A flash of blue electricity ignited on the chest of the cartoon bear robot. The nearest insect hissed, instantly charring to black carbon. Then, with a violent swing of its arms, the cartoon bear pulverized the pile of insectoid black carbon into dust. Simultaneously, the blue electrical glow rapidly spread, engulfing an area about five or six meters around the cartoon bear robot. Although the light lasted only about a second, it managed to scorch more than twenty surrounding insects into black carbon. The robot vigorously shook its hands, scattering the black dust; the swarm of insects had vanished completely...
Once the surrounding insects were reduced to ash, the cartoon bear robot began its descent from the air. The remaining insects immediately swarmed toward it again, a dense mass numbering at least several dozen. The robot was still more than ten meters in the air when it fell. Just as it was about to slam into the ground, the two prominent metallic hemispheres on its back—{and}—finally burst open, unleashing two streams of blue electricity. At the very moment the cartoon bear robot touched down, it shot forward several meters. The trailing swarm of insects crashed into the ground, giving the robot a temporary reprieve from the immediate danger.
(After unleashing the discharge, my entire body has been numb until now. This state will last for about two seconds, and for approximately five seconds following the discharge, I must store energy and cannot release any more. In other words, I cannot dodge fully for two seconds, and I cannot attack again for five seconds... If I am caught, these mechanical joints wouldn't withstand even five seconds of pulling, would they...)
Luo Gandao felt as if everything before his eyes had transformed, an indescribable sensation, as if countless streams of information were automatically pouring into his mind. What move to execute next, how to manipulate the hands, what motion to use for the external steps of the robot—balance, speed, power...
The jet-powered super-speed state, which he couldn't fully master during previous training, was now effortless under Luo Gandao's control. He manipulated the cartoon bear robot with extraordinary agility, the twin jets of electricity behind it pushing its speed to the absolute limit. Each leap allowed for short glides, making it impossible for the pursuing insects to catch up for the time being.
(...But constantly fleeing isn't a solution. Now, we still have powerful attackers... Zheng Zha is out of the question; Chu Xuan is flying everywhere above, he must be in the same state as me... So it has to be Overlord. But how do I convey the plan I've devised to him? I remember Zhan Lan saying she pays close attention to the mental state of every team member. Zhan Lan! Connect my intentions to Overlord right now!)
In his current state, {and} Luo Gandao's mind raced with thoughts on how to survive. If he were surrounded, his only option would be another electrical burst, but using that meant he couldn't dodge nimbly for two seconds. Moreover, another electrical attack required a five-second cool-down—this was his critical vulnerability. Thus, he dared not stop; the only conceivable solution was to have someone clear the insects behind him entirely.
Looking out, Zheng Zha's figure was already a blur. With his sight, he couldn't discern Zheng Zha’s speed. Zheng Zha had attracted and killed the most insects; the ground beneath him was almost entirely carpeted with a thick layer of insect corpses. Every swing of the Tiger Soul blade by Zheng Zha felled several insects. Compared to Zheng Zha’s movements, which were no longer ordinary, Chu Xuan's posture with his gun was more like sorcery—constantly shifting the muzzle's direction, perfectly eliminating one or two insects with every shot. Coupled with his fluid Green Goblin skateboard maneuvering, anyone watching could only utter the word 'perfection.' Yet, the perfect attacks of these two meant they were utterly unable to assist Luo Gandao, leaving him to dart forward relentlessly.
(Zhan Lan! Connect my consciousness to Overlord immediately!)
(Zhan Lan! Connect my consciousness to Overlord immediately... Help me, aren't we one team? Didn't you say I'm also part of the Central Continent team? Help me!!)
The insects were flying much faster than the cartoon bear robot. If Luo Gandao hadn't used his superb control to execute constant sharp turns, causing the insects to lose ground repeatedly due to inertia, he would have been overtaken by the swarm even sooner. The nearest insect was already less than five meters away. Luo Gandao's heart grew cold, tinged with despair and anger...
"...This is Overlord. What is it?"
Suddenly, a voice resonated within his consciousness. The sound startled Luo Gandao so badly his whole body shook, but his will to survive immediately surged up from within. He roared mentally, "Help me, Overlord! I will lure all the insects directly into the line of fire from your firing position! Help me! Otherwise, if this many insects surround me again, I'll..." "...Understood. The muzzle still needs time to fully heat up. Lure them over! You control the timing for the full discharge!" Overlord's voice paused briefly before speaking urgently. Luo Gandao took a deep breath. The speed of his hands on the controls was now too fast for the naked eye to follow. The cartoon bear darted back and forth in bizarre maneuvers, forcing the swarm of insects into a tight, centralized line. Then, the cartoon bear robot stomped and leaped up. With the insects tightly following, the robot bounded into the air, tumbled, and landed on the ground. Simultaneously, Luo Gandao bellowed in his mind, "Fire!" From the distant cavern, a pulse of fire erupted, and countless tiny projectiles tore through the air. The insect nearest Luo Gandao was immediately riddled with holes and effortlessly shredded into fragments. Due to the immense speed, the insects behind it, driven by momentum, kept pushing forward, piling up against the cartoon bear robot into a mound of insect corpses...
"Impressive..." Zheng Zha, though in his "Explosion" state, felt slightly less burdened thanks to the Enchanted Mithril Ring. He communicated with Zhan Lan mentally: "A fine newcomer. He's very similar to me; breakthroughs often happen at the brink of life and death... And integrating into the team isn't achieved by words alone. Besides having the team treat him well, he must also contribute to the team; that's equally necessary... Zhan Lan, how many insects are left?" Zhan Lan paused before replying, "One hundred and thirty-seven insects remain. At this current rate, they should be cleared in about a minute, but your body..."
"It's fine, my body can hold on, but maintaining the 'Explosion' state for a full minute—I can't manage that yet..." After cleaving a closing insect, Zheng Zha gritted his teeth and reverted from the "Explosion" state. As the state vanished, the surrounding insects instantly resumed their terrifying speed. In that single moment, two large gashes were torn open on his body again. Zhan Lan, watching from the cave, shrieked, the excited young woman nearly bursting out, but Overlord's massive frame effectively blocked the cave entrance, leaving her to shout loudly from the opening. Zheng Zha wasn't seeking death, however. The instant he unlocked his Gene Lock, he had retrieved the Death God Bracelet from his storage ring. He slipped the bracelet on and began furiously pumping Blood Race energy into it. As the surrounding insects swarmed him, the Death God Army monsters began emerging from the ground. These three-meter-tall monstrosities surrounded the comparatively small Zheng Zha, some wielding long blades and hacking desperately at the fast-moving insects. After exhausting the Blood Race energy, Zheng Zha didn't let go; he started channeling his Internal Force into the Tiger Soul blade. The blood-red glow surrounding the blade grew longer and deeper crimson. As nearly a hundred insects dove down upon him, he activated his Qinggong and leaped up. He stepped onto the shoulder of one of the Death God Army monsters, gripped the Tiger Soul blade tightly, and began violently stirring it in a circular motion toward the sky. By this point, he had poured both his personal Internal Force and the energy from the Enchanted Mithril Ring into the blade, extending its effective range to at least 20 meters. With this desperate flurry, countless insect corpses were bisected by the invisible blade energy. Then, countless pieces of insect bodies rained down from the sky as the majority of the swarm was annihilated by this sweeping attack. Only then did Zheng Zha weakly fall from the monster's shoulder, collapsing onto the ground, utterly spent, while the newly summoned Death God Army monsters immediately formed a tight protective ring around him... (To be continued) Jump to