Chapter 42 - Liar (1/2)

Chapter 42: “Liar”

It was not that Shang Jianyao and the others had never thought of Jingfa responding in such a manner. However, they believed it impossible for Jingfa to determine their intentions immediately. They believed that Jingfa would need to complete a few more rounds of hide and seek before he would realize what was happening.

To their surprise, the mechanical monk—Jingfa—had immediately grasped their core intention. It was as if his mind-reading ability had no limits.

Shang Jianyao did not ask Bai Chen what to do and handled it according to the worst situation he had expected:

By expelling Jingfa from the inner circle around the tire tracks to the outer circle, Shang Jianyao hoped to hold out a little longer so that the jeep could enter the commonly traversed area in the Blackmarsh Wilderness.

The inner circle’s diameter and size were definitely smaller than those of the external circle; thus, it could effectively reduce the exoskeleton’s lacking reaction speed and fluidity when facing a real ‘intelligent’ robot.

Just like that, a human covered in an iron-black metal skeleton and a mechanical monk—which had an iron-black metal skeleton to begin with—ran crazily in the wilderness, the forest, and the swamp’s edge. They jumped and ran in this pursuit without considering their energy expenditure.

During this process, Shang Jianyao tried to fire the grenade launcher and electromagnetic weapon several times. However, Jingfa changed directions in time and distanced himself from them. Jingfa had no intention of engaging in an all-out battle.

Shang Jianyao—who was driving the exoskeleton at maximum capacity—watched the electric charge decrease bit by bit. He watched as the distance between him and the jeep’s estimated location shrank bit by bit. Although he was anxious, he couldn’t do anything about it.

If Jingfa had chosen to close the distance and engage in a fierce battle with him, Shang Jianyao could have acted on the spur of the moment and risked his life. However, the current developments made him feel like he had contracted a chronic terminal disease that medicine was useless against. He felt like he was walking toward death one step at a time.

“Don’t be impatient.” Bai Chen couldn’t do anything while Shang Jianyao was running and jumping at high speeds, but she acutely sensed Shang Jianyao’s change in condition.

Jiang Baimian did not give her the grenade launcher, nor did Bai Chen mind. From her point of view, Jiang Baimian was guarding against the mechanical monk, Jingfa, in case he circled the exoskeleton and headed straight for the jeep. Furthermore, Bai Chen’s current role was to lead the way, not to fight.

Shang Jianyao did not respond, but he clearly reduced the number of times he left the inner circle. He also didn’t feel as anxious any longer.

At the same time, the jeep’s tire tracks continuously changed direction in the area. It was obvious that the jeep had made many sharp turns. This made it difficult for Jingfa to rely on his judgment of the tracks to lock onto the vehicle’s driving direction. He had no choice but to approach the inner circle to search for the car’s final traces.

This gave Shang Jianyao an opportunity. He raised his left arm and fired a grenade in a certain direction according to the precision aiming system.

Jingfa—who had just finished changing directions—looked like he had no way of dodging the attack.

The red light in Jingfa’s eyes lit up. The metal joints—such as his ankles and knees—bent in an inhuman way. Jingfa forcefully changed directions and leaped into the air.

Boom!

The grenade exploded like red, blooming fireworks. However, its burgeoning shockwave was slightly slower than Jingfa; hence, it failed to engulf the mechanical monk.

Just as Shang Jianyao felt vexed that he had not seized the opportunity, a grenade shot out from a nearby tree!

It was aimed at Jingfa—who was in midair—and had expended all his momentum.

Jingfa’s blinking red eyes subconsciously looked over and saw the ponytailed Jiang Baimian holding a grenade launcher, decked out in a gray camouflage uniform.

The Old Task Force’s team leader did not leave with the jeep but hid on a tree!

Upon seeing that it was impossible for him to dodge the grenade, the metal lids on Jingfa’s back and feet opened, revealing deep, pitch-black, fist-sized holes.

With a sizzling sound, white gas spewed out of the holes, pushing Jingfa through the air horizontally.

Rumble!

The highly explosive grenade exploded not far away from the mechanical monk. The surging shockwaves tilted Jingfa’s body, making it difficult for him to maintain his balance.

Although Shang Jianyao didn’t understand why his team leader would bizarrely appear here, he didn’t squander this opportunity. He had already raised his right arm and, using the precision aiming system, aimed the exoskeleton’s electromagnetic weapon at Jingfa—who had lost his balance in midair and was temporarily unable to produce any more thrusting gases.

Just as Shang Jianyao was about to pull the trigger, he and Bai Chen suddenly saw illusory figures that were holding up their stomachs and crazily devouring the soil. This made them believe that they were starving.

Hungry Ghost Realm!

Through his jump and horizontal movement, Jingfa had reduced the distance between him and the exoskeleton to about 20 meters!

Bai Chen anxiously reached into her pocket and took out a compressed biscuit and an energy bar. This resulted in her losing her balance and tumbling to the ground from the exoskeleton’s powerpack. However, this did not stop her from crazily tearing open the packaging and stuffing the food into her mouth.

But Shang Jianyao did not do the same. In his chin area—which wasn’t covered by the metal helmet—Shang Jianyao revealed the scene inside when he opened his mouth.

A compressed biscuit had swelled up from soaking in his saliva and filled most of his mouth.

Shang Jianyao constantly chewed and swallowed the biscuit to calm his self-imagined hunger. This prevented him from retracting his hands to search for food!