raknovel Chapter 226 226: Werewolf Infighting [2.4k]
Chapter 226 226: Werewolf Infighting [2.4k]
Translator: CinderTL
The Wolf Pack Battle Group's sudden inclusion made Feng Qi sense something was amiss.
He knew exactly who stood behind this faction.
Moreover, Li Duo, the mission initiator, had stated that the operation would be handled by twelve battle groups, including their own Dawn Battle Group.
The Wolf Pack Battle Group's unexpected arrival, without any prior notification, raised serious doubts about Wang Yi, the team leader, despite her impressive record and reputation.
He even suspected that other hidden factions might have infiltrated the escort team.
Each faction clearly harbored ulterior motives, all vying for the bloodstone.
Feng Qi couldn't predict how the situation would unfold, but if possible, he still wanted to deliver the bloodstone to Old Day City.
This would allow the Scarlet Research Institute to collaborate with the Old Day Research Institute and uncover some of the bloodstone's secrets.
Such intelligence might finally reveal the truth behind the Blue-skinned Assassin.
As dawn broke, the journey remained uneventful.
The main road to Old Day City stretched through a desolate desert. To the left, the barren landscape was dotted with cacti and other sparse vegetation.
To the right stretched a seemingly endless sandy beach, meeting the azure sea at the horizon. The sun was rising from the far edge of the ocean.
The vast, open terrain allowed for exceptional visibility, making it easy to spot any movement in the grass or sand.
This was precisely why the escort mission had chosen the main road.
Before the mission began, strict protocols were established: the convoy would not stop for any reason. Eating, drinking, and even relieving themselves would be done inside the vehicles to minimize potential risks.
Turning his head to the right, he saw Qin Shikong sitting atop a distant truck, looking back at him.
They exchanged a brief smile before refocusing their attention on their respective sectors of responsibility.
Another two hours passed without incident. The convoy arrived at the "Supply Bridge."
Without slowing down, the three vehicles merged and drove onto the bridge.
Below, turbulent, amber-colored river water surged eastward toward the sea.
He had researched this bridge while studying the route.
Its full name was the "Old Supply Bridge," measuring 1,459 meters long and 45 meters wide. It had been specially constructed after the supply zone's location was finalized, creating a direct land route to facilitate the transport of construction materials and supplies.
The supply zone had no airfield in its early days, making this main road crucial for initial construction.
As the convoy approached the bridge, he grew vigilant.
If there was an ideal place to strike along the route, the supply bridge would be one of the best.
On the way here, the terrain had been wide open, offering multiple escape routes.
But on the bridge, there were only two options: forward or backward.
If any Domain Force knew about this escort mission, ambushing them here would be a logical choice.
"A'Yue, use your mind's eye to check beneath the bridge."
Liu Yue nodded immediately.
As Jianlan trembled, the mind's eye materialized on his forehead.
The road surface blurred as he peered beneath the bridge.
Scanning forward, he spotted numerous humanoid figures hanging upside down from the bridge's central span, suspended by rope-like strands.
"Ambush ahead! Two hundred meters beneath the bridge!"
Hearing Liu Yue's report, he grabbed his communicator to report the situation.
But before he could speak, a gruff voice boomed through the communicator:
"Attention all Brotherhood Battle Groups, this is Lin Shu, leader of the Green Mountain Battle Group. I've detected a massive surge of life energy signatures approximately 200 meters ahead of the convoy. Prepare for combat!"
Hearing the early warning, Feng Qi put down his communicator and shouted, "Everyone out of the vehicles! Prepare for battle!"
As he issued the order, similar shouts rang out from the leaders of the other battle groups nearby.
The well-trained warriors of the Dawn Battle Group immediately leaped from their trucks and began circling the vehicles at a run. As cultivators, they easily matched the trucks' speed.
The 200-meter distance closed quickly. As they approached the warned location, countless steel cable-like projectiles pierced the bridge's surface and anchored themselves to nearby trucks, dragging several vehicles crashing to the ground.
Immediately afterward, humanoid figures with pitch-black skin and black scales emerged from the breached bridge surface. Using grappling hooks, they swung toward the center of the convoy.
Their objective was clear: the miracle-bloodstone.
Wang Yi's voice rang out: "Battle group leaders, handle the enemies in your designated sectors. I'll protect the bloodstone—no immediate reinforcements needed."
The warriors' counterattack began swiftly.
Facing the black domain creatures emerging from beneath the bridge and its flanks, they formed small teams of three to five members, working in tight formations to eliminate the creatures one by one.
The brief engagement revealed that these black humanoid domain creatures were surprisingly weak, easily handled by the warriors.
Within minutes, a large number of black figures had been slain.
Feng Qi frowned at the sight.
Since this Domain Force had chosen to ambush the convoy on its predetermined route and knew in advance that the bloodstone would be transported to Old Day City at this time, it was highly likely that this force was a Domain Sleeper Faction operating within human society.
Having dealt with multiple Domain Sleeper Factions in the past, Feng Qi knew firsthand how cunning these groups were. This blatant, almost suicidal behavior was completely out of character for such a faction.
His gaze shifted to the vehicle carrying the bloodstone.
This suicidal attack, in his view, seemed more like a diversion to conceal something else.
"A'Yue, go check on the bloodstone."
"Right away!"
Just then, the bridge began to tremble violently.
A black chain pierced through the thick road surface from beneath the bridge, extending into the air where it transformed into a massive black veil that descended to envelop the area.
Gazing at the black veil, Feng Qi's suspicions solidified. He immediately shouted, "A'Yue, hurry!"
Hearing the command, Liu Yue waved his hand, and Jianlan, the sword behind him, slid from its sheath with a ringing clang.
With a sword's cry, he leaped into the air, then stepped onto Jianlan and sped toward the truck carrying the bloodstone.
As Liu Yue departed, Feng Qi unleashed his mental energy, an invisible force lifting him into the air.
As his gaze swept across the battlefield, countless black humanoid figures were yanked horizontally through the air.
If this invisible mental energy could be seen, one would have witnessed countless tendrils of condensed mental energy writhing around Feng Qi's body.
These mental energy tendrils shot out in the direction of his gaze, ensnaring humanoid domain creatures, dragging them into the air, and then tearing them apart within a cocoon of mental energy.
This was the true power of the mental attack technique.
His nearly materialized mental energy provided him with an inexhaustible source of power in battle, preventing the mental exhaustion that often plagued telekinesis users.
As he rapidly released his mental energy, he quickly sensed something was amiss.
His mental energy seemed to be spiraling out of control, automatically absorbing the spiritual consciousness of the deceased creatures and rapidly amplifying itself.
This method of growth reminded him of how he absorbed qi blood and innate abilities when slaying domain creatures.
However, the differences were stark.
The absorption and conversion efficiency of his mental energy was extremely low, yet it was still several times faster than normal cultivation.
As his mental energy swelled, he felt waves of piercing pain radiating from within his body.
Ignoring the discomfort, he focused on the battle, coordinating with the warriors to clear the area.
The domain creatures were weak, and the Dawn Battle Group warriors were exceptionally strong. Within moments, the area was cleared.
His gaze shifted to the truck carrying the bloodstone.
The black veil formed by the dark rope had originally sought to completely envelop the bloodstone's area.
But now, massive tears ripped through the veil, nearly splitting it in half. Liu Yue, flying through the air on his sword, weaved back and forth, until the veil completely dissipated.
Having completed this task, Liu Yue turned his attention to the truck.
On the truck, the bloodstone remained covered by a black cloth. Commander Wang Yi, who was leading the operation, stood beside it, also looking up at him.
After a brief exchange of glances, Liu Yue immediately steered his sword toward Feng Qi's location and landed on the roof of Feng Qi's truck.
"What's the situation?" Feng Qi asked.
"Wang Yi is standing there without making any moves, but I sense something's off. If that black veil had descended earlier, something might have happened."
Feng Qi nodded in agreement. "I also suspect Wang Yi is up to something. While the grunts were distracting us, she must have been planning something. Your arrival forced her to abandon her next move."
"What do we do now?" Liu Yue asked immediately.
Feng Qi was about to answer when another black rope suddenly rose from the ground in the distance, transforming into a black veil that descended from the sky.
Simultaneously, countless black shadows emerged from the gap below, surging toward the surrounding warriors.
The sudden appearance of the black veil caught everyone off guard.
Before anyone could react, the black veil had already descended.
Within the area covered by the black veil, the inability to distinguish friend from foe paralyzed everyone, preventing them from using art magic.
"She's making her move!" Liu Yue suddenly exclaimed.
As his words faded, the black veil suddenly tightened and shot rapidly into the sky.
Feng Qi noticed that the bloodstone beside Wang Yi had vanished.
Seeing this, Liu Yue immediately prepared to strike again.
But before he could act, Qin Shikong, standing nearby to the right, suddenly swelled up like a balloon and then violently expelled a compressed blast of air forward.
The air blast's narrow focus prevented it from affecting anyone else.
When the compressed air struck the black veil, it sliced through it effortlessly. With a swift swipe, the entire veil was shredded to pieces.
The bloodstone plummeted from the sky.
Wang Yi leaped into the air, caught the bloodstone, and landed gracefully back on the truck.
This confirmed Feng Qi's suspicions.
Wang Yi was compromised.
Her actions seemed to be deliberately aiding the theft of the bloodstone.
With her strength, she could have easily torn through the black veil. Why would she let it carry the bloodstone away?
But he decided to keep his suspicions to himself.
He suspected that Wang Yi wasn't the only Domain Force operative among the escort team.
He wanted to see what other tricks these hidden forces had up their sleeves.
He turned to Liu Yue.
"A'Yue, go clear out any remaining domain creatures under the bridge."
"Got it."
Liu Yue summoned his sword and flew down beneath the bridge.
By now, all domain creatures on the bridge had been eliminated. The survivors were tallying their losses and repairing damaged vehicles.
Suddenly, Qin Shikong's voice crackled over the communicator:
"Commander Wang, I demand an explanation! Why was the bloodstone taken by the black veil?"
Hearing this, Wang Yi immediately turned her gaze to Qin Shikong, who stood on the roof of a nearby vehicle.
Among the twelve battle groups, Qin Shikong was the only one Feng Qi truly trusted.
It was clear he had discovered something amiss and was now angrily confronting Wang Yi.
"My mistake," Wang Yi admitted without evasion.
"Commander Wang, I don't think you're fit to protect the bloodstone. From now on, our Green Mountain Battle Group will take responsibility for its protection," the group leader of the Green Mountain Battle Group declared.
"I believe the Steelbone Battle Group would be better suited for the task," another voice chimed in.
"The Black Shark Battle Group should handle the protection..."
Listening to the bickering in the voice channel, Feng Qi grinned.
Nine battle groups were vying for the protection duty, while three—including his own Dawn Battle Group, the Heavenly Pillar Battle Group, and the Death Star Battle Group—remained silent.
In his view, who protected the bloodstone was irrelevant to their escort mission.
The desperate scramble for protection rights could only mean one thing: they all had designs on the bloodstone.
Hearing the argument in the voice channel, Qin Shikong's voice boomed again:
"Are you all fucking insane? What's there to argue about? Just get back to the mission!"
Qin Shikong's outburst froze the atmosphere.
Then his voice echoed once more:
"Since you can't agree, just drop it. Commander Wang will remain in charge."
"I agree," Feng Qi said, pressing the talk button with a smile.
"Very well. Everyone, regroup quickly. We're moving out," Wang Yi said calmly.
As she spoke, her gaze swept over the soldiers repairing the vehicles.
Liu Yue returned from under the bridge.
"Brother Qi, what's next?"
"Next, things are going to get interesting. We might just witness a grand spectacle of Domain Forces tearing each other apart," Feng Qi grinned.
The situation was now relatively clear.
The battle groups vying for control of the bloodstone all had ulterior motives. They clearly wouldn't want the bloodstone to fall into the hands of another faction.
Open conflict and covert maneuvering were inevitable.
Their reinforcements were undoubtedly waiting ahead, and it was only a matter of time before they dropped the pretense and clashed for the bloodstone.
From the moment they tried to seize the bloodstone, they'd barely bothered to maintain the charade.
The only one still oblivious to the truth was Qin Shikong.
Feng Qi understood Qin Shikong's confusion.
If he hadn't gathered extensive intelligence across multiple timelines, he would likely be just as clueless. He would only wonder why the battle groups were vying for control of the bloodstone. He might even assume it was a sign of their responsibility.
With this thought, he turned to look at Qin Shikong.
Sitting on the distant vehicle roof, Qin Shikong held the Eight Trigrams Plate and was performing calculations with a hand seal.
Sensing Feng Qi's gaze, he turned to look back and winked with a smile.
Feng Qi froze at the wink.
Qin Shikong seemed to be hinting at something without explicitly saying it.
"Brother Qi, do you think Qin Shikong might have already noticed something's wrong with the team?" Liu Yue suddenly asked.
"It's possible now. The guy's a fortune-teller—who knows what he might have figured out."
"For... fortune-telling?" Liu Yue stammered, surprised.
"Yeah. If we make it back alive, I'll ask him to predict your romantic prospects. How about that?" Feng Qi teased with a grin.
"I already have a wife," Liu Yue immediately shook his head.
"Huh?"
"My wife, Jianlan!"
Hearing this, Feng Qi couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Can a sword give you children?"
"It can give birth to sword energy," Liu Yue replied earnestly.
Feng Qi: ...
(End of the Chapter)
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