203: Chapter 203 Cold-faced Appointment, Absolutely Amazing

Two in the morning.

Qin Hongye walked up to Chen Chen with the Meteor Gauss Rifle she had only half-finished modifying strapped to her back.

She had changed into a tight black tactical vest and knee-high combat boots.

The rifle strap pressed down across her shoulder, pulling taut against her cold, sharp, and sleek silhouette.

Beneath her ear-length short hair, her dark brown pupils were filled with battle intent.

"In the next battle, I want to fire the first shot."

Chen Chen glanced at the rifle on her back.

"Reason."

Qin Hongye lifted her chin slightly.

"My affix level has fallen behind."

"The Tier 6 Hunter King definitely has a command core."

"I want to snipe it."

Copper Hammer poked his head in from the side.

"The rifle isn't fully modified yet."

Qin Hongye didn't look back.

"I'll calibrate it while I fight."

Copper Hammer gave a thumbs up.

"Crazy enough."

Chen Chen looked at the Meteor Gauss Rifle on her back, then looked at her.

"If you hit your mark, I'll give you extra training tonight."

Qin Hongye's earlobes flushed red, but she maintained her cold demeanor on her face.

"You'd better keep your word."

Blood Rose passed by and immediately whistled.

"Sister Qin, that didn't sound like a request for battle. It sounded like an appointment."

Qin Hongye turned the muzzle of her rifle slightly.

Blood Rose immediately stepped back half a step and raised her hands.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'm going to go adjust my poison threads."

She walked a few steps, then whispered, "A cold-faced appointment, absolutely savage."

Qin Hongye moved the muzzle again. Blood Rose ran away very quickly this time.

...

Interrogation room.

Jiang Jiuyou stood in front of the Gray-White Mechanical Holy Court liaison.

The opponent was locked in a crystal chair, with three suppression needles inserted into his chest.

Mio had already stripped away two layers of protocols.

Shen Wanbing's countermeasure chip was still deploying. It was expected to take another seven minutes.

Jiang Jiuyou looked down, flipping through the interrogation records.

"How many beacons did you set up in Meteor Crystal City?"

The liaison kept his head down, remaining silent.

Jiang Yanxue stood nearby, the tip of her blade lightly tapping the armrest of the crystal chair.

"I have a way to make him speak."

Jiang Jiuyou raised a hand to stop her.

"He's not the type to fear pain."

The liaison suddenly laughed. His voice was hoarse and cold.

"You dismantle cities very quickly. But the Holy Court dismantles people even faster."

Jiang Jiuyou's expression changed, and her palm instantly pressed against his chest. "Stop!"

It was too late.

The gray-white gears on the liaison's chest suddenly cracked open. A tiny beam of light pierced through the ceiling of the interrogation room, shooting straight into the sky above the wasteland.

Mio's projection flashed into existence suddenly. "Hidden beacon!"

Shen Wanbing rushed in, her expression sinking. "The countermeasure chip hasn't finished deploying yet!"

Outside, a blood-red mark lit up the sky over the entire wasteland.

That mark looked like the fangs of a hound, biting tightly onto the coordinates of Meteor Crystal City.

The city-wide alarm blared.

[Star-Splitting Hunting Group location correction.]

[Estimated time of arrival changed.]

[Four days — thirty-six hours.]

The liaison's chest exploded. Half his body was swallowed by gray-white flames. The remaining half of his face was still smiling.

"The Hunter King… has already caught your scent…"

Jiang Jiuyou raised her gun. Bang. One shot blew his head apart.

The interrogation room was left with only the charred smell of gray-white flames burning.

When Chen Chen walked in, the blood-red mark in the sky hadn't faded yet.

Shen Wanbing clutched the countermeasure chip in her palm, her voice tight.

"Seven minutes short. Part of the coordinates leaked."

"The countermeasure chip can only deflect subsequent tracking; the Hunter King has already locked onto the general area."

Jiang Jiuyou looked at Chen Chen.

"Thirty-six hours. The city dismantling plan must be compressed."

Mio's voice also dropped. "This isn't ordinary tracking. The Star-Splitting Hunting Group has already caught the scent."

Chen Chen looked at the liaison who had burned to ash on the ground. A moment later, he activated the city-wide broadcast.

His voice spread throughout every mine tunnel, every warehouse, and every section of the city wall in Meteor Crystal City.

"All work zones, listen up. Cut the dismantling time in half. Within twelve hours, nothing but a crater should be left of Meteor Crystal City."

...

[18 hours] The glaring red countdown hung heavily over Meteor Crystal City.

Shen Wanbing decisively threw the recalculated data onto the holographic table: "Eighteen hours."

[Star-Splitting Hunting Group vanguard entering strike range: 17:59:42]

In the hall, the former administrator who had just been captured stood with his legs trembling, his face as white as if it had been painted.

Jiang Jiuyou raised an eyebrow, her cold beauty intimidating: "Didn't you say thirty-six hours before?"

Shen Wanbing's hands danced across the holographic screen, creating afterimages, instantly pulling out three frantically flashing gray-white signal lines.

"Thirty-six hours, that's the speed of the Hunter King's main body."

"Their vanguard reconnaissance team is using a speed boost."

"Although part of the gray-white beacon was cut off, our coordinate 'underwear' has already been seen through. If we drag this out, before the Star-Splitting Hunting Group even arrives, their long-range artillery will be able to punch a hole through the roof of our home."

Mio's translucent projection spun around in mid-air anxiously, her mechanical eyes flashing frantically.

"The Tier 6 Hunter King's vanguard might not be Tier 6, but that targeting cannon of theirs is top-tier dirty play!"

"As long as the signal tower keeps reporting and correcting our location, they can blast us to dust from hundreds of kilometers away!"

Yi Chang didn't hesitate to compress the dismantling list to the extreme.

With a cold swipe of her finger, large residential areas were crossed out directly.

"Low-value buildings, throw them all away as trash."

"Residential houses, the old market, the abandoned arena—don't take a single one."

"Only keep the Five Great Pillars: the Star Core Crystal sand vein core, the Crystal Rail Cannon, the Energy Tower, the technical craftsmen, and the resource warehouse."

When the proprietress heard the old market wasn't being dismantled, the fox ears on top of her head instantly stood high up.

"Wait a second! There's a lot of good stuff and private stashes in the old market, you're just going to throw it away like that?"

Yi Chang didn't even spare her an extra glance, speaking coldly: "You only have two hours."

The proprietress snapped her golden abacus shut, lifted her skirt, and turned to rush out.

"Think big! In two hours, I can scrape the ground bare three layers deep for them!"

Pig-Faced Butcher was passing by carrying half of a huge Crystal-Armored Earth Dragon leg. Hearing this, he added in a muffled voice.

"What about the meat warehouse?"

Yi Chang finally deigned to look up: "The meat warehouse counts as strategic food; it must be taken."

Su Xiaoqi immediately poked a fluffy head out from the door frame, her twin tails swinging wildly.

"Strategic food? That means we can take the whole pot!"

Mio despairingly covered her projected face: "You bunch of foodies, your criteria for judging strategic resources are truly absurd!"

Chen Chen walked to the holographic table, his finger sinking down, tapping heavily on the southeast direction.

Seventy kilometers away, at the location of the Star-Breaking Canyon, a glaring gray-white skull mark lit up.

"This is the nearest signal tower."

Shen Wanbing understood immediately and zoomed in on the map.

"Star-Breaking Canyon. A regional relay node for the Gray-White Mechanical Holy Court. It's like a giant megaphone right now, broadcasting our fragment fluctuations outward every sixty seconds."

Jiang Jiuyou narrowed her eyes, decisive and ruthless: "The Sea Scale's long-range main cannon can reach that far. Just take it out with one shot; it's simple, brutal, and saves time."

Shen Wanbing shook her head. "No."

"There is a fragment fluctuation capture core beneath this signal tower."

"That thing is very delicate. Once it takes a high-energy cannon blast, it will physically self-destruct on the spot."

"And we need that thing."

Jiang Jiuyou turned to look at Chen Chen, straightforward and crisp: "Forced entry?"

Chen Chen nodded: "I'll lead the team."