Chapter 107: Chapter 90: Tour Guide
The man in the white coat, Huang Shiqi, flinched after being thoroughly chewed out. Instead of retorting, he asked timidly, "Captain Xuanwu, so... what should we do now?"
The Mechanical Desecration Association had a strict hierarchy. With the Xuan rank presiding over the Huang, this meant Xuanwu was likely Huang Shiqi’s direct superior.
Coming up empty-handed and having been played by three youngsters, it was only natural for Huang Shiqi to be reprimanded. If they weren’t still in the middle of a confrontation, the consequences would likely have been far worse than a simple scolding.
Captain Xuanwu shot Huang Shiqi an irritated glare, then pointed with a sweep of his arm in the direction Chu Xiran’s group had fled. "What else can we do? Hurry up and chase them! Don’t let them get away!"
The lead here was dead, making the situation perfectly clear. This location was, in all likelihood, a decoy they had deliberately set up—a complete misdirection.
The real Sealed Land wasn’t here. The thought of his subordinate being played for a fool without even realizing it made rage flare within him.
Huang Shiqi immediately caught on and shifted the blame to Chu Xiran’s group. "How dare you play the Mechanical Desecration Association for fools! I’ll make sure you three brats die without a proper burial!"
The men exchanged a few brief words, then wasted no more time. They had their five robots transform back into five helicopters, which they boarded to give chase.
Chu Xiran’s group was on the run. They had already covered some distance toward the West Suburb when a look back revealed that the five helicopters were on their tail again.
Niu Fenjin heard the whir of rotor blades and glanced back, startled. "Holy crap, how are they on us again?"
Chu Xiran, however, showed little reaction. She simply removed her earpiece and said calmly, "They must have figured it out."
"I’m not stupid enough to wear an electronic device in front of the Mechanical Desecration Association." As she spoke, she tossed the comms earpiece aside like it was trash.
"Uh, don’t tell me this was part of your plan?" Seeing her, Niu Fenjin also tossed his comms earpiece away. A look of dawning realization quickly turned to one of confusion. "And what did they figure out?"
Chu Xiran glanced over. Seeing his utterly baffled expression, she explained, "They figured out the factory wasn’t the Sealed Land."
Hearing this, the corner of Niu Fenjin’s mouth twitched. "Holy crap, you guys kept me in the dark about something like that?"
Chu Xiran ignored Niu Fenjin’s complaint and twisted the knife. "It wasn’t our intention to keep it from you. The higher-ups specifically told us not to let you know. They said you’re too loud and unreliable!"
"I..." Niu Fenjin’s face darkened, and he barely managed to stop himself from cursing out loud.
Zhu Bingqing had been about to complain as well, since she’d also been kept in the dark. But seeing Niu Fenjin’s frustrated expression made her feel a lot better.
’No need to make a fuss about it.’
Besides, she understood why the elders of their three families had entrusted this information only to Chu Xiran.
’Her day-to-day conduct was, indeed, the most level-headed.’
’For an operation this important, stricter secrecy was understandable.’
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
As the three of them fled for their lives, two missiles shot toward them from the distant sky at incredible speed.
"Seed Entanglement!" Seeing the attack, Chu Xiran didn’t hesitate to order her Hundred Vines Monster to counter.
’She wasn’t expecting the attack to accomplish much; she just needed it to block them for a moment.’
But to her surprise, the five seeds formed a web that ensnared both missiles.
Trapped by the net of instantly sprouted vines, the two missiles exploded in mid-air.
Chu Xiran let out a long sigh of relief at the sight.
’Thankfully, the robots’ capabilities were significantly reduced in their helicopter forms. Otherwise, that last Seed Entanglement would never have been enough to detonate the missiles.’
Chu Xiran wasn’t the only one who noticed this obvious drop in combat power; Zhu Bingqing and Niu Fenjin had seen it too.
They also ordered their Pet Beasts to attack, all while barely slowing their retreat.
The trio was clever, but their five opponents weren’t stupid. Seeing that the robots’ weakness in helicopter form had been exposed, they acted decisively, ordering three of the helicopters to drop from the sky.
As they fell, their bodies twisted and reconfigured. By the time they hit the ground, they had already transformed back into three robots.
With their transformation, the three robots lost their ability to fly and their advantages in speed and agility, but their full combat power was unleashed.
The other two remained in the air to run interference. Before long, the trio and their nine Pet Beasts were finally cornered.
Seeing that escape was impossible, the three of them formed up again to face their pursuers. Running any longer would just mean leaving their backs dangerously exposed.
Niu Fenjin watched the five robots close in and spat on the ground. "Damn, they fight dirty!"
He looked to Chu Xiran for her opinion. "What’s the plan now?"
Chu Xiran just shrugged helplessly. "This time, I think we’re really out of options!"
’Before, we just took advantage of their desperation to find the Sealed Land. That’s the only reason we escaped.’
’Five members of the Mechanical Desecration Association with five Dominator Level robots... if they had been serious about trapping us from the start, we would’ve never gotten away.’
"Clever little brats, using an electronic device to pull one over on us," Xuanwu said in a chilling tone once he had them cornered. "But you seem to have forgotten that in this world, strength is all that matters!"
With that, he waved his hand, and the five Dominator Level robots sprang into action, launching their assault.
In the nick of time, a mature voice, tinged with a hint of languidness, suddenly rang out. "Thousand Vine Demon, use the Wood Dragon Technique!"
As the voice faded, hundreds, even thousands, of vines erupted from the surrounding woods and wilderness.
The vines converged, weaving themselves into the shape of a massive Eastern Dragon that charged straight for the five robots.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With unstoppable force, the Wooden Dragon swept through, sending all five robots flying.
The trio couldn’t help but gulp at the sight. Niu Fenjin let out a gasp of amazement. "That’s... a Dominator Level Wood-type Pet Beast! And by the looks of it, it’s a High-level Dominator!"
A wave of excitement washed over them. Powerful reinforcements had arrived.
The next moment, a staircase of vines formed and delivered their savior before them. Niu Fenjin looked at the newcomer and asked tentatively, "Ma’am, you are...?"
The mature woman—dressed in a red vest, wearing a small yellow hat, and holding a little flag in her hand—glanced at Niu Fenjin. "Can’t you tell? I’m a tour guide!"
"Uh..." Niu Fenjin heard her words, glanced again at her outfit, and was at a loss for a response.
’The woman in front of him really did look like a tour guide, but what kind of tour guide possessed such terrifying combat strength!’
