GOR Chapter 113: Mantis Stalks the Cicada

“Too cool!” Roddy cheered loudly as Bei Tai who was beside him laughed. “Two blocks, after that it is my turn to have fun.”

“Don’t be too happy first! There is an obstruction in front!”

Two armoured explosion-proof vehicles drove towards them at a rapid pace!

“Ram past them?”

“Don’t! Those explosion-proof vehicles are armoured. If our tank treads get damaged, we will be stranded on the road! When that happens, we will be finished,” Bei Tai sniggered. “You continue driving; I will deliver some presents for them.”

He abruptly began controlling the gunner position!

“I thought there aren’t any artillery shells?” Chen Xiaolian stared.

“There are none in the tank, but my system might have some. Let me check,” Bei Tai narrowed his eyes. “120-mm artillery shells… aha! I have it, only two though! Haha!”

…

On the road, the two armoured explosion-proof vehicles have stopped and two team of soldiers leapt out from the vehicles! One could easily tell that these men were from the Special Assault Team. Through the periscope, Chen Xiaolian noticed that these soldiers were equipped with anti-materiel rifles [1]!

The soldiers shouted out something in Japanese and they quickly assumed tactical formation. A hail of bullets rained on the tank as it moved forward…

At that moment, something occurred, causing the soldiers from the Special Assault Team to suffer from an expulsion of their souls!

The tank’s turret suddenly moved and the muzzle of the turret slowly turned…

“What is going on? Is it aiming at us?”

“Isn’t it not supposed to have any shells?”

“Bloody Hell!”

“Hurry up and disperse! Get away from the artillery fire!”

Boom!!!

A loud sound erupted and orange flame sprayed out from the muzzle of the turret!

A 120-mm artillery shell flew out and the armoured explosion-proof vehicle on the left was blasted into the air! The body of the vehicle exploded into pieces while the orange flames enveloped half the road in an instant. The shockwave from the explosion also knocked the other explosion-proof vehicle to the side.

The tank then drove triumphantly through the orange flames and black billowing smoke!

…

Inside the tank, the three young men exclaimed! Even Chen Xiaolian was feeling the kick from the flowing adrenaline.

This feeling of starting up a tank to flatten other cars, drive with wanton abandon through the streets and blasting the target with artillery to suppress them…

Too bloody enjoyable!

…

The Type 10 tank sped through the streets of Tokyo. Although they could only reach a maximum speed of 70 mph, this feeling was enough to make them excited!

Behind them, several armoured explosion-proof vehicles of the Japanese Special Assault Team were in pursuit. However, they dared not get too close. As for the ordinary police cars… they could only follow at the very rear of the pursuing team. All they could do was release the siren’s warning sound. Were they trying to intimidate their opponents or were they trying to drum up courage for themselves, no one knew.

“Think of something to shake these guys off! We cannot let these guys follow us all the time.”

Roddy frowned. “Hurry up and check the map.”

“Check what map?” Bei Tai produced a cigarette and took a drag before uttering. “Do not forget, we are now driving a tank!”

“You mean…”

“Mr Lu Xun [2] had once said… there was originally no road…”

…

Boom!

The tank smashed its way into a large shopping mall from an intersection!

The tank treads rolled through the expensive marble floors and crashed through the luxurious crystal lamps, rampaging through the interior of the shopping mall as it moved further inside!

The huge crystal lamp fell down and sharp screams resounded through the shopping mall.

Roddy focused on controlling the tank, leading it as it swaggered through the central area of the shopping mall. Next, he went berserk, made a 90-degree turn, and smashed out into the other side of the street, breaking through an LV shop while doing so!

Following the sounds of crashing, the glass was shattered to pieces!

The tank moved out from the side into the streets. Atop the turret muzzle, there was an LV branded bag of the latest edition.

“Cool!”

Bei Tai screamed out. “Guild Leader! Why don’t we just head into the National Diet (House of Representatives)? Or maybe the Prime Minister’s residence?”

“Enough messing around! Just shake off those fellows! We need to find a place to get off,” Chen Xiaolian said in a serious tone. “There is only 24 hours. So far, we have only acquired one energy source.”

He quickly pulled out the system quest interface.

Upon the radar, another golden blip has appeared.

“The second energy source has appeared! The distance between us is… eh? It’s very close!” Chen Xiaolian rechecked it carefully and his face changed. “That is not right! It is moving! It is coming at us!”

Roddy knitted his eyebrows. “How could the energy source be moving?”

“It seems the system has randomly assigned us with an energy source that has already been snatched away!” Chen Xiaolian clenched his teeth. “Son of a bitch! Why is our luck so bad? To be able to snatch the energy source from others, these people are definitely not good people! Bloody Hell! They are moving very fast on the radar! They must have a car. They are coming in closer! They are just beyond the right corner before us!”

At that moment… at the intersection before them, something sent a commercial car flying through the air! As it landed, it rolled across the ground several times.

Next, a metal monstrosity with an overbearing appearance and highly technological atmosphere roared out into existence!

It turned around at the intersection and headed straight for the Type 10 tank that Chen Xiaolian and the others were in!

“That… what the Hell is that thing?”

Both Chen Xiaolian and Roddy shouted out at the same time.

With just one glance, Bei Tai’s face instantly changed! He hastily tossed away the cigarette butt and shouted. “Thunderstorm Tank! Bloody Hell! We have encountered a high-level team!”

Thunderstorm Tank?

Hearing this name, Chen Xiaolian and Roddy’s eyes revealed disbelief!

The immense object before them was twice as big as this 40-tonned Type 10 tank!

Comparing them was equivalent to comparing an ordinary car with a dump truck!

The stout turret muzzle was actually square shaped! The sci-fi feeling exuding from it was overwhelming!

Bei Tai was hastily controlling the gunner position, loading up the last 120-mm artillery shell. After aiming the turret…

Boom!

The tank shook!

Orange flames sprayed out from the muzzle of the turret and the shell whistled forward!

Next, something jaw dropping occurred before them.

The 120-mm artillery shell slammed into the front surface area of the metal tank opposite them, and…

Bounced off!

Not a single trace was left on the surface of the tank!

“Damn it! Electromagnetic Shielding Device!”

Bei Tai roared out in despair. “Quick! Get out! Their turret is moving! Hurry up and run!”

…

The three of them jumped out of the tank. Chen Xiaolian grabbed Roddy who was climbing down the turret and pulled him straight down. Then, they quickly ran to the side of the street…

Their strengthened [B] Class attributes saved them! They forced out their strength and speed and reached the side of the street in merely 2 seconds. Turning around, they saw a lightning bolt flash out from the Thunderstorm Tank’s square shaped turret!

The electrical bolt immediately cut through the Type 10 tank left in the middle of the road! The only things left of the tank were two piles of scrap metal.

The metals within the pierced through area of the tank could be seen melting!

A 50-metre deep pit was left upon the wide street area!

“Damn! So brutal?” Roddy stared with wide-open eyes.

At that moment, the sound of sirens came and two armoured explosion-proof vehicles caught up.

“Hurry up and run! This target is beyond our ability to deal with!” Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth.

“Let’s go! We cannot provoke a team that can afford a Thunderstorm Tank!” Bei Tai let out a bitter smile. “Take advantage of this time when the police are keeping them occupied and run!”

The two armoured explosion-proof vehicles halted in the middle of the road. Clearly, the colossal object in front had left the soldiers from the Special Assault Team stunned!

“Who can tell me what that thing is? Is it our Self Defence Force?”

“Oh, Hell! They are turning the turret muzzle! It is pointing at us!”

“Get out now!”

Boom!

A bolt of lightning seared forward, blasting the armoured explosion-proof vehicle up into the skies. It then fell onto the ground, nothing more than a piece of molten scrap. None of the armed soldiers within the vehicle managed to run out…

The soldiers in the other vehicle were shocked and they quickly retreated. One of the soldiers climbed up to the roof of the vehicle to commandeer the installed machine gun to unleash a wild barrage of bullets at the other party. Unfortunately, the bullets fell onto the surface of the Thunderstorm Tank harmlessly, not even capable of annoying it.

“Hurry!” Chen Xiaolian quickly shouted and the three of them ran into a narrow street.

Three figures jumped down from the Thunderstorm Tank and they quickly ran to the roadside. Clearly, they were chasing after Chen Xiaolian and his team…

…

“Why is it so noisy outside?”

Qiao Qiao stood by the window, watching the street below.

There were almost no pedestrians left on the street. Apparently, this disaster stricken country of Japan has a very effective set of emergency measures.

There were only police cars and fire engines roaring through from the main street.

There were also police cars moving slowly, using loudspeakers to make certain announcements. The announcement was for the civilians to leave the public areas and stay at home or move to the nearest shelter.

“It has been over an hour.”

Qiao Qiao sighed, looking very anxious.

“Do not be nervous. Being nervous at this time is useless.”

Lun Tai held onto a sword, lightly wiping it.

Suddenly, his face changed. He stood up and turned to face the door before hiding himself in a corner. At the same time, he waved to Qiao Qiao. The others within the room quickly hid themselves. Qiao Qiao held onto Soo Soo and hid behind the sofa.

“It's us!”

Bei Tai’s voice came from beyond the door. Lun Tai then went over and carefully removed a grenade set onto the door handle.

Chen Xiaolian and the other two entered.

“See? I told you not to carelessly open the door,” Bei Tai pointed to the grenade on the door handle. If I had not pulled you earlier, you would currently be lying on the floor. My big bro is very vigilant.”

“How did it go?” Qiao Qiao walked over.

Chen Xiaolian pulled out a cigarette box sized energy source from his pocket. “We were lucky. It was a lone Awakened and we got one. However, on our way back, we encountered a group of experts and were nearly killed off.”

“You managed to shake them off? Did they tail you?” Lun Tai frowned.

“No, we were very careful. We deliberately went around in a circle and observed a few times. No one was tailing us,” Bei Tai immediately replied. “Big bro, you all here…”

“Nothing happened,” Lun Tai shook his head. “No one came to snatch.”

Chen Xiaolian went over to pick up a bottle of mineral water. Drinking a few mouthfuls of water, he gasped for breath. “We may be in trouble! After we snatched an energy source, the system randomly assigned us a new target. However… the opponent is a very strong team.”

“Strong? How strong?” Lun Tai raised his eyebrows.

“They have a Thunderstorm Tank,” Bei Tai replied.

Lun Tai’s face instantly distorted and turned dark.

…

In the back corner of a street opposite of the hotel…

Three people wearing highly sci-fi combat suits stood quietly. A beefy man took off his helmet and sneered as he turned to look at the tall hotel building.

Surprisingly, this man was the Team Leader of the Thorned Flower Guild’s team!

“Falcon, calling Falcon,” He pressed his headset.

“I discovered a team. They should have just returned from a hunt. I purposely chose not to attack them and tailed them to locate their base. I surmise that their side may have another snatched energy source besides their own.”

“You are still as crafty as ever, Team Leader,” Falcon answered.

“Well then, what is the situation?”

“Wait… eh? Team Leader! Hide fast! An aircraft is quickly approaching your coordinates!”

“Aircraft?”

The beefy man raised his head to look at the skies…

Above the blue skies, a faint trail of flames suddenly streaked through the expanse. Something resembling a flying bird pierced through the skies, heading in their direction! As it flew, an umbrella shaped sound barrier was created!

The object flew speedily before stopping above the big building, hovering in mid-air.

…

“En, the location of the displayed energy source should be here…”

The aircraft was in fact, a person! Only that this person was wearing a human shaped flight gear! At the backside of the gear were orange coloured turbines discharging flames out of it.

Under the helmet visor was a beautifully curved face. The mouth on the face pursed up and this person let out a scoff.

Beneath the visor, several strands of purple hair were visible!

This person wearing flight gear was…

The pilot from Zero City – Nicole!

…

“Damn it! That… is someone from Zero City!”

The beefy man’s face changed and he took several steps back. The three of them hid behind a signboard. “A big fish has arrived…”

He whispered into the headset.

“Falcon, Falcon! I am the Team Leader, my coordinates is… there is a big fish here! I command for all team members to approach my current coordinates! Bring over every Thunderstorm Tank! I repeat, bring over every Thunderstorm Tank!”

1 Anti-materiel rifle is designed against military equipment. Not enough to go against armoured vehicles like tanks, but effective against lightly armoured vehicles. I mean… who expects a TANK?↩

2 Lu Xun, raw: ‘魯迅’. (1881 - 1936) He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. [Source: Wiki]. ↩