Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 366 - 359: The Praying Mantis Catches the Cicada

Chapter 366: Chapter 359: The Praying Mantis Catches the Cicada

Luo’er stared at him, and Fu’en appeared quite relaxed, as if he had already anticipated that Luo’er and his group would come looking for him.

"Raise your hands and step out of the carriage!" Luo’er ordered, aiming his rifle at him.

Fu’en didn’t heed his words, seeming exceedingly nonchalant in the face of Luo’er’s rifle. He had an air of surprise on his face as he studied Luo’er, "Your planet... Earth, has elves? Were you another who was summoned?"

Luo’er noted that he used the term "Earth". Usually, the Otherworld inhabitants they encountered referred to Earthlings as Otherworlders. For them, the Earth was also another world.

From their observations, typically, only those who had spent substantial time with Earthlings would change their terminology and refer to Earthlings as such instead of Otherworlders.

The fact that Fu’en used that term suggested that he was not as simplistic as they had initially assumed. It was quite probable that he had interacted with Earthlings over extended periods, hence the shift in his usage of words.

"I’ll repeat myself. Raise your hands and step out of the carriage." Luo’er stated coldly.

"Little elf, raising my hands restricts me from exiting this overturned carriage, remember I am a mage, not the clumsy warrior type," replied Fu’en with a smirk. His grotesque appearance made Luo’er feel uncomfortable whenever he laughed.

"We’ll see if you still have that farcical smile when I put a bullet through your brain!" threatened Luo’er.

"Ok, ok, you’re the big man here..." Fu’en conceded, preparing to crawl out of the carriage.

He hung onto the sides of the carriage entrance, swung himself up onto it and sat there without immediately descending. He surveyed Luo’er from this vantage point, causing Luo’er considerable discomfort.

"Let me guess where those Shani folks found your mother, the slave quarters?", Fu’en asked mockingly adding insult to injury.

Wood elves were low in the human social hierarchy, so he maliciously speculated that his commanders had randomly found a Wood Elf female to reproduce with.

"You’re only happy when you stir up trouble, huh?", said Luo’er, livid and with a face ashen with rage. His fingers itched to press the trigger of the rifle in his hands.

"Okay okay, I’ll stop pushing your buttons!" Seeing Luo’er on the verge of pulling the trigger, Fu’en hastily retreated.

Although he didn’t use Luo’er as the butt of his jokes, he showed no intention of complying with Luo’er’s orders. Instead, he scanned their surroundings, his gaze focusing on the dead body of the man he sent to be executed.

"Do you know why that guy is dead?", Fu’en asked deliberately pointing at the man’s corpse.

"Don’t change the subject, I won’t fall for your tricks." Luo’er retorted, not taking his eyes off him.

"Alright then, I’ll just tell you," Fu’en said, grinning menacingly, "Because, he would report our daily itinerary. That’s why you knew where to ambush us, right?"

Luo’er didn’t speak, exhibiting a hint of surprise on his face. He was puzzled as to how Fu’en knew there was a mole relaying information about him. And if Fu’en knew the ambush was to take place, why would he knowingly walk into a trap?

"It’s a trap!"

This was the first thought that crossed Luo’er’s mind. Dismissing all distractions, he instinctively aimed his rifle at Fu’en’s head to fire. Nonetheless, Fu’en was far more agile. Before Luo’er could pull the trigger, Fu’en had already leapt back into the carriage securing the door behind him.

As soon as his gunshot faded, a deep gunshot echoed from within the forest. That wasn’t from his team, because all the rifles of the advance team were equipped with silencers before launching the attack, their gunfire wouldn’t sound so deep and loud.

It felt like Luo’er’s right chest was hit hard by a sledgehammer, the immense impact knocked him off balance, and he fell backward. The chest area that was hit by the shockwave left him unable to breathe for a moment.

Following the deafening gunshot, Luo’er fell backward, motionless. Then, gunfire riddled the forest, sounding much like firecrackers on a rampage.

The concentrated hail of bullets indiscriminately swept through the forest. The four main attackers and two mages who ambushed the convoy were targeted.

Hu Daoke clutched his light machine gun and rolled, narrowly dodging a line of bullets. Where he had been lying, rotted leaves were blown apart by the bullets, revealing dark soil beneath, and the faint smell of gunpowder hung in the air.

Hu Daoke was no greenhorn. After his position got exposed by the exchange of fire, he retaliated instantly. The light machine gun, RPK, put up a formidable suppression fire against the opposing side, preventing them from so much as lifting their heads.

Both sides continued to exchange gunfire in the dense forest. Hu Daoke was uncertain of his enemies’ exact location; he could only suppress their movements by simply firing in their probable direction. The lightweight machine gun in his hands, armed with a hundred-round drum magazine, easily managed to suppress the opposition to the point where they barely had a chance to counterattack.

In stark contrast to Hu Daoke’s competency, Wu Tairan and Xuzhong Qi cowered on the ground at the sudden onslaught. Had it not been for Hu’s aggressive counterfire, they likely would have been peppered by the continuous onslaught.

"Luo’er!" Tangmo let out a soul-wrenching cry, seeing Luo’er get shot and fall to the ground.

Despite her frantic worry, she didn’t lost her wits. She promptly raised her magic wand and cast a shield spell, and then rushed towards Luo’er.

Upon reaching Luo’er, she noticed he lay flat with his eyes closed, his mouth slightly ajar and a visible hole in his chest area.

Without hesitating, Tangmo made a grab for the handle on his back and dragged him into the surrounding woods. The occasional bullet ricocheted off her shields, causing no harm at all. The shield spell she had cast was a level-three spell – only a rocket launcher could break through that defense.

Once Luo’er was safely in the shrubs, she advanced a step, deactivated her shields, then swung her wand left and right to raise a firewall amongst the woods on the opposite side of the path, effectively blocking the enemies’ line of vision.

This was a spell from the Flame System, which converted magical force into a combustible substance via a series of incantations. During the conversion process, the magic produced a violent burst of heat, powerful enough to ignite anything. Just like how a high-voltage shock can instantly ignite a person on fire, the high temperature from the conversion was enough to ignite the magic as it transformed into a combustible substance, producing a massive flame.

This was a spell she had just learned from Shariya. It was a fairly standard level-three offensive magic. For an average mage, casting such a spell might require a few seconds of chanting, but Tangmo, a gifted mage, had managed to instantly cast it.

Tangmo’s quick thinking had effectively blocked off their adversaries’ assault. Immediately afterward, Shangguan Jiu cast an explosion spell, scattering huge amounts of mud and rotten leaves, further obstructing the enemies’ view.

Seizing this opportunity, Wu Tairan and his men finally had the chance to counterattack. They returned fire while shifting their position towards Hu Daoke, providing cover for Shangguan Jiu’s withdrawal.

Observing the clever response from these new recruits, Hu Daoke was finally able to ease his tension a bit, always fearing that these three would get suppressed and killed by the enemy.

"Luo’er, Luo’er, are you okay?" After hindering the enemies’ view, Tangmo knelt down to check on Luo’er’s injuries in panic, while asking in a trembling voice.

"Send a... retreat signal!" Luo’er managed to say weakly, pointing at the signal flare on his belt.

"I know!" Tangmo sniffled as she took the signal flare from his belt, and fired a shot into the sky.

The piercingly loud signal flare accompanied by a bright flash shot up into the sky. It was a signal to retreat. Upon seeing this signal, everyone would instinctively retreat and regroup at the prearranged location.

With a last burst of energy, Luo’er managed to roll onto his side and push himself up from the ground. His breath was strained, as if someone was choking him.

"Luo’er, are you okay? Don’t scare me!" Tangmo held onto him, asking anxiously.

"It’s fine, it only hit the bulletproof plate!" Luo’er coughed a few times, then thumped his chest vigorously, seemingly recovering a bit.

"Retreat. I’ll cover you!" Taking a few deep breaths, Luo’er picked up his rifle, turned towards her and spoke.

"But you..." Tangmo hesitated.

"No more talking, hurry up!" Luo’er urged impatiently.

"I understand. Take care of yourself!" Tangmo nodded determinedly, then turned and ran. After scanning their surroundings, Luo’er also followed behind.

Ever since Luo’er got hit last time, the headquarters had decided not to issue them the lightweight rune clothing anymore, instead, they were given modular clothing with mandatory bulletproof plates for main combat units.

With the bulletproof plates, the Advance Team’s chances of survival in a hail of bullets increased significantly. Like the fatal hit just now, it was the bulletproof plate that saved Luo’er from mortal danger. Although he struggled for breath after getting hit, his life was not in danger, and the worst that could happen was a massive bruise.

Soon after a brief standoff, the opposition began their retaliation. At the same time, a group of adventurers wielding swords and knives began charging at the Advance Team, using the forest for cover.

This was indeed like The Mantis Catches the Cicada strategy, Fu’en knew he would be ambushed here and had therefore prepared his own ambush. What Luo’er could not understand was how they were so clearly aware of the Advance Team’s plan to ambush them outside the town, to the point of them deploying a counterattack here.

This situation was much like Infernal Affairs, they were plotting against Fu’en, while Fu’en was also plotting against them.