The First Order

Chapter 371 - As brilliant as a star

Chapter 371 As brilliant as a star

It seemed that Zong Cheng had sensed something and given the playing cards to someone else a while ago. After the artillery bombardment on Ren Xiaosu’s position, the playing cards turned into bait that led him straight into the ripping chaos of the thundering troops.

As this was the era of supernatural beings, no one knew what kind of superpower they were up against.

Zong Cheng was also unsure if there were any problems with those playing cards. He was only being careful not to fall into a trap, and was trying to prevent any supernatural beings from plotting against him in these strange times. As it turned out, Ren Xiaosu really came looking for him.

Ren Xiaosu stood in the middle of the battlefield with soldiers surrounding him in heavy numbers. He had to come over, because if he did not, the artillery fire would continue bombarding the bandits and refugees until they were all dead.

And by now, the mortar bombardment had stopped.

The batteries of the nanomachines in Ren Xiaosu were still depleting, and some of them had crumbled off like dust due to being out of power. It was as though this unique “lifeform” were withering away one by one.

The shadow clone continuously circled Ren Xiaosu as it slaughtered the enemies with its black saber in hand, cutting them down like a whetstone.

But Ren Xiaosu just stood there silently.

He suddenly felt like he could understand Qing Zhen a little better. The humans in these wastelands sought power and ambition like ugly moths attracted to candlelight and warmth.

Humans had been endlessly seeking power over the strongholds, resulting in them becoming selfish and greedy.

If I do not kill you, you will end up killing me. As such, the basic rule of the world was to fight to the bitter end. That was because even when the world came to an end, hope still did not exist.

As Ren Xiaosu looked around, his tough armored figure was slowly being disintegrated into a fine dust.

This was a trap that had been prepared for a long time. His opponent was cunning like a hyena and was about to kill him right here.

‘Since you wanted me to come over, and now that I’m here, why are you not showing yourself?’ Ren Xiaosu roared again, “Come and kill me!”

The Zong Consortium’s soldiers were looking at the armored young man in the crowd like he was a star in a mysterious nebula of the universe.

Scorching, dazzling, and lonely.

However, they also felt that this was probably Ren Xiaosu’s final moment of brilliance. After that, this dazzling star would become just like the afterglow of the sunset.

Sinking into the sea.

A hail of bullets rained down on Ren Xiaosu and the shadow clone. Heavily surrounded, this lonely island would get swallowed up by the tsunami, and the clown would mock him in delight from the waves.

A god was about to die.

But at this moment, Ren Xiaosu looked back at where he had arrived from.

The Zong Consortium’s soldiers were taken aback. Why was he looking behind him?

Someone followed Ren Xiaosu’s gaze and looked over. Suddenly, a steam locomotive resembling a long dragon rushed out of a gray mist and smashed through the formation that had surrounded Ren Xiaosu!

At the same time, the steam locomotive shattered the endless despair.

“Shit, he’s trying to escape!” someone exclaimed.

“Kill him!”

“Use the RPGs!”

The soldiers wanted to use their weapons to stop the steam locomotive, but not even a direct hit from the RPG could cause any damage to the train.

The steam locomotive sped through the air and threw the entire defensive line into complete chaos.

No one had expected such a reversal. They all thought the armored young man who had been surrounded was surely going to die!

Ren Xiaosu said calmly, “I’m here, so why don’t you come out and kill me? Why don’t you show yourself and kill me? You better watch out when I come and kill you.”

Then the seemingly ancient train “drove” out into the real world. The sound of the wheels turning and the metallic clanging of the tracks paving themselves was enough to terrify anyone. The railcar’s smokestack suddenly spewed a cloud of thick black smoke, and the long whistle that followed was like a bugle being blown.

On the battlefield, the “black iron” steam locomotive was driving straight in and headed for Ren Xiaosu who was standing there silently.

The Zong Consortium’s soldiers felt a strong sense of powerlessness, as though no matter how hard they struggled, they would still have to face their fate.

As the steam locomotive drove past Ren Xiaosu, he grabbed onto Yang Xiaojin, who had stretched out her hand from the inside. He was then carried forward by the train as it sped off into the distance towards the wilderness.

However, Ren Xiaosu felt his heart ache. That wilderness had represented his hope and light.

The soldiers at the rear concentrated their firepower on the departing train, but their firearms seemed to have no effect on the steam locomotive.

As the train drove north, Ren Xiaosu spat out another mouthful of blood after he was brought into the train through the window. Right after, the nanomachines that were still covering him also started falling off.

Ren Xiaosu slumped into a seat in the carriage and wheezed as he leaned against the wall. Even though the nanoarmor took the damage from those vicious bullets, he still sustained internal injuries. Moreover, the damage to the steam locomotive and shadow clone would be directly transferred back to him. It was a pain that normal people would never experience in their lives and was so extreme that he felt as though he were in the abyss of hell.

At this moment, he just wanted to sit still like this until the world ended.

More than half of the nanomachines had died in this battle and could not return to Ren Xiaosu’s body.

Even he couldn’t take on an entire regiment of people armed with firearms and explosives. Or rather, he could handle them for only a short period and only if he were assisted externally by something like the nanomachines.

With the loss of more than half of his nanomachines, the armor could no longer cover his entire body. If he got shot, it would be very dangerous for him.

Wang Yuchi and several of the other male students came up to Ren Xiaosu and held out their hands. “Use ours.”

Ren Xiaosu glanced at them before shaking his head and saying, “Y’all don’t have much of them in your bodies.”

Yan Liuyuan firmly said, “There’s mine too.”

Ren Xiaosu calmly rejected him, “Keep them to protect yourself.”

Yang Xiaojin crouched down to help him wipe away his sweat and blood. “I wasn’t of any help.”

Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “How many of our brothers are dead or injured?”

Jin Lan said tearfully, “More than 60 of them have died. We wanted to bring the female refugee with us, but she committed suicide with Xu Jinyuan’s gun.”

Ren Xiaosu paused for 30 seconds before changing the subject. “Who’s familiar with the terrain around here? We can’t head to Mt. Kushui anymore. There’s a spy among us.”

Everyone looked at one another. A spy? So it was because there was a spy who had revealed their whereabouts that caused them to get ambushed?

Jin Lan shouted at the group, “Who is the spy? Step forward!”

Ren Xiaosu sneered, “Search everyone. This spy must have some kind of communication equipment to contact the Zong Consortium.”

Just as he finished speaking, a bandit suddenly panicked and jumped out of the window to try to escape from the steam locomotive.

But while he was still in midair, Yang Xiaojin took out her pistol and shot him straight in his temple.

Ren Xiaosu said coldly, “Keep searching, there might be others!”

But this time, they could not find any more clues of who could be a spy.

But Ren Xiaosu still found it hard to put his mind at ease. Even though they did not find any communication equipment, it did not mean that there were no more spies.

The spies seemed to have left a mark on Ren Xiaosu that made it difficult for him to trust others again. It was a mark caused by the deaths of Xu Jinyuan and the others.

They seemed to be safe for the time being. But Ren Xiaosu’s failure to kill Zong Cheng was weighing on him. His opponent was a fierce, cunning, and cruel hyena, and the feeling of disgust was overwhelming Ren Xiaosu.