Otherworld Advance Team-Chapter 29 - 26 Preliminary Victory

29: Chapter 26: Preliminary Victory

29 -26: Preliminary Victory

Suddenly, the machine gun fire that had been suppressing them abruptly halted, leaving them slightly bewildered.

Luo’er heard a familiar whistle from the top of the nearby pyramid, then realized that Baiyue had somehow managed to quietly reach the pyramid’s apex, establishing a sniping position and gaining the advantage of higher ground.

Baiyue had adopted Luo’er’s researched method of silent sniping — activating Silence Magic the moment the trigger was pulled so that the sound of the shot couldn’t be heard, effectively concealing her presence.

Combined with the silencer affixed to the muzzle, she was virtually undetectable as she picked off her targets.

Almost simultaneously, brief gunfire echoed from another direction before falling silent, followed by another familiar whistle.

It seemed their opponents had attempted a flanking maneuver, only to be intercepted by Cheng Ziang, who had been lying in wait.

Regardless, the threats to their front and sides had largely been eliminated, save for a potential RPG sniper.

All visible targets on the enemy side had been neutralized.

Once Luo’er had confirmed they had gained the upper hand on the battlefield, he let out a sigh of relief and pulled out his monitor from his waist.

The white circle on the screen had shrunk, pointing them towards a clearing straight ahead.

“Moumou, activate the shield for cover as we advance,” Luo’er ordered, tucking the monitor back into his waistband and picking up his rifle.

Tangmo nodded in acknowledgment.

Silently chanting the spell, she initiated the Shield Magic, then stood and led the way as Luo’er and Hu Daoke cautiously followed her.

“How many have we killed so far?” asked Hu Daoke as they carefully treaded across the barren open field.

“Two…” before Luo’er could finish his sentence, the sound of rustling and a muffled grunt emitted from the shrubbery to their right, followed by Baiyue’s whistle from the pyramid.

“Three!” Luo’er corrected himself.

“Two more to go then!” Hu Daoke crouched, pulling back the magazine of his gun and loading a bullet with a watchful eye on their surroundings.

Before they could take another step, noises echoed once more from the other side.

This was the sector Cheng Ziang was responsible for, and again, they heard a whistle.

“Four!” Luo’er coldly stated.

“So, there’s only…” Hu Daoke ventured before casting Luo’er a glance.

Suddenly, standing in front of them, the last member of the enemy team rose, holding an RPG7 rocket launcher on his shoulder.

Before they could react, the rocket whistled towards them.

“Moumou!” Luo’er couldn’t help but yell out.

Tangmo didn’t answer; instead, she concentrated intently on the incoming rocket, altering her spell to boost her Shield Magic to the second level.

They couldn’t be certain whether the upgraded shield would withstand an RPG’s close-range onslaught, so they steeled themselves for possible impact.

“Boom!”

The RPG exploded in a burst of flames and smoke upon hitting the transparent shield, but the bright jet of metal failed to penetrate the Shield Magic.

The redirected energy spread outwards, the sparks twinkling like fireworks.

Clutching her Magic Wand tightly, Tangmo had to close her eyes against the blinding jets of metal.

After successfully deflecting the rocket, she felt a wave of relief wash over her, causing her to tremble from the adrenaline.

Luo’er acted decisively, pushing Tangmo aside and raising his rifle to aim at the shocked enemy.

He pulled the trigger, releasing a three-round rapid fire.

The enemy’s exposed upper body was hit by the bullets and he fell to the ground, screaming. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

Upon reaching the fallen enemy, Luo’er picked up his rifle and saw the man writhing in pain on the ground.

Three bullet wounds in his chest were bleeding profusely.

Next to him was a carbine assault rifle and a three-round rocket pack.

Unfortunately for him, his powerful RPG hadn’t been enough.

Luo’er kicked the RPG rocket launcher away from him, watching as he writhed in agony.

He aimed his rifle at the foe’s head and fired without hesitation.

“Boom!”

The sound of Luo’er’s shot rang out, signaling their first victory in the tournament.

As he looked down at his bullet-riddled foe, now with a hole through his head, he felt little remorse.

In this Virtual Battlefield, delivering a clean headshot was considered ethical, as it directly ended the pain of the opponent.

Due to a past incident during a World War One simulation, the Academy had limited the extremeness of violence.

Therefore, as bloody as a headshot might sound, regulations kept it to just one bullet causing two holes, eliminating excessive gore or bloodshed.

“Ah, it’s over!” Hu Daoke carelessly threw his handgun and let out a breath, “Kinda boring.”

He tucked his gun into a holster on his thigh.

Suddenly, a gunshot echoed as the gun went off accidentally, the bullet piercing through his leg and causing him to crumple to the ground.

Luo’er glanced at him and sighed, not saying anything, but made a mental note to check his own weapon.

For Hu Daoke, it seemed a minor setback was a better lesson than daily nagging.

After a flash of light, the five of them were transported back to the Grand Hall.

Aware of his clumsiness, Hu Daoke hung his head in embarrassment and, feeling dispirited, hung back behind the group.

“Such talent!” mocked Cheng Ziang, shaking his head in disbelief.

With a sullen expression, Hu Daoke glared at Cheng Ziang but felt too embarrassed to retort and chose to remain sulky instead.

“Next time, be careful.

If this happened in the real world, you’d be on crutches for a lifetime,” Luo’er warned, turning to look at him.

“I know…” Hu Daoke mumbled gloomily in response to Luo’er’s lecture.

“Our next match should be starting soon,” Luo’er casually opened the menu in the air to review the match progress.

“We have thirty minutes.

Let’s debrief!” He said, gesturing in the air and teleporting everyone into a private room.

After summarizing their experiences and lessons learned, they headed to the next battlefield.

With time, they made it easily into the top sixteen, leveraging their individual strengths and the experience they gained.

The next match didn’t require combat but was points-based.

They were tasked with infiltrating a heavily guarded Otherworld castle to obtain confidential documents then escape.

The game didn’t set any restrictions; whoever completed the mission fastest and most discreetly would receive the highest points, which would ultimately determine which side would win.

“So, our task now is to ascertain the number of guards within the castle…” As they teleported into the jungle outside the castle, Luo’er unfolded a map.

“Wait, are we in the same room as those guys?” Hu Daoke suddenly asked.

“No, they’re in a separate one!” Luo’er paused, opened an information bar and replied.

“Tsk, I was thinking of robbing the robbers!” Hu Daoke said maliciously.

“That’s indeed a way…” Luo’er could not deny.

“How do we get into that high castle?” Tangmo pointed at the castle’s blueprint center in the map.

“Let’s do reconnaissance first and figure out the number of enemies!” Luo’er ordered, turning to Baiyue who was holding her gun and seemed lost in thought.

“Yue’er, find an elevated spot to survey the enemy.”

“Sure!” Baiyue nodded, cradling her rifle and left.

Hu Daoke was daydreaming and was poked by Luo’er.

He got startled, pointed to himself and asked: “Am I supposed to go too?”

“Of course, you two are the reconnaissance team!”

“Oh!” Hu Daoke nodded, turned, and ran towards Baiyue.

“Next, we’ll…” Just as Luo’er started to speak after dispatching the two, he was interrupted by Cheng Ziang raising his hand.

“May I say something?” Cheng Ziang spoke nonchalantly while crossing his arms.

“Sure!” Luo’er nodded.

“I’ll infiltrate the castle, do reconnaissance, and bring the files out when necessary, alright?” Cheng Ziang volunteered himself.

“You’re sneaking in?” Luo’er was taken aback.

“Can you trust me?” Cheng Ziang didn’t answer directly but countered.

“Of course!” Luo’er nodded hastily.

“Three hours,” Cheng Ziang held up three fingers, “If I don’t return in three hours, it means I have fallen.

You’ll have to come up with a new plan, alright?”

Luo’er pondered for a while, then raised his finger saying: “You only have three hours, starting from now!”

“Got it!” Cheng Ziang showed a hint of a smile, holding his knife and left in quick steps.

“Luo’er, are you sure about letting him go alone?” Tangmo anxiously watched his retreating figure.

“Considering he seemed confident about his plan, might as well give it a shot.

If it doesn’t work, we’ll figure something else out,” Luo’er shrugged.

“So it’s just the two of us left together?” Tangmo broke into a cheerful grin.

“Eh…” Luo’er seemed taken aback.

Three hours passed quickly, neither the reconnaissance team nor Cheng Ziang returned.

Luo’er endured Tangmo’s unceasing pesters, focusing on the map.

Ever since his “death” from the last time, it seemed that Tangmo’s affection towards him had greatly increased.

She clung onto him at every chance, leaving him no way to escape.

“Quit messing around, Moumou!” said Luo’er helplessly.

Tangmo was laying on his back, fondling his elf ears, which had turned red from her persisting touches.

“Just a bit more!” Tangmo pleaded, but her hands never stopped.

From her perspective, Luo’er, the half-elf hybrid, was blessed by divinity, gifted by a beautiful goddess, that made her like him wholeheartedly.

Luo’er sighed, attempting to focus on the map again.

Suddenly, rustling sounds came from the woods, alerting him to grasp his rifle immediately.

The people who arrived were Baiyue and Hu Daoke.

Hu Daoke’s expression seemed as if he had seen a ghost, looking quite dejected for some reason.

“Done scouting?” asked Luo’er.

“Uh…

guess what we just saw?” Hu Daoke said with an air of mystery.

“What?” Luo’er and Tangmo exchanged glances, then asked together.

“Let me tell you, that guy Cheng Ziang…”

Before he could finish, Cheng Ziang emerged, carrying his knife.

Thanks to the enhanced perception system, they could strongly smell the blood stench coming off him.

“Files!” Cheng Ziang threw the documents in Luo’er’s direction without any expressions.

Luo’er opened the files and checked.

They were indeed the documents they were supposed to retrieve.

But how did he get them?

Predicting Luo’er’s confusion, Hu Daoke pointed at Cheng Ziang and said, “When we were scouting earlier, this guy sneaked into the castle and slaughtered everyone there stealthily.

The entire castle’s guards were silently wiped out!”

“Stealth slaughter?” Luo’er spanned his gaze between Hu Daoke and Cheng Ziang, appearing puzzled.

“Yes, he killed everyone without their awareness, smoothly acquired the documents and walked out through the front door, as if nothing happened,” Hu Daoke spoke with a hint of frustration, admitting that Cheng Ziang’s close combats are admittedly impressive.

“So, does that mean our mission’s accomplished?” Tangmo asked somewhat incredulously.

“If anything’s missing, you can go get it yourselves now.

There’s no one left to obstruct you,” Cheng Ziang said nonchalantly, but his sense of pride was evident in his tone.

“No need, mission’s over!” Luo’er waved the documents around in his hand, the surrounding scenery and document faded away slowly, replaced by the main hall’s plaza.