Chapter 42 - Liar (2/2)

Before leaving the jeep, he used the excuse of eating to stuff a small piece of compressed biscuit into his mouth. However, he did not swallow it because he wanted to buy a second or two under the Hungry Ghost Realm’s influence!

Taking advantage of this fleeting opportunity, Shang Jianyao crazily swallowed the biscuit in his mouth and revealed a twisted smile as he pulled the trigger.

Amidst sizzling electric currents, a bullet—wrapped in a silver-white electric arc—crossed over 20 meters at an indescribable speed and accurately struck the iron-black metal in front of Jingfa’s chest.

Bang! Bang!

Almost at the same time, a clear fist-sized depression appeared in front of Jingfa’s body.

In the depression, the iron-black metal cracked and fell off, revealing the hidden wires and components.

Cracks spread out like radiation around the depression, akin to a spider web.

With such a wound, the electromagnetic weapon’s kinetic force sent Jingfa flying away like a kite.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian—who was on the tree—had already lowered the grenade launcher. She pulled her left arm back and threw out a metal rod wrapped in countless silver-white electric currents.

Clang!

The lightning dragon-like metal rod stabbed into the depression in front of Jingfa’s body, bringing the mechanical monk down from midair and ‘impaling’ him into the ground.

With a thud, electric arcs bloomed in Jingfa’s body like countless blooming flower petals as they traced the components and wires in the depression.

The monk’s mechanical body stiffened, and his eyes lost their red glow as if he had turned to stone.

The Hungry Ghost Realm’s effects—which enveloped the surroundings—vanished.

Upon seeing this, Shang Jianyao quickly changed directions and pointed his electromagnetic weapon at Jingfa’s head.

Before he could aim, the red glow in Jingfa’s eyes lit up again. Jingfa’s entire metallic skeleton suddenly jerked, jumping into the distance with the metal rod and the sizzling silver-white electric current.

The mechanical monk then changed directions repeatedly and ran off without even turning back.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian picked up the grenade launcher again. She couldn’t hide her disappointment and loudly said, “He really has an emergency backup system and a redundant body structure!”

Shang Jianyao wanted to respond to his team leader, but his throat and mouth were filled with the ‘remains’ of the compressed biscuits. He choked until his eyes almost rolled back, and he couldn’t speak.

On the other hand, Bai Chen didn’t swallow the entire energy bar in one mouthful. After swallowing the rest of the energy bar in her mouth, she asked loudly, “Should we give chase?”

She was asking on behalf of Shang Jianyao.

Jiang Baimian looked in the direction of Jingfa’s disappearing figure and shook her head. “It’s too late. Besides, he’s only focused on escaping this time. This will make him much faster than the exoskeleton.”

With that said, she gently jumped down from the tree and walked towards Bai Chen and Shang Jianyao. She then consoled them. “However, it doesn’t matter. He has already been seriously injured by us. The emergency backup system and the redundant, segregated body structure must only have basic functions. Otherwise, it won’t fit.

“To put it simply, it’s impossible for Jingfa to continue chasing after us until he repairs himself. He probably can’t use his weapon systems or the listening system anymore.”

Bai Chen heaved a sigh of relief. “We have plenty of time to escape his pursuit then.”

Just as she said that, Shang Jianyao finished swallowing the compressed biscuits in his mouth and blurted out a question. “Team Leader, why are you here. Aren’t we meeting at Yuelu Station? Where’s the jeep?”

Jiang Baimian smiled when she heard that. “The previous plan was a lie.”

Her eyes curled from her smile. “How can I deceive Jingfa if I don’t deceive all of you?”

“…” Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen were momentarily stunned.

Jiang Baimian held the grenade launcher and looked around. “From the fact that Jingfa could ‘sense’ the female voice from the door to the steelworks factory’s blast furnace, I suspected that his listening system was stronger than we imagined. This point was later reflected to a certain extent in several areas, strengthening my suspicions.

“For example, why did he dare to go around in circles, appearing to engage in a battle of attrition? What if we had more than one spare battery?

“For example, why did he choose the passenger seat when he first attacked us? Why didn’t he choose the more important driver’s seat? He doesn’t know us, so how did he know that I’m the team leader—the one who poses the most threat? Bai Chen and I had already discussed in advance what to do when Jingfa attacked the driver’s seat. The moment I raised the grenade launcher, she would lower her body and allow the grenade to pass through the driver’s seat, fly out the window, and shoot at the target. However, this plan wasn’t used in the end.

“With this suspicion, I deliberately led you into a discussion and formulated a plan to meet at Yuelu Station to see if Jingfa would fall for it. In fact, sooner or later, he would’ve discovered that your goal is to stall for time through your performance so that the jeep will have time to escape his pursuit even if he didn’t ‘hear’ our discussion or fall for it.

“Therefore, after making a few consecutive turns here, I quickly parked the car and hid in a tree not far away. I also got Long Yuehong to continue driving forward and instructed him to stop ten minutes later to wait for us.”