Chapter 133: The Ambush
Chapter 133: The Ambush
Qisai's enhanced transmuted organs allowed him to perceive the blood flow, breathing, and the direction of forces from everyone around him, all of which were transmitted to him.
He had a clear mental image of the physical changes in each person, and he was aware of every move they made.
Among them, Chen Chuan was not the most outstanding, but he was the most stable.
His stability was almost excessive.
In such a situation, anyone would feel tense, fearful, agitated, or excited, but Chen Chuan showed none of these emotions. He was like a calm lake; even if a slight ripple appeared on the surface, it was only on the outermost layer, while the depths remained completely unaffected.
This immediately captured his full attention.
As Chen Chuan approached with his knife, Qisai gradually moved within range, holding the whip with one hand and swinging it forward. The whip lashed towards Chen Chuan.
Instead of dodging like Wei Chang'an, Chen Chuan neither slashed nor blocked the whip with his knife, which would have been a poor strategy. He simply stared at the direction of the force exerted by the opposing arm, and in an instant, he reached out and, with a loud snap, grabbed the end of the whip!
He could see that his second self's arm had partially dematerialized, indicating the presence of a force powerful enough to shatter human limbs. Without the second self, the contacted body part would have been crushed, resulting in a gruesome scene of shattered bones and flying flesh.
Qisai was startled, as he had never encountered anyone who could grab a whip with their bare hands, especially when the whip was fully exerting its force.
He immediately tried to pull the whip, as he assumed that even if the opponent could grab it, the contacted area would still be impacted, potentially disrupting their balance. However, as he exerted force, he felt a counterforce from the whip, preventing him from pulling Chen Chuan towards him. Instead, he was slightly pulled forward.
Realizing something was amiss, just as his center of gravity shifted slightly, Chen Chuan's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly lunged forward, raising his knife to stab at Qisai's chest.
Fortunately, there was still some distance between them, allowing Qisai to quickly adjust his balance. He sidestepped, dodging to the side, and simultaneously drew a short stick from his waist with his other hand, blocking the incoming diagonal slash and using the force to quickly retreat.
Chen Chuan twisted his wrist, spun the knife, and stepped forward, immediately following up with an overhead chop. Qisai held the whip handle with one hand while using the short stick to deflect the whip upwards, blocking the knife's path.
The whip was made of an unknown material with incredible flexibility, causing the knife blade to slightly sink into it. Anticipating this, Qisai quickly twirled the short stick, attempting to wrap the whip around the knife.
This unique combination of whip and stick techniques was something Chen Chuan had never seen before. Instead of trying to free the knife, he pushed it forward, slightly adjusting the handle during the movement to aim the tip of the knife towards Qisai's head.
Seeing the incoming knife, Qisai quickly pulled the whip, deflecting the knife's path. But at that moment, Chen Chuan released the Snow Lady Sword and rushed forward, throwing a punch towards Qisai's head with astonishing speed, as if he had instantly closed the distance.
Qisai lifted the whip handle upwards, attempting to use the taut whip to block Chen Chuan's fist. However, Chen Chuan bent his arm, transforming his fist into an elbow strike, and struck Qisai's chest through the opening he had created!
Qisai wore a sturdy protective suit, but Chen Chuan's attack was not a penetrating force; it was a pushing force strong enough to knock him off balance.
Qisai responded to this strike with remarkable skill. In that instant, his body seemed to divide into two independent parts: his lower body remained firmly planted on the ground, while his upper body displayed extreme flexibility. The pushing force only caused his chest to sink, failing to affect his overall balance.
Chen Chuan sensed Qisai's body adjustment and took another step forward, kicking behind Qisai's leg while leaning forward, unleashing a burst of force. This time, Qisai couldn't maintain his stance and fell backward.
At that moment, Chen Chuan felt Wei Chang'an's gun barrel shift towards him. Even before he hit the ground, he curled his body to one side through the connection of his transmuted organs, and two gunshots rang out. Both bullets struck his back, but this caused him to land awkwardly, slamming into the ground sideways.
Chen Chuan's attention remained focused on Qisai. As he glanced at Qisai retrieving his long knife and preparing to advance, he quickly rolled to the side, intending to get up. However, before he could stand, he suddenly felt something amiss, and almost simultaneously, a muffled gunshot echoed in his ear.
By the time he realized what had happened, he discovered that half of his lower leg had been severed.
On the distant watchtower, Wei Chang'an's team member pulled back the bolt of the assault rifle, ejected the shell, and aimed at Qisai once more. However, just as he was about to fire, Qisai darted into an adjacent tent, causing the gunman to regret missing the opportunity. Qisai had rarely appeared in well-lit areas, and this was the first time he had been exposed to such a clear shot.
Chen Chuan had witnessed Wei Chang'an's previous shot and refrained from rushing forward. However, the second shot was impressive, precisely timed to neutralize most of Qisai's combat effectiveness.
Chen Chuan nodded to the team member on the watchtower and said to Wei Chang'an, "Brother Wei, I'll handle this guy. You go help suppress those bandits."
Wei Chang'an agreed without hesitation, quickly reloading his rifle, and rushed to the front to support Luo Kaiyuan, Cai Sai, and the others.
As Qisai rolled on the ground, his transmuted organs wriggled, and his wound began to close, stopping the bleeding. Despite losing a leg, his speed remained impressive. He crawled out from under the tent and hid in another one.
It was still early, around 4 o'clock, and the sky remained dim. Smoke lingered in the area, making it difficult for others to observe much, but for Chen Chuan, a student of Makara Metabolic Science, it was advantageous. He could sense others, but they were unaware of his location. If given a moment to catch his breath, he might even have a chance to counterattack.
Chen Chuan stood still, and at this moment, he looked at the second self. Aside from the brief moment of arm dematerialization during their previous encounter, he noticed that the second self exhibited a very slight overall dematerialization when approaching Qisai.
This reminded him of the ghost stories he had heard, and he deduced that the person must be carrying something. However, this also became a distinctive feature for identifying the person.
He walked a few steps across the open space in the camp, and based on the deepening influence, he quickly located the target's position. Ahead, an old tent appeared.
However, he didn't stop there but continued walking forward. As he was about to pass by, the Snow Lady Knife suddenly stabbed sideways.
Qisai was squatting on one leg inside the tent, holding a short stick in his hand, waiting for Chen Chuan to approach before finding an opportunity. Suddenly, he felt something was wrong, and his body crouched down. A knife tip suddenly stabbed in, slicing across his shoulder and then pulling horizontally, tearing a large hole in the tent.
Qisai's face was ferocious. He knew he had lost a leg, and at this moment, he had no choice but to rush forward for a chance to win. He shouted, threw the short stick in his hand, and pushed off with his single leg, embracing Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan ignored the thrown short stick and stared at Qisai's rushing figure. He swung his blade, sticking it to the side of Qisai's neck, following his momentum and pulling sideways before sidestepping.
Qisai stumbled out from beside Chen Chuan, rolled forward, and then knelt. He tried to stop the bleeding on his neck using the wriggling of his mutated organs, but half of his neck was cut open, and blood gushed out uncontrollably. He stared at Chen Chuan for a moment before collapsing to the side.
Chen Chuan slightly shook his wrist and stared at the man for a moment.
He felt that this man's skill was not much inferior to Duoma's. If it weren't for the earlier gunshot wound that significantly weakened his strength, their fight might have lasted longer.
But this wasn't just his battle; it was a clash between two teams. There was no room for fairness or reason, and all means would likely be employed until one side was completely neutralized.
Chen Chuan glanced around, walked over, and pulled off a wristband from Qisai's wrist, which seemed to be made from polished bone. This was the item causing the slight dematerialization of the second self.
He thought for a moment, put it away, and then went to the side. He picked up a rifle from beside a bandit's corpse and joined the effort to eliminate the remaining bandits.
During the previous raid, they had eliminated at least half of the bandits in the camp. In the end, there were probably eight or nine people left, retreating to the deepest part of the camp.
This area was the most fortified part of the entire camp, surrounded by a circle of stacked defense walls and obstacles, and there were also more places to take cover.
However, due to the influence of the smoke grenades and the dimming light, it was challenging for them to achieve effective shots. Chen Chuan's team, on the other hand, relied on their superior arm strength to throw smoke grenades into the bandits' midst, undoubtedly reducing their ability to counterattack.
At this moment, Mi Tai counted and found that, including himself, only fourteen people remained, including two Maka students who had escaped from Yangzhi City and were hiding here.
What made the situation even more troublesome was that only a portion of their team originally had firearms, and most of them had been lost outside. Now, including themselves, only six people had guns, not significantly more than the opposing side. The others could only use bows and arrows.
What made Mi Tai particularly anxious was that the opponent had silently infiltrated, indicating exceptional strength. Aside from whether they could hold their ground, even if they did, how could they ensure the opponent didn't have reinforcements?
At this moment, Yuan, who had gone to the back, ran back and came to Mi Tai's side, whispering, "Boss, it's bad. The road behind is also blocked. We're surrounded."
Things had reached a critical point, and Mi Tai calmed down. He thought for a moment and asked, "Could it be related to that thing?"
If it was related to that thing, it meant the news had leaked. Even if they defeated this group, there would be another batch coming.
Yuan said, "Boss, no matter what, we've lost too many brothers. The situation on the other side is unclear, and there seem to be experts. We can't be blocked here. Let's break through first. We still have an armored vehicle and an off-road vehicle. We should be able to take a few brothers with us." He looked around and asked, "Boss, where's Qisai?"
Mi Tai shook his head and said, "I haven't seen him since he went out. He's either hiding somewhere or has been killed."
Yuan cursed, feeling very frustrated. Qisai was both their supervisor and liaison, and many things would be difficult to handle without him. He said, "Never mind. As long as we have the item, we don't have to worry about the exchange delegation not acknowledging it. Boss, let's find a way to retreat first."
After discussing, they believed that the main firepower of the opposing side was at the front, and there were only two or three people blocking the back. So, they decided to break through from the rear.
However, they couldn't retreat all at once. Someone had to hold the front.
Mi Tai said, "We have no choice but to do this." He shouted, "Mad Bear!"
A burly man with a heavy stride came over and asked, "Boss, what's the plan?"
Mi Tai said, "You lead a few people to hold the front and stall them. I'll go with Yuan to the back, circle around, and attack them from behind. You must hold this position for me!"
Mad Bear excitedly said, "Don't worry, boss. With me here, they won't get through."
As Mi Tai was giving instructions, Ren Xiaotian drove his off-road vehicle over, pulled down several specially made tire spikers, and, together with three members of Wei Chang'an's team, fixed them on the road at the back.
...
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(End of Chapter)
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