by <unknown>
Even after the hundreds of demolition shuttles exploded around them brutally, they caused no damage at all except for the dozens of tiny wounds on the round shell of the metal octopi.
Other than the ringing and dizziness, their minds took the brunt of the blow.
They were the tough bandits from the Blood Worlds, yet they had been tricked by a bunch of villagers, who were nothing more than swine and lambs in their eyes!
"*ssholes! I'm going to skin them, draw out their veins, break their bones, and make them eat their own fingers, toes, and internal organs! All of them!"
In the middle of the surging smoke and fire, the tough bandits rose to their feet in dizziness. They were fuming so much that their skin was even breaking apart while they roared like animals.
However…
Perhaps it was their imagination, but all the bandits saw a streak of weird redness infiltrate the metal ball through a crack and float above their heads.
The redness released bloody mist unhurriedly, which interweaved into a giant, bloody face that was wearing a smile of mockery. It observed the tough bandits with great interest.
Being observed by the bloody face, all the bandits chilled in fear.
It was a natural-born instinct, like mice that were locked onto by a snake.
"Make no mistake. I actually quite like this world and appreciate you." The bloody fame smiled. "This world is brimming with negative emotions and is almost entirely covered in darkness. Tsk, tsk, tsk. It is best for my training!
"Therefore, show your darkest side to me. Struggle, scream, moan, roar, and be swallowed submissively by me. Hahaha!"
Hu!
Centered at Neltharion, the mental devil released bloody tentacles that darted to all directions, piercing the eyes, hearts, and internal organs of quite a few tough bandits instantly.
The 'hot-air balloons' immediately turned into the goriest infernos!
…
Right when the front of the Village of Peace was under the crazy attack of the Black Water Gang, dozens of insignificant bubbles suddenly popped up on the lake behind the village.
At first look, they seemed to be waves spreading on the surface of the lake. It was not until the waves faded away that the transparent armor that had almost completely melded with the lake could be seen.
When the armor approached the boats, it turned dull brown, almost identical to the color of the rusty shell of the boats.
It was a powerful function of stealth plus mimesis!
Almost everybody's attention was drawn to the overwhelming demolition shuttles and the waterborne fortress of the Black Water Gang. Together with the cover of the dark night, nobody noticed the specters who emerged from the bottom of the lake without a sound.
The specters truly seemed weightless and formless. They dashed to the iron-shelled boat at the rearmost part like soft smoke.
Suddenly, a head craned out of the deck. One flashlight shot outward and illuminated the specters precisely.
However, the specters did not stop their movements, and the person on the deck did not scream to alarm other people. Instead, he simply lowered his voice and said to the specters, "Follow me."
Faced with the immense pressure caused by the cannon fodder of the Black Water Gang, almost all the combatants of the Village of Peace had been dispatched to the front. The few iron-shelled boats at the rear, where the injured and the assets were kept, had few guards.
The specters wearing stealthy crystal suits bypassed all the sentry posts even without the help of the spy. Those who could not be bypassed were killed quickly and quietly.
Very soon, they found their way to Gu Zhengyang's command ship from the dozens of iron-shelled boats that were connected to each other.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Once they arrived, the specters finally tore apart their camouflage. In the ripples of light, they revealed their hideous weapons and darted into the command center like a burning blade!
They were ten times stronger and more resolute than the villagers, and they had the enhancement of crystal suits. The villagers guarding the command center were no match for them. In half a minute, they blew up the door of the command cabin unstoppably.
The tough bandits in crystal suits and fully armed, like iron statues, broke into the command cabin and looked at Gu Zhengyang and the elders of the village coldly.
Han Te and Liu Li, however, were one step ahead of the specters. They had also brought twenty or so young, vigorous warriors as well as abundant crystal bombs.
When the serial explosions echoed outside of the door, the guns and cannons were already aimed at the door, with the most dangerous coldness condensing inside the barrel. But it seemed useless in front of dozens of crystal suits.
"You did not see it coming, did you?" One of the 'specters' removed the facial cover. He was grinning so hideously that his face had been deformed. "Han Te, we have met again so quickly!"
It was exactly Zhao Chong, the disobedient young man and the leader of the Iron Blood Youths.
"It's really you!" Han Te shrieked in fury. "You ungrateful traitor?"
"Hehe. What do you know?" Zhao Chong said gloatingly. "My father should be the leader of the Village of Peace. We are only here to take back what's ours!"
"Enough."
An iron hand patted his shoulder and dragged him backward. Another Exo who was even taller and stronger pressed his helmet, revealing a face that was as indifferent as ice without any emotions.
'Blood Eagle' Zhao Lie and 'Sky Breaking Hammer' Gu Zhengyang confronted each other in silence and tension.
Chapter 1979: No Other Choice |
"Therefore, it was a trap during the Bliss Ceremony in Broken Stone City the other day…"
Gu Zhengyang's pupils constricted violently, and he could not have looked more depressed. He stared at Zhao Lie's face so hard as if he were going to bite it off and swallow it into his stomach.
"If we'd listened to your command to attack the camps of the other villages deep inside the ruins, we would have been ambushed by the Black Water Gang, and you'd have saved yourselves a lot of trouble today, right?"
Zhao Lie smiled miserably and shook his head. "Leader, after all these years we've been fighting side by side, it seems that you do not understand me at all. However despicable and shameless I am, would I ever intentionally lead my brothers to death? I really do not know anything about the Black Water Gang!
"My 'good friends' here are not from the Black Water Gang. As for exactly who they are, you will know it after you see them."
By Zhao Lie's side, two Exos, one fat and the other slim, opened their facial covers slowly while chuckling.
They were two people with distinctive features.
The guy on the left was tall and thin, like an untrimmed bamboo with all its branches. His face was also dented and deformed, as if he had suffered excessive radiation. He was disgustingly hideous.
The guy on the right, however, had facial organs that were entirely buried in his fat. His head was like a glistening balloon that was emitting red and white colors. He could not have looked creepier.
It seemed that both of them had been corroded by radiation or biochemical poisons. Their gene strands had been disrupted and reorganized, resulting in the mutations inside their bodies.
The experienced sinners all knew that the last people they should mess with in the Land of Sins were the serious mutants such as these two.
That was because most of the mutants had already been killed when they suffered pollution and corruption. If they somehow managed to survive, they definitely had something special about them, and it was very likely that they possessed dreadful techniques.
Also, those people generally had seriously twisted minds because of their physical abnormalities. Those who were captured by them would not get a quick death even if they cooperated.
Neither Han Te nor Liu Li had seen anyone as ugly before. Although Han Te had some radiation burns on his face himself, he coul
d not help but exclaim, "Ah!"
When the two serious mutants heard the sound, their faces wriggled weirdly like rubber that had been thrown into acid, and they showed hideous smiles to Han Te and Liu Li.
Gu Zhengyang hurried to hide the two little fellows behind him, but his heart had sunk into the deepest part of a cold, dark swamp.
Zhao Lie was perhaps not lying—those around him were indeed not from the Black Water Gang, but they were ten times scarier than the Black Water Gang!
The two serious mutants could be called notorious even in the Bloody Worlds, where wolves and hyenas were the dominators.
The tall and slim guy was named 'Ma Ku', while the fatty whose facial organs were buried by the fat was named 'Fei Zhong'.
Ma Ku was a 'persistent' man.
He had once made a plan to kill one person every day. It would not matter if he killed more, but he had to kill at least one of them.
It was said that he had persisted for ten years and killed at least five thousand people. Even if he killed twenty one day, it did not mean that he could take a rest tomorrow.
"The thing about killing is that we must persist in it no matter what stands in our way. We must never quit what we are doing," Ma Ku had once said. "In fact, I am not particularly fond of killing, but I don't like being a quitter, either. You can only taste the fun in something when you see it through to the end."
He was not picky about whom he killed. He would not mind playing with the prey who were above average, but if he could not find one, the common sinners who were strong enough or even the strengthless ones among them would also suffice.
It was said that one time he was carrying out a mission in the wilderness, he could not find an enemy to kill at all. So, he simply chopped off the head of his companion before midnight came.
The companion was a super gunner who had been cooperating with him for years. The two of them had neat, flawless teamwork.
At that time, they were about to hunt terribly ferocious mutated beasts together. Without the support of the gunner, it was very possible that he would have been killed alone!
"I have continued this for seven years, four months, and nine days after a lot of trouble. What a shame it would have been if it had stopped there," Ma Ku, whose blood almost ran dry because of the wounds all over his body, had explained to other people.
Ma Ku had to kill someone every day, but Fei Zhong was the opposite. Few people had ever seen him attacking in public.
He seemed to be a man who was not very fond of killing. Killing one or two people at most every fortnight was enough for him.
In the Bloody Worlds, killing once every half month could almost be called merciful or kindhearted.
However, everybody knew that what Fei Zhong cared about was not the quantity of the people he killed but the quality of the killing.
He might not kill anyone for ten days or even half a month, but when he decided on someone, he would take three to five days to kill them.
There would not be a moment of rest in those three to five days. Like embroidering or engraving, he would kill them slowly and carefully to the accompaniment of music, light, and incense, savoring the greatest joy in the process.
Until they were ultimately 'killed', the victims would always retain the freshest pain.
It was said that Fei Zhong had been capable of killing someone for three days five years ago, and for five days three years ago. Right now, he could spend seven days killing someone, and the victim would still be as conscious as ever at the twenty-third hour of the sixth day and could even talk in their normal tone.
Therefore, many tough bandits from Double Dragons Valley agreed that they would rather be killed by Ma Ku a hundred times than be killed by Fei Zhong once.
Ma Ku and Fei Zhong, two gods of brutality from the Red Fire Gang, were perhaps not the strongest bandits in the group, but they were certainly the creepiest perverts!
Unlike the Black Water Gang, which had only risen in recent years, the Red Fire Gang was a traditional gang that had dominated the Double Dragons Valley for almost twenty years. It was also the largest and the most immeasurable band of bandits in Double Dragons Valley.
Every year, the Village of Peace was obliged to offer abundant assets to the Red Fire Gang in order to keep the village safe for the next year.
If the Black Water Gang were the only group coveting the Village of Peace, Gu Zhengyang might have been able to summon his courage to fight the bandits.
But right now, they were under attack from both sides, and even the Red Fire Gang had laid its fingers on the Village of Peace. Gu Zhengyang was really at a loss.
Gu Zhengyang seemed to be in immense pain as he said bitterly, "What do you want exactly?"
"Don't worry, leader. The Village of Peace has been subservient to the Red Fire Gang all these years. The Red Fire Gang certainly does not intend to annihilate everybody in the village," Zhao Lie said. "Now, as long as you resign as the leader, clean up the mess with me, and distribute a thousand young warriors for the Red Fire Gang to command, the Red Fire Gang will forever be the toughest shield for the Village of Peace."
"I don't care about the position of leader at all!" Gu Zhengyang shook his head slowly. "However, a thousand warriors? The Village of Peace only has several thousand people in total, and we suffered heavy casualties in the recent Bliss Ceremony. Even if all the adults are summoned, there may not be a thousand.
"Besides, why does the Red Fire Gang want so many warriors?
"I got it. The Red Fire Gang is declaring war on some forces again, right? They are in great need of 'cannon fodder'. Zhao Lie, you claimed just now that you wouldn't be shameless enough to send your brothers to death, yet you are proposing such a thing right now. Don't tell me that you cannot see the Red Fire Gang's real purpose!"
Zhao Lie, however, was indeed that brazen. Without even raising his eyebrows, he said casually, "If we had fallen into the ambush of the Black Water Gang in Broken Stone City, we would have ended up as slaves and died for nothing, just like the unlucky guys who are attacking the Village of Peace right now. But if we agree to the terms of the Red Fire Gang today, according to the pact that I have reached with the Red Fire Gang, it will be an endeavor to save us from doom!
"Yes. Both the Red Fire Gang and the Black Water Gang are recruiting and expanding on a large scale, collecting cannon fodder and slave soldiers everywhere. Naturally, a great war will break out soon. How can I not know the danger involved?
"However, the Red Fire Gang and the Black Water Gang have already set their eyes on us. So, we do not have any choice. Our struggle is useless!
"Even if they did not need cannon fodder, since a bloody war among the gangs is coming, do you think that they would feel safe keeping a powerful, disobedient, and independent establishment like the Village of Peace behind them? They will certainly eradicate the hidden problem before the war!
"I really couldn't think of a solution. So, I choose to join the side with better terms. At the very least, the Red Fire Gang agrees to list the brothers from the Village of Peace in one team that will be commanded by me. If we win, there will be abundant trophies! Wouldn't it be much better than to be enslaved by the Black Water Gang?"
Gu Zhengyang snorted. "It's cannon fodder after all. The Bloody Worlds are not for us to enter. How many of the thousand warriors of the Village of Peace do you think can survive a gory battle? And what will their families do after they are lost?"
With brutality beaming out of his eyes, Zhao Lie said, "I don't know how many people will survive if we work for the Red Fire Gang. I only know that we will all die if we don't agree!"
Looking at Zhao Lie and the creepy Ma Ku and Fei Zhong next to him, Gu Zhengyang opened his mouth but could not say anything.
"You can't talk sense to him!" Zhao Chong ran forward again and declared, "Old leader, your ways do not work in the Land of Sins today. Just listen to my father!"
"Bullsh*t!"
Han Te could not help but charge f
orward. The dazzling electric arcs danced around his right arm as his fists and Zhao Chong's crashed. He had been trained by Li Yao under high pressure in the last half month. Despite the enhancement of the crystal suit, Zhao Chong was blown three steps back.
"*sshole!"
Zhao Chong did not expect Han Te to be as strong. He vomited a mouthful of blood, and his face looked like ice.
"We will not bend!"
Han Te straightened his right arm. The metal rings on it revolved quickly and shot out dozens of bullets that were mixed with electric arcs!
Chapter 1980: You're Right, But... |
"Petty trick!"
A crimson shield of light was condensed before Zhao Lie's right arm and took the blow of the electric bullets. Dozens of powerful blasts spread out in a row, making Zhao Lie grunt and shake violently.
The renowned 'Blood Eagle' did not expect Han Te to have grown so quickly to such a level. Even he almost failed to resist the bombardment of the young man despite the enhancement of his crystal suit. He was slightly dazed.
However, he did not give Han Te a second chance. Before Han Te condensed the second wave of electric arcs, the crimson ghostly claw appeared again and slapped Han Te to the ground brutally, holding him down and making it impossible for him to move.
Shua!
Zhao Chong, having finally gathered himself, raised his chainsword high and grinned hideously. "Die now, Han Te!"
Before he slashed his chainsword, however, he was kicked away by Ma Ku, the brutal bandit from the Red Fire Gang.
"This pig is not half bad." Every hole on Ma Ku's face seemed to be glittering like an eye and licking Han Te's body greedily. "He can be sold at a good price at the Fist King's. Don't waste him."
"Hey, Gu Zhengyang." Fei Zhong, the giant meatball, stepped forward and held Gu Zhengyang back with his dominating aura. He then put one of his iron feet on Han Te's back and squeezed the captive's spine slowly. A hole suddenly split apart on the fat on his face, as he grimaced and said, "Is this your disciple? You've taught him well!"
