Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high! Chapter 1057 - 722: Assassin in the Shadows (Part 2)

Her mission was the most dangerous, but also the one where she could best showcase her expertise.

The other two previously little-known teammates—"Ash" and "Anvil," piloting a support-type and a heavy-armored mecha, were positioned at the back of the team, providing fire support and point defense.

The team cautiously advanced for about fifteen minutes, encountering some residual automated defensive turrets and energy disturbances, but they managed to avoid or handle them smoothly.

They even successfully established a simple signal relay point in the designated area, slightly improving communication quality.

However, the "Ghost Walker" was evidently more familiar with or had earlier adapted to this steel graveyard than they had.

The first contact occurred when the team attempted to pass through a labyrinthine area formed by countless broken pipes and twisted cabin walls.

Several specially-made "Silent Darts" with no energy signatures, relying purely on physical kinetic energy and magnetic adhesion, shot silently from the shadows above, targeting the support mecha "Ash" and the rear guard "Anvil" in the team!

Simultaneously, a seemingly intact wall suddenly "melted," and a dark figure seeped out like liquid, wielding a short blade that glimmered with dark purple spiritual energy, stabbing directly at Rose, located mid-team and seemingly distracted by observing relay point data!

Timing, angle, and stealth methods were all perfect.

This is the typical style of the mech pilots from the Shadow Kingdom—

Using environmental camouflage, launching deadly ambushes, aiming to quickly reduce enemy numbers.

However, Rose's combat intuition and danger perception had become extremely sharp through countless life-and-death trials.

At the moment the wall showed signs of disturbance, she didn't even look; the "Ambush" mecha she controlled had already reacted!

Instead of retreating, she suddenly sidestepped and charged forward, her left arm's alloy shield slashing upward at a tricky angle!

"Clang!" The dark purple short blade struck the edge of the shield, erupting in a trail of sparks and faint spiritual energy ripples.

The assailant evidently didn't expect Rose's reaction to be so quick and precise; missing the strike, he made no attempt to linger, and his figure dangled as if to meld back into the shadows.

But Rose wouldn't let him retreat easily, would she?

The high-frequency cutting blade on the "Ambush" mecha's right arm instantly extended, carrying a swift, bright slash, pursuing the rapidly fading shadow like an unyielding pursuer!

"Screech!" The cutting blade grazed the armor on the outer side of the opponent's mecha leg, chipping off a trail of metal shards and weak electrical sparks.

The opponent's figure completely vanished, leaving only a few drops of condensation and a nearly imperceptible remnant of spiritual energy at the spot.

"Hit him." Rose reported calmly on the channel, "But not heavily. How's everyone else?"

"The darts were blocked by the shield, no issues." "Ash" and "Anvil" responded.

Kuang Xin and Gu Lan also swiftly cleared potential threats from their assigned directions, confirming no further attacks.

"They're cautious; one failed probe and they withdrew." Gu Lan's voice came through.

"But we can't continue like this. We're the 'Hunters,' with a 120-minute time limit. If they keep hiding and playing hide and seek with us, when time runs out, according to the rules, we will be deemed to have lost if we can't 'eliminate' all the 'Escapees'."

"Moreover, after establishing the relay point, our active scanning range expanded somewhat, but the feedback is extremely limited. This ruin is too vast, with a structure too complex and severe spiritual energy interference. If they genuinely hide, we'll find it extremely difficult to locate them within the time limit."

"Ash" added, as he was responsible for part of the electronic reconnaissance.

Rose looked at the tactical map with large unexplored regions and the continually passing time, frowning deeply.

Bai E's tactics were steady, but the opponent's counter was also very cunning—

Maximizing the use of homeground advantage and rule advantage to delay and harass to the fullest.

"We can't remain passive like this." Rose made a decision, "We must take the initiative and compress their activity space. According to preset Plan B, we split into two groups. Kuang Xin and I will form one team, searching towards the southeast energy response area. Gu Lan, you take 'Ash' and 'Anvil' and search towards the northwest storage area. Maintain connection to the relay point, give brief reports every five minutes, and alert immediately if encountering any anomalies or attacks to decide on fight, withdrawal or call for support based on the situation."

"Understood!" everyone acknowledged the orders.

This was a backup plan discussed before the match, although the risk increased, they had no choice under time pressure.

The two teams swiftly separated, cautiously advancing along the complex corridors towards their respective target areas.

However, they underestimated the "Ghost Walker's" mastery in this environment, especially the presence of the "Faceless."

Less than ten minutes after splitting, Gu Lan's group was the first to encounter an attack.

The attack did not come from one direction.

Several cleverly camouflaged automatic turrets suddenly opened fire from three directions. Although the firepower wasn't strong, they successfully diverted Gu Lan, "Ash," and "Anvil's" attention momentarily.

At that instant, two shadowy figures phantom-like burst out simultaneously from the ceiling ventilation duct and floor maintenance hatch!

Their target was clear— the relatively fragile and responsible for reconnaissance and electronic warfare "Ash"!

Gu Lan's reaction was extremely swift, the "Cyclone" mecha turned instantly, unleashing a torrent of fire from the spiritual energy darts and combination rifle towards one of the attackers, trying to relieve "Ash."

"Anvil" also roared, standing in front of "Ash," fully deploying the heavy shield.

However, the real killing move wasn't these two decoys.

Just as Gu Lan and "Anvil" had their firepower diverted, a third, the darkest, and fastest shadow appeared from an originally empty shadow at "Ash's" mecha's side and rear!

What it held was no longer a short blade, but a uniquely shaped spiritual energy rapier that seemed to absorb light, stabbing silently towards the connection between "Ash's" mecha's rear power core and the cockpit!

"Faceless"!

His target was never Gu Lan or "Anvil," but the relatively weak yet critical information node "Ash"!

Once successful, it wouldn't just reduce numbers but greatly weaken Gu Lan's group's reconnaissance and communication capabilities.

An alarm sounded sharply inside "Ash's" cockpit, but the assault was too fast and covert, and the evasive maneuver he barely managed didn't seem enough to completely avoid the deadly thrust!

At that critical moment, Gu Lan, who had been patrolling outside for reconnaissance, had actually been focusing part of her attention on "Ash," potentially the most vulnerable.

Her "Cyclone" mecha, while firing at the decoys, suddenly unfolded its auxiliary gliding wings behind, combining with the extreme burst from the leg propellers, forcibly twisting the body in a near-self-destructive manner, charging like a cannonball into the shadow that was stabbing at "Ash"!

"Clang!!!"

The rapier's tip, at the moment it was about to touch "Ash's" armor, was violently deflected by the side armor of the charging Gu Lan mecha, brushing past "Ash's" shoulder armor, sparking a blinding trail of sparks and leaving a deep scratch.

"Faceless" seemed somewhat surprised by Gu Lan's desperate rescue method, his movement showed an extremely brief hesitancy.

"Counterattack!" Gu Lan shouted sharply in the channel while maneuvering the mecha to entangle "Faceless," unleashing high-frequency blades and spiritual energy darts to force a close-quarters fight.

"Ash," still in shock, hurriedly pulled back and opened suppression fire.

"Anvil" also roared, charging over with heavy weaponry starting to charge.

Seeing this, "Faceless" hesitated not for a moment.

His figure flickered like a phantom, easily breaking away from Gu Lan's entanglement, quickly retreating into the complex pipes and shadows with the other two attackers, vanishing without a trace.

The entire process was clean and swift, without any inefficiency.