The main objective of Qing Chen's plans for tonight was to destroy the Mindscape Dojo and have the Shadow Squad complete his unfinished business. The second was to rescue Shendai Yunluo, as he was the one who got him into this mess, so he naturally had to rescue him.
The third and most important objective was to help Xiao San and the Mantis Swarm enter the city amidst the chaos. City 20 was heavily guarded, and he would never be able to get in without protection.
In a way, this was actually Qing Chen's main goal. Once the Mantis Swarm entered the underground system, City 20 would be as good as ruined. Xiao San was initially a little worried that if he couldn't get in, he wouldn't live up to the Leader's trust.
He found that he was overthinking. The Leader had gone to such great lengths for him, even deploying artillery within the city... Now, Xiao San's mission was complete, but the Shadow Squad's mission was not yet complete. They still had much to do.
At this moment, the Shadow Squad had abandoned the mortars and continued to move towards their target location.
The entire city was still shrouded in darkness.
Qing Ye looked at the map: "Turn left! After encountering a dead end, jump over the wall and pass two more intersections. You'll be there!"
Qing Qu said from the side: "Why is the route Boss gave us so bizarre? It's full of dead ends and they're all so remote. I bet some of these paths are unknown even to the locals of City 20!"
Qing Ye chuckled: "That's the power of the Guardians' Union. Those people are all over the city. They spend their free time surveying maps, recording everything on video, and then Luo Wanya has someone make 3D holographic maps out of them. If we ever get into a street fight, we'll know this place better than Shendai. I just looked, if we hadn't followed Boss's route through the back alleys, we would have had to detour at least three kilometers and would have run into the Garrison Troops."
A three-meter-high wall blocked their path.This wall was marked as a dead end on the map app, but for the Shadow Squad, a three-meter-high wall was nothing. They easily jumped over it.
More than a hundred people from the squad easily jumped over the wall.
Qing Ye stood on the wall, urging the members of the Shadow Squad: "Hurry, hurry, hurry! We don't have much time! We have 15 minutes left; we must reach the combat location!"
Time was precious.
Shendai Yunluo was running wildly through the streets, continuing to lead the Garrison Troops in circles.
As he passed an intersection, he turned his head and saw two Garrison Troops driving off-road vehicles, keeping pace with him on either side of the road.
The long street was deserted in the dark night. On the two parallel streets next door, engines roared wildly, the accelerator pedals floored.
Only in this way could they keep up with the explosive speed of an A-class expert.
Gradually, Shendai Yunluo's stamina began to decline, and the vehicles on both sides gradually overtook him, forming a pincer movement.
He secretly felt uneasy. Four of his Shikigami had been scattered, and it would take time for them to recover in his Spiritual Bridge.
Now, if he was surrounded by the Garrison Troops again, there would be no way out.
The Yin-Yang Master's body was weak and couldn't outrun the Ittō-ryū lineage.
He hadn't yet reached the place Qing Chen had told him to go, nor the time they were supposed to rendezvous. Shendai Yunluo secretly chuckled: "I've overdone it. I should have pretended to be weaker and let Qing Chen come pick me up earlier!"
Only the roar of car engines remained on the long street.
Shendai Yunxiu trailed behind, wielding his sword: "Shendai Yunluo, stop running, you can't escape. Come back with me and apologize to the Patriarch."
Shendai Yunluo ran and gasped, laughing: "The Guardians' Union and Daybreak will never bow to the Shendai Consortium! The Guardians' Union is the people's Guardians' Union, and we have done nothing wrong!"
Hearing this shout, the residents watching from the sides of the road erupted in cheers. The originally quiet street suddenly became noisy. The Shendai members responsible for the pursuit were stunned. Why did this escape suddenly turn into a show?
Brother, you're being chased, alright? Why are you suddenly acting like a politician and shouting slogans?
However, at this moment, a sudden blade flashed from a nearby alley, an Ittō-ryū member who had been waiting there. A white dragon materialized, blocking the way with its massive size, but wherever the blade passed, the dragon was split in two.
With a ripping sound, the white hunting garment on Shendai Yunluo tore open, revealing the silver soft armor underneath.
Although the silver soft armor blocked the sharpness of the blade, it couldn't withstand the force of the blow. He was sent flying.
"Forbidden Artifact -140, White Scale Soft Armor! That thing is on you! You killed Shendai Longyi!" Someone exclaimed, "You actually harmed your own kin to accumulate eyeballs for Hyakumegami!"
This Forbidden Artifact was a gift from Shendai Qianchi to his junior, Shendai Longyi. During a military operation, the mission failed, and Shendai Longyi disappeared, leaving the Shendai Consortium puzzled for a long time. They didn't know who was responsible.
Now, the truth was revealed.
Shendai Yunluo got up and continued to run, laughing loudly: "He coveted Kongyu, shouldn't I have killed him? And isn't harming your own kin something you're best at?"
He felt a sharp pain, the blow nearly splitting his internal organs.
Furthermore, because of this blow, his speed had completely slowed down, and the Garrison Troops from the two adjacent streets had completely overtaken him, blocking his path 500 meters ahead.
Only one kilometer remained to the meeting point agreed upon with Qing Chen. He wasn't sure if he could break through this barrier.
But Shendai Yunluo couldn't stop. He could only believe that Qing Chen had really arranged reinforcements.
However, Shendai Yunluo was still a little doubtful. Even if Qing Chen had arranged reinforcements, almost all the Garrison Troops were gathered here. What kind of reinforcements could save him now?
An Ittō-ryū member whispered: "Shendai Yunxiu, don't forget your mission. If you don't kill him tonight, you will die.
The Patriarch needs your
blood offering."
Shendai Yunxiu's expression was cold: "You don't need to remind me, I know what to do."
As soon as he finished speaking, he erupted with boundless potential. His agile figure leaped forward, muscles bulging, his suit suddenly shattering into
threads. The wind blew the shreds backward.
With each step he took, the long katana was raised little by little. No drawing of the sword, no iaido, just the most overbearing Ittō-ryū right from the start.
The ground began to crack. With every step he took, spiderweb-like cracks appeared beneath his feet. In just a breath, he left the other Ittō-ryū experts more than ten positions behind.
Shendai Yunxiu held his katana high, like a flag waving in the wind. The katana split the air, with white smoke billowing from the blade!
The experts looked at each other, seemingly not expecting this young disciple to possess such strength. If Shendai Yunluo was the top Yin-Yang Master today, then Shendai Yunxiu was the top Ittō-ryū master.
"He's achieved the Dao! He's actually reached the threshold of the Dao!" the Ittō-ryū members exclaimed.
The next moment, the katana swung!
At the moment the blade fell, the white smoke on the blade no longer dissipated; it condensed like a whirlwind, humming resounded. Wherever the immense force of the blade passed, the earth also cracked.
Shendai Yunluo and Shendai Yunxiu were getting closer in their pursuit. In the blink of an eye, they approached the newly formed Garrison Troops defense line.
As he ran, Shendai Yunluo casually made a gesture, seemingly inconspicuous, but it was an agreement between the three of them. Once they needed to make a choice, the person who made this gesture was willing to die without resentment.
All for their ideals and destiny.
Shendai Yunluo felt he couldn't break through the defense line. He was ready.
But Shendai Yunxiu's expression didn't change when he saw the gesture. Instead, he turned the blade, and the massive downward force didn't strike Shendai Yunluo but instead slashed diagonally at the Garrison Troops' defense line.
Shendai Yunxiu roared: "Take care of yourself! Go!"
With a loud bang, a huge gap was cut into the tight Garrison Troops defense line. The power of one strike split more than ten vehicles and hundreds of people!
The moment the blade struck, the shattered blade trembled, Shendai Yunxiu placed all his hopes on Shendai Yunluo, from the side, an Ittō-ryū expert swung his blade at him: "Something's wrong."
But Shendai Yunluo didn't leave. He rushed back, using his last Shikigami, the bone girl, to block the blade aimed at Shendai Yunxiu, then was chopped into pieces, turning into a stream of light and flying into his Spiritual Bridge.
Shendai Yunxiu asked: "Why didn't you go?"
Shendai Yunluo smiled: "I don't want to go anymore."
"What about us?" Shendai Yunxiu asked.
"Let's die together," Shendai Yunluo, who had made his choice, wasn't flustered. He looked at the Garrison Troops' defense line, which was closing again, and thought they were a Yin-Yang Master without Shikigami and an Ittō-ryū without a sword. It was all over.
He didn't blame Qing Chen, after all, he himself hadn't made it to the agreed-upon place or lasted until the agreed-upon time.
"Quick! Quick!" Qing Ye lowered his voice and shouted.
He ran wildly, looking at the map in his hand, there was one more intersection! One more intersection!
But when they rushed out of the alley, there was no sign of that white figure on the street.
"Damn it, something went wrong!" Qing Ye heard the sounds of fighting nearby.
Qing Qu said: "It's not like Boss's plan. The other side didn't make it here. Do we follow his instructions or decide for ourselves? He didn't tell us what to do if we failed, would he just let us handle it?"
Now, it was a difficult choice. Either charge forward and risk it, or retreat immediately.
Qing Ye scratched his head, turned to the comrades behind him: "Boss is the commander. He must have given a definite strategy. He said we are the Shadow Squad, these Garrison Troops in City 20 are nothing. We must complete the mission. Tonight, the new Boss wants us to give him a blood offering. As they say, kindness doesn't command armies, righteousness doesn't manage finances, and I can understand his decision. But I'm responsible for you. You all used to follow the old Shadow Boss, we were all loyal to the Shadow Boss. Now that his younger brother took over, I know some of you have had the idea of retiring...so I'm making a decision at the risk of being court-martialed. You want to leave, you want to stay, the choice is now, I won't chase you."
"If we leave, what about you and Qing Qu?" A Shadow Squad member asked.
Qing Ye grinned: "We have our mission, and...we feel pretty good following the new Boss."
With that, Qing Ye turned and continued to run towards the sound of fighting.
Behind him, someone said: "I feel like Qing Ye looks down on us. Why is he the only one who can show off? He's the only one with a sense of mission and responsibility, we don't have any."
Qing Ye ran, and he heard more and more footsteps behind him.
Three hundred Shadow warriors, not one more, not one less.
His lips curled slightly, and he heard the hundreds of firearms around him click open their safety catches. The sounds of the weapons being loaded were exhilarating.
300 meters.
200 meters.
100 meters.
The battle between Shendai Yunluo and Shendai Yunxiu took place on the street ahead, and it was visible after a right turn.
Qing Ye suddenly shouted: "You take the main road!"
With that, he leaped and entered a third-floor window of a nearby residential building. A woman's scream came from inside, Qing Ye looked at the woman in a bath towel and laughed, saying she had a nice figure.
He moved through window after window, forcing his way through with firearms, until he reached the window at the end of the building.
The next second, Qing Ye leaped out of the window, appearing directly above the battlefield!
Shendai Yunluo and Shendai Yunxiu heard the sound of shattering glass and looked up, seeing Qing Ye stretching his body overhead, and behind him, a forest of guns like an iron throne.
In an instant, the forest of black, cold guns behind Qing Ye opened like a fan, and the terrifying muzzles of the Metal Storm began to spew fire.
Bullets hit flesh, and blood sprayed like an avant-garde artist splashing crimson paint on a white wall.
The sound of bullets hitting them was like the war drums of an ancient battlefield. The Shadow Squad was the cream of the crop under Qing Zhun, the sharpest blade left to his younger brother.
They inherently craved battle, but in Shadow's hands, they were used very restrainedly.
This was the legacy Shadow left to his younger brother. He didn't want to waste it. Qing Ye and the others always felt a little unsatisfied when they fought.
However, things were different now. A new era had finally arrived, and this blade had found its new owner.
Qing Ye felt the blood in his body burn like magma deep within the earth's crust!
Intense gunfire rang out. Before Qing Ye landed, rows of Garrison Troops soldiers fell.
Qing Ye laughed and roared: "How refreshing!"
Earlier, Qing Ye had asked Qing Chen: "The timing is so precise, what if one link breaks down?"
He remembered Qing Chen's calm voice: "You are Qing Zhun's most capable Shadow Squad. If you let the plan fall apart, you "correct' them."
At that time, Qing Ye understood the core of Qing Chen's plan.
In Qing Chen's plan, the timing was precise to the minute, and a single mistake could lead to complete failure.
But the existence of the Shadow Squad was the plan's margin of error.
If something went wrong, the Shadow Squad would "correct' it.
This so-called "correction' probably meant sending them underground for some serious reflection and advising them before they reincarnated not to be so reckless next time and to not disrupt Qing Chen's plans again.
That was the correction!
At this time, an Ittō-ryū expert exclaimed: "It's Qing Ye, it's the Shadow Squad!"
Qing Ye laughed loudly: "It's this old man!"
He used Metal Storm to sweep across the street, suppressing the Garrison Troops with an utterly unmatched posture!
As soon as he finished speaking, a black tide surged from the corner. The members of the Shadow Squad suddenly changed formation, each relying on their strong individual combat abilities to break through the Garrison Troops' formation. Each of them found a Garrison Troops soldier to use as a shield and forced their way in!
Shendai Yunxiu was stunned: "Brother Yunluo, are these the "new friends' you were talking about a while ago?"
Shendai Yunluo smiled: "Yes, new friends, pretty reliable, right?"