Chapter 199: A Chaotic Battle (1/2)
Chapter 199: A Chaotic Battle
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The chief uncle's expression suddenly changed while he was in high-speed flight, as did everyone else's. His face went swiftly dark as he signaled for the ranks to speed up.
Just then, the masked man's eyes flashed, and Butchie's expression changed. The rest of the card artisans were shocked too. Without anything needing to be said, all of them sped up, and the entire platoon silently flew toward the energy fluctuations.
Wei-ah suddenly raised his head as his gaze went out the window.
While Chen Mu was transmitting the data to the system, he stopped what he was doing and looked out the window in some alarm.
What powerful energy fluctuations! They could likely only come from a large-scale battle. Who would dare so brazenly to do battle in the city? Chen Mu furrowed his brow. The bout of fluctuation was quite close—not more than 2,000 meters away.
After elevating his perception, his discernment became more accurate. Previously, he would still have been able to perceive it, though certainly without such clarity.
Two thousand meters wasn't anything more distant than the blink of an eye for a card artisan. As far as a large-scale melee was concerned, it wouldn't be any distance at all.
If a real large-scale card artisan battle had developed, and if he was within the range of fire, that would be quite hazardous. The bout of energy fluctuation was really powerful, and he could imagine what kind of terrifying firepower that implied. He was afraid the entire Heaven's Wings building would be leveled when it came.
But, what made him feel uncertain was that very few people would dare to open fire in a city. There were tall buildings all over the place, and there were a lot of pedestrians, most of whom were ordinary residents who had no way to protect themselves. Once a firefight developed in the city, it could create a large number of civilian casualties. There wasn't any ruler who wanted to see such a situation, whether it was a ruler in name only or the actual rulers. They always hoped for good order in their precincts to facilitate their development and the accumulation of wealth.
Therefore, in cities there would generally be a prohibition against card artisans battling. Few would ever challenge such prohibitions, whether the card artisans were strong or weak. During that time while martial power was distinctly important, there were still some other things, such as reputation, that couldn't be ignored either. Aces were generally rather protective of their public image.
But, Chen Mu wasn't concerned about such things. Under conditions where there wasn't any threat, Chen Mu could usually be considered an ordinary, peaceful gentleman. But, he couldn't remain unperturbed that time. The energy fluctuations in the air had heated up at a startling rate, and he had already sensed their danger.
That place wasn't safe!
There was already no sign of Wei-ah. Chen Mu had always had perfect confidence in Wei-ah's ability to defend himself. He wouldn't have half a chance against Wei-ah as he was then. Even if he were to pull away from Wei-ah, any tailless shuttle he might emit would still have no way to hit him. Wei-ah was like a beast with an innate fighting instinct, always good at taking advantage of whatever conditions he could. He didn't have any perception, but Wei-ah's ability to detect danger was still more powerful than Chen Mu's. He couldn't fly, but his high-speed sprinting wasn't even half a point inferior to Chen Mu's all-out flight.
He didn't know where such a freak had ever popped up from, but Wei-ah's very existence subverted everything Chen Mu knew about humanity.
As he listened attentively, there was no noise from downstairs, which Chen Mu found a little strange. Could those guys have also felt the danger? After a while, he realized it was Sunday; there were no employees at work.
As he was just about to close the communications array, the communications card transmitted the system's voice. ”If you shut down, the transmission will terminate. Do you want to shut down?”
Chen Mu didn't say anything. He had transmitted nearly half by then, and if it were to fail he would have to start all over the next time.
”Can I pause temporarily?” Chen Mu asked.
”Yes, not more than three hours.”
Three hours should be enough for him to get away from the battlefield. It was a good thing the communications array wasn't large; Chen Mu could simply pick it up in one hand.
Opening the window and taking a look to see there was no one around, he slid down the building's side. He was like a lively gecko, sticking to the outer wall of the building while following the dark, winding shadow all the way. The big mud fish card had inconceivable agility, which made Chen Mu's movements still more weird and erratic.
He shrank into a secluded corner, which was entirely hidden in the shadows. Without looking carefully, there was no way to discover Chen Mu hiding there. He slowed his breathing and carefully regulated the frequency of the spiral perceptual spring within his body, approaching the ”golden frequency” of the breath control method. That was the stealth technique he had groped for and the one he had used to evade the probing of Anna's ripple card, after which his sneak attack had succeeded. Such a technique didn't have the side effects of breath control, though its results weren't nearly as good. Not only did it not have the characteristic calm of the state of breath control, the stealth wasn't as perfect.
But, as far as Chen Mu was then concerned, it was sufficient. It didn't have any side effects, so he could use it whenever he wanted.
There were dozens of card artisans floating toward confrontation. The density of the air along with the substantial energy fluctuations meant there was about to be an attack. No matter where one might run off to by then, it wouldn't be any different than to seek death. Chen Mu could only stay hidden.
Then, Chen Mu witnessed a spectacular scene.
Glowing blades covered Heaven and Earth, and light beams and energy bombs whistled like rain drops toward where the three were flying. The high-speed flying wavy blades cut through the air with a shrill howl, and the fine, straight, glowing beams left eye-piercing traces. Those were then mixed up with the energy bombs' low whirring. It was like a symphony reaching its crescendo without any prelude.
In addition to those three most common attack methods, there were quite a few more bizarre energy attacks. The light from those even exceeded the sun, with everything a flash of white, and even the shadows in Chen Mu's corner were driven away; his body was immediately exposed. Just then, while no one was paying any attention to him and while they were all intimidated by the attacks, including Chen Mu himself...
Hong, hong, hong!
When the energy bombs detonated on the ground, or on the houses, or on the buildings, a blaze of fire would bloom. The shock wave formed by the stream of noise from the violent explosions carried along countless stones, which scattered all around with shocking speed.
Chen Mu was stunned, never having thought anyone would dare to attack so unscrupulously within the city. Compared to the scene in front of him, what he had seen before with Bo Wen or in Eastern Shang-Wei City would only be considered child's play.
He kept being surprised, though his reaction was very quick as he activated the bipolar thunderball car with the greatest dispatch. That was the most powerful energy cloak he had just then. Five small thunderballs merrily twirled around his body by themselves.
Peng, peng, peng!
In the space of a blink, he had blocked two wavy blades and an energy bomb. The Heaven's Wings building under his feet was a mess, having taken three energy bombs in that instant! Those energy bombs had detonated on the outer glass. The protective glass was shattered. Within a few brief seconds, the Heaven's Wings building had become unrecognizable. The high-temperature blasts formed by the explosion of the energy bombs nearly blew Chen Mu down. Although he wasn't injured, Chen Mu's face and head were blown with ash.
Hugo's expression was dark and frozen, and his already terrifying face was now outrageously hideous as he watched the flames formed by the explosions in front of him.
On the other hand, his voice remained calm. ”Old Bing and Bea have died.” It was as though he were reciting facts with his uniquely piercing voice. Yet, all those who were along with him, including Butchie, knew Hugo was furious! They were too!
Meanwhile, in a different direction...
”I'll go first, and you follow.” The chief uncle tossed out that phrase as he sped up. He had already seen the battle off in the distance while those huge explosions had long since gotten there. He could imagine what sort of battle had been waged! He had just lost his connection with Howie, which made him burn with anxiety.
* * *
Chen Mu hoped nothing had happened with Wei-ah! He was somewhat worried about him. An ace like Wei-ah wasn't afraid of targeted attacks. What they feared most were chaotic battles. The disorderly attacks within chaotic battles were more fatal as far as they were concerned. No one could control them; it was all fate.
Very soon, Chen Mu didn't have any time to be concerned about Wei-ah since the firepower had become still more fierce. Could those guys want to destroy Pomelo? Chen Mu promptly fled, unable to deal with anything more. He discovered with a hurried glance that one of the three who were the target of the attacks was impressively still alive. Chen Mu wouldn't have had the strength himself to escape under such strong firepower. Although that person had a defeated look, he was indeed still alive.
The one alive was Howie, and the reason he was still alive was that ”steel helmet” card of his. Before then, he hadn't liked the steel helmet since he felt it had an ugly name; he never thought it would save his life.
The steel helmet was a card given to him by his father and was said to have a long heritage. It was an energy shielding card, but it was diametrically different compared to the ordinary energy cloaking cards. Its most special feature was its outstanding protective ability. It had experienced every means of attack, none of which had ever shaken it up. But, it had a very critical weakness. Like its name, once it was activated, it was like wearing an extremely heavy steel helmet, and movements could become extremely slow.
Contemporary card artisan battles were very fast-paced, and maintaining high-speed flight was the most basic requirement. There wouldn't be any question about death once the speed slowed. Ordinarily, he really couldn't use the steel helmet. But, because it was something left to him by his father, he still kept in in his apparatus.
He hadn't thought it would be so crucial to saving him.
Maybe it was the spirit of his father in the heavens! The thought flashed through Howie's mind.
But, that firepower had been too fierce, and even the indestructible steel helmet had collapsed in an instant. What made him feel still more hopeless was that the steel helmet card in his apparatus had already broken into pieces. He had no way to use it again.
He was completely relying on his outstanding flying ability to dodge, and his body had already gotten more bloody gashes within a few seconds. Stuck in a dangerous situation, he actually calmed down and struggled to brace himself. He knew no one would save him then; if he wanted to live, he would have to depend on himself.
That was when the chief uncle and Hugo arrived.
The chief uncle saw Howie covered in blood and having difficulty bracing himself. His eyes went red, and without any hesitation, five blue lines came from his raised hand. Each of the five threads was the thickness of a finger and about two meters long, looking like five blue snakes.
Chen Mu didn't neglect to look back at the situation he was fleeing. When he saw those five blue lines, he immediately recognized the card the chief uncle was using, which was the blue polar snake line card.
Previously, while in Eastern Shang-Wei City, the one who had been after him had used it. Afterward, Chen Mu had specifically looked at materials about the blue polar snake line. That kind of card had been well-received by high-grade card artisans. It had an unusual special feature. When it was used, it produced extremely small energy waves.