Luo'er sighed, not blaming them: "It's okay, we can reset it!"
Next, he pressed a few keys out of nowhere, and all of a sudden, everyone saw a flash before their eyes. Hu Daoke was startled to find that the manor had returned to calm again, the lazyguard still leaning against the building, and nearby, the patrolling guard was looking at him.
"What on earth just happened?" Hu Daoke looked at the familiar scene in surprise.
"Oh, I just saved the game. We're just loading the save now," Luo'er said nonchalantly.
"Isn't that...kind of cheating?" Hu Daoke was so surprised that his jaw almost dropped.
"This kind of single-player battlefield allows for saving and loading. We're here to practice over and over, to make our team's cooperation more seamless."
"I wish life could work like that," Hu Daoke said, a bit envious.
"Let's not get off-topic," Luo'er interrupted, seriously saying on the radio, "Yue'er, before taking the shot, can you use magic?"
"I can give it a try!" Baiyue's response to Luo'er was a bit more gentle.
"Great, when it's time to make the kill, you initiate the Silence Spell, masking the sound of your gunshots. Got it?"
"Got it!" Baiyue answered succinctly.
"Is it really that simple?" Hu Daoke exclaimed, looking at Baiyue in surprise, but she didn't acknowledge him, instead pulling a magic wand from the armory and attaching it to her gun to ensure she could touch the wand.
"Moumou," Luo'er stuck a circular plastic explosive to the wall, then took a step back and said to Tangmo, "When I wave my hand, you activate the Silence Spell, got it?"
"Oh!" Tangmo looked at the detonator in his hand, took a step back, then nodded.
"Hawkeye, you give the order; we'll start at the same time—your team will take out the target, and we'll open the path!"
"Roger that!"
Hu Daoke locked his sight onto the patrolling target, and as soon as he saw him turn around, he quietly gave the order: "Go!"
Before the order was even fully out, he felt a tingling sensation in his scalp. He could feel the shockwave from Baiyue's gun, but he couldn't hear any of the gunshot noise.
On the other hand, after Hu Daoke gave the order to kill, Luo'er distinctly waved his hand, triggering the explosive. The directional explosive blew a huge hole in the wall in an instant, and stone chips scattered everywhere, but they couldn't hear any sound at all.
When the last stone fell to the ground, the Silence Spell ended, and the sound instantly returned. Luo'er didn't hesitate to charge in first, checking around before reporting in a low voice: "Clear!"
"Nice!" Hu Daoke couldn't help but admire, the Silence Spell effectively prevented the sound of gunfire and explosions from spreading, so their enemies didn't notice when one of their guards had been killed, or that a huge hole had been blown in their manor wall.
Luo'er dragged the body of the guard to the corner. The simulator didn't fully mimic the real world—a hole pierced through the guard's chest, but there was no bloody cavity effect. Still, the large pool of blood made Tangmo feel nauseous.
Next, they began to infiltrate the manor. The sniper team led their movements and silenced their targets when necessary, while Luo'er and the others killed the enemy at close range with the aid of the Silence Spell.
Of course, there were mistakes, but Luo'er saved frequently, so whenever they made a mistake, they could load a save, which is to say, they were never discovered.
Thanks to this trick, they managed to infiltrate the heavily guarded manor. The next step was to enter the largest building and rescue the hostages.
"Dagger, when you enter the building, we'll lose visibility. Be careful!" After some practice, Hu Daoke's radio instructions have become professional.
"Roger that, keep an eye on any movements in the manor and report to us immediately if anything happens."
"Understood!" Hu Daoke said somewhat absently, after loading the game so many times, he nearly memorized the enemy's movements.
Luo'er greeted Cheng Ziang who was covering their rear, and the three of them began to sneak into the building. It was a massive villa with a complex interior design and numerous rooms. If not for Luo'er always having his 3D map on his wrist, they would have gotten lost. But it couldn't be helped; they didn't have enough time for pre-combat analysis.
The sounds inside the building could easily be amplified, so the three of them were tiptoeing, not even daring to breathe heavily. Tangmo was somewhat uncomfortable with this tense feeling, so he quietly said to Luo'er: "Luo'er, should I keep the Silence Spell on?"
"Hmm," Luo'er was about to refuse, but remembering they could load a save, he changed his mind and said, "Give it a try!"
Tangmo nodded and began to chant a spell. Soon, they were engulfed in a soundless world. Unable to communicate through sound, they had to rely on touch to communicate.
Luo'er made a 'move' gesture, and the three of them quickened their pace. Coming to a corner, Luo'er took out a lone enemy, and they continued on, the Silence Spell perfectly hiding the gunfire. But they didn't hear the noise of the enemy falling due to the spell, so they were soon in trouble.
As soon as they turned the corner, they bumped into the guard who had heard the sound and come running. Although Luo'er and the others shot first, the enemy retaliated. Gunfire rang out in the villa and they were quickly taken down by the subsequently trickling guards.
After loading the file, Luo'er sighed, no longer choosing such extreme measures. With trepidation, the three of them carefully made their way to the hostage location.
Luo'er instructed the other two to guard while he took out a surveillance camera from his equipment and peered into the room where the hostages were held.
"Four people. The hostages are against the wall; an enemy is standing to their right and two are conversing on their left." After retracting the camera, Luo'er ordered, "Prepare to breach!"
He reached for his waist, only to realize that he had run out of plastic explosives. He attempted to open his weapon inventory, but it had been locked without his notice.
"That wouldn't work, Luo'er," an image of Zhuyan Yu appeared in the air. "In the real world, you won't get the chance to resupply. Consider what to do in such circumstances!"
Seeing Zhuyan Yu's smiling face, Luo'er was caught off guard. He had not expected her to be watching their training in the virtual space for over five hours.
However, upon reflection, Luo'er realized she made a fair point. His lack of explosives was indeed an oversight. Moreover, the door looked sturdy, and attempting to kick it down would probably only be a plausible solution for Hu Daoke, a strong yet crude man. Unfortunately, Luo'er had dispatched Hu Daoke to the sniper team.
After a moment's consideration, an idea suddenly flashed across Luo'er's mind.
"Moumou, come here!" Luo'er quietly called Tangmo, who had been on guard.
"What is it?" Tangmo carefully moved to Luo'er's side.
"Moumou, can you draw a detonating rune that can completely blast this door into smithereens?" Luo'er asked, pointing at the door behind him.
Tangmo looked at the door, and then nodded her head. The two then swapped positions, with Luo'er guarding and Tangmo quickly etching the rune into the door using magic materials.
"I'm done, Luo'er!" reported Tangmo as she pulled Luo'er's sleeve.
Luo'er turned around and asked seriously, "Moumou, can you cast two different spells at the same time?"
Tangmo contemplated for a moment, then hesitantly answered, "I can give it a try."
"Good, listen to me," Luo'er raised a hand, "I'm going to count down. When I reach one and show three fingers, you start the silence magic. As soon as I swing my hand down, you activate the detonation rune on the door. Afterwards, maintain a guard outside and cancel the silence magic after five seconds. Make sure the silence magic doesn't break during this time, understood?"
"Alright, I'll give it a shot!" Tangmo nodded assertively.
"Cheng Ziang, you stay on the right side of the door, I'll stay on the left, and Moumou, you stay behind me." Luo'er ordered, positioning everyone for the assault.
"Three!" Luo'er raised one finger.
"Two!" Luo'er raised a second finger.
"One!" Luo'er raised the third finger.
As soon as Luo'er commanded, Tangmo chanted a spell and the three were once again enveloped in silence. Luo'er raised his left hand high, holding his rifle to his cheek with his right hand.
In this silent world, Luo'er swung his hand down forcefully. Accompanying his command, Tangmo activated the detonation rune. The sturdy wooden door silently blasted into fragments. It seemed that Tangmo had successfully fulfilled Luo'er's command of simultaneously casting two different spells.
Before the debris even touched the ground, Luo'er and Cheng Ziang had stormed into the room with their guns drawn, killed the three dumbstruck enemies, and rescued the hostages.
On the other hand, the supervising Zhuyan Yu also looked surprised before breaking into a smile. The combination of Otherworld magic and Earth weapons was a research topic discussed by the Magic Research Center a long time ago. The tactics that Luo'er used were already included in their various proposed strategies. However, Luo'er had never participated in the center's research. Hence, his grasp of the strategies deeply surprised her.
On the screen, the three began to cover the hostages and evacuate them, but Zhuyan Yu was no longer interested in watching. She turned off the screen and began to ponder over Luo'er's identity.
There was no doubt in her mind that Luo'er had a far from ordinary relationship with the college's principal, Luo Qishan. It's quite possible that they were grandfather and grandson, or even father and son. But within the school, the relationship between Luo'er and Luo Qishan seemed to be a secret that couldn't be revealed publicly, even the headquarters didn't provide her a clear answer.
Wang Xu was once Luo Qishan's guard, and could be considered quite intimate with him. Even he was evasive about the matter. To the exploratory Zhuyan Yu, this was indeed a torment.
What's the relationship between Luo'er and Luo Qishan? Why is he an Elf hybrid? Who's his surrogate mother? Where did he get his Elf genes from?
All these questions puzzled Zhuyan Yu. She once tried to hack into the database to find Luo'er's information, but the Ministry of Defense had blocked the data. Breaking into their firewall undetected was nothing short of a Herculean task.
However, she got some findings. There was a soldier named Luo Chuan, Luo Qishan's son. The picture in the database resembled Luo'er, but unfortunately, Luo Chuan had died in the Otherworld battlefield during the second Otherworld War thirty years ago.
Zhuyan Yu had a premonition that to unravel the mysteries in her heart, she would have to rely on Luo'er, other than Wang Xu.
She turned the screen back on. Luo'er and his team, having safely escorted the hostages out of the villa, were heading towards their evacuation point. A little irritated, she positioned a small infantry troop at their evacuation point and watched them fight.
"Luo'er..." Zhuyan Yu was staring at the green-eyed teenager on the screen, muttering quietly.