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Barely done yelling the word ‘run’, I grabbed the Qiaoqiao and Lixiang with both my arms, then ran as fast as I could away from the hotel entrance.

The area we were in was too close to the white exosuit. More likely than not, this would soon turn into a battlefield, and if we did not run now, we would undoubtedly be drawn into it.

Yanked back to her senses, Lixiang quickly broke free from my grasp and started running as well. That way, she would not slow me down as we ran. Only Qiaoqiao seemed to be in shock from the sudden appearance of that serpentine monster.

Bitong naturally wasn’t a concern at all. The moment I shouted run, she was already on her feet way before me.

The road wasn’t clear, but now wasn’t the time for farming either. Rather than fighting the zombies in the way, we chose to ram our way through any enemies.

Even so, that serpentine skeleton was too fast. Before we could put some distance between us and the hotel, a tremor shook the ground once more. This time, it felt like a bomb had gone off near us. Encased within these exosuits, we could still feel the shockwave buffeting us like a hammer. Thankfully, the impact was mostly absorbed by the exosuit and only caused a little discomfort to us.

We took a second to recover from the impact, then immediately sprinted off into the distance. Bitong took the opportunity to deploy her detachable bits to act as a video recorder behind us.

The idea was to give us some information on the battle, but because the shockwave had stirred up quite a dust storm, the detachable bits couldn’t record much.

Is that white exosuit done for? Was the first thought that crossed my mind. However, a mere moment later, a significantly battered and dusty exosuit broke out of the dust cloud, taking to the skies. Along with him, were a few unfortunate zombies who tried to hold down his suit…

The instant that white exosuit was clear of the dust, he immediately raised his gun, and without even aiming, fired off another shot. Unfortunately, the attack did not hit its target. The serpentine skeleton managed to dodge the beam of laser, though not without paying a price. It not only had its left wing clipped, the entire corner of its left wing had been caught in the line of fire…

The area promptly burnt up into ashes, rendering its left wing unusable, and unable to power its flight further. Yet that did not stop the serpentine skeleton from charging ahead single mindedly into the white exosuit who was in the midst of landing. Just like that, the both of them collided into a massive ball of bone and metal, and began crashing towards the ground…

Thankfully, the same time that the serpentine skeleton rammed into the exosuit, the pilot within released his twelve detachable bits from his back. These funnel-shaped machines flew off like a well-trained squadron, forming up into an orderly V-shape before circling around the serpentine monster. A second later, they fired in unison. Their target: the membrane of its wings.

In such a position, the serpentine skeleton clearly couldn’t dodge, let alone try and counterattack.

The ground shook once more as both the exosuit and the serpentine skeleton landed forcefully…

“Wait. Those look like those detachable bits that helped us yesterday…”

When I first noticed those twelve white detachable bits, I was honestly surprised. I did not expect a reunion so soon, at least not within 24 hours. After all, this city was massive, and at this point, the survival rate was horrifically low.

“He was probably camping out in the vicinity last night. Let’s leave, quickly. That big monster is no joke.” Bitong zoomed in on the skeleton for a couple of seconds before saying, “That giant thing should be a Disaster-class Coatl. They are known for being powerful aerial predators, and can easily take on a military-grade exosuit. Normally, their weak point should be below their neck where the heart is… but that monster is already dead…”

In other words, it has no weak points? No… that can’t be. That’s right, its vital point has just shifted from the chest region to the head, that’s all! The Soul Flame is the common weakness of all undead! Except for ghosts and the like… they are basically one and the same with their weak point…

In spite of knowing what it was we were facing, we still had no choice but to run. There was no debating this matter, that was just how powerful the other side was compared to us.

What were we to do? Take on a 10 meter long monster with a bunch of toys? As if! These entertainment exosuits could at most take on small fries like those zombies, not a gigantic boss!

“Let’s get out of here. No matter who wins it has nothing to do with us…” Bitong led the way in front of us. However, we did not have to run for long, as our detachable bits soon delivered a shocking but definitely welcome bit of news…

The impossible-looking skeletal Coatl had just been taken out by that white exosuit…

By removing the Coatl’s ability to fly, the white exosuit could take to the skies unimpeded, though he had to give up his sniper rifle which was stuck fast in the monster’s jaws.

Now that he had the aerial advantage, he took out his reserve gun and summarily executed the monster with three pinpoint shots to its head! The battle was settled at that point; the Soul Flame within clearly could not withstand three shots, with how weak it was.

Without its Soul Flame, the entire skeleton crumbled to the ground in a massive pile of bones.

“He… won…” Qiaoqiao had been watching the video feed off our detachable bits all this while, thus she was the first to notice his victory, and was more than intrigued by this newcomer. “Maybe we should go back and say hi. If he isn’t with the police, he has to be with the military… Either way, we can approach him for help!”

“This one agrees. More information is important.” Now that the danger had passed, Lixiang was happy to approve of that plan. “We should go over to have a look.”

Since the two of you want to do so, I guess we can. The monster is dead, anyway.

“Let’s go over.” Bitong nodded as well.

It’s settled then.

Yet just as we were about to turn around, something else happened…

The roof of a nearby building suddenly exploded, raining down countless rocks on us. And like helpless mice, we had to run for cover once more.

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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