The Predetermined Battlefield

When wartime regulations were in effect, military orders had to be obeyed immediately and without question.

Without waiting for An Xiaoxue to say anything, the driver, a former soldier, slammed on the brakes.

"Don't panic."

"We're about to abandon the vehicle. Before you do, pull hard on the red lever in front of your seat, grab the emergency gear, and then get out."

"Don't be nervous. We went over all of this after you boarded."

The students present were all elites.

And with the physical training now being promoted, they were all quite capable with their hands.

Even though many of them were panicking, they still managed to follow instructions.

Xu Tui hurried back to his seat. Cheng Mo had already pulled the red lever for him, and he quickly grabbed the emergency gear.

A tactical shield disguised as the back of a seat, eighty centimeters tall, fifty centimeters wide, one centimeter thick, and weighing about five kilograms. It was made of special materials and, according to the briefing on the bus, was bulletproof.

Then there was a helmet.

A tactical dagger for students to defend themselves with.

After several years of physical training, third-year high school students had strength and stamina not much different from adults. With a little equipment, they might not be able to fight, but they could at least defend themselves to some extent.

Amid the piercing sound of a collision, the vehicle came to an abrupt stop in a depression. Tilted onto its side, it naturally formed a defensive barrier.

The front and rear doors, along with the two emergency exits, opened at the same time. Within five seconds, everyone had jumped out.

An Xiaoxue and the two uniformed security guards were the last to get off. Cha Yifeng, bound tightly with ultrafiber boron ropes, was also thrown out of the vehicle.

"Hold up your shields and protect your vital areas. Wait for rescue!"

With a sharp command, An Xiaoxue stood at the very front of the group. She lifted her chin, her tied-back black hair fluttering in the mountain breeze at dusk.

In that instant, the students who had just been frightened by An Xiaoxue turning into a female reaper suddenly felt completely at ease.

Dense streaks of fire appeared in the sky once more.

Judging by their general direction, they were all aimed at the escort vehicles.

The escort vehicles were equipped with heavy weapons.

Watching this, Xu Tui's heart clenched.

Whether the escort vehicles' heavy weapons were destroyed or the vehicles themselves were wrecked, it would mean that the military force on their side had suffered a devastating blow.

And the fate of the students...

"How can a rebel organization operate so brazenly within Huaxia? This is nothing like what they show on television."

Just as Xu Tui's heart sank lower and lower, the escort unit finally began an effective counterattack.

Electromagnetic interference rounds and high-energy decoy rounds shot rapidly into the sky, splitting apart.

The dense streaks of fire hurtling down from above had been flying in orderly formation. Suddenly, they fell into disarray.

They exploded in the sky.

Only a handful hit their targets.

Flames, explosions, and the smell of smoke mingled with the students' cries. For those who had just left Jincheng Prefecture, it felt as if they had been transported to another world.

Was this still the world they knew?

A familiar line from television suddenly welled up in Xu Tui's heart: Our peaceful lives are possible because someone else is shouldering the burden for us!

More than a hundred people charged over on personal flying devices.

Under the personal command of Colonel Liu Tianhu, the soldiers had quickly established a solid defensive line.

Flames roared, electricity flashed, and the battle began.

Only then did Xu Tui realize that there were more soldiers guarding them than he had imagined or deduced.

The uniformed security guards who had ridden with them were now protecting them at close range, but there were still more than a hundred soldiers fighting.

Some of them must have been disguised as students.

Often, the unknown was what frightened people most.

Now that the enemy had appeared, they were not quite so terrifying.

The escort vehicles' heavy weapons began to spit fire as well.

Several enemies who failed to dodge were shot dead in an instant.

As time passed, more and more escort vehicles brought their heavy weapons into action.

The attacking enemies were pinned down by the overwhelming firepower.

The sight allowed many of the students to breathe a little easier.

But almost in that same instant, a deeply displeased snort came from behind them.

"Useless. We planned for so long and still got it wrong."

Xu Tui suddenly stared at the ground in terror.

At the sound of that snort, he felt the entire ground suddenly grow restless.

"Careful! Get off the ground!"

Liu Tianhu, directing the battle, roared.

The soldiers had developed a conditioned response to Liu Tianhu's orders.

Most of them immediately got off the ground, climbing trees or jumping onto vehicle roofs. Those who couldn't do either at least jumped up on the spot.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sharp earthen spikes thrust rapidly up from the ground, flipping the escort vehicles over.

In an instant, the heavy weapons were put out of commission.

The soldiers' sudden leaps also threw the defensive line into disarray.

Some of the students cried out in alarm.

"A Mysterious System extraordinary type!"

"Is this an Earth-element affinity from the Mysterious System?"

"At least a B-rank Gene Mutant, maybe even a Gene Evolver. He should also have a formidable Limitless System bodyguard." An Xiaoxue looked grave.

Almost at the same time, a flash of blade light appeared beside the Earth Element Extraordinary User, incomparably sharp!

The Earth Element Extraordinary User's attacks were already coming one after another, and casualties among the soldiers began to mount rapidly.

Meanwhile, the enemies who had been suppressed by the firepower began closing in.

"Ah, that familiar feeling. Old friend, miss this?"

Liu Tianhu licked his lips. From the black case handed to him by the orderly behind him, he suddenly produced a long spear.

"Kill!"

Liu Tianhu roared.

He pushed off hard with one foot. His whole body shot forward like a high-speed guided missile, knocking the blade-wielding bodyguard into the air before charging straight at the Earth Element Extraordinary User.

He was unbelievably fast.

Almost the moment he shouted, he had crossed forty or fifty meters.

That shout of "Kill!" made Xu Tui's throat itch. His blood seemed to boil.

At that moment, Xu Tui could only look up at Liu Tianhu.

With unstoppable momentum, Liu Tianhu fought two enemies at once and sent the Earth Element Extraordinary User scrambling.

Enemies nearby began firing their weapons to support the Earth Element Extraordinary User.

But Liu Tianhu seemed like a god of war come down to earth.

He let ordinary firearms rain down on him.

The bullets only tore his uniform. They couldn't pierce his nano-lightweight armor.

When high-energy rounds came at him, he either dodged them with ease or swept his spear up to knock them aside.

His movements were so fast they became an almost indistinguishable blur.

Even as he forced the Earth Element Extraordinary User back again and again, he occasionally managed to kill one or two enemies.

He charged straight into the fray like a fierce tiger descending the mountain.

As Liu Tianhu unleashed his full strength, the elite officers under his command surged forward as well. Several of them, like Liu Tianhu, were utterly undaunted by firearms and displayed astonishing combat strength.

"Is this the power of a Limitless System powerhouse?"

Xu Tui held his tactical shield in front of him and glanced at An Xiaoxue.

The Mysterious System strength she had just displayed was also formidable.

If she joined the battle, would it end right away?

As Xu Tui wondered, a rustling sound suddenly rose.

Pairs of eyes appeared in the mountain hollow at dusk. The breeze carried a faint stench, mingled with low growls.

An Xiaoxue's expression changed abruptly. "The cyborgs have shown up too. Was this battlefield preset? How much information did you leak?"

She stomped hard on Cha Yifeng's face, then sprang into the air. With a casual flick of her fingers, she scattered thirty tiny silver pellets the size of match heads.

In the next instant, as An Xiaoxue's almond-shaped eyes widened, the little silver pellets—like toys tossed by a young girl—accelerated, shrieking through the air.

More than thirty beasts that had charged out of the woods dropped dead on the spot.

At that very moment, an especially horrifying monster appeared in the forest ahead.

Yes, it was a monster with a human upper body and a tiger-like lower body, complete with a long tail. The cyborg An Xiaoxue had mentioned had appeared not far away.

"Not for very long. Just an hour or so."

The Cyborg Tiger Man grinned. His tiger tail shot up and bristled. More than two hundred beasts of all kinds roared out of the forest, and above them appeared eleven fearsome birds of prey, which swooped down toward the students too.

Gunfire erupted.

The security guards riding in the vehicles, who had not taken part in the battle until now, and the teachers riding with them finally opened fire.

Perhaps because Cha Yifeng had leaked information, at least a third of the animals driven by the Cyborg Tiger Man were attacking the students in Vehicle Three.

That included the eleven fearsome birds of prey.

In almost an instant, An Xiaoxue took to the air again. Her silver pellets flew out, killing more than thirty animals, and she charged straight at the cyborg.

"Are you all idiots? Give me covering fire! How am I supposed to capture anyone and finish the mission otherwise?" The Cyborg Tiger Man watched An Xiaoxue charge toward him, fear in his voice.

In the distance, three bolts of electricity boomed like thunder as they shot toward An Xiaoxue.

They were the roars of high-energy electric sniper rifles.

An Xiaoxue's expression changed. She spread the five fingers of her right hand wide.

In that instant, the five silver rings on her fingers shone with a dazzling brilliance.

As if by a miracle, the high-energy electric sniper rifle's plasma round, trailing a brilliant blue tail, suddenly stopped in midair right in front of An Xiaoxue.

It made a grating, crackling sound.

Then the electricity slowly faded, and it dropped to the ground.

But the high-energy sniper rifle kept firing.

One plasma round after another sealed An Xiaoxue in place.

It was as if an invisible barrier stood in front of her, blocking the plasma rounds and also stopping many of the ordinary bullets aimed at the students.

In the distance, the Cyborg Tiger Man grinned and charged toward the students from Vehicle Three, who had formed four or five small groups, holding up their shields in defensive formations.

The ferocious animals under his control charged along with him.

In almost an instant, a student was snatched into the sky by a giant eagle, screaming in terror.

One of the uniformed security guards hurriedly raised his gun and fired, trying to save the student.

Whoosh!

The Cyborg Tiger Man rushed past him.

The uniformed security guard lost his head, his body still frozen in the posture of aiming his gun.

The terrifying sight made the students scream in horror.

Xu Tui, Cheng Mo, Gong Ling, and an unfamiliar male student stood together with their shields raised. As they watched several beasts charge toward them, their breathing grew ragged.

An Xiaoxue had already shot down more than sixty animals, and at least thirty more had been killed by the security guards. Even so, at least thirty beasts were now charging at Xu Tui and his classmates.

The tragedy began almost at once.

After generations of hereditary evolution, the animals of nature had grown ferocious. They were one to several times stronger than their counterparts a century ago.

However, these beasts seemed to be under the cyborg's control.

They weren't primarily there to kill.

Their goal was to capture the students alive.

A giant snake smashed a tactical shield aside with its tail, wrapped around two students, and dragged them away.

A lean, powerfully built leopard seized a student in its jaws and dragged him away.

One scream after another, mixed with cries for help, made An Xiaoxue panic.

But the high-energy sniper rifles had pinned her down, leaving her unable to move.

Suddenly, blood streamed from An Xiaoxue's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all at once. She began advancing against wave after wave of high-energy plasma rounds.

She was trying to get close to the snipers.

"Ahu, hurry up! That woman's going berserk!" a voice called from behind.

The cyborg Ahu said nothing, but kept letting out strange roars, urging the beasts under his control to capture the students alive.

"Careful, there's a beast coming!" Gong Ling's voice trembled.

"Don't worry. I've got this!"

Cheng Mo lowered his tactical shield slightly with his left hand and slowly stood up. Facing the giant lynx that was leaping toward them, he took a pouncing stance and said in a trembling voice,

"Little Leg, I'll make the first move. You three, run toward Teacher An. You'll have a better chance of being rescued over there!"

Xu Tui felt deeply moved.

During all those years when they had snuck off to the woods at school, Cheng Mo had always been the one to take the most punches and kicks.

Gong Ling and the other boy were so moved that they didn't know what to say.

But Xu Tui grabbed Cheng Mo and handed him the tactical shield he was holding. "Protect my back."

Roar!

The stench from the lynx's jaws hit them in the face. They could already see the saliva dangling from its teeth.

The lynx leaped toward them from a distance, pouncing.

Five meters!

Three meters!

Suddenly, Xu Tui flicked his right hand twice.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two shrill whistles merged into one.

The lynx, which had pounced with every muscle tensed, suddenly went limp and dropped to the ground.

Two iron ball bearings had entered its brain through its eyes. It was well and truly dead.

A flicker of surprise crossed Gong Ling's eyes, and she suddenly cried out.

"Snake! Snake!"

A giant python over five meters long lashed its tail, sending Cheng Mo, who held a shield in each hand, tumbling to the ground. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

But it didn't get the chance to attack a second time.

The snake's eyes suddenly burst into a cloud of blood, and it slumped to the ground.

A whistle came from overhead.

Cheng Mo struggled to his feet and raised his shield behind Xu Tui.

He had to protect Xu Tui's back.

A peregrine falcon with a wingspan of over five meters swooped toward them.

The falcon was extremely clever. It flew right past Cheng Mo's raised shield, hooked its iron talons into Gong Ling's shoulder, and was about to carry her into the sky.

Gong Ling screamed in pain.

"Help me!"

At almost the same instant, Xu Tui flicked his right hand again.

A whistle rang out. The falcon had only just grabbed Gong Ling and hadn't even taken off when it dropped from the sky.

At a distance of three meters, he never missed.

Xu Tui's Bean Flicking Divine Ability had become the Eye-Bursting Divine Ability!

Gong Ling was saved.

In the distance, Ahu, the Cyborg who was using tiger roars to control and direct the animals, suddenly furrowed his brow and looked toward Xu Tui and Cheng Mo.