Vol 14 Chapter 22-2
The group flew north according to the plan. Both psyche force users detected the masked area from that direction so even though they only had speculations, they decided to check the area first. It would give team South America an opportunity to attack by leaving the fortress even if things didn’t proceed as planned.
“I have been pondering a question, how strong is team South America? If we are judging them by team Africa’s strength, they are not even worth mentioning.” Xuan’s voice appeared in everyone’s minds. Lan wouldn’t be able to do this on her own but the additional Soul Link from the second psyche force user connected the whole team.
Kampa asked. “Why? Team Africa is quite strong. We would have been wiped if it wasn’t for you. Wiped without having chance to resist. To be honest, I still don’t get what you guys did. We were parasitized by bugs for a moment then they became the ones parasitized. And how did we get to control the fleet after that? What did you do?”
Xuan adjusted his glasses. “It’s difficult to explain to your intelligence. The reason team Africa can do this is because they have a mortal’s intelligence limit.”
“A mortal’s intelligence limit?” Everyone asked, including Zheng and Lan. They were curious.
“Yes. A mortal’s wisdom is too easy to speculate. It’s not worth discussing. However, this person had reached the limit of what a mortal can achieve. So I call him the mortal’s intelligence limit. Team Africa is much much worse than us. If they didn’t have a person with the intelligence and one with the strength, the Caucasian with a self-created ability, we could have annihilated them in three minutes without question. They have conflicts within the team and they were weak.” Xuan muttered.
Zheng nodded in agreement. “Yes. Our team is strong. This is something I just realized. Zero’s sniping ability and calmness are powerful capacities that other teams can’t replace. Kampa can kill a team several kilometers away by himself if they don’t have the defensive items or skills. WangXia’s demolition and scouting talents and Lan’s psyche force abilities are what a team needs the most. Gando’s potential is as high as mine. You are currently the weakest member but you can become equally strong when you mature.”
Gando said. “You said all about us. What about you and Xuan?”
Xuan replied. “My position in the team is its brain. Zheng is the heart. Each of us have our responsibilities. Based on my information on team China, there are several yet to be revived members with strong potentials. Team China is strong, very strong. Can you believe it? We will be stronger than team Devil and team Celestial!” There was a hint of fanaticism in his tone.
Zheng exhaled. “That wasn’t a complete explanation but we are indeed strong. So what are you trying to say?”
Xuan calmed down a bit. “What I mean is since team Africa is already so much weaker than us, how weak will team South America be since they are even weaker than team Africa? Can it be that they are so weak that they don’t even have the courage to leave the bug swarm? If that’s the case, will they come out to ambush us or the fortress? This is the only flaw in my plan. The plan is pointless if they are too weak.”
Everyone was dumbfounded. They Sky Stick continued flying ahead. The terrain turned from plains to hills. The amount of bugs on the ground was decreasing until they turned spotty. The ground looked almost clean aside from the occasional bug crawling through.
“It isn’t possible for the Arachnids to have an unlimited supply of bugs, just like humans. If we arm five and even ten billion people go all out against the bugs, assuming the battle happens on a plain, I think the bugs are the ones to lose. However, humans can’t act so crazy. Even troopers are afraid of death. 50 million soldiers in a ten billion population is a scary number already. The Arachnids are different. Every one of them will follow any order given by the brain bug. That’s why they are a sea of bugs even if they only have one billion while humans have a ten billion population.” Xuan said.
Zheng asked. “And? Does that mean the bugs have sent all their forces to attack the fortress? Can we take the chance to attack the brain bug?”
Xuan waved his head. “No. What I want to say is…”
A silver light shot toward them. Its speed wasn’t extremely fast. There were at least three people who saw the light. But it appeared so suddenly that no one had the time to shout anything. Furthermore, they were on the Sky Stick. One had to be in the unlocked mode to dodge the attack. They were merely having a conversation so no one was in the unlocked mode. The light hit the Sky Stick then with a dull thud, Xuan, Kampa, and Zero fell off.
“No!” Zheng shouted. “Hold tight!”
He activated the modified ability of the Sky Stick. A small stream of plasma burst out from its back then it headed toward the ground in accelerated speed. Zheng entered the second stage, focusing his attention to his limit. The Sky Stick went down faster than the three people’s falling speed. It caught Kampa first then Zheng headed for Xuan.
Xuan also entered the unlocked mode when he fell. He didn’t want for Zheng to grab him and instead reached for the basket when the Sky Stick flew by. It was like Zheng knew that was what Xuan would do. He flew pass Xuan then went for Zero. He grabbed Zero’s arm when they were just twenty meters away from the ground, then the Sky Stick flew straight ahead. Its speed was so fast that Zheng could barely hold himself against the wind. He had to squint his eyes to see ahead.
A few seconds later, Zheng stopped the Sky Stick. Eight people and a bear robot were more than it can handle at such speed.
At least seven people let out a sigh of relief. Xuan immediately yelled as he stepped on the ground. “Lan! Their location! Where!”
Lan paused for a moment then closed her eyes. Several seconds later, she shook her head. “Can’t find their location. Was it really from team South America?”
“F*ck!” Xuan cursed uncharacteristically. He turned to Snow and yelled. “And you? Found their location?”
Snow shook her head timidly. “Did-didn’t find their location. There really isn’t team South America nearby. But a lot of bugs are coming at us.”
Seeing that Xuan was looking enraged, Zheng patted his shoulder. “Calm down, Xuan! This isn’t like you. What happened? We were attacked but I didn’t see the silver light clearly. It may not be from team South America. Maybe it was from a new type of bugs. Don’t panic!”
The ground trembled. A spot two kilometers away bulged out. A large blaster bug climbed out then followed by a large number of warrior bugs. They headed straight for the group.
Xuan shook his head. “My speculation was wrong. Maybe team South America isn’t weak. No, they are weak as a team but their individuals are strong. Contradicting? No. They just have to raise the newbies like slaves. Use the points from the newbies to grow themselves. One or two people can grow strong while God considers the team weak! This may be the type of team they are!”