Chapter 720 I Hit the BOSS
The moment the words left his mouth.
All was silent except for the rustling of the wind through the grass and the faint crackling of a distant flame.
Shadow Scorpion was stunned. At the same time, a miraculous hope, like a drowning person grasping at a straw, arose absurdly in his heart as he was gripped by immense fear.
—He seems to be... really only asking this? Does it mean he doesn't intend to get involved in the fight, which means I still have a chance?
If I answer Feng Mu's questions honestly, perhaps I still have a chance to salvage the situation?
At his feet, Ahhe, who had been saved from the brink of death twice by Feng Mu, turned deathly pale the moment he heard those words, his face turning ashen and bloodless.
A chill even more bone-chilling than when he faced death before, like countless fine ice needles, instantly pierced his limbs and bones, causing every pore of his body to tremble with terror...
Oops!
The mission objective doesn't seem to be here to rescue me!
He... saved the wrong person, and twice at that?!
Ah opened his mouth and finally understood what it felt like to have his tongue frozen.
It was a tremor that came from the depths of one's soul, so intense that even the vocal cords lost the courage to vibrate.
In the brief respite of this deathly silence and struggle, Captain Zhang Shenyi's voice suddenly came through the communication channel:
"Ah, don't do anything foolish, stay calm, listen carefully to what I say, and do as I say..."
Zhang Shenyi spoke at an astonishing speed, as if he were speaking at three times the normal speed:
"Tell Feng Mu right now that those two fireworks were set off by the White Mask, the big guy next to you holding the shield. He was the one who carried the cluster bombs on his shoulder."
He not only bombed the highway, but also the bushes; he was truly insane.
Zhang Shenyi was by no means a staunch defender of honesty. In life-or-death situations, in order to save his team members' lives, he was not only willing to fabricate lies himself, but also would not hesitate to teach his team members how to make their lies more convincing.
His mind raced, and as he continued speaking, he started running again, sprinting towards the center of the battlefield.
"Oh, right! Tell Feng Mu that there's another car on the highway that was dismantled into parts, also done by the White Mask gang."
It was that… that eight-legged, oh no, it was a seven-legged white spider.
Zhang Shenyi quickly incorporated all the available elements from the scene into his fabrication, striving to increase the credibility of his lie.
"He not only cruelly dismantled the car, but also killed the two people inside. Both bodies... yes, he dragged both bodies away and hid them in the bushes."
Zhang Shenyi was quite quick-witted; the lie he hastily fabricated, while not entirely without flaws, was at least a mixture of truth and falsehood.
He didn't expect Feng Mu to completely believe the fabricated accusation; he only hoped to confuse the public and buy some precious time, as long as it could delay him until he arrived at the battlefield.
Once he arrives, he might be able to find a way to break the deadlock.
Ah is actually not a very good liar.
He wouldn't even flinch if ordered to kill, but asking him to spew a string of lies is a real challenge for him.
Especially when facing the two "saviors" who saved him, Ah was even more hesitant to speak.
Even if the other party was actually their mission target, even if the rescue was a mistake, the fact that they had narrowly escaped death twice at the last minute was still a real and tangible experience.
Lying to your "savior" is somewhat despicable, isn't it?
Honestly, Ah was not really willing.
But he really didn't want to die like that.
Especially after experiencing two near-death experiences and being forcibly saved, his inner desire for "life" is burning more intensely than ever before.
Furthermore, as a member of the Problem-Solving Studio, unconditionally obeying the captain's orders is a discipline ingrained in our bones.
All these thoughts swirled and could be a long story, but in reality, from the moment Zhang Shenyi spoke to Ah He making his decision, not even a second had passed.
Zhang Shenyi spoke at a speed as fast as a storm, and Ahe's mind had been stimulated to be unusually sensitive and active by Feng Mu's two "rescue" attempts.
Before Shadow Scorpion could even organize his thoughts, Ah took a deep breath and spoke in a hoarse voice.
He answered first:
"He set off the fireworks...the smoke!"
As Ah spoke weakly, he used his last bit of strength to slowly raise his hand, which was covered in mud and blood, and pointed firmly at the fortress standing not far away.
The fortress, suddenly identified, was stunned: "..."
His massive body seemed to stiffen for a moment, his face, covered by a white mask, was expressionless, but his eyes clearly revealed immense astonishment and bewilderment.
broken!
I've become the murderer?!
The moment his mind reacted, Fortress didn't have time to think about the underlying logic. His long-cultivated defensive instincts drove him to suddenly raise the huge ion shield in his hand high, completely covering his massive body behind it.
It was as if this indestructible shield could block this black pot just as it could block physical attacks.
Even more shocked and furious than the fortress was Shadow Scorpion, who could hardly believe his ears.
How can there be such despicable and shameless people? They dare to spout nonsense right in front of him and throw all the mud at them.
"He's lying!!!"
Shadow Scorpion abruptly raised its head, ignoring the deadly threat posed by the hand on the back of its neck, and roared with all its might:
"The people who set off fireworks onto the highway were clearly their people; that person was..."
Ah, too, was now cornered. His survival instinct overwhelmed everything, and he raised his voice, interrupting with all his might:
"No, he's the one who put it there. Look, there's a wrecked car on the highway; that's what that white spider tore it apart."
He killed both people in the car, and dragged their bodies into the bushes!
He memorized and repeated the captain's instructions.
Iron Claw, which had been closely monitoring the events at the center of the battlefield through its equipment, paused in surprise upon hearing Ahr's resounding accusation:
"A white spider, huh? Are you talking about me?"
In an instant, the skin under his mask turned bright red, almost dripping blood.
He may seem a bit straightforward and clumsy in his daily life, but precisely because of this, he hates it when others try to scheme against him or frame him.
How could this person falsely accuse him of hiding the corpses?
He clearly has a body that's either dead or missing!
Wait a moment!!!
Iron Claw's angry thoughts suddenly stalled for a moment.
The other party just said... the body was dragged into the bushes!
So, they hid my stolen body in the bushes?!
Iron Claw, believing he had figured out the "key" thing, instantly flew into a rage, a mixture of anger at being robbed and framed, erupting in his chest like a volcano.
He let out a deafening roar, and his seven sharp metal limbs exerted force at the same time, digging and scratching the ground, kicking up countless pieces of gravel and dust.
Ignoring the delicate balance in the center of the battlefield, he pounced on the lynx closest to him.
"Damn corpse thieves! Tell me! Where did you hide my body?! Give it back!!!"
The roar echoed through the grass, startling a flock of sparrows.
Hearing Iron Claw's earth-shattering roar, Shadow Scorpion's heart clenched violently, almost stopping on the spot. He cursed incessantly in his mind:
"Fool! Fool! Iron Claw, that complete idiot! Isn't this tantamount to admitting guilt?!"
Shadow Scorpion could clearly feel the cold hand on the back of his neck, through the thick armor, seemingly penetrating with an even more sinister and bone-chilling cold, making his exoskeleton's internal temperature control system seem to malfunction, and a layer of fine goosebumps rose on his skin.
Shadow Scorpion had been racking his brains, trying to find a way to expose Ach's flawed lies, but when Iron Claw roared with a self-destructive rage, he suddenly realized that all his explanations were futile.
Feng Mu... probably won't be interested in hearing another word from me.
A resolute glint flashed in Shadow Scorpion's eyes, and the exoskeleton covering his entire body suddenly emitted an overloaded hum, with the hydraulic devices at all the joints simultaneously unleashing their maximum power.
He suddenly lowered his neck, as if he was about to lunge forward.
At the same time, the mechanical structure at the connection between the base of the scorpion's tail, which had been freed from its restraints, made a crisp "click" sound.
He actually let the scorpion's tail break off directly at the middle joint!
The severed scorpion tail, with its hidden miniature thrusters igniting instantly, spewed out a ghostly blue tail flame. Like a rocket being launched, it accelerated a second time, shooting straight at Feng Mu's brow at a speed even faster than any previous attack.
Shadow Scorpion did all this not to kill its opponent, but purely as a desperate act of self-sacrifice, a "tail-cutting survival" born of desperation.
Feng Mu easily outmaneuvered him with his masterful illusions, shattering his courage and confidence. Now, all he wanted was a "tactical retreat."
I attacked the BOSS, but it didn't lose any health at all!
Sorry to bother you!
Shadow Scorpion's only thought right now is to disengage from the fight and get out of the boss's aggro range as quickly as possible.
This unexpected tail-severing strike was intended to allow Feng Mu to block or dodge, temporarily removing the deadly hand from the back of his neck.
Even if it's just a fraction of a second, enough to give him the chance to activate the plantar jets.
To be honest, Shadow Scorpion's reaction was incredibly fast, and its response was remarkably decisive.
Whether it was the previous probing attack or the current desperate attempt to cut off its tail to survive, it was all done without hesitation, demonstrating exceptional ruthlessness and decisiveness.
He was absolutely worthy of his identity as a member of the White Mask Elite. His response was not wrong, but he made a mistake in choosing the wrong person... BOSS.
The scorpion's tail, flashing with a deadly metallic glint, shot out with lightning speed.
However, behind Feng Mu's unremarkable lenses, under the gaze of his Dynamic Capture lv4+ Insight lv4 eyes, everything seemed to be slowed down to 1/4 speed, as slow as a snail crawling.
With a full 43 points of agility, he became aware of his surroundings, and his hand followed immediately, without any delay in his mind over his hand.
With a slight flick of his wrist, his palm traced a seemingly slow but actually instantaneous and mysterious trajectory in the air. His five fingers spread slightly, and the invisible Thousand Entangling Silk Force was quietly activated.
The tip of the scorpion's tail, which was being sprayed, was flicked in mid-air, like a fish being steered astray by a gentle current, its trajectory subtly altered.
The thruster's exhaust flames hadn't yet died down, and the blue flames were rippled by the force field, failing to reach even a scorch on his sleeve.
Then, Feng Mu pinched the scorpion's tail and thrust his wrist forward.
Elegant, incredibly elegant!
The thruster's jets, the force field, and the strength in his wrist combined.
The speed at which the scorpion's tail reflected back did not decrease but rather decreased, becoming more than 2.5 times faster than before.
Then it lunged forward, its speed twice as fast as when it came.
At the same time, Shadow Scorpion felt the cold hand on the back of his neck finally leave, and a surge of immense joy rushed into his heart, almost making him burst into laughter:
"Success! We've created distance! Time to run!!"
His blood and qi surged wildly within him, his leg muscles were taut to the extreme, and the miniature jets hidden under his feet were already preheated, ready to unleash a torrent of scorching air.
Although it can't truly soar through the sky like a fire crow, with this explosive power, it's absolutely no problem to leap twenty or thirty meters in one step and escape this most dangerous area.
At the same time, he manipulated all the optical "shadow scorpions" around him, making them perform similar actions in sync—lowering their heads, arching their bodies, and breathing fire from their feet.
These illusions are realistic and lifelike enough to fool others, but they can't fool Feng Mu.
This wasn't because he could see health bars—those illusions also had health bars above their heads, only they were significantly shorter.
The main difference is that those illusions do not have that black thread connecting them to some unknown high place, like a marionette...
The Shadow Scorpion's true form not only has a clear health bar on its head, but also a solid black line that pierces the sky, like a marked prisoner.
Then……
Shadow Scorpion suddenly felt a chill in his chest.
"Snap... snap...!"
The sound of the high-strength composite armor plate of the exoskeleton shattering like paper blended with the muffled thuds of flesh being torn apart and bones being pierced.
He watched as the virtual "Shadow Scorpion" illusions around him all seemed to have been launched, suddenly leaping into the air in various postures and nimbly flying dozens of meters away, all maintaining a safe distance.
Only he himself...
His own true self, however, failed to "take off".
He remained firmly "nailed" to the spot, with only the foot-mounted jets futilely emitting a few weak wisps of air, stirring up a little dust on the ground.
He stared blankly at the shadow scorpion illusions that "flew away," which were exactly like him. For a moment, he was so confused that he couldn't tell whether he was real or not.
At this moment, Shadow Scorpion probably desperately hoped that he himself was the false illusion.
And those flying illusions, all of them quite intelligently, turned their heads in unison the moment they landed, looking back at him.
Those seemingly real yet illusory gazes, filled with doubt and urging, seemed to be silently and anxiously questioning:
—Why aren't you keeping up? Have you fallen behind?! Come on over!!
(End of this chapter)
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