72: Silent Villa

"Its aggro target is you! Keep moving, I'll clip its wings!"

Lin Mo's calm voice clearly reached Gu Zhixia's ears through the comms channel.

Gu Zhixia didn't respond, but her actions spoke for themselves.

She piloted her mech, its wing-shaped flight module on its back spewing outZhan blue flames, carving out incredibly bizarre and elusive maneuvers in the air, like a nimble hummingbird, continuously circling the enraged dragon, dodging its dragon breath that could incinerate all things.

And in the intervals of each dodge, the Six-Harmony Long Spear in her hand would transform into a deadly cold glint, precisely piercing the same scale gap on the dragon's back.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, that dragon scale, harder than steel, finally shattered!

An opportunity!

"Thump!"

Lin Mo's mech's legs bent slightly, then suddenly exerted force, and the entire three-meter-tall steel creation shot up into the sky like a cannonball.

The dragon's attention was completely drawn to the annoying little bug behind it, and it didn't notice the deadly sneak attack from below at all.

"Now!"

Lin Mo's electronic synthetic voice boomed in the comms channel.

Gu Zhixia in the sky suddenly plunged her long spear into the wound she had just opened, then her leg thrusters erupted violently, and the entire mech used the force to shoot up into the sky!

"Roar—!"

The intense pain made the dragon let out a pained roar, and it subconsciously wanted to flap its wings to shake off the attack from behind.

But it was already too late.

Lin Mo's mech had already reached the base of its wing.

He steadily propped up his heavy rifle, its muzzle pointing directly at the gruesome wound Gu Zhixia had just torn open. The mech's power core instantly overloaded, channeling all energy into the ammunition feeding system and the barrel!

"Da da da da da—!"

There was no faint sound of a fatal blow, but instead, a violent roar like a metal storm!

The muzzle spat out deadly fire, and countless specially reinforced armor-piercing rounds, like a steel torrent, accurately and cruelly poured into the bloody wound at the base of the dragon's left wing!

Flesh and blood flew, scales were forcibly ripped off, tough tendons were torn one by one in the hail of bullets, and even the thick bones let out an unbearable "creak" as they cracked into countless fissures!

"Crack—!"

Accompanied by a crisp, loud snap of bones, a huge gash was forcefully torn open at the connection between the dragon's left wing and its body by this unreasonable firepower! Dark red dragon blood gushed out like a waterfall.

The unbalanced dragon let out a desperate wail, its massive body, like a kite with a broken string, crashed heavily towards the ground!

"Boom—!!!"

"Boom—!!!"

The earth trembled violently, as if a small-scale earthquake had occurred.

Dust flew everywhere.

Lin Mo's mech landed steadily. He glanced at the corner of his view.

Countdown: 01:03

"Let's finish this quickly."

His and Gu Zhixia's mechs, one on the left and one on the right, took heavy steps, walking towards the massive creature struggling to get up in the dust.

Having lost its ability to fly, this overlord of the sky was now nothing more than fish on a chopping block.

The two mechs, with two deadly weapons, mercilessly launched their final attacks on the dragon's head and heart.

When the countdown had only ten seconds left, the dragon's huge head finally drooped powerlessly, and the light in its golden vertical pupils completely dimmed.

The massive corpse transformed into golden specks of light dancing in the sky, slowly dissipating.

In its place, only three trophies, emitting different lights, quietly floated in mid-air.

Congratulations! Successfully killed LV20 Lord 'Blazing Dragon'!

Obtained: 'dragon heart' (Orange) × 1, 'orange crystal core' × 1, 'Dragon Biometric Mechanical Blueprint' (Gold) × 1

Mission complete, teleporting away soon...

A flash of light.

The scene before everyone's eyes returned to the scorched, barren glazed island.

"Plop!"

Chen Ping and the remaining two team members' legs went soft, and they all knelt to the ground. They weren't giving thanks, but rather were exhausted from surviving a catastrophe, and the grief of watching their companions turn to ashes made them unable to support their bodies any longer.

Lin Mo and Gu Zhixia disengaged their mech links and stepped out of the cockpits, while the two 'titans' automatically entered standby mode, standing silently behind them like two loyal guardians.

Lin Mo glanced at his personal terminal and pulled up the mech's damage report.

"Mine dropped 210 durability, yours 280, less than 500 combined." He looked at the faint blue light gate still slowly undulating in mid-air, without the slightest relaxation in his eyes, "This little wear and tear isn't even a scratch."

"Let's go in again."

These words made Gu Zhixia, who had just come out of her mech, feeling the sea breeze and calming down from the after-effects of the battle, suddenly turn her head.

"Are you crazy?" Her voice carried a hint of an almost imperceptible tremor, not of fear, but of extreme astonishment, "What was that thing just now? A Lord-level dragon! What if next time we go in, there are two?"

"No, there won't be." Lin Mo shook his head, his tone as firm as if stating a fact.

"These portals, no matter how difficult, won't be too difficult. If there are high-difficulty survival challenges, there must be low-risk resource rewards." He paused, a playful arc curving at the corner of his mouth, "Maybe next time, it'll be a free supermarket filled with cans and mineral water?"

Gu Zhixia fell silent.

She looked at Lin Mo's profile, at his eyes that were always calm and unruffled.

This man, though not talkative, every one of his judgments, every one of his adventures, had brought unimaginable returns far exceeding the risks.

Whether it was upgrading the battleship or this portal, he was always on the right path.

This almost beast-like intuition, combined with courage after precise calculation, made her feel inexplicably at ease.

"I'll listen to you."

In the end, she simply uttered three words.

Lin Mo nodded, then turned his gaze to the other side, to the three survivors still immersed in grief and fear.

"What about you? Still planning to go in?"

Chen Ping suddenly looked up, his face full of tears and terror, shaking his head like a rattle.

"No, no, no... not going! Your Excellency, we're not going!" The two team members beside him were even more frightened, repeatedly kowtowing, "I didn't know it was so dangerous inside, we just want to survive..."

They had been completely scared out of their wits. So-called opportunities were worthless in the face of absolute death threats.

"Is that so."

Lin Mo's tone revealed no emotion.

"The Goblin corpses on the island should still be there. Go pick up the loot, consider it your intelligence fee."

After speaking, he no longer paid attention to these few people, turning and walking towards his mech.

Chen Ping and the other two were stunned.

They looked up, incredulously watching Lin Mo's back.

Goblin loot?

On that island, there were almost hundreds, even thousands, of Goblins killed by that terrifying laser bombardment! Even if only one percent dropped crystal cores or materials, that would be a huge fortune enough to make them live comfortably for the rest of their lives!

And this being, so casually, bestowed this wealth upon them?

"Thank you, Your Excellency! Thank you, Your Excellency!"

Immense ecstasy instantly dispelled the sorrow of losing their companions. Chen Ping, with the two others, desperately kowtowed to Lin Mo and Gu Zhixia's backs, their foreheads thudding against the hard glazed ground.

Lin Mo and Gu Zhixia had already returned to their mechs.

Just as they were about to enter again, the faint blue portal's light suddenly flickered.

The original aqua blue gradually faded, turning into a deep, mysterious purple.

Lin Mo and Gu Zhixia exchanged glances, both seeing a hint of solemnity and anticipation in each other's mech sensors.

"Let's go."

Lin Mo piloted his mech, taking the first step into the purple light curtain.

Gu Zhixia followed closely behind.

The moment they passed through the light gate, the previous oppressive feeling was gone.

Instead, there was a refreshing air, mixed with the fragrance of earth and the fresh scent of plants.

The scene before their eyes suddenly opened up.

This was not a supermarket filled with cans, nor a ruin full of monsters.

This was an incredibly vast farm estate, bathed in warm sunlight.

Neat rows of furrows were filled with various glowing crops, clearly extraordinary at a glance. In the orchard not far away, strange fruits emitting various colored halos hung. A tranquil wooden house was located in the center of the farm, with smoke curling from its chimney.

A scene of peace.

So peaceful it was almost eerie.

Just then, a cold system prompt simultaneously sounded in both their minds.

Welcome to the special scene: 'Silent Manor'

Rule: Please take all materials in the manor within 5 minutes.

Warning: Do not attack the manor owner, otherwise unpredictable consequences will occur.

Countdown: 04:59

Lin Mo and Gu Zhixia were both stunned.

The next second, both of them reacted almost simultaneously.

"Split up!"

Lin Mo's voice carried a hint of uncontrollable excitement.

This... this really was a free supermarket! And a VIP-exclusive organic fresh produce supermarket!