Chapter 161: Chapter 145: Unsettled
The life perception module, through a combination of factors such as infrared, temperature, sound, smell, airflow, and others, was ultimately processed by a chip through a special algorithm to yield a rough perception module.
Because it provided a modest increase to combat effectiveness and occupied too much computational power, the Inner City Pioneers generally didn't favor installing this module in the early stages.
But in this instance, it was clear that a team was formed, and someone had specifically switched to it for the mission.
"Not bad, a few dozen aliens could also count as earnings, but earlier the base sent news that a New World appeared nearby. It's just right to go and take a look; too many materials would be hard to carry anyway."
Another figure, who also sported metallic modifications and half a face infiltrated with silvery metal, showed some mechanical red glints in their eyes.
It seemed to them that a few dozen aliens posed not much of a threat.
"Brother Vincent, I've said before we should have brought along a few mud-legged folks from the outer city; even as porters, they would have been useful. With just the three of us, it's easy, but there's no one to do the menial tasks."
Another figure, about 1.9 meters tall and wearing lightweight chainmail, appeared a bit helpless in his complaints.
"Aren't you the one doing menial tasks?"
The previously mentioned half-cyborg with the life perception module smirked as they spoke.
Really, cyborg implantation is top-notch donkey work. Discover hidden tales at mvl
"Roll away~ Can't beat Boss Vincent, so you think you can beat me?"
"Enough, something is off—there are voices over there."
Vincent frowned as he adjusted his auditory receiving device, filtering out some of the noise to faintly discern what seemed to be voices of people talking.
"Dozens of people in a team in the rainforest? That's hardly likely, isn't it? That would be a bloody loss."
"This…"
The two bickering guys were also startled.
Heading out on an operation didn't mean the more people, the better. Like the three of them, although only a trio, their strong abilities meant high speed and efficiency.
At best, they could bring along a few qualified outer city mud-legged folks to carry the freight and do menial auxiliary soldier tasks.
If the number increased, daily necessities like eating, drinking, and relieving oneself became an issue. An alien sneak attack could easily reduce their numbers, and the spoils of war obtained wouldn't be enough to go around, making it a complete loss.
But soon enough, a voice came through, confirming this.
"My friends, this is our campsite, and the aliens are mine. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, let's mind our own business, how about it?"
Tao Yu casually activated his stance skill, and his voice rolled forward, louder than the previous roar of the Queen.
With the proficiency of Five Forms as One, Myriad Streams Breathing Technique, and the second-level Deification Stance Skill growing higher and higher.
Tao Yu's control over his inner strength was becoming more and more skillful.
Just the roar of an Alien Queen and his own voice speaking was enough to signal that they were not to be trifled with.
He didn't want extraneous complications or trouble; he just planned to take this group back safely and securely.
"Inner strength?"
Vincent's eyes flashed with an electronic red glint upon hearing Tao Yu's voice.
In the younger generation of the Inner City, there should be no reason for him not to recognize someone whose inner strength had reached such a level.
Not going for alien implantation, nor for mechanical modification, but relying purely on personal capability, the pace of early progress was far from comparable.
Some still chose to have a few non-intrusive organs implanted for lateral support.
Thinking of something, Vincent pondered for a moment before taking the initiative to say,
"Friend, there was a cult incident at the temporary gathering site outside the rainforest. Your voice sounds a bit unfamiliar. I need to understand a bit more."
As Vincent spoke, he signaled with his eyes, and the three of them cautiously moved forward.
Dozens of people together in this direction, which was also the location of the New World, and they're so resistant, not wanting contact?
There's definitely something fishy here!
He intended to find an excuse for further confirmation.
This response caused Tao Yu to raise his eyebrows too.
"So it turns out you three are cult followers. Well, that simplifies matters..."
Vincent hadn't expected the other side to be even more aggressive. Here he had just wanted to find an excuse to approach, but the other party was directly looking for an excuse to kill?
Damn!
That's far too extreme!
Before he could voice another word, a figure shot toward their direction like a cannonball.
The speed was astounding, the force terrifying.
But this blunt approach left the trio momentarily stunned.
Are there really such fearless simpletons?
The former half-cyborg figure immediately fired a shoulder cannon in response.
Boom~
The figure in the air was blasted backwards in flight.
"Is that all?"
Qian Hai, the half-cyborg with the life perception module, was also somewhat baffled by his own achievement.
However, there were no other approaching figures on his life detection module, supposedly...
Before he could finish the thought in his mind, a sudden air pressure alarm crazily blared in his head.
Fuck!
The semi-automatic mechanical feedback, following the source of the pressure, automatically raised his hand through the control of the chip, and at the same time, a round metal shield popped up on his wrist.
Clang!
The round metal shield barely blocked a pitch-black whip kick that had just appeared.
A black keratin layer covered the leg, making it seem like a long black whip!
Though the round shield didn't shatter, it still forcefully pressed his Mechanical Arm against his chest due to an overwhelming force!
A brutal strength bore straight through the round shield and metal arm, striking his chest.
The metallic surface over his chest wasn't damaged, just slightly dented, but inside the precisely engineered artificial heart instantly burst!
His whole body clearly took a heavy hit, strong enough to force his Mechanical Arm to slam back into his chest.
But under the lash of the whip kick, he stood still on the spot as if he were a dummy, without even moving an inch!
Blood and mechanical fluid continuously spurted from his mouth, and his electronic eyes flickered incessantly before quickly dimming.
However, Tao Yu, after delivering this strike, directly rode the momentum of the kick's rotation to vanish into the shadows like a dispersing ink painting, eluding the dense barrage of gunfire that followed.
Vincent's two arms transformed into a dense firing array, unleashing chains of bullets without a care for Qian Hai, who originally could have served as a meat shield, thereby enshrouding him as well.
The chains of bullets whipped through in a sweeping fire.
Qian Hai, who also had a body enhanced with mechanical modifications, was instantly torn apart under the dense barrage, reduced to several sections with sparks flying.
Boom~
A violent explosion occurred, severing an ancient, towering tree in half.
Flames and high temperatures ignited the moist nearby vegetation.
The shockwave rampaged outwards, stirring up a host of dead twigs and leaves and breaking off many branches.
"What the hell kind of ability is this? He's got to be dead now, right?"
Vincent felt both shock and fear in his heart.
The opponent had previously penetrated Qian Hai's defenses with a single blow, instantly fatal!
Even if his own modifications were stronger than Qian Hai's, if the target were himself...
Vincent, who had just deployed a ring of Guile Thunder to protect himself, suddenly felt a terrifying chill.
Ratatata~
Continuous gunfire unexpectedly broke out from behind!
"How can he move so fast!"
As he was about to turn his firepower around, the attacking bullets had already hit the back of his head.
Clang!
Dual layered gunfire, augmented by the refined spiritual power of his Meditation Technique, instantly sent him into a system crash, leaving him utterly unable to perform further operations.
Even though his skull had been reinforced with special alloy strong enough to resist ordinary armor-piercing bullets.
But as the bullets exploded, they were accompanied by dissipating shadows.
A crack on the metal skull caused by the AP bullet seemed to gather, infiltrate, pry with a black mist.
Crack~
The metal skull shattered, allowing the bullets to wreak havoc.
Boom~
Another round of explosion followed, and Bao Wei, who had narrowly escaped the initial blast, again awkwardly dove behind a nearby tree.
Feeling the sweeping heat and the trembling earth.
He knelt on the ground in terror, continuously pleading for mercy.
"I didn't see anything, I don't know anything, please let me go, I didn't see you, I don't know who you are!"
However, right at that moment, he suddenly felt a lethal threat and instinctively jumped.
A fleeting glint of cold light, which was meant to sever his head, instead split his torso due to his jump.
In an instant, even with his body clad in Chainmail, he was cut into two in midair, leaving only his upper body to fall to the ground, screaming pitifully.
It had to be said that people implanted with alien bodies indeed had tenacious vitality; they could still scream so loudly even after being bisected.
And a figure that seemed to be assembled from ink slowly appeared before his eyes.
"Now you see."
"Huh?"
The screaming Bao Wei, with only half a body, had a momentary blank expression, but before he could react further, the next flash of cold light split his upper body in two, vertically.
Tao Yu re-sheathed the Treasonous Blade and kicked the few segments of the cyborg Pioneers' corpses together.
After a cursory search, he tossed a Molotov cocktail onto them, igniting a fiery blast with a boom~.
Turning to look back at the lingering flames from the two explosion sites, and considering the humid rainforest environment, Tao Yu scratched his head.
"It shouldn't cause any wildfires, I guess. You guys really are a curse, not even resting in peace after death..."