Chapter 256 A Spy Struggle-Final
"What the hell! Can a battleaxe explode?" Black Shadow blurted out in surprise as he witnessed the scene he never thought he would see through the screen.
Jonathan, the Boogeyman, wasn't as flashy as the woman in the green suit, but his precise accuracy of 100% headshots, coupled with that futuristic-looking assault rifle whose bullets could penetrate through walls, made it impossible for anyone fighting him to defend their position. Everyone attempting to maintain their position ended up dead.
Looking at Li Xian's monitor, Black Shadow saw that Li Xian was even faster and stronger than the last time he met him. If he could survive the previous encounter with Li Xian, it was impossible this time since Li Xian's movement speed was nearly on par with the woman in the green suit.
Each punch and elbow strike sent many people flying, and all of them were dead. Many of them died with all of their orifices bleeding profusely from a single strike.
Moreover, when Li Xian faced fierce gunfire, such as from an assault rifle, he quickly used his bare hands to deflect all of it with a speed impossible for a human, rendering all the bullets targeting him useless.
As for Viper, it is the most horrific situation he has ever witnessed. At first, it seemed normal since Viper fought with both a gun and daggers. The gun in his right hand is an old single-action revolver, the Colt Peacemaker. It looks well-maintained but still old. In his other hand is a dagger with a peculiar design.
The fight on Viper's side is initially ordinary, but then the people shot or slashed by Viper's dagger fall, regardless of where the shot or slash lands. All of them collapse to the ground, slowly get up, and then move toward their comrades, attacking them with bites.
Like zombies in a zombie movie, those who get bitten fall to the ground and then attack their comrades, and the situation starts snowballing from there.
The "zombies," or the living dead, seem to ignore any wounds and injuries. Even when shot in the head or having only half of their heads, they still move. No wounds or injuries seem to be effective against them.
"Wait... did that woman say, 'magic use permitted'? Is all of this magic?" Black Shadow uttered.
For Black Shadow, even though he is one of the top spies in the Confederacy, a country with a close tie to the Hightower—or more accurately, with the Path of Knowledge faction—Black Shadow didn't know much about magic or the Curtained World beyond hearsay and rumors, which he dismissed as jokes and scams.
Many times Black Shadow tried to confirm information about magic, only to find out that most of it was nothing but a scam. The remaining leads had gone cold, making it impossible to follow. That's why he dismissed all of it as nonsense.
But now, he is faced with a situation that is out of this world, where science can't provide a satisfactory answer. The movements and physical capabilities far beyond human limits that the woman in the green suit displays, along with Li Xian being impervious to various gunfire and fast movements that can deflect all bullets, and the victims turning into something resembling zombies from voodoo magic, even surviving shots to the head.
This is beyond the scope of what science can explain!
Boom!
At that moment, a steel door sealing the room was blasted open. Amidst the cloud of dust, a woman in a green suit rushed in with a spear in hand. The spear was about to strike, drawing close.
Reacting swiftly with survival instinct, Black Shadow used the rifle in his hand as a shield to deflect her spear away to the side, narrowly escaping death as the spear blade cut his cheek. He attempted to move away, but his body had already moved at the maximum capacity that a human can achieve.
"Interesting!" The woman in the green suit uttered before slamming her shield onto his head, knocking him unconscious, and he fell into darkness.
—
After the dust had settled, Penthesilea summoned the cleanup team from the base to clear away the aftermath. This operation, conceived by Odysseus, aimed to eradicate the minor pests causing trouble in the city. Upon a cursory examination of the enemy casualties, it became evident that Odysseus's foresight had proven accurate. All of them are spies and mercenaries from various countries and organizations.
Given that the Hightower had publicized the news about Astral Tech technology on a global scale, it attracted the attention of various individuals and groups, both from the common populace and the Curtained World, with malicious intentions. Odysseus had anticipated that many countries and organizations would express interest in Astral Tech Technology and attempt to cause trouble to obtain it.
The VTOL landed, and Odysseus, accompanying the cleanup crew, approached Penthesilea, who was seated in a wooden chair not far from the landing site. Li Xian and Jonathan engaged in conversation nearby, while Viper amused himself with his phone, posting memes.
"What do you think of their performance?" Odysseus inquired, observing Li Xian and Jonathan conversing.
"Very good," Penthesilea responded, continuing, "It would be better if we could train more people like these. Only two of them meet the standards of the new training program, and these two are the cream of the crop among non-Curtained-World individuals working in our industry." Penthesilea emphasized the word "industry," signifying the realm involving violence, killing, and dealings in the dark with shady characters such as mercenaries, assassins, and spies.
"C'mon, it's just a week of training in the new environment our lord has prepared. It's not strange that only two top elites would pass the strict standards set by that Spartan guy. Otherwise, we wouldn't need to hire that Viper guy over there," Odysseus spoke, gesturing towards Viper, who was still immersed in chatting online and posting memes, brushing off the seriousness of the conversation.
Odysseus then switched from speaking English to Ancient Greek and addressed Penthesilea. "Give them a chance... remember... they are not like us... they are the people of the current era."
"Yeah, I agree. The era where no god can abuse us is good, but the downside is that humans grow weaker," Penthesilea responded in kind, using the same Ancient Greek language.
"Yes, but only in terms of physical and magical capabilities. In terms of technologies, I say that humans of the current era are doing a lot better than us," Odysseus remarked before bringing up his tablet, typing some notes into it, and checking his emails.
"That's true. The food in the current era is very interesting and delicious too, but I still hate pineapple on pizza. Whose idea is that? It's blasphemous!" Penthesilea agreed with Odysseus but couldn't help mentioning her dislike for pineapple on pizza.
"Hey, that's quite delicious. Don't you dare degrade it," Odysseus responded with a smile. He never thought he would have a chance to chat and have friendly banter with the fierce warrior queen of the Amazons like Penthesilea. If he were to travel back in time and tell himself, he wouldn't have believed it.
"This era is good. The era without those tyrant gods... I hope it goes on indefinitely. I hope Hippolyta also got resurrected by our lord and is here with me too," Penthesilea uttered, thinking about her sister.
"Yeah, I just hope that my commitment and contribution would be able to move our lord to resurrect Penelope too," Odysseus also got sentimental, thinking about his deceased wife. He didn't know if he could meet her again.
After a moment of sentimentality and falling into memories, Odysseus continued.
"But we all know that resurrecting someone that is within Hades' clutch isn't going to be easy. I could only imagine the immense power that our lord needs to sacrifice in order to bring us back to life. It should leave him weakened for quite some time," Odysseus said.
"Yeah, that's why we need to protect him. Only he can ensure that the era without those tyrant gods would continue. I suspect what Cyrus did would be an attempt to bring the Era of God back. By opening the hellgate and letting the hell mana into the air, this will also create a good environment for gods to be able to mess with us once again," Penthesilea said.
"Yes, and I suspect that what our lord did—creating that base, bringing many of us from the foregone era back, and preparing the new training environment—is because he has foreseen the future. A future where humans are strong and no longer subject to the abuse of godly powers," said Odysseus with a hint of pride, envisioning the glorious days ahead for humanity.
"As expected of our lord!" Penthesilea agreed with a nod.
Reflecting on their lord's preparations, both Penthesilea and Odysseus could only draw one conclusion. The first time they entered the large training hall, where the mana concentration matched or even exceeded that of the era of the gods, their lord had used both magical and technological means to create an environment for his soldiers to train, anticipating a future conflict with godly beings.
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