Slightly catalyzing some of the mysticism in the candle in her hand, Luo Xiaoyu looked down at the direction from which the Fog Persons were approaching, pondering her next plan.
The atmosphere on Poison Snake’s side was not nearly so leisurely.
“Get ready, then we’ll continue heading deeper.”
While checking the condition of the air gun in his hand, Old Zhang issued orders like this.
The harsh tone of the command was high-handed and brooked no argument.
But such words seemed not to have the desired effect—Old Zhang usually played the role of pointing out directions for his underlings.
The small fry had long been receiving his commands; afterward there would be rewards and no need to use their brains, so they naturally were willing to obey him.
But now, they had just experienced an attack from a Fog Person.
Only those few who had previously come into contact with Weirdness could regain their composure; the others vaguely felt some dissatisfaction toward Old Zhang’s manner.
“Old Zhang, this mission is very dangerous. The Adult Zhou also told us to do it as much as possible, not to have the brothers charge up and throw their lives away.”
Being reminded like this, the ferocious-faced Old Zhang finally softened his expression a little.
He took out the walkie-talkie in his hand, connected the communication, exchanged a few words with the other two groups, and issued orders.
As the small team leader, others were of course expected to follow his command most of the time.
“Brothers, I know these Weirdnesses are terrifying. When we joined Poison Snake, we already swore an oath. The Adult Zhou guarantees our food, clothing, and shelter, and we devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the gang.”
“But that girl! That Transcendent! She not only caused us to lose two key figures who maintained the gang’s potential, but also seriously threatened Poison Snake’s living space!”
“Can we just sit by and do nothing?!”
Old Zhang began trying to regather the somewhat scattered hearts of the men.
He knew that if relying only on himself, he would be unable to obtain enough intelligence, and even whether he could safely escape from the other party’s hands would become a difficult matter.
Therefore, in order to make his subordinates continue to obey orders, he came up with this scheme.
He told them that Poison Snake might be affected, binding them to the same war chariot as himself—these people had nowhere else to go besides Poison Snake; everyone who joined Poison Snake had committed more or less evil deeds, and among them there were even the most vicious and extreme criminals.
This was an open scheme, but it was very effective.
Seeing everyone restore order again, Old Zhang then instructed:
“Everyone rest in place for a bit. Since it’s dangerous, we won’t go deeper, but instead station ourselves here and wait for the target to come out. The sentries will take shifts and stand ready at all times.”
After speaking, Old Zhang organized a group of people to rest in place.
Currently only they had experienced the Fog Person; the other groups stationed at the remaining intersections temporarily had little pressure, and upon hearing the small team leader give such an order, they all beamed with joy.
Only, Old Zhang felt a bit strange.
After becoming the small team leader, he had purified and further increased the loyalty of the people under him.
Before this plan, they had clearly still been completely obedient to him, full of respectful admiration.
Why was it that as soon as the mission was executed, the hearts he had cultivated for a long time nearly collapsed?
He simply took this as the ordinary people under him still being too weak, and didn’t think much more about it.
Before long, a wave of turmoil came again.
Just as Old Zhang was about to investigate, he saw the sentry stumbling toward him.
“Z-Zhang Team, new Weirdness has come again!”
Old Zhang’s expression hardened.
He signaled with his eyes to the subordinate helping with the pressure increase, then took the air gun and walked out.
It was indeed Weirdness.
Judging from the scale of the smoke, it seemed that the Fog Persons approaching this time were not just one.
“Report! The number of Weirdnesses discovered… a total of two!”
Today’s luck is really bad.
Old Zhang had already silently decided in his heart that if new Weirdness still appeared after these two Fog Persons were dealt with, then he would lead the underlings and return home.
The commission could still be done another time, but the subordinates he had painstakingly cultivated could not all be lost here.
“For Poison Snake and the Adult Zhou! Everyone charge with me!”
With a shout, he charged forward with a ferocious expression.
These people were boiling with hot blood, but Luo Xiaoyu found it a bit hard to understand.
She silently pondered what the leader must be thinking, actually letting his subordinates charge at the front to act as human meat shields?
While he himself holds the air gun and outputs from the rear…?
Seeing that the air gun had once shown a posture capable of driving away the Fog Persons, but the next moment, Old Zhang stopped shooting and hastily retreated many steps together with the subordinate hand-cranking the pressure valve.
That air gun seemed to have also used spiritual materials, but the final form it presented could only be a brief burst of firepower.
The black-haired girl revealed a hint of amused smile.
If she disables the other side’s only lethal weapon, what kind of consequences would appear?
This was of course not meaning to snatch it away.
She simply wanted to test the plasticity and power of Air Projectiles, to see exactly what degree they could reach under current conditions.
The flowing air seemed like a turbulent river swirling in her hand.
Luo Xiaoyu aimed at the air gun and launched a projectile racing rapidly through the air.
Clang—
Below, the people in front enduring the Fog Persons’ attacks only heard a huge friction and collision sound coming from the rear.
“Zhang Team!…”
Compared to the order and firm hold at the front, the rear at this moment was a scene of extreme chaos.
With the sound of a pressure-release explosion, unease and doubt quickly spread throughout the entire field.
The subordinate carrying the pressure valve and cranking the lever was blasted into a bloody mess, and the situation at Old Zhang’s side was not much better.
The air gun in his hand was originally the output end of the air pressure.
With the air gun continuously firing, pressure accumulating due to the overworked air gun, yet suddenly losing the pressure-release outlet, the explosion of the pressure valve storing compressed air was only to be expected.
Old Zhang’s right arm that was gripping the air gun also vanished without a trace.
He only felt a wave of phantom pain, and with a ferocious expression he roared with all his strength:
“Come out here! If you have the guts, face us Poison Snake head-on!”
But this was merely a natural last struggle under the effect of adrenaline.
Old Zhang didn’t last long; after giving a few final instructions, he fainted.
He only felt his subordinates acting spontaneously, carrying him toward some place.
It seemed this operation was going to be a waste of effort, with heavy losses.
This was the last thought in Old Zhang’s mind.
He had originally thought his subordinates would gather the group and then retreat; obtaining information on the Transcendent could wait until they returned to Poison Snake to rest and recover, or even push it off to the next time—both were feasible options.
But instead, they chose the most foolish method.
Old Zhang’s walkie-talkie was taken away, and the subordinates decided to join forces to deal with that Transcendent.
After all, through the oral accounts of the members who had just witnessed the projectile’s trajectory, they could already roughly determine Luo Xiaoyu’s position.
They felt that what the wanted target was using must also be something similar to an air gun, because Old Zhang also had a similar one.
It wasn’t a large-scale destructive weapon with firepower coverage, so they could just charge together.
Casualties were allowed; the members of the Poison Snake gang needed to hold onto their last place of refuge.
When Old Zhang opened his eyes, what he saw was a misty sky and a temporarily erected tent.
He tried to prop himself up to sit, but suddenly realized the fact that he had been attacked.
Looking at the bandaged area that was still seeping blood, even without seeing the specific condition of the wound, the waves of heart-piercing severe pain could clearly reveal one fact.
He had lost half his arm.
Seeing that Old Zhang had woken up, the subordinates gathered over.
“Zhang Team, you were right. We must protect Poison Snake—now we have already determined the opponent’s position. The supplies we brought along can still last half a day, just waiting for your command.”
“This time, we must succeed.”
Old Zhang, who had originally thought he could return to the Poison Snake camp to quietly recover from his injuries and enjoy himself, felt as if struck by a heavy blow to the head, and immediately froze in place.