They came neither early nor late, but right when they were running for their lives. Wasn't this trying to kill them?
Xu Jiang couldn't help stopping and turning to look at the battlefield.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of explosions rang out. The laboratory was already a complete wreck, flames blazing everywhere.
"Bring out the heavy weapons! Heavy weapons!!!" Seeing the bracelet get snatched away, the Black Tiger Gang's higher-ups could no longer sit still and roared for a heavy-weapons assault.
Two three-meter-tall heavy mechs came charging over, crushing the floor beneath their feet as they ran. Raising their heavy weapons, they began sweeping the battlefield with gunfire.
The powerful barrage had Baozi's air wall on the verge of collapse. He shouted at Xu Jiang, "Run! What are you standing around for?"
"There's something I have to get! Close your eyes." Rather than retreating, Xu Jiang charged toward the spot he sensed.
There weren't many mechanical items that could be summoned as generals. Since he had found one, he couldn't let it slip away. Besides, it was not far from him. He could give it a try.
He pulled the little iron rod from his pocket and kissed it. "It's up to you, baby! Go!"
With Xu Jiang's current strength, charging in and out of an army seven times was unrealistic. His only trump card was the flashbang in his pocket.
To make Sparkles work a little harder, Xu Jiang gave her the tiniest bit of stimulation.
Suddenly being kissed, Sparkles froze for a full two seconds. Only after she bounced a few times upon hitting the ground did she finally react.
"Ah!! I got kissed! How could the General do this to me? Waaah~~"
A scream rang out, followed by terrifying white light shooting skyward. The entire floor was engulfed in brilliance, which burst through the windows and illuminated the whole base.
Only Xu Jiang's teammates trusted his words and closed their eyes immediately. Most of the other enemies had their eyes blinded by the light.
Unaffected, Xu Jiang immediately performed a Sliding Tackle to a corpse and kept patting its body with both hands, searching for a weapon that could be summoned as a general.
That was the annoying thing about the General's Order. It gave him a prompt, but only a rough area. After all that searching, he had found nothing?
"What the hell? Don't tell me you hid a grenade in your crotch! How am I supposed to find that?"
Xu Jiang was starting to lose it. He had felt over every weapon on the man's body, yet none of them could be summoned as a general.
Could it be the grenade in the man's hand, the one with its pin pulled but that had not exploded?
"???"
"How is it? Did you find it?" Taking advantage of the flashbang's opening, Sha Tu swiftly killed his opponent and ran over to check on Xu Jiang.
"Found it. Let's retreat." He grabbed the dud grenade and retreated with Sha Tu.
Congratulations, general summoning successful.
That was right. The weapon he had summoned as a general was a dud grenade whose pin had been pulled but which had failed to explode.
He had no idea what it did, but there was no time to study it. He rushed to the edge of the hole and looked down.
Ying Xiaoxiao had already jumped to the ground with Xiao Zhen in her arms. She stood there alone, wielding her spear and killing whoever came before her, gods and Buddhas alike.
But this was the third floor! It had to be nearly twenty meters high!
Wasn't Team 17 supposed to be harmonious and loving? On his first day, they were already teaching him to jump off buildings?
Behind them, Baozi had entered his final berserk state, frantically firing air bullets and blasting the battlefield to pieces, slowing the pursuing enemies.
Sha Tu walked over to Xu Jiang and encouraged him, "Jumping off a building is not actually that scary. As long as you stay calm and elegant, this height is easy."
After saying that, he straightened his crooked tie, apparently afraid of getting dust on himself. Then he stepped forward and jumped with a smile.
"Fuck... Hiss—calm down, calm down. Stay elegant!" Xu Jiang took a deep breath, gave the pursuers behind him a friendly gesture, and cursed, "Your grandpa is really beautiful."
Then he jumped as well.
BANG!
The grass below was smashed into a crater. Fortunately, Qianji cushioned the fall, so he would not lose an arm or break a leg. His legs were just a little numb.
Thankfully, Ying Xiaoxiao had nearly cleared the battlefield already. Xu Jiang quickly caught up, and the five of them began fleeing outward.
Behind them, every member of the Black Tiger Gang had mobilized.
Hover bikes pursued them, while combat helicopters took off one after another and closed in to surround them.
But once they escaped the base, it was their territory.
Ying Xiaoxiao suddenly turned around and slammed her spear into the ground. Three furious bolts of purple lightning shot into the sky, and thunder and lightning swept across the world.
By the time the smoke and dust cleared, the five of them had vanished from the street.
"Search for them! Break down doors and search every house! You have to find them!!"
Helpless roars echoed through the streets. Tonight, the Black Tiger Gang was destined to become a laughingstock.
As for Xu Jiang and the others, they were currently weaving through a complex network of underground passages.
"Xiao Hei, is this the way?"
Yes. Climb out through this cellar entrance, then enter the house on the right.
"The house? We're here, but it's a dead end!"
Do you see a cabinet? Push it aside. There's a tunnel behind it.
A commanding voice came through their earpieces.
They definitely could not use their business van anymore. They could only shake off the pursuers by taking the underground passages.
Fortunately, Xiao Hei, one of the team members, was on duty at the base and guided them through the routes, quickly leading them out of the Black Tiger Gang's territory.
But there was a problem...
"This Comrade Xiao Hei, he's one of our team members?" Xu Jiang looked at Ying Xiaoxiao.
"Of course! Didn't I introduce him to you?" Having left the battle, Ying Xiaoxiao returned to her warm, sunny, big-sister demeanor. "There are six of us in the team including you. Xiao Hei handles logistics."
"...You never told me that. And when we had dinner earlier, why didn't I see him?"
I was on leave today and went out shopping. Hello, Xu Jiang. Welcome to Team 17.
A young man's voice came through the earpiece.
All along the way, Xiao Hei's tone had been perfectly normal.
He did not have Baozi's nagging nonsense, Sha Tu's bizarre elegance, or Xiao Zhen's cold, spacey manner.
At every intersection and with every choice, he was concise and efficient, giving off an extremely capable impression. He seemed just like a normal person.
Finding a normal person in a strange department like Team 17 moved Xu Jiang deeply.
He decided that after they returned, he would have a good chat with this man and ask about Team 17.
For now, though, they first had to deal with the bracelet.
After arriving at a safe house, Sha Tu took the bracelet and examined it.
The once happily bouncing bracelet had gone silent. Its golden surface now looked dull and gray, completely devoid of life.
"Under these circumstances, the Public Security Bureau probably won't take it." Sha Tu shook his head regretfully.
The bracelet's material was secondary. Its true value lay in the rune power extracted by Qianji.
Alien Runes were themselves a source of energy, like a kind of supernatural power circuit. The runes were what made the bracelet powerful.
Now that Qianji had extracted most of it, all that remained were a few basic patterns carved into the surface.
Ying Xiaoxiao said with an unhappy expression, "Those Public Security Bureau people clearly withheld information on purpose and nearly got us killed. If they can't have the living bracelet, they can still pay the deposit for a dead one."
She was done putting up with this. They had worked all night, and if they did not get paid upon delivery later, there would very likely be another huge scene.
At that moment, Xu Jiang also walked over and picked up the bracelet for a look.
An elegant yet wicked smile appeared at the corner of his lips as he said, "I have an idea."
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