Translator: AnubisTL
The group was now less than fifty meters from Li Hao.
Chen Jiang and his companion heard an urgent, fly-like voice in their ears:
"Brother Jiang, I hear footsteps and voices nearby."
Chen Jiang narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment before replying, "Lightly stomp your foot to kick up some dust. I'll use it to pinpoint your exact location."
There was no further response.
Instead, a puff of dust suddenly rose into the air from a spot not far away.
That was Li Hao's location.
As expected, his actual position deviated significantly from their initial estimate.
The rising dust went completely unnoticed.
Without any prior warning, no one would pay attention to the ubiquitous dust in the wilderness.
The group was now less than thirty meters from the approaching party.
"Advance another hundred steps."
"Understood."
Three hours later, the sky gradually darkened.
Chen Jiang and his team had finally manifested the map of the mechanical city's outermost perimeter in Li Hao's mind and successfully returned.
They temporarily halted beneath an overhanging rock deep in the wilderness.
This entire operation had been far from easy, punctuated by numerous minor setbacks.
For instance, the dust kicked up only revealed Li Hao's general location, not his precise left-right position, making it impossible to issue precise commands.
Another example: Li Hao tripped over a pebble midway and fell several times, the commotion successfully drawing the guards' attention.
And then there was the moment when Li Hao reached the edge of the city wall.
Chen Jiang and the others clearly saw that the machine gun barrel protruding from the wall's aperture was less than an arm's length from Li Hao's stomach.
If there had been an accidental discharge, Li Hao would have been meeting his dear God.
Fortunately...
Though the process was nerve-wracking, Li Hao ultimately returned safely.
"Whew!"
Li Hao, his face pale with relief, his back drenched in cold sweat, gasped, "That was too intense! Honestly, I haven't been this scared since I hid under that bed last time."
"Wait—"
Scar Dog, who was about to comfort Li Hao, paused, instinctively asking, "When did you hide under a bed? Didn't she refuse you?"
"She did refuse me. After she got married, she invited me to her house. Only when I got there did I realize she wanted to use my Rek'Sai as collateral for a loan."
"Then her husband came home. Afraid he'd find out, I had to hide under the bed."
"But... if you didn't do anything wrong, why were you scared?"
"Because I thought she was going to give me something. She started stripping as soon as I walked in, almost down to her pants, before she finally asked to borrow my Rek'Sai. Just then, her husband came home. What was I supposed to do—hide or not?"
"True enough," Scar Dog nodded in agreement, then suddenly snapped out of it. "Stop distracting me! Have you finished the map manifestation?"
"All done," Li Hao replied.
He took a few deep breaths and casually stripped off his shirt, wiping the cold sweat from his back before manifesting the map in mid-air.
Chen Jiang and the others gathered around to examine it.
There had been an unexpected complication: Li Hao hadn't been able to complete a full circuit around the city walls.
As night fell, squads of fully armed soldiers suddenly emerged from every gate and began patrolling the walls. This forced them to temporarily abandon their plan.
They had only managed to manifest the map for one section of the wall.
But even that was enough.
Ten minutes later, after meticulously studying Li Hao's map manifestation, Chen Jiang and the others exchanged glances, each seeing relief in the others' eyes.
It was fortunate they had asked Li Hao to manifest the map beforehand, rather than recklessly having Scar Dog open a phantom gate into the city.
This mechanical race city was far more treacherous than they had imagined!
Behind the city walls lay the residential district.
Two rows of residential districts stood neatly arranged behind the city walls, appearing like normal residential areas.
However, these two rows of low-rise residential districts were merely an illusion.
Deeper behind these districts lay a massive trench, over ten meters in diameter and several meters deep, resembling a moat that completely separated the two residential rows from the Inner City.
A liquid flowed within the trench, but its nature remained unidentifiable.
The only connections between the Inner City and the residential districts were retractable steel bridges, their starting points anchored on the Inner City side.
This meant that without the Inner City's permission, residents of the two districts could never reach the Inner City.
Along the Inner City side of the trench, machine gun bunkers were positioned at intervals of roughly one meter.
Their gun barrels were uniformly aimed at the two residential districts across the trench.
Furthermore, rocket vehicles with raised barrels stood ready to fire at a moment's notice.
And on the map, the number of alien race players in the Inner City far outnumbered those in the two residential districts.
"This..."
Scar Dog paused, a flicker of shock in his eyes, and blurted out, "These two rows of residential districts are a trap?"
"More or less," Chen Jiang replied, nodding slightly with a faint frown. "There are mechanical race players hidden in these districts. It's likely a trap designed to catch alien race players with special abilities who might bypass the checkpoints and infiltrate the city. The relaxed atmosphere is meant to lower their guard."
"However..." he added with a peculiar expression, "it doesn't seem to be working very well."
Li Hao's map manifestation displayed the number of alien race players and fellow race members as distinct glowing dots.
On the three-dimensional map composed of white light, they could clearly see that many human players had already infiltrated the heavily guarded Inner City. Moreover, judging by the movement patterns of the glowing dots, they were not under arrest.
"Tsk," Scar Dog clicked his tongue in mild admiration. "Well, the human players actually managed to sneak in. Suddenly, I can understand why the mechanical race's defenses are so strict."
Scar Dog glanced at a location on the map Li Hao had manifested, a glint of excitement in his eyes as he grinned. "Brother Jiang, are we going there?"
The spot Scar Dog was pointing to was a warehouse in the Inner City.
More specifically, it was a warehouse dedicated to storing energy blocks.
"Naturally," Chen Jiang replied, his lips curling into a matching smile. "I knew the adorable mechanical race wouldn't forget to prepare a grand gift for us."
Energy blocks could significantly enhance their mobility and combat capabilities.
With Li Hao's map manifestation, Scar Dog's energy drive, and this massive stockpile of energy blocks, they could move freely through the mechanical race city.
"The longer we wait, the more complications arise," Chen Jiang said, immediately settling into the driver's seat without resting. "We move tonight."
"This time, we're playing for keeps."
"My Slave Factory is itching to start production."
Without hesitation, Chen Jiang slammed his foot on the accelerator as Scar Dog and Li Hao climbed into the vehicle, sending them roaring into the night.
Under the cover of darkness, accompanied by swirling dust kicked up by the wheels, Chen Jiang and his companions charged straight toward the mechanical race city!
(End of the Chapter)
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