105: Chapter 103 The Cicada Sheds Its Shell

Chapter 103: Shedding the Shell

"Organized and planned. These guys are playing a really big game."

After seizing the extraordinary potion and enhancement potion, Wang Ting did not leave the black market immediately.

He hid among the uneven shacks of the black market. Built closely together, they blocked out the sunlight, casting shadows that served as his cover.

Right now, within his Vibration Perception, the soldiers of Huangyan Town had completely abandoned their operation to suppress the black market.

They were concentrating towards the outermost wall and the dividing wall that separated the hinterland of Huangyan Town.

The entire force numbered roughly four to five hundred men, all pressing toward both sides.

Among them, no fewer than ten moved with steady, powerful footsteps, likely having broken their limits at least twice. This showcased the strength of Huangyan Town, which far surpassed that of an ordinary Shelter.

However, within Wang Ting's perception, apart from the soldiers of Huangyan Town, the dense footsteps in the black market belonged to several distinct groups.

One group consisted of local snake factions like the Withered Leaf Chamber of Commerce and the Blade Head Gang. They had rallied their men and retreated to their strongholds, tightly guarding their supplies and storefronts.

Another group moved with the most hurried footsteps, weaving through the streets and alleys—clearly troublemakers taking advantage of the chaos to loot. A familiar feel allowed Wang Ting to lock onto them immediately: the culprits behind the black market riot.

Though the sources of vibration were complex and chaotic, Wang Ting had now straightened out the situation in the black market.

Holding his looted items in one hand, he used both hands and feet to climb onto the second level of a shack, a thoughtful expression on his face.

What is their goal?

They didn't snatch the extraordinary potions, and judging by the vibrations, they didn't bring many people—it didn't look like an all-out assault to take the city.

In that case, the purpose of this group was worth pondering.

Logically speaking, with the black market in such chaos, there were plenty of things Wang Ting could do.

Fishing in troubled waters, looting in the chaos, helping himself to easy pickings—

Given his strength, neither the Withered Leaf Chamber of Commerce nor the Blade Head Gang could escape getting carved up and thoroughly plundered by Wang Ting. Yet, he chose not to continue plundering.

The thought of looting merely flashed through Wang Ting's mind before he quickly dismissed it.

No matter how wealthy these factions were, they couldn't possibly keep rare items like extraordinary potions on hand all the time. If he went to rob them, he would at most get some extraordinary materials.

While extraordinary materials were valuable, holding onto a large stockpile might not be easy to liquidate.

Rather than stealing those things, it was better to see what was causing the disturbance in the black market.

Wang Ting moved rapidly through the alleys. The boosts provided by his night demon armor and Night Demon Body made him move like a pitch-black panther.

The shadows were his best cover. Even during the day, in places with meager shadows, he could still conceal his form remarkably well.

His footsteps were light and his movements nimble. As he landed in the corners of the alleys, even those looting all around failed to notice his presence.

"Hurry up, everyone! Huang Yanwu and Deputy Commander Yan Qihu have already ordered the walls to be guarded. We only have one shot at breaking through the checkpoint. We must charge out under their gunfire."

Three large vehicles were driven out by Liao Shan and his men—two trucks welded with heavy steel plates and an off-road vehicle. Everyone from Heishui Town quickly boarded, their expressions grim. They all knew the real hard battle was about to begin.

Liao Shan had a somber look on his face. Even though he had repelled Huang Yanwu, he still didn't dare relax.

The real breach point was the high surrounding wall outside the black market. That was the entry and exit point for Huangyan Valley, and the only one at that.

They had to breach that gap to lead the entire team back.

Scanning his team, Liao Shan immediately ordered, "Liao Yong, you and Miss Huo take the off-road vehicle. I'll use the two trucks to shield you in the middle."

Researcher Huoling was the top priority, so he naturally wouldn't let her take the risk of riding in a truck. The two trucks were meant to breach the gate and draw firepower; the off-road vehicle was the key.

But he also didn't dare leave Researcher Huoling alone in the off-road vehicle. This woman was meticulous and scheming; no ordinary person could keep an eye on her. Since she could trick Huang Yanwu and his people, she could easily trick Heishui Town too, so someone had to watch her.

"Don't worry, Big Brother."

Researcher Huoling said nothing. She opened the door and pulled herself into the back seat of the off-road vehicle.

Liao Yong followed right behind, getting into the back seat as well and taking the spot beside her.

Everyone from Heishui Town moved extremely fast, each boarding their designated vehicles.

Following the sound of the vibrations, Wang Ting arrived at a corner nearby. Crouched beneath the eaves, his eyes narrowed slightly in surprise. So it was for her.

The three vehicles charged through Slums, heading straight for the city gate.

Slums had fallen into a sea of flames due to a fire set by the Wild Dog Gang and Black Gun Gang hiding in the black market. Wails and fleeing refugees filled the area.

Liao Shan and his convoy did not slow down in the slightest, plowing right through the flying sparks and fleeing crowd.

They drove extremely fast, reaching sixty to seventy kilometers per hour even in this cluttered zone. At such a speed, even a slight mistake could result in a fatal crash.

Seeing Researcher Huoling together with the people from Heishui Town, Wang Ting instantly understood their true purpose in kidnapping her.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

extraordinary potions were certainly valuable, but a person capable of formulating extraordinary potions was worth far more than any single potion.

"It seems Researcher Huoling and Huangyan Town were merely allies of convenience. When she came looking for me that day, it might not have been for extraordinary potions, but more likely to scope out the place."

Wang Ting had now connected many key clues.

When Deputy Commander Liu Song brought Researcher Huoling to ask him about the Parasitic Fungus Vine monsters back then, she had seemed faintly distracted. Now, the reason for her ulterior motive was clear.

Wang Ting followed the convoy, which had already rushed to the edge of the surrounding wall.

Atop the wall, Deputy Commander Yan Qihu stared down at the large number of vehicles storming toward them below—especially the three violently charging trucks—his gaze fixed intently, as if he wanted to carve into the people of Heishui Town with knives and swallow them alive.

"Stop them!"

A hail of bullets poured down onto the trucks, tearing through the air and slamming into the vehicles charging at the main gate.

Sparks flew everywhere. Many vehicles couldn't withstand this barrage of gunfire—either the bullets penetrated their bodies, or the driving survivors were already dead.

Deputy Commander Yan Qihu's pouring firepower failed only to stop the armored trucks, which were like tin cans. To raid the black market, the trucks had naturally been modified, welded with massive, thick steel plates to block such attacks.

Seeing that the attack was ineffective, Deputy Commander Yan Qihu immediately ordered his men to bring out heavy weaponry. Heavy machine guns and rocket launchers were set up on the wall.

Right at that moment, two battered trucks suddenly burst forth. Moving at extreme speed, they rushed beneath the city wall in an instant.

Boom!

Both trucks exploded into massive fireballs. The deafening, thunderous roar instantly blasted a huge breach in the city wall.

Deputy Commander Yan Qihu and his men quickly took cover, avoiding collapsing along with the wall, but this explosion had forcefully created an exit gap.

The ones lying in ambush here were members of the Wild Dog Gang and Black Gun Gang.

From the moment they entered the black market, they had prepared for only one thing: setting fires to cause chaos in the market, and standing ready at all times to breach this gate.

Explosives had been quietly placed under the gate, and the two trucks served as the fuse. They charged straight out without the slightest hesitation, detonating the gunpowder inside the trucks along with that around the wall.

All the defending soldiers had been distracted by Liao Shan's heavily armored trucks, failing to notice that what appeared to be fleeing trucks were actually packed with explosives.

"Let's go!"

Delighted, Liao Shan led the convoy directly through the gap. Disheveled from the blast and blood-streaked across his face, Deputy Commander Yan Qihu slammed his fist onto the wall in rage as he watched the vehicles drive away.

"Drive out and chase them!"

His voice dripped with rage. But contrasted with his fury, his men had just been hit by the blast; they were now injured, panicked, and in total disarray.

Reorganizing the soldiers for an immediate pursuit would be no easy task for Deputy Commander Yan Qihu.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Wang Ting summoned his Bat Wings. Spreading his wings, he shot into the sky amidst the chaos.

Under the cover of light and shadow from the flames, Wang Ting soared a hundred meters into the air, completely unnoticed by anyone. He flew straight over, shadowing Liao Shan's convoy from a distance as he watched the direction they fled.

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After rushing out of the black market, Liao Shan was like a dragon entering the sea; he instantly let down his guard and drove all the way in the direction of Heishui Town.

The three trucks drove almost at their absolute limit, billowing dust and smoke shrouding the earth.

"Haha, it's finally done! I refuse to believe that the people from Huangyan Town can still chase us down."

Inside the off-road vehicle, Liao Yong laughed heartily. To plan this matter, the two brothers had prepared for several months.

"I advise you not to celebrate too early. Huang Yanwu, Deputy Commander Yan Qihu and the others already know that Heishui Town did this. Even though we've left, sooner or later they will come looking for us."

Researcher Huoling was extremely calm. Even after walking through the gates of life and death, the fire in the black market and the roar of guns completely failed to break her composure.

"So what?"

Liao Yong and his elder brother Liao Shan obviously had a contingency plan for the upcoming shootout with Huangyan Town.

"Since Miss Huo has chosen to join Heishui Town, I won't hide it from you either. Although our Heishui Town is a bit smaller compared to Huangyan Town, we still have four to five hundred brothers under our command, and the town has a population scale of three thousand people, all of whom are our reserve force. Even if Huang Yanwu comes to besiege us with mortars, we can still hold out. He cannot take Heishui Town."

A sneak attack and a city siege were two different things. Although Huang Yanwu was formidable, if he led a team to siege a city, that kind of terrifying loss was not something he could afford to bear.

Researcher Huoling was noncommittal, her gaze sweeping around inside the off-road vehicle.

"Since you have the confidence to hold off Huangyan Town, that's good."

Liao Yong thought Researcher Huoling was praising their Heishui Town, and a smile appeared in his triangular eyes.

"I know that Miss Huo has a very bad relationship with certain people in Jumu City. On the surface, Huang Yanwu helps Miss Huo, but in reality, he is plotting against her in secret."

"We are different from Huangyan Town; there is no shadow of Jumu City behind us. As long as Miss Huo helps us research the advanced potion for the Drowned, the two of us brothers promise to let Miss Huo become the deputy leader of Heishui Town, second only to my eldest brother and me."

Heishui Town had planned for so long precisely to research a Tier 2 potion.

Whether it was Liao Shan or Liao Yong, they were both Extraordinarys of the Tier 1 Drowned pathway. To become stronger, they had to have a Tier 2 potion. Otherwise, their future paths would be blocked off.

To safely complete the metamorphosis, there was only one path: a Tier 2 potion. Otherwise, they could only take the risk of fusing with an Extraordinary Core.

"Careful, the people from Huangyan Town are catching up!"

At this moment, Researcher Huoling suddenly looked out the window.

Liao Yong was startled and abruptly turned his head to look. Suddenly, a tremendous force came from behind him, and he was kicked straight out of the car door with a single kick.

The terrifying strength was not inferior to his at all, and this kick almost broke his bones.

Liao Yong had no time to react as his entire body rolled outside the car.

The truck behind saw a human-shaped object rolling down from the car and slammed on the brakes. The entire front of the truck made a huge sway, nearly resulting in a rollover.

However, when the soldier driving the convoy saw that the situation was wrong, he immediately pulled out his pistol, intending to aim at Researcher Huoling and control her.

But Researcher Huoling was a step faster than Liao Yong; she unexpectedly grabbed the driver's hand and gave a fierce yank, dragging him directly into the back seat.

Researcher Huoling delivered an elbow strike upward. The man wanted to block it, but didn't expect Researcher Huoling's elbow strike to have immense strength. With just a collision and a cracking sound, his arms were directly broken.

Researcher Huoling didn't give him any chance at all, simultaneously throwing a punch straight at his face. With a single punch down, the man saw scenes flashing like a lantern, and he passed out completely.

The off-road vehicle lost control, continuously spinning around and nearly crashing into a sand slope on the side.

Researcher Huoling looked very much like a flexible she-wolf; she violently sprang to the front of the car and seized control of the steering wheel.

As soon as the car steadied, she slammed on the gas pedal, and the roar of the engine immediately sounded. The entire off-road vehicle flew directly across the sand slope and then bolted towards the distance.

Liao Shan, who was driving in front, finally noticed that the two cars behind were wrong at this moment, and he abruptly stopped his car.

Liao Yong, who had rolled out of the car, had a broken arm by now. He rushed up in large strides, grabbed the truck, and vaulted into it.

"Liao Yong, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Eldest brother, we fell for a trap! That woman is not weak in strength; she is an Extraordinary!"

Liao Shan's expression suddenly changed. No one expected that Researcher Huoling was also an Extraordinary.

"Chase after her and catch her!"

Liao Shan immediately gave the order. His subordinates immediately started two trucks, turned the front of the cars around, and chased in the direction where Researcher Huoling had fled.

Under the pressure of the two brothers Liao Shan and Liao Yong's livid faces, the subordinate driving practically welded the gas pedal to the bottom of his foot.

They rushed out violently, the car jolting like a lonely leaf boat on raging waves.

But even so, after chasing for only ten minutes, they had long been left far behind by Researcher Huoling. At a single glance, they couldn't even see the tail lights of Researcher Huoling's car.

After all, the speed of the trucks was much slower compared to an off-road vehicle. Especially on such rugged wasteland roads, the performance of the trucks was not meant for traveling, but for dragging a large amount of cargo.

With the off-road vehicle's acceleration pushed to the absolute limit, Researcher Huoling specifically drove towards places with rugged roads and filled with massive amounts of stones.

"Damn woman."

After about ten-odd minutes, they had already lost sight of the off-road vehicle. Even though there were still traces of the off-road vehicle remaining on the ground, they could no longer continue the pursuit.

But Liao Shan knew better than anyone that on a wasteland like this, tire track marks were like bait left behind by a devil. They might be able to chase along the tire track marks, but in just one hour or two hours, the wind and sand would submerge these newly pressed tire tracks.

What they were taking was not the common main road, but an unfamiliar road deep into the wasteland. If all traces were submerged by the wind and sand, they were extremely likely to get lost in this wasteland.

Even though his heart was filled with extreme hatred, Liao Shan still had to consider the consequences of this matter at this moment.

"Damn it, if I had known earlier, I should have tied that woman up."

Liao Yong was so angry that he kept slapping his own thighs. However, he suddenly touched his pocket, seemingly brushing against a ball of something.

He pulled it out to take a look, and it turned out to be a rolled-up paper ball.

The clear handwriting immediately made Liao Yong's pupils contract: "Eldest brother, that woman left something behind."

Upon hearing this, Liao Shan immediately snatched the paper ball. He looked closely, and his expression instantly turned uncertain.

"Leader Liao, there is no need to pursue. Taking a modified Drowned potion formula as payment, thank you for the grace of relieving my predicament. I also ask Leader Liao to restrain your subordinates and absolutely avoid pursuit, otherwise it will be hard to avoid losing control of my hands and feet."

The content written on the note was a recipe-modified Tier 1 Drowned potion, requiring fewer materials, having more stable efficacy, and being safer.

But this was not what Liao Shan wanted; what he wanted was a Tier 2 potion. As for the Tier 2 potion, Researcher Huoling had only given some clues.

"Cunning woman, don't fall into my hands."

Liao Shan of course knew what Researcher Huoling left this method for—nothing more than trying to dispel his thought of chasing after her.

Admittedly, she indeed had the confidence to leave the two Liao brothers far behind in the wasteland, but if Liao Shan completely lost his head and pursued recklessly, Researcher Huoling might not necessarily be able to get away easily.

Obtaining some benefits right now, and then stopping while ahead, seemed to have become Liao Shan's only choice.

"Let's go!"

Researcher Huoling practically floored the gas pedal to the death, not caring whether this off-road vehicle would fall apart. Relying on the physique of a manipulator and her powerful reaction speed, she had no intention of slowing down at all.

The car sped wildly all the way, stirring up countless dust and smoke. She looked back from the rearview mirror; those two trucks had already been left far behind, and before long, their figures could no longer be seen at all.

She abruptly made a sharp turn into the area with the most gravel, and driving like this for another seven or eight minutes, the car made three big turns before slowly stopping.

After the emergency brake, before her eyes was an entire wilderness. Researcher Huoling only then opened the car door, and seeing no pursuers, she let out a long sigh of relief.

——

"This time there shouldn't be anyone chasing after us."

" "

Just as Researcher Huoling's voice fell, she suddenly felt a pain in her neck, and then everything went black before her eyes as she passed out completely.

Faintly, she only sensed that an extra figure had appeared behind her, and that dark figure spoke: "You sure can run, fortunately I can fly."