Enforcer Manual
Chapter 271: We Come from the Mechanical Bug Swarm_1

Chapter 271: Chapter 271: We Come from the Mechanical Bug Swarm_1

After Song Lan was struck by an arrow in the backside, Lu Xiang suddenly realized the truth.

She immediately sprang into action, seamlessly leaping before the ambusher and, before they could flee into the dark depths, she pinned the slender figure to the ground.

The disparity in strength, along with the weight of the exoskeleton armor, rendered the attacker immobile on the ground.

"Just now, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?"

At that moment, Lu Xiang recalled Song Lan’s identity as a tactician, "Provoking the hidden assailants with a tale akin to a children’s story, making them expose themselves."

Although she was unclear about which Old God the figure had referred to, after hearing Song Lan’s disparagement, they had indeed been unable to restrain themselves and had shot Song Lan with an arrow, thus completely revealing their position.

Considering that Song Lan not only understood the mural but also immediately thought to exploit these people’s faith to lure them out, Lu Xiang admitted that his approach was indeed superior to her own.

Upon hearing this, Song Lan, who was still on the first level of understanding, also had a realization.

Right, he had nearly forgotten about such a strategy, but with Lu Xiang’s reminder, it all came back to him.

"...That’s right, this was my plan."

Song Lan tried to make his voice sound as serious and dignified as possible, "This is called reverse psychology, and you fell for it!"

"Despicable wretch!"

The figure pinned to the ground cursed resentfully, which actually provided some satisfaction to Song Lan since, compared to a big fool, being called a despicable wretch seemed somewhat of a higher rank.

"Enough talk, what are all of you doing hiding under this hole?"

Song Lan demanded sternly, wanting to swiftly move past the topic of the mural.

One thing was certain: the people in the hole had not been completely infected; their language system had not degraded into mindless creatures like the zombies.

However, their weapons seemed to have regressed to those of a primitive society; in the year 2166, he had not expected to see people wielding wooden bows as weapons.

"Hiding?" The ambusher sneered coldly, "Wasn’t it you who threw us down here to fend for ourselves?"

"Look me in the eyes and say that again!"

Song Lan suddenly moved his exoskeleton’s helmet close to the ambusher’s face, giving him quite a fright, and demanded coldly, "You can eat what you want, but don’t talk nonsense. When did we ever throw you down here? Where’s the proof?"

This series of interrogations rendered the ambusher speechless.

Indeed, it had been the townspeople who had cast them into this hole to survive on their own, but Song Lan and Lu Xiang, clad in their armor, didn’t look like townspeople. The local Cavalry did not have such sophisticated equipment; they would only swagger before the civilians with their old submachine guns that had seen who knows how many years of use.

"Have you seen her?"

Seeing the ambusher remaining silent, Song Lan pointed towards Lu Xiang, "She is a very experienced Law Enforcer; if you keep slandering us, be careful or I might sue you for libel."

"...Just who are you people?"

The ambusher asked, his voice betraying a hint of guilt.

Having been pinned to the ground for so long, his emotions had also somewhat calmed down.

"We are envoys who have come specifically to visit your Old God."

Song Lan didn’t blink an eye as he concocted a new identity for the two of them. These believers were different from Oleg’s medical team; the identity of corporate agents would not only fail to gain trust but would also make them enemies, as they were the ones who were initially thrown into the pit by the "righteous" local Cavalry to die.

He knew well that to deal with these people, he needed to speak their language.

"Envoys?"

The ambusher indeed revealed a puzzled expression.

"Have you never considered that the Old God you worship might not be the only deity in this world? The deities need to communicate with each other."

Song Lan knew that words alone were not enough, so he turned to Lu Xiang and said, "Emissary, show this person your true form."

...Emissary?

Lu Xiang was somewhat baffled. As she pondered what "true form" referred to, a strange sound suddenly came from behind her.

Under the horrified gaze of the ambusher, a pair of sharp bone wings sprouted from the exoskeleton armor on her back, the flesh and tissue extending down her spine to her right hand, which was pressing down on the ambusher. Then, an eye grew within the flesh and tissue, fixating on him and sending shivers down his spine.

True enough!

Only the Old Gods possessed such a method!

He had witnessed firsthand the High Priest receiving the Old God’s blessing—a scene in which the flesh buds pulled the High Priest into the dwelling of the Old God and granted him rebirth after the ritual.

Even among the believers, only the most devout were qualified to be blessed by the Old God.

"You, you really are Emissaries!"

"To be precise, we come from the Mechanical Insect Swarm, and this person is not only our emissary but also the supreme leader of our tribe."

Song Lan formally introduced Lu Xiang.

The flesh retracted slowly, and the bone wings on her back vanished along with it. Lu Xiang released the arm of the ambusher and stood firmly in front of him, wordlessly, the scene greatly shocking him.

Although he was loath to admit it, the emissary from the Mechanical Insect Swarm seemed to be far more powerful than the High Priest.

"Now it’s our turn to ask questions. Where is your tribe stationed, and how many people are there?"

"Everyone is deeper inside the pit, and our tribe currently has... over 40 people."

As he spoke, a difficulty overcame the ambusher; he knew that compared to the vast tribe of the Mechanical Insect Swarm, 40 people were far too few, especially when nearly half of these believers had no fighting ability.

At the same time, he also felt an immense fear, for he had just shot an arrow at the rear end of the emissary from the Mechanical Insect Swarm, and from their leader’s reaction, it was not hard to see they were quite enraged by it.

"I am the Captain of the Guard, patrolling here to protect the sanctity of the holy land."

"Good, we have traveled from afar to visit your tribe, lead the way."

"But..."

The Captain of the Guard hesitated, as the tone of the others did not sound like they intended a friendly visit, but he was quickly interrupted by Song Lan, "The Bug Swarm must grow. Your Old God is now in a crucial period of incubation, and we have come to help Him complete His final transformation. You wouldn’t want the final transformation to fall through now, would you?"

Upon hearing this, the Captain’s face paled, and he immediately replied, "I will take you to see the High Priest at once!"

...

Observing the Captain of the Guard who was actively leading the way, Lu Xiang was thoughtful.

Song Lan had successfully persuaded him.

But from the conversation between the two of them just now, a question involuntarily arose in her mind.

Among these two people...

Who was the real zealot?

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