Pov: Vik
I ordered them to hide in the bushes and lie down. Meanwhile, I looked at the large box in front of me that held the big toy delivered by Lina. I opened the box slowly, and the gun inside finally revealed itself.
This is a big gun, the Browning M1919, which uses .30 caliber bullets. It can destroy armored vehicles, so those guys are just easy targets. My main focus will be the black-robed people. I aimed my gun at the group of guards coming toward my disciples and pulled the trigger.
Brutttt! Bruttttt!
A large barrage of bullets flew out, hitting the men in seconds. Their bodies were literally destroyed. Some lost limbs from the bullets, and many had their heads burst due to the .30 caliber rounds. I focused on the black-robed men. Even though they were in the foundation establishment realm, they were no match for this gun. After getting hit by several bullets, they fell, dying alongside their minions.
Soon the firing stopped. Everyone was dead, leaving only me and my gun, which had a red-hot barrel from continuous fire. I thought about lighting a cigarette with its heat, copying an iconic scene from a movie, but I didn't have any cigarettes with me.
Just then, the system's voice sounded in my head. "Host, focus on your current task. Don't do immature things. I know you might feel some childish impulse, but control it for now."
Vik: "Huh, system, you misunderstood. I'm just nostalgic about a movie. I'm not going to do anything childish; I'm a mature person."
System: "Yeah, I can see that. Let me remind you, if I weren't here, you would have grown a big beard, worn a long overcoat, and called yourself Rocky while trying to find gold in the mine in front of you."
Hearing the system's words, I laughed and said, "You're really thinking ahead, system. There's no chance I would do that. How could this mine have gold inside it?"
System: "Yeah, host, I can see you're a mature person, or rather a snake. By the way, there is gold in that mine."
Vik: "Did you say gold?"
System: "Yes, there is gold in that mine."
Hearing about the gold sparked a strong impulse in me to do something. I took out a large hammer I had found nearby, then walked toward the main gate of the catacombs. There were bodies of guards scattered everywhere, all dead, but I headed toward a black-robed person who was still alive, barely clinging to life.
I walked in front of him and looked at him with a cold expression. I said, "Violence! Violence! Violence."
"I don't like it; I avoid it, but violence likes me, so I can't avoid it."
Now I felt a little better. The system's voice sounded again, "Host, because of your cringe behavior, that poor guy just died."
I looked at the man in front of me and saw that he really had died. Did I really act that cringy? I pushed that thought aside and focused on my task. After clearing all the enemies, I signaled Lu Xiaoran and Roman to come to the entrance of the catacombs, and they soon arrived.
Once we were all together, I said over the radio, "This is Snake. I joined with Thunder and Tiger. The first part of the mission is complete. Now we just need to eliminate the main target. Robot, do you have a visual on the target?"
Lina: "Negative. The main target disappeared into the large gate of the catacombs. Since then, we have no information about the target."
Vik: "Copy that."
I turned to Lu Xiaoran and Roman and said, "Thunder and Tiger, the next phase of the mission is starting." They both replied, "Copy that."
After that, I approached the main gate of the catacombs. It looked majestic, with many figures sculpted on it, especially a dragon looking down from above. Ignoring everything else, I focused on how to open it, as I needed to enter and stop whatever Lin Chen and his two girlfriends were doing inside.
I took out some grenades from my backpack to blast the gate apart and said to my disciples, "Everyone stay back. I'm going to blow this gate wide open."
Just as I was about to pull the pin on a grenade, the system's voice interrupted. "Stop it, host. Just try to open it normally, and the gate will open."
Vik: "System, what are you talking about? This is clearly an opportunity for the chosen one. How could it easily open for us?"
System: "Not for us, but for you. Don't forget you are also a chosen one."
Hearing the system's words, I paused and tried to open the gate. Immediately, as I touched it, a small rift opened inside, trying to swallow me. I held my ground and said to my disciples, "Everyone come here and hold my shoulders."
They followed the instructions and held on to me. Then I released my grip, feeling the rift swallow us. It felt like falling from a high place, but it was nothing uncomfortable for me and my disciples since we were used to teleportation. Soon, we landed in a place that looked like a dense forest. There wasn't much difference between this forest and the one on Azure Mountain. There was even a sun, moon, and clouds.
I thought I had been teleported to another planet because this wasn't the original Blue Star. To confirm my suspicions, I looked at my disciples, who also seemed to share my feelings about this place. It resembled the Azure Mountain forest. The same laws restricted the use of spiritual energy in this heaven-suppressing zone, but even more powerfully. Even I, who could only show my foundation establishment strength, felt like a mortal.
System: "Host, there's more. Please look at yourself."
Hearing the system's voice, I looked at my hands and realized they were gone. Instead, I saw a long serpentine body. I transformed back into a snake, this time a mortal snake. To clarify my situation, I asked the system, "What's happening? I didn't transform back even in the heaven-suppressing zone."
System: "Host, this is because you are currently in a secret realm. More specifically, it's a separate world with its own laws. Even among secret realms, this place is considered top-tier. It contains more powerful laws, some even stronger than those in the original world, Blue Star. These laws, like those in the heaven-suppressing zone, resist any deviation caused by spiritual energy, forcing everything back to its origin, so you became a snake—a mortal one. But don't be scared; even as a snake, you are still very large and poisonous."
After hearing the system's explanation, I looked back at my disciples, trying to say something, but instead, a hissing sound came out. My disciples looked at me with doubt and said, "Master, we don't understand what you're saying. Can you please repeat it?"
Seeing this, I sighed with a hissing sound and started writing words in the soil with my tail to explain my situation to my disciples. Sigh, now this mission just became much harder.