This Place is Simply Hell

The night sky along the route from West City to the Red Ribbon Army headquarters was as heavy as ink that could never be dissolved.

Chen He sat in the co-pilot's seat of the reconnaissance plane with his eyes closed, the monotonous roar of the propellers filling his ears.

He was not asleep. He was calculating his remaining cards in his head.

[Ding! Today's sign-in successful.]

[Obtained: Battle Power +100! Points +50!]

As the system notification faded in his mind, an exceedingly violent yet warm surge of energy appeared from nowhere and flooded through every limb and bone in his body. Cells that had been somewhat depleted by consecutive high-intensity battles became excited again and greedily devoured the energy.

His battle power broke through the 900 mark and rapidly approached 1,000.

Feeling the qi within him that was nearly overflowing, Chen He's tightly drawn lips relaxed slightly. The unwavering daily gain of 100 battle power and 50 points was his greatest source of confidence on this Earth, which appeared peaceful but was actually fraught with danger. Including the points he had accumulated from wiping out two branches and killing Mercenary Tao, his total assets had quietly climbed to 6,100 points.

Pragmatism had always been his first principle for survival.

"Chen He, look outside. The lights over there are so bright."

Goku pressed himself against the rear cabin window and craned his neck to look down. At the end of the pitch-black earth, a steel fortress formed by intertwining searchlights and anti-aircraft gun positions lay crouched deep within the jungle, like a colossal beast with its bloody maw wide open.

Goku withdrew his gaze and looked at the silent Chen He seated in front of him. Along the way, Chen He had either been watching the radar or meditating with his eyes closed. His silence was unnerving. Ever since meeting Chen He on Mount Paozu, Goku had known that his companion was cold-tempered and disliked pointless talk. Yet for some reason, the closer they came to the Red Ribbon Army headquarters, the more Goku could sense an almost tangible pressure from Chen He that made his skin crawl.

It was not merely the strength of his qi. It was more like... the look of someone regarding the fortress before them as prey awaiting slaughter.

"Goku." Chen He suddenly opened his eyes, interrupting Goku's wandering thoughts.

"Huh? What is it?"

"After we land, you'll handle the radar station and supply depot on the east side. Make as much noise as you can." Chen He calmly tightened the weighted band around his wrist another notch. The dense anti-air fire below reflected in his black eyes. "As for the headquarters' central command tower and the remaining Dragon Balls, leave them to me."

"Oh, okay!" Goku scratched his neck. Though he would have preferred to follow Chen He and tear down that biggest building together, Chen He's plans had always been meticulous, and Goku was used to following his lead. Besides, as long as he could fight to his heart's content, it made no difference where he went.

Boom—!

A probing anti-aircraft missile exploded a hundred meters off the reconnaissance plane's side, and the shockwave sent the aircraft lurching violently.

"Looks like they've spotted us." Chen He snorted and immediately unbuckled his seatbelt, slapping the emergency release valve on the cabin door.

The savage cold wind at high altitude rushed in at once, making his black training uniform snap loudly in the gale.

"Bulma, set the plane to return automatically. We'll take it from here," Chen He said into the radio, then spread his stance and jumped without the slightest hesitation, plunging directly toward the dense web of anti-air fire below.

"Wait for me!" Goku shouted excitedly, pulling out the Power Pole and following right behind him.

At that moment, inside the central command hall of the Red Ribbon Army headquarters.

Commander Black clenched the cigar in his hand so tightly that the tobacco had become misshapen. His already sinister-looking face, made all the more so by his short stature, was twisted like that of a demon beneath the countless flashing red alarm lights around him.

"Are you sure? General White and Blue... are they really both dead?" His voice was hoarse, trembling with disbelief.

"Y-Yes, Commander!" Black Adjutant's forehead was covered in cold sweat as his fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up an image captured by satellite. "Not only that, but Mr. Mercenary Tao, whom we hired at great expense... his life signs completely vanished half an hour ago. The two intruders are now descending toward headquarters from the sky!"

"Damn it! A bunch of useless fools!"

Commander Black viciously kicked the desk. The wineglass atop it rocked several times, spilling a pool of liquid as red as blood.

He could not accept this reality. The Red Ribbon Army was the largest military empire in the world, possessing the most advanced technology and the most elite troops. He had even already laid out a blueprint for conquering the world after gathering the Dragon Balls. But now, that blueprint had been smashed to pieces in the most brutal manner by two brats who had appeared out of nowhere.

Fear began gnawing at his heart like a venomous snake, only to be followed by even more hysterical madness.

"Order every defensive unit! Take no prisoners! Deploy every tank, biochemical weapon, and tracking missile we have! Even if you have to blast this entire base into scorched earth, bring me the corpses of those two monsters!" Commander Black roared hysterically.

"Commander... but our soldiers are still down there..." Black Adjutant's face turned pale.

"I said, fire!!"

Bang!

With Commander Black's roar, countless gun barrels beneath the fortress spat out blinding flashes at once. Dense heavy-machine-gun rounds and anti-aircraft shells formed an unbroken iron curtain, completely illuminating the night sky.

Above the barrage, which was enough to tear any living creature to shreds, Chen He crossed his arms over his chest and allowed gravity to pull him down at high speed.

The restraints of sixfold gravity were still on him, but with his battle power nearing 1,000, he moved through such a dense assault with ease. Looking at the flashing fire below, there was not the slightest panic in his eyes. Instead, they gleamed with a cold, pragmatic, calculating light.

Twenty thousand elite soldiers. Countless pieces of heavy equipment.

To others, this was hell. But on his system settlement panel, it was an enormous treasury of points, its doors already thrown wide open to him and radiating an enticing fragrance.