Chapter 230 - Climb Up
Due to the requirements to fight in a dark region with a bumpy ground, Li Xin did not bring any anti-material sniper rifles, heavy cannons, or any other major killing weapons.
Meng Chao found a mini Samopal vzor 61 and four cartridges with 28 bullets in them.
Mini submachine guns were not that much bigger than handguns, and they were a rare abnormality of guns designed to be crude and rough in Dragon City.
Even though they were small and exquisite, in half a second, they could form a bullet storm.
If one were slotted with cursed bullets, armor-piercing bullets, incendiary bullets, or freezing bullets embedded with crystals and carved with runic symbols, it would be very powerful.
Li Xin was holding onto an assault rifle. Unfortunately, the gun barrel was distorted during the explosion.
Fortunately, the grenade launcher added to it was still in perfect shape.
Meng Chao found three fist-sized rifle grenades in Li Xin’s Sam Brown Belt.
He inserted a rifle grenade into the grenade launcher, stuffed it into his trouser pocket, and used his dagger to cut a few intersecting lines at the bottom of the last rifle grenade so it would travel in an unstable manner. At a critical moment, if Meng Chao threw it at a stone, it would become a grenade.
“This is something that only the best special forces soldiers in the Red Dragon Army would do, and only those who have gone through hundreds of battles would think of.” Qin Hu looked at Meng Chao with admiration in his eyes.
Meng Chao remembered how proud of himself he had been, and he did not say anything. He continued searching. He found a few stabilizing fluids that could increase the stability of sharpshooters in the rifle case, multi-purpose night-vision goggles, a scope for a sniper rifle, and a flexible periscope.
The last one was like a metal tube connected to the showers in bathrooms, but it could be twisted 360 degrees at the user’s will. It could observe the enemy situation from different directions and angles. It could also be used at corners or extended into cracks.
Gunslingers loved using these sort of observation tools that could bend to reduce the risk of exposing themselves.
Meng Chao whistled and tossed the multi-purpose night-vision goggles to Qin Hu while he put away the scope and periscope.
At the end, he found a bumpy object at the spot above Li Xin’s heart.
It was a strange-looking handgun.
It seemed to have been made by hand, and it was the amalgamation of a revolver and starting pistol. Only one huge bullet could be fitted into its cylinder.
The bullet was in a semi-transparent glass bottle, and it floated in a mithril-based stabilizing solution. It shone with a dark but dangerous light.
At first glance, it did not look like a bullet. Instead, it looked like a crystalline meteor fragment or the core of a high-grade superbeast.
But someone had carved a series of fine runic symbols on its surface, and they worked together with the mithril-based stabilizing fluid to control its destructive power.
Meng Chao put his ear to the glass bottle and heard hissing sounds; it sounded like the moans that came from the deepest parts of hell.
“Is this… a self-destruct gun?” Qin Hu sucked in a sharp breath and quickly said, “Brat, put it down! This isn’t something you can control!”
Meng Chao quirked his eyebrows.
When Qin Hu saw that Meng Chao was still staring at it, he thought that he was attracted by the bullet’s incredibly dangerous beauty and spoke louder. “Normal crystal bullets are made with only a bit of crystal or monster materials. When they’re released, they create powerful spirit energy ripples which impact the gunslinger’s brain. This is what you call recoil.
“And in the gunslinger circle, there is a thing called self-destruct guns. They’re not mass-produced. Instead, they’re only made when someone finds an incredibly rare crystal or superbeast material that has a shape suitable for a bullet. They then carve runic symbols into it and polish it a little. Then, based on the strange and unique shape of the bullet, they make a gun for it by hand.
“Do you understand now? This self-destruct gun is made for this bullet, and this bullet is either a meteorite fragment that fell from the sky in ancient times or a crystalized organ from a Hell Beast or even an Apocalyptic Beast. It has the power to destroy the world, so when it’s fired, you will definitely need to pay a price for it!
“The meaning behind the self-destruct gun’s name is that once a gunslinger uses it, there is a good chance that their brain and the target’s brain will explode at the same time.
“Look, Li Xin didn’t dare to use this self-destruct gun even when he died. He didn’t even dare to bring out the bullet from the mithril-based stabilizing fluid and stuff it into the bore. You can tell from this alone that it is a killing weapon that is incredibly powerful and has great side effects. It’s not something a puny Spirit Tattoo Realm superhuman can use.
“If you try to use this gun, I promise you that the moment you pull the trigger, the first thing you will see will be your own brains!”
“Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Hu.”
In his previous life, his fighting class was a gunslinger. Then, he received harsh military training in the Ghost Tribe, so there was no way he would not know just how dangerous a self-destruct gun was.
But Li Xin did not use his self-destruct gun, and he even died in such a tragic manner.
Meng Chao held the super bullet that seemed to be made of a meteor fragment loosely on his palm. Then, he stuffed the bullet and the self-destruct gun into the two trouser pockets at his thighs, because it was from where he could retrieve his items the easiest.
The two men cleared up their tracks.
Then, they went to the furthest corner of the wall, sucked in deep breath, and prepared to climb the wall.
Meng Chao reorganized all the things he could use one last time.
He had two chain sabers, two mini Samopal vzor 61, four cartridges, a grenade launcher, three rifle grenades, one self-destruct gun, and one incredibly dangerous super bullet.
He also had a scope, a periscope, night-vision goggles, anti-radiation armor, and one last solid block of Stone Statue Fungus liquid, along with one Slit-mouthed Anaconda acid gland that could make it soften and restore its sticky properties.
He also had around 27,000 contribution points, which meant that he could perform two full-body treatments. He could also push killing moves like Demon Subduing Slash or Thousand Moon Slash to another level.
Oh, and over the past two months or so, he had been sparring madly with the students in the base and killing monsters in Shattered Starlake. So, he had actually completed the second and third segment of the Fight for the Ultimate Style quest over its requirements.
When necessary, he could declare that he had completed the quest and get at least twenty thousand contribution points. There was also a chance that he could awaken the brand new techniques, Mind Lightning and Monster Blood Combustion.
‘I will definitely survive and figure out the truth to change the future!’
Meng Chao exhaled slowly and pressed the Slit-mouthed Anaconda’s teeth on his arms and soles against the wall. Then, like a gecko, he started crawling up.
The two men were superhumans, so their mobility far surpassed that of rock climbers on Earth. Since they had rows of sharp Slit-mouthed Anaconda teeth helping them as well, they soon climbed dozens of meters upward.
The higher they climbed, the more clearly they could hear intense fighting and explosions above. They could also sense the spirit energy ripples and shockwaves clashing and surging repeatedly.
The wall in front of them even let out cracking sounds. Quite a number of stones fell from above them, and some parts of the wall cracked into thin lines like spider webs.
This made them climb even faster.
But it also made their hearts sink.
The vitality magnetic fields of the humans surged madly. The chain crystal explosions also caused high-frequency shockwaves.
The vibration from different crystal mines affected each other, and the vibrations grew worse, which created a destructive cycle.
In spirit energy studies, this phenomenon was known as self-oscillation.
When self-oscillation reached the maximum, it became an unstoppable spirit energy tsunami.
Forget about the underground cave facing the possibility of collapsing, even the Deity Realm fighters and Apocalyptic Beast in Raging Waves would be severely affected by it.
“This doesn’t seem like the normal fights when you fight for the right to mine first.” Qin Hu narrowed his eyes and looked at the subsurface plasma-shrouded cliff. “Brat, who is the mole you suspect of instigating both sides to fight each other to the death?”
Meng Chao hesitated for a moment. He did not want to mention the name he respected and idolized to Qin Hu, a middle-aged man who was domineering, sleazy, and whom he bore a grudge with in his previous life.
Qin Hu snickered. “Even if you don’t say it, I know. It’s Lin Chuan, right?”
At that moment, Meng Chao was truly stunned. He could no longer care whether Qin Hu might be lying to him and blurted out, “How did you know?”
“You aren’t familiar with Lu Siya or anyone else from Sky Pillar Corporation, so there’s no way you’d figure out if they were the mole, and you have even less reason not to tell me their name,” Qin Hu said.
“Lin Chuan is your university mate. Recently, you have been together often, and you even became his assistant in his broadcasts. You should know him very well, which is why you might suspect him while also not wishing to tell me his name.”
Meng Chao admitted it in silence.
Qin Hu grabbed a crack that had just appeared and used his other hand to scratch his moustache.
“But here’s the strange part. Isn’t Lin Chuan’s Lu Siya’s guard dog? He’s bound tightly to the Lu family. If Lu Siya gets the right to mine the place first, he will also be able to enjoy a good life.
“If he forces both mine exploration teams to die together and kills Lu Siya and Shen Yulong, what sort of benefits will he get?
“The only thing I can think of is the right to mine the place first, but the largest mining companies in Dragon City are Sky Pillar and Universe would oppose him. And with Lin Chuan’s ability alone, it’s impossible for him to occupy the Red Radiance Jade mine.
“Is he going to join some other force of power with the Red Radiance Jade mine? That’s crazy. After this happens, no matter which force of power wants to mine the Red Radiance Jade mine, they’ll have to face Sky Pillar and Universe’s wrath. No one would do something so stupid. The loss would outweigh the gains. What do you think?”
Meng Chao frowned and defended Lin Chuan seriously. “Big Brother Lin isn’t a guard dog.”
Qin Hu was stunned for a moment before he realized that the two of them were not on the same channel. “Alright, he’s not Lu Siya’s guard dog. Seriously though, I didn’t have any ill will in what I said. In the current era, relying on a woman to survive is also an ability. If I was as handsome as Lin Chuan, I wouldn’t come to this stupid place to risk my life—”
“Mr. Hu,” Meng Chao interrupted him, “please don’t destroy the teeny tiny bit of good impression I formed of you just now.”
Qin Hu tugged his moustache. “Forget it. I’m not interested in Lin Chuan’s personality. I’m curious about his motives.”
“I don’t know them. I just feel that Big Brother Lin is a man with great ambitions and is far above such low tastes. If he really plotted this entire scheme, he’s definitely not doing it for a vulgar goal like getting the right to mine the Red Radiance Jade mine first.”
Meng Chao was silent for a moment, then told Qin Hu what Lin Chuan had said about there being no monsters and humans, though he did away with all the unnecessary details. “Do you think his theory makes sense?”
“I don’t friggin’ care whether it makes sense or not!” Qin Hu shouted out. “I’ve long since passed the age where I have enough free time on my hands to come up with such stupid theories. What’s the point of just yammering about? I only want to earn money, resources, and train! Then, I’ll get more money and resources so that my wife, my children, and I can live comfortable and glorious lives!”