"Bang—!"
A thunderous gunshot echoed across the wasteland.
A sniper energy round, imbued with destructive power, shot forth from the barrel. Moving at speeds more than ten times the speed of sound, it hurtled towards Mo Chen's forehead from kilometers away.
The five-kilometer distance required less than a single second to traverse.
Yet, within this fleeting moment, time seemed to slow to an unbearable crawl.
A bead of sweat trickled down Harran's cheek.
Her eyes remained fixed on the target, her grip on the rifle tense, her palms slick with perspiration.
But then, something utterly incomprehensible occurred.
Just as the bullet was about to strike, the trajectory shifted—noticeably. To add more, the target somehow noticed it!
Mo Chen tilted his head ever so slightly, evading the round by the narrowest of margins.
Harran's pupils constricted in disbelief.
Impossible! At such a vast distance and with such velocity, there was no way anyone could react in time!
At that moment, the man suddenly turned his head, locking eyes with Harran.
Through the sniper scope, she saw a pair of crimson eyes, glimmering like blood-soaked rubies, exuding a sinister light.
Cruel! Savage!
They radiated a suffocating sense of terror.
Harran's heart seized. She turned sharply, pressing her back against the wall, gasping heavily, her heart pounding furiously.
She'd been discovered!
Danger! Extreme danger! Retreat!
Harran immediately made her decision.
Someone who could evade her sniper round unscathed was beyond her ability to contend with.
Just as she prepared to retreat, her instincts screamed a warning.
Without hesitation, she dove to the side, rolling across the ground.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion rang out!
The crumbling wall behind her erupted, sending debris flying. The violent force flung Harran backward, tumbling for several meters before slamming into a broken, withered tree, where she finally came to a halt.
Pain racked her entire body. Even with her system temporarily suppressing her pain receptors, she felt like her internal organs had shifted out of place.
Her right arm, struck by flying debris, was bleeding profusely. Her sniper rifle had been knocked from her grasp, landing several meters away.
As the dust settled, Harran clutched her injured arm, gritting her teeth against the pain as she staggered to her feet. She stumbled a few steps before turning her gaze back, her pupils narrowing.
The shattered wall now bore a massive hole.
What had punched through it was a giant, severed arm.
The massive limb hung grotesquely before her.
Its severed edge was jagged, with splintered bone and mangled flesh, as though it had been forcibly ripped off.
It was Chatterbox's arm!
Harran's scalp prickled with fear, her body frozen in horror.
A severed arm had been thrown from five kilometers away, punching through a five-meter-thick reinforced wall!
A thought struck her mind like lightning.
Retreat immediately!
She glanced toward her sniper rifle lying a few meters away, but as she moved to retrieve it, another wave of danger crashed over her. Instinctively, she dodged backward just as a crimson spear whistled through the air, narrowly missing her.
Stumbling back, Harran froze in place, a thin line of blood tracing her cheek.
Had she been half a second slower, her head would've been impaled.
Panic gripped her.
She abandoned all pretense of maintaining her composure or retrieving her rifle. Clutching her injured arm, she turned and bolted without a second thought.
This wasn't something she could handle alone.
Now, she had only one goal: to reach Eden as quickly as possible and report what had happened here.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield.
Mo Chen lowered the blood spear he had been ready to throw, a hint of regret flickering in his eyes.
Still a bit too far—his accuracy wasn't perfect.
Just moments earlier, while he was corrupting Chatterbox, Mo Chen had predictably beaten him senseless again.
The missiles Chatterbox had launched were intercepted mid-air and detonated by his tendrils.
But then, out of nowhere, a sniper's round came from behind.
Fast and silent.
It had caught Mo Chen off guard, almost causing him to falter.
Thanks to the bullet-dodging chip, Mo Chen managed to evade the attack automatically.
Frustrated, he tore off one of Chatterbox's arms and hurled it toward the sniper.
Unfortunately, it missed.
Next, he used the tendrils formed by the Blacklight Virus to craft a spear.
But ultimately, the distance was still a bit too great, and he failed to land a hit.
As for Chatterbox, it proved to be rather cunning. Taking advantage of Mo Chen's counterattack, it seized the opportunity to flee.
And it fled quickly!
By now, it was too late to give chase.
Moreover, the outpost was still in danger, and he couldn't afford to leave.
With a thought, the tendrils retracted swiftly, reverting to the form of a hand.
Mo Chen found himself underestimating Chatterbox. Even after being pierced like a pincushion, it still managed to escape with remarkable speed.
"Truly not to be judged by appearances," he muttered to himself.
But he still decided not to pursue Chatterbox. It was a trapped rat: he could catch it anytime he wished.
What interested him more was the sniper who had attacked him.
A few kilometers away, Mo Chen arrived at a site littered with Chatterbox's severed limbs—and a sniper rifle.
He picked it up.
The rifle was unusually large. It was entirely violet, sleek, and futuristic in design, with a transformative mechanism.
Mo Chen felt it looked somewhat familiar.
It seemed to be a weapon he had seen in the game, but given how many weapons existed in that world, he couldn't immediately recall which one it was.
He made a mental note to investigate who had stabbed him in the back.
After searching for several hours, Mo Chen was unable to locate the sniper. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.
Reluctantly, he decided to head back to the base.
As Mo Chen approached the outpost, he spotted Rapi in the distance, her face filled with worry.
The moment she saw him, she froze momentarily before sprinting toward him.
"Commander!"
She ran up to him as fast as she could, her eyes brimming with relief, her chest heaving.
"Thank goodness," she breathed.
Rapi had been genuinely worried about the Commander.
After all, he had been taken by a Tyrant-class Rapture.
Knowing this, and that Chatterbox in particular had captured Mo Chen, her anxiety had been through the roof. She had even considered launching an immediate rescue mission.
Now that Mo Chen had returned safely, the fear, worry, and despair melted away. Even Rapi, who was usually composed, couldn't hide her joy at this moment.
Seeing Rapi's slightly reddened eyes, Mo Chen was taken aback, and his voice softened.
"You've worked hard."
It was clear to him that Rapi had been truly concerned.
Judging by her dusty and smoke-covered appearance, she must have spent considerable time searching for him on the battlefield.
As she looked at Mo Chen, her gaze wavered, and she felt her heart flutter.
"Com—"
Before Rapi could finish her sentence, a figure suddenly lunged at Mo Chen, wailing loudly.
"Commander, you're alive! You scared me to death! I thought you were dead, eaten alive by Chatterbox!"
It was Anis, with Neon following close behind.
Mo Chen was deeply moved, but as he listened to Anis's rambling, something felt off.
"Can't you hope for something better for me?" he thought.
Neon, too, was wiping away tears.
"Master, I thought I'd never see you again. I was even considering using the atomic bomb you gave me to make a memorial for you."
Mo Chen's eyes widened in shock.
"Don't you dare!"
Good grief. She was about to ensure her master wouldn't even have ashes left!