Hearing the sound, Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Shen Yun Yao exchanged glances. They crouched down, using the tall weeds as cover, and crept towards the source of the sound.
"Is that someone from the Explorer's Guild?!"
Ye Feng was somewhat surprised to see the emblem on the speaker's chest, which depicted a handshake between a sword and a pile of gold coins.
He hadn't expected anyone to arrive here before him!
"Hurry up and search, everyone! This place is constantly absorbing our arcane energy. We can't stay here for long!"
The speaker was a middle-aged man with a slicked-back hairstyle. His face was exceptionally round and obese, with oily skin that slightly reflected the sunlight.
He was puffing out a large beer belly as he roared at his five subordinates, who were sweating profusely and digging at the ground.
"Uh... Esteemed Deacon, what does the Key to the Doomsday Ark... it... what does it look like?"
"My brothers have been digging here for half a day... If we don't know what the Key to the Doomsday Ark looks like, even if we find it..."
One of the older subordinates of the corpulent man, with a fawning smile, cautiously inquired.
"What are you guys eating? You ask me everything? What good are you then?"
The corpulent man glared at the subordinate. The others, who had also wanted to speak, immediately lowered their heads and continued digging in silence.
"You youngsters should learn to be proactive and not rely on capable people like me for everything!"
"There's a reason I became your leader! I have earned... recognition..."
"I just found the passage to this floating island for you, and now I'm giving you the chance to find the Key to the Doomsday Ark. This is an excellent opportunity to achieve great merit!"
"When it comes to finding the Key to the Doomsday Ark, you need to reach a new level, identify your focus, think more, come up with new initiatives, and don't rely on capable people like me..."
The corpulent man said this with his hands behind his back, an expression of "earnest advice" on his face.
"Damn your ancestors, you fat pig who only knows how to claim credit and deceive superiors, what are you babbling about!"
Just as Ye Feng was about to gag from the corpulent man's words, the youngest-looking of the subordinates threw down his shovel and cursed.
"Exactly! The passage to this floating island was something we stumbled upon after crossing the teleportation array. Why should it be credited to you!"
Another young man chimed in.
"What? You have a problem with that?"
The corpulent man looked coldly at the two young men. "You just... insulted me, right?"
"Da Wa, Er Wa, apologize quickly!"
Seeing this, the older middle-aged subordinate immediately signaled to the two youngsters.
"Ah!"
At that moment, the corpulent man let out a short, sharp scream.
Several silver blades pierced his chest and head. The silver blades slashed rapidly, and the corpulent man was dismembered into eight pieces...
"Ah!~ Ah!~..."
Then, a series of dense, short screams followed.
Within a few breaths, all the members of the Explorer's Guild were dismembered...
"This..."
Ye Feng was quite surprised. "Be careful, something silver just flashed by!"
"Brother Ye Feng, behind you!"
Before Xiao Xiao's words had even fallen, Ye Feng produced a large saber and slashed behind him.
"Whoosh~ Clang!"
Ye Feng's saber collided with a silver blade, instantly breaking into two pieces. The wielder of the silver blade was a person covered entirely in silver metal.
On the side of the silver metallic person's head, there was also an Eye of Horus symbol, along with the number one.
"Boom~ Whoosh!!~"
At this moment, Xiao Xiao unleashed a ball of flame from her hand, hitting the silver metallic person directly. However, it caused no damage, and the flame was even absorbed by the opponent.
"Crash! Clatter!"
Shen Yun Yao shot several water arrows at the opponent. Several spots on the silver metallic person were hit, creating large pits. However, the water arrows were also absorbed.
"Bang bang!~"
Ye Feng fired two shots from his Glock 18 with a silencer at the silver metallic person. Two holes, about the size of a thumb, appeared in its chest and forehead, but they healed quickly.
"This guy... doesn't seem human... a special robot? Is its body made of liquid metal?"
The three retreated several meters as Ye Feng cautiously stared at the opponent.
"Ye Feng, arcane energy attacks don't seem to work on this guy!"
Shen Yun Yao's expression was serious.
"Mm!"
Xiao Xiao nodded. "This might be similar to the mechanical tigers we encountered before. Perhaps we need to dismantle the arcane rune array inside its body!"
While Xiao Xiao was speaking, the silver metallic person had already engaged Ye Feng in combat, with constant sounds of metal cutting and collision.
"Clang~ Sizzle!~"
After a clash, Ye Feng and the silver metallic person pulled apart.
Ye Feng's mood was currently heavy.
This suddenly appearing silver metallic person possessed extremely strong combat skills, with an integrated offense and defense. Most notably, blades could be extended from any part of its body.
Furthermore, the sharpness of the silver blades was utterly outrageous. In a short while, Ye Feng's dozen or so large sabers, wolf tooth clubs, and great hammers... had all been sliced through like tofu by the opponent...
Ye Feng had repeatedly attempted to defeat the opponent like he had the mechanical tiger, to see if there was a similar arcane rune array.
But each time, the opponent absorbed the arcane energy from his fists and retaliated with a barrage of silver blades infused with the arcane energy that had just been absorbed...
Because of this, Ye Feng had to retract his fists again and again, unsure if he could withstand the silver blades empowered by his own arcane energy...
"Whoosh~ Clang!~"
The silver metallic person seemed to have fixated on Ye Feng, focusing its attacks on him.
Due to limitations in weaponry and arcane energy, Ye Feng gradually began to fall into a disadvantage...
Seeing this, Xiao Xiao quickly ran to Ye Feng's side, holding the Angel's Blade Wang Ming, and stared sternly at the silver metallic person.
"Ye Feng, this strange silver metallic person... it seems to learn as it fights... its combat style just now was very similar to yours..."
Shen Yun Yao, who had also come to Ye Feng's side, said with astonishment.
"Mm!"
Ye Feng nodded, his expression grim.
"Clang~ Sizzle!~"
"Boom~! Clang!~"
Following this, Ye Feng and the other two cooperated to fight the silver metallic person, with various sounds of metal clashing and colliding constantly echoing...
"Huh? Xiao Xiao, what's going on?"
After a clash, the three of them pulled apart from the silver metallic person. Ye Feng looked at Xiao Xiao with a puzzled expression.
Shen Yun Yao was equally confused.
Because during their recent combat, the silver metallic person had not attacked Xiao Xiao even once.
Furthermore, when facing Xiao Xiao's attacks, the silver metallic person would evade them. If evasion was impossible, it wouldn't attack Xiao Xiao, even if it itself was struck by Xiao Xiao's Angel's Blade...
Even more bizarrely, on several occasions when Xiao Xiao blocked the silver metallic person's attack on Ye Feng, the silver metallic person actually stopped its attack...
...