Victory in Hand
After reviewing the rules for the Third Checkpoint, the group began assigning relay slots.
This time, Luo Jun volunteered to be the first runner.
The reason is simple: only the first runner, who is closest to the Tracker's Nest, has a chance to complete the relay after finding the hidden Key Fragment.
After discussing it, Lao Miao Miao said that she had tried many times, but after finding the Hidden Key, she couldn't bypass the pursuer to complete the relay, so she had to give up on the third key.
Therefore, the only option is to let Luo Jun give it a try.
Everyone disagreed, but Luo Jun brought up the same reasoning that Lao Miao Miao had given before.
"Since you don't trust me anyway, if I'm placed at the back, all your efforts in the previous legs will be wasted if I deliberately sabotage the runners. It's better for me to run the first leg, so you can all feel at ease after I finish."
In the end, everyone was persuaded and gave him the first baton.
As the Countdown ended, Luo Jun pushed open the door and entered the relay race field.
Outside the gate lies a Gobi Desert dotted with strangely shaped rocks. Every three steps there's a ditch, every five steps a ridge, and there are also huge rocks and cliffs blocking the way, making it truly difficult to walk.
A humanoid monster, completely black, emerged from the cave. Judging from its size and the proportions of its surroundings, it was much larger than a normal person. It was also very fast, rushing forward at a steady pace while ignoring obstacles.
Is this what a tracker is like...?
Looking at the pursuer again, after chasing for a short distance in the night, he realized that he was not as fast as the pursuer, hesitated for a moment, and then turned around and rushed towards the direction of the number two flag.
"This guy really was planning to trick us!" In the main room of the level, seeing Night's avatar return, Zheng Ji shouted, "You all saw it too, right? He's the Mimic Person!"
The others who witnessed this also frowned, concluding with the same view.
But these challenges were no match for Luo Jun.
Luo Jun was not afraid and maneuvered his Crisscross, Zongheng, to meet the attack head-on.
The cave was very clean; apart from the thatch covering the ground, there was nothing else to see.
Sure enough, just as the image of Night was about to collide with the black dot, he suddenly veered to the side, bypassing the black dot, and then rushed towards the cave at full speed.
The moment he emerged, he summoned his Longitudinal and Horizontal Warhorse, leaped onto the top of a giant rock, and looked back into the distance, where he saw a huge cave a kilometer away.
"Wait, no, look!" At the crucial moment, Lao Miao Miao reminded them at just the right time, "He bypassed it!"
Seeing this, Luo Jun remained calm and maneuvered his Crisscross the Gobi Desert. He leaped over small obstacles and unleashed his energy at larger ones, maintaining his speed until he rushed into the pursuers' cave.
Upon witnessing this scene, the few who had just felt a glimmer of hope, thinking that Ye could use his high speed to outmaneuver the pursuers, felt their hearts sink again.
No box? Luo Jun rode over, brandished his Crescent Moon Blade, and parted the thatch to reveal a stone slab underneath. He lifted it up and saw a small box inside. Opening it, he found the Last One piece of the Hidden Key!
After storing the parts in his Hundred Treasure Box, Luo Jun spurred his horse out of the cave, jumped onto a high point, and saw the black-clad pursuer in the distance. It had just passed Gate 1 and was now charging straight toward Gate 2.
Fortunately, the pursuer was moving at a constant speed of one kilometer per minute. With the speed of Longitudinal and Horizontal Warhorse, overtaking it wouldn't be difficult!
Luo Jun squeezed his legs against the horse's belly, Longitudinal and Horizontal Warhorse. Flames shot out from the Jet Ports on the sides of its thighs, propelling him and the horse diagonally upwards!
Between the Gobi Desert, there were towering strange rocks everywhere. Luo Jun controlled his warhorse, landing and leaping on the tops of the rocks as if walking on plum blossom stakes, chasing after them at an extremely high speed.
Even under such road conditions, the speed of the Longitudinal and Horizontal Warhorse was almost twice that of the pursuers, and it caught up in no time!
The pursuer noticed the commotion behind him, turned around and saw Luo Jun, then immediately turned back.
This monster was enormous, almost the size of Savage Wilderness Dark Hair Giant Ape, and its rampage, ignoring the terrain, made it quite frightening.
However, Luo Jun was fearless. He steed his Longitudinal and Horizontal Warhorse straight ahead and, just as the huge pursuer pounced, he made a sharp turn and skillfully bypassed it, without even being touched by the hem of his clothes. Then, with a series of thuds, he charged towards the number two flag!
Looking back at the pursuer who had been outmaneuvered, it was too late to catch up when he turned back to give chase.
Finally, with Crisscross moving at full speed, Luo Jun led the pursuers by about four kilometers and arrived at the handover point, then pushed open the door and returned to the main room.
Do you believe me now?
He snorted coldly and tossed the third key, which was used for the handover, to Zheng Ji was next in line.
The second baton was for the swamp. In the last cycle, Zhu Sanyang volunteered, but this time Zheng Ji was still alive. As Elemental School who was good at controlling water, the swamp was practically his home turf, Zhu Sanyang gave up the second baton.
After pushing open the door, Zheng Ji stepped directly onto the swampy ground. Water Elemental burst forth beneath his feet, making him unable to sink and even providing a boost, allowing him to run faster than on flat ground!
Judging from the map, although he was not as fast as Luo Jun, he was faster than the pursuers. By the time he reached the number three flag, he had already put seven or eight kilometers between himself and the pursuers.
Then the third leg was the jungle, and it was finally Zhu Sanyang's turn. As soon as he entered, he transformed into a slender monster resembling a large snake, moving swiftly and smoothly through the jungle full of vines and shrubs. Before long, he reached the fourth leg. At this time, the tracker had only just reached the position of the number three flag.
The fourth leg was Lao Miao Miao. This section was a desert full of quicksand. As soon as Lao Miao Miao came in, she took out a surfboard and stepped on it. The board glided quickly on the sand. No matter how soft the quicksand was, she could not sink in. She continued like this until the fifth leg, when the gap widened even further.
The fifth runner was Cui Zheng Hai. This leg of the relay was not an open-air event, but rather involved traversing a ten-kilometer-long cave tunnel. The tunnel was riddled with traps and ambushes. Even if someone could withstand the damage from these traps with their inner energy, their movements would be hindered and their time would be delayed.
However, relying on his Insight Faction abilities, Cui Zheng Hai was always able to spot traps in advance and find the most suitable route, making almost no stops along the way, and ultimately successfully passed the level.
Sixth leg, Snow Mountain!
This leg is special; it starts at the foot of the mountain and ends at the summit, requiring a climb of at least ten kilometers to reach the top before the relay can be completed.
Moreover, this snow mountain is ravaged by Blizzard all year round, making it difficult for even someone like Elisa with the ability to fly to do so. The safest way is to climb up step by step.
Therefore, this difficult task was handed over to Du Jincai, who has a calm personality and very strong overall abilities!
As soon as he entered the area, he began to climb rapidly upwards. Relying on the powerful qi of the Martial Combat Faction, even his climbing speed was no less than that of the pursuers behind him.
At this point, the gap between the two teams had exceeded fifteen kilometers. Given Du Jincai's climbing speed, he would maintain this advantage until the final leg, meaning victory was practically assured.
On the map, Du Jincai's portrait moved towards the mountaintop, but just as it approached Flag No. 7, a cloud of white smoke suddenly burst forth from the summit...
"This is..." Everyone gasped in shock, "An avalanche?!"
Du Jincai's image was engulfed by the raging avalanche. He resisted for a few seconds at first, but soon could not withstand it and rolled down the snow mountain with it, returning to the Origin.
At this point, the trackers were less than five kilometers away from Flag Six...
(End of this chapter)