Crazy Crossfire

Boom!

A thunderous blast came from dozens of meters away. The instant it erupted, I hurriedly unleashed Step Slash toward my front right, condensing protective energy around myself. At the same time, I raised Randel's Shield with my left hand. In an instant, I threw myself into a small trench ahead, curling up and hiding behind the shield as much as possible!

Explosions rang out continuously all around me. My position was right at the center of the blast zone. Wave after wave of explosive force swept over me, and when the bombardment landed close enough, it even kicked up terrifying Shockwaves!

332!

189!

1312!

112!

225!

Above my head, my health bar plummeted. After one round of bombardment, I had lost over 3,000 health. Fortunately, my total HP had reached 7,900, so I could take it!

"Fuck..."

All kinds of curses came through the star map—

"Damn Dark Tide, that was brutal! You gave me Lightly Injured status the moment we got here!"

"Fuck you, Dark Tide! Did you have to play like this? I'm Severely Injured..."

"Is everyone alright? Someone on our side has already been bombed to death..."

I frowned but did not respond to the chatter in the star map. After a round of bombardment, Dark Tide's ground forces would soon rush in. That was the greater threat to the players!

In the distance, armored vehicles rumbled as countless Dark Tide vehicles raced through the forest. Their headlights swept over us, completely exposing the players' positions!

"Ding Han!"

Zhang Ruolin sent me a WeChat message. "How are you?"

I immediately replied, "I'm fine. What about you?"

"Our position is pretty good. We're fine too. As long as you're alright."

"They're here. Get ready to fight. I'm going."

"Mm!"

The next moment, I used a huge boulder as cover, raised Wind Whisperer, and quickly aimed at the drivers of several armored vehicles coming toward me!

Bang!

The moment the shot rang out, the vanguard member was hit right between the eyebrows!

[Battle Notification: You struck Vanguard · Alok in the head, dealing a total of 1224 Headshot damage!]

The Vanguard Members before me were all level 25 ordinary NPCs, with around 1,500 HP each. He was not dead yet, so I gave him another shot!

Bang!

1209!

The second shot was another triple-damage Headshot. The vanguard member's head immediately exploded, and the vehicle he had been driving began to sway unsteadily.

Again!

I swiftly aimed at the second vehicle. Two consecutive shots rang out. With the insane precision of Advanced Shooting Lv. 10, at a range of less than a hundred meters, I could practically land Headshots every time!

"He's over there, you damn bastard!"

A third armored vehicle sped toward me.

At this point, I could no longer dodge, nor had I intended to. I immediately shifted Wind Whisperer's aim and fired another two shots, blowing the vanguard member in the driver's seat apart with Headshots!

Boom~~~

With a deafening crash, the armored vehicle slammed into an old tree. Seven or eight people inside immediately rushed out.

Gunfire erupted in rapid succession, and cracks continuously spread across the surrounding rocks.

I frowned and immediately activated Bio-Optical Invisibility. Stepping over the grass, I silently rushed out from cover. Then, roughly fifty meters away, I found a clear firing angle, switched my main weapon to Roarer, and unleashed a frenzied barrage at their heads!

202!

612!

609!

197!

624!

Blue Roarer was already incredibly powerful, and nearly half my attacks had triggered Headshot damage. As a result, several of them fell in rapid succession. In the blink of an eye, only two remained!

"He's over there, that bastard!"

The two hurriedly aimed and fired.

I dashed more than ten meters forward, then immediately activated a skill—Explosive Charge!

Boom!

Origin energy erupted, and my body became a glowing afterimage!

"This is bad, he's a Super Weapon Master!"

One of the Vanguard Members cried out, but it was already too late.

Vanguard Bee Sting flashed with cold light as three streaks of icy radiance swept across his throat in succession. It was Bloodthirsty Assault's triple strike!

305!

+67!

464!

+102!

645!

+142!

Bloodthirsty Assault converted 20% of the damage dealt into my own health. Combined with its original 2% lifesteal effect, it had a total lifesteal efficiency of 22%. Thus, the instant I killed that Vanguard Member, I recovered a total of 311 HP!

I had lost over 3,000 health in the first bombardment. I needed to restore it as soon as possible. Safety came first.

"You..."

The final Vanguard Member looked furious, but he had no chance to resist. I used Step Slash to slip behind him, then knocked him to the ground with a combo of basic attack + Dragon Blade + basic attack + Ground Spike Slash + basic attack!

At once, I swiftly removed the two Explosive Grenades from his waist and stuffed them into my Dimensional Storage Space!

Just as I was about to claim more loot, a gunshot suddenly rang out. The ground beside me exploded into a small crater. There was a sniper!

I hurriedly turned and left, my body drifting into a patch of rocks and bamboo. I pulled out Wind Whisperer and searched for the enemy, while more Vanguard Members were already charging out of the forest.

I did not think twice. I found their sniper, killed him with two consecutive Headshots, then switched to Roarer and unleashed a barrage at the crowd rushing toward me!

Roarer's effective range was 120 meters, while my Advanced Shooting Lv. 10 could currently only guarantee perfect accuracy within roughly sixty meters. As for Headshot chance, there was no need to mention it. Nor did I need to pursue Headshots—I simply shot their bodies. Bullets were consumed at a frantic pace, while Vanguard Members fell in batches ahead of me!

Whoosh!

Just as I was firing wildly, a streak of fire suddenly shot straight out of the darkness!

Fuck! It was an RPG!

In that split second, I immediately turned and used Step Slash + Explosive Charge. With a boom, I instantly moved forty-five meters away. The bamboo grove and rocks where I had just stood were blown to pieces by an RPG shell, flames bursting everywhere!

"Fuck!"

Frowning, I yanked the pin from a grenade and hurled it through the air with a whoosh. Advanced Throwing's accuracy was extremely high. The grenade exploded in the center of a group of Vanguard Members, and countless white lights instantly flew toward me.

Unfortunately, there were too many enemies. I had no opportunity to loot their corpses. Otherwise, the grenades alone would have made me a small fortune!

Still, I had gained plenty of Points and Experience Points. That was beyond doubt!

I did not go too far. Instead, I circled eastward along the edge of West Wind Forest, Roarer cradled in my arms as I continuously picked off Vanguard Members in the darkness. I even stretched the safe distance to 120 meters, relying on the hit rate of Advanced Shooting Lv. 10 to safely trade bullets for Experience Points and Points.

Time passed bit by bit, and West Wind Forest descended into a chaotic melee.

A large number of players and Dark Tide Vanguard Members fought together. Neither side was willing to retreat, and for a time, this forest became a meat grinder, gunshots ringing out everywhere.

More than an hour later, all fifteen of my magazines had been emptied.

So I hid behind an old tree and skillfully reloaded, filling each empty magazine with bullets amid a series of clicks. By then, my face and body were drenched in sweat. Although it was already early winter, I did not feel cold at all. Instead, my blood seemed to be boiling.

"Hiss..."

Suddenly, a rather familiar sound came from nearby.

When I glanced to the side, I saw a hunched figure standing beneath the moonlight, staring directly at me with its eyes. Then, it slowly opened the three-part mouth on its face...

Devourer, a level 25 elite!

Without a word, I sprang up, retreating while aiming at the Devourer's head and firing wildly!

Bang bang bang...

Amid the dense gunfire, the Devourer could barely advance. It was pinned in place by the rain of bullets, unable to move. In just a few seconds, I had emptied an entire magazine, dealing massive damage and draining its 4,000+ HP completely!

Something's wrong...

I sniffed the air. That foul stench had grown stronger. There was more than one Devourer!

I hurriedly turned around. Sure enough, three more Devourers had appeared in the forest behind me!

Perfect!

I skillfully switched magazines and aimed directly at them, firing without any flourish. At such close range, Roarer was practically locked onto their heads. Every shot dealt Headshot damage. A burst of roughly ten-plus bullets was enough to kill one Devourer, and then I locked onto the second and blew its head apart with another burst!

At that moment, the third Devourer came at me with fangs and claws bared, its three-part mouth completely open. It looked terrifying!

Boom!

Explosive Charge!

The next second, I had appeared behind that Roarer and fired a full burst into its head!

Kill confirmed!

As white light flew toward me, a wisp of red light also drifted over. That was the glow of Points, which meant that killing mutants in West Wind Forest could also increase Points. Honestly, I would rather fight low-level mutants. At least I would not be bombarded or sniped from extreme range. In some ways, it was much safer.

I continued moving and found an old tree with twisted roots. I quickly pressed my back against it and kept loading bullets!

For me now, the more fully loaded magazines I had, the safer I would be!

At that moment, voices from other players came through the star map—

"What the hell? Why are there mutants here too?"

"Damn it, we ran into mutants too! Several players have already been killed by them. They died horribly!"

"Fuck, can this mission show even a little humanity?"

"I heard that Dark Tide is the main villain faction in all of Star Abyss. Not only are they obsessed with genetic modification, they're also obsessed with cultivating mutants. Maybe the mutants we see now were humans at first, transformed into this state by Dark Tide."

"Damn, Dark Tide really doesn't treat people like people! I killed a few Dark Tide soldiers earlier and felt a little uneasy and guilty. Now that feeling is completely gone."

Everyone in the star map was full of resentment, but with nowhere else to vent it, they could only take it out on Dark Tide soldiers and mutants.

Beep!

Ruolin sent me a message. "Scheduled report. Our side is safe."

"My side is safe too!"

"Good!"

I had just put away my phone when I frowned. Rustling sounds came from the forest ahead, followed by a creature roughly the height of a person suddenly charging out. It was hunched over, its exposed spine forming serrated bone blades. Its eyeballs had degenerated, while heat-sensing pits had evolved on both sides of its head. Both its arms and legs had evolved into sickle-like blades!

Osteo Reaper, a second-stage mutant, Blue BOSS!

My side... did not seem so safe after all...