Chapter 480
Chapter 480 - 460: A Small Accident
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7 min read
The first burst of sound was one that Lu Ping’an and every other Earthling found familiar.
The spark of a hand-grenade detonating in this Otherworldly realm was so familiar, so comforting... followed by the rattle of machine-gun fire.
"It’s the Red Sand Thief’s alchemical weapons!"
This exclamation made the foreign group feel uneasy.
But at this time, it was not the time to hesitate.
Those who needed to find cover did so, those who needed to counterattack did so... These firearms didn’t have much of an impact.
The alerted knights easily blocked the attack with their Turtle Spirit Shields.
And when the attackers showed their faces, everyone became even more unsettled.
Seven people, five local bandits and two red sand thieves from the Foreign Domain, attacked with both swords and firearms.
"Wait, we are..."
Someone tried to communicate, only to be interrupted by even more intense gunfire the next moment.
For professionals with an average of at least 2-tier abilities, these light weapons were not a big deal. But in this world full of ordinary people, these were the notorious killer weapons used by red sand thieves.
"Eastern Country people? Damn, F%%, get lost, this is our territory!"
The other side was already cursing directly.
Noticing that they were compatriots, the gunfire was only intensified.
Listening to this familiar F-word-laden cursing and the familiar sound of gunfire, Lu Ping’an felt as if he was back on Earth, at home.
In an even more direct reaction, Xia Qin had already unconsciously drawn her gun and returned fire.
As the gunshot rang out, a red sand thief’s head burst apart on the spot.
Xia Qin not only had the part-time job of a gunslinger (1-tier), but her Demon-gun was a forbidden taboo item, far from being on the same level as ordinary-standard firearms.
"Beyond seven steps, guns are indeed faster."
The brief exchange between the two sides resulted in the attackers being injured.
But when they noticed something was wrong, and saw those double-digit knights, the remaining red sand thief hesitated not a moment before leaving his temporary comrades behind and fleeing.
What followed became simpler... Several ordinary robbers who weren’t even supernatural holders were captured in no time, especially after losing their firearms support.
This time, Lu Ping’an and his party didn’t have the heart to kill them, as they were in urgent need of local intelligence.
A brief victory was undoubtedly a good thing, but the knights looked at Xia Qin wielding her gun and the men enthusiastically picking up spoils of war and trying to play with the guns, their expressions slightly awkward.
"Ahem, in our world, this is a very common type of alchemical mechanical weapon. It’s just that it has little deterrent effect on high-level combat power, so most of us didn’t carry it."
Lu Ping’an insincerely mumbled an explanation. But at this point, it was enough.
Having live captives was a good thing, and the knights quickly extracted information from them in just a few questions.
Both groups happened to be lookahead posts for two bands of robbers.
"We were forced to..." The evil bone robber, realizing he couldn’t resist, quickly sold out his comrades.
In fact, they arrived first, following the Shepherd Silver people into these ruins.
They were indeed hired by the Shepherd Silver people before but dealing with bandits was not a smart move. Most of the Shepherd Silver people were killed on the spot, and the boss of evil bone gang had no intention of keeping any hostages alive.
These few men were the sentries left outside by the Evil Bone gang, and naturally, they were not strongmen with any significant team status.
As a result, when a group of Red Sand thieves arrived later, they were attacked and lost two men, fleeing into the ruins without hesitation... They avoided the main force of Red Sand thieves by using the forked paths within the ruins.
But soon enough, a new group of visitors arrived behind the Red Sand thieves, and their sentries couldn’t stay put either.
With no other options, they too entered the ruins to hide but were soon caught by the bandits.
The side with fewer people had weapons and professionals, so they easily subdued their opponents and used them as cannon fodder.
The whole situation was quite simple, but some details caught Lu Ping’an’s attention.
"What forced them to come in as well?"
"I don’t know, those black creatures didn’t say anything."
"...Was it a beast?"
𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
"It shouldn’t be, they had knife wounds on them."
Alright, another group had arrived. Watching them playing mahjong, more people would probably show up.
Mutated demons, red sand thieves, evil bone bandits, Shepherd Silver people, unknown forces, and it was certainly lively.
Lu Ping’an asked some more questions. These people arrived around two days ago, and there were originally over a hundred of them. However, only forty or fifty people entered the ruins, with only about a dozen of them having supernatural abilities.
Of course, the strongest among them were the Evil Bones. Lu Ping’an had inquired Knight Ben, who admitted that in a one-on-one fight, he was not confident of surviving till the end.
For the Red Sand Thieves, they had only seen the two who were forced to come in.
Everyone else had entered deeper into the ruins, probably no more than twenty people, but none had shown any signs of returning.
Based on the results, the two groups ended up converging into one, but all they could do was to wait quietly outside.
"...Keep them alive." So, Lu Ping’an issued an order.
"Meow." Meow was dispatched immediately.
The ghostly terrain here might baffle most searchers, but it posed no difficulty for Meow.
Based on the feeling just now, those people didn’t seem to be high-level professionals. With Meow’s cunning, it should be easy to deal with them without hesitation.
But as they waited, more information was being fed back to them.
These two groups were not weak at all; they had been inside for two days without any response...
"Either they’re all dead, or they’re trapped down below, neither of which is good news."
The team leader also had to consider whether to continue... Going further meant possibly clashing with several groups of people, which didn’t seem worth it.
At this moment, Catherine suddenly walked out.
Standing on her tiptoes, she touched the murals on the wall, feeling as if something was inexplicably attracting her.
That image of the sun shooting a rippled long spear through the "Beast God" felt familiar to her, even a bit nostalgic.
Without thinking, she touched it, then pulled... the long spear came out of the Beast God’s body.
"I, I didn’t mean to... "
As everyone watched her panic, she seemed to remember something else, and casually inserted the rippled long spear back into the mural, only this time, it pierced the Sun God.
Suddenly, the entire hall trembled, the murals came to life once more. This time, it was the Beast God resurrecting and then taking up the long spear to pierce the "imagination" of the Sun God.
But then, with a cracking noise, the walls split open, revealing a huge passage in between the two gods’ paintings.
"...I’ve heard that in many underground tombs, traps and dead ends are laid out along the path, specifically for thieves. Only those in the know know the real way to go."
— End of Chapter 480 —