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

n“Counter!” Red Queen stopped in her tracks.

n“That’s right, counter! The current distance is far enough. It’s not easy for the people from Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group to support them. Moreover, it’s impossible for us to bring them all the way to the beach because if they discover the location of our ship, they might chase us from the sea.”

n“They have a lot of people, so it’s certain that they have a fast, large ship,” said Feng Luo. “There’s a possibility for us to get caught in the middle. By then, we will really have no way to fight back.”

nBlack Panther, who had been silent all the while, sided with Feng Luo. “That’s right. I agree with his decision.”

n“Did it have to be in such a disgusting place?!” White Crescent complained with a light cry.

nRed Queen paused for a short while before quickly making a decision. “Follow Mr. Feng’s suggestion!”

nThe will of the boss is above anything else. No matter how disgusting it was for White Crescent and Glazed Ice, they could only endure them and prepare for battle.

n“You two. Stay close to the grasshoppers. The moment they get close, use your skills to disrupt them from noticing their distance with the monsters!”

n“Mr. Big Pineapple, I’ll have to trouble you to retreat a little and protect Mr. Aike and Ms. Lin. Please do not get close to the battlefield!”

nAs soon as the decision was made, Red Queen executed commands decisively and quickly, assigning tasks and responsibilities to everyone immediately.

nThe two NPC ship crew members naturally listened to the orders of their employer, Red Queen. With their submachine guns and equipment in hand, they ran toward the Mutant Grasshopper’s vicinity with slightly pale faces. Before that, they had already used Detection on the Grasshoppers and obtained more detailed information about the Mutant Grasshoppers.

nMutant Grasshoppers (Infected by the Evolution Virus). Level (20–45, Normal). HP: (2,000–12,000). Skills: Shoot, Blood Drain.

nSpecial Traits: Loves blood. Extremely sensitive to the taste of blood. Especially loves fresh blood.

n“This special trait isn’t bad. There might be a chance to use this!” said Feng Luo as he hid behind a short but large tree with the M110 raised. As for his hands, he had already taken out two cylinder-shaped items from his backpack and put them beneath his feet.

nNot five seconds after they finished setting up their ambush, the people from the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group had already caught up. As their line of sight was disrupted by the smoke grenade, they could not directly see the odd situation with the Grasshoppers in front of them.

n“F*ck. This sort of tactic again!” a Fire Manipulator said, exasperated.

nEvery time they encountered a situation like this, they dared not move forward rashly, which was why they kept failing to catch up with their opponents. It was because the first time a smoke grenade was used, the opponent laid two Snipers behind the smoke screen, and with just four shots, a Heavy Armor Warrior who entered to scout with his shield raised was killed. After that, as they rushed to form their defense, the Snipers had already escaped. As a result, every time they encountered a blockage from smoke grenades, they did not dare to simply enter.

nIt was just as long as they did not have any Water or Wind Manipulators who could use rain or tornadoes to blow away these smokescreens, which resulted in them always having to wait until the smokescreen dissipated before they continued their pursuit each time they were blocked. But the opponent had not laid any ambushes at all in the last few smoke grenade blockages.

n“We can’t keep delaying it like this,” said Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star decisively to the other three Heavy Armor Warriors in the team. He stood in front of the thick smoke screen with his heavy black armor and a very black face. “Otherwise, they might actually be able to get to the sea. You three, go ahead and scout. Scouts, cast your Screen skill to prevent them from accurately positioning themselves.”

n“Roger!” the three Heavy Armor Warriors answered in unison.

nAll of them took their alloy shields out and raised them in front of their bodies before rushing into the smokescreen. At the same time, the two Scout players in the team also turned on the “disturb” option on their recon meters.

n“Really can’t take it anymore?” Feng Luo mumbled to himself. After a dozen or so seconds, he saw three vague black shadows appear within the smokescreen.

nThe recon meter could disrupt scouting skills, but it could not disrupt the judgment of the eye.

nFeng Luo held the M110 with one hand while extending the other to grab one of the cylinder-shaped items beneath his feet, biting off the safety pin before throwing it.

nPow!

nThe smoke grenade landed between the Grasshopper group and the three Heavy Armor Warriors. It rolled on the floor as smoke quickly exited from the small canister, making the gradually thinning smokescreen even thicker, blocking the sight of the three Heavy Armor Warriors and preventing them from seeing the Grasshopper group.

nAlthough he had initiated the attack previously, Feng Luo did not get a red name because of that. The people from Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group did not manage to learn his ID from the system notifications, so all the while, they did not know that Feng Luo was the one who had thrown the smoke grenades.

nThe reason a situation like this occurred was due to the fact that the Gray Waters belonged to a “Chaotic Region,” and players were allowed to PK freely over there.

nWar did not strictly prohibit PK. In fact, the only places where PK was truly not allowed in the game was only, apart from the Town of Exiles, inside big cities. Places like these were called “Lawful Regions” by the players since these places strictly prohibited the usage of weapons in combat. Anyone found to have broken the law would be brutally killed by the Federal Guards or the automatic defense systems. Moreover, after being resurrected, the offender would be caught and thrown in prison.

nApart from Lawful Regions, the game also had two other kinds of maps: the “Orderly Regions” and “Chaotic Regions.” The Orderly Regions were places around cities or regions strictly controlled by the Federation. Both were under the jurisdiction of Federal Laws. However, since there were no agents enforcing the law, intentionally killing someone would only result in a red name and an increase in PK value, with the red-name players having the option to head to the Town of Exiles to clear their red names.

nAs for the Chaotic Regions, these were places outside the jurisdiction of the Federation. Federal Law would be completely ineffective in such places. For example, in the Gray Waters, killing someone was not illegal. Players could PK all they wanted without having to worry about the problem of red names. To put it simply, these were equivalent to safe zones, wild maps, and PK maps in normal games.

nThe three Heavy Armor Warriors still had no clue what was going on. They were still scouting ahead in the smoke-covered region without knowing that they were gradually moving closer to the territory of the Mutant Grasshoppers!

n“Yi!” a Heavy Armor Warrior cried out, feeling weird all of a sudden.

nWhat’s this soft thing that I just stepped on?

nHowever, he did not think too much about it since soft mud was everywhere in a tropical jungle. The combat boots he wore had long since been covered in mud, so his perception was no longer very sensitive. After that, he raised his shield and continued scouting the path. In the end, before walking another half-meter, he was tripped by something and fell forward with his shield.

n“Ah!” the Heavy Armor Warrior exclaimed in surprise.

nIn a rush, his natural survival instinct made him loosen his grip on the heavy alloy shield. Instead, he chose to protect himself from the fall by putting his arms against the ground to prevent his nose and face from hitting the ground.

nAfter that, when both his hands touched the “ground,” he felt that he had touched the thing he had just stepped on. It was wet, slippery, and a little bit sticky.

n“What is this?” The Heavy Armor Warrior was shocked.

nHis eyes bulged as he looked at the thing on the ground. Although the smoke was very thick, the visual acuity of game characters was actually a lot better than in the real world. Moreover, it was very close, so he managed to see it clearly. The thing under his palms was a green and somewhat brownish-red, disgusting thing that looked like a giant grasshopper.

nAnd at that moment, the grasshopper had its head raised. It extended its blue forked tongue to lick his face. After that, it opened its round mouth that was about half the size of the man’s head, filled with saw-like teeth, before sucking at his face.

n“Ahhh! Help!”

nA panicked call for help came from within the smoke field inside the tropical forest.

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