Mission in Progress (3)

A player's identity came with obvious benefits.

So after three days, Mr. G's escape party had grown instead of dwindling. The first batch of resurrected players, along with those gradually joining the mission, had increased Mr. G's forces to more than a hundred groups, each fleeing in a different direction.

However, their opponents were no pushovers either. Not only were the Six Departments involved—even every Super Enterprise that had recovered had dispatched its own armed forces to participate in this encirclement and slaughter.

For a time, it seemed as though the players were enemies of the entire world!

In a mechanical city on a "New Continent," several unfamiliar faces strolled casually down the street.

Suddenly, hundreds of mechanical scouts shot out and attacked them. The group was no pushover either. One of them instantly tripled in size, transforming into a B+-rank radiation beast and blocking the other two. One of the remaining two drew an electromagnetic rifle, while the other produced an energy shield. Working together in tactical formation, the three killed dozens of mechanical scouts and fought their way out of the city.

Just then, a squad of corporate soldiers surrounded them. Without a word, the battle resumed. Finally, faced with ever-increasing numbers, two of the three players died, while the last was captured.

"Tell us what you know—" Just as one of the corporate soldiers prepared to interrogate him, the player let out a strange laugh. Light surged from inside his body, and he suddenly exploded.

The blast sent everyone nearby flying.

Meanwhile, in the virtual layer, densely packed cyber assassins were chasing a virtual bus. On the front of the bus, a hacker player was charging through virtual nodes one after another.

Across the two rows of seats, seven or eight neural editors were editing the