176: I'm dragging my child?

"What is that thing?"

Ge Er watched the snowman warily, while the latter slowly approached with a blank smile on its face.

A skill? Or some kind of item?

"It looks like a reconnaissance-type summoned creature. I wonder which hostile Raiders it belongs to," Ge San immediately analyzed the snowman's origin.

Looking at its frail appearance, as if a gust of wind could scatter it, it shouldn't be very strong.

However, it was also possible that it had area-of-effect attacks, so Ge Chang and the others quickly retreated a few steps, attempting to evade its attack range. But the snowman continued to move slowly, its leisurely demeanor resembling an old man out for a stroll.

"We'll know if we try it."

Seeing the snowman's weak appearance, Ge Er raised his hand and threw a dagger at it.

Under the gaze of the three, the snowman instantly shattered into pieces on the ground.

"As expected, it's a reconnaissance item, with no offensive capabilities," Ge San said, visibly relieved.

But Ge Er, standing beside him, suddenly froze and informed his teammates, "I suddenly have a debuff called [Snowman Resentment] on me, which reduces my movement speed and defense by 1%."

"Is it because we destroyed the snowman? It's not a big deal, only 1%..."

Ge Chang comforted him, thinking that an item with such a small effect was nothing to worry about.

However, the next second, all three of them suddenly felt something was wrong.

Not far away, another new snowman appeared, still approaching them with a blank smile.

"How are there more?"

Ge Chang frowned instantly, then told Ge San to destroy the snowman.

Consequently, Ge San also acquired a layer of [Snowman Resentment].

When the third snowman appeared again, the three of them could no longer ignore it.

"It's definitely a reconnaissance item, and it's locked onto us. I wonder if it has monitoring capabilities."

Ge Chang thought for a moment and had the three of them stand apart, wanting to see exactly what the snowman was locked onto.

The snowman floated directly towards Ge Chang without even glancing at the other two.

"It seems that item is locked onto me. I wonder how long or how many times this snowman will last."

Ge Chang raised his hand and shattered the third snowman, looking at the two layers of [Snowman Resentment] on him with confusion.

Didn't they say there was only one layer? How did it become two layers for him?

Does it stack with multiple destructions? Or is there another reason?

Although he wasn't sure why, Ge Chang didn't dare to act again. What if it gave him ten or eight layers in a while?

"We can't rule out the possibility that it's monitoring our location, so... you two go together."

Ge Chang sighed, realizing that he had just scoffed at the NPCs' foolish act of splitting up, and now the boomerang had hit him in the face.

But there was nothing he could do. If all three of them were being monitored, wouldn't the rare item they just applied be wasted? And wouldn't his little brother's invisibility skill be useless?

However, more than that, what made Ge Chang more uncomfortable was that he couldn't set up his sniper rifle from a distance.

Who doesn't know that a sniper is most threatening when aiming at you from a thousand meters away?

He already couldn't set up a sniper rifle indoors, so he was planning to sneak in some potshots.

But with this spirit following him, he didn't even have a chance to take potshots!

"Let's split up and communicate with walkie-talkies."

Ge Chang decisively changed tactics, using himself to attract attention and letting his subordinates wait for an opportunity in the shadows.

His subordinates also knew that this was the only option in this situation, so they nodded and left.

The trio was successfully broken up, and Cheng Zhen was very satisfied.

Ge Chang's presence was indeed the biggest threat; the power of his various firearms was not to be underestimated, and what was more troublesome was that his skills would affect their thinking.

With them separated, Ge Er's destructive power would also be greatly affected.

"I'll lure them to the other side."

Huangfu Dong was a bit surprised to hear Cheng Zhen break up the fight between the opponents. Although he didn't know how Cheng Zhen did it, he wouldn't miss such a good opportunity and immediately moved to confront the two.

"They have camouflage paint on them, which has a disguise effect. You should take Rui Jun with you to help you lock onto targets."

Cheng Zhen suggested that with his snowman following Ge Chang, the camouflage paint on him would be mostly useless.

Huangfu Dong wasn't sure about Cheng Zhen's combat strength, but seeing his confident demeanor, he didn't say much and proceeded according to the plan.

...

Ge Chang saw the item marker suddenly move and only assumed that Cheng Zhen had followed the NPC, so he told the two to chase quickly while he, dragging the snowman, twisted and turned into other rooms to interfere with the opponent's judgment.

However, when he reached another fork in the road, the figures that suddenly appeared in front of him made his gaze sharpen.

Several NPCs in protective suits blocked his way, striking poses like martial arts masters.

Ge Chang once again recalled the rooftop earlier, that moment of battling wits with the air...

Embarrassing memories flooded his mind, inexplicably giving rise to a bit of indignant rage.

"This time, you won't stop me!"

Ge Chang sneered, holding a gun in each hand and began to shoot.

Since he knew they were NPCs, there was nothing to fear!

What if they knew kung fu? Beyond seven steps, the gun is fast; within seven steps, the gun is both fast and accurate!

He held a gun in each hand and unleashed a volley of continuous shots forward. The survivors were not fools; they wouldn't stand there and let him spray them, so they immediately dodged behind the wall to avoid the bullets.

Seeing that the opponent wasn't showing their head, Ge Chang slowly moved forward, preparing for a game of cat and mouse with them.

While some NPCs had high intelligence, judging from their previous behavior after climbing the wall, these particular NPCs were still relatively dull, only knowing how to attack head-on.

As long as he approached quietly, and then threw a grenade when they couldn't help but show their heads, wouldn't they be blown up?

He slowly moved forward, gradually approaching, slowly, slowly...

Then Ge Chang felt a chill down his spine.

Not a psychological chill.

But a physiological one.

His steps were too slow, and the snowman behind him caught up, directly sticking to his back and delivering two layers of [Snowman Resentment].

Ge Chang looked at the newly generated snowman, utterly speechless.

This thing floated without a sound at all. He was so focused on fighting the NPCs in front that he completely ignored the snowman behind him.

No, he had to finish this quickly!

He didn't know if there was an upper limit to this [Snowman Resentment], but it was definitely better to have fewer layers. He didn't want to move as slow as a tortoise.

Ge Chang took advantage of an NPC poking their head out to throw a hidden weapon at him, tossing a grenade directly to blow the NPC away.

However, he didn't expect the NPC to suddenly pull off a fancy move.

The hidden weapon he threw actually split!

It flew directly onto the grenade, causing the grenade to explode halfway!

Ge Chang immediately dove to the ground when he saw something was wrong with the hidden weapon, dodging the explosion damage.

After the violent explosion, he covered his ears, furious and wanting to curse.

What kind of broken cheat was this NPC using? How could a hidden weapon split?!

He continued to lie on the ground. The thick smoke from the explosion had not yet dissipated. Worried that the opponent would continue to fire hidden weapons, he prepared to crawl forward to avoid the snowman behind him and any hidden weapons the enemy might throw.

However, after only a few scuttles, he suddenly felt as if a hand had grabbed his foot, very much like a ghost under the bed in a horror movie.

Ge Chang's hair immediately stood on end. He twitched, wanting to unleash his Nine Heavens Thunder Double Kick, but after struggling a few times, he found nothing.

Was he mistaken? No, the sensation was so obvious; how could he be mistaken?

Ge Chang immediately got up into a half-crouch, looking around warily. The NPC still hadn't shown its head, and the snowman behind him was still foolishly following.

His intuition told him that something was wrong.

But what exactly was wrong?

He looked around and finally discovered the problem—

Where are my shoes?

Where are the rare defensive boots equipped in my inventory?!