Outside the little town, Denzel and the others who were watching the monitor screen were stunned!
They stared at the blacked out screen, incapable of saying anything.
Denzel punched the monitor screen and let out a growl of rage. Then he said, “Just now…”
Olin’s face was also ugly to behold. “That mech…”
Denzel clenched his teeth and said in a low voice, “A mech coming back to life? Humph, that is a mech, not a mechanical life form! I noticed that there is a cockpit on the front part of the mech! Machines cannot come back to life… that means someone else was controlling the mech!”
“But, the mech seemed very old, could it… “ Olin stopped his words and revealed a wry smile before continuing, “Could it be haunted?”
“This is the world of the system! Ghosts? Even if they did appear, they would be nothing more than monsters created by the system,” said Denzel who looked at the time. There was a look of anxiousness on his face and he said, “We can’t keep waiting! We will need to enter the little town. Since the system had designated this place to be a point validation location, then… it won’t have us participants come here to die for no reason.”
As he spoke, Denzel stood up and glanced at Olin. He said in a hushed tone, “We’ll make some changes to our original plan. Send in the drone and the unmanned ground vehicles together. Then… I will personally act as the vanguard and enter. Olin, you lead the rest to form the rear guard. Once something happens, you fellows must join up with me as soon as possible.”
“… all right!” Olin nodded and hesitated for a moment. He then said, “You be careful.”
“No ghost in this world can kill me!” Denzel said coldly.
…
“Hey, can you fellows get up from the ground now? Pretending to be dead is quite tiring, isn’t it?”
The mech that was lying not far from Selina and Carmen spoke out using its broadcast system. Open playfulness could be sensed within the voice.
Carmen did not move but Selina jumped up from the ground and aimed the gun in her hand at the mech. At the same time, her other hand swiftly moved toward her waist and she held her belt.
The lights on the mech flashed and Roddy laughed playfully. “What use is there in pointing such a small gun at me? You aren’t that naïve to think that such a small-calibre gun would be able to pierce my steel plates, are you?”
“… you are not a ghost.” Selina shook her head as she regarded the damaged mech before her. “Mechs are a technological type of equipment. The system will not put magic and technological types together. This is against the norm… out with it, who are you? Why are you messing around with us?”
Roddy snickered and said, “I have just helped you deal with the thing monitoring you fellows. Is this how you repay your benefactor?”
“Benefactor?” Selina lowered the gun in her hand. However, her other hand remained holding onto her belt. She said coldly, “In this game, things like benefactors do not exist. If you are sincere, then come out of the cockpit and face us.”
Selina stared at the mech and suddenly thought of something. “Could it be… that mech of yours is already done? It can no longer move?”
As she spoke, she took a step forward.
However, right after taking that step…
Bang!
A gunshot broke the little town’s silence.
The bullet struck the ground two meters before Selina’s position, causing dust and gravel to burst out.
Selina frowned and she instantly stopped moving. Her eyes darted toward a distant building. “Your companion?”
Selina relaxed.
It was just another group of participants.
“Pretending to be ghosts.”
“Hey, you are the ones who started it,” said Roddy with a laugh.
He pushed the mech’s cockpit open and emerged.
Roddy jumped down and stood before Selina. He smiled and said, “You’re lucky. I’ve got beef with that Mohican-haired fellow outside. That’s why I decided to help you.”
“So now what?” Selina took two steps backward. “What do you want to do now?”
“Do you fellows have any interest in cooperating a bit?” asked Roddy with a smile that revealed the whites of his teeth. “It would appear that the Mohican-haired fellow had beaten you fellows up pretty badly. Do you want to cooperate? We’ll work together to give him a bitter time.”
There was a complex expression on Selina’s face and she looked at Roddy with a hesitant face. She seemed to be considering the proposal.
Roddy however, pointed at Carmen who was still lying on the ground. “Bro, will you stop pretending to be dead now? Stop pointing your gun at me, all right? My companion’s temper is not that good. If you keep this up, you might end up with a hole in your head.”
Carmen chuckled as he got up. He kept his gun and showed both his hands. “All right. That just now was just my reaction. Surely you understand?”
Roddy ignored him and turned to Selina. “So, what do you think? It’s either we cooperate… or kill you fellows for points. Then, go out and duke it out with that Mohican-haired fellow… regardless of whether I can beat him or not, I can still get away. As long as I already got the points, that’s all that matters.”
Selina took a deep breath.
She was unable to assess all of Roddy’s abilities. Additionally, he also had companions hiding in the dark.
Most importantly… he could control mechs!
“Are you a machinist?” Selina inquired. “Among Awakened ones, machinists are rare. Are you a member of Zero City’s guilds? That’s not right… the people from Zero City’s guilds will never end up having to participate in a punishment instance dungeon. Who are you?”
“I don’t think this is the appropriate moment for us to inquire information about one another.” Roddy pursed his lips to the side. “If you want to chat, we can find some other time to have a proper conversation. The important issue right now is that of battle. What do you think?”
“Deal! We’ll cooperate to fight against Denzel!” Selina was quite the decisive woman. She instantly nodded her head, extended her right hand and slowly walked toward Roddy.
Roddy looked her in the eye and walked forward as well.
When the two of them were finally standing before each other, Roddy extended his hand as well and the two of them shook hands.
In that instant, Selina thought to herself: If she were to forcibly pull him over and attacked, she was partially confident that she could utilize her martial techniques to strike his neck and…
However, she noticed the playful look in Roddy’s eyes and decided not to do so.
It was too dangerous!
This fellow had companions lurking in the dark and she was unable to figure out how many of them there were.
Perhaps, the moment she made a move, several guns would open fire at her…
After the two of them retracted their hands, Roddy nodded his head and said, “Good, you’re clever to not do anything reckless. I like cooperating with someone who understands their situation.”
“Talk then. How will we deal with Denzel?” Selina sighed. “We can form an alliance. Only after that will I fully trust you.”
“Form an alliance?” Roddy laughed. “No, no no. You must first show me a level of strength that is worthy for me to ally with. At present, we will just be cooperating. We can talk about forming alliances after we deal with the Mohican-haired fellow.”
Pausing, Roddy then asked, “Why is that Mohican-haired fellow chasing you fellows? Is there a grudge between you and him?”
“Would he not chase me if there is no grudge?” Selina replied coolly. “Everyone is going crazy over points right now.”
“I get the feeling that you are not telling me the truth.” Roddy laughed before continuing. “However, that is not the important issue here.”
“You’d better not underestimate Denzel! He is a very powerful fellow!” Carmen who was standing beside interjected. “That fellow had already done in six Awakened ones! The amount of points he has right now is very high!”
Roddy raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh?”
“Yes, my team member is not lying.” Selina’s face was grim as she continued, “Denzel had killed another team. Furthermore, he also got one of my members. The amount of points on him right now is quite considerable. Additionally, he is also a very outstanding Guild Leader. When he killed off the other team, he had also given a kill to his team members. That way, his team becomes united. He wants every member of his guild to make it out of this instance dungeon… he is aiming for all six of the available spots.”
Roddy laughed. “Interesting. Mm… what about you fellows? How many people did you kill?”
Selina quickly became anxious. She stared at Roddy and said, “No, we don’t have much points on us. We have not killed anyone at all.”
Roddy shrugged. “All right. Tell your guy who is repairing to come out. You don’t need to repair it anymore. We have a means of transport.”
“… … …” Selina hesitated for a moment before shouting, “Rodriguez! You can come out now!”
Rodriguez stuck his head out from the building and smiled. “Chief, you sure we don’t need to fight?”
“Bastard! Just come out!” Selina sighed.
Rodriguez chuckled as he moved out of the building, a gun in his hand.
Roddy observed their equipment and saw that they were all common type firearms. He could not help himself from becoming somewhat doubtful.
To be using these ordinary firearms… equipment wise, they were too weak.
But this woman… her hand had been holding onto her belt all this time… could it be some special weapon?
Roddy quickly put these thoughts aside and said slowly, “Then, we’ll lay an ambush here! Right, how should I address you?”
“Selina, Guild Leader Selina!” Selina answered coldly. “You?”
“My name is Roddy.” Roddy smiled and continued, “Another female Guild Leader. Why is it that most of the guilds I meet have female Guild Leaders?”
“That’s because we all owe her,” said Rodriguez who was standing beside them.
“Shut up, you fool!” Selina turned her head around and snapped at him. Then, she coldly turned back to face Roddy and said, “Guild Leader Roddy, how will we fight this battle?”
Roddy ignored the way she had addressed him. He sensed that this woman was deliberately attempting to probe his identity and status. “It’s very simple, your two team members will form a party and enter the buildings here to set up an ambush. My request is simple, and that is for them to be bait. Lure that Mohican-haired fellow here, then… this town is quite big. We can engage in a guerrilla warfare and lead him somewhere favourable for us. After that… finish him off!”
“The two of them in a party?” Selina looked at Rodriguez and Carmen. “What about me?”
“You and me in a party.” Roddy replied coolly.