“Moniyahe was attacked. Ye Sheng and Liu Tongchen have been taken hostage. Mingfei, you must be careful underwater.” Shuhtome Yaji’s voice came through the channel, feigning composure. Even though everything outside was in chaos, and her fiancé had a gun barrel pressed to his forehead, she still remembered her duty.
“You must be careful!”
Then Lu Mingfei couldn’t hear anything. The static sound meant their communication line had been cut underwater.
In a panic, Lu Mingfei looked at Zero. Although he had some ideas, based on the interpretation of the divination, Zero’s opinion was especially important at this moment.
“Intruders have invaded. With Liu Heguang on the ship, there’s no need to worry about losing control. The real danger is us. They know Liu Heguang is present but still chose to attack, their mission is to tie down Liu Heguang and cut off our support,” Zero said. “Do not surface.
Many people are waiting for us outside.”
“They attacked when we planned to return, clearly not wanting us to abandon the operation. It seems our progress has been monitored,” Lu Mingfei analyzed, following Zero’s line of thought. “They want to intercept Norton’s cocoon.”
They vigilantly looked upwards. The Naga statue still stood silently in place. The giant Naga, tens of meters tall, still held the tablet and coldly looked down?
“We’re not just being monitored, we’re being monitored at close range.” Lu Mingfei subconsciously extended a hand to shield Zero behind him. The ribbon couldn’t fight detached from his body. What they could rely on now was the defense of the Heart-Protecting Armor and the hardness of the ribbon wrapped around his forearm.
The ribbon under the wetsuit slowly extended, enveloping Lu Mingfei’s entire right hand, not even sparing his fingernails. Now he would fight with this iron fist.
“Should we fight the enemy, or should I tear open my wetsuit and use my blood to go deeper?” Lu Mingfei asked Zero. His other hand reached for the SSP-1 underwater pistol at his waist.
“There’s more than one entrance and exit to Bronze City. A long time ago, Bronze City was a land structure. We can also get out by finding a ventilation shaft,” Zero floated behind Lu Mingfei, holding a short knife in one hand and a pistol in the other.
She wasn’t afraid of combat at all. According to her intelligence, none of the mixed-bloods who had infiltrated underwater were her match.
The only thing to worry about was whether Lu Mingfei’s current level could participate in an A-rank battle. Without that section of ribbon, how much strength did Lu Mingfei have left?
They even had another, more extravagant option: her Rune was Mirror Eye. Not long ago, she had witnessed Liu Tongchen’s Rune · Dustless Land being cast. She was now fully capable of replicating that Rune and cooperating with Lu Mingfei to open a “door.”
Seconds later, they lost the luxury of choice as a muffled thud accompanied by a large ripple of water erupted in front of them.
“Dive,” Zero decided instantly.
Lu Mingfei, hit by the bullet, immediately hugged Zero and plummeted underwater.
The enemy saw through their intention to escape, so they forced them to go deeper.
“Can bullets perform at this level underwater?” Lu Mingfei wondered. The opponent’s last shot clearly targeted his heart. Fortunately, the Heart-Protecting Armor saved his life, but even so, his chest was still throbbing with pain.
Zero’s eyes gleamed slightly, and she spoke softly, “It’s Rune · Ripple, an ability belonging to the King of the Ocean and Water. Any object imbued with this ability underwater can perform at a super A-rank level. This is his home ground.”
“Did you see the opponent’s position just now?” Lu Mingfei tightened his grip on the pistol modified by the Equipment Department. Although with the Equipment Department’s enhancement, this pistol could cause damage within a 50-meter range, under the influence of the opponent’s previous attack, it didn’t seem so powerful anymore.
Damn it, the opponent was clearly prepared. A long-range weapon performing at a super A-rank level could definitely force them back to the “door.”
“Two people, estimated distance 80 meters, direction unclear,” Zero said calmly.
“80 meters…” Lu Mingfei’s face showed bitterness. If Senior Brother Ye Sheng were here, it would be great. With his serpent ability, they could definitely handle such a problem properly.
Or if the opponent used Ripple again, he would find an opportunity to use Ripple’s rhythm to affect the caster, thereby activating Measure the Days to quickly approach the opponent.
“They’re out,” Zero whispered.
Lu Mingfei looked up and saw two figures emerge from behind a bronze pillar. The opponents seemed certain that they couldn’t cause them harm, so they swam out openly.
Both were in black wetsuits, with oxygen masks covering their faces. One of them held an underwater rifle, still aimed at their side.
“Target confirmed, it is indeed Kassel College’s S-rank and his partner. The bloodline is sufficient to open the ‘door.’ From the reaction just now, without that section of ribbon, his strength is as rumored, not even B-rank.”
“How many bullets do you have left?”
“Four.”
“Good, I’ll go kill that girl, you deal with the S-rank.”
“After killing the S-rank, use his blood to open the ‘door,’ then we retreat.”
“What about that Chinese-American?”
“Who cares about him, a connected person isn’t important. It’s best if he lives, but if he doesn’t, the boss won’t blame us. In our line of work, people die all the time.”
In a few words, they sealed Lu Mingfei and Zero’s fate. The man with the rifle focused on Lu Mingfei and slowly raised his gun.
“Can you find a way to send me up in a bit? 30 meters distance,” Lu Mingfei asked.
“Yes,” Zero didn’t understand Lu Mingfei’s meaning, but she still agreed. She trusted Lu Mingfei.
Ripples of water spread out in front of Lu Mingfei’s eyes, circle after circle.
Here it comes.
Lu Mingfei took a deep breath, his concentration sharper than ever. The rhythm underwater was exceptionally chaotic and complex. It wasn’t easy to find the unique rhythm of Ripple within it, but it wasn’t impossible to find.
He had room for error; the Heart-Protecting Armor could completely block this shot.
The man chuckled. After being blocked by Lu Mingfei once, he naturally knew the Heart-Protecting Armor could block his bullets, so this time he fired in quick succession—head, thigh, dantian. Almost instantly, three bullets shot out from the muzzle. The Heart-Protecting Armor could only block the heart, but the power of Ripple…
Lu Mingfei’s eyes glowed golden. Three segments of rhythm, three identical segments of rhythm. The opponent’s desperate desire to kill him instead gave him an opportunity.
He successfully intercepted the opponent’s Rune rhythm within the Alchemy-filled Bronze City.
Time slowed down at this moment. As Lu Mingfei gave the command, immense power erupted from the small body behind him. He didn’t dodge or evade the bullets.
The man who had originally intended to deal with Zero was stunned. Someone had gone mad to this extent, actively meeting bullets imbued with Ripple. Any single bullet hitting the body would be fatal; the internal ripples would completely destroy all internal organs. Was he suicidal?
Or was he trying to sacrifice his life to protect that girl and let her leave?
He wasn’t given time to think, because the next scene utterly terrified him!
Amidst the ripples of water, the figure rushing towards the bullets actually caught all of them with bare hands. The momentum was gone; it felt as simple as picking a foxtail grass by the roadside.
But Lu Mingfei’s next two shots proved that the momentum still existed, it just didn’t favor them.
Rune · Measure the Days.
A monstrous ability that could stop time!
Lu Mingfei successfully stopped the bullets’ time and discarded them like candy.
Incredible power shattered the kinetic energy of these bullets!
Then, in the next instant, the two infiltrators less than 50 meters from Lu Mingfei would personally taste the bullets from the pistol modified by the Equipment Department.
And the result of his last shooting was the simultaneous defeat of the Lionheart Society and the Student Union on Freedom Day!