Chapter 48: When You Can’t Win, Call for Backup
Xiang Nanli turned off the microphone and grumbled, “The local dialect of this Eternal City is pretty tongue-twisting.”
On top of that, its vocabulary was sparse—a typical trait of an underdeveloped language. The Human Alliance language, derived from Mandarin, sounded much better.
[Mm.] It was the black armor that responded.
Alpha’s database hadn’t stored this dialect either; after all, its data originated from Alpha 5.2.0, which hadn’t been updated in hundreds of years.
Still fighting bloodily outside the city, the Knight Commander suddenly snapped his head up, shock bursting in his eyes: “What’s going on?!”
The mechanical horse beneath him uttered a sharp whinny.
Out on the surface, people called their outposts whatever they pleased—even a village of fifty households dared to crown itself an empire.
One day brought the grand founding of a nation; the next brought the total annihilation of the entire village.
Only strongholds that reached a certain threshold of power earned the right to be recorded.
What “Survivor Base”?! He had never even heard of such a thing.
Yet if the intruders were able to broadcast a city-wide announcement, it could only mean one thing: the inner city had fallen.
“Could it be that these Mutants weren’t an accident, but sent by this base?! Impossible!! Taming techniques like this are something only the Temple possesses! What is the situation in the inner city!? Is Xiaofu alright? That useless City Master!”
The Knight Commander, Dafu, was burning with anxiety, no longer caring to entangle himself with the Mutants before him.
He clamped his thighs around the mount, and the black mechanical horse opened its wings, carrying him up to the top of the ramparts.
Flipping off the horse, the Knight Commander strode into the watchtower.
Inside was a chaotic mess, filled with a clamor of panicked noise. Clearly, this bunch of useless fools had no idea what was happening either.
Upon seeing the Knight Commander, the crowd acted as if they had found their pillar of support, weeping as they surged forward: “Lord Knight Commander! What do we do now?”
The signal tower of the Eternal City had collapsed, plunging the city into a signal-less state amidst the snowstorm.
Clack— To make matters worse, the power supply inside the city was manually severed.
The surroundings instantly sank into total darkness.
The chaotic noise multiplied. When plunged into danger and the unknown, these pampered aristocrats were no different from the civilians outside.
However, the Knight Commander’s field of vision remained entirely unaffected.
Shoving aside the people around him with brute force, he charged toward the conference room.
Sure enough, his younger brother, who was supposed to be kneeling in the conference room, was nowhere to be seen.
Catching the scent in the air, the Knight Commander followed the trail of metallic blood all the way to the washroom door.
He pushed the door open and saw Xiaofu’s half-melted head sitting on top of the sink. Half of the flesh had already sloughed off, giving off a pungent, rotting stench.
“AAAAAHHHH!” The Knight Commander cradled his brother’s head, howling to the heavens as the eyes hidden beneath his armor burned blood-red. “Who was it?! WHO WAS IT!!”
Removing his helmet, the Knight Commander sniffed the corpse before him like a hyena. His cheeks were flushed red, as if he were intoxicated.
Slowly, two slender, black fleshy worms wriggled out from his nostrils.
The long worms were slick and wet, resembling blood-gorged leeches.
Writhing in midair, they opened small, moist pores on their heads, sniffing the residual scent lingering in the air.
Turning from black to deep crimson, the two leeches squirmed back into the Knight Commander’s nasal cavity.
The Knight Commander caught the lingering, unfamiliar scent left on Xiaofu’s body.
“So it was him who killed you…” The Knight Commander slammed a fist into the marble sink.
That person was still nearby; he hadn’t gone far.
The marble surface disintegrated into fine powder, snapping clean down the middle.
With a face as cold as frost, the Knight Commander turned toward the control room, his heavy metallic armor radiating a suffocating murderous intent: “I will avenge you.”
…
…
Xiang Nanli had shut down the city’s power grid and begun unhooking the neural sensor lines connected to his body.
[No, no,] the black armor pleaded, [don’t… leave… me.]
Its mechanical arms pulled out even more flavors of Gene Serum (all leftover stock from its previous owner) in an attempt to retain Xiang Nanli. The driverless suit even moved on its own, tugging gently at the hem of Xiang Nanli’s clothes.
Xiang Nanli stuffed the treat-like strips of Gene Serum into his pocket: “Be a good boy, Little Black. Let go. You’re too conspicuous; I can’t wear you out there.”
Alpha sneered coldly: [It’s just an idiot; don’t waste your breath on it, it can’t understand you.]
Just as Alpha finished blowing hot air, the black suit actually released its grip obediently. With the power cut, the armor entered a shut-down state.
“Look at you, holding such a huge bias against Little Black.” Xiang Nanli pulled the console key and slipped into his stealth suit. “Even though it’s a suit from the Temple, it’s very well-behaved.”
Alpha: “…”
Xiang Nanli took a deep breath and opened the door. In an instant, he concealed his outline behind it.
An overwhelming hail of gunfire rained into the room. Guards outside rushed into the control room shouting: “Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons!!”
High-intensity flashlights illuminated the entire room like bright daylight. Yet, the beams only caught the driverless black armor and the City Master’s corpse.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Xiang Nanli slipped out of the room and headed downstairs.
With the elevator dead, he could only use the stairwell.
Having successfully achieved his objective, Xiang Nanli was in a rather pleasant mood. He navigated the spiral staircase, stepping lightly down toward the lower levels.
“Survivor Base” was a name Xiang Nanli had made up on the spot, but he thought it had a nice ring to it.
If he could bring the inhabitants of the Eternal City over there, it would be ideal.
That way, the base would have its first batch of labor. Only with a population could they develop anything else.
However, Xiang Nanli hadn’t even visited the stronghold himself. The ruined city had been abandoned for many days and likely lacked food and pure water, perhaps even missing radiation filtering devices. Luring people over only to let them starve would completely ruin the base’s reputation, wouldn’t it?
[We can eliminate the Temple’s garrison inside the Eternal City first,] Xiang Nanli chatted with Alpha out of habit. [I wonder if Sirius is still alive. If he is, I can consult with him and see if he’d act as an interim City Master. I need at least a month’s buffer time…]
[Why not just occupy the Eternal City directly?] Alpha asked.
Xiang Nanli: [Not safe. Sooner or later, the Temple will launch an attack.]
Xiang Nanli pondered, his expression solemn.
As he rounded a corner, the exit of the tower came into view just ahead, but his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Blocking the path downstairs was a Knight.
The Knight wore a pointed triangular helmet, possessed a massive frame, and gripped a heavy broadsword in his hand.
He didn’t utter a word, but on his helmet, the emblem of the Black Cross Inquisition glowed with a faint, blood-red light.
It appeared the Knight Commander had been waiting for a long time.
Logically speaking, the Knight Commander shouldn’t have been able to see him.
Xiang Nanli quietly took a step back. He felt an indescribable pressure; his spine went cold, as if he were being locked onto by a terrifying predator.
“Heh…?” The Knight Commander let out a cold chuckle. “Optical cloaking material?”
Indeed, he couldn’t see Xiang Nanli, but it didn’t matter—he could smell him, and he was extremely close.
The person who killed his younger brother was right here, the margin of error between his perception and actual position no more than half a meter.
“Death Tracking”—one of the Temple’s divine arts, typically used to track down the killer of the deceased.
The Knight Commander could maintain this divine art’s effect for two hours.
Raising his heavy broadsword, the Knight Commander swung it violently at the empty air ahead, roaring: “—DIE! FOR ME!”
Xiang Nanli felt a terrifying blade wind slicing straight toward him. He ducked and dodged, barely avoiding a direct hit, yet the residual wind blade scraped across his body, making him feel as though he had been slashed by an invisible sword.
Had his body not been enhanced, he might have been sliced in half right then and there.
Collapsing to the ground, Xiang Nanli ignored the pain and didn’t have time to wonder how the Knight Commander could target him. Scrambling to his feet, he bolted back upstairs.
His heart hammered violently; as he ran, he disrupted the still airflow, exposing his outline even further.
But Xiang Nanli could no longer care about any of that.
Without needing to calculate, Xiang Nanli knew he didn’t stand a single shred of a chance against the Knight Commander.
Alpha issued a piercing alarm! It was deafening, sounding like an unceasing, sharp bell!
Fleeing at top speed, Xiang Nanli bellowed in his mind: [What time do you think it is!! If you’re not going to help me, at least stop being so loud!!!]
Alpha roared back with equal intensity: [I’M CALLING FOR BACKUP!!! 520!!!!!]
What 520?
Though clad in heavy armor, the Knight Commander’s stride was by no means slow. After his initial rage, his expression had turned eerily calm.
He was going to sever Xiang Nanli’s body piece by piece, chopping him into tiny bits to offer as a sacrifice for his brother.
When he returned, he would report this Survivor Base to the Divine Court. Heh… after such a massive disaster, the Divine Court would dig three feet into the earth to locate that base, and that day would mark the march of the Apocalypse Knights.
Where the Divine Court marches, not a single blade of grass remains.
He wanted the entire base to pay in blood, to make Xiang Nanli pay for his own stupidity.
The blade behind him slashed down, strike after strike. Bricks on the floor exploded and sent debris flying. Caught in the shockwaves, Xiang Nanli was knocked several meters forward.
He felt as though his internal organs were bleeding, his chest burning with searing pain.
The Lurker pelt suit had also sustained severe damage, covered in numerous gashes. Translucent scales littered the floor.
The suit’s stealth functionality had failed.
Damn it, he hadn’t even used it twice! What a bunch of squandering bastards the Divine Court were.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Xiang Nanli propped himself up, sitting on the ground, his eyes narrowing slightly: “Hss… that hurts… Hello, Knight Commander.”
Xiang Nanli tilted his head and paused: “Could you let me say one last sentence?”
It had to be said, he possessed a remarkably handsome face. Even to the man who murdered his brother, he didn’t look entirely hideous.
The Knight Commander raised the broad heavy sword in his hand, taking heavy, deliberate steps toward him: “Speak, your last words.”
Xiang Nanli took a deep breath and screamed at the top of his lungs: “XIAO QING—!”
In the very next second—
BOOM—!
The wall of the corridor was violently blasted open from the outside by pure force. Dongfang Qingdi appeared before Xiang Nanli in an instant, his long black hair fluttering in the chaotic wind.
The howling snowstorm outside poured through the shattered breach, yet his expression was even colder than the ice and snow.
Well then. Spatial leap.
A distance of 5 kilometers—Dongfang Qingdi had leaped 4 consecutive times.
Remaining battery balance: 4%.
