CHAPTER 896: CHAPTER 896: COMBAT POWER OF THE PASSERBY PLAYERS

Watching the sudden figure appearing on the street, the soldiers of the Sweeping Group were visibly stunned for a moment.

The man was wearing a raincoat, and in the darkness, his face couldn’t be seen, nor could the things hidden under the raincoat.

The squad leader in charge immediately became alert, quickly raised his gun to aim at the man, and then reported the situation to the Centurion.

"Identified an unknown target... located outside the mission execution area. This guy is blocking the escape route of the armed militants."

Accompanied by the sound of static, the voice of the Centurion soon came from the other end of the communication channel.

"Report his detailed situation."

The squad leader took a deep breath and hurriedly reported.

"I can’t see him from here, he’s wearing a raincoat... something feels off about this guy."

The Centurion calmly ordered, "Maybe he’s an associate of the militants, apprehend him together."

They had already captured some prisoners, but it wasn’t enough.

According to the confessions of those henchmen, the one who escaped by jumping out of the window was their leader.

He was known as a Disciple of the Enlightened Society.

"Understood."

The squad leader hung up the communication and waved his right fist. The team quickly split into two groups, one group continued to advance along the street, while the other aimed rifles at the figure in the raincoat and approached him.

For some reason, the squad leader felt his heart beating fiercely, a kind of instinctive panic, as if being watched by a dangerous Variant.

Ten meters away!

Just as the five-man group was about to make contact with the motionless figure, a sudden change occurred in that instant.

"Ta-ta-ta——!"

From the shadow under the raincoat suddenly burst tongues of flame, with tracer rounds shooting forth, catching the five-man team off guard.

The distance was less than ten meters, and the firepower was so dense it was too late to dodge, and there was nowhere to evade!

Fortunately, the bullet-proof plates of the exoskeleton held back the rain of bullets. Although everyone was swept by the barrage, none were hit critically, and they immediately pulled the trigger to fight back.

In that moment, the figure with the raincoat suddenly moved.

Two curved knives, like a mantis’s forelegs, flickered in the rain into a flash of light, and with a hum, they attacked the flank of the five-man team.

The soldier standing on the left had no time to react, watching the sharp blade slice through the raindrops on the tactical goggles.

"Clang——!"

The alloy blade hacked into the helmet. The bullet-proof plate that could withstand bullets was no match for the strength of a high-level Agility system player.

Driven by the exoskeleton, this strike instantly delivered tons of damage.

Blood splattered from the shattered helmet, and the person hit lost consciousness instantly.

Releasing the handle of the knife, the Comedian discarded the curved knife embedded in the helmet and grabbed the other blade with his left hand, transitioning from wielding two knives to holding one in each hand.

Seeing their comrades lifeless, the other four soldiers were shocked, not even fully understanding what happened, they watched the lightning-fast figure once again reach them.

"Block him——" The first soldier to react shifted his gun to aim and fired at close range.

However, before he finished speaking, the whirlwind-like knife was already slicing towards his throat.

"Die!"

The curse blew into his ear just as his head was severed, his view spun through the air.

The first corpse had barely hit the ground, and two from the five-man team were already dead!

The Comedian’s eyes burned with intense battle spirit as the killing spree continued.

Quickly dodging the muzzle flames nearly at his face, the whirlwind-like knife turned as it slashed at the soldier’s lower leg against the sound of gunfire.

"Ah!!"

The blade embedded itself in the bullet-proof armor of the exoskeleton’s leg guard.

Rather than cutting in, it’s more accurate to say it was forcefully smashed in!

The soldier cried out in pain and fell to one knee, splashing rainwater.

The Comedian lifted him by the back of the neck with his left hand, using him as a shield to charge at the next target aiming a gun at him.

Hit by his comrade’s back, the soldier staggered backward, losing balance and falling.

Releasing the soldier with the broken leg, the Comedian leapt forward to chase him, his right hand reaching for the waist-holstered submachine gun with half a magazine left, the muzzle piercing up under the chin of the falling soldier.

"Fourth one!"

As the grim voice escaped, the menacing muzzle spat fire.

The rapid gunshots penetrated the soft spot of the exoskeleton, the soldier’s head burst into pulp, convulsing electrically amid the sparks, before collapsing heavily onto the rain-soaked street.

Watching their teammates fall one by one, the only remaining soldier was already scared stiff.

Seeing the raincoat’s brim turn towards him, he could not muster the courage to face the man, only shouting in horror, "Monster!", before turning to flee desperately into the rain.

Evidently, not all Weilante People are fearless.

Especially when faced with such an inexplicable "monster."

Seeing the figure move at an incredible speed and his comrades fall within breaths, the squad leader’s pupils shrunk to a point, filled with shock and rage, even too distracted to reprimand the escaping soldier.

"So fast!"

Though he was awakened too, at such distance, against such terrifying power and speed, he felt no confidence in victory.

The soldier who had his calf cut off didn’t die, but stared wide-eyed at the man in the raincoat, lying in the rain and gasping in spasms.

The Comedian held a submachine gun to his head as a hostage, preventing the five people not far away from opening fire and sneaking up, then pulled off the rifle hanging from his shoulder.

"Still want to fight?"

While speaking, he turned his face slightly to look at the remaining five people standing by the street.

The distance was about twenty meters, not too close or too far for him.

The squad leader’s mouth was dry, and the silencer’s barrel trembled slightly.

This guy is a monster...

He lowered his voice to call the sniper, but heard no response, his heart sank.

These people came prepared!

The sniper they had ambushed nearby most likely met with misfortune...

"...Who are you?" the squad leader lowered his voice to ask in order to buy some time.

He was originally standing there to delay time. Seeing the other side was too scared to move, the Comedian wasn’t in a rush to fight and decided to tease him.

"A Disciple of the Enlightenment Society."

The squad leader’s pupils slightly contracted.

"Enlightenment Society..."

That name again!

Rubbing his index finger on the trigger, he nervously swallowed and continued in a low voice.

"...What exactly do you want?"

"You don’t need to know..." the Comedian also lowered his voice, like a genuine villain.

The air between them seemed frozen, stuck in a stalemate.

About two minutes passed.

The squad leader kept swallowing nervously, growing anxious, but had no way out.

What worried him wasn’t just the man in front of him, but also his teammate under the man’s foot, and another gun hidden in the dark.

With the sniper out of touch, he was almost sure that the gun had aimed down the street.

His superior had already dispatched a ten-man team to search the sniper’s position, and before learning the result, he dared not risk his and his men’s lives.

At this moment, the voice of the Centurion came through the communication channel.

"...Reinforcements are almost there, hang on a bit longer."

The squad leader said nervously.

"Understood... What about the escaping target?"

After a brief static sound, the Centurion continued.

"Don’t worry about him for now, control your current target first. We’ve identified the runaway target, and he won’t escape."

Hearing this, the squad leader finally breathed a sigh of relief, his previously nervous mood gradually calming down.

Since there was no need to hastily deal with the escaping target, there was no need to risk it with the person in front of him.

Just keep watch and wait for reinforcements to arrive!

The group standing in the rain continued to confront each other, allowing more and more urgent raindrops to hit their raincoats and exoskeleton armor.

Then, the sound of vehicles faintly emerged with the wind blowing along the street.

At the same time, a voice came through the communication channel to the Comedian standing in the rain.

"... I have two pieces of bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"

The Comedian rolled his eyes at the words.

"I’m already pretending to be cool; can’t you just say it instead of farting around?"

Stopping the suspense, Sand Sculpture continued.

"The troops surrounding the broadcast station have fired on civilians, with one dead and one injured from the Desert Army. Fortunately, no traces were left, and our people made a successful withdrawal... In addition, the civilian casualties in Evernight Harbor appear significant, I went offline for a glance as I saw the explosion, heard from a dead one."

The Comedian clicked his tongue in surprise.

This Southern Legion is ruthless, pushing to the point of firing at their own civilians.

"...Those are two pieces of bad news?"

Sand Sculpture continued over the communication channel.

"That counts as one, the other is about you. Two armored vehicles are heading your way, about two to three minutes out, spotted from a drone."

He paused and added.

"Of course, I’m almost done on my end, do as you like."

"Received."

After a simple reply, the Comedian tapped his finger on his helmet and disconnected the communication.

Looking at the five people on standby in the distance, he thought for a moment, made up his mind, and called out.

"Hey."

The squad leader across from him tensed up instantly, his finger on the trigger was like a tightened string.

"What do you want?"

The Comedian grinned and asked.

"I’ve spared your life, what’s your name?"

A flicker of anger crossed the squad leader’s eyes, but he remembered that reinforcements were imminent, so it wasn’t necessary to provoke this monster at this moment. He suppressed the fury in his heart and spoke in a lowered voice.

"Toby."

"Toby... got it," the Comedian murmured the name once and nodded, then said in a meaningful tone, "Goodbye, we’ll meet again."

Having said that, he kicked the limp guy under his foot aside.

Toby was stunned, still unable to grasp what the Comedian meant by "we’ll meet again."

Just then, a blinding flame suddenly erupted from under the raincoat, and the monster that killed without blinking an eye exploded into a ball of fire in the blink of an eye!

The scorching flames ignited the exoskeleton’s battery, and half a second after the first explosion, a second explosion immediately followed, sending dense smoke sprawling everywhere.

The burning sparks scattered like fireworks, illuminating the dark street brightly.

Toby was dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events.

Suicide?!

The screams cutting through the smoke snapped him out of it, and he quickly swung aside the raised gun barrel, darting forward in quick strides to drag his teammate out of the enveloping smoke.

The guy’s calf had a curved knife embedded in it, and the bullet-proof vest on his chest was lit on fire, refusing to be put out no matter how hard it was smacked.

Gritting his teeth, Toby removed the bullet-proof vest from the man’s chest and tossed it into the nearby inferno where the smoke churned intensely.

Just then, two armored vehicles for reinforcements finally made their way over from the other side of the street.

The vehicles came to a halt by the roadside, and a Wellante soldier carrying a rifle leapt out, striding quickly up to Toby.

"We are the reconnaissance team from the 40th ten thousand troops, heard this place needed reinforcements, specifically came from the port area."

The soldier glanced at Toby and his injured companion before shrugging.

"Looks like your battle is over."

Toby moved to pull the curved knife embedded in his teammate’s calf but saw it had seemingly sliced into the bone. He abandoned the idea of pulling it out, deciding to leave the job to a professional surgeon.

It’s truly brutal.

Wounded not on the battlefield but right at his doorstep, with a crippled leg, likely forced into early retirement.

Toby got up from the ground.

"It’s over, you’re a step too late."

The soldier from the reconnaissance team grinned.

"You’re no different; I heard someone rather important died."

Toby nodded silently.

"Thousands of leaders."

It wasn’t just about the rank of thousands of leaders; the man was the secretary of the War Zone General Affairs Department Minister.

At this point, Toby wasn’t aware that his ally had already opened fire on civilians.

If he knew, he probably wouldn’t be surprised by a "thousands of leaders died" kind of small matter.

The soldier opposite from the reconnaissance team clicked his tongue lightly and glanced at the burning scene nearby.

"Killed a Thousands of leaders... seems these gang members have grown tired of living."

The thick smoke rising rapidly was soon washed away by the rain, yet the unquenchable flames continued to persist, burning stubbornly in the ever-increasing downpour.

When that pungent smoke finally dissipated, what remained on the street was a body resembling charcoal.

Toby swallowed hard, pressing his finger to his helmet, and reported to the higher-ups.

"We have three casualties... one severely injured."

"The other party claimed to be a Disciple of Enlightened Society, suspected to be a second-stage Awakener or higher... no, possibly third-stage or even fourth-stage; that speed couldn’t have been achieved just with an exoskeleton."

The communication channel remained quiet for a moment before his Centurion asked solemnly.

"... Did you catch him?"

Toby replied softly.

"He ended himself... and the body burned until only a piece of charcoal remained."

There was another long pause in the communication channel, and the Centurion concisely said.

"Understood, pack up."

Toby quickly inquired further.

"What about the escapee?"

The Centurion continued.

"The City Defense Army has already sealed off Evernight Harbor, including the heavily blocked Blackwater Alley... that rat won’t escape."

"Tonight’s chaos is quite significant... there might be other tasks later."

Toby took a deep breath.

"Received."

...

Meanwhile, Mors, crashing through the alley like a wild beast, finally pieced together vague memories and found the Enlightenment Society’s outpost.

He was like a dog that fell into water, soaked to the skin by the rain, with a faint stench of swill emanating from him.

He couldn’t care less about tidying up his appearance. He staggered forward, pounding his fist forcefully against the tightly closed door.

However, the tightly closed door did not budge at all, showing no sign of opening.

A panic rose in his heart, and he shouted towards the tightly closed door.

"Open the door! I’ve done what you wanted me to do... Although there was a bit of an accident, that guy Tony is dead, but I couldn’t help it, who would have thought of running into the army’s regular troops!"

Wait a minute...

Why would I run into the army’s regular troops?!

Hadn’t the Enlightenment Society already appeased the higher-ups? Otherwise, how could I have made such a mess at Tony’s casino... Just the guards alone would be enough to crush me, not to mention the need for regular troops.

Unless...

The guards weren’t unwilling to come, but rather had run into some unexpected situation.

The person who had extended him the olive branch and was then killed by him was actually the real big shot.

This explains why that guy Tony would rather die at my hand than run away.

But then...

How should the previous events be accounted for?

The power of the Enlightenment Society was indeed what got him out of Carter Nord’s prison.

Morse’s brain was increasingly chaotic, with a faint pain between his brows, and his eye whites filled with blood streaks.

That damned illusion appeared again.

He bit his gum until it bled, knocked on his head hard, and expelled the illusion from his mind.

What on earth went wrong?!

He actually had a vague suspicion of something.

Maybe this wasn’t a collaboration between the army and the Enlightenment Society at all, but a covert struggle between the army and the alliance.

As for him...

He was just accidentally caught up in it, and had foolishly developed some misunderstandings.

He wasn’t a maggot living in the sewer at all, but rather a pupa living inside a cocoon.

He exerted all his strength, giving it his all, and finally bit through a hole in that sturdy cocoon room, but the light shining into the cocoon room blinded him.

Which side is the illusion after all? Which side is reality?

"Damn it! Open the door!"

Morse shouted hoarsely, smashing the door with his almost numb arm, nearly smashing the closed door panel to pieces.

"Haven’t you acknowledged me already? Could it be... am I fucking not a member of the Enlightenment Society?"

At the instant he heard the word ’Enlightenment Society’, a sound finally came from inside the door.

A glimmer of hope flashed in Morse’s eyes, especially when he saw that door open.

Yet the next second, that glimmer of hope froze in the center of his pupils with a short gunshot sound.

"Bang—!"

A 9mm bullet penetrated his skull, and Morse fell to the ground without a sound.

Looking at the corpse soaking in the rain, the man with a sullen face cursed and stashed away the smoking handgun.

"So noisy... damn it, is your own voice not loud enough?!"

These trash...

Even if they put their lives on the line, they still have to go around shouting the name of the Enlightenment Society.

This is just great.

They can’t keep a low profile even if they want to now!

After glancing at the street and seeing no one else, the man sighed in relief, squatted down, grabbed the corpse’s legs, and prepared to drag the dead dog into the house for disposal.

And the moment he lowered his head, a whooshing sound attacked the top of his head.

With no time to react, he collapsed straight to the ground after taking a hard hit.

Throwing away the club in his hand, Sand Sculpture glanced at Morse’s corpse, sighing lightly.

He had seen this guy’s story on Talan’s post, though a downright villain and a mentally unstable lunatic, he was also someone with dreams.

It was said that in his dream, he changed Blackwater Alley, making it Night City on the Wasteland, a low-cost version of Bugra Free State.

If he had been born elsewhere, with a decent education, with his abilities, he might have been able to make a mark, even if not becoming some emperor of the underground world.

However, this was Evernight Harbor under the rule of the Weilante People.

It was the Blackwater Alley where aliens were born and rotted.

"You’ll become a legend of Blackwater Alley, people here will remember your name for a long time... This is all I can do for you, rest in peace, first-time friend."

Leaving these words, Sand Sculpture dragged his corpse and the unconscious man together into the "True Enlightenment Society" base.

After tonight, this guy’s wanted poster would likely be plastered all over the streets and alleys of Blackwater Alley, and once the trouble in the northwestern city area is settled, the Weilante People would go crazy looking for him.

But they won’t succeed.

He’ll vanish completely from this settlement, as if he evaporated, becoming a legend passed down in the streets and alleys of Blackwater Alley, a legend in the eyes of countless young men...

Taking with him secrets he may or may not know.