“How can there be an ambush‽” Tang Tang was spooked. “Cr*p. Could Germinal have been monitoring us all this time and waited all this time to catch us in one fell swoop‽”

“What’s the point of saying all this now?” Diana furiously responded.

Their squad had snuck this far into Germinal territory, and everything had been smooth sailing. No one had thought that this would turn out to be a trap!

The situation had turned completely reversed!

Ten hours earlier, the Germinal leader had secretly ordered the troops that were to form the northern, western, and southern parts of the previous encirclement to make haste for this patch of wasteland to wait in ambush. The leader knew that if Han Xiao succeeded in breaking out, he would definitely pass by this area.

Han Xiao did not read about anything on this ambush in the forums. This operation completely excluded the players as the leader remembered from what Cyberlos had told him—that Han Xiao could be an Inhuman—and feared that there was some sort of a special way for Inhumans to communicate between each other. This completely blind guess from the leader paid off, and Germinal was able to set up the troops without warning Han Xiao and the rescue team.

Moreover, the leader was no longer making orders from the faraway headquarters, but rather, right there on the field.

The long-awaited moment had finally arrived!

The leader stood on the sand dunes ahead of Han Xiao’s group as his windbreaker flapped in the air, and his face was still covered under a mask. Behind him were several dozen executives who stared in front of them like hunters staring at prey who had fallen into their trap.

The two’s eyes met in this fated moment.

Han Xiao’s communicator once rang out with the leader’s voice.

“Didn’t you wanted to fight me? Now that I’m right here, do you dare come?”

Han Xiao released a breath and said, “Not bad…”

This move by the leader was outside of Han Xiao’s expectations, but in hindsight, it was not too surprising. The two’s conversation last night had not only been used by Han Xiao to probe his enemy; the leader had also used it to his advantage.

As the prey in the middle of enemy territory, it was way too hard to always make flawless plans to react to the enemy’s movements. Faced with Germinal troops encroaching from all directions, it was impossible for Han Xiao to predict everything, given his limited resources. Getting this far was already a feat in and of itself.

The Germinal leader finally got him back for being trolled so many times!

If they had not been standing on opposing sides, Han Xiao would have wanted to give a standing ovation for the leader.

How hard did he work? It was too touching!

No plan could always work. There were always unpredictable factors, and now that they had run into this situation, they could only rely on their own strength. All Han Xiao had done up till this point was help himself amass strength. Now, he was standing right in front of the limit of Version 1.0, just a step away from breaking through the LV 60 threshold.

This dangerous situation was also filled with opportunity.

Approximately ten C-class superhumans against thousands of heavily armed elite soldiers and fifty executive offices!

“What more is there to say? Let’s just do it.”

Han Xiao was calm as he turned off the communicator. There was still about half a minute before the two sides would clash, and he used the time to inspect his own status.

Viper still has 61% of energy, about 4,200 armor points, 3,800 health points, which is about 87%; about above-average form.

His mission details showed that [The Ultimate Trial] had reached 815/2000 in completion.

The enemy forces are numerous with very high firepower. Our advantage lies in our individual fighting strength, Han Xiao thought as he hoped that his teammates in the other cars who he had not met would not let him down.

A mission suddenly popped out in the interface.

_____________

You have triggered C Class special mission, [The Traitor’s Ambush]!

Mission Requirements: Defeat the Germinal leader. Must deal at least 60% of the total damage.

Mission Award: Lottery draw on two of the leader’s skills or talents.

_____________

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed when he saw this. At least sixty percent… This won’t be easy.

He had not fought the leader before this, and the leader was a main character on Planet Aquamarine, just like Bennett. He was certainly extremely strong. In his current form, putting aside defeating the leader, Han Xiao might even struggle to shave off a third of his health even if he went all out.

Moreover, there would be countless obstacles in his way on the battlefield. Han Xiao might not even be able to single out the leader. However, despite its high difficulty, the mission reward was very tempting to Han Xiao.

As a main character on the planet, the leader had to have some pretty amazing skills and talents. He might even have the legendary Lucky Halo. It would be like hitting the jackpot if Han Xiao were to get that. However, when he thought about Germinal’s pitiful condition, Han Xiao started to have doubts. Uhm… He should have the Lucky Halo… right?

Then, everyone was pushed back into their seats as the three cars accelerated toward the enemy.

Tang Tang said in a grave voice, “Everyone, ready up!”

…

“This is our chance to take out Zero and the Six Nation’s top fighting force once and for all.”

The leader looked down on the fast approaching cars as he stood on the dune.

He had only had ten or so hours to mobilize these troops, and the heavier vehicles like tanks had been left behind. The main force of the ambush consisted of thousands of foot soldiers who would provide cover fire along with over ten attack helicopters. The dozens of executives behind him and the leader were the trump cards.

“Fire!”

At once, gunfire exploded across the battlefield, sounding like countless thunder strikes. A hail of bullets flew in from all directions, virtually covering all the empty spaces. The rescue team was trapped in the middle like a caged beast. At the same time, a semi-transparent circular force field expanded and covered the three cars. All the attacks landed unceasingly on the energy barrier, causing it to flicker constantly. However, the cars in the center remained unharmed throughout.

The cars continued to move at a high speed, leaving a trail of black smoke as attack after attack landed on them. The large number of mines that were planted in the sands exploded upon contact with the barrier, causing yellow sand to fill the sky. The barrier was growing dimmer by the second.

This barrier came from the inside of the car on the left side at the rear of the group. Under the protection of the barrier, the Six Nations’ forces were able to approach their enemy without taking much damage.

“Ordina’s ‘Azure Protector’ Fazzad.” The Germinal leader was calm. He had an impression of all the top fighters of each nation, and he could pretty much guess their identities just by seeing their powers in action.

The rescue team was about to smash right into enemy formations, but the leader remained unfazed. He sent out some orders, and the Germinal troops repositioned themselves to encircle the cars while keeping a safe distance instead of clashing head-on. He understood that ordinary troops had no chance against a group of extremely powerful superhumans, so he had long been prepared for it.

The cars were soon stuck in the middle of the swarms of Germinal forces, and the leader’s eye flashed. “Let me see. Who else is here?”

“Go!” Diana was the first out of the car and immediately blasted gusts of flame out of her hands toward the surrounding troops. Three of the machine gun nests in her immediate vicinity were turned into raging infernos.

The driver, Alaupog, was a Sanu warrior. People of the Sanu tribe were born with patterned stripes on their skins. These stripes lit up in bright red as Alaupog entered the battle. The stripes snaked around and covered more skin, and his whole body started to grow larger, causing his shirt to rip, eventually allowing him to grow into a four-meter-tall giant. He was like a humanoid tank as he smashed through the Germinal ranks, causing bodies to fly up into the sky along the way.

Aside from these three, the other two people in the car also stepped off to join the fight. One was fully equipped with a heavily armored mechanical suit that made him resemble a rhino. His weapon was a specially-crafted two-handed hammer with rocket boosters built into one end [1. This is similar to Reinhardt’s hammer in Overwatch]. The other newcomer let out an animalistic roar before he summoned a flood of bugs out of the desert ground that tore countless Germinal soldiers into pieces. It was a genuine beast summoning skill, much stronger than Han Xiao’s half-assed [Call of The Wild]. Fazzad also continued to supply his allies with a glowing protective barrier.

The dozens of Germinal executives rushed forward to meet their foe. Although they were up against the best fighters of the Six Nations, they soon turned the battle into a stalemate due to their numerical advantage and impressive teamwork.

The superhumans went all out with their respective abilities and caused chaos in the surrounding battlefield.

Han Xiao dragged the still-recovering Hila out of the car, and he found out that these people were all familiar faces. They were all famous people on Planet Aquamarine.

Each of them was their own nation’s highest fighting force. In the past, players had to earn an astronomical amount of reputation points before they even had a chance to make contact with these NPCs. Now, these powerful characters had all come together, all for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao had truly built up a fearsome influence for himself.

In this war, at least, he was the most significant player.

All the powerful helpers that had appeared up till now had been within the leader’s predictions. He had already made plans for each and every one of them. Although the ambushing force would suffer heavy casualties, it would still be well worth it to be able to eliminate this team of elite fighters.

The leader glanced at Han Xiao, who stood some distance away, and his eyes turned sharp, as if locking on to a prey. With every single step the leader took, his life force gusted out of his body in the form of dark purple flames, and the flames were still increasing in intensity with every step.

He had even dreamed of squashing Han Xiao’s brain himself.

The Germinal leader’s power level was in an unknown territory, and the Six Nations’ forces present all showed a hesitant look on their faces when he approached.

“Can you take care of yourself?” Han Xiao did not even turn his head. If the leader wanted him, he would get him. No matter what, Han Xiao steeled himself as he would not back down from this fight.

“No problem,” said Hila through gritted teeth.

Han Xiao nodded, took a deep breath, and made sure he was in tip-top form before he started to take strides toward the leader. However, suddenly, another burst of monstrous life force could be felt from another side of the battlefield. This new presence suppressed the leader’s life force and took away everyone’s attention!

A familiar figure then stepped out of the last car with a clean-cut hair, heroic facial features, and neatly arranged clothing surrounded by raging white flames.

Bennett!

The Germinal leader was shocked, and his gaze faltered.

Why was the Dark Net’s leading figure part of the rescue team‽

The Germinal leader never would have guessed that the Dark Net leader, who had always been neutral, would step onto the battlefield himself. Bennett was completely outside of his pre-arranged plans for the Six Nations’ forces. With Bennett’s strength alone, there was now no way to know the outcome of this fight. All the previous calculations were useless.

Not only that, four more experts that were not affiliated with the Six Nations stepped out of the car following Bennett. Two of them were elite fighters of the Dark Net and were not any weaker than the Six Nations’ superhumans. The other two were Han Xiao’s acquaintances—Hannes and Vernia, whom he had previously met in Maple. Han Xiao had accepted a secret main story quest line from these two, and they were very grateful to him.

All these powerful people had come in Han Xiao’s aid!

Han Xiao stopped his steps and remarked, “Why are you here? How did you get mixed up into the rescue team?”

Bennett only gave Han Xiao a glance and could not be bothered to reply. He was still mad about Han Xiao not telling him about his secret dual identity beforehand and did not want to talk to him.

Although Dark Net started out with a neutral position when this war first erupted, Bennett realized that the information that Han Xiao had stolen from the Germinal headquarters was key to ending this war.

Bennett had started the Shelter plan to save lives, and now that he had found an opportunity to end the war once and for all, he had finally decided to change his neutrality in this conflict. The Dark Net still had not supplied any resources into this war, but he had come himself, as his own person—with some helpers, of course!

Bennett and his group truly regarded Han Xiao as one of their own! He made this risky move as he had absolute confidence in his own capability; he was publicly acknowledged on Planet Aquamarine as one of the strongest superhumans.

“Leave him to me,” Bennett said as he looked calmly at the Germinal leader. It was as if the bullets that rained down around him were non-existent.

The Germinal leader had a dark look on his face, and he was burning up out of fury from the inside.

Bennett stood right in front of him, seemingly trying to defend Han Xiao no matter what. The leader knew that he would not be able to get to Han Xiao unless he dealt with Bennett first.

“The famous Germinal leader. It is said that not a single person has seen you go all out on the battlefield. Looks like it’s my lucky day today,” Bennett said with a smile on his face, yet his words carried unspeakable strength.

“You think you can touch my people without asking me first‽”

The leader remained silent as his walk turned into a sprint and then into a streak of black afterimages. Bennett also did not show any weakness as he turned into a gust of white flame and clashed with his enemy.

From Han Xiao’s observations, Bennett had triggered [Burning Will]. From his overpowered Lucky Halo, he had definitely gotten the highest quintuple critical on that attack.

Dark purple and white flames struck each other.

Booooom!

The scene looked like hell had broken loose as thunderous explosions sounded around the fight, causing ordinary soldiers to start bleeding from their ears.

It was a showdown between the two of the Planet’s protagonists!