Embers Ad Infinitum

Amidst the continuous salvo, music—mainly consisting of suona sounds—penetrated the cover and echoed in the parking lot behind the technology building.

At this moment, the armored vehicle had already run into Shang Jianyao—who was hiding behind the concrete pile—under the tall murloc’s control.

Upon seeing this, Shang Jianyao leaped up and quickly climbed over the concrete pile with his hands and feet before jumping to the other side.

Bang!

The armored vehicle slammed into the concrete, causing the ground to tremble and rocks to fly everywhere.

After this collision, the tall murloc wearing the wreath laurel almost flew out the driver’s seat, in which he would’ve smashed the windshield and flown out.

Fortunately, his irrationality from the prior corniness wasn’t serious. He remembered to fasten his seatbelt.

As the inflated airbag pressed against his chest, he felt a certain level of depression. The abnormally tall murloc suddenly snapped to attention. Why did I do that? Isn’t this exchanging my own safety for a single enemy’s life? Was I influenced? He’s an Awakened?

As his thoughts raced, the murloc wearing the wreath laurel drove the car again, wanting to turn around and leave.

His vehicle was very sturdy, so he didn’t suffer any damage from the collision. The engine’s roar sounded as expected.

At this moment, the unusually tall murloc saw a black figure land on the hood of the car, causing the car to tremble slightly.

A furry face with a protruding mouth that exuded a lively vibe appeared in his eyes.

Shang Jianyao had run back and jumped onto the hood of the car! During this process, he inserted the two pistols back into his belt. He then removed all his grenades and piled them in front of the car’s windshield.

This car wasn’t a pure armored vehicle. Instead, it was a high-engine capacity vehicle that had been modified with armor and bulletproof glass. Under such circumstances, it wasn’t necessary for the bulletproof glass to be able to withstand the simultaneous explosion of multiple grenades.

Of course, Shang Jianyao wasn’t sure that the explosion would blast open the windshield. His main goal was to scare the other party.

Just like Shang Jianyao wasn’t certain if the windshield would shatter, the tall murloc wasn’t sure either!

Nobody would do such an exaggerated experiment during a performance test. Even if the modifier made the bold claim that it would be fine, nobody would believe them without reservation in such a situation.

Upon seeing the string of dark-green grenades slowly roll in front of the windshield, the tall murloc instantly held his breath, almost forgetting to maintain Asphyxiation.

The next second, when the car started to reverse, Shang Jianyao smiled.

Unfortunately, the murloc couldn’t see it because of the mask.

At the same time, Shang Jianyao pulled out a grenade’s ring. He put down the grenade and waved at the tall murloc behind the windshield. Shang Jianyao then jumped off the car and rolled to the back of another fortification.

The tall murloc anxiously opened the door the moment Shang Jianyao pulled the grenade’s ring, but his hands were unable to complete the action.

Hands Immobility!

At the critical moment, he didn’t suffer any restrictions. The door to the driver’s seat opened by itself. It was as if a pair of invisible hands were opening the door for the tall murloc.

He jumped out in a panic and rolled to the back of a half-collapsed concrete mound.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions sounded one after another, but they sounded at fast intervals, making them sound like one long blast.

Flames soared into the sky, accompanied by the soundless shattering of the windshield.

The explosion subsided a little, and the Dagger Group Prelude echoed again.

Shang Jianyao seemed augmented by the music. He swung his arms and rushed out of his hiding spot, heading straight for the tall murloc.

The Asphyxiation effect had vanished.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Shang Jianyao felt like he was running a race, and he wasn’t too far from his goal.

Suddenly, his heart beat faster as if he had heavily stepped on the accelerator, and the brakes had miraculously failed.

Amidst thumping sounds, his running slowed down. His back bent slightly as if he were relieving his shortness of breath and dizziness.

After a lot of concrete was blown up, the tall murloc stood up.

The dark-blue cloak he wore was tattered, and his grayish-black scales were covered in dust. At this moment, he had already given up on maintaining Asphyxiation and switched to using Heartbeat Acceleration to deal with Shang Jianyao.

Facing an Awakened who had closed the distance between them, the murloc didn’t dare be careless at all. He wanted to resolve this as soon as possible.

…

Redstone Collection’s defense line around Aiur Supermarket and Sixth Day Mall was already on the brink of danger. In many places, the mountain monsters had already rushed forward and engaged in close combat.

Long Yuehong’s numb mind—a result of a lack of oxygen—suddenly cleared up. He then breathed in the air that he usually didn’t find pleasant; even the smell of gunpowder was intoxicating.

After taking a deep breath, Long Yuehong picked up the grenade launcher and turned around to fire.

But just as he completed the first action, he saw the mountain monsters—who had already climbed up the collapsed building. He saw their blue skin under the moonlight and the grenades that were being thrown over.

Grenades.

F*ck… Long Yuehong cursed inwardly.

At the same time, he instinctively kicked with his feet and horizontally flew toward the wall on the other side of the room.

During this process, he saw Bai Chen perform a similar jump and roll before entering the second prepared fortification.

Thud!

Long Yuehong abandoned the grenade launcher as soon as he landed. He scrambled around the wall and hid behind a pile of sandbags.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The violent blast brought about by the grenades swept across the original defense line, causing the walls on both sides to collapse gradually. Several Redstone town guards—who didn’t react quickly enough—were torn apart as blood splattered everywhere, their corpses incomplete.

Immediately after, seven to eight mountain monsters—armed with submachine guns and assault rifles—jumped over the collapsed windowsill and entered the first defense line.

Without any hesitation, they swept their guns around.

Amidst the gunfire, several town guards—who had tried to counterattack—were peppered with bullets until their bodies were covered in bloody holes and had their limbs blasted off.

Soon, only Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, Han Wanghuo, and a few others remained along this line of defense. They remained calm and didn’t rashly show their heads even though the enemy was approaching.

The sweeping fire quickly subsided to a certain extent. Bai Chen put down the Orange rifle, took off her coat, and placed it to the side.

She then threw her coat up and jumped out from beside the fortifications.

Ta! Ta! Ta!

Her coat was riddled with many holes.

In midair, Bai Chen had already taken out an Ice Moss and a United 202 to fire at the eight mountain monsters scattered across the room.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bai Chen’s every shot hit a target, but some hit the vital spots, while others landed on their limbs.

Upon hearing the mountain monsters’ screams, Long Yuehong’s heart palpitated. Without hesitation, he raised the Berserker assault rifle he slung around his body and half-kneeled.

With the sandbag between him and the enemy, he fired at the area with more mountain monsters.

This didn’t require precision. It was mainly to provide suppressive fire so that Bai Chen could hide in time after her firing.

This was part of the Old Task Force’s training. Although Long Yuehong had never used it in actual combat, he—who had plenty of experience—was no longer flustered and lost like before when facing danger. Now, he could calm down and make decisions.

This way, he could unleash most of his training. Furthermore, he had worked with Bai Chen back in Weed City and had a certain level of tacit understanding with her.

As he fired, Long Yuehong saw Han Wanghuo take the opportunity to counterattack. His marksmanship was extremely precise, and not a single shot missed.

After this round of counterattacks, more than half of the eight mountain monsters that rushed in had fallen. The remaining three found cover and began firing at Bai Chen, Han Wanghuo, and the others.

Without a doubt, Long Yuehong and the others had the upper hand, but more mountain monsters were still rushing over from behind them!

In addition, Long Yuehong was most worried that the feeling of suffocation would come again. This would result in the defense quickly losing combat strength in a minute or two.

…

In the parking lot behind the technology building.

The tall murloc moved a distance in the opposite direction to avoid being affected by Shang Jianyao’s Awakened abilities.

Shang Jianyao tried his best to approach or draw his gun to fire, but he couldn’t succeed because his heart was beating faster and faster. He was already approaching his limits, but he had a stubbornness that was engraved in his bones as he slowly walked forward.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian—who was blocked by the flower bed—suddenly jumped up. She held an Ice Moss in one hand and a United 202 in the other.

Bang! Bang!

Her pupils locked onto the murloc wearing the wreath laurel, and she pulled the triggers.

She had long woken up and had been pretending to be unconscious, waiting for an opportunity!

After she fainted, the auxiliary chip in her biological prosthetic limb sensed that something was wrong with her body. It activated an emergency function and used the stored electric capacitance to stimulate her and wake her up.

When Jiang Baimian pulled the triggers, the tall murloc’s gaze froze.

The concrete blocks around him flew up and blocked between him and Jiang Baimian, forming a wall with many gaps. It was as if there were many invisible hands controlling everything.

Bang! Bang!

The two bullets that Jiang Baimian fired were blocked by the concrete blocks and missed their target.

However, her attack liberated Shang Jianyao. His heart no longer beat erratically. Furthermore, he quickly recovered due to his powerful bodily functions.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Shang Jianyao rushed in front of the tall murloc in a few strides and punched out with his right fist.

The tall murloc wanted to raise his hands to block, but he realized that he couldn’t do so.

Shang Jianyao’s fist passed through the gap in the concrete the next second. Amidst the majestic melody produced by the suona and various instruments, it struck the side of the murloc’s face heavily.

With a bang, the teeth of the tall murloc fell off as his body tilted in the corresponding direction. The pieces of concrete floating around him fell to the ground with a thud.

Shang Jianyao’s left fist followed closely behind and struck the other half of his face, righting his body.

Shang Jianyao then slid his hands down, grabbed the enemy’s shoulder, and pressed him down. At the same time, he bent his knee and propelled it upward.

Bam!

The tall murloc’s body stiffened, but Shang Jianyao didn’t stop. He raised his arm, clasped his hands, and swung them at the other party’s neck like a club.

Bang!

The tall murloc fainted.