Zhang Wei's both hands machine gun roared. Countless large-caliber bullets burst from the barrel, trailing two distinct flames like writhing fire dragons. They swept across the two lead armoured off-road vehicles. Within five seconds, both armoured vehicles exploded into fireballs, obliterated by the barrage.
Lambert now demonstrated his sniper skills, silent as stone, firing relentlessly. Using steel-core armor-piercing rounds, each shot yielded results—hitting tyres or the windshields in front of the driver's seat, significantly slowing the enemy's pursuit.
"Reinforcements are here!"
Ma Qingyang, who was driving to escape, was overjoyed. His team members felt hope surge within them. Nearly all his squad members were injured, lying motionless in the vehicle.
As the vehicle reached the hilltop, Ma Qingyang leaned out from the driver's seat and shouted, "Old Zhang, there are too many enemies! Get out of here fast!"
Just then, a strange gale suddenly swept up from below the hill toward Zhang Wei and the others. The wind whipped up sand and dust, forming a ghostly face with distinct features. An uneasy thrill instantly gripped everyone's nerves.
"Duck!" Zhang Wei roared, rolling flat on the ground. His heavy armour forced him to take cover this way. Li Yalin and Lambert reacted fastest, immediately sidestepping.
The whirlwind exploded across their original position, hurling several field agents into the air.
Suddenly, Zhang Wei felt a stabbing pain in his head like needles piercing his brain. Blood trickled down his nose. In shock, he saw that the field agents who hadn't managed to dodge were now all bleeding from their noses and mouths, collapsed on the ground, convulsing unconsciously.
"Psychic attack! They have a psychic!" Zhang Wei's face drained of colour. Peering closer, he saw an armoured vehicle open its roof. A slender, dark figure clad in black leather leapt out, charging toward them at breakneck speed. A cascade of red, curly hair whipped through the air like a crimson-and-black lightning bolt.
Hela's eyes were cold and sharp. With a flick of her wrist, another whirlwind of grimacing faces rapidly formed, lashing toward Zhang Wei. The air screeched with the shrill howl of wind, like a silent wail.
No, this wasn't the sound of wind.
It was the wail of souls!
[Power of the Dead]— Hela's supernatural ability.
Zhang Wei's consciousness spun in a dizzying haze as he crashed to the ground. Had it not been for his formidable physical constitution, this blow would have ended him.
Xiao Han frowned, pushing aside the flustered Lin Yao to seize command. He barked, "She's a combat officer of the Sprout! Evacuate immediately!"
Changing commanders mid-battle was a grave mistake. Zhang Wei opened his mouth to protest, only to stare in astonishment as Li Yalin and Lambert turned and walked away without hesitation, placing complete trust in Xiao's judgment.
Was that rookie really that trustworthy?
Zhang Wei's face twisted in astonishment. He swallowed his words, gritted his teeth, and stood up. Activating his leg armour's propulsion system, he covered five or six meters in a single stride. Thud, thud, thud—he followed his two teammates, retreating rapidly while periodically spinning around to spray fire, hindering Hela's pursuit.
Hela charged swiftly up the hill. With a wave of her hand, a hazy glow swept across the area. The field team members who couldn't dodge in time all collapsed to the ground. They showed no external injuries, yet their breaths had ceased.
Xiao's gaze grew grave. He had long known of Hela's formidable power. Fortunately, when he escaped the laboratory, he hadn't clashed with her head-on. Her ability was classified as an ultra-rare S-grade potential, surpassing even Catastrophe-level.
Even now, having only scratched the surface of her abilities' potential, Hela was already formidable.
"She's too fast! Li Yalin, stop her!"
Li Yalin spun without hesitation, unleashing a lightning-fast roundhouse kick. A burst of bright yellow energy exploded outward, sending Hela reeling back several steps.
"Martial artist?" Hela narrowed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and hurled an even larger ghostly face toward Li Yalin.
Li Yalin remained utterly composed. She executed a sliding tackle, slipping beneath the ghostly face and sustaining only a slight shockwave—her physique could easily withstand it. Closing in on Hela once more, she drew her folding combat blade with a sharp swish and brought it down with a heavy chop.
Hela was startled, forced to roll sideways to evade the blade.
Li Yalin unleashed her full arsenal, each strike infused with power. Her long legs whipped, kicked, slashed, and stomped in fluid, graceful movements—like a graceful swallow in flight, leaving trails of afterimages. Yet her assault raged like a storm, brimming with lethal intent.
The Swift Swallow Style martial art!
Hela, shrouded in swirling grey energy, used her arms as shields to block every strike, standing as solid as a rock, unscathed. There was only one explanation: Hela's strength far surpassed Li Yalin's. Even in the close-quarters combat Li excelled at, she held her own.
This exchange lasted only seconds, yet it was incredibly perilous.
"Use the power arm! The enemy will show a split-second opening. Lambert, seize the chance to snipe!"
Li Yalin bit her lip, her left hand plunging into her backpack. When she withdrew it, she had already slipped on the lightweight power arm. With a sudden punch, the mechanical power amplified her force, shattering Hela's defensive stance. Her chest and abdomen were now wide open.
The mechanical fist sank into soft flesh.
A solid hit!
A sickly flush spread across Hela's face. She grunted, rubbing her palms together as grey air currents swirled at high speed, sparking like friction. Then, pressing her hands downward, a gale erupted from her feet, sweeping outward and whipping up dust and sand!
Li Yalin scrambled backwards. Even so, her mind felt as if struck by a sledgehammer, her soul torn apart. Agonising pain surged through her brain, two streams of blood trickling from her nose. The earth and sky tilted in her vision, her sense of balance nearly shattered, nearly toppling her.
Hela stared at the familiar lightweight power arm, rage and shock mingling in her eyes. She roared, "What is your relationship with Zero?!"
Zero? Who? Li Yalin was utterly confused.
At that moment, Lambert struck. Seizing the fleeting opening, he fired a shot. Hela's expression changed as she darted aside, her grey aura coalescing into a dense mist shielding her body. The large-calibre bullet struck her shoulder, sending Hela reeling backwards like she'd been hit head-on by a speeding train. She spun wildly through the air before crashing to the ground.
"Zhang Wei, take Li Yalin and run!"
Addressing him by name drew no objection from Zhang Wei. Under Xiao's command, Li Yalin and Lambert coordinated swiftly to wound the troublesome foe. He was beginning to trust Xiao's directives. At the command, he immediately scooped up the dazed Li Yalin, turned, and strode off at a run towards Ma Qingyang's vehicle.
The armoured convoy surged up the hill, opening fire with a rattling barrage. Zhang Wei's massive shield took the brunt of the attack, sparks flying as it warped and twisted. He dared not look back, now profoundly grateful for the heavy metal slab strapped to his back. He'd always complained about its weight before, but now it offered a reassuring sense of security!
'Get in!' Ma Qingyang glanced back anxiously, hastily slowing the vehicle.
The trio scrambled aboard. The vehicle halted for barely two seconds before nearly being riddled by concentrated fire.
Zhang Wei finally had time to assess the situation. The pursuing armoured convoy couldn't match their speed, and the formidable psychic was tending to his wounds, unable to give chase. If they could reach the aircraft, retreat would be assured.
'We're clear!'
Zhang Wei breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiao Han immediately poured cold water on his optimism. 'Watch the sky.'
The sky?
Right! The enemy still had a helicopter!
Zhang Wei's heart lurched.
'Rat-a-tat-tat—'
The Black Hawk helicopter finally appeared, its mounted machine gun sweeping down from above, firing relentlessly at the vehicle.
'We must take down whatever's up there!' Zhang Wei assessed swiftly. 'Otherwise our aircraft will be in danger too. Only Lambert's sniper rifle has the range!'
Lambert remained expressionless, shaking his head. 'I've exhausted my armour-piercing rounds. Only conventional ammunition remains. The Black Hawk's armour is thick—even AP rounds require at least seven hits to penetrate its hull.'
'Are we to die here?'
Ma Qingyang's face was etched with despair. The retreating fighter jet was merely a kilometre away, yet the distance felt like an insurmountable chasm.
Xiao Han suddenly interjected, 'Have you forgotten what I gave you?'
Li Yalin paused, producing four magazines. One contained sniper rounds. 'What use are these?' she asked.
'You'll see.'
Lambert loaded the magazine without a word and fired a single shot at the helicopter.
Everyone watched intently.
One bullet, carrying their last hope.
Time seemed to slow.
The bolt slid back, ejecting an empty brass casing. Fire and smoke erupted from the muzzle as the deep crimson sniper bullet, engraved with flame patterns, was propelled by the primer's kinetic energy. Accelerating, spinning, and dancing, the bullet kissed the helicopter's bulletproof glass.
The crimson bullet swiftly fractured like a blooming lotus, releasing a highly viscous, flammable gas.
'BOOM—'
Blinding flames engulfed the helicopter, transforming it into a roaring fireball with explosive force. The flames clung to the armour, appearing as though it had been ignited!
The helicopter reeled wildly, as if drunk, its erratic flight betraying the pilot's panic as flames consumed his vision. It spun away from the battlefield.
Everyone stared in shock, eyes fixed on the high-explosive magazine.
Armour-piercing rounds!
What on earth were these bullets?!
Ma Qingyang exclaimed in shock, 'Where on earth did you get this marvelous thing?'
'We've struck gold!' Li Yalin's eyes gleamed as she hastily loaded other calibres of high-explosive pistol rounds. Raising her weapon, she fired, each high-explosive bullet transforming numerous off-road vehicles into fireballs. Even when striking the ground, they ignited vast seas of flames.
The heated armour caused temperatures inside enemy vehicles to soar. Flames fuelled by gas seeped through cracks into the interiors, where critical components like engines and cylinders began overheating. Pursuing vehicles swerved to evade the blaze, leaving no time for counterattack.
Lambert seized the moment, landing two more shots on the helicopter's rotor blades. The chopper spun wildly, circling away from the battlefield.
Ma Qingyang slammed the accelerator, charging into the rear cabin of the aircraft. The already tense pilot immediately took off, the plane swiftly vanishing over the horizon.
Hela's face drained of colour. The spot where the sniper rifle had struck her shoulder bore only a shallow wound, now swirling with grey mist that swiftly staunched the bleeding. Resentfully watching the aircraft's retreating silhouette, she activated the leader's communication channel and gritted out, 'Zero's location has been identified!'