17: Blood debts must be repaid in blood

"Mountain Body Protection!"

In the center of the field, Qin Yue, sensing that something was wrong, immediately erupted with all his energy.

A layer of armor instantly condensed around his body, wrapping him completely.

Boom!

The Ice-Fire Power erupted, instantly submerging Qin Yue.

The terrifying force left visible dents on the alloy floor.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xing's figure flashed as he retreated to a safe position.

"Wrath of the Mountain!"

However, just then, a roar rang out.

To everyone's astonishment, a massive black phantom, dozens of meters tall, emerged behind Qin Yue.

It held a giant hammer in its hands.

[Ding! Detected a projection of a god's residual will. Plunder it?]

At that moment, the System's voice suddenly rang out, causing Zhou Xing's body to shudder.

"Uh, System, if I plunder the opponent's will projection, will there be any consequences?"

Zhou Xing asked inwardly.

"Yes. Once the will projection is plundered, the opponent may suffer a massive backlash or even lose their abilities."

The System replied.

"Then no, forget it, forget it."

Zhou Xing hastily declined.

This kind of move was clearly a trump card.

Furthermore, Zhou Xing could feel that the opponent's will projection had already locked onto him.

With the opponent's full strength erupting, the current Zhou Xing was not yet a match for him.

"Captain, that's enough! Do you want to tear down the training ground? Or do you want to cripple Zhou Xing?"

Just as Zhou Xing was about to speak up and admit defeat, Lin Yue's voice drifted over.

Wings emerged from her back, and with a flash, she landed between the two of them.

Hearing Lin Yue's voice, Qin Yue suddenly snapped out of it.

That's right, it was just a spar. How did he get so worked up and sink so deep into the fight?

He deactivated his state and looked at his tattered combat suit with a bitter smile.

"Sorry, I lost my composure."

He stepped forward and patted Zhou Xing's shoulder, looking apologetic.

"But your strength is truly astonishing, kid. You nearly forced me to lose control."

Zhou Xing shook his head and said seriously, "It's because you are powerful, Captain. I was just being clever. Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, you didn't use your full strength at the beginning, which gave me an opening."

Qin Yue laughed loudly and turned to the crowd. "Did you see that? Given Zhou Xing's strength, I've decided to appoint him as the vice-captain of our team. What do you all think?"

"We naturally agree. After all, Zhou Xing even forced out your 'Wrath of the Mountain,' Captain."

The group naturally had no objections.

If today's battle were told to others, no one would probably believe it.

Beep— Beep—!

Just then, Qin Yue's tactical bracelet vibrated.

After tapping it, a holographic projection unfolded, playing a somewhat blurry surveillance video—

A man wearing a silver mask stood in a ruin, stepping on a mangled corpse.

A short sword engraved with The Watchers' insignia was plunged into the corpse's chest.

"A Sheng..."

Qin Yue's voice was terrifyingly low, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists.

A near-tangible killing intent surged, causing the air to freeze at this moment.

"Captain..." Lin Yue's gaze was cold. She wanted to speak, but Qin Yue raised his hand to stop her.

He slowly looked up, burning with rage.

"Three years ago, our teammate A Sheng was on an undercover mission. After being discovered by people from the Divine Gene Company, he was tortured and killed in the wilderness. Afterward, they even let Mutated Beasts cruelly tear at his corpse."

Qin Yue's voice trembled slightly, his eyes bloodshot. "When we arrived, we only found his blade."

Looking at Zhou Xing, he raised his hand and pointed at the silver-masked man in the holographic image.

"Now, this scum has finally shown his face again."

"This time, I will definitely make him pay... blood for blood!"

"Blood for blood!"

The crowd roared in unison, their eyes red.

A Sheng's death had always been a source of pain in everyone's hearts.

Zhou Xing knew Qin Yue was explaining it to him, and he could empathize with everyone's feelings.

Because his many comrades-in-arms had all sacrificed themselves because of that scum Luo Jin, dying meaningless deaths.

Even though he had killed Luo Jin with his own hands, Zhou Xing knew that Luo Jin was merely a Puppet.

Standing behind him was the colossus known as the Divine Gene Company.

"Captain, since I've joined the Sky Patrol, I am one of you.

Although I never met A Sheng, that doesn't stop me from seeking revenge for him.

Watching over each other, living and dying together is our slogan."

At this point, Zhou Xing looked at Qin Yue. "Moreover, you are likely aware of my situation. My teammates only sacrificed themselves because of an experiment by Divine Gene."

"It's irreconcilable between me and Divine Gene!"

"Good, Zhou Xing. I truly didn't misjudge you. Now, I will first explain the details of this mission to everyone.

Then we will formulate a plan."

Qin Yue patted Zhou Xing's shoulder heavily and said in a deep voice.

Inside a meeting room, a holographic projection unfolded, displaying a map of the wilderness outside Dragon City.

Qin Yue pointed to an area marked in red and said, "According to reliable intelligence, the Divine Gene Company has established a secret laboratory in 'Dark Canyon,' where they are secretly capturing Mutated Beasts and some ordinary victims of divinity erosion for gene Fusion experiments.

Our mission is to completely destroy this laboratory and bring back all the data.

Naturally, leave none of the Divine Gene people alive."

"The Dark Canyon is home to many Mutated Beasts, some of which have even reached D-rank.

Furthermore,

its location is about two hundred kilometers from Dragon City.

On the way, we have to pass through the territories of two large Mutated Beast groups, the 'Crypt Spiders' and the 'Ironback Wolf.' It is highly dangerous."

Lin Yue added at this time.

As for Mutated Beasts, Zhou Xing had only killed a few occasionally during missions in the past.

The appearance of a large number of divinity fragments over a decade ago didn't just create many human Awakened Ones;

many divinity fragments also fused with animals and plants, leading to the emergence of Mutated Beasts.

In particular, the reproductive capacity of many Mutated Beasts is terrifying, which leads to frequent beast tides.

Nowadays, many abandoned areas in cities were caused by past Mutated Beast attacks.

The strength of Mutated Beasts is generally divided into seven ranks: S, A, B, C, D, E, and F.

Each rank is also divided into four Realms: Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, and Peak.

These correspond to the current seven Realms of human Awakened Ones.

"Therefore, our preparations this time must be thorough. Although revenge is the primary goal,

I don't want to see any casualties.

Lin Yue, Lei Lie, you two stay behind at the base to handle long-range communications,

and protect Keer. The rest of us will set out. Everyone, go get ready now."

Qin Yue closed the holographic projection and spoke to the group.

"Why should I stay behind? Captain, I want to go too," Lin Yue couldn't help but stand up and question him.

"Yeah, Captain, I want to avenge A Sheng too. Let us all go."

Lei Lie also looked at Qin Yue with an anxious expression.

"This mission is A-rank, and the areas we need to pass through are highly dangerous. This is a result of my careful consideration.

Moreover, your injuries haven't fully recovered yet.

And Lei Lie, the reason I'm leaving you behind is also to prevent that fellow Vulture from causing trouble while we're away.

Think about it, if we all leave, what if something happens to Keer because of Vulture?

Long-range communication is vital. If anything happens to us, you'll be the first to receive the news and notify the stronghold for support.

If everyone goes and we lose communication, we'll be isolated and without help, understand?

This is an order. It must be carried out!" Qin Yue said, looking at the two with a serious expression.