The Midnight Rangers' shock: These reinforcements don't play fair

"We need to make two extra bowls of sesame oil and minced garlic for this tripe."

Zhou Yu neatly folded the orange peels and casually placed them beside the stool.

Chisa's scabbard struck the outside of her thigh, and the sword was drawn.

A cold white light pierced through the purple mist over the wilderness. Thundering Mephis was swooping down towards the Midnight Rangers. Chisa pushed off with her feet, sending pebbles flying backward. She was already in mid-air when the tip of her blade embedded itself precisely into the crevices of the scales' neck armor.

Purple lightning streamed down the blade, crackling and popping.

Jiyan had already raised his heavy blade, but then he pulled his fingertips back. He had originally planned to activate the second layer of wind field to take the attack head-on, but a white-haired woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Her movements were as fast as scissors, and she struck the target with a single, decisive blow.

He quickly ran through the list of experts Huanglong knew, but none of them matched up.

This level of combat power, if left unchecked, would be a ticking time bomb for Jinzhou.

Feilian Beringal swung his arm down, making a whooshing sound.

Sigelica raised her shield to take the hit. The base of the shield slammed into the ground, and she sank down. The impact sent shockwaves through her arms and plowed two deep furrows into the ground with her knee pads. A small dent appeared on the shield.

"Three inches below the left rib, nail thickness 0.4 mm."

Chisaki's tablet was glowing blue, and she tapped her fingers on it as if playing a piano.

"The core is 70% exposed; I suggest you just pierce through it."

Sigelica gritted her teeth and pushed forward a step, managing to withstand the gorilla's second blow.

"Are you even capable of this?!" (Roy Tribe slang)

She roared into the air.

Chisa didn't reply. She flipped her long sword in mid-air, leaving a white line in its wake.

Zhou Yu sat on a small stool and glanced down at his digital watch.

Thirty thousand star coins—we can't just throw them away. If he directly modifies the underlying code and wipes out those two monsters, Jinzhou will definitely detain people for questioning.

Taking a statement will take at least three hours, and the hot pot restaurant won't wait; Dania's tripe will be wasted. We can't take that risk.

He pulled a red plastic megaphone from his canvas bag and gestured towards the connecting area between the carriages.

"You two."

Linnai and Aimis peeked half their heads out from the shadows.

"Play some music. Give our comrades on the front lines some emotional support."

Zhou Yu handed over the megaphone.

Aimis took it, connected her personal terminal via Bluetooth, and swiped the screen twice.

"-- "Little Miracle". Selected by Supervisor Zhou."

The next second, a sickeningly sweet English female voice boomed across the Desorock Highland:

"Isn't it so incredible--"

"We're here sharing the same time and space--"

The electronic drumbeats pounded across the empty wilderness, as if they were out of sync with someone's pulse.

The front ranks of the Midnight Rangers paused noticeably. A soldier with his face covered in mud turned his head, looked at the man sitting on a small stool a few dozen meters away, and then at Aimis was holding a megaphone and swaying her shoulders to the rhythm—she really was swaying along.

"In your eyes, the sparks look like--"

"thousands of bright stars--"

The soldier opened his mouth, but said nothing. He felt like his ears might have been damaged by the Tacet Discord.

On the front lines, Chisa's blade sliced right into the neck armor of Thundering Mephis. Just as the lyrics reached "thousands of bright stars," she twisted her wrist, shattering the energy core.

Purple lightning exploded across the ground, and the Tacet Discord crashed to the ground with a loud bang. The rhythm was so precise, it was as if it had been rehearsed.

The Feilian Beringal turned and pounced on Sigelica, its roar so loud it hurt everyone's eardrums. Sigelica withdrew her shield, drew her gun, and fired three shots, all of which pierced the ape's right knee. Just as the Tacet Discord swayed and fell forward, the loudspeaker announced:

"You built a world of miracles so mundane but precious--"

Without Jiyan, Ji Yan leaped up, his heavy blade enveloped in wind, and slashed into the back of Feilian Beringal's neck. The sound of the wind blade cutting through the hard shell, the sound of English song lyrics, and the final mournful cry of the Tacet Discord —all blended together.

The Tacet Discord turned to ash, and was gone with a gust of wind.

The wilderness fell silent. Only the megaphone in Aimis's hand continued its loop:

"Every light I'm giving all comes back to you--"

"Comes back to you--"

The soldiers Midnight Rangers still held their weapons; no one put their guns away. All eyes were fixed on the few people beside the railway tracks—a small stool, a beggar's chicken wrapper, a megaphone, and a pink-haired little girl with greasy mouth who had just finished eating a chicken leg.

A mud-covered adjutant sidled up to Jiyan, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly. He truly didn't know how to describe the pile of things he was seeing.

Chisa sheathed her sword with a crisp click. She walked back, the hem of her white trench coat spotless, not at all like someone who had just finished slaying a monster. She stopped in front of Zhou Yu.

"Cleared."

He paused for a moment.

"Orange soda, at room temperature."

Zhou Yu took a bottle out of the plastic bag, unscrewed the cap, and handed it over.

"Not bad, the security fee was saved."

He stood up, brushed the dust off his trousers, and stuffed the stool back into his canvas bag.

Chisa took the soda, took a swig, ignored his teasing remark, and turned back to her carriage.

Dania had just finished eating a chicken leg and was sucking her fingers one by one.

Zhou Yu handed over a wet tissue.

She obediently took it and wiped it.

Jiyan slung the heavy blade back onto his back and walked over. His military boots crunched heavily on the gravel. He stopped about three meters away from Zhou Yu.

He just stared. He stared at the man in the white tank top and floral shorts in front of him, the pink-haired girl next to him who had just finished eating a chicken leg and was wiping her hands, and the girls holding up tablets and megaphones.

He mentally went over all the possible opening lines he could come up with—thank you? Question him? Check his travel documents?

He acknowledged that their combat capabilities were undeniable. However, none of the things these people did were recorded in military manuals.

He didn't know what kind of etiquette to use when dealing with such a team.

Jiyan opened his mouth.

The wind blew in from the wilderness. The aroma of fried chicken mingled with the smell of burning meat, swirling in the air. The singing from the loudspeaker still drifted on:

"Every light I'm giving all comes back to you--"