Volume 4, Chapter 62-1 – Plot Fragment(Part 1)

“Tap, tap.”

Z14 heard two short, rapid footsteps. With his back against the wall, he only had time to thrust a palm forward.

A series of crisp metallic bangs rang in his ears. Several bullets barely managed to lodge themselves in his flesh. Just as Z14 tried to strike the shadow’s ankle with another knife-hand chop, the bullets suddenly exploded. Blood and mangled flesh covered his chest, leaving it looking like ground plowed by a rampaging bull.

“Shing!”

“Mm!”

The sound of a blade being drawn drowned out Z14’s muffled grunt. A cold gleam flashed before his eyes, and his outstretched index finger was severed. Agonizing pain slammed into his brain.

“Aaah!”

“Shnk!”

The blade pierced straight through his chest. Like a deflating ball, Z14 instantly fell silent.

“You have killed Z14 of the Morningstar Resistance and gained 31,500 Free EXP.”

“Phew.”

Anran pulled out the Crimson Blade and slid it back into its sheath.

This Z14 was unbelievably tough. A series of point-blank explosions had only blown off his hands and feet. Even after explosive rounds reduced his chest to a bloody mess, he had lost only a little over 100 HP.

Even at the end, the purple-quality Crimson Blade had met considerable resistance when it pierced his chest.

His final counterattack had also been rather sophisticated. The palm strike against Anran’s abdomen had not carried much force, but afterward, a power resembling sound waves had repeatedly battered her flat “steel plate.” Had her exoskeleton armor not possessed shock absorption, and had Z14 managed to put more strength into the strike, Anran estimated that she would have been injured.

None of Morningstar’s Z-series members were ordinary people. Every one of them seemed to possess some unique skill. They were either ability users or held special professions.

Anran took two steps back and raised her head to inspect the area around the stairs.

It was an ordinary corridor. After extending less than twenty meters forward, it split in two directions. A lamp socket could be seen every few meters near the top of the walls.

Unsure whether there were any traps, Anran did not hurry forward. She first tossed two small spider robots onto the floor.

“Anran, Anran, should I guard the entrance or come with you?” Aila had also reached the area near the stairway.

“Hmm…” Anran considered for a moment.

She stepped out from the underground stairwell. “Aila, take the two robots and hide by the stairs leading to the second floor. If anyone comes in from outside, attack immediately.”

The staircase to the second floor and the staircase underground lay along the same straight line, separated by only about ten meters.

When it came to ambushes, leaving the job to Aila, who could remain completely motionless, made the whole setup look much more professional.

After arranging everything, Anran cautiously advanced along the underground corridor.

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Dark, narrow, and deep.

The corridor stretched straight ahead, yet walking through it felt like approaching an abyss.

And the abyss was watching the human who dared to invade it.

Anran’s five senses were extremely sharp. Even footsteps suppressed to the barest whisper sounded clear to her ears.

Compact and rhythmic, twice every second.

Step… step.

Step… step… step.

The moment the third step reached her ears, Anran’s body tensed. Her right index finger, which had never relaxed, immediately pulled the trigger of the double-barreled scattergun.

“Bang!”

At the same time, her left hand drew the Crimson Blade and slashed toward the gun barrel jutting out from the darkness.

“Clang!”

“Crack!”

A chunk was sliced straight off the muzzle. Smiling, Anran smoothly followed up with a kick.

“Ugh!”

The figure that had lunged out grunted and slammed into the wall. By the time Anran pulled the trigger a second time, the figure had already dodged to the left.

“-207”

“-153”

The point-blank shot dealt 207 damage. Her kick, backed by the exoskeleton armor and a total Strength of 68, dealt another 153. She had probably struck his wound.

This guy really was tough as well. Still, their brief exchange made Anran feel that she surpassed him in every physical attribute.

Her mind raced. This person probably possessed a special ability like Z03 and Z14. Even though she was stronger than him, she could not let down her guard.

“Rip!”

Anran tore a small strip from her clothing, hooked it onto the tip of her blade, and suddenly extended it around the corner.

“Whoosh!”

The instant the blade tip appeared, a violent gale swept over from one side of the corridor. Before Anran could even take a step back, an enormous jet of flame suddenly erupted and blasted straight past her.

“…”

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The smell of scorching filled the air.

The sudden rise in temperature made Anran begin to sweat inside her thick exoskeleton armor.

Even the air itself seemed to be burning.

Now this was exciting.

After taking out a swordsman who could create shadow clones and another man who wielded vibration powers, she had not expected to find a fire-breathing brat hiding in here too.

Roll, roll, roll…

A High-Energy Explosive rolled inside.

“Boom!”

The flames stopped spraying the moment the explosion rang out. Anran lunged forward and unleashed a burst of gunfire.

“Aah!”

A scream sounded right on cue.

Hoh. I thought you people were mute. There was no reaction at all when I hit you. The combat feedback was terrible.

Her threefold jumping ability activated.

On the other side of the smoke, Z09 was still dodging the flames when a figure shot toward him.

Z09 swung his blade backward. From the guard of that otherwise ordinary weapon, a ring of flame as thick as a watermelon suddenly surged up.

The flaming blade slashed toward Anran’s chest.

“Clang!”

The Crimson Blade flicked upward. At the same time, Anran fired the scattergun.

Because she held the blade in her left hand, she used it only for simple slashes and blocks.

Z09’s flames certainly looked impressive and would have been extremely destructive if they touched her body, but Anran gave him no chance to get close. Without the slightest courtesy, she hammered him with a rapid barrage of shots and knocked him to the ground.

What kind of flashy garbage was this? It could not even burn through the exoskeleton armor made of Lig Alloy.

Given enough time, perhaps he could have roasted Anran alive. But Z09 did not have that much time to breathe fire. How could Anran possibly give him the opportunity?

“Aah!”

Anran killed Z09 with a single slash.

“You have killed Z09 of the Morningstar Resistance and gained 32,600 Free EXP.”

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The armor had not lost even a single point of durability. Anran was very satisfied with the result.

This was the equipment advantage of a Mechanic.

The completely unreasonable, pseudo-scientific power of cash.

Z09 had fallen in front of a cage.

Anran turned her head and saw rows of large cages standing opposite one another.

The cages were pressed against the walls, with gaps of more than a meter between them. By the light of the flames burning on Z09’s body, Anran could make out several dark bloodstains.

What had these cages held before?

Was the blood inside this building human blood or animal blood?

The story quest was called [Born in the Rain]. Rain fell without end on the Tabus Western Continent once summer arrived, so the “rain” fit the scene perfectly. As for “born,” did it mean that some kind of “monster” had been born here?

Was this something like the biochemical laboratory from before?

No. Could it refer to these Z-series people?

Could she obtain the plot fragment and complete the quest simply by cutting down every last member of the Z-series?

What a pai…

Crap. She had gotten distracted.

Anran’s expression changed. She retreated rapidly, but the bullet still struck her chest.

Fortunately, the “steel plate” was extremely hard and had not been penetrated. Even so, the impact knocked the breath from her lungs and left her chest painfully tight.

“Whoosh!”

The blade reflected the firelight into Anran’s eyes. It was about to pierce her throat.

“Swish!”

Anran quickly hurled the double-barreled scattergun. After knocking the blade’s trajectory slightly off course, she launched a furious counterattack.

Taste the Dragon God’s Blade!

“Clang-clang-bang, bang-bang-clang…”

Anran’s self-created Berserk Blade Technique.

One slash, two slashes, three slashes…

Chop, thrust, flick, sweep…

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When your strength, speed, reactions, and resistance to damage all surpass your opponent’s, and you have installed something glowing on your blade, this move can be used to subdue the enemy.

“Aah!”

“My eyes!”

“Suck on a lemon!”

“Die!”

“Aah!”

One minute later, a brand-new corpse lay on the floor.

“You have killed Z08 of the Morningstar Resistance and gained 33,100 Free EXP.”

“Phew.”

Anran let out a breath. The battle had lasted only one minute, yet it had cost her nearly 200 Stamina.

Methods that conserved energy were important. True close-quarters combat was exceptionally dangerous. The moment one side revealed an opening, they could be finished off by a full combo.

During the fight just now, for example, Anran had suddenly activated the switch for [Blind Your Titanium-Alloy Dog Eyes]. The intense light had temporarily blinded Z08, allowing her to finish him with three slashes.

“To die beneath my newly created technique means your death was not in vain!”

Anran stepped over the bodies of Z08 and Z09.

The path continued ahead. Since she could not determine what the cages were used for, she decided to keep moving.

The underground level, which had been filled with noise moments ago, once again settled into the rhythm of Anran’s footsteps alone.

She followed the direction from which Z08 had appeared. As she walked, she spotted several small rooms with open doors. There were beds inside, along with steel frames?

Farther ahead, a torture chamber entered Anran’s field of vision. All kinds of tools sat on racks, and bloodstains covered the floor, the walls, and the implements themselves.

From the variety of torture devices alone, Anran already knew that this place had been used to imprison people.

After leaving the torture chamber, she entered the next room nearby. It was another torture chamber. However, unlike the ancient, worn-out implements in the previous room, everything here contained a degree of advanced technology: electric chairs, various other devices, and even a medicine cabinet.

Did Morningstar punish prisoners here?

It did not look that way.

Farther ahead was a second staircase leading to the level below.

Anran took a deep breath. She held a High-Energy Explosive in her left hand and a Flashbang in her right. Had she not already used up all her Flat-Type Self-Destruct Robots, she would have deployed one of those instead.