Chapter 40
To be honest, Romain Rolland and Vladimir's task of stopping Mary Shelley was actually quite easy.
It's at least easy for now.
Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is a very powerful force, a fact that everyone in the UN has long understood.
"False peace" can be generated infinitely, but the downside is that the time required to generate each one increases—although the duration of its existence also increases.
Meanwhile, the left hand, which did not choose to generate a new "false peace," can also retrieve the cubes it previously threw and throw them again. As long as the time limit has not expired, these cubes can be used indefinitely.
"Iron Fire of War" is an energy body with a temperature of up to 2200 degrees Celsius. As long as the crimson gold sphere in the right hand is still held, it only takes two or three seconds to reload after each attack.
If the temperature is lowered, it can even launch continuous, uninterrupted attacks.
When Vladimir first joined, she thought Romain Rolland was just an ordinary, frail assassin, utterly useless in combat except for his heinous methods.
Until one day, Romain Rolland melted her first-generation "Iron Castle" into a pool of molten steel right in front of her.
Vladimir's fighting strength plummeted from the fourth-to-last in the entire UN to the third-to-last in an instant.
Both relying entirely on their weaponry for combat, Vladimir had to admit that Exupéry's immortality was more useful than her ability to carry a large arsenal. And she was better suited to handing guns to others from behind. :)
Moreover, those whose combat strength is below hers are the logistics duo, Verne and Defoe.
What's the difference between this and being at the very bottom in terms of combat power?! (Throws salt)
Enraged, Vladimir declared that Romain Rolland (unilaterally) had become her nemesis.
Romain Rolland's response to this was—
"hehe."
—Vladimir is defined by the UN as a logistics officer who can serve as a combatant, so why can't she realize that?
Vladimir's "Lolita" possesses remarkable abilities for logistics, interrogation, survival, and even terrorist attacks, but... a sad story, when it comes to "Lolita's" direct combat capabilities, they are almost zero.
Perhaps it can also be explained this way—"Lolita" refers to abilities that are exceptionally good outside of "combat." So it means she has no combat abilities :)
Vladimir's current combat capabilities are essentially an extension of "Lolita's" transportation and logistical capabilities, rather than combat power in the strict sense.
Its defensive capabilities are excellent, that's true, but it still can't compare to Neverland and (The Little Prince).
With their lethal abilities, Christie and Stevenson could go more than ten blocks beyond Vladimir's reach and still have some leeway.
In terms of direct combat ability, he is no match for Romain Rolland, Mary Shelley, and Cervantes in their biographical accounts. Even in terms of the war of attrition that "Lolita" is theoretically best at, he is no match for Pu Songling.
Despite possessing exceptional logistical capabilities, Vladimir firmly believes himself to be a combatant, making his role within the UN quite ambiguous.
However, with sufficient equipment (and enough in-game purchases), Vladimir can still demonstrate considerable combat prowess...
For example, right now.
A flash of light erupted from the cannon barrel, and the violent roar made Vladimir shake his head uncomfortably.
There's absolutely no need to confirm it; the nocturne of shattered bones echoing in my ears is the best proof of destiny.
"Two more times at most, and if it happens again, I'll vomit in front of Roman," Vladimir thought expressionlessly.
Thinking this, Vladimir reached out to touch the box beside him.
Then I found nothing.
Vladimir frowned and subconsciously turned his head to look, only to find the box empty as expected.
Great, no more shells, looks like I don't need to vomit anymore.
—That's wrong, superior combat strength doesn't include the present.
Unfortunately, your membership has expired. :)
With a flick of his wrist, Vladimir slapped the train cannon back into a teacup amidst a flash of light.
On the other side, Romain Rolland turned around and kicked Mary Shelley into the "false peace" again, tossing the third "peace" he had prepared in his hand and looking at Vladimir.
"Why did you put it away?"
"I must remind you! I just used the last 'Master Key'!"
Vladimir was heartbroken.
"That's all money! Collector's edition shells! Now they're all gone! So why not let Shelley have some fun smashing them up! It's just Japan, why not just tear it all down!"
Romain Rolland turned his head away, ignoring the fake little girl behind him who was so angry that she was even starting to speak incoherently.
There's no way Japan wouldn't be worth less than six artillery shells.
Come to think of it, Vladimir seems to have always valued her "master keys" quite a bit?
"Then I'll take you to 'get' a few more later."
Vladimir paused, then quickly curled his lip in disdain. "You think it's so easy to break into an eagle's armory? Last time, we only succeeded because we were caught off guard by 'Journey to the Center of the Earth.'"
"If you try the same trick again this time, you'll definitely die right there. Go commit suicide yourself, don't take me with you."
Romain Rolland chuckled, indicating that he almost believed it.
"You don't need to look at me with expectant eyes when you say that. I'm more familiar with these little tricks than you are."
Vladimir: "I understand the logic, so why are you more skilled than me?"
Romain Rolland's gaze didn't even tilt towards Vladimir; it remained fixed on the fake Mary Shelley in the Peace Lane. "While you were still pretending to be a little girl, I had already begun systematically training myself on how to imitate others, regardless of gender."
Vladimir: ...Okay, I can't respond to that.
Feeling speechless, Vladimir decided not to argue with Romain Rolland about his strange and outlandish ideas, and instead turned to look at Mary Shelley's position.
Mary Shelley, sprinting through the position, was clearly moving at more than twice the speed she had initially displayed.
“No matter what, this kind of enhancement is too much…” Looking at Mary Shelley’s increasingly agitated expression, Vladimir’s furrowed brows were quite befitting of his age. “She’s at least twice as strong as before. Didn’t you say that Shelley back then could sweep through Japan in ten days?”
“No, I meant that when Shelley gets agitated, she can wipe out Japan in ten days.” Romain Rolland glanced at the struggling Mary Shelley and Vladimir behind her, who had already sheathed his train cannon, and silently crushed the “Peace” spell that was being generated in his hand. “Shelley just gets stronger and stronger when she’s agitated. Frankenstein’s limit under these conditions is probably twice what it is now.”
"That's really... scary..."
Vladimir suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
After a five or six-second pause, Vladimir spoke in a subtle tone.
"I vaguely remember that about ten years ago, there was a serious case of supernatural crimes committed by people with supernatural abilities in Europe, where five or six towns were destroyed and the ruins were reduced to dust. Later, more than a dozen similar destruction sites were discovered in the wild..."
"Oh, that one—that was Shelley's doing."
Romain Rolland turned to Vladimir with a sincere gaze. "Didn't we tell you this before?"
As Romain Rolland turned his head, Mary Shelley was already close to the boundary of "peace".
"What the hell are you talking about! If I'd known it was something like this, I wouldn't have come along!" Vladimir was visibly exasperated. "Speaking of which, wasn't I supposed to be the UN's most wanted man? Why didn't anyone mention before that 'White Storm' was Shelley?!"
"Putting everything else aside, has anyone ever specifically called you 'Childhood Sweetheart' before? And you all call me Roland, not 'Hundred Faces,' right?"
Mary Shelley's hand had already reached out beyond the boundaries of "peace," while Romain Rolland's hand held a blinding red light poised to strike.
A ring on each of his hands shone brightly, and when the light faded, two submachine guns had appeared in Vladimir's hands.
Vladimir glanced down at the two guns, then raised his hand and transformed one of them back into a ring. He then pulled a magazine of bullets with animal patterns from his bag.
"Well, at least I introduced myself!"
Raising his hand, another "False Peace" flew back to Romain Rolland's left hand, hovering and rotating slightly.
Shelley had already extended half an arm.
"That was a newcomer's self-introduction. Shelley joined the UN much earlier than you!"
After changing one magazine, Vladimir took out a second one, and then raised his hand to conjure up another submachine gun.
The outstretched half-arm slammed hard into the repulsive field surrounding "Peace," instantly generating a powerful roar and terrifying kinetic energy.
Like a flying dagger, Shelley pierced through the "false peace" and aimed at Romain Rolland in front of him.
At that moment, gunshots rang out, which quickly turned into the roar of explosions.
“I can still stall Shelley a little longer.” His eyes glued to the smoke from the explosion, Vladimir continued pulling the trigger, “but it definitely won’t be long!”
The location of the explosions suddenly changed, and they began to occur continuously in the open areas on both sides.
"You've opened the ammunition, haven't you!?"
A red light flashed, but it was easily dodged.
Romain Rolland dodged and, just in time to catch Shelley suspended in mid-air, threw the cube in his hand.
Then, the air vibrated.
Vladimir swore that at that moment, the area behind Shelley had absolutely become a vacuum.
Although the range of movement was not very large, Shelley still managed to avoid the cube thrown by Romain Rolland, crashing to the ground with a thud, and then slamming one hand on the ground before rising up again.
The movements were fluid and continuous, without the slightest pause.
As if telling or listening to some bad joke, Shelley used the gas as a point of leverage to change her direction.
—Now, this is the realm of magic.
Seeing Shelley's fluid movements, Vladimir let out a sound that was almost a wail.
"Cervantes! When are you finally coming, you idiot?!"
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