24:00.
Following Xiao Lou's instructions, Shao Qingge burrowed into the sand and headed towards the oasis.
CEO Shao, who transformed into the Insect King, became the team's most flexible teleportation point. He could burrow underground to avoid all monitoring equipment and place Li Qingzhao's mark anywhere without anyone noticing.
Xiao Lou asked Qu Wanyue to stay at Peach Blossom Spring to take care of Long Sen, who was still unconscious.
The others were following Lu Jiuchuan deeper into the desert.
Yu Hanjiang's condition wasn't too serious to begin with, and he woke up faster than Long Sen after taking the medication. Xiao Lou walked alongside him, briefly recounting to Yu Hanjiang her experience of returning from the Nightmare Secret Room and rewinding time by 5 hours.
Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou's hand tightly and whispered, "You've worked so hard. I didn't realize you had endured so much."
Xiao Lou said, "Last time we were outmaneuvered by Hunter and paid a heavy price. So this time, we must avoid casualties and do our best to protect every teammate."
Yu Hanjiang nodded, his expression resolute: "Yes, I'll go with you."
Xiao Lou felt a warmth in her heart and squeezed his hand back tightly.
After reaching an open space, Lu Jiuchuan looked around and said, "Let's choose this place as their burial ground."
Xiao Lou looked at Mo Xuemin: "Old Mo, do you know what to do later?"
Old Mo immediately replied, "I know! I've already modified the model room according to Professor Xiao's design. All four walls are 10 meters high, so they won't be able to climb out anytime soon. Moreover, the walls are all load-bearing reinforced concrete walls, so it will take time to break them down. We can take this opportunity to trap them like turtles in a jar."
Xiao Lou said, " Xu Muran reacts quickly; he'll definitely retreat as soon as he senses something's wrong. There are three times as many Hunters as we do; we'll take care of as many as we can."
He looked at Liu Qiao and whispered, "Xiao Liu, contact Xu Muran and prepare to activate the summon. You also need to be careful. Once you've activated the summon, immediately switch out of the summon. Not a second can be missed."
Liu Qiao nodded: " Professor Xiao, don't worry."
With everything ready, Xiao Lou waved to his teammates: "Let's go!"
Old Mo immediately set up a model room on the vast desert open space. The 10-meter-high building had no extra furnishings inside, and it was like a "cage" made of reinforced concrete. The four walls were indestructible, and there was a huge glass roof that allowed people to see inside. At this moment, the roof was covered with Tang Ci's surveillance drones.
Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan quickly climbed onto the roof and set up their guns in advance.
Liu Qiao stood alone in the model room, taking out the [ Thousand Mile Sound Transmission ] from her sister's card holder to send a voice message to Xu Muran. She lowered her voice and timidly said, " Brother Xu, CEO Shao has already left the team. They're all resting in the tent. Should I activate the summon?"
Xu Muran said, "Let's open it."
Liu Qiao activated the [Thousand-Mile Rescue] teleportation array.
A soft blue light rose beneath her feet, gradually forming a circular magic circle.
The moment the magic circle was formed, Liu Qiao immediately swapped places with the [ little red riding hood ] that had been placed outside the model room!
Just as Liu Qiao and Little Red Riding Hood switched places, Xu Muran, who had been summoned, appeared in the magic circle with more than twenty Hunters!
The hunters were startled when they saw their surroundings—
Four walls? They were supposed to have Liu Ying summon everyone while CEO Shao was away, but instead they were summoned into a cage?
Isn't this exactly like "catching a turtle in a jar"?!
Xu Muran narrowed his eyes, his voice chillingly cold: " Liu Ying, how dare you!"
Before he could finish speaking, the glass window on the roof suddenly opened, and Tang Ci's mechanical spider quickly climbed down the wall. At the same time, Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan, who had been lying in ambush at a high place, set up their submachine guns and sniper rifles respectively and decisively pulled the triggers!
Countless bullets rained down like a storm!
Gunshots rang out incessantly. Xu Muran's face darkened, and without hesitation, he pulled a hunter in front of him as a shield. In the blink of an eye, the shield Xu Muran had used was riddled with bullets.
Protecting teammates from harm at crucial moments—that's Hunter's style.
Screams rose and fell. The Hunters were caught off guard by this ambush. Apart from Xu Muran, some others were quick-witted and pulled their teammates to block bullets or hid under their teammates' corpses.
Someone shouted in panic, " Brother Xu, we've fallen into a trap! They're trying to trap us!"
Hunter, standing nearby, yelled, "Damn it, are you calling yourself a dog?!"
Xu Muran roared, "Shut the fuck up! Get under my umbrella!"
He suddenly opened an umbrella and held it high above his head.
Yu Hanjiang had seen this umbrella before; the boy he met at the K Secret Chamber had a similar umbrella that could stop bullets. With the protective umbrella in place, the bullets from Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan were rendered ineffective.
However, Tang Ci's mechanical spiders had already crawled onto the ground.
Each spider has eight legs, all covered in sharp blades. The seven enormous mechanical spiders swiftly swung their claws, and the hunters, confined in the model room with limited space to move around, were forced to hide in a very disheveled state!
Many people were injured.
The floor between the partitions was almost entirely stained red with blood.
Ye Qi looked at the footage on the monitor, still shaken: "So many Hunters! If Professor Xiao hadn't planned ahead, we would have been wiped out if they hadn't ambushed us."
Last time, if it weren't for Old Gui, they would have been wiped out. This time, their advance planning has put Hunter in a very difficult position.
Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself. Hunter had driven them to despair, making his teammates take turns experiencing the fear of death...
Xiao Lou, returning from the future, will show them no mercy!
Xiao Lou calmly said, "Take care of as many as possible before they teleport away to escape."
After saying that, he summoned the S-grade Summon Card. He had hardly ever used this card since he drew it, because the S-grade Summon Card's skill was to shoot arrows at multiple targets, which was not usually useful.
The S-grade Summon Card's skill "Breaking Formation".
Drunk, I pick up my sword by lamplight; in my dreams, I hear bugles echoing through the camps. My horse, Lu Bu's Red Hare, flies swiftly; my bowstring twangs like thunder!
Ten archers on horseback suddenly appeared around the model room, holding longbows and began firing continuously at it! The most crucial aspect of the archers' shooting was breaking through its defenses.
The S-grade Summon Card's archer armor penetration ability can break through the opponent's defenses, such as bulletproof vests, armor, and protective shields!
As soon as the archers fired their arrows, Xu Muran's umbrella was instantly shattered. Upon seeing this, Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan immediately pulled the trigger.
In an instant, bullets and arrows mingled together, raining down like a torrential downpour! Coupled with the Tang Ci mechanical spiders' frenzied cutting, even with their numerical advantage, the Hunters were completely unable to unleash their full power within this "cage" of less than 20 square meters!
Xu Muran's eyes were as cold as ice. He picked up the wireless headset on his chest and whispered, " Cheng Ziyang, activate teleportation quickly!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Ziyang, who remained at the oasis, immediately activated the teleportation.
A few seconds later, Xu Muran disappeared from everyone's sight.
Tang Ci kept an eye on the drone monitor and roughly counted the number of people. He said, "There should be 20 people who escaped. They were too cunning. They pulled their weaker teammates over to take bullets. Those who were hiding at the bottom were not injured."
Gui Yuanzhang said calmly, " Hunters never care about teamwork. To survive, they will stop at nothing. On the surface, they obey Xu Muran, but in reality, everyone only thinks of themselves when it comes to life and death."
Xiao Lou said, "This is also the key to our chances of winning despite our smaller numbers. They are a disorganized bunch, and once Xu Muran is dead, there's nothing to fear."
Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan used the white silk card to slide down from the roof. Xiao Lou stepped forward and said, "The first ambush only took out one-third of the Hunters. The next part is crucial. Everyone, get ready."
Lu Jiuchuan asked, " Has everything been arranged with CEO Shao?"
Ye Qi said, " CEO Shao connected with me via Telepathic Connection. He told me that he had marked the data according to Professor Xiao's plan and that it could be transmitted at any time."
Xiao Lou said, "Let him drive."
Ye Qi immediately informed Shao Qingge via Telepathic Connection.
The next moment, invitations to teleport appeared simultaneously in everyone's floating chat window, and everyone chose to accept.
The scene before them blurred, and everyone found themselves at the end of the town street marked by Shao Qingge.
Long Sen and Qu Wanyue also arrived. Qu Wanyue said, " Long Sen just woke up and insisted on coming when he saw the teleportation. He is not fully recovered yet, but he still has the cards in his hand, so he should be able to help."
Xiao Lou said with satisfaction, "It's even better when everyone is here."
This is a blind spot for surveillance cameras.
Xiao Lou handed the map to Yu Hanjiang and whispered, "This is a surveillance map of Oasis Town. Hanjiang, you're the expert in counter-surveillance. What do you think we should do about the remaining Hunters?"
Yu Hanjiang carefully examined the map, quickly marked several points on it, and said, "These roads have ordinary cameras that won't detect the Invisibility Cloak. Hua Ying, CEO Shao, and Ye Qi should work together, wearing the Invisibility Cloak, to specifically deal with lone hunters and those lying in ambush."
He turned to Long Sen and said, " Long Sen, Teacher Qu, Liu Qiao, and Lao Mo, the four of you form a group, go down this street, cut off their escape route, and clean up the wounded and fleeing Hunter remnants."
After making these arrangements, Yu Hanjiang pointed to the location marked with a five-pointed star on the map: "The rest of you, follow me and head straight for the heart of the enemy!"