Hotel Street. Two men and a woman hurried out of a room and raced toward Broken Post Station at the academy.
"Move! The Soul Tool's sensor says there are still enemies nearby."
The female Soul Master gripped the Mandel Brick in her hand and hurriedly relayed the sensor's feedback.
"We'll be fine once we reach Heding City Academy's Decryption Station," one of her teammates said.
"Exactly. With my Flamingo Martial Soul's First Soul Ring, anyone who tries to take our Soul Tool is dead meat." The young Soul Master, with fiery red hair and a tall, slender build, spoke smugly.
Heding City Academy's Decryption Station was on the path in front of the school's Administration Building.
The decryption device sat right on the path, with nothing blocking it. From the academy gate, the entire Decryption Station was in plain view.
However, two rows of thick roadside trees lined either side of the path, offering natural, sturdy cover for a fight.
"The Soul Tool's warning has eased a little. The enemy's being cautious, too," said the burliest male Soul Master.
"This Decryption Station is wide open. Anyone approaching will have to show themselves. I'll hold the gate. If the enemy comes through, I'll attack from behind."
The Power Attack System Soul Master gave his orders. "Xiao You, decrypt the Soul Tool. Miller, hide behind a tree and watch out for enemies climbing over the walls on either side."
Following the orders, Miller, the Flamingo Soul Master, hid behind a tree beside the Decryption Station. Xiao You prepared to slot in the brick, while the Power Attack System Soul Master hid in the guardhouse by the gate to lie in ambush.
In front of the Decryption Station, Xiao You, a Control System Soul Master, pulled the Mandel Brick from her backpack and prepared to slot it in.
As the three of them concentrated, trying to figure out which direction the enemy would attack from, a faint sound came from the distance.
Xiao You jolted as she was inserting the brick. Her eyes quickly lost their light, and she toppled sideways.
At the gate, Zhang Yang rose from where he had crouched in the corner and quickly refilled his magazine. "I won't miss this shot."
A hundred-meter headshot with the M14's iron sights—at last, Zhang Yang had salvaged a little of his pride.
"Xiao You!"
Miller, hidden beside the Decryption Station, had seen Xiao You collapse with his own eyes.
Watching his teammate die right in front of him, Miller's rage made his eyes bulge. The Flamingo Martial Soul instantly possessed him, and the Hundred-Year Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up.
"First Soul Skill, Scorching Flame."
A blazing fireball gathered between his hands. Miller darted out from behind the tree and shoved both hands forward, sending it hurtling toward the great iron gate.
Outside the gate, Zhang Yang saw a fireball flying toward him from afar and instinctively dodged to the side.
Just then, a fierce gust came at him. He looked up to see the Power Attack System Soul Master vaulting over the wall, a twenty-four-foot spear swinging in his hands. The man leaped right above Zhang Yang.
"First Soul Skill, Spear Breaks Enemy."
The sharp spearhead gleamed with a cold, cutting light. With fury blazing in his eyes, the Soul Master plunged it toward Zhang Yang on the ground.
"Go."
"Bam, bam, bam, bam!"
As a rapid burst of gunfire rang out, the Power Attack System Soul Master's health emptied. His body went limp and collapsed to the side, while the spear Martial Soul that had pierced Zhang Yang's chest vanished in an instant. Blood trickled out like a little stream.
Zhang Yang wasn't in great shape either.
HP: 82/147.75 (Bleeding)
His health had dropped by half, and the durability of his Level 2 armor had fallen by more than half.
"That move hits pretty hard, and it has armor penetration, too." Zhang Yang clicked his tongue in surprise.
Soul Masters whose First Soul Ring skills had armor penetration were a rare sight.
As for why, Zhang Yang guessed it was because his combat value was so high—and because he had picked up the brick this round—so he'd been matched against a bunch of tough veterans.
Zhang Yang pulled a bottle of healing potion from his pocket, unscrewed the cap, and downed it.
After the three-second activation time ended, his health quickly recovered at a rate of twelve points per second.
Five seconds later, the potion wore off, and Zhang Yang's health had risen to 142. He was still bleeding, but it no longer affected his ability to fight much.
Zhang Yang had originally planned to take a Painkiller, use a surgical kit, and repair his armor.
Unfortunately, he didn't have that kind of time. The Flamingo Soul Master named Miller was already charging over.
"Boss? Boss?"
After getting no response to a few calls, Miller could hold back no longer. Already short-tempered and quick to anger, he abandoned his position and charged out the gate toward Zhang Yang.
Rushing through the academy's iron gate, Miller saw his boss lying dead on the ground, blood pooling around him.
Beside the corpse stood a child, holding a strange Martial Soul and staring coldly at him.
"Bang!"
The outward force of Level 11 Soul Power did nothing to slow an M14 bullet.
Miller, charging out in a blind rage, was sent flying back even faster. He crashed against the iron gate forged from iron essence, then slumped to the ground and turned into an operative's loot box.
At the same time, the corpses of the Power Attack System Soul Master beside Zhang Yang and Xiao You, the Control System Soul Master beside the Decryption Station, also turned into loot boxes.
"Phew..."
Zhang Yang let out a long breath, reloaded his magazine, and hurried to the Decryption Station.
GTI Commander: "Proceed to the Decryption Station. Be careful—the Mandel Brick will expose your position."
GTI Commander: "Signal received. Decryption has begun. Protect the Decryption Station!"
After finding the Mandel Brick in Xiao You's loot box, Zhang Yang, having completed Endgame Contact, slotted it in and started decrypting. Then he slipped behind a nearby tree and began restoring his status.
He bandaged his wounds with a surgical kit, stopped the bleeding, restored his health to full, repaired his armor, and took a Painkiller to keep the pain at bay.
Then Zhang Yang stuck a few needles into his arm, bringing himself back to peak condition.
Yet even after the Mandel Brick finished decrypting and he was sent out of the match, Zhang Yang never saw another team come for it.
GTI Commander: "Decryption complete. Data recovered. Well done."
Once the Mandel Brick was sent away, Zhang Yang finally let out a sigh of relief. "At last, I can check the loot."
Unfortunately, the Flamingo team's loot wasn't worth much.
The two teams before them had also come for the Mandel Brick. They'd spent all their time fighting, tracking, setting ambushes, and launching sneak attacks. They hadn't had a chance to eat anything.
"All right, looks like there's no point checking the other two teams' loot boxes either," Zhang Yang said, somewhat regretfully.
"Where to now?" Zhang Yang rubbed his still-hungry stomach and looked at his match earnings: only 500,000.
They hadn't eaten, and neither had he. He'd been watching the Mandel Brick for ages and still hadn't found anything good to eat.
"I'm right downstairs from the Administration Building. I'll head in and get something decent."
With that, Zhang Yang took off his freshly repaired Level 2 armor, changed into the Level 1 armor he'd brought in his backpack from outside the match, and walked into the Administration Building.
"Heding City Academy Uniform, White"
"Value: 2944"
"Durability: 25/25"
"Protection Level: Level 1"
"Armor Effect: None"
"Protected Area: Upper Body (Excluding Head)"
"Durability Loss: Medium"
"In-Match Repair Efficiency: High"
"Equipment Weight: 1.7 KG"
"The standard uniform worn by students of Heding City Academy. Lightweight and breathable, but woefully inadequate for protection."
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