"Interesting."
As soon as the man named Xiao San finished speaking, his figure flickered, and his right fist slammed towards Li Chonglou's head.
The whistling sound of his fist was enough to prove the power behind the blow, and the other two men sneered, making no move to stop it.
Li Chonglou narrowed his eyes and leaned back. It was this action that made him realize the unusual nature of this place.
There had been no problem when walking before, but as soon as he exerted his strength, Li Chonglou felt a strong pulling sensation.
This force was like being stuck in quicksand; the more he tried to pull himself free, the stronger the resistance became.
Li Chonglou's brows furrowed slightly. It was too late to dodge, so he instinctively turned his head to the side, narrowly avoiding Xiao San's punch.
Xiao San showed a hint of surprise, which was quickly replaced by a cold sneer.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to be so quick. But this punch."
Before the force of his empty right fist had dissipated, his left hand struck again, aimed directly at Li Chonglou's abdomen.
Li Chonglou finally discovered the anomaly. The inexplicable pulling sensation that had appeared on him seemed to have no effect on the other party. Xiao San's movements were fluid and unhindered.
So this was why they called others rookies?
A hint of understanding dawned on Li Chonglou's face. He then reached out with his right hand to block Xiao San's punch, catching it firmly.
Xiao San felt as if his fist had hit an immeasurably tall, majestic mountain, unable to shake Li Chonglou's posture even slightly. His expression changed instantly, and as if realizing something, he tried to withdraw.
But in the next second, a large hand pressed down on his head.
"People can be arrogant, but not cheap, especially with their mouths."
The man walking ahead heard a sudden bang. As he turned back, he saw Xiao San pinned to the ground by Li Chonglou, his head held down by a hand, like an adult disciplining a child.
Silence fell over the surroundings.
Xiao San, with his mouth full of specially made dirt, was stunned for a moment before reacting. Li Chonglou had already released his right hand, but the humiliation had turned his neck and the back of his ears red.
A fierce killing intent erupted from him. Seeing the situation was dire, a man named Yi Long, who was at the front of the group, rushed over, shouting,
"Xiao San, stop! Blood can't be shed here!"
The two men responsible for protecting Li Chonglou along with Xiao San quickly went to restrain him.
"Calm down, calm down first! It's not too late to deal with him after we get inside!"
The two men had lost their previous arrogance. The scene had stunned them. If they hadn't known they were genuinely fighting, they might have thought it was a staged performance.
Li Chonglou's brows furrowed as he observed their reactions.
It seemed there were other dangers hidden within the Iron Forest?
Yi Long quickly reached Li Chonglou, glared at him first, then turned to the murderous Xiao San and said,
"Stop fooling around. Do I need to remind you of the rules again? Get back to the team!"
Xiao San snorted at Yi Long's loud scolding and then turned and walked back into the ranks. The matter seemed to have come to an end, but Li Chonglou, looking at the group of people with cold eyes, understood that this was just the beginning.
After Yi Long reprimanded Xiao San, he said to the remaining two men, "If you don't have the strength, don't do such shameful things in the future!"
With that, Yi Long returned to the front of the team. Although he said nothing to Li Chonglou, everyone clearly understood his attitude.
He was clearly protecting his own.
The team continued to advance, but the occasional cold glances cast back seemed to silently tell Li Chonglou that this matter was far from over.
Li Chonglou, however, was unfazed, silently observing the surrounding environment.
According to what Yi Long had said earlier, this seemingly ordinary Iron Forest clearly held other mysteries. Li Chonglou also noticed that the way everyone was moving had changed from before.
If they had been rushing with caution before entering the Iron Forest, they were now moving slowly and deliberately.
The "slow" referred to their vigilance and carefulness. Yi Long, at the very front, was constantly looking left and right, as if anticipating something suddenly rushing out.
However, Li Chonglou, using his Heavenly Eye Perception, couldn't see any mysteries in the surroundings, which piqued his curiosity.
Based on the information he had previously gathered, the dangers within the Iron Forest were not only the explosions of the kilogram bombs but also encounters with other contestants. Once they met other contestants here, it was usually a fight to the death.
The reason for this was also due to the kilogram bombs.
"Long Shi said that the kilogram bombs on the enemy could be exchanged for reduced weight, but Yi Long is clearly not guarding against other teams."
Li Chonglou frowned, thinking. Unknown enemies were the most terrifying. Not knowing what he might encounter next put him in a very passive position.
"Forget it. Since he didn't say anything, he must be confident in dealing with it. Let's wait and see." Li Chonglou shook his head. Thinking about things he couldn't figure out would only cause him a headache, so it was better to put them aside.
However, at that moment, a loud boom came from the right side of the Iron Forest ahead.
The sound was so loud that Li Chonglou could feel the ground vibrating slightly, and at the same time, he noticed the tension on everyone's faces.
"Quick! Form ranks, prepare armor-piercing rounds!"
Yi Long commanded rapidly. Almost as he spoke, everyone uniformly performed an action: they took down the thick, long guns from their shoulders, loaded them with finger-long red bullets, and aimed the muzzles in the direction of the rumbling sound.
They also dispersed into groups of three, each hiding behind an iron tree, aiming their guns and waiting for the opponent to appear.
About half a minute later, Li Chonglou finally saw what had made everyone so tense.
It was a massive robot over two meters tall!
It had a humanoid body, a round head, and flat feet. Its shoulders were equipped with four or five different types of thermal weapons.
Grenades, machine guns, cannons, laser guns…
It also had two layers of rocket launchers on its stomach!
Li Chonglou's expression changed instantly. He wondered if this thing was nuclear. If it was, and it exploded, even hundreds of meters away might not be spared!
As the giant robot appeared from a distance, Li Chonglou saw everyone decisively pull the triggers. Blood-red bullets flashed through the gaps between the trees, all landing on the giant robot.