CHAPTER 314: CHAPTER 195: MELEE—CHAPTER 196: STORAGE TALISMAN? (END OF FOURTH UPDATE)

Bai Yansheng’s voice came through, "There are warriors with Wood, Wind, and Electric attributes on the other side. Since they’ve already fled, for now, let’s guard the general store."

Guard the general store? The warriors of the second team were a bit bewildered, and then the captain of the first team also arrived.

There were quite a few Ultimate Warriors in the research institute, but only he and Bai Yansheng knew that beneath the general store lay the gorge’s reserve depot.

He pushed through the crowd to enter the general store, and his face changed instantly, "Oh no, have we encountered a robbery?"

The guards were still asleep, and Nan Guannan was also unconscious.

The three fleeing individuals had already alerted the gorge’s security team, and everyone started to hunt them down.

The three split in two directions to escape, and the one going solo was especially brazen, even attacking the security personnel.

This person was an Electromagnetic Attribute warrior, and the security team was taken aback for a moment: Was there a third B-level electromagnetic attribute in the gorge?

An A-level warrior arrived, attempting to take him down, but was hit by a shot from an Anti-Mecha Laser Sniper Rifle.

Fortunately, this warrior was of the Earth Attribute, and not underestimating the opponent, had his body covered in Rock Armor.

Otherwise, this shot would have cost him at least half his life.

Even so, he was seriously injured and, to be cautious, withdrew from the battle.

Later, a B-level Wood Attribute warrior encircled the attacker but was heavily injured after being hit by a Three-Star Arrow of the Gold Attribute.

Only then did everyone guess who they were chasing—ninety percent sure it was Jian Lei from Central City!

Qu Jianlei finally realized that he had been exposed, so he stopped hiding and slipped into the darkness with an extremely bizarre body technique.

The reason he fought so fiercely along the way was to cover Xiao Moshan and Youyou’s escape—it was also part of the pre-battle plan.

He indeed managed this because his rampage along the way drew most people’s attention toward him.

Initially, he didn’t want to reveal his identity, but the gorge had too many B-level warriors, and they responded extremely swiftly.

Aside from the Laser Sniper Rifle and Thunder Technique, he eventually exposed his Gold Attribute Technique.

When escaping with the Wind Attribute Body Technique, he couldn’t help but reprimand himself: Had I known I would be exposed, why bother finishing off that Water Attribute?

He was still somewhat unused to senseless killing. This mentality... just wasn’t very wasteland-like.

He was running wildly, and the pursuers seemed unable to keep up. Considering the opponent had a Laser Sniper Rifle, a Flying Mecha wasn’t suitable for deployment.

Other equipment couldn’t be transported in time, especially since it was nighttime.

A Wind Attribute A-level warrior volunteered to catch up, "I’ll chase him!"

There were quite a few A-level warriors in the gorge, but the main ones were the Five Major Attributes, and there was only one A-level Wind Attribute warrior.

This person was fast enough, but didn’t Qu Jianlei still have a gun?

And Wind Attribute warriors are notoriously fragile in defense.

Qu Jianlei turned and fired two more shots, one taking down a searchlight locking onto him from four to five kilometers away, and the other repelling the A-level warrior.

The Wind Attribute warrior had a strong Perception Ability, managing to evade the Laser Gun’s shot in time.

But even so, he dared not pursue further. Taking a bullet for Earth Attribute wasn’t too concerning, but for him, it could be fatal.

So he could only stop, begrudgingly saying, "This guy’s marksmanship is unusually accurate."

Then he posed a question, "Did he really only advance to B-level not long ago? I feel like he’s almost at the A-level threshold."

This wasn’t an excuse for his own incompetence; his body technique and speed were indeed superior, but not by much.

The news of Jian Lei’s appearance in the gorge shook its upper echelons.

Ten-plus minutes later, an above A-level presence arrived at the scene.

Unfortunately, he came too late; the other party had already vanished into the vast night.

With his protection, everyone mustered the courage to pursue according to the elemental wave trails.

However, they encountered traps, and an earth-shattering explosion flipped the pursuers over.

The casualties weren’t too heavy, but there were fatalities—two on the spot, and one died on the way to the hospital.

The above A-level guy didn’t have time to protect everyone.

Right afterward, more news came that the team tracking the other two also faced explosive traps.

That group had fewer pursuers, but still suffered one death and one serious injury.

The key issue was that after the explosive traps, finding any abnormal elemental aura was utterly impossible.

The next moment, more news arrived: the general store had been robbed, and the underground gorge supply depot was almost entirely looted.

Only then did everyone realize: Was the general store just a decoy?

No matter what, with the emergence of two explosive trap incidents, Jian Lei was placed at the top of the gorge’s kill list.

——————

Chapter 196 The Storage Talisman? (Fourth Update)

Northeast of the gorge lay a dense forest, each towering tree reaching seventy to eighty meters high, straight into the sky.

Within the jungle camouflage, there was a circular fortress spanning about two square kilometers.

This was what people referred to as the "base" within the gorge.

Few at the base ventured outside, though people from the gorge frequently drove in to deliver supplies.

To most of the gorge’s inhabitants, the base held great mystery, yet its authority was undeniable.

Inside a spacious room in the base, a rugged-looking middle-aged man sat at a desk, reviewing the computer screen.

The room wasn’t abundantly furnished, and though it seemed bare, it retained a sense of simplicity.

A few tall potted plants stood in corners, lush and vibrant, teeming with life.