Chapter 387: Chapter 387: The Deviated Script
Chen Xuan had anticipated this ambush for a while; after all, he was the mastermind behind the entire operation. As soon as he entered, he quickly found a corner near the edge to squat, avoiding "friendly fire." The others weren’t so lucky; several were immediately knocked down by bullets, with cries of "Find cover" and painful groans filling the headphones.
He never truly understood the Hunting Team’s suppression capability until he found himself amidst their encampment.
They were indeed a group of sharpshooters who never missed.
With the blessing of the Heart Method, the villagers’ naked-eye shooting accuracy at night was in no way inferior to the elite soldiers equipped with advanced night vision devices. As soon as someone dared to show themselves, a barrage of bullets would follow. Chen Xuan had barely peeked for a glance when the next second, a bullet hit the faux mountain before him, sending fragments of stone scattering.
Even with the soldiers beefed up with adrenaline, daring to peek out from cover to engage the villagers, they would be stunned to find the latter expertly dodging. As soon as they pulled the trigger, the targets retreated back into the courtyard corridor, seemingly able to anticipate every move. Following this, more lines of fire swept in from other directions, knocking the responders down.
They discovered they couldn’t even strike during the opponents’ fire suppression gaps.
Lingering behind cover for more than ten seconds meant meeting a direct hit from a personal rocket launcher—the elite soldiers now knew where the explosion sounds came from; it wasn’t the work of an Ability User, but rather that the opponents genuinely had firepower far beyond civilian norms.
Even knowing it was a dream, Chen Xuan couldn’t help but marvel at how real it all felt!
"We...can’t advance!"
"B1 team requesting support!"
These pleas for help came over the headphones.
He promptly turned on the radio, "Lin, assist me!"
In an instant, a frigid current swept through the entire western courtyard. The leaves stopped swaying, the water suddenly stilled, and countless ice crystals formed visibly along the edges of the faux mountain and eaves.
Their ace was on the move!
Chen Xuan turned around to see a snow-white figure leap to the top of the courtyard gate.
"You guys are useless, aren’t you?" Her slightly disdainful voice echoed in his ears, "Move aside, don’t stand in my way."
The Arbitration Court’s Ability User’s addition instantly changed the dynamics of the battle.
After a round of exchanges, Chen Xuan saw several members of the Hunting Team pierced through their chests by ice crystals, expiring on the spot. This was somewhat surprising to him—considering that the Dream Maker could only set the background and not alter the dream’s progression halfway, he was quite familiar with Fu Jiaolu and others’ strengths, so typically there wouldn’t be much deviation. In the actual ambush, only about ten people were injured, and none perished.
Does this mean...Lin’s power not only wasn’t diminished through inheritance but has actually become stronger?
The plot took some subtle twists: the death of allies made the remaining members of the Hunting Team incensed, with many not retreating immediately as planned, choosing instead to break cover and tussle with Lin, resulting in more casualties.
The scene briefly became quite chaotic.
It wasn’t until Liuli appeared that the situation stabilized again.
She started with a Dimension Slash, shattering the ice crystals Lin had created into nothingness.
Seeing Liuli’s iconic conical hat had Lin momentarily stunned, "You are—"
"I’m Liuli, the person about to claim your life," Liuli stated coldly.
"...Liuli?" Lin’s expression seemed slightly hazy, "Have I seen you somewhere?"
Chen Xuan inwardly groaned; he had forgotten about this. Lin had recently had a close encounter with Liuli. If she were to recognize Liuli’s face now, it could cause trouble!
"Lin, I’m here to help you!" he shouted, rushing out of his hiding spot and using "Strong Robbery" on Liuli.
Two shadow claws shot out toward their target.
In the dream, he lifted the restrictions on his abilities; any power he had ever handled was free to use.
What greeted him was a sharp and unmatched sword light!
Even with the Divine Eye Technique in play, he could barely discern its path. Chen Xuan suddenly realized this was not Dimension Slash but Liuli’s Sword-Drawing Skill for piercing through the nano-living body.
Damn, going for the powerful moves from the start!
At that moment, some extraordinary force twisted away his fatal ending, tearing him from the deadly trajectory of the sword light.
The Golden Cicada Shell Escape Technique took effect.
Not only did he evade the attack unscathed, but the Strong Robbery claws also grabbed Liuli, leaving blood marks on her arms.
Of course, unable to steal any abilities from her.
"Chen Xuan!" Lin was taken aback, evidently not expecting him to charge forth, "What are you doing? Fall back! This isn’t someone you can handle!"
"Chen Xuan?" Liuli also furrowed her brows. She pushed up her conical hat, revealing star-like eyes as she suspiciously assessed him.
Is this dream going to properly unfold or not!
Chen Xuan felt bitter. Right now, only he and Lin were in the dream, while Liuli was a fabricated character, her words and actions beyond his control. Luckily, his attire now resembled the surrounding elite soldiers, with a night vision device on his head, a mask covering his face, leaving only a sliver of his features visible, making it hard to identify him with just a glance.
With things as they were, Chen Xuan could only pretend not to have noticed Liuli’s suspicion, yelling toward Lin, "Now’s the perfect chance!"
"I know without you telling me!" Lin, annoyed, stretched her hands toward Liuli; the temperature around them plummeted, with floating crystalline flowers appearing in the air.
Liuli easily broke free from the binds of Strong Robbery, turning around to engage Lin in a fierce battle.
But soon...her pace slowed.
"This is..." Liuli looked in astonishment at her wrist.
"You found out? Too bad it’s too late!" Lin huffed coldly, "This is my domain; everything about you will freeze, including your blood."
Numerous tiny ice crystals emerged from Liuli’s skin, their red hue resembling some strange parasitic plants.
Her movements were no longer agile, struggling even to take so much as a single step.
Lin seized the opportunity to summon three ice pillars from the viewing pool, piercing through Liuli.
"Hah...just so."
Lin breathed a sigh of relief, a proud smile budding on her lips.
It was precisely at that moment Liuli, pierced with ice pillars, curled her lips.
Here it comes!
Chen Xuan immediately activated the Divine Eye Technique while launching himself toward Lin at full speed.
Another Sword-Drawing Skill!
If this were the normal Liuli, seeing the sword light even a moment later would be too late, her sword speed seemingly matching that of light itself. However, this time, he knew in advance what she would do, effectively predicting her action. Just before Liuli drew her sword, Chen Xuan had already dashed to Lin’s side.
As the sword light burst forth, he directly pushed Lin into the air. Based on Liuli’s sword path, what would have been a fatal strike through her head now merely pierced her right chest.
Still deadly, but not instantly fatal!
However, his chest suddenly felt numb.
Chen Xuan, belatedly aware, looked down to find a fist-sized gap blasted through his chest, his ballistic insert gone, several bits of flesh dangling on his clothes.
Something’s not right with this...
Why did the Sword-Drawing Skill veer so much? If Liuli initially aimed in this direction, even without pushing Lin aside, the strike wouldn’t have hit her critical points.
Did...Liuli change her mind? She didn’t intend to go directly for a kill?
It was then Lin finally reacted.
She stared wide-eyed at Chen Xuan, disbelief etched on her face, utterly unable to fathom why he had done what he did.
"Are you...a fool?"
I didn’t expect it to turn out like this either!
Chen Xuan wanted to respond, but opening his mouth only brought forth a spray of blood foam. The severe injury to his lung flooded blood into his airway, leaving a sticky mess in his throat.
If not for the dream realm allowing him to adjust the pain sensation in real time, he’d probably have passed out by now.
"You should die!"
A low, gritted growl emanated from her throat...but the words did not seem directed at Chen Xuan, sounding more like rebuke intended for Liuli.
A fierce chill swept across the scene as Lin’s rage boiled over, her expression losing its delicate grace to take on something brutish. In an instant, the gale potent enough to freeze the air crystallized into tangible fury, obliterating every obstruction it met!
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