Balsas arrived hastily at the lookout tower and saw a large number of refugees flooding into Lu Cheng’s camp. He was flustered.

This bunch of refugees are abandoning my town? How did Lu Cheng subdue them‽

It was at this moment Balsas realized that this special bunch of refugees valued profit over anything. The only reason they were easily manipulated by those small profits was because they had not yet been offered bigger benefits. Balsas thought that he was in control of the refugees, but that was just wishful thinking!

I’m doomed… Balsas was frantically running around in circles. These refugees were his trump card against Lu Cheng, and now that Lu Cheng had them, his advantage no longer existed.

Suddenly, he felt something was amiss. Lu Cheng should not have known any special aspects of the refugees!

At this moment, his assistant ran over panicky and reported the news of Black Phantom helping Lu Cheng.

This news was like a thunderbolt hitting him; Balsas was stood motionless in shock. He could not imagine being enemies with Black Phantom as he knew he would die miserably. Every superhuman that died under Black Phantom’s gun was a reflection of his own end.

Black Phantom was of a legendary rank; why would he help Lu Cheng suddenly?

It must be because of Black Phantom that Lu Cheng was able to subdue the refugees. Why does he have so much influence on the refugees? Balsas then recalled that Black Phantom had mentioned he was only passing by.

Liar!

Balsas had the idea of retreating. If Balsas retreated along with the armed forces, there was a high possibility that Lu Cheng would not pursue and attack.

“The battle hasn’t begun, and you’re already thinking of running away. Have you forgotten the Alumera family’s rules?” Xiao Rui arrived at the lookout tower, stood beside Balsas, and frowned.

“But that’s the Black Phantom! Also, half of the refugees have betrayed us…”

“Alumera would never withdraw from a war. Get your men ready for battle.” Xiao Rui’s voice was firm and full of righteousness.

“There’s the Black Phantom though…”

“My bodyguard, Liu Cheng, will prevent him from participating in the battle.”

Liu Cheng, who was standing behind Xiao Rui, stepped out blankly. His calm, confident manner soothed Balsas’ nerves.

Balsas clenched his teeth and hesitated for a while before making a firm decision and calling his assistant. “Mobilize everyone and kick that Black Pine bastard all the way back to his home! We have some of the refugees with us at least; we still have a chance at this battle.”

“Yes sir!” The assistant hurried went to convey the order.

There were only three people left on the lookout tower. Xia Rui turned his head and said lowly, “Prepare the vehicle in case the guards fail. We must ensure that we are able to retreat. Don’t worry, we are on the same side, the family’s side. I’ll vouch for you that we had went all out for this arduous battle.”

Balsas heaved a sigh of relief; having some support steadied his heart. He was afraid Xiao Rui would let this news get to him, but it seemed like he was still rational. Leaving the soldiers of Green Valley Ville behind to resist, this would delay Lu Cheng’s troops and aid them in escaping, and it would also be easier to account to the Alumera Family.

…

In the early hours, the sky was dark, and a thick fog had seeped in.

Green Valley Ville’s guards were waiting atop the wall behind their machine guns in their bunkers. Through the wall fencing, they saw piles of sandbags in position and supporting machine guns. If they broke through the city gates, the battle would begin.

“They have decided to defend till their death, so a fierce battle is unavoidable. Fortunately, the number of stubborn refugees has decreased greatly.”

Lu Cheng put his binoculars down and let out a sigh.

He did not want to massacre the refugees, and Han Xiao had done him a huge favor. Lu Cheng was flabbergasted at the fact that Han Xiao seemed to have such influence on the refugees. It only took him half a night to solve this difficult problem.

As for the refugees who remained in Green Valley Ville, Lu Cheng had given them a chance, and there was also a limit to being benevolent.

“Attack in twenty minutes.”

Lu Cheng gave out a command and took advantage of the time that the troops needed to prepare to find Han Xiao to express his gratitude.

“It was all thanks to you that we managed to solve the issue of the refugees.”

Han Xiao smiled in response.

There was no free lunch in the world, and the more Han Xiao did not mention a reward, the more Lu Cheng felt uneasy. He paused before saying in exasperation, “I really feel that there’s nothing on me that such a character like you would be interested in.”

This sentence was caught by Bun-hit-dog, who was standing at the side. He sensed the hidden meaning.

This kind of character? Another clue relating to Black Phantom’s identity.

Bun-hit-dog thought of a vague outline for the first episode.

“We’ll discuss again after the war ended. These refugees will fight for you,” Han Xiao replied.

“The refugees are not soldiers, and I’m not Balsas; I’ll not let them throw their lives away.” Lu Cheng shook his head.

“Even without your command, they’ll still participate in this battle.” Han Xiao lowered his voice.

Are these people lunatics? Do they not fear death? Lu Cheng expressed his suspicions. However, the time for battle was approaching. He had no time to inquire more. He hurriedly went to command his troop.

Following the fleet of vehicles, a fierce battle began. Gunfire tore the darkness apart; Lu Cheng’s troops launched an intense attack on Green Valley Ville. The soldiers based on the wall and the vehicle carrying machine guns and howitzers were shooting across each other, and the battlefield was flooded with the sound of engines, machine guns, and screams of agony. The night sky was illuminated with the blaze of every exploded grenade and pervaded with the smoke from the guns.

The players also began their fighting at close quarters, Green Valley Ville’s players had clear commands from several small guilds’ leaders. While the players on Lu Cheng’s side lacked cohesion, they had a large number of players.

Han Xiao observed at one side as the situation did not require him to intervene yet. Lu Cheng had a high chance of winning.

Suddenly, a shadow traversed across the battlefield and made a beeline toward Han Xiao along the battlefield’s edge; an artillery shell’s flame and bullets landed on Han Xiao’s body, yet he was not at all injured.

“Black Phantom, I’ll be your opponent!”

Liu Cheng rushed over with giant strides.

“I can’t even mind my own business now?” Han Xiao grudgingly took out and fired a machine gun. Three bullets hit the space between Liu Cheng’s eyebrows, heart, and lower region of his body, but there was no expected blood splattered.

The moment when the three steel bullets hit Liu Cheng, it seemed that the kinetic energy suddenly disappeared. The bullets bounced off Liu Cheng’s skin, and the might was not even as good as a slingshot. Light blue smoke showing the damage dealt could be seen floating above his head.

-0!

-0!

Han Xiao clearly saw the moment when the warhead hit, and the target’s skin rippled with fine corrugation. After which, the bullet lost its kinetic energy.

His eyes darkened.

Kinetic energy absorption?

The interface showed Liu Cheng had reached LV 44. The level was not as high as Han Xiao’s, but Liu Cheng’s ability was very tricky. It was the natural defense against a kinetic energy weapon, and this happened to restrain his machinery.

Han Xiao was unlucky. He just had to meet an enemy who was able to restrain him.

With kinetic energy absorption, one could dissolve the various power exerted on the body. If the power could not breakthrough the ability’s support limit, the power would then be absorbed and transformed into the opponent’s power. Using physical property to attack was ineffective toward this kind of ability. To deal with Kinetic Energy Absorption, using either quantity or mental form to attack was the best choice. The support limit of this type of ability naturally depended on the level and strength. Unfortunately, in general, the support limit would always exceed the combat capability of the same level.

Liu Cheng stopped a few meters away from Han Xiao and said coldly, “Black Phantom, this battle is unrelated to you. Mind your own business.”

A legendary killer was eyeing covetously at edge of the battlefield, so Liu Cheng took the lead to prevent the Black Phantom from participating in the battle.

Han Xiao’s response was simply two bullets going for Liu Cheng’s eyes, and they had resulted in zero damage still. The warhead fell to the ground disappointedly, Liu Cheng’s eyes did not even blink. He was not harmed at all and said indifferently, “You’re Dark Net’s top killer and the Blood Pact Society’s trump card. Others may fear you, but not me. I’ll give you a word of advice, stay away from this battlefield.”

“The Dark Net? Blood Pact Society? What power is that?” The observing Bun-hit-dog had an idea and hastily stored these two important keywords in his heart. He was finally seeing the tip of the iceberg of Black Phantom’s mysterious origin!

Han Xiao’s mind quickly filtered through his equipment at hand. Coming up with a preliminary plan, his feet slammed onto the ground and the Electromagnetic Hover-boots lit up. The exerted power made him recoil rapidly. He touched his waist swiftly and pulled out two Berserk Eagles. In a quick move, he changed to a Hayme bullet and opened fire. The bullets hit the side of Liu Cheng’s feet, and poisonous gas began to rise and pervaded the air.

Liu Cheng detected the poisonous gas and frowned. He held his breath and charged in large strides. While he was traversing through the battlefield earlier on, he had absorbed a large amount of kinetic energy from the crossfire. The kinetic energy shot out from the bottom of his feet as he dashed toward Han Xiao. With every step he took, his footprints formed big pits. He was like an unstoppable tank as he caught up with Han Xiao. He gathered an enormous amount of kinetic energy and directed it at Han Xiao’s chest.

Bang!

As if having a head-on collision with a mad rhinoceros, his body flew out uncontrollably. The remaining power was unstoppable, and he even knocked down and killed several players who were so unfortunate to be in his way.