Chapter 29: Instant takedown!

Under Nathan's leadership, everyone in Gratitude Village felt the power of Blackwood, winning over hearts and boosting their rep big time. They scored a whopping +100 Spiritual Tribute!

"This dude's really stepping up his game," Ethan mused, watching Nathan command respect. Behind the scenes, Ethan was the puppet master guiding Blackwood's growth, but the villagers were clueless about him. Having a leader with solid skills was crucial.

Over the years, Nathan had grown from a mere hunter to a leader worthy of his tribe in Blackwood, where time flies in the game world.

Ethan checked the map and spotted thirteen new white dots outside Gratitude Village! As the game evolved, so did the map, showing allies in green and neutrals in white. Enemies, like those from Garcia in Tailin Town, were marked in red.

"Forebearer, the Gonzalez crew from Tailin is here!" Nathan rushed to the shrine, tucking Ethan's spiritual tablet into his pocket for protection, ready to battle with the Forebearer's blessing.

Meanwhile, on the road to Blackwood, a group of thirteen, led by the Gonzalez clan leader Brandon and a senior elder, approached in fancy threads. "Can't believe how fast Blackwood's grown," Brandon noted, wary yet dismissive of Blackwood's depth, despite their capability to take down Garcia's ancestor.

Brandon was convinced Blackwood was too green to mess with Tailin Town, especially since they just started and already had beef with Garcia. He figured Nathan might want to cut a deal over the incident, maybe even co-develop the iron mine.

But as they reached Blackwood, instead of a warm welcome, they found four coffins and mourning banners at the gate—a chilling sight.

"Set up with coffins? We've been duped! These Blackwood maniacs never wanted to talk business; they're out for blood!" The Gonzalez folks panicked, realizing Blackwood didn't care about their rep—no one would dare deal with them after this.

Even Brandon, who thought he had all angles covered, was shocked by Blackwood's blunt approach. They weren't trying to break Tailin's blockade, just luring them in for revenge over an Iron Will and three regular folks.

"Damn it, split up and run!" Brandon ordered, planning to rally the major families to crush Blackwood once back home.

As they fled, a massive python appeared, with Nathan standing on top, holding the Forebearer's tablet and smirking at them disdainfully.

"Man, you've got some nerve!" Ethan watched the screen with a smirk, clearly amused and a bit baffled by the mental state of Gonzalez's crew at this moment.

Initially, he had Nathan invite Gonzalez's folks over just to see what would happen, kind of testing the waters.

But his real plan was to have Nathan wipe out all of Gonzalez's people at the iron mine, one batch after another.

But who would've thought... Old Gonzalez's people were this straightforward? When asked to come, they really showed up!

"I was planning to lure Gonzalez's folks to the iron mine and take out a few key players, scare the rest stiff," Ethan shrugged helplessly, "Well, turns out every kind of fool exists."

He didn't ponder further and switched the view on the screen.

The battle had already kicked off!

Gonzalez's people didn't have the guts for a fight and scattered, but they underestimated Blackwood's combat strength and readiness!

Gonzalez's three strongest elders, who had reached the mid-stage of Emerging Ability, were using some freaky fast movement techniques, darting towards the silver iron forest like phantoms.

With Blackwood's current combat power, no one could stop him.

Sure, the Purple Thunder Solar Python was strong, but its speed was a major drawback, and its massive size meant it wasn't as agile as human Psychics.

"Forebearer's Wrath" X5! Ethan didn't hesitate to use the skill.

 "No one's getting away!" Five Forebearer cards appeared in front of the elders, instantly charging at them and beginning to self-destruct as they got close.

Boom! "What in the world is this? Psychic equipment???" The elder, who had lived for 150 years, had never seen such a bizarre thing.

He could clearly feel there was no psychic energy in the cards, yet their destructive power was shocking!

It seemed no matter how fast he ran, the cards could block his path.

"Wow, running pretty fast there," Ethan grinned, the advantage of his skill being that he could use it through the screen.

As long as the elders were still on the map, he just needed to move his mouse to block their path accurately!

Soon after, Nathan finally arrived with the Purple Thunder Solar Python!

The beast, now far stronger than before, roared, its bent horns sparking with electricity, forming an electric cage around the elder.

"Have you lost your minds? Dare to mess with us Gonzalez, and the whole town of Tailin will be against you Blackwood, you'll struggle to move an inch!" the elder, feeling the terrifying presence of the Purple Thunder Solar Python, gritted his teeth, desperately looking for a way out.

"Sss—shh—" Having communicated with the Purple Thunder Solar Python multiple times, Nathan understood some of its intentions.

He looked at the elder trapped in the electric cage and scoffed, "My Forebearer is kinda curious, what were you thinking messing with us in the first place?"

"Just for an Iron Will, three ordinary people?" the elder still couldn't believe it.

"Regular folks?" Nathan scoffed, shaking his head. "You're just like Garcia, huh? Back in the day, they used disaster victims as guinea pigs at Blackwood, and now you Gonzalez folks don't give a hoot about regular people either! "

"When did your ancestors stop being regular? Since you've forgotten, maybe it's time to send you to the underworld for a little pow-wow with them!"

"Spot on!" Ethan cheered, throwing a thumbs up from in front of the screen.

Seeing Nathan gaining the upper hand, he switched the view.

Meanwhile, Brandon, the so-called 'strategic' clan leader, was hightailing it like there was no tomorrow. Man, he was in a real pickle.

"Whoosh whoosh!" Two arrows zipped past him, fired by an 18-year-old girl perched on a giant eagle, brandishing an iron bow.

And there he was, a full-grown man, scampering like a frightened mouse from a kid barely at Level 5 Foundational Energy!

But wait, it gets better. There was also a hefty dude on a tiger, slinging arrows his way.

"Ha ha ha, Chief Gonzalez? That's all the courage you've got? You're cracking us up!"

"Thought you had some tricks up your sleeve coming to our Blackwood, turns out you're just a sitting duck!"

"Being clueless is one thing, but seriously, you're shaking in your boots facing me and my sis, and we're just Level 5 Psychics?"

Brandon felt like his head was gonna explode – these kids were driving him nuts!

But no stopping now; he knew these troublemakers chasing him weren't just on a wild goose chase – this was another setup by the Blackwood crew!

"Not even gonna turn around after all that trash talk?" Ethan frowned, eyeing the game interface where another icon popped up under the Purple Thunder Python avatar – a robot!

Then, he clicked.

"Whoosh!" "Deploying War AI Bionic Robot!"

Suddenly, Amelia's space ring glowed, and a massive mech materialized in the sky!

The mech, with fireworks shooting from its back and legs to stay airborne, was quite the spectacle. "Flying always guzzles the most juice," Ethan muttered.

He'd stashed the AI Bionic Robot in the space ring because there was no way Amelia and Julian could catch an early-stage Emerging Ability expert otherwise.

The War AI Bionic Robot was burning through energy, especially for flying, and though it could recharge, a full power-up took at least half a month. Ethan had hoped to conserve some energy, but it looked like Brandon had finally caught on.

"What in the world?!!" Brandon felt an ominous pressure from behind and spun around just in time to see the colossal War AI Bionic Robot bearing down on him!

Then, "Boom!" As the mech's fireworks ignited, it surged towards Brandon.

While soaring, its back-mounted guns shifted, and two massive cannons targeted Brandon!

Even in free-action mode, the War AI Bionic Robot retained basic combat capabilities.

"Zap!" A brilliant light burst from the cannons, and a purple lightsaber, sharp enough to slice through metal, materialized in the robot's right hand.

"Boom!" "Oh snap!"

The laser cannon blasted instantly, and Brandon, eyes bulging, whipped out a copper bell – a relic that had saved his hide more times than he could count. The bell chimed, wrapping him in a protective bubble.

But a moment later, "Boom!" The laser cannon struck the bell, and the sound it emitted was like a death knell for Brandon!

The relic that had saved him time and again was now as flimsy as tissue.

Dust swirled.

In a flash, the War AI Bionic Robot, wielding the lightsaber, streaked across the sky in the blink of an eye.

Brandon's torso, cleaved in two at the waist, plummeted from the dust cloud to the ground.

His eyes were filled with despair, likely pondering why he ever thought tangling with Blackwood was a smart move...

"Is this... the power of the Forebearer?" Amelia and Julian, siblings, gazed up at the god-like figure in the sky, completely dumbfounded.

Instant takedown!