Volume 4, Chapter 67 – An Ultra-Hard Door?

“Clang!”

The grappling hook she had fired struck a platform dead on, but the tremendous momentum still dragged Anran’s body farther and farther away. The hook scraped against the platform with an ear-piercing screech.

At last, the hook caught on the platform’s edge. Anran swung backward for some distance and slammed into a fallen steel plate. It hurt, but she tugged with her right hand and used the rebound to land steadily on the platform.

“Creak…”

“Crash!”

“Boom! Boom!”

It was like the collapse that heralded the end of the world. Gripping the railing on the platform, Anran watched countless chunks of metal plummet from the sky. The central tower was still being ravaged by explosions, but the chaotic rain and falling debris made it impossible for her to see what was happening over there.

The mission [Sinking Island] had failed. They had failed to stop Morningstar’s operation.

One million EXP was gone. The expeditionary army insignia was gone. The orange targeted random treasure chest was gone as well.

[The hover station at Trade Station No. 3 has been blown up…]

The player livestreaming the scene, [Woven Azure Sky], stared wide-eyed at the shocking sight. After posting that sentence, he immediately turned on the recording function. He no longer had time to care about the raging flood of comments on the forum.

Because what he was about to face was a collapse far more violent than any “flood.”

“It’s over, it’s over, it’s over, it’s over…” A Nine Songs NPC had been so stunned by the sudden collapse that he had turned into a broken record.

He kept repeating the same sentence in panic, both hands clutching his head. Terrified and overwhelmed, he stood as stiff as a rock.

“What are you standing there for? Run!” Woven Azure Sky gave the NPC a tug, only to discover that he was slightly too weak to move him. The NPC seemed not to notice and continued repeating himself.

“Damn it. I’m not going back to the respawn point for the sake of a broken record.”

Woven Azure Sky released him and sprinted away. He had run less than ten meters when a deafening crash shook him off his feet and sent him sprawling into the mud.

When he looked back, he saw a massive chunk of metal where the “broken record” had been standing.

“Gulp…”

Woven Azure Sky swallowed hard. The man had been flattened into a meat patty, his blood mixing with the water.

With the gore setting at fifty percent, Woven Azure Sky felt his stomach churn. He hurriedly lowered it even further, and only then did he feel much better.

But he still had to keep running. The hover station, hundreds of meters tall, was collapsing. Nowhere inside the entire trade station was safe. One careless step and he would be crushed into paste.

“Run!”

“Damn, bro! We’ll fight again another day. I’m getting out of here first!”

“I’m done fighting! I’m done!”

“Son of a bitch, you ambushed me! Aah!”

Meanwhile, on the game forum:

[Hey, streamer, where are you? What exactly happened?]

[Holy crap, did the trade station collapse? I remember Anran went there, right?]

[Thank heavens. Anran is finally going to die.]

[Fuck that! If anything happens to Anran, I’ll fight those Morningstar bastards to the death!]

[Brothers, I’ve already reached the outside of Trade Station No. 3. I call dibs on the Morningstar leader’s head!]

[No!]

[Brother Jie, I support you. Count me in!]

…

“Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!”

Countless fragments suddenly fell from overhead, and the violent shaking brought Aila’s advance to a halt.

She was not as agile as Anran, nor did she have a grappling hook. She could only follow the tower’s staircase upward.

At that moment, however, the wall beside her suddenly split apart. A huge boulder knocked the Machine Gun Warrior to the ground. Aila tried to pull it up, but another boulder came flying toward her.

She had no choice but to retreat. The Machine Gun Warrior, together with the supplies it was carrying, tumbled down and soon vanished from sight.

This was bad.

The scene of destruction that had suddenly appeared before her made Aila anxious. She did not know what had happened, but Anran had to be in danger as well. She had to find Anran as quickly as possible.

“Anran! Anran!”

Aila shouted at full power. Her voice was extraordinarily loud, yet it was still drowned out by the sound of the collapse.

Dust poured down and covered Aila in grime, but she had no time to worry about that.

“Stay here and don’t move. I’m going to find Anran.”

After saying this to Butler No. 1, Aila continued running upward.

Aila’s eyes were different from human eyes. She could see much farther and could automatically lock onto targets.

Butler No. 1 watched Aila disappear into the distance. With its low intelligence, it could follow commands, but it could only handle simple tasks or matters within its area of specialization.

The small figure remained imprinted in its field of vision until she finally vanished into the torrential rain. Then a steel frame suddenly smashed in and sent Butler No. 1 flying.

“Anran! Anran!”

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“Creak…”

“Clang! Clang!”

Aila punched away a chunk of concrete the size of a suitcase. At last, she caught sight of a human figure through the hazy air.

“Anran! Anran!”

Holding the railing with one hand to maintain her balance, Aila hurried toward the figure.

“Bang!”

“Splash!”

A huge sheet of water was swept off the platform. Aila stopped abruptly and looked at the woman before her in extreme disappointment.

The woman was the same sex and also used a blade, but she was not Anran at all.

No. She could not waste time here. She had to find Anran as soon as possible.

Aila turned to leave, but the female swordswoman suddenly called out to her.

“Wait. You know Anran?” she asked.

Aila turned around. “Have you seen Anran?”

“I have.”

Aila immediately brightened. “Then do you know where Anran is?”

“I do.” The female swordswoman smiled. “What is your relationship with Anran?”

“…” Aila fell silent for a moment. “Anran is my older sister. Can you tell me where Anran is?”

“Of course…” The female swordswoman drew out the words. Her knees bent slightly, her waist tightened, and her right hand gripped the hilt of her blade. Then she suddenly charged at Aila. “I can’t!”

Swish!

Quick-draw slash.

A gleaming arc of blade light shot straight toward Aila’s neck. It was astonishingly fast and came without warning.

Aila would be decapitated in the next second.

The female swordswoman’s expression did not change. She had killed so many people that murder no longer excited her.

Aila was very disappointed. According to her analysis, this woman really should have seen Anran.

But the instant she noticed the swordswoman’s subtle movements, she knew the woman had no intention of talking.

In that case, she would just kill her.

“Clang!”

Aila was forced back many steps.

But the female swordswoman who had launched the sneak attack was completely dumbfounded.

How was this possible?

Her ferocious slash had actually been caught between Aila’s fingers!

It had been caught, not blocked at the cost of an injury.

What the hell…

Enormous fear surged into her heart. A tremendous force followed, and the female swordswoman realized that her blade had been yanked away. Even if she wanted to let go, it was already too late.

“Thud!”

A heavy punch.

“Aah!”

The second punch sent her flying. A falling steel frame caught her and carried her down with it, and she disappeared from Aila’s sight.

“Anran! Anran!”

Aila turned and resumed her search for Anran.

…

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Three consecutive shots missed. A sniper beside Heloise shook his head helplessly.

“This place is shaking too badly. There’s no way to aim.”

“The tower is about to collapse completely. If we don’t leave now, we’ll die here too,” someone said to Heloise.

They were standing on one of the four enormous arms extending from the central tower, also the sturdiest part of the entire hover station. However, after the bombing and the impact of the collapsing tower, huge cracks had begun to spread across the giant arm as well. It looked ready to be twisted into a tangled mass of metal by the force of the collapse.

Heloise silently watched the figure tumbling through the smoke and dust. She wanted to make a move and cause Anran some trouble, but if she was not careful, she might end up dying here herself.

“Let’s go,” Heloise said.

Just as she turned around, she suddenly saw several chunks of metal hurtling toward the blurry figure with terrifying speed. They were about to strike when another shadow lunged out from the side and blocked them.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Aila!”

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Anran’s eyes widened as she stared at the petite figure that had suddenly appeared in front of her.

Several chunks of metal struck Aila’s back and knocked her straight into Anran’s arms.

Anran held Aila tightly, her face filled with anxiety.

“Anran, Anran! I finally found you. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“I’m fine. How are you?” Their bodies were plummeting rapidly, and Anran looked at Aila anxiously.

Even with a mechanical body, being struck like that several times had to hurt.

“I’m fine. I’ve eaten a lot of Lig Alloy recently, so my internal structure hasn’t suffered any major damage. I’ll recover very soon,” Aila said.

Her back was already slightly dented.

But now was not the time to worry about that.

Both Anran and Aila were falling. They were still more than a hundred meters above the ground, and there was no telling how many sharp objects were scattered below. Even with Anran’s current Endurance of 73, she would die if she fell from this height.

If she threw Aila away, Anran could use the jetpack to pull herself back. But Aila, Anran, and the equipment she was wearing weighed more than three hundred kilograms in total. The jetpack could not carry all of that.

Yet Anran could not bring herself to throw Aila away.

Anran’s gaze landed on a platform that had not yet broken apart. She immediately fired her grappling hook and activated the jetpack at full power. At a time like this, even the slightest extra force could help.

“Screech!”

Even the grappling hook made of Lig Alloy looked ready to deform under such tremendous instantaneous force. Anran felt as though her arm was about to be torn off. At that moment, Aila suddenly grabbed the rope.

Using the force of the swing, Anran shot toward the nearby platform at the instant the grappling hook slipped free.

“Thud!”

Roll, roll, roll…

Then she grabbed the edge of the platform.

“Huff… Huff… Huff…” With her face turned toward the sky, Anran gasped for breath. She had rolled more than a dozen times while holding Aila. The two of them had nearly rolled into a single person. Fortunately, she managed to grab the railing at the very end and kept them from falling.

But now Anran’s entire body ached so badly that she could barely move.

Aila was lying on top of her.

“Clang…”

Another chunk of metal struck Aila.

“Aila, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Aila struggled to her feet.

Anran frowned and checked their statuses. Aila’s 1,500 points of Armor had fallen to only 319.

Anran’s own maximum HP of 1,675 had dropped to 798, while her Stamina had fallen to 812.

Damn it.

She had been battered all over, yet all she had gained was the EXP reward from a few kills.

Anran reached for the remaining potion bottle from the Potent Recovery Set, but the bottle had already shattered from bad luck.

Umm…

Anran hurriedly picked up the broken bottle and licked it several times with the tip of her tongue.

She could not let it go to waste.

The slight recovery effect at least temporarily reduced some of the soreness.

With Aila pulling her up by the hand, Anran got to her feet.

They were still dozens of meters above the ground. When Anran looked up, she saw that the upper half of the tower had already tilted by more than ten degrees. If it leaned even a little farther, it would come crashing down in an irreversible collapse.

More and more cracks were spreading across the lower half of the tower. Most importantly, all four enormous arms extending from it had broken away from the tower.

“We need to leave now.”

Anran grabbed Aila’s arm so tightly that they could not possibly be separated. After Aila nodded in agreement, Anran led her in a rapid series of jumps between the platforms. They soon reached one of the rotating giant arms.

The giant arm had not broken away completely. If they ran downward along it, they could get as close to the ground as possible.

Although she was injured, Anran was still fast enough to reach the edge of the giant arm in very little time.

They were still more than thirty meters above the ground. Before Anran could figure out how to get Aila down, a thunderous crash behind her made her feel as though the entire world was about to vanish.

The upper half of the tower came crashing down. One of the enormous arms was crushed flat, and the scattered chunks of metal carried enough force to punch straight through even thick steel plates.

There was no time to hesitate. Anran glanced below. This was the edge of Trade Station No. 3, and farther away lay a lake. If she threw Aila into the water, the resulting damage should be much smaller.

“I’ll make it up to you properly when we get back!”

Anran shouted loudly.

She suddenly lifted Aila into her arms, used every ounce of strength she had, and hurled her away with a spinning throw.

Aila obediently did not resist. In her understanding, Anran would never hurt her.

Whoosh!

Like a cannonball, Aila flew faceup through the air in a parabola and fell into the water.

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“Splash!”

Water sprayed to an unknown height.

The instant Aila flew out, Anran jumped after her. With the jetpack barely keeping her under control, she landed steadily in the exact spot where Aila had entered the water.

“Splash!”

This time, the splash was much smaller.

“Gurgle, gurgle…”

Anran quickly sank to the bottom. She was wearing the Rain Concealment Set close to her body, and once she entered the water, her Agility actually increased. After regaining control of herself, she soon found Aila at the bottom.

More precisely, Aila had landed in a large pit on the lakebed. The stirred-up silt had made the water extremely murky. When Anran swam over, she discovered that Aila was stuck in the mud like a radish, with even her head almost completely buried.

“FMLh, FMLh…”

“Gurgle, gurgle…” Anran struggled for a long time before finally pulling Aila free. As she swam upward, the mud on Aila’s body was gradually washed clean. When the two of them finally surfaced, they narrowly dodged another chunk of metal crashing toward them.

“We finally made it down safely,” Anran sighed.

This time had been truly disastrous. Everything they had brought with them was gone.

Only the car remained.

At the thought of the car, Anran raised her head and looked toward the place where the tower had collapsed. Her face immediately turned green.

That location…

“Gurgle, gurgle…”

Anran nearly sank to the bottom of the lake with Aila.

Nothing was left. Apart from the things on her body and the items still in the hotel room, she had lost everything.

That had been worth hundreds of thousands of Bilu!

The joy of surviving the disaster vanished at once.

“Anran, Anran, are you all right? Your complexion looks terrible.”

“Boom!”

Gunfire and explosions suddenly erupted by the lakeside. Anran turned her head and saw a huge crowd of figures pouring out from that direction. An extremely fierce battle seemed to be underway.

What was going on?

Were the people from Morningstar still fighting the government troops?

“Let’s go take a look,” Anran said.

“Okay.” Aila nodded.

She could not move through the water at all. Besides, being held by Anran filled her with so much happiness that she had no desire to think about anything else.

Anran carried Aila closer to the shore. She could vaguely hear the shouting from over there.

“Kill those Morningstar sons of bitches! Avenge Anran!”

“That’s at least four or five hundred thousand EXP in total! Don’t let him get away!”

“Bang! Bang!”

“Move aside! Let me do it!”

“Ha! I hit Wang Juyan!”

“Damn it, these outsiders have gone insane!”

“Leader, go! I’ll cover your retreat!”

“All these insects from another world deserve to die!”

“Boom!”

“…”

Anran was a little dumbfounded. The people from Morningstar had accomplished their objective, yet enraged players were hunting them down like mad. What kind of absurd development was this?

She heard some people shouting that they wanted to avenge her, while others said they wanted to complete the mission. In any case, the entire scene was an utter mess.

The people from Morningstar seemed to be fleeing straight toward the lake. As they ran, some of them jumped into the water.

“The experts from Nine Songs are here! Everyone, hold them back! Don’t let them jump into the water!”

“Boom!”

A bomb exploded underwater.

The surging current immediately pushed Anran away.

People jumped into the water one after another like dumplings dropping into a pot. Some were from Morningstar, while many others were players with names floating above their heads.

“Bang! Bang…”

Stray bullets occasionally flew toward them.

This place was extremely dangerous. Anran carried Aila and dove underwater, but she did not swim away. Instead, she followed the people from Morningstar. With such a perfect opportunity before her, she would never be satisfied unless she killed those bastards.

Anran noticed that the Morningstar members seemed to know exactly where they were going. The instant they entered the water, they all swam in the same direction.

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Following behind them, Anran soon saw them reach a boulder at the bottom of the lake.

Because she had approached from the opposite direction, no one stopped her. The players were not so lucky. They were all tied down by those staying behind to cover the retreat.

Anran watched as the Morningstar members disappeared one after another near the boulder.

So they really had prepared an escape route. She simply had not expected them to dig a tunnel beneath the lake.

When the last person swam toward the boulder, Anran shot forward. Aila flattened herself against the rock while Anran grabbed the man by the neck. She twisted it left, then right, then a few more times until his health bar emptied.

“You have killed a low-level contact officer of Night Owl and obtained 16,700 Free EXP.”

“…”

Anran froze for a moment.

So the person she had just killed was an “alien.”

A contact officer from Night Owl. Hah.

Seeing the entrance ahead, Anran immediately pulled Aila onward.

She figured the people from Morningstar were not aquatic creatures. They might not even be able to hold their breath as long as she could, so there had to be something unusual inside. Sure enough, the moment she entered, she saw oxygen tanks.

The tunnel was very dark. Anran could sense people swimming not far ahead, but she could not see them clearly. The tunnel was also narrow. With Aila beside her, she had no room to make any unnecessary movements. Anran would normally have been very fast, but with Aila in tow, she could not speed up.

After swimming forward for about five minutes, they gradually began to rise. When light appeared ahead, Anran knew they were approaching the end.

However, since she did not understand the situation, she did not emerge immediately. She lingered beneath the surface for a while before climbing out. By then, the people from Morningstar were nowhere to be seen. There was only a single road leading into the distance.

“Close the door quickly.”

A voice came from ahead.

“Leader, there are still people behind us…”

“If you don’t want to die, close the door!”

“Yes.”

That voice definitely belonged to Dawn.

Anran raised an eyebrow.

“Hahaha! This door was made from the metal you people from Night Owl gave us. Even a high-yield explosive won’t break through it anytime soon,” Dawn laughed loudly.

“…”

“Dawn, don’t waste…”

The rest of the sentence was drowned out by the sound of the door closing.

Water dripped steadily from their bodies as Anran and Aila stood beside the pool.

“Anran?” Aila looked up at her.

Anran adjusted the weapons she had left, then said to Aila, “Come on. Let’s go take a look.”

They quickly reached the door Dawn had mentioned. Thick, pitch-black metal stood before them. The somewhat crude-looking door was clearly not going to be easy to deal with.

“Clang!”

The Crimson Blade struck the door. However, the result was beyond Anran’s expectations. Not only was the blade knocked back, there was not even a scratch on the door.

Damn, was it really that hard?

Then what could she…

“Anran, Anran, why don’t you let me try?” Aila suddenly tugged at the hem of Anran’s clothes.

Umm…

“All right.” Anran very consciously stepped aside and cleared a path for Aila.

Aila walked up to the door. She raised both hands and slowly pressed them against it.

“Hiss, hiss, hiss…”

Anran did not know whether it was her imagination, but she heard a faint cracking sound.

Soon, she witnessed an astonishing sight. The skin on Aila’s arms rapidly changed color, turning into a dazzling silver-white. It looked like metal. No, it was some kind of metal.

Immediately afterward, the sturdy metal door that Dawn had obtained from Night Owl actually began to deform under the pressure of Aila’s hands.

“Clank!”

A chunk of black metal was pried free, and Aila caught it in her mouth.

“Clank!”

Another chunk of black metal was torn off.

“…”

“Clang!”

The Crimson Blade struck the door again. As expected, Anran was knocked back once more.

So… so strong.