As the smell of gunpowder mixed with the acrid energy filled his nostrils, Long Wu was using his battle blade to deflect the third bone spike that had pierced his shoulder armor.
His left arm had long since lost sensation, and drops of blood dripped from the gaps in his arm armor onto the scorched earth, each drop burning tiny pits into the ground—the corrosive blood of the invaders.
"Boss!" He shouted for a moment, then suddenly choked up.
Lin Yi, who had been running wildly ahead, was now like a withered leaf swept away by a gale, crashing heavily onto a broken wall five meters away.
The silver light of the hourglass emblem flickered on his chest, like a candle flame that might be extinguished at any moment.
Long Wu's battle blade clattered to the ground, and his muscular back suddenly straightened—he saw the Night Owl's scarlet pupils light up in the shadows, saw purplish-black energy surging in the cracks in the ground, and saw a shadow darker than the night rising from the cracks.
"Roar—!" A beast-like growl rolled from Long Wu's throat.
His fingernails dug bloody marks into his palms, and the dragon scale tattoo on the back of his neck suddenly glowed with golden light, creeping up his neck and across his entire face.
This was the first time he had uncontrollably triggered the True Dragon Bloodline—the last time was in the newbie village, when twenty-seven newbies were surrounded by thirty mutated beasts, Lin Yi stood in front of him and said, "I'll count to three, then you lead them to charge."
Long Wu's battle blade suddenly emitted a dragon's roar.
The moment he bent down to grab the weapon, the veins under his skin bulged into a bluish-purple color, and golden flames began to flow from the dragon pattern on the surface of the blade.
Before the three mutated beasts that were attacking from the left could even see his movements, they were cut in half by a golden light—it was the force of the battle blade that directly cleaved through the half-meter-thick energy barrier.
"Old Chu!" Long Wu wiped the blood from his face, his roar making the communicator buzz. "What's the background of that dark figure?"
Can I believe it?
When the holographic projection exploded in front of him, Chu Yao's hair was still covered with charred fragments.
Her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, and she didn't even bother to wipe the sweat from her forehead that dripped into her collar: "Energy fluctuations do not belong to the known dimensions!"
But... "She suddenly looked up, a look of wild joy flashing in her eyes, "He's dismantling the Night Owl's trap!"
Look at the third energy pillar from the left; in the area covered by the shadow, the node is collapsing!
Su Qing's voice followed closely, tinged with a bit of rapid breathing: "The transmission is stable!"
"The locator's blue light coverage has increased by 30%, and it can now lock onto the Night Owl's energy core!" Her fingers were pressing on the locator behind her neck. The silver device was now dazzlingly bright, even making her skin appear pale blue—this was the result of three days and three nights of calibration without sleep. The last time she worked this hard was to help Lin Yi locate the spacetime rift after the beginner village.
Long Wu's battle blade once again unleashed a golden light.
This time he saw it clearly: the shadowy figure's movements didn't look like fighting at all, but rather like... dismantling things.
With each swing of his palm, the purple energy net laid out by the night owl cracked open; with each step he took forward, the corrosive array on the ground turned to ashes.
For a fleeting moment, Long Wu saw a faint blue light emanating from the fingertips of the dark figure, and it resembled the figure at the edge of the battlefield who had removed his hood...
\"cough......\"
The slight noise made Long Wu stop moving.
He turned his head sharply and saw Lin Yi standing up, leaning against the broken wall.
The youth's battle suit was riddled with holes, and there was a deep wound on his left cheek that exposed the bone, but his eyes shone with an astonishing light, like black jade tempered with starlight.
"Awake?" Long Wu grinned, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "I thought I was going to have to carry you through the whole thing."
Lin Yi didn't reply.
His right hand was pressed against his chest, where he could clearly feel the hourglass emblem pulsating—the power of the master of time and space was reviving.
Suddenly, the heartbeats of three thousand comrades-in-arms rang in his ears, resonating with Su Qing's words, "sunrise in all dimensions," in the void.
He looked at the collapsing energy network behind Long Wu, at the constantly updated combat data in Chu Yao's projection, and at the blue light of the locator on the back of Su Qing's neck that was almost burning through her skin.
"Long Wu, take a team to flank the left." His voice was still hoarse, yet it sounded like a war drum striking bronze. "Old Chu, synchronize the Shadow's attack pattern to everyone; Xiao Qing, give me Night Owl's real-time coordinates."
"Received!" The three voices rang out simultaneously.
The energy storm suddenly surged violently.
The figure of Night Owl stepped out of the purple mist, his scarlet pupils narrowing to slits: "The ruler of time and space?"
He was nothing more than a pathetic pawn used as a game by an advanced civilization. He raised his hand, and twelve dark purple crystal cores floated in the air. "Now, watch how your companions..."
\"boom--!\"
The explosion interrupted him.
Night Owl turned his head sharply and saw the dark figure's hand pierce through his defensive barrier and press down on the sixth crystal core.
The eerie blue light spread along the cracks in the crystal core, devouring energy like a venomous snake gnawing at its prey.
His pupils contracted sharply—this was his core defense, a barrier that even legendary-level job changers couldn't break through, yet it was torn open by this dark figure with ease.
"Who are you?" Night Owl's voice finally cracked.
The shadowy figure did not answer.
His figure suddenly turned into a shadow, and when he reappeared, he was standing behind the night owl.
The eerie blue light at her fingertips coalesced into the shape of a dagger, aiming straight for the back of the owl's neck—the weakness of all extradimensional beings, which Su Qing had demonstrated with a holographic projection in the laboratory just three days ago.
"Watch out!" Lin Yi's roar was accompanied by an energy explosion.
The owl's reaction was remarkably swift.
He spun around and threw a punch, a dark purple energy carrying a foul stench that rushed towards him.
But the shadowy figure's dagger still grazed his neck, leaving a charred wound on his skin.
Night Owl staggered back three steps, a hint of panic flashing across his madness—he could feel the wound devouring his energy, like a black hole that could never be filled.
The battlefield fell silent for a moment.
Long Wu's blade tip kicked up a wisp of smoke, Chu Yao's fingers stopped on the virtual keyboard, and Su Qing's locator's blue light suddenly surged.
All eyes were fixed on the dark figure and the staggering owl; even the energy fragments floating in the air seemed to freeze.
Lin Yi's nails dug deeply into his palm.
He could feel the heat of the hourglass emblem burning his skin through his battle suit; it was the power of time and space urging him to make a decision.
The energy core of the Night Owl was flashing, the shadowy figure was gathering its next attack, Long Wu's battle blade was already full of golden flames, Chu Yao's new battle plan was flashing in the communicator, and Su Qing's positioning coordinates were precisely locking onto the target.
"Attention, everyone!" His voice was low, yet it pierced the eardrums of every comrade like a steel needle. "Three..."
The owl suddenly looked up.
He wiped the blood from the side of his neck, and the panic in his crimson pupils was replaced by an even more frenzied light.
\"two......\"
The shadowy figure's dark blue dagger gleamed once more.
\"one.\"
Lin Yi's right hand clenched tightly.
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