As a soldier who had been on the battlefield, the driver slammed on the brakes the moment he heard Chen Chu's stern shout, and the two trucks behind quickly came to a halt as well.
The sudden brake caused many students to lurch forward; fortunately, they all managed to avoid falling out.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Amidst the nervous inquiries from the new students, Liu Feng, Li Meng, and the others didn't hesitate. They immediately donned their helmets, grabbed their weapons, and jumped down from the trucks.
Chen Chu and Xia Youhui also followed suit, donning their helmets and leaping down.
With a swift movement, Zhao Zhilong and Xiao Hai materialized ghost-like on the truck's roof. Their sharp gazes immediately fixed on the small town ahead, recognizing it as the prime location for an ambush.
After a quick scan, however, the two found nothing amiss. They couldn't help but look at Chen Chu below and ask, "Chen Chu, did you notice anything?"
Chen Chu glanced at the small town a hundred meters away and replied slowly, "There are people lying in ambush inside, but not many of them."
He had sensed only a few hostile gazes directed their way. However, what made him call for a halt hadn't been those gazes, but a strong sense of danger, as if they would meet their demise if they ventured any further.
Considering this, Chen Chu directed his gaze down, where the previously damaged four-lane road had been leveled with compacted earth. While not paved with concrete, it still offered a passable route.
However, upon closer inspection, Chen Chu noticed some traces of disturbance amidst the hardened earth.
While whoever had dug up the soil and filled it back had tried to cover up their actions, their efforts hadn’t been enough to conceal the difference in tire tracks compared to those left by the trucks that had passed through earlier.
With eager anticipation, Xia Youhui asked, "Ah Chu, are they Blood Cultists?"
Li Meng and the others also approached.
Chen Chu nodded slightly. "They might be rebels. They're over there. I'll leave them to you guys."
As he spoke, Chen Chu pointed to the outskirts of the small town, where a building had collapsed into a pile of rubble after being hit by a bomb.
"But be careful, don't take the road ahead."
Li Meng's eyes lit up. "Looks like an opportunity for contribution points has come knocking. Whoever catches them first gets the credit—"
Before Li Meng could finish, Xia Youhui thundered forward, a faint earthy light enveloping half of his shield.
"Damn it, wait for us!"
Startled, the others erupted with the formidable aura of the mid-to-late stages of the Second Heavenly Realm and hastily chased after Xia Youhui, as if afraid of missing out on a meal if they were late.
The sight left the new students behind them stunned and gaping in astonishment.
Thanks to Chen Chu's reminder, Xia Youhui and the others avoided the road, effortlessly leaping dozens of meters over it and charging towards the pile of rubble.
"Not good! We've been spotted, let's go!"
The rubble exploded, and seven previously hidden figures burst out from among the flying bricks, swiftly darting towards the small town behind them to try to use the terrain as an aid to their escape. These individuals possessed auras ranging from the First to Second Heavenly Realm, and their swift and decisive actions indicated that they were not the erratic Blood Cultists.
Just then, amidst the fleeing group, one individual abruptly turned around. He hoisted a rocket launcher and quickly fired.
"Oh, damn it!" Bai Mu, who was at the forefront, exclaimed in shock, quickly dodging to avoid the rocket.
The searing blaze engulfed an area of over five meters[1], and the explosion's shockwave, mixed with shrapnel, caused Li Meng and the others to stagger. They were only in the Second Heavenly Realm and couldn't yet manifest true power to shield themselves, but...
"Hahaha... you still can't outrun me!" Laughing heartily, Xia Youhui, who had initially fallen behind, lifted his heavy shield and charged through the flames without slowing down.
Over a dozen dark objects flew towards Xia Youhui with precision. Startled, he quickly thrust his heavy shield in front of him, hiding his entire body behind it.
The explosion of over a dozen grenades engulfed Xia Youhui in flames.
Compared to the explosion of the rocket, however, the shockwave from the grenades was much smaller. Yuan Chenghuang and the others burst into hearty laughter as they caught up from behind.
"Eat dust, Xia Youhui!" Amidst their laughter, the nine swiftly passed through the flames, ignoring the exploding fragments and displaying remarkable prowess.
The more agile students swiftly closed in and hurled several dark objects from their hands as they approached.
Even more intense explosions erupted, revealing that they had exchanged for metal bombs, their power several times greater than regular grenades.
With the obstruction of the explosions, Li Meng and the others charging into the town quickly caught up with the rebels, engaging in fierce combat.
Gunshots rang out from inside the small town, accompanied by the deafening roar of grenade explosions, indicating that the battle was intense.
Chen Chu looked up and politely said, "Sirs, there are likely explosives buried in the areas where the tire tracks differ. Could I trouble you to investigate and disarm them?"
The two nodded, and Xiao Hai leaped high from the truck, landing several meters away. Red true power flickered around him like flames and emanated a formidable aura, though compared to Pang Long and the others, he didn’t seem quite as strong.
He soared into the air and aimed at the spots Chen Chu had indicated, unleashing a palm strike towards each of the four designated spots. Four robust shockwaves burst forth, hitting the road twenty meters away.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant, violent explosions erupted, with flames shooting up over twenty meters high, the fireball extending its reach to a radius of over thirty meters.
The intense shockwaves from the explosions raised billowing clouds of smoke and debris and made the trucks tremble. The students on board turned pale in an instant.
"These lunatics, how many explosives did they bury?"
Even Chen Chu felt a bit frightened. If he hadn't cultivated the Insightful Blade to its third stage... if he hadn’t called for a halt earlier, and they had continued driving forward...
As Xiao Hai landed amidst the shockwaves, he felt a bit shaken. "Chen Chu, it's fortunate that you're so observant. Even if we could have blocked most of that explosion, someone would have still gotten injured."
Chen Chu modestly replied, "Oh, it's nothing. It's mainly because I cultivate a perception-based art, so I sensed something amiss in the atmosphere as we approached the town. I didn’t actually know at first that they had buried so many explosives."
"Perception-based arts, huh?" Xiao Hai and Zhao Zhilong couldn't help but show a hint of envy in their eyes.
They had honed their instincts on the battlefield, and they would have sensed something if they had moved forward another ten meters. However, there was still a gap between their perception and Chen Chu's ability to sense danger from a distance.
"It's a pity that perception-based arts rely so heavily on innate talent. Not everyone can reach the advanced level."
As they spoke, the battle in the small town quickly came to an end. Li Meng emerged, wielding his heavy hammer in one hand and carrying a severely wounded rebel in the other.
Following him were most of the other students, each emanating a strong killing aura.
Finally, Xia Youhui emerged, grumbling and cursing. "You guys are so ungrateful! I shielded you from so many grenades and bullets, yet not one of you saved any for me."
With his weapon slung over his back, Liu Feng shrugged and said, "It's just the way it goes. In situations , it's all about being quick on the draw. Who told you to pick a heavy shield as your weapon?"
"Haha, I just killed a rebel in the Second Heavenly Realm and earned 3 contribution points!"
"Damn it, the one I chose was only in the First Heavenly Realm. It was boring; I killed him with just two slashes."
"Why did you all have to be so ruthless and kill everyone? Li Meng was the only only smart enough to just smash his guy's lower body. Let's interrogate him later to find out how he knew we were coming and to set up an ambush here. Maybe we can uncover something big."
"No need for interrogation," Yuan Chenghuang scoffed. "It’s obvious. That plane was so huge, it could be seen from miles away, and this is the only route to the airport. The rebels also did an ambush here before, so they already know it’s a good spot for that Luckily, Chen Chu’s senses were sharp enough to notice in time."
"Damn, that makes sense."
1. The original novel uses "twenty feet;" this was converted for standardization ☜