Chapter 204
Chapter 204 Oddities
Xia Xinyan wasn’t being lazy; she just couldn’t keep pretending anymore.
When Ling Mo was by her side, she didn’t even have to say anything. He would proactively step in front to protect her, and her aim was to let him train, so she slacked off a bit, which was fine.
But now that Ling Mo wasn’t around, she couldn’t just keep slacking off—who would protect her? Summer Jincang?
Even if Summer Jincang had the ability, she wouldn’t feel at ease.
Besides, if she kept slacking too long, she’d lose all her skills.
Also, she wanted to take this chance to show Summer Jincang that she wasn’t the porcelain doll he thought needed protecting.
So, the guy better use his brain and steer clear of her.
But Summer Jincang didn’t notice at all what she was trying to convey.
He only felt that his little sister was pretty strong.
As expected of my sister!
Murong Yue, on the other hand, smartly kept her distance.
During their advance, the three encountered wave after wave of battle robots, and the further they went, the tougher the foes got. At first, Murong Yue wanted to save some strength by slacking off, but after Xia Xinyan purposely let a bunch of robots rush at her, she was finally forced to join the fight.
While that gal was battling, Xia Xinyan quietly observed her.
Although Murong Yue had the “three-second true woman” ability, her peak strength was still boosted by her overall skills, and at this moment, Murong Yue’s peak strength could arguably beat even Summer Jincang, showing that she hadn’t been slacking off during this time.
Xia Xinyan had thought in her past life, since this girl only had the strongest powers for a short time after activating her abilities, would resetting her abilities after that refresh that state? But in her last life, Murong Yue hardly told anyone this fact and rarely showed this state in front of outsiders, so Xia Xinyan wasn’t sure if it was possible.
That made sense; even the most trusted person wouldn’t necessarily share all their tricks and setups regarding their abilities, especially since Xia Xinyan and Murong Yue weren’t the closest in their past life.
Yet this time, just casually mentioning it made the girl spill the beans herself.
Tsk, they’re all still just immature kids…
Xia Xinyan inexplicably felt like she was fishing in a pond.
However, Murong Yue was currently ranking fairly low—Xia Xinyan noticed this too. Although she could repeatedly activate her abilities to refresh her state, that effect would gradually weaken. By the third activation, Murong Yue had fully reverted to her slacking state, only fighting when faced with unavoidable opponents.
This also gave Xia Xinyan a clear grasp of her overall strength now.
Much weaker than in her past life.
But Summer Jincang didn’t know about Murong Yue’s ability traits, so that sister’s peak strength undoubtedly gave him a powerful shock—he realized he might not even be able to beat her!
Not being able to beat his sister was one thing, but now he couldn’t even outmatch some girl who appeared out of nowhere?
This stirred up a strong sense of crisis in Young Master Summer.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, Ling Mo and his crew were steadily progressing.
They faced fewer enemies than Xia Xinyan’s trio, but the individual strength was higher, making it quite challenging for them.
Ling Mo led the way with his shield, while the fat guy waddled behind him with a bone wand, looking slightly weird: “Old Ling, don’t you think something’s off about this place?”
“What’s off?” Ling Mo’s attention was entirely on potential threats ahead, responding distractedly.
The fat guy scratched his chin, asking, “Why is it that we only encounter robots? Are there no human soldiers in this building?”
Walking farther back, Tian Yi cautiously tidied his messy wings and speculated, “Maybe the robots are just stronger? They’re already on par with Iron Man, and how can humans compete?”
“That’s true in theory…” the fat guy frowned, “But I still find it strange. Is there really only human patrols on the outer walls in such a big place?”
Moreover, after investigating for so long, they hadn’t seen any other presence besides the battle robots—no soldiers or any staff that should be here, not even a janitor.
To put it another way, if all the people in the spire had retreated to some potential safe zone on the top floor after the spire was breached, then the complete absence of any chaos in all the areas they passed through is really too weird. Even the chairs in the offices were pushed neatly under the desks, just like a company after normal work hours.
If they really did evacuate, wouldn’t it have been way too leisurely?
Ling Mo chuckled lightly: “So you finally noticed something’s off?”
“That’s not…” The fat guy paused, “What do you mean?”
“This city has been off since the beginning,” Ling Mo shrugged, “But so far, we haven’t figured out what exactly is wrong. Don’t think we’ve reached the later stages of the dungeon; realistically, we might not have even cleared the tutorial yet.”
Tian Yi looked confused: “You mean… this isn’t the Control Hub?”
“I didn’t say that,” Ling Mo shrugged noncommittally, “Just be careful.”
Without finding information to prove their current situation, all their thoughts were mere guesses. Ling Mo didn’t want his assumptions interfering with his teammates’ thoughts; he was merely offering a new line of thinking—though perhaps he was overthinking it.
Zhu Li also nodded: “We’ll follow along; just run if something feels off.”
Just as he finished speaking, a figure suddenly appeared around the corner, and the fat guy reflexively raised his bone wand: “Check out my lightning magic…”
The figure across shouted, stopping him: “Don’t shoot! We’re on the same side!”
It was Gao Tian.
He looked quite disheveled, with his clothes torn and burnt, his face black and red. If he didn’t have a gun in hand, no one would believe he wasn’t from the slums.
“I finally caught up with you guys,” despite looking rough, he didn’t seem too seriously hurt, and was excited, “I saw the robot wreckage on the way here—you guys are amazing! With you around, we’ll surely lure out those hiding in the core area to surrender! We’ve got this!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a wall ahead suddenly transformed into an electronic screen, revealing a woman’s figure: “You have one last chance! Abandon the attack! Lay down your weapons and surrender! Otherwise, we really will use our final means against you!”
“Keep dreaming!” Gao Tian immediately retorted, “Didn’t you just say none of us can make it out alive? Look at us, we’re still alive and kicking! If you could kill us, you would have done it already! Coward!”
The woman promptly shut off the communication in a fit of rage.
Gao Tian turned back toward Ling Mo and the others with even more excitement: “Did you see that? They’re starting to get scared! Um… why are you all looking at me like that?”
At that moment, Ling Mo and the others had very peculiar expressions as they looked at Gao Tian.
Then the fat guy voiced the question: “Are… you sure she’s the same one who just said we wouldn’t make it out alive?”
