Chapter 20: The Advantage is Mine!

“What?! Are you sure?!”

Qin Jinxuan’s eyes widened as she pointed toward the warehouse.

“There are at least 60 robots in there! And there are only three of us!”

“Of course!”

Cheng Lan nodded confidently.

“It’s just 60 robots.

I can take out 25 of them with one arrow, one kill.”

“Uh… and the rest?”

“Couldn’t Lidoa also take out 25 with one arrow, one kill?”

“Mm-hmm! Leave it to me!”

Hearing Cheng Lan’s words, Lidoa pumped her small pink fist, her eyes gleaming with high fighting spirit.

“See, between the two of us, 50 robots are already gone.”

“Then what about the remaining dozen or so?”

“Improvise!”

“In other words, you don’t have a plan at all, do you?!”

“Didn’t I just say it? Dismantling them all is my plan.”

Cheng Lan patted his chest.

“Don’t worry, even if it’s three against sixty, the advantage is mine!”

‘I can’t see any advantage at all, hey!’

****

“Lidoa, have you detected the electromagnetic storm?”

As he spoke, Cheng Lan peered over the sand dune again, quickly surveying the general defenses near the warehouse and the robots’ patrol routes.

“Detected.

It’s 2 kilometers from the target area, estimated to arrive in 2 minutes.”

Lidoa reported softly, faint blue data streams flickering in her eyes.

“Good.”

Cheng Lan nodded.

“Later, you’ll flank and break through from the left side of the warehouse, and I’ll take the right.

We’ll rendezvous at the base of the watchtower behind the warehouse.”

“Understood!”

Lidoa once again unhooked the compound bow from her backpack, preparing for battle.

“The operation officially begins once the electromagnetic storm arrives.”

“What about me?”

Qin Jinxuan raised her hand.

“What should I do?”

“I almost forgot about you.”

Cheng Lan slapped his forehead.

“You just follow me.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.

If any mechs get close to me, just handle them if you can.”

“Alright…”

Qin Jinxuan nodded, a hint of dejection in her expression.

Recalling the impeccable synergy between Cheng Lan and Lidoa when they first stepped into the World Rifts, she felt as if simply not being a burden was already a great help.

“30 seconds until the electromagnetic storm arrives.”

Lidoa reminded them.

“Prepare!”

Cheng Lan also drew his compound bow, nocking a black arrow onto the rest.

Qin Jinxuan took a deep breath, suppressing the tension in her heart, gripping her ice sword tightly, her gaze fixed on Cheng Lan.

“Five, four, three, two, one.”

The moment the countdown reached zero—

The lighting system around the warehouse suddenly went dark.

All the mechs instantly froze at the same time, falling into a state of stasis.

Drones flying in mid-air plummeted, hitting the sandy ground with dull thuds.

“Operation start!”

No sooner had the words left his lips than Cheng Lan and Lidoa, like arrows released from a bowstring, darted in two directions, one left and one right, charging toward the weapon warehouse.

Qin Jinxuan, lost in a moment of stunned surprise, found herself already more than 10 meters behind Cheng Lan.

‘Oh no! I need to catch up quickly!’

She immediately sprinted in Cheng Lan’s direction.

However, it wasn’t until she started running that Qin Jinxuan truly realized how incredibly fast Cheng Lan was.

She had to push herself to a 50-meter sprint pace just to barely keep up with him.

Even more astonishing to her was that Cheng Lan maintained his high-speed movement while continuously firing his bow!

Nocking an arrow, drawing the string, aiming, shooting—his movements were seamless and fluid.

He would only pause briefly at the instant of firing, immediately resuming his sprint once the arrow left the string.

It was as if every shot was destined to hit its target, requiring no confirmation whatsoever.

One, two, three…

Qin Jinxuan trailed closely behind Cheng Lan, the continuous whoosh of arrows slicing through the air ahead of them.

“Whirrr—!”

Accompanied by the sound of machines starting up, the warehouse’s surrounding lighting system flickered back to life.

Simultaneously, the various mechs stationed around the warehouse began to reboot, tiny red lights flashing across their sensors.

Under the restored light, Qin Jinxuan finally saw that six mechs were already impaled with black arrows, rendering them unable to restart.

The ice sword in the young woman’s hand trembled slightly—not from fear, but from sheer awe.

“We need to speed up! Keep pace!”

Cheng Lan’s low shout came from ahead, and his speed abruptly increased.

Seeing the distance between herself and Cheng Lan widen once more, Qin Jinxuan gritted her teeth, quickened her steps, and hurriedly pursued him.

“Jinxuan, one step to the right!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Jinxuan immediately stepped to the right!

Bang!

A bullet whistled, striking the spot where she had been just moments before, kicking up a small crater.

Cheng Lan, in turn, fired an arrow with a backhand motion, delivering a headshot to the humanoid mech sniping from the rooftop.

“Keep going!”

The two once again resumed their furious charge.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

More and more bullets rained down around them, but Qin Jinxuan had already focused all her attention on Cheng Lan, her eyes locked onto his back.

“To the right!”

“To the left!”

“Stop!”

“Accelerate!”

Cheng Lan, like a prophet, continuously issued commands.

As long as she acted according to his instructions, it felt as if the bullets would never hit her.

Thump! Thump!

Weaving through the hail of bullets, Qin Jinxuan felt her heartbeat quickening incessantly.

This wasn’t fear, nor was it tension.

This was exhilaration!

Qin Jinxuan found herself incredibly excited, her entire body emitting joyous cheers.

She yearned for battle.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of an anomaly in the sand—a small mound was rapidly approaching Cheng Lan with an eerie speed!

Swish!

The instant Cheng Lan paused to shoot an arrow, a pitch-black mechanical scorpion burst forth from the sand, its pincers already locked onto him.

‘No good!’

‘The only one who can help Cheng Lan now is me!’

Without another thought, Qin Jinxuan tightened her grip on her ice sword, took a quick step, and executed her most practiced skill: ‘Thrust.’

A blue light flashed.

Qin Jinxuan appeared behind Cheng Lan, her ice sword piercing the mechanical scorpion’s torso in mid-air.

“Not bad.”

Cheng Lan nodded slightly, a barely perceptible curve gracing his lips.

“Keep up! All those annoying ones in the ground are yours to handle!”

He accelerated again, charging towards the watchtower.

“Understood!”

Qin Jinxuan immediately followed.

‘Heh heh, I’m useful too, you know!’

A subtle, triumphant smile unconsciously spread across the young woman’s face.

****

With only 300 meters left to the watchtower, Cheng Lan had already exhausted all 25 arrows from his quiver.

Fortunately, Cheng Lan had seemingly eliminated all the ranged mechs, and without the interference of bullets, the two simply needed to sprint at full speed toward the watchtower.

Only 200 meters remained.

Suddenly, Qin Jinxuan noticed a strange red dot appear on her chest.

Before she could react, Cheng Lan turned and dove, tackling Qin Jinxuan to the ground.

Bang!

Almost simultaneously, a bullet grazed Cheng Lan’s back.

Their bodies hit the sandy ground heavily, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Before Cheng Lan could even get up, the red dot moved onto him.

He quickly hugged Qin Jinxuan tightly and rolled on the spot, preparing to dodge the incoming bullet.

However, the red dot remained in its original position, not firing.

Cheng Lan swiftly looked up, rising to face the direction of the shot—only to see an arrow embedded in the head of a humanoid mech wielding a sniper rifle atop the watchtower.

It was Lidoa who had intervened.

“Nicely done.”

Cheng Lan chuckled softly, reaching out to pull Qin Jinxuan to her feet.

“Th-thank you…”

The thought of Cheng Lan’s unhesitating dive, shielding her beneath him, made the young woman’s heart pound faster, her cheeks burning.

She secretly glanced at Cheng Lan beside her, then quickly lowered her head.

“We need to hurry.

Lidoa will be here soon.”

Cheng Lan took Qin Jinxuan’s hand and continued running toward their destination.