Chapter 1020 - 886: Choices
Mu Yu didn’t stay to wait for Xiao Moshan; this was not just the Supreme’s disregard for B-level life.
Everyone must be responsible for their own choices. Since the other party made extra demands, they have to pay the corresponding price.
Xiao Moshan didn’t resent this; his body flickered and disappeared into the rainy night.
At the same time, Qu Jianlei issued the "retreat" signal.
He had been very cautious, but he still fell into the trap. The safe didn’t have a self-destruct device, but it did have a pressure-sensitive triggering mechanism.
The reason it’s called a mechanism is that it’s a purely mechanical structure, without any data involved, and not even the Little Lake could perceive it.
Moreover, the mechanism is extremely intricate, triggered by the subtle rise and fall of partitions inside the safe, very hard to detect from outside.
Qu Jianlei was extremely cautious and avoided several triggering devices when extracting other components.
Unexpectedly, he failed at the last step.
He had suspected there might be an alarm, but he thought priority should be given to ensuring the components couldn’t be taken casually, right?
He indeed used his perception to check for any protective alarms or reaction devices but found nothing.
However, he didn’t expect this mechanism to be designed just for alarm, not preventing outsiders from taking components.
But on second thought, logically, there’s not much issue. This is the Star Realm military region headquarters; who can forcefully take military items?
Having an alarm is proper, allowing the military region to catch people promptly.
Though Qu Jianlei was caught off guard, he didn’t panic; he even carefully checked the two components.
After confirming no locator was on them, he put them away and called for everyone to retreat.
But the Paranoid stated, "You guys retreat first, I’ll wait here for Mu Yu... couldn’t even handle a small matter."
Qu Jianlei didn’t bother with that. He directly released his spiritual power. Since the alarm had sounded, there’s no need for concealment anymore.
Upon his release, a Supreme aura rose again.
This aura wasn’t from the Cultivation Room; evidently, the military’s Supreme was awakened by the alarm.
After that, a more piercing alarm sounded; the military district personnel had discovered the alarm’s source.
Even so, no full district alarm was sounded.
The two core components indeed had a high clearance, but just a warehouse theft wouldn’t trigger the Special Level alarm.
Even so, a reminder sounded in the Cultivation Room, notifying cultivators that the room might close temporarily.
At this point, the military hadn’t realized what situation they were facing.
However, the duty personnel found the warehouse theft and naturally checked the adjacent areas to figure out what happened.
This checking was astonishing; they found that there was no signal!
The monitoring in that entire area was completely cut off!
This meant there was a ninety percent chance of foreign invasion, not just internal theft within the military region.
However, in this situation, it still had to be reported to the higher-ups, and they couldn’t sound the Special Level alarm recklessly.
But they also emphasized that the small warehouse theft might involve idle components of the Super Qi Gathering Array.
Listening to this analysis and judgment, the higher-up got anxious, "Maybe the whole Qi Gathering Array was stolen, what are we waiting for?"
This process of analysis, judgment, and request took over twenty seconds.
The duty personnel weren’t intentionally negligent; they considered this possibility too, but... is it realistic?
Theft in the military region wasn’t very rare, but stealing a whole set of Super Qi Gathering Array... never happened in the Hope Star Realm.
Even in the entire empire, the last time such a situation occurred was over eighty years ago.
At that time, Star Thieves targeted a Super Qi Gathering Array in a certain star realm, discovered during the theft, and switched to a forcible grab.
Even then, the Star Thieves didn’t succeed in the heist.
Under the military’s control, one Qi Gathering Array self-destructed, only part of another’s components were taken.
However, two sets of the simpler Qi Gathering Arrays were stolen—the Star Thieves were more interested in the simplified versions.
Later, the military pursued those Star Thieves for fifty years; although they didn’t fully annihilate the adversaries, the main culprits were brought to justice.
Those present truly didn’t expect that such an improbable event would happen to them.
Over thirty seconds after the first alarm went off, the Special Level alarm finally sounded, covering over three hundred square kilometers.
By this time, Mu Yu was already close to meeting the Paranoid, while Qu Jianlei perceived that Xiao Moshan had just killed a B-level.
In the military region, B-level individuals have their own quarters, but this person resided in the officer dormitory courtyard.
If the alarm hadn’t sounded, with Xiao Moshan’s skills, he could have silently assassinated a mentally dazed B-level.
But unfortunately, Mu Yu only launched a spiritual attack on the B-level after the alarm sounded.
Was Mu Yu wrong? Certainly not; this was the most responsible team cooperation method.
Was Xiao Moshan wrong? He wasn’t; he wanted to personally eliminate his enemy.
Moreover, he charged in against the alarm sound, presumably... with the worst outcome mentally prepared.
However, as he planned to use his body technique to withdraw, he was blocked by the awakened officers.
Especially as the alarm sounded, the officer dormitory courtyard instantly became brightly lit.
The first officer blocking the way, wearing only a pair of shorts, with a gun in hand, dashed out into the rain.
It seems this person has already donned the Golden Armor, as indicated by the elemental fluctuations on him.
Xiao Moshan is an assassin with a fleeting body technique. Although his combat skills are decent, in a one-on-one hard fight, his strength isn’t exceptionally superior.
The opponent is clearly a seasoned veteran, whose adaptability might not really be inferior to Xiao Moshan—especially since he’s already wearing armor.
Moreover, with the lights in the entire courtyard on, Xiao Moshan’s adept concealment is largely nullified.
In a flash, he tried to dodge, but the bare-chested guy shouted, "Where do you think you’re going!"
While shouting, he fired his gun. Despite being B-level with a Gold Attribute, he surprisingly chose firearms over technique!
This guy’s marksmanship is particularly tricky, with each bullet locking Xiao Moshan’s escape room.
He’s a quick shooter delayed by technique.
Unfortunately, Xiao Moshan’s Wind Attribute suffers the most from such attacks.
With peak B-level cultivation, regular bullets can’t penetrate defenses easily, but the Wind Attribute is not only fragile but also lacks agility.
Bullets hitting his body not only produce some pain, but the critical point is that the tremendous energy interrupts his body technique.
Xiao Moshan dodged several times, avoiding the bullets, but his escape route was blocked.
Then he forced a bullet hit, hoping to use its momentum to leave, but more people suddenly emerged.
As they tangled with him, the shooter became inconvenient to act, leaving Xiao Moshan entangled.
No matter how hard he tried to dodge, these officers weren’t pushovers either.
Not only were they Awakened, but they also practiced practical combat coordination.
Qu Jianlei sensed this and couldn’t help but sigh silently.
Now, in other cultivation rooms, people were starting to rush out, though somewhat bewildered upon exiting.
However, it was evident that if they didn’t run now, it would soon be too late to escape.
At this moment, Mu Yu rushed over and explained, "He insists on killing the second one, let’s go!"
Qu Jianlei understood instantly; no wonder when the alarm sounded, he vaguely sensed Mu Yu’s spiritual attack—it turns out that was the case.
He was familiar with Xiao Moshan; this guy indeed had a nimble mind and acted unorthodoxly.
But when being clever, it left a bad impression; this guy didn’t even realize that they were Supreme big shots.
Following Mu Yu’s logic, everyone should leave now, as doing things the Imperial way... should be so!
"You all go first," Qu Jianlei sighed softly, "I’ll cover the rear... it was me who triggered the alarm."
Aside from old battle camaraderie, if he had been more cautious and hadn’t triggered the alarm, Xiao Moshan wouldn’t be in such a passive situation.
The opponent’s little tricks... indeed irksome, but at this moment, his actions sought a clear conscience.
Besides, things have come to this point, someone has to cover the retreat, right?
Mu Yu hesitated, wanting to say something when Paranoid pulled her with a hand, saying, "Then it’s hard work for the boss."
After speaking, the two shot outward, Mu Yu while rebellious, was completely controlled by Paranoid.
Just then, a wave of Supreme breath fluctuations appeared in the distance, and many raindrops in the sky suddenly intensified.
Then Granny Jia sent a spiritual signal, "(゜ρ゜)ノ"
She, responsible for support, was also about to retreat, but before leaving, increased the rain to help one last time.
The rain abruptly grew heavier, followed by another Supreme aura rising.
Lightning suddenly flashed in the air, with booming thunder crashing toward the ground.
This was actually Paranoid pretending to be a Supreme with an Electromagnetic Attribute, sending out several techniques during the retreat.
Neither he nor Granny Jia hesitated to run, but would do their utmost to support their comrades.
Qu Jianlei with a fleeting movement directly faced Xiao Moshan, simultaneously sending out several spiritual powers.
Several B-levels besieging Xiao Moshan groaned successively, collapsing into the muddy water.
Xiao Moshan accelerated again, successfully breaking through the encirclement, yet shouted loudly.
"You leave, don’t worry about me... I’ll blow up the arsenal, see you in the next life!"
Seriously... really too reckless, Qu Jianlei sighed silently.
In fact, Xiao Moshan’s determination to die, he had vaguely sensed before.
When he saw those two A-level corpses at dusk, this guy’s eyes revealed something off.
Otherwise, what does it matter killing another B-level, why not just speak directly?
He silently instructed in his heart, "Little Lake, rapid shoot, isolate the pursuers."
In the next moment, a few fire dragons rose from afar, heading straight for the Military Region.
As the shells fell, Qu Jianlei used spiritual power to topple two A-levels, meeting Xiao Moshan.
"Damn, you kid really did me wrong!"
While speaking, he grabbed Xiao Moshan, body swiftly flashing through the rain.
As the shells exploded, the Military Region resounded with a heaven-shaking fiery explosion.
Xiao Moshan steadied himself for a moment, sighing softly, "The gap between us... is really growing bigger."
(Initial post for July, seeking support with baseline monthly votes.)