Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Hunt Hour
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~
The missiles trailed long flames like a meteor shower, flying toward the canyon. The sonic booms from their flight sounded like continuous thunder, exploding in the air.
At the instant the missiles arrived over the canyon, time seemed to freeze for a moment, followed by an earth-shattering roar.
In an instant, flames shot up to the sky, and fireballs produced by the explosion illuminated the dark canyon like blazing suns.
Flames, thick smoke, and dust enveloped the canyon, with the sounds of explosions, rocks shattering, and landslides intertwining to form a deafening symphony of destruction.
The Snake-man Grand Elder stood dumbfounded on the cliff, his body ice-cold.
"It’s over, it’s over."
He closed his eyes in despair, filled with remorse.
"How dare the humans!!!"
The Snake-man Priest next to him widened his eyes in shock and anger, "Aren’t they even concerned about their own Spiritualists?"
"Such ruthless humans, even colder than our Snake Race!" Another Snake-man Priest trembled with rage.
The Snake-man Grand Elder clenched his fists, speaking in a low and hoarse voice:
"They are not Spiritualists."
"Not Spiritualists?"
The Snake-man Priests couldn’t believe it, "But they are clearly wearing special forces uniforms, so could it be..."
Suddenly, a terrifying suspicion surfaced in their minds.
Yeah, who said that those wearing special forces uniforms must be Spiritualists?
Is it possible that they are all...
"They are Clones!"
The Grand Elder’s voice held a tremor of anger, "They’re all Clones, bait thrown at us."
Upon realizing the truth, the Snake-man Priests were struck as if by lightning.
With just a group of Clones, humans managed to trap all the elites of the Qinglin Tribe and tens of thousands of warriors from the Snake-man tribe here.
In this process, the humans only sacrificed some worthless Clones and missiles, yet they destroyed the foundation and future of multiple Snake-man tribes.
Pfft~~~
One Snake-man Priest couldn’t accept this truth, his Qi and Blood surged, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood.
"Grand Elder, what should we do now?" The Snake-man Priest’s lips trembled, his thoughts tangled in chaos.
"First... save our kin."
The Snake-man Grand Elder gritted his teeth, realizing that the most rational decision now would be to leave immediately without delay.
But he couldn’t abandon the younger folk of his tribe; some of the children he had watched grow up, some even shared close blood ties with him.
People say the Snake Race is cold-blooded,
but for the Snake-men, they can ignore everything else, except for their bloodline and tribe, which are etched in their very bones, impossible to forsake.
"Alright!"
At this moment, the Snake-man Grand Elder’s words were like an imperial decree, giving direction to the panicked and helpless priests.
The priests quickly sprang into action, trying everything to locate their tribe members.
Unfortunately, under several rounds of missile bombings, the small snakes used as their eyes and ears suffered heavy casualties, and the remaining few fled in terror, hard to enter a shared vision.
Therefore, they could only search certain areas based on previous combat arrangements to find traces of their kin.
Meanwhile
"Bastards, bastards!"
Looking at the scene before them, akin to a natural disaster, the Red Snake Tribe High Priest trembled with rage, his hatred for the Qinglin Tribe Great Elder reaching its peak.
If it hadn’t been for the Qinglin Tribe, how could they have fallen into this trap?
Having lost so many elite warriors, the Red Snake Tribe was ruined, with no chance of recovery in the future.
And all of this was brought upon them by the Qinglin Tribe.
"High Priest, what should we do?" A Snake-man Warrior asked in panic.
"Retreat, retreat immediately!"
The Red Snake High Priest gritted his teeth, decisively making a decision.
"Sssss~~"
The Red Snake High Priest released his Spiritual Power, sending out a call.
Quickly, a gigantic Burrowing Snake burst out of the ground, crawling in front of the High Priest.
"Go!"
The Red Snake High Priest jumped onto the back of the Burrowing Snake, his gaze filled with venom as he stared in one direction.
At this moment, his hatred for the Qinglin Tribe far surpassed that for humans. Upon returning, he was determined to unite all the Snake-man tribes involved this time, to massacre the Qinglin Tribe completely, leaving no one alive!
Several Snake-man tribes responded, some went to rescue their kin, others left immediately.
...
Inside the high-altitude warplane, everyone peered through the windows at the canyon below, ablaze.
"With this round of bombing, those snake bastards are almost wiped out."
Xiao Yunlong, pressed against Qin Tian, chuckled, "You all think, with such a smooth operation this time, should our Earth Dragon Team be the main contributor?"
"If we hadn’t captured Xue Lin and Wang Tiancheng, there wouldn’t be this brilliant strategy to lure them out."
"It was Qin Tian who caught them, don’t try to take credit for yourself." Liu Zhaozhao said speechlessly.
"Indeed it was Qin Tian who caught them!"
Xiao Yunlong replied confidently, "But I also contributed. If I hadn’t suggested resting on the spot, Qin Tian might not have overheard their conversation."
Liu Zhaozhao chuckled, "You’re really shameless."
Xiao Yunlong clasped his hands, "Thanks for the compliment."
Qin Dadi watched the scene before him with a smile, knowing this was a way for his teammates to relieve tension before the battle.
During the earlier bombing, seven or eight tenths of the Snake-men should have died, but surely some survived, tough ones at that.
They were scattered across the vast canyon, missiles couldn’t precisely lock onto their locations, so only special forces teams could deal with them.
This was a task with immense difficulty and danger, but if completed, the military points gained would be substantial.
To be honest, Qin Dadi wasn’t keen on participating. He, Xiao Yunlong, and Liu Zhaozhao had already accumulated enough Military Points to exchange for the Superpower Enhancement Potion and Bloodline Potion; they just needed to wait for the war to end peacefully.
Unfortunately, this was an order from the Military Department, and the Earth Dragon Team was on the participant list.
Military orders are absolute, they had no choice but to comply.
"Captain, don’t worry."
At this moment, a voice whispered in his ear.
Qin Dadi came back to his senses, seeing an unusually calm face.
Qin Tian placed the Shadowstrike across his lap, feeling the momentary weightlessness as the aircraft descended, and slowly said:
"Trust me, I will bring everyone back safely."
Looking into Qin Tian’s calm yet confident eyes, Qin Dadi nodded solemnly, a faint smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
"I’ve always believed in you."
"I believe in you too." Xiao Yunlong draped his arm around Qin Tian’s shoulders.
"Me too."
Liu Zhaozhao’s bright eyes sparkled.
In these past ten-plus days, they had gone through so much together.
In their eyes, Qin Tian was a meticulous, cautious, strong, and extremely reliable teammate. With him there, the Earth Dragon Team felt like they had a stabilizing anchor amidst turbulent seas.
No matter how fierce the storms outside, they remained fearless.
Whoosh~~~
The aircraft hovered in mid-air, about dozens of meters above the mountain top below, as the cabin opened and a rope dropped straight down.
Qin Tian slung the Shadowstrike behind him, grasped the rope with one hand, and in front of his teammates’ eyes, leaped into the void.
The fierce wind hit his face, making his clothes flutter fiercely.
Qin Tian’s deep gaze peered at the ground below, a slight curve forming on his lips.
The night is my stage
The hunting moment has arrived!