Battle in the Dense Forest

"A short sword... doesn't this look more like a firearm?"

Shen lowered the pistol. He could tell that these weapons were of the same ilk as the firearms used by those pirates and the people of Piltover.

Yet, he had truly never seen such exquisite firearms before.

It wasn't just that they were forged from steel; every component fit together seamlessly, with virtually no visible gears or riveting marks. Most crucially, there was no energy reaction, nor the scent of gunpowder... it was all very novel to him.

Most of the weapons used by the people of Piltover were energy-based, which, truth be told, were not much different from magic. Even when they weren't using energy guns, they relied on large-caliber lead-bullet pistols.

As for the pirates of Bilgewater, they still used lead bullets, meaning the larger the caliber of the pistol, the greater its destructive power.

As for the object in Li Ke's hand, which was roughly the length of a shotgun, he understood it even less.

"No, this is a sword. This is a USP American-style Iai Short Sword, and this is a Glock 18, also a short sword for American-style Iaijutsu."

Li Ke calmly disengaged the safeties on both pistols and holstered them onto the complimentary Multi-functional Tactical Belt.

As for the Global Risk tactical helmet and bulletproof vest, Li Ke didn't bring them out; there was no need.

Without a squad to coordinate with, a tactical helmet was just a helmet, and to him, it would be more of a burden. Only the bulletproof vest had any real utility.

But putting these things on now would undoubtedly be telling the people lying in ambush that they had already been discovered.

So, Li Ke didn't wear them, merely slinging his M16 next to the heirloom longsword of Irelia, which he had wrapped in black cloth.

"Are you ready?"

Li Ke took a deep breath and asked Shen.

"Yes, just pull the ring and throw it, right?"

Shen nodded and confirmed once more, as he always felt there was a trap hidden in this.

"Exactly, but the further, the better."

As the carriage drew closer, the two men appeared increasingly relaxed.

Deep within the dense jungle, a woman stared at the two men slowly advancing, her brow slightly furrowed.

She was somewhat preoccupied with Li Ke.

Watching him, she felt a strange sense of affinity, yet she also harbored an intuition—an indescribable one.

It was that Li Ke would bring both great trouble and great assistance to their plans!

At first, she had only been curious about who had killed her men, preventing them from bringing back the relic she needed on schedule. But after seeing Li Ke's portrait, that sense of affinity and appreciation had emerged.

She didn't like this feeling, especially the appreciation and fondness for this guy that had sprouted from the bottom of her heart.

Such emotions were far too extravagant for someone like her, and more importantly, she wasn't in a position to indulge in such things right now.

If this were a peaceful and boring era, she wouldn't mind assuming a clean identity to have a romance with this young man, living the life of an ordinary person, perhaps even bearing a child to pass the time. But not now.

The era was in flux, and she had no time to spare for personal entanglements.

Thus, the woman hidden beneath the black robe made a decision.

Kill him.

And so, the special unit that had been searching for the relic in another location gathered at this inevitable path under her orders.

After all, if Li Ke were dead, she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.

She raised her hand and made a gesture, and her subordinates hidden in the dense forest quickly began their preparations.

However, just as Li Ke and his companion approached the effective range of the crossbows, the eldest disciple of the Balance Order suddenly stood up; a sense of foreboding suddenly struck her heart.

The next moment, she saw that eldest disciple hurl a round stone toward their position.

A sense of danger, which had saved her countless times since the era of Mordekaiser, flared in her heart, but it was already too late.

"Grenade!"

The Balance disciple's arm strength was extraordinary; the grenade flew like a sharp arrow, appearing above them in an instant. The soldiers who understood Piltover weaponry let out a burst of mocking laughter, and one veteran even raised his weapon, intending to knock the grenade away before it could detonate.

After all, in their experience, the power of such bombs wasn't particularly great; as long as one could throw it a meter or two away, they could avoid injury.

Moreover, the fuse time was quite long—that was the drawback of this type of thrown explosive!

However, the moment the veteran's weapon struck the grenade, it detonated instantly.

Countless fragments and the flames of the explosion engulfed the large group of Noxus soldiers. Those in the center were blown into a sky full of gore, those nearby were sent flying by the shockwave, and those slightly further away were pierced by shrapnel, looking like leaking burlap sacks.

Five or six men died instantly, and over a dozen soldiers lost their combat effectiveness, left to wait for the arrival of death on the ground.

Indeed, the power of a grenade, especially a high-explosive one packed with shrapnel, was just that formidable!

Unlike in movies, the lethal radius of a fragmentation grenade was a circle with a diameter of 25 meters!

Although its effect in the dense forest wasn't perfect, it wiped out half the squad in an instant. Furthermore, Shen had specifically targeted their crossbowmen, effectively crippling their long-range strike capability in one fell swoop!

The woman also looked in astonishment at the shrapnel embedded in her chest; the vitality of this body was slowly dissipating. She took one last look at the charging Li Ke, etching his shadow deep into her heart, and then the flesh-and-blood female officer vanished like a phantom.

No, perhaps from the very beginning, this female officer had been nothing but a phantom.

"Now!"

Li Ke and Shen charged forward like lightning. Li Ke's expression was focused; he gripped a standard-issue Noxus longsword, clashing with the weapon of a Noxus soldier who had rushed over in a panic.

Just as the opponent's weapon collided with his own, Li Ke's left hand whipped out the USP pistol from his waist and fired a shot at point-blank range!

American-style Iaijutsu!

The bullet punched straight through the Noxus soldier's iron breastplate, shattering his sternum and pulverizing his lungs and trachea.

Li Ke did not hesitate, for a Noxus scum was thrusting a spear at him!

Backflip, raise hand, another shot.

The Noxus spearman collapsed.

He somersaulted and rolled, dodging a strike from an ax-wielding soldier, and fired a bullet the instant he rose to his feet.

A small hole appeared in the center of the axman's face, while a gaping exit wound erupted from the back of his head.

With a sweeping slash, he decapitated a soldier frozen in terror. Li Ke watched as the remaining soldiers began to retreat uncontrollably, some even dropping their swords to scramble for the crossbows on the ground.

He then drew the M16 longsword from beside his blade and aimed it at the soldiers reaching for the crossbows.

American-style Sword Control!