Someone had betrayed them and assassinated the most important guide.
"Humans really are unreliable. Xu Jiang, you were right." Gray-blue Paces appeared beside Xu Jiang and highly praised his decision not to stay behind.
But Xu Jiang shook his head and explained, "What I was worried about was human greed—the selfishness that made people abandon their teammates out of fear of death. Now it seems the situation is even more complicated."
Obviously, things had gotten somewhat out of control.
With the guide dead, all of his mechanical turrets had failed. The stronghold that had seemed so secure moments ago had now become a heap of scrap metal.
Even more terrifying, the woman revealed a fanatical expression and pulled a white mask from her clothes.
The Faceless Ones!
Why were these fanatical lunatics everywhere?
Or had these Void Rifts been caused by the Faceless Ones?
The members inside the stronghold finally recovered from their panic and attacked together, intending to kill the traitorous woman.
But it seemed they were already too late.
The woman put on the mask and shouted in Paces's direction, "Paces! You have to die too!"
Then, with a bang, she blew herself up. Blood and shredded flesh sprayed everywhere, covering the entire stronghold.
Xu Jiang turned to Paces in shock. The meaning in his eyes was clear: Their target was actually you?
Paces helplessly shrugged. "That isn't strange. The Faceless Ones believe in destroying the entire world, so it's normal for them to target me. I came here this time to test the Madness Affliction Treatment Device."
It was obvious that although Paces called himself a merchant, the things he sold were far from ordinary. That was why the Faceless Ones had their eyes on him.
Fortunately, they had stayed vigilant. If they had remained there, that blade would probably have gone through Paces's chest.
And now, it was no longer just Paces who was in danger. Everyone was at risk.
The Faceless Ones were a bunch of lunatics. As long as you breathed, you were their enemy. They had no reason at all and wanted to wipe out everything.
"Forget them. Cross the bridge first." Xu Jiang sensed trouble. After clearing out the remaining monsters, he urged the other two to cross faster.
The moment they reached the other side, Lan Tie cried out beside them, "Oh no! Look, there are so many monsters over there!"
Following the woman's self-destruction, her blood and flesh had splattered over several others, like special seasoning sprinkled over pale, fragrant roasted human flesh.
The scent attracted monsters from every direction.
The good news was that the stronghold was across the bridge, so the strange flesh's scent would not affect Xu Jiang's group for the moment.
But the bad news was that the survivors had been terrified out of their wits. Before they could even clean the flesh from their bodies, they saw the monsters appear and immediately screamed for help as they rushed toward Xu Jiang's group.
Xu Jiang made a rough estimate. There were at least a thousand monsters in that dark mass across the river.
The Desert Eagles in their hands were not enough to fight so many enemies.
He just did not know whether, in such an emergency, they could rely on Guanyin's heavy firepower.
"Big Sister Guanyin, there are so many monsters ahead! Sob, sob, Sparkles is so scared."
"Little Sister Sparkles, big sister is scared too. Why don't we hold each other?"
"Okay, sob, sob."
The Stun Baton hung from the Gatling gun, while the Gatling gun hid behind Xu Jiang. His only two lieutenant generals had entered cuddle mode. You two really were something.
"Get ready to run!" Xu Jiang made his decision.
They definitely could not hold their ground. If they did not run now, they would only be walking into death.
But Paces beside him brought more bad news.
"There are plenty of monsters behind us too. Retreating is too dangerous." After observing for a while, Paces realized they had nowhere to retreat.
Judging by the way those people were desperately fleeing, they would definitely cling to Xu Jiang's group. If they retreated, they would be caught in a pincer attack from both sides, with even less hope of survival.
Xu Jiang's eyes hardened. He raised his gun and aimed at the bridge.
Bang!
An Explosive Shot detonated in front of the fleeing people. The scattering flames startled the panicked survivors.
"What are you doing?!"
"Nothing. I just want to live!" Xu Jiang kept his gun raised and coldly threatened, "Jump off the bridge. If you come any closer, I'll shoot you dead!"
The threat to their lives made the fleeing people's faces change. They shouted, "How can you do this? We're all victims here, yet you want to kill us!"
"Right now, you're the ones trying to kill me, and I don't want to die! Let me remind you: if you don't jump now, you'll never get another chance."
Xu Jiang's voice was cold and indifferent, as though he were urging them to get on their way. His gun was already aimed at them. At this distance, no one could escape a Telekinetic Bullet.
Human nature was complicated.
Were these people really running for their lives? No. They simply wanted to drag Xu Jiang's group down with them.
They could have jumped into the river, washed off the flesh, and swum away. It was not impossible, only somewhat risky.
The best plan was to rush to the opposite bank and rely on Xu Jiang's group's powerful combat strength to hold back the monsters. Better yet, they could use the chance to get some flesh smeared on themselves before escaping, increasing their chances of survival.
They were weak, so these strong people should die protecting them.
Unfortunately, Xu Jiang was even more ruthless. If he had the ability, he would save them. If he did not, he would never die alongside them.
No matter how wildly they screamed, Xu Jiang did not lower his gun. Seeing the monsters closing in behind them, they could only helplessly climb onto the bridge railing and jump into the river.
They were all professionals. Jumping from the bridge would not kill them. As for whether they could escape the pursuing monsters, that depended on their own luck.
With the scent led away, the number of monsters dropped sharply, but escaping was still difficult.
After looking over the surroundings, Xu Jiang said, "We'll run along the riverbank. Once we get farther away, we'll fight the monsters."
Fighting right at the bridgehead would attract even more monsters from across the river with the flashes and explosions. It would be safer to run farther away before clearing them out.
But at that moment, Lan Tie stepped forward.
His broad shoulders bore the totem he was so proud of. He grinned at Xu Jiang. "You run. I'll hold off the monsters for you."
"You..."
"Mountains behind me and water beside me. This wouldn't be a bad place to make my grave." Lan Tie gave a low sigh and strode toward the monster horde.
Sacrifice was his destiny. His only concern was his childhood sweetheart.
"Xu Jiang, remember to take good care of Xiao Fang for me!"
The old buddy he had just met went without hesitation. Perhaps this departure would be their last goodbye.
Xu Jiang could only stand there and watch his old buddy leave. "Don't worry. I'll take care of your wife. You can rest easy—"
"General, the enemy has gathered. Now is the perfect time to attack!" Qianji advised forcefully, seemingly eager to lead the charge.
"But we can't beat them! How are we supposed to fight?" Xu Jiang glanced at the battlefield.
In just that short time, hundreds of monsters had already surrounded Lan Tie.
Swift mad dogs, reckless Lost Ones, even shadow monsters and squirming flesh balls...
The dense attacks had already torn countless wounds across Lan Tie's body, and the totem in his hand swung slower and slower.
It was not that Xu Jiang did not want to fight. They simply could not win.
"But, General, don't we have a weapon of mass destruction? If we use it, we can wipe out these monsters!"
"A weapon of mass destruction? We have one?"
"Of course. Leave it to me." As she spoke, Qianji pulled a grenade from the weapon inventory.
She pointed at the grenade and directly berated it, "Are you even a male Mechanic? Hiding in the rear instead of going to the battlefield—you're worse than a woman!"
Grenade: ...
Xu Jiang: ...
Before you continue