Chapter 25: The Cadres of the Cross Society

Su Lun was well aware that death on the battlefield wasn't something you could just dodge.

They were heading to support headquarters, and Captain Kai would definitely not choose to retreat.

To survive, the only choice was to eliminate the enemy.

Since joining the Cross Society, Su Lun had quickly adapted to his role. He silently estimated the position of the enemy gunmen he had observed, then took a deep breath and rolled fiercely, firing his high-caliber shotgun several times toward the opposite side of the bridge.

"Bang," "Bang," "Bang"...

This roll, followed by the gunfire, allowed Su Lun to take cover behind a steam car a few meters away.

As he steadied himself, a loud, boisterous compliment reached his ears, "Hey, kid, not bad! Many newcomers get shaky legs on their first mission, but you actually managed to fire..."

Turning his head, he saw the burly Sam.

This guy had been watching the newcomers following Kai's instructions.

When he saw Su Lun take cover immediately, he thought he was too scared to move. But to his surprise, he saw him firing in the next instant.

Roll, aim, fire... His judgment was calm, his movements skilled.

Sam took another look and saw a gunman across the bridge get his head pierced by a bullet and fall to the ground. He was even more astonished and complimented Su Lun again, "Your shooting is very accurate..."

Su Lun just smiled noncommittally.

In that situation, he hadn't been sure he could hit the enemy, but the process had gone surprisingly smoothly. The entire tactical roll was executed as if it was second nature, precise and fluid...

Only then did he realize that having collected so much firearms experience with the "Reaper," his practical combat skills had improved significantly from before.

At that moment, Captain Kai nearby seemed to have also noticed this scene, casting a brief look of surprise.

However, he didn't look long, as the fierce gun battle had once again captured his attention.

Of course, neither Kai nor Sam knew that Su Lun's decision to open fire was not to show off his shooting skills, but for his own safety.

He was changing positions.

Because he realized that in this level of combat, a concrete bollard provided no sense of security at all. Instead, a bulletproof motorcycle, modified with rune armor, was the safest cover.

He hadn't forgotten that this world was one of Alchemy, not just with ordinary bullets, but various alchemical bullets as well.

Those concrete bollards could be blown up like tofu in minutes.

Moreover, he had a group of seasoned protectors around him.

Sam perhaps felt that since a newcomer was showing such remarkable prowess, he couldn't be outdone. He directly opened the equipment box on the car, pulled out a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, and fired it across the bridge.

"Boom~"

A loud explosion, flames soaring to the sky.

....

The battle had been intense from the start.

Both sides exchanged fire fiercely.

However, what Su Lun considered good news was that the enemy didn't seem to use any "weapons of mass destruction." This offered him a great deal of safety.

Thinking about it, alchemical bullets, worth thousands, even tens of thousands of Lisos each, couldn't possibly be used as standard-issue ammunition in this kind of gang crossfire.

This kind of battle was destined to be a war of attrition from the start, only ending when one side was almost wiped out or chose to retreat voluntarily.

But this was precisely the enemy's objective—to delay them.

By the time they genuinely advanced across the bridge, the battle at the headquarters warehouse would have ended.

What Su Lun didn't expect, however, was that after a prolonged stalemate, Captain Kai made an unexpectedly decisive choice.

...

"It must be the mercenaries from the north of the city. Damn it... they want to delay our support," he said.

Kai looked at the armed branch across the river and guessed the opponent's objective.

He certainly wouldn't just watch as the other side achieved their goal, turning to Sam and the others, he said, "Wait for me to count to three, then cover me!"

Upon hearing Kai's words, everyone's faces showed shock, "Captain Kai, you want to charge across the bridge?"

It was a crazy idea.

The enemy had preemptively intercepted, and they certainly anticipated the "professionals" within their team.

In such a situation, even 'professionals' who could withstand bullets with their bodies wouldn't dare to show themselves. Otherwise, they would be met with special bullets and artillery fire. Under concentrated fire, even the strongest body would be turned into a hornet's nest in an instant.

"Yes! The enemy's goal is to hold us back. The more they do this, the bigger the trouble at headquarters. This can't go on; we must support headquarters as quickly as possible..."

But Kai seemed to have already made up his mind, his expression stern, he gave a light shout, "Disengage armor!"

As he spoke, his hands formed seals, and the ground lit up with the orange light of the Hexagram Alchemy Array.

In an instant, his lower leg's shinbone and the ulna on the inner side of his forearm protruded and became sharp, slowly turning into metal scythes like a mantis' arms.

This was Kai's alchemical embedded armor—[Blade]!

Kai didn't give his followers time to dissuade him, once the armor disengaged, he immediately began counting down, "Three, two, one... charge!"

"Damn it! Go to hell!"

Sam and the others cursed aloud, but without any hesitation, they all got up at the same time, raised their rifles, and covered the opposite side of the bridge with gunfire.

Su Lun was also fearless, firing with both guns.

And his peripheral sight was fixed on the charging Captain Kai!

Listening to the loud gunfire, Kai forcefully leapt from the ground, covering tens of meters in a jump. In mid-air, his agile body appeared like a flying mantis, landing on the bridge's stone pillar, then with another forceful push, he surged forward another several tens of meters. With just two leaps, he plunged into the enemy's encampment.

Seeing this, Sam and the other old timers shouted in unison, "Brothers, charge!"

At that command, the people from the Cross Society surged out of cover, like a pack of caged ferocious beasts, forcefully charging forward.

The enemy didn't seem to anticipate someone landing directly in their midst, caught completely off-guard.

With a lethal [Blade Mantis] ceaselessly reaping lives in the background, the gunfire aimed forward instantly extinguished by more than half. In just an instant, the enemy's arrangement became chaotic.

Kai, fearless and relentless, agilely charged through the enemy lines.

Seconds later, the foremost members of the Cross Society had already charged into the encampment.

The massacre began...

When Su Lun followed the main force and rushed in, the battle was nearly at its end.

Bodies littered the ground.

Su Lun glanced at the nearby Kai, who was sitting and bandaging his wounds, a hint of a strange gleam flashing through his eyes.

Kai's abdomen was bleeding, it looked like he had been shot during his solitary charge.

However, he seemed completely unconcerned, administered a Healing Medicine injection, and immediately set about directing people to clear the obstacles and keep advancing.

Su Lun didn't linger, actively helping to transport the bodies.

This Mercenary squad had over ten men, most of whom had just died, the "ash mist" on their bodies still very clear.

After a busy round, Su Lun had made a sizable gain.

....

All the districts supporting headquarters at the Hessen Building were intercepted by mercenaries, everything seemingly proceeding according to the masked men's plan.

However, no one expected that at this moment, the underground vault would undergo a sudden change.

Just after the group of masked men broke into the vault, a group of mysterious experts, unknown to the intelligence, suddenly appeared outside the Hessen Building. The mercenaries couldn't stop them as they headed straight for the vault.

The situation suddenly reversed.

Intelligence had been transmitted to the underground vault, and a group of people in black instantly panicked. They had clearly felt the change in the gravitational field around them and realized that the person coming must be Chak, the "Arbiter" who had awakened the rare talent "A-017-Gravitational Field," and the president of the Iron Cross Society!

The masked individuals immediately recognized their predicament and began cursing furiously, even starting to argue among themselves.

"Gentlemen, it seems the situation has changed..."

"Damn it! Wasn't the intelligence saying that Chak was still hunting beasts outside the city and hadn't returned yet? What the hell is going on with this gravitational field! And how could those Iron Cross executives arrive so quickly!"

"Unless something unexpected happens, we might have been schemed against by that guy Chak."

"Ah... talking about it now doesn't help anymore. The big shot gave us a task to get that 'thing.' Now that we at least have the thing, whether we can escape alive depends on your own skills."

"Number Five, be careful on your own. With all this commotion, Chak must have guessed that there are moles in your society..."

"Hmph, if it weren't for his faulty intelligence, we wouldn't be so passive!"

"Let's talk about that problem if we can escape alive. Let's go, scatter and flee!"

The group of masked men, no longer as composed as before, blasted open the ground and frantically rushed into the underground tunnels.

....

Green Street's team was the first support squad to arrive at District 41.

Su Lun had thought there would be a battle more fierce than the previous one on the bridge and contemplated whether to use the alchemy bullets he had hidden for self-preservation.

But upon arrival, he found that the situation didn't seem as bad as he had thought.

It was even... rather calm.

There were gunshots near the Hessen Building, but they were sporadic, sounding more like scattered gunshots in pursuit rather than a fierce exchange of fire.

From a distance, Su Lun also saw a strange, dense fog shrouding the neighborhood around that black building.

Seeing the fog, Captain Kai exclaimed with delight, "That's the ability of Boss Smokey!"

The veterans in the team also recognized this method, happily saying, "Haha... great! With Boss Smokey here, there definitely won't be any problems!"

Regardless of whether there were problems, they were definitely going over.

Indeed, shortly after driving into the fog, they encountered armed personnel cleaning up the battlefield, members of the Iron Cross Society.

Someone recognized Kai and greeted him, "Hey, Kai, you guys have arrived..."

Kai looked at the serene headquarters and asked in confusion, "I heard that headquarters was attacked? Where are the attackers?"

The person responded, "Haha, the president and the executives came back all of a sudden, and those guys were naturally killed."

Kai was at first stunned, then overjoyed, "Ah? The president and the others came back?"

Hearing this relaxed tone, Su Lun's heart also relaxed greatly.

At least, it seemed he wouldn't face a superhuman battle much beyond his current strength on his first day joining the gang.

....

Green Street's convoy grandly arrived in front of the Hessen Building, and the surrounding fog gradually dispersed.

At that moment, from a clump of smoke not far away, slowly emerged a middle-aged man with a placid demeanor.

Kai and the other veterans recognized this person and greeted him, "Boss Smokey!"

Su Lun remembered seeing this middle-aged man, just ten hours ago, on the city walls.

This was one of the Iron Cross Society's executives, "Smokey" Sambu Kachinsky.

"Hmm."

The middle-aged man nodded, acknowledging.

He seemed injured, his face somewhat pale.

Before Kai could even ask, just then, a "Big Bird" suddenly dived down from the sky.

Su Lun instinctively reached for the fire gun at his waist, but upon a closer look, he saw a human with black metal wings. As soon as the figure landed, the steel wings on his back instantly retracted and vanished without a trace.

Captain Kai recognized the person and excitedly called out, "Boss Angel!"

This was another executive from the Cross Society, "Night Angel" Goethe Amato.

Goethe, who seemed familiar with Kai, asked with a smile, "Yo... little Kai, I heard that the reinforcements from other districts were intercepted by the mercenaries, how did you guys arrive so quickly?"

Kai modestly replied, "I was afraid something might happen to the headquarters, so we rushed over quickly."

Goethe, probably familiar with Kai's character, guessed something and chuckled, "You kid, didn't you charge ahead again?"

"Heh..."

Kai rubbed the back of his head, smiling.

Goethe shook his head without saying much more, but his eyes showed appreciation.

Su Lun quietly stood in the crowd, almost unnoticed, but his eyes flickered with interest when he saw those flying metal wings, "Flying alchemy implants, very practical..."

He planned to "start his job" soon, which would involve choosing his alchemy implants.

The job of "Puppeteer" focused on agility and skill development, making the blueprint for these alchemy wings seem like a good choice.

....

Now that it seemed there wasn't much trouble at the faction headquarters, everyone's tension eased.

At that moment, the two executives suddenly turned their heads as if they noticed something.

Following their gaze, Su Lun looked over as well.

The next second, he saw a woman carrying a heavy object leap down from a rooftop over ten meters away.

As soon as she landed, she threw down the object on her shoulder, revealing a person covered in knife wounds and unconscious.

Clearly, this was another executive, the "Four-Armed Rakshasa," Senjo.

Captain Kai also called out, "Sister Senjo!"

The woman was dressed boldly and radiated a heroic air.

Her dense blue hair was tied into a high ponytail, a large red rope reminiscent of a noren tied around her waist, and she also carried four differently colored single-edged long swords.

She wore the type of Japanese warrior armor known from Su Lun's previous life, but only the lower half. The loose leather armor only covered the front and back, leaving her long white legs and part of her buttocks exposed, raising doubts about potential wardrobe malfunctions during vigorous movement.

Her upper body was even more scantily clad, with just a bandage-style tube top and two simple fiery red leather shoulder and arm guards. A large expanse of skin was exposed, clearly displaying her large, flowery arm tattoos and a full-back Rakshasa tattoo.

From a distance, Su Lun caught sight of the Rakshasa tattoo and felt a fierce aura that made it hard for people to look directly. Glancing at her heavy bosom, it certainly was an omen of great ferocity.

Upon seeing Kai, the ferocity that had emanated from Senjo when she first landed suddenly dissipated, and she joked, "Yo, little Kai, I heard you're in charge of Green Street now? Tsk tsk, when are you gonna hook your sister up?"

Kai slapped his chest and laughed, "Sure thing, Sister Senjo! Whenever you come, I'll arrange it. If you find the men at the flower market lacking, your brother will personally keep you company!"

Senjo glanced at him with disdainful amusement and joked, "Yo, with those skinny arms and legs of yours, I'm afraid I won't have much fun..."

Listen to this, what wild talk!

The old birds in the car erupted into laughter when they heard this.

Sam and a few other guys, unabashed, yelled out loud, "Sister Senjo, if the captain can't handle it, we can!"

Seeing this scene, even Su Lun showed a relaxed smile on his face.

While the jokes were flying, it was clear everyone also noticed the unconscious captive that Senjo had brought back. Smoker and Night Angel, two executives, looked at the man, each with a different expression in their eyes.

At that moment, another group of people emerged from the Hessen Building.

Seeing the person leading the group, both Kai and the other executives present called out respectfully.

"Chairman!"