Chapter 1 The Forest

Mr. Mu stood still, unmoving.

It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but a heavy sense of oppression held his legs in place, making it impossible for him to take even a single step.

"Who are you?" He didn't recognize Li Cheng颐 at this moment.

But his long-standing plan must not be ruined by anyone.

"Someone from Condor Corporation? Or the Ideal Land?"

"Consider me Condor. I'll ask again." Li Cheng颐 approached step by step. "Were you trying to escape just now?"

A subtle vibration, the tremor of a blade, emanated from his hand.

Li Cheng颐 held a golden longsword, his diamond-shaped purple eyes fixed on Mr. Mu.

"Young man, I'm just a helpless old man. I was leaving early to fetch reinforcements. Even if I stayed, what good could I do?" Mr. Mu replied earnestly.

"You make a good point." Li Cheng颐 took another step forward. "But now, I, the reinforcement, have arrived. You don't need to go."

"I..."

Mr. Mu was about to speak.

Suddenly, a golden light flashed, and a phantom figure swiftly approached. In less than half a second, the golden sword tip was already on his right shoulder, pressed against his neck.

*Shua.*

The sharp blade turned, exuding a subtle chill, preventing him from moving even slightly.

*Bang!*

The blade flipped and struck him hard on the side of his face.

The immense force sent Mr. Mu flying to the left, crashing into a tree trunk and falling to the ground.

He tried to get up several times, but couldn't manage it.

The concussion left him almost completely unbalanced, unable to steady himself.

"I've been to Wolf Cave Dead Angle. There is indeed a blue book there, but it's impossible to retrieve it."

Li Cheng颐 walked up to him, the blade pointing at him.

"Tell me, how did the boss see the blue book and then fall into a coma?"

"That was He Bing's doing! I don't know either, otherwise why would I come looking for you?!" Mr. Mu's mask was knocked off, revealing a face full of scars and burns.

"If you don't believe me! Then don't come looking for me!" He pointed a finger at Li Cheng颐.

"Think carefully! You're the ones begging me! You're the ones who want Sindera to wake up, not me!"

"So this is how you beg people!?" His voice gradually rose.

"You're right. But how do you know how to wake the boss up?" Li Cheng颐 asked. "If just anyone came and told us they could wake the boss up, should we just completely believe them?"

"You don't have to believe me!" Mr. Mu seemed very tough.

He stuck his neck out and met Li Cheng颐's gaze, his eyes firm, showing no hesitation, retreat, or fear.

Li Cheng颐 stared at him for a few seconds.

"Okay, since you're so sure, I'll trust you this once."

He replied.

"Stay here, I'll be back later."

"Good!" A hint of mockery flashed in Mr. Mu's eyes.

You think you'll be back later?

If the Ideal Land was so easy to deal with, he wouldn't be using them as a millstone to grind flesh and blood.

Li Cheng颐 sheathed his sword, walked past him, and headed towards the open space near the Jackal Cave.

*Qiang!*

Just as the two passed each other.

A golden light instantly erupted, suddenly slashing down at Mr. Mu's legs.

*Dang dang!*

Two crisp sounds.

The objects Mr. Mu's hands ejected for blocking were instantly cut off.

He opened his mouth to shout, but it was too late.

The force of the incoming golden light was immense. Even if he had hidden his strength, he had no way to completely block it in such a sudden situation.

Not to mention that his weapons were also broken by a single sword strike.

Blood splattered, Mr. Mu let out a piercing scream, his legs severed at the knees, and he fell to the ground.

Li Cheng颐 didn't even glance at him, sheathing his sword and heading out of the forest.

It was almost impossible for someone to lie to him, especially with malicious intent.

No matter how well the other person hid, the things deep inside their heart would never lie.

*

*

*

*Dang dang!*

After two crisp sounds.

Colin from Condor Corporation, holding a knife in both hands, quickly retreated a distance, his body slightly arched, his face grave as he stared intently at the opposite side.

The screams constantly ringing out beside him made it impossible for him to fully concentrate.

He wasn't concerned about the life and death of his colleagues, but worried that the other enemies would come to encircle him after finishing off the others.

Just after the signal was blocked, two black-cloaked figures, wielding huge black gun-like instruments, rushed out of the forest and started shooting at people.

Under the barrage, few of the company's people's bulletproof vests actually held up.

In just a few dozen seconds, a large number of people fell to the ground.

Only Sima Gui and a few of his deputies were still dealing with another black-cloaked figure.

"Who... who exactly are you people?!" Sima Gui leaned against a tree trunk not far away and shouted loudly.

"You dare come here without even knowing who we are?"

One of the black-cloaked figures said in astonishment.

The words were somewhat inexplicable, but both Colin and Sima Gui felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

"Stop talking nonsense!"

The black-cloaked figure took a step to the side, turned sideways, and fired a golden chain from the gun in his hand, sweeping horizontally across Colin's position.

The chain of bullets was like a blade, easily cutting through the tree trunk Colin was hiding behind, but Colin dodged it by rolling forward.

The powerful explosive force of the enhanced injection allowed Colin to dash towards the opponent like an arrow.

A flash of a blade.

Colin held the knife in both hands, desperately raising the black-cloaked figure's aimed gun.

He had wanted to finish off the opponent with one strike, but the opponent was also an enhanced expert.

In terms of reaction speed, he was even a fraction faster than him.

"Not bad swordsmanship, but unfortunately..." The black-cloaked figure said with a smile. "I'm faster!"

The gun was discarded, and a silver short knife appeared in the black-cloaked figure's hand.

The silver knife flicked upward, creating a dazzling array of knife marks.

The two men and their two knives clashed like madmen.

The crisp sounds of *ding ding ding* exploded quickly like musical instruments.

The more Colin fought, the more alarmed he became.

In reality, there wasn't a detailed division and standard for strength in this world.

There was only a temporary division of danger levels.

Because even the same person, after adding different modules, their danger level and strength level would have a huge leap.

So, specifically classifying someone's level was not an easy task.

That's how it was in the technological age.

But determining someone's danger level based on their past achievements and examples was definitely a reliable thing.

In a sense, the danger level could be seen as a person's comprehensive strength level most of the time.

The danger level was a commonly used level in their security company's rating system.

From the lowest level of ten to the highest level of one. Rated once a year.

And the feeling that this black-cloaked figure gave him was already similar to the level four danger that he had fought before.

Powerful swordsmanship, at least equivalent to dozens of enhanced body injections, plus the augmentation of a powerful exoskeleton armor, maybe it was even a complete body, and finally, there was the extremely sharp weapon.

Having fought to this point, Colin already had the intention of retreating.

They were just a mercenary company, not die-hard bodyguards. They came here to make money, not to risk their lives.

*Boom!*

At this moment, a violent explosion suddenly came from the entrance of the Jackal Cave.

Song Ran rushed out of the cave, covered in dust, along with several teammates who had gone in with him.

As soon as they came out, they saw a messy battle scene outside.

"Damn! You're looking for death!"

Song Ran raised his right hand, and his palm broke off from the wrist, transforming into a black launch port.

*Swoosh swoosh!*

Two miniature missiles shot out from his wrist, dragging long golden tails of flame, locking onto the two black-cloaked figures.

"It's the Golden Flying Fish!! Dodge quickly!"

The black-cloaked figure who was still entangled with Colin recognized the missile model and immediately roared in alarm and anger.

But the missiles were extremely fast and the distance was short, and it was too late to shout now.

"This madman!!!"

The military-grade Golden Flying Fish missile can instantly kill all living things within a thirty-meter radius!

What's more, there were two of them here!

Did he want to die together with them!?

The two black-cloaked figures were desperate at this moment.

At such a close distance, Song Ran, when he was ruthless, would even blow up his own people.

The two decisively gave up their targets and retreated.

*Puff puff.*

After two crisp sounds, the two so-called Golden Flying Fish missiles only exploded into two small fireballs about two meters in size.

Then everything was quiet.

And at this time, the two black-cloaked figures had already run more than twenty meters away.

Song Ran took the opportunity to fire a signal flare into the sky.

The bright red signal flare rose into the sky, exploding into a large rain of red light representing rescue.

"Hey, I just asked my brother for the military-grade Golden Flying Fish shells, isn't it cool?" Song Ran said triumphantly.

"Stop messing around, think about what to do." Sima Gui looked ugly, he raised his finger and pointed not far away, at the two black-cloaked figures who were turning back.

"What to do?" Song Ran sneered, and raised his hand again, this time his left hand.

His wrist automatically broke off, revealing a dark cannon muzzle.

"Let's do it again!"

*Swoosh! Swoosh!*

Two Golden Flying Fish missiles shot out again.

The missiles rotated, like a revolver cylinder, locking onto the opposite side.

"Here we go again!"

The two felt that they would not be fooled this time. One of them swung his knife to meet the missile, intending to directly knock it away.

"Get out of the way! It's real!"

Suddenly a black shadow rushed out from the side, flashing his knife twice in a row.

The missiles suddenly changed direction, were knocked away and soared into the air.

*Boom!!*

The two explosions merged into one, and the huge fireball warped all the trees around the clearing.

Everyone who was still alive was numb all over and crouched down.

"Kill!" Song Ran took the opportunity to rush out, rushing towards the opposite side, trying to take advantage of the explosion to sneak attack and kill a black-cloaked figure.

He only ran halfway before realizing that something was wrong. He wanted to retreat, but it was too late.

A black-cloaked figure rushed forward and engaged him in close combat. Metal arms and blades constantly collided in attack and defense, suppressing him and preventing him from breaking free.

Another black-cloaked figure was now looking for Colin, trying to quickly eliminate all the living people on the scene.

But there was a newly appeared third person on the field.

A tall woman wearing a black wolf mask.

She looked at Sima Gui, who was left behind.

Sima Gui was dumbfounded, looking left and right, trying to find someone to rely on.

But everyone else on the field was kneeling.

The company's employees had either fallen, run away, or fainted.

As for that Mr. Mu, he had disappeared without a trace.

"It's over..." Looking at the black wolf masked woman who was approaching him quickly, Sima Gui felt a chill in his heart. With the bit of scattered fighting skills he knew, facing a master who could deflect missiles with a knife...

Pulling out his pistol, Sima Gui forced a wry smile.

"Boss, it seems I have to go first."

*Bang bang bang!!*

Three consecutive shots, all bullets accurately hit the center of the woman's chest.

But all they did was pierce her clothes, making a *dang dang* metallic sound, with no effect at all.

Obviously, it was either a bulletproof vest or a cyborg. Judging from the situation just now, the possibility of a cyborg was much higher.

(End of chapter)