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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nIf the Guard Staff Sergeant had showcased the powerful, explosive force of the occupation of a Machine Gunner, then at this moment, this mysterious Manipulator was about to showcase the terrifying ranged-attack ability of the Manipulator!

nBoom! Boom! Boom!

nThe group of low, dark clouds in the sky were tethered to the ground and instantly unleashed dozens of bolts of pale lightning. Violent thunder penetrated the air, making it clear that the commander’s intention was to kill the Guard Staff Sergeant and the other seven to eight Guards who were preparing an ambush in that forest.

n“Ah!”

n“Ah!”

nScreams rang out after a round of lightning strikes. The seven to eight normal Guard soldiers were suddenly struck and turned to ash. As for the Guard Staff Sergeant currently loading ammunition into the Death Rippe, he was struck by a few lightning bolts before his tall body fell to the ground.

nNot only that, but the rebel Machine Gunners in the canyon, who were operating the six-barreled railgun, seemed to have received some sort of instruction. They turned the machine gun and shot the area where another Guard soldier was lurking. Hundreds of shots of over 15mm bullets swept across the area. Even the rocks that they had used as cover were blasted to dust.

n“Ah!”

nOnce again, there was a series of screams. In addition to the Guard soldiers killed in the previous exchange, the members of the Guard were all killed in just a few seconds!

n“Damn! What happened?”

n“How could all the NPCs be killed instantly?”

nThe sudden changes made the players—who had yet to even recover from the previous shock—even more frightened.

nThe system’s calm announcement could be heard by all the players: “Because his substitute was killed, Commander Harry Luden has entered into an angry state and decided to fight in person. Please be careful!”

n“Substitute?”

nUpon hearing this system prompt, Feng Luo hurriedly changed the angle of the M110 and suddenly saw the real rebel commander standing at the center of the canyon.

nThe information the Guards had received was only the image of Harry Luden wearing a silver metal mask and the nickname, Silver-Faced Eagle. Thus, the players had naturally assumed that the silver-masked person who had been the first to get out of the vehicle was Harry Luden. But, in fact, this had obviously been a trap purposely set up for the mission.

nThe nickname Silver-Faced Eagle already implied sneakiness. It reminded Feng Luo of a general from the history of the Earth called “The Eagle of the Empire.” He also had another nickname: “Desert Fox”!

nObviously, the mission had been set up so that if the players did not know in advance that the rebel commander protected during the breakout was a fake, then, after the substitute was killed, the mission would enter a second stage.

nThe Guard NPCs who were supposed to help in the fight had all died. The players could only rely on their own strength to complete the remaining objectives.

n“This setting is really tough,” said Feng Luo, gritting his teeth.

nAlthough he had suspected that something was off, he hadn’t considered the possibility of a substitute at all. In the end, he had still underestimated the AI of the game’s NPC—or, to be more precise, he had been tricked by the system. But now was not the time to complain, because without the help of firepower from the NPCs, even if the rebel army was wiped out, it would still be impossible to completely seal off the canyon. If the rebel army’s commander decided to escape, it would certainly be impossible to stop him this time. Therefore, the only option was to attack him first in order to firmly engage him in combat and prevent him from escaping!

nMany other players had the same idea as Feng Luo. In fact, several players had already rushed to attack the real Harry Luden in the canyon. Two wind blades and a fireball flew down with massive energy and struck the body of the rebel army commander.

nIt was well known that when fighting an advanced-level monster, the first attack would result in additional contribution points. Although the points were not as high as the points for the final blow, it still ensured that the player would earn quite a lot of medal points.

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nEven though these skills were successful in dealing damage, the moment the rebel commander was attacked, the dark green energy stone embedded on the staff in his hand flashed with a ray of light. A dark green shield appeared instantly and shrouded him. The players’ subsequent attacks were all stopped by the shield.

nAlthough they lacked firepower support from the Guards, there were still a lot of players. Yet they could not break the rebel commander’s energy shield in the first round of attacks.

nWhile the rebel commander was being attacked, the remaining five or six rebel soldiers and Machine Gunners on the military vehicles all turned their guns before violently firing unloading in the direction of the two players who had launched the attacks. Worse still, the Machine Gunner was a terrifying source of firepower. The two-meter-long six-barreled railgun turned, and a series of bullets were fired, forming a web of death.

nPop-pop…!

nTwo streaks of white lights flashed. Of the two players who had successfully attacked the commander, one was eliminated by the concentrated firepower of the rebel soldiers, and the other was torn into pieces by the bullets of the six-barreled railgun.

n“Damn! How can I fight this?” the wealthy Marauder Swordsman murmured forlornly as he lay down in the grass. “If I hit him, I will be attacked by the mob!” He wasn’t stupid, as he instantly identified the most difficult part of killing the rebel army’s commander.

nDan Hen, on the other hand, contemplated for a moment and immediately figured out the key to breaking the game. “I must kill the Machine Gunner first!”

nThe other rebel soldiers actually weren’t much of a threat. The key was the Machine Gunner on the energy military vehicle. The bullets issued by the two-meter-long six-barreled railgun—at larger than 15mm—could even penetrate a tank’s armor plating.

n“I’ll try to kill the Machine Gunner with one shot!” Feng Luo said in a low tone.

nUpon saying this, Feng Luo lowered his head. After locking his left eye on the target through the scope, he turned the M110’s barrel towards the rebel Machine Gunner operating the six-barreled railgun, who had exposed his position with his sweeping attack earlier.

nBoom!

nA second later, the M110’s muzzle spat a flash of orange fire. The special C-class armor-piercing projectile rotated at high speed, passing over a distance of nearly 200 meters before accurately hitting right at the middle of the helmet of the Machine Gunner.

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nWhite damage!

nUnfortunately, the probability the shot would destroy the properties of the C-level defense did not come into effect this time. The Machine Gunner only dropped less than 1,000 HP and was not killed instantly.

nEven more unfortunate was that the rebel army commander suddenly turned his head, and a pair of cold eyes stared at Feng Luo through the sniper scope. Then the gorgeous staff with the green energy stone embedded in it began to shine!

nFeng Luo’s pupils shrunk abruptly. He managed only to call out, “Oh, no! Hide!” before leaping into the grass beside him, taking the M110 with him.

nA small tornado formed by more than a dozen rotating wind blades quickly flew upward in a spiral pattern and came flying toward him from the canyon. Wherever the tornado of blades passed, the leaves and grass were sent flying, cut into pieces as if they had passed through a meat grinder. Fortunately, Feng Luo had noticed the situation through the scope and managed to avoid being hit by the edge of the wind blade by only a couple of centimeters.

nAs for Dan Hen, who was at Feng Luo’s side, his reaction was as to be expected of the Scout profession. He rolled behind a large stone with just the support of one hand. The tornado wind blade scratched the stone as it passed, peeling off a layer of it and causing stone chips to fly.

nMarauder Swordsman, however, did not run away. As a Light Armor Warrior, his reaction time was not as good as the two Gunmen. He actually dared to get to his feet and attempt to flee up into the mountains. As a result, the rotating wind blade responded as if it had a life of its own; it turned to chase after him from behind.

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nAfter three consecutive damage values of nearly 3,000 points apiece, the wealthy Marauder Swordsman turned into white light and disappeared. If that damage had struck Feng Luo or Dan Hen, it would definitely have resulted in their instant deaths as well.

nThe series of wind blades finally crashed into a group of trees and vanished. Meanwhile, Feng Luo and Dan Hen looked at each other in embarrassment. Obviously, this demonstrated that the rebel commander and the Machine Gunner belonged to the same “entity.” That meant as long as one of them was attacked, the player would be countered by the other. And no matter whether it was the six-barreled railgun or the rebel commander’s ranged skills, the player would be instantly killed as soon as they were hit! What could they do about this situation?

nThere had to be a solution. For example, all the players could attack together, for—despite the risk of one or two players being killed—they could still kill the Machine Gunner. Then they would deal with the other mobs, finally leaving only the rebel commander to deal with, which would be an easier task.

nBecause the rebel commander was a humanoid and of the Manipulator profession, his attacks were terrifying, but his HP was certainly not very high. Even at a high level of 55, it seemed unlikely that he had the ability to battle 20 elite players at once. The problem was that the communicators had been scrambled and interfered with by the electromagnetic pulse, so there was simply no way to synchronize their attacks.

nMoreover, Feng Luo suspected that players who had been playing in a Red City for a long time would have their own priorities. Even if they agreed to attack together, there would still be many people who would deliberately slow down their attacks to let the risk of being countered be transferred to others. If they wanted to cooperate, they had to first trust each other.

nFeng Luo and Dan Hen looked at each other. After a short moment of silence, Dan Hen spoke up.

n“Brother Feng,” he said, “I will attack to draw their attention. You then seize the opportunity to try again and see if you can kill the Machine Gunner in one shot!”

n“Okay!” Feng Luo said, nodding.

nIt was now necessary to take the risk. The other players had been completely suppressed by the rebel army, and they did not dare to attack for fear of exposing their positions. If this situation continued, the mission would definitely fail.

nAlthough he had only known Dan Hen for a few hours, Feng Luo already placed a rather high amount of trust in this tall, skinny veteran. Perhaps it was because of Dan Hen’s earlier actions, which had been rather ridiculous—specifically, when he had saluted an NPC staff sergeant. Or perhaps it was because before he became a mercenary selling lives for money, Feng Luo had also served in an army platoon in the south for three years as a soldier, and he valued the sentiment of sacrificing one’s life for his country.

nIn short, the two felt as if they understood each other.

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