Chapter 44 – Bloody Ferrara (16)
◎ Betrayal ◎
“The current number of teams advancing: 54”
“The remaining flags in the arena: 1”
Out of 10 spots for advancement, only 1 flag remained.
If the previous announcement had left a glimmer of hope in the teams within Mirror Lake, thinking they still had a chance to find a mutant zombie, seize the crystal, then the subsequent announcement directly pronounced their death sentence.
There were no surviving mutant zombies left in Mirror Lake, and among the 100-plus teams in the arena, there was only one choice left: kill and seize the flag!
The person holding the flag at this moment would undoubtedly become the target of everyone’s arrows.
“Sister, are we in danger?” Xu Xing held Song Ke’s hand, his tone filled with worry.
Song Ke didn’t immediately respond but instead cast her gaze on the other two.
Being chased was secondary; what she cared about most now was what Lin Youyou was thinking.
The precondition for their four-person cooperation was based on a sufficient number of crystals, but now that premise no longer existed. Two teams would definitely be unable to advance. Faced with such a situation, was there still a possibility of continued cooperation?
Would Lin Youyou turn against them on the spot, just like everyone else, trying to kill her to seize the flag?
Song Ke held the crystals in her pocket, her fingers releasing and tightening, unsure of what to say.
Lin Youyou remained silent for a while, noticing Song Ke’s tense expression. She sighed softly, showing unexpected calmness, “You’re really unlucky. This is the last crystal. Well, now you’re the center of attention. Quickly take it to the finish line.”
Song Ke didn’t feel good about this, “How, how do you advance?”
Lin Youyou’s lips curled into a faint smile, and her slender fingertips poked Song Ke’s shoulder. Song Ke didn’t dodge. “Worried about me? Since the competition specifies 64 spots for advancement, there will always be another way for those remaining.”
Although she said so, the outlook wasn’t optimistic. The original rules were already so cruel; if it dragged on to the end, she didn’t know what awaited them.
“Don’t worry, I keep my word.”
“Oh my, judging by your expression, are you going to give the crystal to me?”
Even in such circumstances, Lin Youyou still had the mood to tease her.
Song Ke’s fingertips touched the pearl necklace, her tone hesitant, “Actually, I—”
Before she could finish her sentence, she was abruptly interrupted. Leaves around them rustled, and a snake-like black shadow lunged toward them.
The first wave of pursuers had arrived!
Su Cha reacted extremely quickly, leaping into the woods. Muffled sounds came from the darkness, and the ambushing extraordinary individual was instantly eliminated.
“Run!” Lin Youyou urged aloud.
The four of them sprinted towards the mountain summit, encountering a few more ambushes along the way, but luckily, they escaped unharmed.
In no time, they reached the foot of the mountain, and a few more kilometers forward from here was the finish line for submitting the flag.
“Something’s not right; the pursuers have decreased.”
The wind seemed to slow down here, and the surroundings were eerily quiet, with snowflakes falling gently.
“Crunch!” Song Ke’s ears caught the sound of dry leaves being crushed.
She stopped in her tracks, alertly looking around, and in the next second, a large number of awakeners surged from all directions!
They were surrounded, on the essential path leading to the finish line, where numerous bloodthirsty and desperate awakeners had already laid an ambush.
“Boom!” A deafening cannon blast marked the beginning of the looting.
The firepower was too intense, and Song Ke had to step back. On the periphery of her vision, a familiar Gatling particle cannon was set up, the “Guns and Roses”!
Rising extraordinary fire rings enclosed them, trapping the four of them inside, and the scorching flames nearly burned their skin.
After Irene finished her cannon shot and saw the faces of several people within the encirclement, she was momentarily stunned. How could it be them?
They had at least saved her once, and a hint of hesitation flashed in her eyes, slowing down her actions.
In the official live broadcast room, all the cameras once again switched to the 161-1 drone.
Facing the camera, Ah K analyzed rationally, “The situation for V587 doesn’t look great. On one side, there’s a continuous onslaught of pursuers, and on the other, it’s just a makeshift team put together temporarily, plus Team 121…”
Lin Youyou and Su Cha didn’t really stand out, and Ah K searched through the corners of his memory for information, “This team is called ‘Named Randomly,’ and in terms of combat capability, they seem quite casual. Su Cha from 121-1 disappears from the screen frequently, and the audience has a high complaint rate about him. As for Amy from 121-2, she hasn’t shown any outstanding performance since the qualifiers and even earned the nickname ‘Fish Queen.’ I wonder how they plan to deal with this?”
As Ah K finished speaking, a seismic change occurred in the arena.
Even though the four surrounded individuals hadn’t communicated in any way, their movements were oddly synchronized.
Xu Xing took a step back, and a chaotic snowstorm began falling from the heavily clouded sky. The temperature plummeted, and those burning fire rings instantly extinguished, leaving behind only black char.
Lin Youyou’s red lips twitched slightly, and without any visible movement, the four’s speed suddenly doubled.
Su Cha disappeared in place, concealed in the darkness. When he reappeared, he had already moved behind one of the besiegers. With a swift strike, a cold green light flashed by, and the opponent didn’t even have time to utter a sound before meeting their demise on the spot.
After a successful assassination, he once again concealed himself in the shadows, waiting for the right moment, like a reaper harvesting souls, seeking the next unfortunate victim.
Song Ke wielded two knives like a nimble cheetah, charging directly into the encirclement. She was a one-woman army, and all sorts of awakened abilities crumbled into nothingness in the face of her absolute force. Those who confronted her head-on couldn’t withstand three moves, and their awakened energy was shaken, sending them flying. The tightly sealed encirclement was torn open by her.
“Hoh!!! Unexpectedly, a ragtag army can stage a comeback like this. This coordinated assault is quite impressive,” Ah K exclaimed.
Luo Qinghe, rarely speaking, offered an objective assessment, “Though outnumbered, if you didn’t know in advance, you wouldn’t be able to tell that this is a makeshift team. Long-range control, melee attacks, everyone’s roles are clear, and their reactions are fast.”
“Qinghe is right. In competitions, there are always surprises. Nevertheless, the situation is still not optimistic. We can see that another group of pursuers is heading this way.”
Song Ke had just opened a path for a breakout when, in the next moment, numerous awakeners surged from behind once again. Were they planning to use a strategy of overwhelming numbers to wear them down?
With a flick of her fingertips, she hurled more than a dozen throwing knives with great force. Due to the short distance, the leading awakeners didn’t even have time to dodge, they all fell lifeless!
An opportunity! Song Ke’s eyes lit up, and she was about to charge forward.
A familiar, carefree voice suddenly sounded from behind the crowd, “Hey, guys, someone’s trying to escape here! Anyone with control abilities, stop her!”
Song Ke followed the voice and indeed saw the young man with ice-blue eyes and silver-streaked hair again!
She scolded him inwardly. This guy is so annoying! He’s like a troublemaker!
A violent tornado swept in, blocking the hard-won escape route, forcing Song Ke to step back reluctantly.
The man with ice-blue eyes attacked at this moment. As he moved, a dense wall of binary code suddenly appeared in front of Song Ke. It made her dizzy. Why was this guy’s ability so irritating?
The man used the code as a path, and as he got closer to her, Song Ke suddenly found herself surrounded by a multitude of 101010 codes. It left her feeling disoriented. How could this guy’s ability be so vexing!
The man used the code to pave the way and, as he approached her, he taunted and acted arrogant, “Nice weapons, can I take a look?”
Song Ke retaliated with a backhand slash, shattering the code wall, and she attempted to strike the man’s forehead with her throwing knives.
The man promptly stepped back and used his ability to intercept them, stopping her attack. The throwing knives were left suspended in mid-air, trembling slightly.
He carefully examined them for a moment, touching his chin while muttering to himself, “Not actual objects, but a manifestation of abilities? Quite interesting.”
Before he could finish speaking, the throwing knives broke through the code wall, turning into shooting stars aimed at his eyes. The man panicked and dodged, but his face was still cut, blood flowing.
He shrugged nonchalantly and suddenly turned to the people behind him, inciting the awakeners who were surrounding them, “Hey, guys, this isn’t the way to do it. First, let’s figure out who has the flag before we take action!”
Everyone realized it made sense. Grabbing the one with the flag was the way to go.
A chaotic tornado rose into the air, scattering the formation of Song Ke and her three companions. Xu Xing, being lightweight, was blown away about ten meters before finally hanging from a tree branch. Lin Youyou was also pushed back by the strong wind, looking quite disheveled.
Their positions had slightly changed, and the ambushers quickly discerned who was truly holding the flag.
“It’s on the girl!”
“Kill her!”
In an instant, Song Ke found herself in a fierce battle.
The pressure on Lin Youyou and Xu Xing suddenly decreased. These people had completely disregarded them and were only focused on Song Ke.
Hidden in the shadows, Su Cha suddenly received a secret message.
“Su Cha, get ready to intervene.”
“The crystal is in her pocket. After grabbing it, don’t worry about anything else, just deliver it straight to the finish line.”
In the official live broadcast room, Ah K was completely engrossed, as if he wanted to become the king of haste, muttering to himself, “The situation doesn’t look good. Will Player Song’s two allies choose to support her or make a run for it? Oh? They’re charging forward! True love exists among mortals after all. They’re truly trustworthy… Wait!”
“Please, Qingfeng~ I offer our sincere wishes, never-ending blessings for you~”
A melodious song rang in Song Ke’s ears. After just two lines of lyrics, she felt energized and fully revitalized. It was Lin Youyou’s ability, an enhancement buff!
Su Cha also joined the fray. Song Ke gave up her position to him, and he circled around the frontline awakeners, passing by her. With a flash of a dagger in his hand, he cut through her pocket.
Song Ke was stunned.
She held her attack posture for two seconds.
“Oh dear! Player Song’s ally has turned on her!” Ah K lamented.
Su Cha successfully made his move, then quickly disappeared into the mountains, rushing towards the finish line.
Song Ke stared angrily at Lin Youyou, accusing her with her eyes: You deceived me!
Lin Youyou averted her gaze and sighed softly in her ear, “I’m sorry, but I also said that winning is more important to me.”
Taking advantage of no one’s attention, she also withdrew from the battlefield.
Now, Song Ke was left in a state of full energy, but she was trapped in a dense encirclement.
The others were still unaware of what had happened, and they continued to unleash their skills on her until the latest announcement rang out.
“Flag Coordinates Refreshed.”
“Here are the coordinates of the remaining flags: (1108, 453, 339).”
“Damn! The flag has been moved!”
These coordinates were already very close to the finish line. The awakeners who had surrounded her were in shock and immediately abandoned Song Ke, rushing toward the mountaintop.
It was too late.
“Current number of advancing teams: 55.”
“Please note, there are currently zero flags remaining in the arena, and a new competition format will soon begin.”
“Sister!” Xu Xing had finally managed to jump down from the tree branch, and he received the announcement. His eyes blinked rapidly, and at first, he didn’t understand what was happening. When he finally realized the key point, he became infuriated, jumping up and down in anger. “Ah!! This wicked woman!”
Lin Youyou and Su Cha… had advanced.
She had deceived them… and advanced by taking the only crystal from her own hands.
Song Ke tightly gripped her twin knives, her joints cracking.
“Xiaoxing, let’s go… to the finish line,” Song Ke said softly.
“Huh?” Xu Xing didn’t understand. Was his sister so angry that she wanted to chase Lin Youyou and Su Cha to the finish line?
Without time to explain, Song Ke accelerated, taking Xu Xing to the mountaintop. There was a floating verification platform here, and ahead was an invisible barrier blocking their path.
“Please submit the flag,” said an artificial intelligence in a mechanical tone from the window.
Song Ke took a step forward, and a dazzling surge of electricity, tens of thousands of volts, suddenly emitted, as if warning anyone who dared to trespass. She looked back at the post-match resting area behind her, where figures abounded, but she couldn’t see Lin Youyou and Su Cha anywhere.
Song Ke retracted her gaze and looked up at the artificial intelligence who had spoken.
“The flag is, is crystal, right?”
“Yes.”
“As, as long as it’s a crystal, it counts, counts for passing the level?”
“…Yes.” The artificial intelligence paused for a moment and gave an affirmative response.
Song Ke’s hand moved slightly, and a green octagonal crystal, dripping with a lush hue and radiating brilliance, suddenly appeared in her palm.
“Does this one count?”
