Chapter 344 - 18: Fierce Fight

Chapter 344: Chapter 18: Fierce Fight

A massive blade of light shot toward them. Jia Rui, the squad’s defender, took the full force of the attack. His shield was struck by the Sword Qi and instantly shattered, its ten thousand points of energy completely depleted.

Jia Rui reacted in a flash. The moment his shield shattered, his body hardened like steel. He was then struck by the Sword Qi and sent flying.

After shattering Jia Rui’s shield, the three large streams of Sword Qi broke apart into numerous smaller streams, lashing out in all directions. The surrounding environment and the other squad members were all caught in the onslaught.

Everything in the vicinity was torn to shreds, as if a whirlwind had swept through, leaving the area riddled with gashes.

The shields of the other Thunder Squad members were also heavily depleted by the Sword Qi assault.

Lei Zhou looked toward the source of the attack. Not far away, perched atop a tree, a valiant-looking young man stood against the wind. He held a fine sword in one hand and a container in the other, from which he was tilting his head back to drink.

Lei Zhou’s eye twitched. ’With a pose like that,’ he thought, ’is he about to say something like, "Hahaha, not bad! You actually managed to withstand one of my attacks"?’

As a veteran Extraordinary Mercenary, he certainly wasn’t going to give his enemy a chance to grandstand.

And so, he drew the imported Spiritual Energy Gun from his back. He channeled his Spiritual Energy into the weapon. After a few seconds of charging, the energy was amplified into a High-Energy Beam that shot straight toward Li Hua.

Li Hua had just unleashed three massive, wide-ranging streams of Sword Qi with all his might, and his Spiritual Energy was nearly depleted. The sudden feeling of emptiness made him stagger, nearly causing him to fall from the tree. With no time to dodge, he remained on the treetop, took out the "Purified Water" Lin Yu had given him, and began to drink.

After a few gulps of "Purified Water," the void left by his depleted Spiritual Energy began to subside.

"Hm?" Suddenly, he felt a sharp prickle of danger. Before he could consciously react, his right hand, holding the sword, slashed diagonally downward. The newly replenished Spiritual Energy surged in response, coalescing into a solid blade of Sword Qi on his sword.

The Sword Qi collided with the High-Energy Beam, knocking the beam off its original path. Li Hua instinctively tilted his head as the ray flew past his ear, carrying a scorched scent. It pierced through the tree trunk behind him, leaving a blackened hole.

Li Hua stared at the blackened hole in the tree, then touched his own hair, which smelled slightly singed. He jumped in fright.

Feeling his Spiritual Energy draining away again, Li Hua immediately raised the bottle and took several more frantic gulps.

Then, he leaped into the air, mounting his sword and gliding toward the ground.

On the ground, Lei Zhou watched as Li Hua deflected the beam with a single, seemingly casual sword strike, emerging completely unscathed. And then... he just went back to drinking his wine without a second glance?

’Hiss... A true master!’

In Lei Zhou’s eyes, what had first seemed like posturing now looked like the confident air of an expert.

He cautiously put the Spiritual Energy Gun away and drew his Vibration Blade.

The Vibration Blade was his primary weapon. Its high-speed resonance generated a powerful armor-piercing effect, which, when infused with Spiritual Energy, could inflict devastating damage.

Lei Zhou was a melee fighter with lightning-based abilities. By enhancing himself with lightning-type Spiritual Energy, his speed and strength far surpassed those of other Extraordinary Warriors at his level. This, combined with the Vibration Blade, made him a formidable opponent.

The Spiritual Energy Gun had more power and longer range, but it consumed a great deal of Spiritual Energy. Against a master like Li Hua, who could cleave a High-Energy Beam in two, it was not only ineffective but also a waste of precious energy.

More importantly, he had used up his Spirit Crystals and hadn’t restocked, which meant he couldn’t fire continuously.

’Otherwise,’ he thought, ’if all five of us fired a volley, I doubt he could dodge all the beams.’

Li Hua floated gracefully to the ground (his vertical descent while gliding was rather slow, as he still couldn’t properly control the sword’s levitation). "Who are you?" he asked.

Seeing Li Hua’s expert demeanor, Lei Zhou decided to change his strategy from a direct assault to a more cunning approach. "We are the Honored Guest Squad of the Hass Clan," he said. "We’re here to extract members of the Hass Clan from within Black Salt City. If you’ll please let us pass."

From their initial clash, Lei Zhou could see clearly that the Swordsman before him was incredibly strong. His own side did not have the upper hand.

This was especially true in terms of firepower. His squad had just completed a mission to capture an Extraordinary fugitive, using up all their Spirit Crystals in the process. Without a chance to resupply, they were no match for this Swordsman.

If they had enough Spirit Crystals, he would have been confident in putting up a fight. Their sniper, Gu Xue, could even unleash the attack power of a third-rank combatant if she had a sufficient supply.

"Don’t you know what’s happening in Black Salt City?"

"We don’t know, and we don’t need to. We just need to complete our mission, and then we’ll be on our way."

"You’re free to enter," Li Hua "kindly" reminded him. "But once you’re in, you won’t be able to leave!"

"Can’t you make an exception? We’re here to extract people. If we can’t leave, how is that an extraction?"

"Then I’m afraid I can’t help you. Our orders are to let no one leave Black Salt City. Besides, your mission is to extract people. Whether or not you can leave has nothing to do with it, does it? You’ll have extracted them, won’t you?"

"...There’s no need for that. Young man, you’re so young, and you’re not wearing a military uniform. I’m guessing you’re a contractor, right? No need to be so devoted to the job. We’re just escorting a few people out of Black Salt City. It’s no big deal, is it?"

"Heh heh. It seems you really don’t know anything at all. Let me tell you why no one is allowed to leave Black Salt City!"