” Qiao Qiao gritted her teeth and shook her head. “Run!”

…

Staying close together, the three of them ran through a thick forest even as the snow continued to fall heavily.

“Are you so confident that we can escape?”

A layer of durable material had emerged to enclose Bluesea’s body, trapping his bodily heat inside. As for his feet, the tentacles there had emerged to form something similar to the hooves of a goat. Only a small hole would be left on the ground each time his foot made contact with the snowy ground.

“We must run regardless! Or are we supposed to just let you die?” Chen Xiaolian clenched his teeth as he frantically rushed forward while keeping an eye on his life signature detector.

“That fellow is an [S] class!” The bone blade of Bluesea’s arm flashed and the towering trees blocking their path fell down. “Didn’t you say before that [S] class experts are very strong? How could the three of us defeat him?”

“We cannot defeat him.” Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth. “However, for the moment, there is a chance! This person is too cautious! He is so cautious that even though he was meeting us for the second time, he dared not personally come. Instead, he had used his doppelgangers. This cautious nature of his is also an opportunity for us to escape! If he had not sent lifeless puppet bodies for fear of being detected, if he had personally come forward, we would not have had the chance to escape at all. But now… … at least, we still have a chance!”

“You are making a gamble here!” Bluesea clenched his fists. “If you lose this gamble, all three of us will be unable to return! There is still room for negotiation between you two! Just bring him and Qiao Qiao back!”

“If I lose, then I lose. I am willing!”

Chen Xiaolian suddenly howled out and stopped moving. His chest heaved up and down uncontrollably. It was not due to the exertion from all the running, rather, it was due to him taking deep breaths. “Mr Bluesea! We have only met each other a few times. Thus, there is no deep friendship between us! However, at the very least, in that battle where Zero City met its destruction, I had fought alongside you!”

Bluesea, who was still running forward, halted immediately. However, he still ended up three metres in front of Chen Xiaolian. The snow continued falling around them and Bluesea silently regarded the face of the young man standing before him.

Qiao Qiao reached out with her hand to pull Chen Xiaolian’s hand. She was looking at him with a resolute expression.

No matter what you decide to do, I will stand beside you.

“Mr Bluesea, you are no longer an Awakened. Your memories of that battle had long since disappeared. However, there is something that the previous you do not know.” Chen Xiaolian panted as he smashed a fist into the tree beside him. Snow fell onto his head and body, but he was unable to feel them. Instead, he stared intently at Bluesea with bloodshot eyes. “What if I tell you, right now, that Zero City’s destruction, Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s destruction, was because of me?”

“Because of you?” Bluesea’s face remained calm. However, a look of shock emerged from his eyes.

“The entrance into Zero City had always been a hidden existence. However, due to something I did, Zero City became exposed to the system! No one knows of this except me!” The moment Chen Xiaolian saw Bluesea, those words had been roiling turbulently within him. And now, he had finally uttered them out. “Ronan died, you died as well. So many Awakened ones in Zero City died! All of that was because of me!”

Bluesea spoke up, his voice somewhat hoarse. “What did you do? Why?”

“I don’t even know what it was I did, because that part of my memories has been erased. However, Zero City’s main gate was opened wide and defenceless, that was most certainly because of me!” Chen Xiaolian bit his teeth heavily. “I tried to make up for it, but I was too weak! I lured Shen away, lured the Electronic Guardians away so as to buy some time for those from Zero City could escape. However, until the moment I left Zero City, I had no chance of confirming just how many people from Zero City had survived!”

Qiao Qiao’s eyes were widened as she stared at Chen Xiaolian, a look of disbelief on her face.

“Originally, all of you need not have died…” Chen Xiaolian’s nails were on the verge of piercing into the palm of his hands. “Thus, I have always felt… … I owe you all. The others… perhaps, they are living life as an ordinary human. That would be for the best. But you… … only you, Mr Bluesea, you have died a second time and come to this World’s End.

“Thus, the moment I saw you here, I had told myself that no matter what, I must bring you back. Mr Bluesea, I owe you a life.”

After having said that, Chen Xiaolian raised his head and pulled his shirt’s collar, allowing the snowy winds to blow upon his chest.

This was the only way he could somehow reduce the hot sensation on his chest.

“No, you do not owe me.” Bluesea shook his head and stepped forward. He patted Chen Xiaolian’s shoulder lightly and said gently, “I do not have the memories of the Bluesea that you knew. Thus, I cannot know what he was thinking just before he died. However… … as I am the same person, I believe I have the qualifications to stand here, and from his perspective tell you…”

Bluesea smiled, “That before his death, he would never hate you. Even after hearing what you have just said, that will still hold true.”

Chen Xiaolian sucked in a deep breath of cold air, air mixed with icy snowflakes. After calming himself down, he turned his head impassively toward the depths of the snowy fields. “Let’s continue running. Either run until Sister Yun finds us or until the time ends.”

Following a white flash of light, a Blackhawk helicopter appeared before the three of them.

…