Disaster Strikes - Chapter 24:

Chapter 24: Choosing sides

Boom.

Just as everyone was at a standstill, there was a sudden loud explosion in the forest.

You should know that in such dense tropical jungles, even the roar of a wild beast can only be heard as a vague echo over from a hundred meters away. The explosion was so clear, indicating that the source was not far from here.

And the only thing that could cause such a large explosion was the Hive organization engaging in combat with the fleeing investigators.

“Let’s go!”

After exchanging glances, everyone instinctively chose to rush towards the direction of the explosion.

This was undoubtedly the best opportunity for them to embark on this mission!

Leading the way, Gao Shu continuously waved the long sword in his hand, cutting through the vines blocking their path.

After running for a while, they thought they might not catch up with the battle due to the obstacles on the way, however a small path suddenly appeared ahead, with tracks of tires having passed over it, obviously a secret path developed by the Hive organization on this small island.

“There.”

Walking along this path, with no vegetation blocking their way, the sound of the fighting in the distance became clearer, interspersed with roars like those of wild beasts.

The group hurried forward.

Until they were only a few dozen meters away from the combat zone, they could vaguely see figures gathering. Three off-road vehicles were parked in the middle of the road.

As they squatted in a concealed corner, they could see that a small area of jungle vegetation had been flattened due to the fighting between the two sides.

As for the members of the two sides in the fight, on the side of the Hive organisation, in addition to more than twenty black-clad lackeys and three tall and burly elites, there was actually a man wearing a vest, sunglasses and covered in tattoos. His combat power was truly astonishing. With each punch and kick, he could release a shockwave-like combat skill, blasting holes the size of bowls in the big trees.

“This should be the number two leader that the thug just mentioned” Tian Tian whispered.

Previously, through the information obtained from the black-clad lackey, it was already known that in order to protect doctor white, the higher-ups of the Hive organization had sent two small leaders, one of whom was Black Tiger Dragon.

As a small leader, his strength was beyond a doubt definitely superior to the elite black-clad thugs.

From the current situation, his base attributes not only exceeded 25 points, but his basic skills probably also reached level 10. He has also mastered multiple combat skills and has special modifications of the Hive organization, making him extremely dangerous.

In addition, among the black-clad thugs besieging these martial artist investigators, there were also two green-skinned immensely powerful monsters wearing mysterious metal devices on their heads. In terms of strength and physique, they seemed slightly inferior to the three elite black-clad thugs but far surpassed ordinary ones.

“Bio-humans.”

Combining the information obtained earlier, Chen Mo murmured when he saw these two monsters.

From the intelligence obtained, these were bio-combat soldiers developed by another scientist on the island named Doctor Terror.

As for the investigators’ side, after careful observation Chen Mo confirmed that there were only four of them, all male martial artists. Two of them were seriously injured and unable to exert their full strength, only able to deal with the surrounding black-clad lackeys.

The remaining two seemed stronger than the elite black-clad lackeys, possessing strength close to that of small leaders. However, under the siege of so many members of the Hive organization they were also overwhelmed and it seems defeat was only a matter of time.

Seeing this scene, Gao Shu sneered.

“Are you sure you want to join the investigator’s camp?”

Immediately, he no longer concealed himself and leapt out from the bushes.

“I am a martial artist oppressed by the ancient Xuan Kingdom. I have tracked the international investigators here, my companions and I want to join the Hive organization. I also have important information you need!”

To show his sincerity, he even launched an attack on the four martial artists who were being besieged.

The black-clad lackeys initially harboured hostility towards this sudden stranger. However, upon seeing Gao Shu attacking these troublesome martial artists and hearing the yell of Black Tiger Dragon, the lackeys avoided Gao Shu allowing him to engage in a one-on-one fight with an injured martial artist.

Lu Yi, Lu Ye, and Tian Tian seeing this also revealed themselves and along with Gao Shu launched attacks on the four martial artists.

With the addition of these four adult starving ghosts, the martial artists were naturally completely suppressed, facing imminent danger.

“What should we do?” Tao Zi asked anxiously.

Chen Mo remained silent. He was waiting, looking at Lei Wu beside him.

If Lei Wu chose to join the Hive camp, he would certainly not choose a dead end for himself.

“Hmph, are you sure you won’t follow them and join the Hive camp?” Lei Wu also seemed somewhat worried that the others might turn against them and join the Hive organization. He hesitated, as high returns inevitably come with high risks. Although he was greedy and impulsive, he was not foolish enough to seek his own death.

Seeing that Chen Mo and the others did not respond and all looked at him, Lei Wu also understood their intentions. Especially considering the grudges between these two abyssal starving ghosts and the adult starving ghosts, he knew that it was almost impossible for them to come together.

Immediately, he appeared on the scene and launched an attack on one of the elite black-clad lackeys who was close to him.

“Jack sent us to support you!”

Boom!

An elemental energy ball exploded on the elite black-clad lackey, not only blasting a large hole in his suit but also causing him to bleed.

When Lei Wu mentioned Jack’s name, the four martial artists were overjoyed.

Their originally tense expressions also relaxed a bit.

They did not expect this extraordinary from the Western Continent to not kick them while they were down. This was indeed a big surprise to them. After all, according to past practices, not tripping up the other party was already considered good cooperation. As for sabotaging each other, that was to be expected.

If it weren’t for the Hive organization as a common enemy, the conflict between the two continents might have evolved into a full-scale war long ago.

Seeing that Lei Wu had already decided to join the investigator’s camp, Chen Mo and the others no longer hesitated. They appeared one after another and launched attacks on the nearest black-clad lackeys, indicating their camp’s position.

“You!!”

Seeing this, Gao Shu gritted his teeth and said fiercely, “Fine! Since you are seeking your own death, don’t blame us for being ruthless!”

He had just made up his mind.

As long as there was a suitable opportunity, he would kill the five led by Lei Wu. From this moment on both sides stood completely on opposite sides.

But now the most important thing was to kill the martial artists and obtain the mission points reward.

“Kang Peng!”

With the absolute advantage of the Hive organization and the addition of Gao Shu and the other three, they finally killed the injured martial artist under full assault. This also served as proof of their camp’s position.

From the heart-rending screams of the other three martial artists, it was clear that this martial artist, who was skilled in using both legs and could emit shockwaves similar to crescent moon slashes, was named Kang Peng.

“Damn, why is the points reward so low?” Lu Yi was somewhat annoyed, seemingly dissatisfied with the amount of points reward.

Tian Tian replied, “He was already heavily injured and we also lost the right to the initial attack and main damage output distribution. Plus, it was the effort of several of us together to kill him. It’s already good to have these points rewards. The most important thing is the item rewards!”

“A skill scroll!”

Gao Shu, Lu Yi, and Tian Tian exclaimed simultaneously.

After Kang Peng’s death, a precious skill scroll was unexpectedly dropped.

During this period,

Lei Wu, Chen Mo, Han Xue, Ku Wu and Tao Zi each killed a black-clad lackey, indicating their camp’s position. Lei Wu even cooperated with the martial artist who used fists to kill an elite black-clad lackey, gaining a piece of white quality equipment and a mysterious stone which he casually picked up.

“This is for you!”

Lei Wu took out a bottle of potion, which was the standard small green bottle, it instantly restores 100 health points and has a market price of 30 points.

However, Lei Wu did not give this potion to Chen Mo and the others. Instead, he gave it to the martial artist who was most severely injured.

From the fighting postures of these three martial artists, it was clear that the swordsman and the martial artist who used fists in front of Lei Wu, as well as Kang Peng who had already died, were all in a protective stance, surrounding this person. Lei Wu took out the small green bottle, obviously wanting this martial artist to unleash his full strength.

The reason Kang Peng was heavily injured and died was also because Black Tiger Dragon had planned to sneak attack this person, but Kang Peng forcibly intercepted him.

“Ingestible potion!”

After taking the potion Lei Wu threw to him, the man was slightly surprised, then sighed, “Unfortunately, my injuries have penetrated to the bone marrow and cannot be treated with ingestible potions. It’s better not to waste it on me.”

After saying this, he looked desolate and returned the potion to Lei Wu.

This was obviously something Lei Wu had not expected.

“Master Xuanzong, don’t give up!”

After the martial artist skilled in fist techniques in front of Lei Wu spoke words of encouragement, facing the bio-human rushing towards him, he suddenly lifted himslef with energy surging through his body. He exerted force under his feet and let out a thunderous roar.

“Rising Dragon Fist!”

Following this, to everyone’s astonishment, this man, who was only 1.6 meters tall but had unusually developed arms, suddenly leaped up. His right fist carried a pale golden aura and sent the 300-pound green-skinned bio-human flying into the air four to five meters high with a punch.

The power of this punch was quite astonishing!

The bio-human, resembling a small giant like a grizzly bear, looked as if its jaw was about to be shattered. Explosive effects continued to appear in the air, emitting a terrifying aura, which was truly shocking. Even the ground was left with a large crater from the impact.

Lei Wu’s eyes lit up at this sight.

He naturally wouldn’t let go of such an opportunity.

At this moment, the bio-human was in a state of daze and its basic jumping ability was obviously not high or rather it was non-existent, in a state similar to being stunned and unable to dodge.

An energy ball instantly gathered on the tip of his wand, flashing by and hitting the stunned bio-human, exploding with crackling thunder.

This was Lei Wu’s basic elemental attack similar to Chen Mo’s attack using psychic controlled weapons.

Lei Wu’s normal attacks were significantly stronger compared to other starving ghosts. First, his mental power had increased by 1 point after three months of effort, reaching 19 points.

Secondly, his basic elemental proficiency had reached an astonishing level of Lv11 when he first enrolled. Now, after more than three months of training, his basic elemental proficiency level had reached an astonishing Lv13.

Lastly, there was the wand in his hand. It was a blue-quality wand that required a mental power of 18 points or above and a basic elemental level of Lv10 or above to use. As a blue-quality weapon, this wand had a terrifying basic damage bonus of 38 points!

But that’s not all. Lei Wu had further enchanted this wand three times at a cost of 30 points each time, enhancing it to Lv3. Since there would be a probability of failure and a significant increase in points required for further enhancements to Lv4, he chose not to continue. However, even so each level of enchantment on a blue-quality weapon would provide an additional 3 points of damage. With Lei Wu’s three levels of enhancement, that was 9 additional points of damage.

As a result, Lei Wu’s normal attack damage was 19+13+38+9=79, a terrifying 79 points! With such terrifying attack power, if the target were Chen Mo and he couldn’t completely avoid it, even with his outstanding defense, he would likely be killed in just three attacks.

After launching a normal attack on the suspended bio-human, Lei Wu instantly mobilized the energy in his body and, between two normal attacks, unleashed a combat skill.

With a large and a small, one blue and one purple, two lightning balls forming instantly in front of him and quickly merging into one, flashing and fluctuating in size Lei Wu shot the lightning ball, which hit the bio-human falling from a height of five meters to the ground accurately.

This was the C-grade skill Lei Wu mastered, Double Thunder Burst Lv1, and currently, the highest-rated combat skill he possessed.

With a bang, the bio-human let out a painful scream, but its vitality was surprisingly strong. Despite enduring the martial artist’s Rising Dragon Fist and Lei Wu’s continuous attacks, it did not die.

Before this, he had already been injured, and his health was not at full value. At this moment, the appearance of this bio-human had also changed drastically.

Just before enduring Lei Wu’s Double Thunder Burst skill while suspended, he had activated a skill. His skin visibly developed a layer of keratin at a rapid rate. This was the result of the Terror Doctor implanting a pangolin-like form into the bio-human through biochemical technology, granting it the skill: Keratin Armor Lv4. During the duration of this skill, the bio-human could gain a significant defense and health bonus, with the downside of a -30% speed effect.

With a bang, the bio-human heavily fell to the ground. The keratin layer on its chest was blasted into a charred area by the Double Thunder Burst with energy even penetrating deep into its body emitting sparks of electricity. The pain instinctively made it want to flee. However, as the mysterious metal device on top of its head started to operate, it let out a beast-like roar and completely ignored its injuries, charging madly towards Lei Wu.

However, just at this moment, the bio-human’s body unexpectedly burst with another thunderous light. This was Lei Wu’s Thunder Paralysis talent coming into effect.

Thunder Paralysis: After using a thunder element skill, there is a 25% chance to temporarily paralyze the enemy. With the Double Thunder Burst skill, there were two chances for the Thunder Paralysis effect to trigger, making it a 50% chance. Therefore, it was not surprising that the bio-human was paralyzed.

However, this paralysis was only momentary. It would last for a duration based on the ratio of Lei Wu’s mental power to the target’s overall attributes, ranging from a brief moment to a maximum of 1 second. This skill not only briefly paralyzes the enemy to expose vulnerabilities but also has the ability to interrupt some charging skills, surpassing Chen Mo’s Stone Skin talent.

During the bio-human’s brief paralysis, the martial artist proficient in boxing in front of Lei Wu landed another punch on him, knocking him back. Following this, Lei Wu’s basic elemental attack accurately hit the charred area on the bio-human’s chest, resulting in a burst of explosion.

Due to the fact that this area was already the bio-human’s wound, after being delayed by the Thunder Paralysis and the martial artist in front of him, Lei Wu’s attack hit accurately once again, causing a weak point damage effect. After a mournful cry, the bio-human finally fell to the ground under the perfect coordination of this martial artist and Lei Wu.

(End of chapter 24)