Chapter 60 - 56: So Handsome I Cried

Chapter 60: Chapter 56: So Handsome I Cried

In the outskirts of the West District, within the garbage dump area.

An armed hovercar hung suspended in mid-air above sprawling mountains of trash. Gunfire and artillery blasts echoed from every direction as soldiers from the Guard Team drove the rioting Fallen Species toward the garbage mountains for a unified encirclement and annihilation.

Yin Zhen stood on the roof of the hovercar, wearing a brown jacket and cargo pants. Her short hair whipped in the wind, and a black tactical mask covered her face. She looked down indifferently at the dense swarm of grayish-black figures climbing and biting each other among the ruins, like an endless horde of ants surging from a colony. She hefted a portable Electromagnetic Cannon onto her shoulder. The barrel glowed with a faint blue light, and the energy coils charged with an ever-rising hum.

White Phosphorus turned on the car’s sound system. Heavy metal music exploded outward, the deep bass vibrating the windows. Hidden within the deafening track was the Saint Group’s newly developed sonic decoy, specifically designed to attract the Fallen Species.

Yin Zhen pulled the trigger. BOOM! The recoil of the Electromagnetic Cannon made the entire hovercar shudder. A blue energy shell trailed crackling arcs of electricity as it smashed into the most concentrated area of the garbage mountain, piercing straight through and detonating from within. The entire mound of trash, along with the surrounding Fallen Species, was pulverized. Debris flew in all directions, and black blood erupted like a fountain, gleaming greasily under the neon lights.

White Phosphorus poked his head out of the car and let out a sharp whistle. "Captain, hit them with an incendiary round next! This one feels great too!" He attentively handed over an incendiary grenade, its casing stamped with the logo of the Saint Group’s Weapon Department.

Yin Zhen loaded the round, took aim, and pulled the trigger. The incendiary shell smashed into the base of the garbage mountain. Pale flames erupted, melting building debris as the intense heat distorted the air itself. The Fallen Species licked by the flames screamed as they gradually turned to ash.

"Captain, there’s also this... this one is pretty good too, give it a try..." White Phosphorus acted like a diligent porter, happily pulling out more items from the weapon crates to let his captain vent to her heart’s content.

Taking up a plasma rifle, Yin Zhen swept a full magazine across the area. Blue plasma beams plowed scorched trenches into the garbage mountain. Next came the high-explosive grenades; she fired three rounds, shaving off the entire top layer of the mountain. With the cluster rockets, she emptied the entire magazine in one go. Twelve rockets trailed exhaust flames like a swarm of maddened bees, turning the entire dump into a sea of fire.

Amidst the frantic heavy metal music, the Fallen Species advanced wave after wave, surging madly in their direction. The sonic decoy robbed them of all reason, drawing them into the inferno. The waves behind pushed the waves in front, and those in the front perished in the flames.

The commotion attracted nearby Guard Team squads. They stood on various rooftops, staring at the armed hovercar suspended in mid-air and the barrage of fire and bullets pouring from it, utterly speechless. Cole led his squad as they stood on the Roof Terrace of an abandoned apartment building, still clutching their standard-issue rifles. His mouth hung slightly open, his single eye widened to its limits. Atop the car, Yin Zhen shouldered the cannon, her short hair blown into a messy but impossibly cool style.

Watching this exaggerated scene of carpet bombing, Cole couldn’t hold back his inner roar. "This pay-to-win Player is completely ruining the game balance! Is this trash game not going to penalize her? How are we commoners supposed to even play this? With firepower like that, even if all of us Players banded together and slaughtered the Fallen Species tirelessly for three days straight, we wouldn’t match the sheer damage output Lucia just unleashed in a few minutes. Privileged nobles really are overpowered. The armory is like their own backyard; they can take whatever they want."

Cole felt like crying, suddenly hit by a wave of regret. "If I were still clinging to Adeline’s coattails, given Adeline’s Identity and power, she definitely could have mobilized just as many heavy Weapons."

"What a pity," Cole sighed internally, forcing himself to come up with a bunch of excuses. "The Red Corpse World is fake, Lucia isn’t a Player, and Adeline doesn’t have team-up permissions anyway. Having a good life in my own world is what truly matters."

Amid the frantic heavy metal music, the suppressive fire lasted for nearly twenty minutes. The garbage mountain was blasted into a garbage crater, and the grayish-black tide finally began to thin out.

Yin Zhen lowered the Electromagnetic Cannon and drew a Hand Axe from her waist. Hefting the submachine gun slung around her neck, she stepped off the edge of the hovercar and plummeted straight down. Aided by the targeting reticle on her tactical mask’s visor, Yin Zhen emptied a magazine within seconds, dropping the Fallen Species one after another. Upon landing, her combat boot crushed the head of a still-twitching Fallen Species, the sound of splintering bone blending with the heavy metal drumbeats.

Her Hand Axe cleaved through another creature lunging at her face. As the blade embedded into its skull, she kicked the corpse away and smoothly drew Night Song, pressing the muzzle against the glabella of a Fallen Species attacking from the side and pulling the trigger. The bullet blew the creature’s head apart, splattering black blood and brain matter onto her dark brown leather jacket.

Standing firmly in place with the Hand Axe and Night Song in hand, Yin Zhen straightened her back. Her height of 177 centimeters made her look like a flagpole, standing tall and unyielding in the very center of the Fallen Species horde. The creatures that weren’t completely dead crawled out of the trash heaps and lunged at her. She hacked and fired simultaneously; not a single swing was superfluous, and not a single shot was wasted. Given Yin Zhen’s current stat attributes, dealing with these Fallen Species was a breeze. They fell around her one after another, piling up into a small ring of corpses as black blood continuously dripped from the hem of her jacket.

Watching that Kill God hacking away amid the ruins, Cole’s soul let out a piercing shriek. "Mom! I’ve just seen a Martial God!"

Cole slapped himself across the face and shouted at his squad members, who were similarly mesmerized by Yin Zhen’s badass display. "What are you all standing around for! Get in there and help!" He thought frantically, "If we don’t steal some kills now, we really won’t have any hope left!"

He was the first to leap off the rooftop. Landing squarely on the back of a Fallen Species, he shoved his rifle into the mouth of another and opened fire. The surrounding Guard Team squads woke up as if from a dream, charging in from all directions and completely overwhelming the struggling Fallen Species.

Standing atop the mountain of corpses, Yin Zhen put away her Hand Axe, took off her tactical mask, and flicked away the stray hairs clinging to her forehead. Covered entirely in black blood, she casually shrugged off her jacket and tossed it aside. Clad only in a black tank top, she revealed the smooth, firm muscles of her arms, exuding a vibrant sense of Strength. Watching the Guard Team soldiers rushing up to steal kills, Yin Zhen let out a cold, indifferent chuckle.

White Phosphorus poked his head out from the hovercar. "Captain, I still have a crate of hand grenades here! Do you want them? If we’re short on Weapons, I can go back and fetch another batch."

Yin Zhen transformed into a Raven and flew back into the vehicle. "I’ve had my fun for today. Let’s head to the hospital and check on Lighthouse."

"You got it!"

Beaming with joy, White Phosphorus immediately turned down the volume, swapping out the heavy metal for relaxing light music. He considerately handed Yin Zhen some energy-replenishing blood plasma and a towel to wipe her face, before turning the car around and flying toward the hospital.

During the ride, her communication bracelet received a new message. It was from Ian, asking her to come to the lab for a physical checkup. Yin Zhen knew Ian was waiting to discuss the "intruder" situation with her, but she didn’t have time today, nor had she sorted out her thoughts yet. She simply replied that she would go tomorrow.

By the time Yin Zhen returned to the Guard Team headquarters to shower and change, visited Lighthouse at the hospital, and was dropped off at her apartment by White Phosphorus, she opened her door only to find Victor sitting in the living room, waiting for her. Lucy stood beside him; it was unclear what the two had been talking about earlier.

"I asked Lucy to let me in," Victor stood up and explained.

Behind Yin Zhen, White Phosphorus, who had just lifted a foot to enter the apartment, hurriedly retracted it. Without even bothering to find an excuse, he swiftly turned and fled.

"Mr. Victor, Miss Lucia, I will take my leave now," Lucy said, promptly vanishing from Yin Zhen’s sight.

Victor tried hard to force a rather unnatural smile and said to Yin Zhen, "It’s been a while since I’ve had the coffee you make. Could you brew me a cup? I’ve been in the interrogation room all day, and I’m exhausted."

Yin Zhen kept a dark expression but still walked over to the coffee counter, taking a mug down from the rack. When Victor actively took the initiative to soften his stance at a time like this, Lucia, no matter how angry or willful, would never chase him away. After all, Lucia didn’t want to lose this last "family member" either. Yet, Victor’s suspicions about her hadn’t been dispelled; he was simply planning to switch to a milder method of probing.

Looking at the cluttered assortment of items on the coffee counter, Yin Zhen felt a slight headache coming on. She hadn’t perfectly inherited all of Lucia’s memories; she had merely formed a resonance with most of them during the invasion of Lucia’s consciousness. She hadn’t seen in those memories how Lucia used to brew coffee for Victor—how much blood plasma to add, how many sugar cubes to drop in, or which coffee beans to use.

Just as Yin Zhen hesitated, a few lines of text flashed across the small display screen on the coffee machine.

"Blood plasma: 30ml. Vanilla syrup: 50ml. Liberica coffee beans..."