Desperate Encirclement

The snow mist churned for quite a while before finally dispersing.

The logging road looked like it had come to an end.

A massive crater had been blasted into the middle of it, its edges littered with overturned frozen earth and splintered wood. Several fragments of black armor were embedded in the snow, still smoking. A broken lance lay crooked beside the crater, the Black Crystal Patterns on its shaft flickering before going completely dark.

The rising mushroom cloud had yet to fully dissipate.

Bai Zhu lay at the bottom of a snowy ditch, half his face buried in the snow, his ears still ringing.

After a long moment, he finally lifted his head.

"Milluki."

The sound of typing immediately came through his headset.

"Mm."

Bai Zhu spat out a mouthful of mud mixed with snow.

"Did you happen to redraw the terrain map just now?"

Milluki was silent for half a second.

"From a surveillance perspective, it does need to be remapped."

"You're pretty thorough."

Bai Zhu braced himself against the ditch wall and tried to climb up. The moment his hand pressed against it, though, a chunk of snow collapsed, and he slid right back to the bottom.

"Damn."

Milluki sounded thoroughly disgusted.

"You're having this much trouble climbing a ditch barely a meter and a half deep?"

"Your lottery bugs just blew me into medium-rare meat, and you still expect me to persevere through disability?"

"Who told you not to run faster?"

"Could you include an illustrated guide to escape postures in the box next time?"

"Did you pay for one?"

Bai Zhu no longer felt like talking.

He touched the metal box at his waist.

There were only two Black-Shelled Rhinoceros Beetles left inside. They lay quietly there, the red light on their abdomens flashing every so often.

Only two remained.

And he had no idea whether they would explode or turn out to be duds.

Bai Zhu stared at them for two seconds, then spoke as if sighing.

"You two, let's discuss this. Don't follow in your dad's footsteps later, okay? Be good and blow up properly for me, got it?"

Milluki snorted coldly.

"Talking to them won't help."

"Would talking to you help?"

"That depends."

"Then I'd rather talk to the bugs."

Bai Zhu snapped the box shut and stuffed it back into his pocket.

The Kaidō he had used before leaving had indeed saved his life. Otherwise, he probably would not have survived that explosion. But his Reiatsu recovered slowly. He had used Shunpo to dodge the lance just now, and during the explosion, he had used Reiatsu to protect his vital points. The little bit of energy he had left could barely support the close-quarters fight ahead.

He did not dare use Kidō carelessly anymore.

Sōkatsui was even more out of the question.

That thing felt great, sure, but after using it, he would be practically done for too.

Bai Zhu lay by the edge of the ditch, about to peek out and check the results, when Milluki suddenly lowered his voice in the headset.

"Don't get up."

Bai Zhu froze.

"There are more?"

"Obviously. Do you think these Holy Knights sell grilled sausages at the village entrance? Their black armor is top-tier Nen equipment wherever you go. They're pretty strong individually too."

"They got blown into a mushroom cloud and they still haven't been wiped off the screen? Did they pay the Painkiller Company for premium service or something?"

"At least six are alive in the rear."

Milluki rapidly switched through the feeds, his speech speeding up with it.

"The front line got blown away, and there are two heavily injured in the middle. But the six in the back were mostly outside the blast center. Two of them have extensive Black Crystal coverage and powerful fluctuations. They might be squad leaders."

Bai Zhu shrank deeper into the ditch.

"Weren't you excited just now? Three bugs blew up, three!"

"I was excited that the product test succeeded. That doesn't mean the enemy was wiped out."

"A test? You black-hearted boss, you never even tested your own stuff?"

"Hehe... I don't go out much. I can't exactly use something like this at home."

"Fuck... damn it."

There was movement at the edge of the snow crater on the other side of the logging road.

A black-armored Holy Knight crawled out from the collapsed snow.

The armor on his left arm had been blown away, and everything below his shoulder was covered in blood. Yet the Black Crystal on his chest remained intact. It glowed steadily, binding his shattered armor fragments together.

A second and third Holy Knight approached from behind.

They did not rush in.

The leading Holy Knight stood at the edge of the blast crater and lowered his head to look at the deep hole at its center, lingering fear still in his heart.

The blasted Black-Shelled Rhinoceros Beetles were still smoking in the snow.

He raised a hand.

All the Holy Knights behind him stopped.

Bai Zhu narrowed his eyes and took a glance from the ditch's edge before immediately ducking back down.

"Milluki, they aren't pursuing."

"That means they've started using their brains."

"That's really bad news."

A low-frequency intercepted transmission came through the headset.

"The target possesses high-powered Nen equipment."

"The risk of approaching is too high."

"Switch to long-range hunting."

"Close-range suppression is prohibited."

Bai Zhu immediately objected after hearing that.

"Wait a minute. They were talking about capturing me alive just now. Why are they switching to long-range hunting already? Their standards changed way too fast, didn't they?"

Milluki's tone remained calm.

"You used three beetles to blow up half their squad. They'd be sick if they still rushed at you."

"So I made them smarter by fighting them?"

"You've finally recognized your negative value."

"Shut up."

At the edge of the blast crater, the leading Holy Knight pulled a black short spike from his waist.

Without hesitation, he drove the spike directly into an armor slot beside the Black Crystal on his chest.

Click.

The Black Crystal's glow abruptly intensified.

The remaining Holy Knights did the same at once.

The sounds of short spikes entering armor rang out in succession.

The Black Crystal Patterns on their bodies began to connect, stretching from their chests to their arms, lances, and leg armor, then pressing through the lance tips into the snow. The veins on their bodies bulged as large amounts of blood gurgled toward the areas containing Black Crystal.

The monitoring windows on Milluki's end began sounding alarms one after another.

"Their energy has synchronized."

Bai Zhu's scalp went numb.

"Translate."

"They seem to be setting up a formation? Coordinating their Nen Abilities?"

"These metal cans have a fusion move too?" In that instant, Bai Zhu thought of someone—the Bomber, Genthru.

"The Black Crystal can serve as nodes, linking six people into a circuit. And these knights are most likely those children whose Church holy spirit rituals failed. Their Nen comes from the same source. Be careful not to get trapped in the circle."

The moment Milluki finished speaking, six lances stabbed into the snow simultaneously.

Black patterns spread across the ground at astonishing speed.

It was as if something were moving beneath the snow. Several lines split up and circled around, closing directly on the snowy ditch where Bai Zhu was hiding.

Bai Zhu did not ask another question.

He planted his feet and forced himself upright, activating Shunpo.

The instant his figure flashed out of the ditch, the black patterns ahead lit up early.

A Black Crystal spike shot up from his landing point.

Bai Zhu twisted his body by force, his shoulder slamming into the ditch wall as he rolled back to the bottom.

"Damn!"

He clutched his shoulder and sucked in a breath from the pain.

"They know where I'll land?"

Milluki spoke even faster.

"They don't know. They're sealing off routes. Every jump you make has a landing point, and they've blocked all the possible ones."

"That sounds troublesome."

"More than troublesome. You've already been locked in."

The black patterns had reached the edge of the snowy ditch.

Several lines connected together, forming a steadily tightening circle. Within the enclosed area, the ground pulsed rhythmically as well.

Bai Zhu narrowed his eyes at the distant Holy Knights, reached into his system inventory, and slowly drew out the Zanpakuto inch by inch.