As the cyborg Ahu looked toward Xu Tui, Cheng Mo, and the others, a fourth beast inexplicably collapsed.
A fierce glint flashed in the cyborg Ahu's eyes.
Roar!
At the very thought, the cyborg Ahu, who had been perched atop a small hill, sprang up and charged toward Xu Tui, Cheng Mo, and the others like a whirlwind.
Xu Tui shivered in an instant!
Damn it, he hadn't played it safe enough.
His "play it safe" skill wasn't maxed out!
He'd actually provoked this cyborg Ahu.
Cheng Mo staggered to his feet again. "I'll hold him off. You run!"
Xu Tui didn't answer Cheng Mo. There was no time. His mind was racing.
Xu Tui didn't even realize that, in such a dangerous situation, he felt no fear at all. Instead, he was thinking through possible ways to respond with extraordinary calm.
His impression of the cyborg Ahu came from the shocking sight of him killing the security guard in uniform.
One slap, and the man's head was gone.
And he was unbelievably fast.
In an instant, Xu Tui had a clear idea of what was about to happen.
"I have one chance to attack, but I'm not sure it'll work. You all run!" Xu Tui said quickly.
Cheng Mo didn't move. With a grin, he stepped forward and bent slightly, lifting the two tactical shields together and staring in the direction the cyborg Ahu was charging from.
"I-I'll help you!" Gong Ling suddenly said.
War and injury had forced the girl to grow up at an astonishing speed.
Xu Tui nodded without another word and focused all his attention.
The opportunity would vanish in a flash. The cyborg Ahu was moving so fast that if they wasted even a moment, the others wouldn't be able to get away.
The cyborg Ahu's pouncing figure was almost a blur.
Meanwhile, An Xiaoxue, blood dripping from all seven orifices and looking like a demon from hell, was frantic with worry.
If Ahu personally joined the fight, many of the students would inevitably be killed or wounded.
Help should be arriving any moment now.
But the students might not be able to hold out until then!
Roar!
Just as the cyborg Ahu charged in, leaving a blur behind him, he cunningly veered to the side.
As he lunged at Xu Tui, he made a small feint, drawing Cheng Mo into shifting to one side.
His tail lashed out like lightning!
Thud!
Cheng Mo, holding the two tactical shields, flew backward like a broken kite, blood spraying from his mouth. The first shield protecting him shattered completely, and the second cracked and broke apart.
Cheng Mo's scream made Xu Tui's heart skip a beat.
But it didn't affect his intense concentration.
Within three meters, Xu Tui could see the cyborg Ahu's eyes.
He flicked his right hand!
Whoosh!
At almost the exact moment Xu Tui flicked his fingers, the cyborg Ahu's ears twitched violently.
Whether by instinct or reflex, he jerked his head to the side.
A Buck Magnetic Iron Bead struck the cyborg Ahu's forehead and shattered instantly.
It was the Buck Magnetic Iron Bead that broke apart.
As for the cyborg Ahu's forehead, it was left with nothing more than a red mark!
Xu Tui sighed.
Not only were this cyborg's reflexes incredibly fast, but his head was as hard as iron!
He could react and dodge even within three meters. He was simply too strong.
Xu Tui knew he might not get another chance to attack.
But he didn't give up.
The cyborg Ahu, who had sensed danger and dodged, glared at him with a fierce light in his eyes.
Now he finally knew what had killed the beasts he'd been controlling.
But that dodge had disrupted the cyborg Ahu's charge, and his hind paws touched the ground.
All he had to do was spring forward again, and he could kill the boy in front of him at once!
However, the instant both of the cyborg Ahu's hind paws touched the ground, the knee-high vines and grass around them suddenly seemed to come alive. They lunged around both his hind paws and wrapped around them in layers.
The cyborg Ahu was already in the posture for another pounce.
It was like discovering, just as he jumped, that a very short rope had been tied around his feet.
Not only did his leap fail, but he was also pulled back to where he started. The feeling was unbearable.
The cyborg Ahu's pounce had tremendous force. He tore up the countless vines wrapped around his hind paws, roots, and all, pulling clumps of dirt out of the ground.
Even so, the vines had a huge effect.
His pounce slowed several times over!
Originally, his pounce would have left Xu Tui no time to react.
But now, the cyborg Ahu suddenly saw the boy in front of him flick his fingers again.
Xu Tui didn't have time to think about what had caused the sudden change. It might have had something to do with Gong Ling behind him, but there was no time to wonder.
An opportunity!
Xu Tui knew he'd gained one more chance to attack!
A shrill sound split the air.
They were too close.
Because the cyborg Ahu had pounced, he was now less than a meter from Xu Tui.
But instinct honed through countless battles—or perhaps a reflex—made the cyborg Ahu snap his eyes shut and lower his eyelids.
His skin was very tough!
But at that same moment, the cyborg Ahu's gaze suddenly went blank.
His ear canal hurt so much!
At the same instant,
An Xiaoxue, who was pushing forward with an invisible shield while taking the high-energy electric sniper plasma rounds head-on, suddenly let out a piercing scream.
As she screamed, the hair tie holding An Xiaoxue's ponytail snapped apart piece by piece, and her long, glossy black hair stood on end, strand by strand.
At that moment, An Xiaoxue was bleeding from all seven orifices, her hair standing straight up. She looked terrifying!
The next wave of three high-energy electric sniper plasma rounds was hurtling toward her at high speed. At the sound of her scream, they suddenly turned around, trailing blue electric arcs as they shot back toward where they had come from.
"Holy shit!"
A terrified scream rang out in the distance, but the three plasma rounds exploded into three bursts of blue-red light, drowning out the scream.
An Xiaoxue, looking like a demon from hell, didn't even glance behind her.
She tossed out more than thirty small silver pellets.
With a shift of her gaze, all thirty-plus silver pellets let out a shrill whistle and shot toward their target.
A gust of wind rushed toward Xu Tui.
From what he could sense, at least six silver pellets had slammed into the back of the cyborg Ahu's head, his cervical vertebrae, and other vital points.
All of this had happened just a fraction of a second after Xu Tui used a Buck Magnetic Iron Bead to shoot through Ahu's ear canal and into his brain.
Perhaps not even a fraction of a second.
Xu Tui stared in shock.
Suddenly, he began to pant heavily. Only then did he realize that cold sweat had soaked his back and drenched his clothes.
"Heizi!"
Xu Tui suddenly jolted and hurried toward Cheng Mo, who had been sent flying by the cyborg Ahu's tail.
Cheng Mo had been knocked more than ten meters away.
"Please don't let it be serious!"
Xu Tui had only just reached the spot where Cheng Mo had fallen when he saw him coughing violently, spitting up blood as he struggled to sit there, grinning at Xu Tui.
Seeing that Cheng Mo was still alive, Xu Tui breathed a sigh of relief.
With medical technology as advanced as it was, as long as Cheng Mo hadn't been killed on the spot, even broken arms and legs weren't a big deal.
Suddenly, Xu Tui saw Cheng Mo's eyes widen as he stared behind him in utter horror.
Xu Tui was startled and whipped around.
If another cyborg showed up, they'd really be finished.
The moment he turned, Xu Tui saw An Xiaoxue, who had just unleashed her power, flying rapidly toward them, two meters above the ground!
Xu Tui gaped.
Flying without any equipment—was she even human?
The students who had just been rescued were equally stunned.
An Xiaoxue's large mask had disappeared at some point. Blood streaked her pale, pretty face beneath her high nose.
Her light-colored top was speckled with blood, her hair stood on end, and she flew through the air like a goddess of war descending from the heavens!
"Good. He'll live!"
An Xiaoxue flew up to Cheng Mo and glanced at him. Pain suddenly crossed her face. She closed her eyes, her hair fell, and she dropped from the air.
A question rapidly surfaced in Xu Tui's mind:
Should he catch her or not? Should he hold her or not?
Just then, the roar of aircraft engines came from the distance.
The cyborg Ahu was killed, An Xiaoxue lost consciousness, and the emergency aircraft squadron arrived—all at almost the same time.
There was only a second or two between them.
The Earth Element Extraordinary User, who had been caught up in a fierce fight with the crazed Liu Tianhu, saw that Ahu was dead. His expression turned grim.
"Useless. You couldn't even handle a woman, and you got yourself killed, ruining our plan."
With the cyborg Ahu dead, their mission had failed.
In the distance, the beasts that had already captured many students suddenly lost control when the cyborg Ahu died.
Some scattered and fled, while others began attacking the students.
They wanted to eat them!
As he was cursing, the sound of aircraft engines reached them, and the Earth Element Extraordinary User's face darkened.
It hadn't even been four minutes yet—only three.
The emergency aircraft squadron had arrived a minute earlier than they'd expected.
That extra minute didn't matter to others, but for them, it meant the difference between life and death!
"Retreat!"
But at that moment, Colonel Liu Tianhu wasn't about to let him escape. He fought on, heedless of the danger!
A Grade B Gene Mutant and an Earth Element Extraordinary User—he was a big catch!
"Execute emergency retreat plan three!" the Earth Element Extraordinary User shouted.
As he shouted, four members of the traitor organization suddenly let out desperate roars.
With a roar, the four of them suddenly exploded into four enormous balls of fire.
Four small mushroom clouds rose from the ground.
Even Liu Tianhu had to fall back in the face of that.
The Earth Element Extraordinary User and the surviving members of the traitor organization took the opportunity to retreat at high speed.
Along their retreat route, powerful bombs exploded wherever they passed, blocking their pursuers.
They must have had an extremely thorough retreat plan.
Smoke and dust filled the mountain forest!
High above, while the emergency aircraft squadron was still a thousand meters up, several figures leaped out and chased after the retreating Earth Element Extraordinary User.
As the smoke began to thin, Liu Tianhu's subordinates were about to pursue the enemy again, but Liu Tianhu stopped them with a sharp shout.
"Pass on my orders. Build defensive fortifications here.
Treat the wounded and search for the students.
Use the heavy weapons we have on hand to establish a line of fire.
Set up a temporary shelter for the night.
Wait for the rescue forces to arrive."
Liu Tianhu plunged his spear into the ground and glared bitterly in the direction the Earth Element Extraordinary User had fled.
At that moment, protecting and searching for the students was his top priority!
Mm, there'll be a bonus chapter later. The weather's cloudy today, so here's some sunshine!
Before you continue