Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 367 - 360: Besieged on All Sides

Chapter 367: Chapter 360: Besieged on All Sides

With the retreat signal sounding, the six people who were the main attackers began to gather, prepared to retreat. They were unaware of the enemy’s specific location, so they could only shoot in a general direction. Simultaneously, to avoid being ambushed, Wu Tairan and Xuzhong Qi, who were regrouping with Hu Daoke, intentionally spread out, each opening fire in different directions.

Tangmo was at the forefront of the group when suddenly a bullet shattered a rock near her feet, the fragments spraying everywhere. Crying out in pain, she fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Seeing her fall, Luo’er rushed over and asked anxiously.

"I was hit in the leg." Tangmo pointed at her calf, her face contorted in pain.

Luo’er bent down to inspect the leg. There was no bleeding or grazed wounds - it seemed she had only been hit by the rock fragments. He hastily removed Tangmo’s boot, rolled up her trouser leg, and discovered a large bruise on her pale calf.

"It’s okay, it’s just a stone bruise, there won’t be any scarring!" As Luo’er reassured Tangmo, he grabbed her by the arm, helped her up from the ground, then said, "I will support you. Let’s keep going!"

Hu Daoke, performing his role as a lookout, noticed the couple’s movement. He immediately aimed his gun at them, hesitated for just a moment, then slightly shifted his position before pulling his trigger.

Pow, pow, pow!

Bullets whizzed past the two, the sound enough to freeze one’s blood. The two unsuspected adventurers that were trying to sneak attack them were gunned down by Hu Daoke’s machine gun, their bodies left in a bloody mess.

"Move, move, quickly!" Hu Daoke called for the two to retreat.

His boldness in shooting was the result of a long-standing understanding between the members of the Advance Team. Luo’er and the others trusted that Hu Daoke would not hit them, and Hu Daoke believed that they would not panic and move unpredictably when he shot. Otherwise, if there was even a hint of panic, they could have easily run straight into the line of fire.

Suddenly, a rogue adventurer, clad in combat gear, charged out from the jungle, aiming straight for Shangguan Jiu. Terrified, she lost her color and fell to the ground. Seeing this, Wu Tairan quickly aimed his gun at the adventurer, but hesitated to fire.

"What are you waiting for!" Hu Daoke shouted, leaping from the ground. He roared as he rushed towards the adventurer, catching him by the throat with one hand and the weapon-wielding hand with the other. With his free hand, he quickly unsheathed a dagger from his waist and plunged it straight into the adventurer’s ribs.

This was a method taught to him by Cheng Ziang; even the dagger was given to him by Cheng Ziang. The sharp dagger plunged into the adventurer’s side, piercing the heart directly. The adventurer couldn’t even react before his hands went limp as if a switch had been turned off.

Hu Daoke pinned him to the ground and continued to stab him a few more times to ensure he was indeed dead. His face and hands were covered in fresh blood, making him look incredibly terrifying. He turned back to glance at the others, who were in a state of panic, then frowned and said, "See? That’s how you deal with enemies who get close."

The three of them were paralyzed by Hu Daoke’s ferocity. In their eyes, Hu Daoke had always been a man who liked to joke around - they never expected him to display such brutal decisiveness in combat.

"Rifleman, cover our rear! Machine gunner, provide cover as we retreat one by one!" Luo’er arrived, handed off Tangmo to Shangguan Jiu, and then began to command loudly.

"Move, move!" Hu Daoke patted Wu Tairan’s shoulder, then picked up his light machine gun and ran backward. As he ran past Tangmo, he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up like a small chicken, then kept running.

"Spread out, spread out!" As Luo’er was signaling Xuzhong Qi, he began to attract enemy fire.

Since it was early morning, the air was still filled with humidity. Because of this, the large fire created by Tangmo quickly went out, and dozens of adventurers started charging at them, despite the barrage of bullets.

These adventurers were mostly mercenaries hired by Fu’en, armed with a myriad of weapons, ranged from firearms to cold weapons like swords, and there were even civilian mages among them.

However, they lacked heavy weaponry, most of them had bolt actions or semi-automatic rifles, hence they found it hard to assimilate the Advance Team which had superior firepower, for the time being.

Despite this, their weapons were not useless. They were equipped with the FAL semi-automatic rifles referred to as "The mercenary’s gun." This weapon uses 7.62X51 NATO ammunition, which is quite powerful. If Luo’er hadn’t added a bulletproof plate earlier, he would have been on the brink of being destroyed.

However, in this kind of jungle battle, firepower was the most crucial factor, not the power given by a weapon. That’s why so many of them were suppressed by just a four-man assault team, unable to retaliate.

Luo’er abandoned his usual burst fire mode, instead opting for short, continuous bursts while constantly moving positions to ensure he wouldn’t get pinned down by enemy fire.

After Hu Daoke and the others had retreated several dozen meters, they immediately turned around and began firing to cover for Luo’er and his group. Hearing the gunfire from behind, Luo’er called out to Xuzhong Qi and made a hand signal to start retreating.

Meanwhile, Murong and Baiyue stationed on the high platforms of the tree trunk also noticed something was amiss. The gunfire and rolling smoke under the tree, along with Luo’er setting off the retreat signal, clearly indicated that they must have run into trouble.

"There are people coming from the city gate!" Baiyue coldly announced.

Following her warning, Murong saw a large number of fully armed soldiers starting to emerge from the direction of the city gate. Some carried rifles, others held swords and shields. The appearance of so many soldiers in early morning clearly indicated that the enemy was prepared.

"Damn, it seems like we have fallen into a trap, and they plan to attack us from inside and out," Murong analyzed.

"What should we do?" Baiyue asked without turning her head.

"You retreat first by descending the tree, I’ll hold them off!" Murong declared.

Baiyue didn’t respond verbally, but turned to give him a glance.

"Don’t worry," seeming to grasp her intentions, Murong confidently reassured, "I can climb down faster than you and run away before they arrive."

Baiyue didn’t say anything, nor did she reject his offer. She mounted her rifle on her back and began to descend the tree trunk.

After seeing off Baiyue, Murong slightly adjusted his stance. He was wielding a magazine-loaded 5.6mm rifle equipped with an optical sight. Although the rifle used the same intermediate-power ammunition as Luo’er and others’ weapons, its precision was much higher.

The soldiers at the city gate were densely packed, so he didn’t need to take much time for aiming and just continuously pulled the trigger. The silenced 5.6mm rifle made an unusual sound, and with the sudden attack the soldiers became scattered and disoriented.

However, what Murong noticed was, even though his line of fire was rather erratic, it was unmistakably hitting soldiers. But from what he could see, it did not seem like the enemy feared his bullets. Almost no one was killed or even injured from his barrage of fire.

"Rune Armor?" he muttered, quickly slinging the rifle onto his back and began descending the tree. Since his weapon was no good in this situation, staying put would be a disadvantage. If caught, he would have nowhere to escape.

At this point, Cheng Ziang positioned at the city gate noticed the emerging soldiers. Seeing them scattered and seeking cover from Murong’s suppression fire, he sensed danger. Quickly, he took out two magic crystal grenades from his pocket and hurled them toward the city gate.

Boom! Boom!

In an instant, two fires broke out near the gate. Soldiers screamed in agony as their bodies were engulfed in flames.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the flames, Cheng Ziang brandished his sword and charged. Unnoticed by all, he was upon the soldiers like an apparition, the sword in his hand slashing through their already inadequate rune armor.

The enchanting breaking method glyph on his sharp rune sword, indeed, was extraordinary. With just a single swing, several soldiers fell into pools of blood. Cheng Ziang felt no sympathy for them. They were all out at this time, undoubtedly targeting the Advance Team. Simply put, they were the enemy, and against the enemy, Cheng Ziang never hesitated.

The attack by Cheng Ziang drew some soldiers’ attention. They raised their rifles and fired at him ceaselessly. Facing such concentrated firepower, Cheng Ziang had no choice but to temporarily retreat. Fortunately, there were plenty of walls for cover nearby, and after a few swift maneuvers, he disappeared from the soldiers’ sight.

The diversion by Murong and Cheng Ziang bought valuable time for Luo’er and others to retreat. Faced with the onslaught of these adventurers, they began to cover and retreat.

Luo’er ran to Hu Daoke’s side, gave his shoulder a powerful pat. Hu Daoke responded with a nod of understanding, picked up his rifle, and continued to retreat. Just as Luo’er was about to turn around and return fire, an adventurer wielding a long sword appeared at an angle, aiming straight at his throat.

Luo’er instinctively leaned backward, at the same time blocking the incoming attack with his rifle. The sharp sword was thrust into the handguard of the rifle, leaving a deep gash when drawn out.

Immediately, the adventurer thrust his long sword again, aiming for Luo’er’s abdomen. Even if he could dodge, it would be hard to avoid a stab. His only hope was that the sword would hit his bulletproof panel.

But before the adventurer’s sword could reach Luo’er, the assailant suddenly froze in place, like a robot abruptly switched off.

A sword was thrust straight into his temple. Following the sword, Luo’er discovered that it was Yalunte, who had somehow managed to reach his side and eliminate this troublesome enemy.