Chapter 352: Chapter 244: Mid-battle Breakthrough, "Earth Pivot World Record," the True Great Lifebound Rune
"Disarm immediately! I repeat, disarm immediately!"
The roar of the helicopters and the blare of the loudspeakers caused the glass curtain wall of a nearby casino to resonate. The glass shattered, raining down with a CRASH as electrical arcs flashed and one neon tube after another burst.
The crowd cried out in alarm and retreated again, making sure to fall back to a safe distance.
These were five Apache helicopters. With a hydraulic WHIR, their nose-mounted 30mm M230 chain guns slowly calibrated. The 19-tube 70mm rocket pods were also armed; each Apache carried four, capable of firing 76 rockets, for a combined total of over three hundred.
The distinct whine of the fire-control systems pierced the sky. An overwhelming storm of metal was about to be unleashed.
"Drop your weapons and submit to an inspection!"
"Hands on your head! Do not resist!"
It wasn’t just the men in the hovering gunships shouting down. On the ground, countless US soldiers had appeared, driving combat vehicles and tanks to surround the "battlefield."
These were the same M1A2 SEP main battle tanks as the ones in Tonopah Town—9.77-meter-long behemoths.
Their treads ground over the marble base of the Bellagio Fountains with a CRUNCH, pulverizing the stone. The dark green barrels lowered slowly, their muzzles glinting coldly in the snowy night.
"Brother Xiang, what do we do?" Everyone looked at Li Xiang.
Li Xiang’s expression was grim. "When the fighting starts, Feifei and I will draw their fire. The rest of you, split up and run for the crowds or into the buildings. Use a serpentine pattern."
This was the United States mainland, the famous Gambling City of Las Vegas, a place with an extremely high population density. The Americans would surely be reluctant to unleash their deadliest weapons wantonly in an urban area. It was a tactic even Exotic Beasts could use, so naturally, Li Xiang’s group could use it too.
If he were alone, the five gunships were hovering low enough that he could likely leap up and take them all down.
If he only had two or three people with him, like Luo Feifei and Yao Yao, he would still be fearless. He could don his Giant Whale Saint Armor, grab them, and just run. At an Extreme Speed of 5 Mach, no missile, no matter how powerful, could hit him. The aircraft wouldn’t be able to catch up either.
Mach was the threshold for hypersonic speed.
But there were too many people now; he couldn’t carry them all. And even if he could, the air resistance would be too great and affect his speed.
As for the Giant Whale Saint Armor’s other form, the Sea-Stepping Spirit Whale Ship, it could only be used where there was water. Nevada was a landlocked state, and there didn’t seem to be any rivers nearby.
Besides, a river that was too small would be useless anyway.
Just as everyone was about to move, they heard Li Xiang say, "Since we’re going to fight, allow me to level up first!"
He had been on the verge of breaking through to Tier Eight for a while, but he had been holding it back with a Secret Technique. Since he was about to unleash hell and stop this conflict with overwhelming force, he might as well have a battlefield breakthrough. The stronger he was, the greater his chances of escaping safely, and the easier it would be. In any case, he had been accumulating power for a long time; the floodgates couldn’t hold any longer, and it was time to let it out. He leveled up fast.
Everyone was stunned by his words.
Yao Yao exclaimed, "Brother, you can just level up whenever you want?"
Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, Lei Jiaming, and the others were filled with admiration. They were finding it incredibly difficult just to reach Tier Two, as if they could never meet the requirements. And here was Brother Xiang, pulling off a battlefield breakthrough.
Only Luo Feifei pursed her lips into a smile. She was the only one who knew that Li Xiang had been suppressing his Realm the whole time. ’Otherwise, he’d be in the double-digit Tiers by now—maybe even pushing for Saint Tier next year.’
She also knew the Secret Technique Li Xiang used, and she had been working hard to suppress her own Realm recently. She wondered if she should attempt a battlefield breakthrough herself.
’Doing it at the same time as Li Xiang... now *that* would be thrilling.’
Xu Xuan had a sudden flash of inspiration and yelled out in English, "We’re CIA agents on a mission! Please leave immediately and do not interfere with official business!"
’It didn’t matter if they believed him or not; stalling for even a minute or two would be a win. Even just tens of seconds would be enough.’
Eight seconds later, Li Xiang’s aura suddenly surged, becoming even more profound and unfathomable.
At the same time, a faint smile played on his lips. ’Leveling up really is useful. It’s just what the doctor ordered.’
"No need to scatter! I’ll get you out of here! Everyone, get close to me!"
Everyone was taken aback for a moment, but they obediently moved closer to him.
"Here we go!"
With a light shout from Li Xiang, a circle of earthy yellow light flared up, enveloping everyone. In an instant, the ground rippled, and they vanished without a trace.
"Fire!" The American officer was furious. ’How can I let them escape?’
Hundreds of rockets and cannon shells converged on the spot, blasting it into a sieve, but there was no sign of Li Xiang and his group.
By this point, Li Xiang had already used the Earth Escape Technique to bring everyone several hundred meters underground. Feeling the tremors from the surface, they were all completely stunned.
It wasn’t the power of the artillery that stunned them, but Li Xiang’s Divine Technique.
"Is this the Earth Escape Technique?" Everyone was dumbfounded.
Li Xiang first nodded, then shook his head. "I just broke through. No time for details. Let’s go first."
Shepherding the group through the earth for another seven or eight hundred meters, Li Xiang suddenly stopped. He propped open a space around them, creating what looked like a small underground cavern. "You all wait here for me," he said. "I’ll be right back!"
Then, with a flicker, he vanished.
The group looked at each other, at a loss. They had no choice but to wait there.
Yao Yao couldn’t help but worry. "Brother left us here... where did he run off to?"
Luo Feifei said, "He’s probably gone back for some payback."
Everyone: "..."
Just as Luo Feifei had predicted, Li Xiang intended to go back for some payback.
As one of the most powerful individuals on Earth, he would not tolerate such an offense.
’Bombard me with chain guns, rockets, and missiles? Then I’ll have to show you what I’m made of.’
