Chapter 65: The Surprise Attack

"GG."
Chen Lan typed these two letters in the public channel as he casually shattered the opposing crystal. The score of 24–0 stood out conspicuously above.
For someone like him, whose reflexes and physical abilities far surpassed ordinary humans, playing this kind of game was akin to hunting mosquitoes with anti-aircraft guns. Not just casual matches—Chen Lan was confident he could win the world championship if he wanted to.
Though he already found it somewhat dull, Chen Lan still logged in to play whenever boredom struck.
He declined the invitation from his teammates, slipped his phone into his pocket, and glanced at the man before him, who remained in the same posture as ten minutes ago, silently reading a book.
"Captain, how much longer until we can make our move?"
Chen Lan walked to the window, stretching lazily, and flashed a smile to the man downstairs who kept peering up at them.
"It's almost noon. I want to hurry back to the academy for lunch. And the guy down there has been watching us for over an hour—I bet he's on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Captain..."
"Just wait a bit longer."
Su Qingfeng, sitting in the chair, closed his book and interrupted Chen Lan's chatter with resignation. He knew that if he didn't put a stop to it, Chen Lan could go on talking until he finally got a response.
"The team isn't fully in position yet. We'll wait until the medical unit is ready."
"Please—inside, that crazy woman is liable to hack her teammates with a knife. I'd rather not have the medical team's support."
Chen Lan darted from the window to Su Qingfeng's side like a startled rabbit, alertly scanning the surroundings, as if fearing a crimson figure might leap out from some corner.
"Don't talk nonsense about things that don't exist."
Su Qingfeng frowned, but thinking of that woman, even he involuntarily shuddered. The image of her crimson figure charging wildly on the battlefield chilled him, despite his own unflinching personality.
In terms of combat ability, he certainly wasn't inferior to a member of the medical team, but that madwoman seemed to treat her own life as expendable. Even if he defeated her, Su Qingfeng felt he'd be dragged down with her in the end.
"Assault squad, the situation at the scene has changed. Begin entry into the mission site."
A magnetic female voice suddenly sounded in their earpieces.
"Understood!"
Su Qingfeng and Chen Lan pressed their headsets in response, three distinctly different voices echoing in the channel.
"Stay sharp, Wan Ye! We're counting on you to cover our backs!"
Chen Lan called out in the channel, pulling a giant sword as tall as a person from the seat behind him and swinging it effortlessly; the transparent wind from the blade carved deep marks into the steel security door.
"Don't worry—ha, I'm so sleepy, let's finish this quick."
A lazy voice came through, and a glint of reflected light flickered atop the distant tower, signaling to them.
"That guy, I'm starting to wonder if he'll accidentally shoot me while yawning."
Chen Lan grumbled as he and Su Qingfeng helped each other into their combat suits. The research department's suits were excellent in performance, but the skin-tight inner lining had been the butt of his jokes for ages.
Still, for the sake of his own life, Chen Lan's complaints didn't stop him from donning the gear properly. After all, relying on his own flesh to take bullets was a bit much.
"Enough banter. Wan Ye, give us a report."
Su Qingfeng tucked two large-caliber pistols into his belt and adjusted the long blade on his back, ensuring he could draw it smoothly.
"Nothing major, but it seems those cultists are fighting among themselves. I see all the guards outside rushing in. Wait—what's that woman doing?"
Wan Ye's tone shifted from lazy to alert, and even through the headset, Chen Lan could imagine those squinting eyes forced wide open in surprise.

Su Qingfeng seemed to realize something, and in a flash, he rushed to the security window. Through his eyes, a crimson flame sped down the center of the street—a crouched figure, wild as a beast, charging straight toward the door they'd been surveilling.
"Quick, let's go!"
Su Qingfeng could already make out the faint outline of black gun barrels at the end of the street. As the cultists' base, it would be impossible not to have full defenses.
A cold flash of the blade, and the steel bars of the security window melted and sliced open as if by heat, the edges glowing red from the high temperature. But there was no time; Su Qingfeng hadn't anticipated anyone would force their way through the barrage.
Boom—
Thunderous blasts echoed from the direction of the tower. Gunmen at the street's end wailed, dropping to their knees, all losing their trigger fingers without exception, blood pouring everywhere.
The precision and speed made them suspect they were facing an entire battalion of ace snipers, but even in the blind spots of their vision, muzzle flashes erupted.
"Damn it, are these people really cultists? How did they manage to move so much military hardware here?"
Chen Lan deflected a bullet with his giant sword. Sweat beaded at his temple—the shot had nearly pierced his brain through his eye socket, the angle vicious.
"Use your abilities. Something's off!"
Su Qingfeng shouted beside him. As Chen Lan had said, this was supposed to be a Class C mission; at worst, they expected a couple of pistols and a few ability users. Now, dozens of submachine guns had appeared out of nowhere!
"Get out of the way!"
He saw a suspiciously large-caliber barrel protruding from a nearby building, aiming at the charging figure in the street's center. Gritting his teeth, he extended his right hand.
The roar of artillery and the explosion of flames shattered the eardrums of bystanders, even those in the distant tower could feel the ground tremble slightly. A pillar of fire erupted, scorching and violent.
The charging figure seemed to hear Su Qingfeng's shout, twisting desperately, deep red hair fluttering in the air like a butterfly unfurling its wings, those dark, fathomless eyes never leaving her path ahead.
Even with Su Qingfeng's extraordinary reaction, causing the missile to explode mid-air upon colliding with the flames, the scattered shrapnel and shockwave still swept over everything in the street.
That rocket was meant for mutual destruction; Su Qingfeng could see gunmen hiding in the shadows losing their skulls to shrapnel, brains and blood splattering everywhere. That was the best outcome—many more had shrapnel deeply embedded in their bodies; even if removed, they'd be bedridden for life.
"Save them!"
Su Qingfeng stared at the people falling amid the flames, his eyes bloodshot.
"The medical unit and backup teams are blocked! Hold on a bit longer!"
A senior's anxious voice came through the headset, interspersed with the crackle of stray bullets and relentless explosions.
Only now did Su Qingfeng realize that this seemingly foolproof mission was actually a trap—a trap targeting the academy. They had walked right into it, exposed under the hunters' gun barrels, even baring their bellies.
"What do we do, Captain? There are too many of them!"
Wan Ye's gun was overheating, forcing him to cool it with water. Even a regular sniper rifle couldn't withstand sustained firing of such large-caliber rounds, and he'd already fired hundreds in just a few minutes.
It wasn't only Su Qingfeng's group fighting; every place the academy sent support was being intercepted. For a Class C mission, their firepower was utterly insufficient; they were cornered in the alley by ordinary people with guns.
Bang!
Wan Ye rolled aside as shattered stone grazed past him—a massive bullet hole marked where he'd just been, smoke curling above it.
"Psychic bullets! Captain, the enemy has..."
With gunfire echoing in the sky, Wan Ye's transmission was abruptly cut—only the hiss of static remained.
"Damn!"
Even Su Qingfeng couldn't hold back a curse. That rocket wasn't just powerful; the whole street was now shrouded in dust, and they'd lost Wan Ye, their eyes—now they didn't even know where the enemy was!

"Captain, what now?"
Chen Lan crept to Su Qingfeng's side, the swirling azure aura shielding him from the explosion's effects, though his face was pale.
Using his abilities for extended periods was a huge drain on stamina; another blast like that and Chen Lan feared he'd simply pass out.
"Continue the mission."
Su Qingfeng stared coldly down the street. According to protocol, they should now withdraw, preserving themselves as the top priority.
But the constant wails echoing from the street made it impossible for him to turn away; to do so would be a lifelong disgrace.
"First, evacuate the crowd in the street. We'll storm the original target afterwards."
"Alright!"
Chen Lan agreed without hesitation. Like Su Qingfeng, if they slunk away now, he could never forgive his own cowardice.
Their personalities and habits might differ, but this pride was shared—otherwise, they wouldn't be teammates. They absolutely refused to hide behind ordinary people as ability users.
That rocket had been aimed at the charging figure in the street, but it had also devastated the gunmen hidden on both sides.
While rescuing the crowd, Su Qingfeng kept vigilant for danger, but as the dust settled and he gathered the unconscious people to a surviving shop, no more shots rang out. Instead, gunfire in nearby streets intensified.
"These people..."
Su Qingfeng looked at the dense crowd huddled together, a trace of surprise in his eyes.
Even in such an explosion, he should have been severely injured, but these ordinary people had merely fallen unconscious; apart from a few scrapes from falling, they seemed unharmed.
Something was wrong.
Su Qingfeng reached out and lifted a man's shirt. The garment was tattered, little more than strips, yet beneath it, the man's skin was unmarked.
"Boss, take a look at this."
Chen Lan dragged a corpse over—the mask revealed he was one of the gunmen.
"What is it?"
Su Qingfeng crouched in front of the corpse, puzzled, seeing nothing unusual.
"The wound, it's cut by a blade, not shrapnel."
Chen Lan pointed to the bloody gash on the corpse's neck—the fatal blow, a ruthless slash that severed the throat and caused massive bleeding. He hadn't managed to utter a word before dying.
"So?"
"That crazy woman uses a knife."
A hint of awe crossed Chen Lan's face. If he'd taken a rocket head-on, he'd have passed out instantly. Yet this woman was still alive, charging through the dust.
"No, this mark..."
Su Qingfeng suddenly turned. On the arm of the man whose shirt he'd stripped, the exact same bloody gash stood out starkly.