Lu Bai Remains Unaffected

Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!

Under the savage fire suppression of the vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun, the Survey Corps gunners hiding inside the building were pinned down, unable to raise their heads.

Their occasional return fire amounted to little more than sticking their gun barrels out and spraying a burst through the windows. It was hard to say how much actual effect it had.

"The elevators are unusable."

"The Fourth and Sixth Squads have successfully reached the Emergency Channel on the third floor."

"The second floor has been cleared."

Inside the armored vehicle, Zhou Zongming wore a grim expression as he asked the adjutant beside him, "What are the casualties looking like now?"

"They're still being counted, but the situation doesn't look good. We've completely lost contact with two squads."

After hesitating for a while, the adjutant could not help but say, "Company Commander, we can't keep this up."

Judging from the reports coming back, the troops' operation could not exactly be called ineffective.

But they all knew the truth: since the troops had entered the Administrative Building, not a single kill report had come back. At most, the enemy had merely been wounded by gunfire.

That meant the casualty ratio was alarmingly lopsided. If this continued, the troops would be wiped out before they could even retake the Administrative Building.

Zhou Zongming slammed a palm against the steering wheel in fury.

"With combat skills like that, you're telling me they used to be ordinary civilians?!"

They had even picked up their weapons from them. Even the most elite special forces would not dare guarantee they could achieve something like this, would they?

The adjutant could only give a bitter smile. Who the hell knew how the checkpoint staff had screened them?

Then, catching sight of the rearview mirror from the corner of his eye, the adjutant suddenly realized something. "Company Commander, how about we ask those people about the situation again?"

Zhou Zongming turned and glanced back, and a few more doubts surfaced in his heart.

The reason was obvious.

With bullets flying like a forest and rain, Xiao Xueyin and the others were sheltering behind the armored vehicle, yet they showed none of the panic ordinary civilians would have. Most of them were remarkably calm; some were even flushed with excitement, looking eager to give it a try.

If only one or two people had reacted that way, it would barely have been understandable. But when every last one of them was like that, there had to be a problem.

Either this group was mentally unstable, or they had something to rely on.

A bold guess immediately surfaced in the adjutant's mind. "Should we ask whether they can help?"

"Nonsense!"

Zhou Zongming rebuked him instinctively.

Then he fell into thought, his tone easing. "It wouldn't hurt to hear what they want. I have a feeling they know the dangerous elements inside the building. At the very least, they should have some kind of connection."

On the sixth floor, inside the Conference Hall.

Swordlight continuously reflected across the walls, while the whistle of blades slicing through the air never ceased.

Empowered by [Blood Rage], every swing of Lu Bai's sword stirred up a fierce gale.

His storm-like barrage of attacks ravaged the hall into a complete mess, sending splinters flying everywhere.

Regrettably, beneath the coverage of this "blade storm," Duan Jianhui's robes fluttered in the sword winds, yet he himself remained completely unscathed.

"This breeze is blowing just right."

Duan Jianhui lifted his chin slightly, looking as though he was rather enjoying himself.

Lu Bai ignored the other man's mockery and muttered to himself, "Not invisibility. It doesn't seem to be something like Divine Might either. That subtle feeling whenever I attack... it should be closer to the realm of distorted perception..."

At that, a flicker of unease flashed through Duan Jianhui's eyes.

He deliberately said in a contemptuous tone, "Still haven't had enough fun?"

Unfortunately, Lu Bai was unaffected, leaving Duan Jianhui as awkward as though he were performing a one-man show.

"Fine, take your time playing by yourself. Your little girlfriend should already be dead by now anyway, so there's no need for you to rush."

Duan Jianhui tugged at his sleeves and turned toward the exit of the Conference Hall. "I have things to do. I don't have time to keep you company."

Clang!

Lu Bai's attack abruptly stopped. He drove the Eight-Sided Han Sword into a wooden board, bracing himself against the pommel with one hand as he said with a smile, "You're afraid."

Duan Jianhui's footsteps halted. He did not turn around, merely replying casually, "If that's what you think, there's nothing I can do..."

Before he could finish, Lu Bai cut him off.

"Actually, I really don't like using my brain, but I always run into all sorts of strange abilities."

"What do you mean?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the combined effect of two abilities. Something like being overlooked and misjudged?"

Duan Jianhui finally turned around, his face utterly expressionless.

"So I shouldn't be swinging my sword at you. I just need to treat you as though you don't exist, then blanket the area with firepower."

Before his words had even faded, Lu Bai gripped the Eight-Sided Han Sword and launched an all-encompassing attack.

Slowing it down revealed that, in the midst of swinging his sword, he had even closed his eyes.

An arm, spraying blood, was flung high into the air.

Duan Jianhui could not react in time—or rather, even if he had reacted, it would have been too late to dodge.

At his core, his physical constitution was no different from that of an ordinary person.

Meanwhile, the set of abilities Lu Bai possessed was practically invincible in a frontal fight at this stage.

With the physical enhancements from the Zombie Virus, combined with the boosts from [Blood Rage] and [Outstanding Among the Crowd], he swung his sword no fewer than ten times within the 0.5 seconds of [Time Flash].

Forcing his body to such extremes made Lu Bai's breathing turn ragged.

Yet even as he panted heavily, his face still wore an innocent smile that came straight from the heart.

Lu Bai took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. "Looks like I guessed right."

"Good, good, good."

Before the doors of the Conference Hall, Duan Jianhui clutched his wound, his expression utterly grim.

The next second, he vanished completely from Lu Bai's sight. Only his voice remained, ringing out: "You'd better stay vigilant forever. Don't let your guard down."

Crash!

Lu Bai followed the sound and used the same trick again. The doors to the Conference Hall were instantly cleaved into countless fragments.

Unfortunately, this time he did not hit Duan Jianhui again. The other man seemed to have already fled.

"Tch."

His luck really had been bad. He had failed to kill Duan Jianhui in the first wave of attacks, merely severing one of the man's arms. Lu Bai found that hard to accept.

More importantly, he had not expected the other man to do more than simply misjudge him—he could actually vanish directly from view.

He bent down and picked up the USB Drive that had fallen to the floor. Duan Jianhui had deliberately thrown it away to avoid exposing his location.

[ Ding! ]

[ Current Deathmatch Arena Node acquired. ]

[ Time remaining until Double Points Reward is loaded-- ]

[ 23:59:59 ]

...

[ 23:59:55 ]

[ 23:59:54 ]

Agu had not lied about this. After obtaining the "Node," he would need twenty-four hours before receiving the Double Points Reward.

In that case, judging by the time, Duan Jianhui had been forced to painfully give it up before he could even get the Double Points Reward.

Lu Bai casually slipped the USB Drive into his pocket and walked out of the Conference Hall.

After taking such a huge loss, there was no way Duan Jianhui would let the matter rest. Besides, the man had even left behind a threat when he departed.

At that thought, Lu Bai thoughtfully swept his gaze over both ends of the corridor, vaguely feeling that Duan Jianhui might be watching him from some corner.