Under the dumbfounded gazes of Yu Xiaogang, Red Hair, and the others, dozens of palm-sized quadcopter drones, jet-black and blinking with blue signal lights, swarmed out of the spatial ripples of the ring like bees pouring from a hive!
"Whirrrrr—"
The roar of their enormous rotors instantly shattered the forest's silence.
The little machines hovered in the air for a second, then quickly gained altitude and scattered in every direction. A red laser-scanning grid instantly spread across the forest.
"What... what kind of Martial Soul is this?! Or is it a Soul Tool?!"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He stared fixedly at the metallic objects flying away, feeling his worldview crumbling.
Su Yun leaned against a rock. On the inside of his Sunglasses, countless infrared thermal images and spatial radar waveforms were flashing by at a furious pace.
Only thirty seconds passed.
"Beep!"
A red targeting box popped up.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Su Yun's mouth. He pointed southwest, in the exact opposite direction Yu Xiaogang had predicted, and said calmly:
"Found it. Southwest, 1,500 meters away, inside the hollow of a dead banyan tree."
"How is that possible?!"
Yu Xiaogang cried out in shock, his face flushing red.
"That's the side away from the sun! Void Shadow Rats like the sun. That's common knowledge..."
"Grandmaster."
Su Yun interrupted him, his tone pitying.
"Maybe this rat's more of a shut-in and doesn't like sunbathing. How's that?"
"001, respond if you read me."
Lei Zhan's voice came through the earpiece at once.
"The target is extremely alert, and this rat seems pretty intelligent. We've just analyzed the frequencies emitted by his body, and they're a close match for yours. We can imitate the frequencies he emits. I recommend using a lure-and-capture strategy."
Su Yun raised an eyebrow. "Lure him? No problem."
He waved his hand again.
This time, what leaped out of the ring was a tactical robot dog, only about the size of a small dog, made entirely of silver-gray metal.
After landing, the little guy shook itself nimbly, making a sound of metal parts scraping together.
"Go, Wangcai." Su Yun patted the robot dog's head.
1,500 meters away, inside the hollow of a dead banyan tree.
The four-hundred-year-old Void Shadow Rat was lounging on a pile of dry grass, holding a purple berry in its paws and munching away.
It thought it was very clever. It had deliberately left behind that adulterated lump of droppings to mislead its pursuers, then gone in the opposite direction.
Those stupid hunters were probably eating dust in the east right now.
Just then—
Bzzzz—
A strange wave pierced through the tree trunk without warning.
It wasn't a sound, and it wasn't hostile.
But the wave made the berry in the Void Shadow Rat's paw drop to the ground with a plop just as it was about to take a bite.
Its fur stood on end in an instant, every nerve trembling.
Because the frequency of that wave...
Was exactly the same as its own!
It felt like being home alone, looking in the mirror, and suddenly seeing the you in the reflection standing outside the door.
On the other side of the door, matching your breathing and heartbeat perfectly.
The Void Shadow Rat's little eyes filled with terror and confusion.
It was still inside the hollow, but its instincts were screaming in alarm.
There was another it outside the door!
"Squeak...?(Did... I leave my body?)"
The Void Shadow Rat looked down at its paws, then sensed the strong, familiar presence outside the door.
A terror that came from the depths of its soul instantly shattered the rat's mental defenses.
Trembling, it curled into a ball, tail tucked tightly between its legs.
That scared the crap out of me!
Could it be that I pushed so hard when I pooped just now that my soul came out with it?
Amid its terror and self-doubt, the Void Shadow Rat finally couldn't take it anymore.
It had to find out what the heck was outside.
Summoning its courage, it tentatively let out an extremely faint, trembling squeak toward the hollow's entrance:
"Squeak...?(Are you... a ghost?)"
The moment its voice faded—
Outside the hollow, the silent robot dog immediately activated its real-time voiceprint imitation system.
"Squeak...?(Are you... a ghost?)"
Boom!
The Void Shadow Rat's head buzzed.
That voice...
That tone... even the way it cracked slightly from fear sounded exactly like its own!
There really was an invisible version of itself outside!
Its terror hit its absolute peak—and then flipped into an uncontrollable, furious rage.
Ghost or not, it couldn't scare a rat like this!
And if the one outside was also itself, wasn't it going to steal its territory, its berries, and its female rats?!
This threat to its survival instantly overwhelmed its fear.
"Squeak, squeak!! Squeak squeak squeak!!(Quit messing around! If you've got the guts, come out and fight me!)"
The Void Shadow Rat screamed hysterically, trying to pump itself up.
The next second, the other version outside spoke again in exactly the same tone, even mimicking its hysterical fury to perfection:
"Squeak, squeak!! Squeak squeak squeak!!(Quit messing around! If you've got the guts, come out and fight me!)"
That was the last straw for the Void Shadow Rat.
How was this a haunting?
This was a blatant provocation!
It was stealing its account right in front of it and rubbing its face in it!
"Squeee—!!!"
The Void Shadow Rat let out a shriek sharp enough to pierce eardrums. Its reason evaporated completely.
Its body flickered, turning into a purple-black blur as it unleashed its innate ability, Shadow Leap!
It was going to tear apart this insolent copycat!
But when it charged out of the tree hollow in a fury, ready to fight the copycat to the death, it froze.
There was no terrifying ghost in front of it, no other version of itself.
There was only a silver-gray metal thing, still swaying its head and repeating the shriek it had just made...
A hunk of metal?
"Squeak?(That's it?)"
The Void Shadow Rat felt its intelligence had never been so insulted.
Without the slightest hesitation, the red light in its eyes flared. Its claws, sharp enough to cut through rock, flashed with a glint that tore through the air as they slashed toward the robot dog's neck.
Die, you freak!
Clang!!
A deafening clash of metal rang out.
Sparks flew!
The Void Shadow Rat felt like its claws had struck a piece of ten-thousand-year-old cold iron. The impact nearly shattered its bones, and two of its claws even snapped clean off.
The metal thing hadn't even gotten a scratch. It simply tilted its head and mocked the rat with the same angry shriek as before:
"Squeak?(That's it?)"
The Void Shadow Rat was stunned.
While it was still in midair, questioning its entire existence, Su Yun, hidden behind a distant tree, coldly pressed the remote in his hand.
"Realized it now? Too late."
"Wangcai, show it something nice."
The panel on the robot dog's back suddenly sprang open. Two round black objects shot out, landing right in front of the Void Shadow Rat's wide-eyed face.
Boom—!!!
Before you continue