An arc of light shone from the muzzle of the turret…
A brilliant light then shone before everyone’s eyes and a blue coloured pillar of light blasted outward, striking the middle of the pack of wolves…
The speck of light in the middle abruptly expanded into a massive sphere of dazzling radiance!
Despite the darkness of the night, even someone who was standing tens of miles away would be able to clearly see that light!
The moment the light burst out, it was unknown just how many wolves were instantly incinerated into ashes!
The bodies of some other wolves were partially caught in the explosion of light and their body parts were incinerated by the resulting high temperature, leaving them howling in a state of misery.
The explosion of light dissipated as quickly as it had appeared!
In but seconds, a large space that was occupied by the wolves had been cleared! In the peripheral area of that space, some wolf corpses could be seen – not a single one was intact!
…
“Forty-six points! This feels great! Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Roddy who was seated in the gunner position laughed. He picked up a can of beer and took a gulp before biting onto a roll of cigar himself. He laughed, “Xiaolian, this way of earning points is really enjoyable! One blast gives tens of points! Come one, let’s open fire some more! Incinerate these wolves into cinders!”
Chen Xiaolian took a drag from his cigar and puffed out a light blue smoke. His eyes flickered and he quickly said, “Remember to aim properly. After one more blast, we’ll leave! These wolves will transform…”
“Eh? Wait! That rocky mountain… there’s people there?”
Roddy hastily used the tank’s periscope to look into the distant.
Using infrared view, he could clearly see some figures moving about atop the rocky platform of the red coloured rocky peak.
Roddy tried to get a better view from the periscope, however, the distance between them was too far and he was only able to make out several figures without being able to identify them.
“It seems like there are some fellows there.” Roddy abruptly widened his eyes. “One of them is bald and one of them is wearing Japanese clothes… it’s the old man from the airplane.”
Chen Xiaolian was momentarily surprised. He gripped the cigar with his fingertips and picked the periscope to take a look himself.
He was stunned to see… Monster and… Phoenix!
Since Roddy did not participate in the London instance dungeon, he was not too familiar with Phoenix and her team members.
However, such was not the case with Chen Xiaolian.
Phoenix’s graceful appearance was familiar to him from far away. As for Monster, his thickset body that resembled a towering building simply made him stand out.
Chen Xiaolian was able to identify them with just a glance.
“Other Awakened ones.” Roddy was quick to come to the conclusion. “It seems they were surrounded by the wolves and forced up the mountain.”
Chen Xiaolian quickly considered it.
Be it Phoenix or Sawakita Mitsuo – with their abilities, there was no way they would be forced by a pack of wolves to seek refuge atop a mountain.
There was only one explanation for this: They had come to realize the key point of this quest. They cannot use technological or magic type methods to kill off these wolves. Otherwise, the wolves would become stronger.
That was the only reason why those experts, Phoenix and Sawakita Mitsuo would have problems taking actions. Due to their hesitation in killing off the wolves, they ended up being stuck atop the mountain, surrounded by the wolves.
However, the same cannot be same about Chen Xiaolian and Roddy!
These two bastards were simply here to create chaos!
Chen Xiaolian recalled what GM had said to him, that it had opened up a backdoor for them to enter this punishment instance dungeon.
Thus, both Chen Xiaolian and Roddy did not have to worry about whether they could successfully complete the quest in the final phase of this punishment instance dungeon.
Regardless if they succeeded or failed in the final quest… the both of them will not face system punishment.
The airplane hijacking incident had surprised Chen Xiaolian.
However, two hours ago in the evening, when both Chen Xiaolian and Roddy first arrived in this wasteland, Chen Xiaolian suddenly received a special ‘system prompt’ through this personal system.
Generally speaking, such notifications would start with the words [System prompt].
This time however, the notification had started with [???].
Chen Xiaolian knew without a doubt that the peculiar prompt had been given to him by GM.
Additionally, after he was done reading the prompt, he found that it automatically disappeared after 1 minute!
Deleted!
Chen Xiaolian felt extremely surprised!
The reason for that was, there was no delete function in his system prompt interface!
However, that prompt had automatically disappeared after he finished reading it.
After receiving the prompt from GM, both Chen Xiaolian and Roddy felt emboldened!
On their way, they encountered some wolves that attempted to attack them.
Chen Xiaolian did not hesitate to use the most effortless method to deal with those beasts – firearms.
In the beginning, the two of them used AK47 each to pave open a path.
As time went by however, the number of wolves increased. Then, Chen Xiaolian suddenly recalled that he had a Thunderstorm Tank he obtained as loot back in the Tokyo instance dungeon!
Since they possessed such an item, why would they be so silly as to walk with their own two legs through the wasteland?
Without hesitating, Chen Xiaolian summoned out the Thunderstorm Tank. As for the problems with driving it… there was the Mechanical Heart skill-bearing Roddy right there. With that skill, he could even operate the Mech, what more a tank?
After getting on the Thunderstorm Tank, Chen Xiaolian was visited by a sensation of him playing GTA!
The two youngsters drove the highly science fictional Thunderstorm Tank in the evening hours of the wasteland and went on a rampage!
If they encounter a small number of wolves, they won’t bother to open fire. Instead, they will simply trample them beneath the cold hard steel of the tank! They rendered those living wolves into meat paste!
If they encounter a high number of wolves, well, that was not an issue as well. Continue to trample through the wolves as they accessed the artillery of the tank and blast away!
On their way, they fired the main turret as the tank trampled its way through.
In less than half a night’s time, the two of them had covered a distance of over 10 km!
Chen Xiaolian did notice the abnormal situation… in the beginning, the wolves were very weak. Later on however, their physique would become bigger and more powerful. The rate at which they were becoming stronger was a match for the rate at which Chen Xiaolian and Roddy was killing them.
Chen Xiaolian weighed the matter and understood the prompt given by the system: affect the difficulty of the later phase.
However…
The Hell does that have to do with Chen Xiaolian and Roddy?
They don’t need to perform the quests!
Even if the quest did become harder, it was something that the two of them could ignore!
What more, they then discovered that killing the wolves would actually give them points! When that happened, both Chen Xiaolian and Roddy hesitated no more!
Points were good stuff!
They spent the night driving the Thunderstorm Tank rampaging about and the two of them managed to earn around 300 to 400 points each!
This method of earning points was too easy!
In other instance dungeons, they had to put their heads on the line to complete the quest. After completing it, they would only gain a few hundred points.
But here? Driving the Thunderstorm Tank with cigars in their mouths as they drank beer and sang songs, they would occasionally move the tank forward and at other times, blast out with the turrets a few times. Just like that, they were able to earn points.
Chen Xiaolian had never imagined that something so good could exist!
Most importantly, something happened that evening when they encountered other participants!
From their radar, they noticed the presence of other participants. However, for some unknown reason, after seeing the Thunderstorm Tank, they would react as though they had seen a ghost and quickly run away!
In the beginning, Chen Xiaolian was puzzled by their reaction. However, he soon realized what was going on!
Painted upon the surface of their Thunderstorm Tank was Thorned Flower Guild’s logo!
When the other participants noticed the symbol of Thorned Flower Guild, they became so fearful it seemed as though they had encountered a ghost!
“Now what?” Roddy turned to Chen Xiaolian.
Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes and stared at Phoenix’s figure who was standing on the rocky platform far away. Suddenly, he thought of something.
…
“To think they would be Thorned Flower Guild,” said Phoenix, her face grim. “Awakened members of Thorned Flower Guild had also entered this punishment instance dungeon!”
The middle-aged man quickly said, “How is that even possible? Entering a punishment instance dungeon meant that they failed their previous instance dungeon. Considering the strength of Thorned Flower Guild, how is it possible for them to fail a quest and get thrown into a punishment instance dungeon?”
Phoenix glanced at the middle-aged man.
Was it that surprising that Thorned Flower Guild would fail to complete a quest?
Back in London, during the War for the Throne, she had personally witnessed it happening once.
However, for her to encounter the members from Thorned Flower Guild here… it might not bode well for her!
Everyone knew that the people from Thorned Flower Guild were the most powerful!
They were the only guild that, despite having Players as their leading members, would also recruit no small number of powerful Awakened ones into the guild. It had always been viewed by the Awakened circle as an absolute eyesore. This was especially true for the various top-rank guilds in Zero City. The relationship between these two were like fire and water!
Thorned Flower Guild’s way of doing things had always been about using strength and an overbearing attitude.
Encountering them in instance dungeons was one thing.
But this time… this was a punishment instance dungeon! Punishment instance dungeons were generally accepted as the most difficult instance dungeons!
Considering Thorned Flower Guild’s usual approach, if they were to encounter other participants in instance dungeons, the first thing they would do would be… to kill!
As she was thinking about that, the middle-aged man suddenly exclaimed. He jumped and pointed at the Thunderstorm Tank, shouting, “They, they’re adjusting their turret muzzle! Ah! The turret… the turret…”
They watched as the turret slowly turned before adjusting its muzzle upward. The flat shaped muzzle was pointed directly at…
The red coloured rocky peak!
…
“Xiaolian, what are we doing here?”
“Scare that woman.” Chen Xiaolian grinned and said, “Back in London, I had to suffer quite a bit thanks to her. Then, there’s that Japanese old man… I could never figure out what lies beneath his face. Let’s test them.”
After saying that, Chen Xiaolian retrieved a military tactical helmet from his Storage Watch and wore it. Then, he pulled on a trench coat before turning to Roddy. “You’ve got the turret muzzle pointed at them, don’t fire. Wait for my signal and move the turret muzzle a little to scare them.”
After saying that, Chen Xiaolian opened the tank hatch and moved out.
…
“Someone’s coming out!”
The middle-aged man shouted as he pointed toward the Thunderstorm Tank.
The tank slowly moved toward the red coloured rocky peak. The distance between them grew smaller!
The surrounding wolves rushed to bite it. However, their sharp fangs were of no use against the metal exterior of the Thunderstorm Tank. They were only capable of leaving minor scratch marks on it.
Chen Xiaolian moved his upper torso out through the tank hatch and put his hands on a small calibre rapid-fire cannon attached on top of tank. He turned the rapid-fire cannon toward the pack of wolves and fired away.
Bursts of flames erupted in succession and sounds of explosions filled the air as the Thunderstorm Tank slowly approached. The explosions tore out a path through the surrounding pack of wolves.
…
“They… they’re coming over!” The middle-aged man shouted.
Phoenix and Sawakita Mitsuo were silent. Coincidentally however, they both narrowed their eyes at the same time as they observed the incoming Thunderstorm Tank.
They observed Chen Xiaolian who was manning the rapid-fire cannon on top of the tank.
…
When the two sides were less than 50 meters apart, Chen Xiaolian signalled to Roddy to stop moving forward.
By then, the series of bombardment had finally forced the surrounding wolves to retreat. The wolves moaned miserably as they dispersed. The scent of blood filled the air while the surrounding area was littered with corpses, not a single one intact.
Chen Xiaolian exhaled. Without taking off his helmet, he turned to face the few people who were standing atop the rocky platform.
…
“He’s not thinking of opening fire at us, is he?” Monster whispered. “Didn’t the system forbid killing between participants in the first phase?”
Phoenix bit her lips and replied, “To be exact, as long as they don’t fire directly at us… if he bombards this mountain peak, destroying it, we’ll be forced to leave it… then, we’ll have no place to hide. When the pack of wolves comes, we’ll have no choice but to fight them!”
Sawakita Mitsuo shook his head. There was a heavy look on his face as he said, “Look!”
Chen Xiaolian released his hold on the rapid-fire cannon and the people on the rocky peak breathed a sigh of relief.
However, their hearts became tense once again as they saw the tank’s main turret move its muzzle once more. It moved up, aiming right at the red coloured rocky peak.
“They want to blast this mountain peak!” The middle-aged man shouted. “We have to stop them! Damned Thorned Flower Guild!”
…
Chen Xiaolian picked up the tank’s radio transceiver and used the tank’s PA equipment.
When broadcasted using the equipment, Chen Xiaolian’s voice sounded like an electronically synthesized voice.
“You fellows up there, listen up! This is a robbery!”
Rob… robbery?
When the people standing atop the rocky platform heard those words, their faces twisted into expressions of absurdity.
Robbery?
The infamous Thorned Flower Guild would actually engage in a robbery?
“Cough! Cough!” Chen Xiaolian deliberately coughed and continued, “We do not need points, equipment or items. We want people! Hand over that long haired woman who is standing among you!”
After saying that, Chen Xiaolian observed Phoenix who was staring open-mouthed at him. She subconsciously fidgeted her body.
“That’s right! I am talking about you, the one with the long hair. Don’t try to hide at the back!” Chen Xiaolian shouted loudly. “Are you going to come out yourself? Or do you want us to bombard this mountain peak before capturing you ourselves? I’ll give you one minute to decide.”
Phoenix had never encountered something so absurd.
Everyone on the mountain peak had never encountered something so absurd!
To hear that Thorned Flower Guild would engage in robbery was shocking enough, yet… they were actually snatching people?
Snatching a woman?
“Is that fellow insane?” There was fury on Monster’s face as he jumped up and shouted, “Bastard! What did you say? I dare you to say it again! I’ll crush your skull!”
“Wait.”
Phoenix glanced at Chen Xiaolian a few times; then, her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She could not restrain herself as the corners of her lips curled into a hint of a smile. She placed her hand on Monster’s shoulder and took a deep breath, “Something is weird here… you fellows wait here. I’ll go over and check it out. I’ll go talk with them for a while – alone.”