Chapter 588 - Rescue

The moment their feet touched the ground, Tang Wulin and his companions arranged themselves in their usual team formation. Tang Wulin stood at the front along with Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan. Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie guarded the sides. Behind Tang Wulin was Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi stood at the very rear.

“Let’s go. We’re rescuing the civilians,” Tang Wulin said, then led the march toward the train wreckage.

Meanwhile, some of the students from the Imperial Star Luo Academy still hung around in a daze after the vines of grass had dropped them, unable to make sense of the situation. Others trembled in fear. It was clear that this was their first time facing such a crisis.

Among the students present, Tang Wulin was undoubtedly the calmest. He knew that despite the surrounding destruction and debris, Elder Cai, a Hyper Douluo, was still watching over them. As long as she was present, the enemy’s red-grade mecha wouldn’t bother with small fries like them. Furthermore, the enemy’s numbers didn’t scare him one bit. His side also had numerous soul masters and included the mecha squadron sent by the Star Luo Empire. It would be tough, but they would survive this.

The only thing that caused Tang Wulin concern was Mu Ye’s absence. The moment they had reached Star Luo, Mu Ye left, saying he had some matters to take care of and they would meet at Star Luo City. If only Mu Ye were present, then these enemies would be nothing to fear.

After witnessing Mu Ye’s battle, Tang Wulin was certain that equipped with the special skills of the Body Sect, Mu Ye outclassed Elder Cai. In Tang Wulin’s opinion, he was one of the strongest people on the continent of Douluo.

Damn it! Tang Wulin cursed his luck. Why the hell did I have to go and ride a train? This always happens!

It took no time for Tang Wulin and his companions to reach the front of the train. With a burst of golden radiance, golden scales covered his right arm and the right side of his torso. His blood essence roared as he thrust his claw into the wall of the train carriage, then ripped it open.

“There are windows, you know!” Yuanen Yehui shouted, smashing open a nearby window and entering from there instead.

“Xinglan, Zhengyu, and Gu Yue, you three stay outside and guard against any stray attacks. Lizhi and Xiaoyan, you two work together,” said Tang Wlin. “Xie Xie, you’re going in with me and Yuanen to save people.”

Upon entering the train, the trio was greeted with a carriage in absolute disarray, one that had flipped over multiple times. Cups and plates lay shattered on the ground. There were broken windows and even the occasional bloodstain.

Tang Wulin quickly located a pair of wounded people by the cry of their voices. He carried them out swiftly but gently. Then his companions standing outside the carriage received the wounded, rushing them away from the wreckage.

By then, the students of the Imperial Soul Master Academy had snapped back to their senses and hurried over to lend a hand.

Before they reached Tang Wulin’s group, however, numerous soul cannon shells penetrated their defensive line, flying toward their location.

“Incoming cannon shells!” shouted one of the girls from the Imperial Star Luo Academy.

A flash of silver, and Gu Yue teleported from the ground to the roof of the train carriage. Her four soul rings sped around her in circles as she lifted her Elemental Staff into the air. She let out a burst of resplendent light. Dozens of blazing blue fireballs formed, floating about before shooting out to intercept the cannon shells.

Ye Xinglan also leaped onto the roof of the carriage, standing guard for Gu Yue. Her knuckles glowed white as she gripped her Stargod Sword.

The cannon shells exploded above ground. The resulting boom resounded through the air, accompanied by powerful shockwaves.

Specks of starlight came together to weave a giant net in front of Gu Yue and Ye Xinglan, protecting them from the blast.

A moment later, Yue Zhengyu also climbed up to the carriage roof, a tad late to the party. Together, the three of them stood shoulder to shoulder and prepared to intercept any more stray shells.

Gu Yue waved her Elemental Staff like it was a soul cannon, unleashing wave after wave of powerful elemental attacks. The mightiest were her azure fireballs. On the other hand, her wind blades reached the furthest of her attacks, and her icicles possessed the most penetrating power. While her elemental attacks were a perfect defense against the cannon shells, some soul beams slipped through occasionally. When that happened, Ye Xinglan and Yue Zhengyu were ready to intercept.

“On to the left!” Tang Wulin shouted. The three on the top instantly turned to the left, signaling to the others that this carriage was cleared.

“Let’s help them rescue civilians,” said the captain of the Imperial Star Luo Academy team. They quickly added their manpower to Tang Wulin’s team and transported wounded people to a safer location.

Meanwhile, the battle in the air grew more and more intense. Red and white streaks collided repeatedly high in the sky. A myriad of colors bloomed each time these two peak-level experts clashed. As for the rest of the battlefield, the situation was quite dire.

It was clear that the enemies were highly prepared. They possessed great firepower and powerful mechas. Not only was there a red-grade mecha, but there were also eight black-grade mechas, over thirty purple-grade mechas, and over a hundred yellow-grade mechas. This strike force possessed ferocious strength.

The mecha squadron from the Star Luo Empire was strong, but they could not compare with the enemy in both quantity and quality. The best they could do currently was block a portion of the barrage of soul cannons. Thankfully, the diplomatic members of the Douluo delegation had seven soul masters, each with at least seven soul rings, who could contribute to the defensive.

Even so, those could not even hold a candle to Wu Zhangkong equipped with his Sky Ice battle armor. In the sky, he weaved in and out of combat, wielding a gigantic Skyfrost Sword to intercept numerous attacks heading toward his students.

The current situation didn’t afford them the leeway to launch a counterattack. All of their manpower was busy defending the civilians still left in the train. The bombardment they faced filled the surrounding area with massive energy fluctuations.

A single cannon shell finally penetrated their defensive line and hit a carriage a distance away from Tang Wulin’s group. It exploded, debris flying everywhere and flames swallowing it whole. The surrounding carriages shook from the resulting blastwave.

By now, Tang Wulin’s team had managed to rescue tens of people.

“Wulin, I don’t think we can hold on much longer. You need to come out quickly!” Gu Yue shouted to them from the roof of the carriage.

Several of the mechas from the Star Luo Empire’s squadron had been destroyed. This put their side at a further disadvantage, and they were slowly being pushed further and further back.

Although the enemy’s hawklike red-grade mecha was weaker than Elder Cai, it possessed tremendous speed that made up for the gap between them. Using that speed, it launched precise attacks that denied Elder Cai the room to divert attention to other fronts of battle. She couldn’t afford to bring this battle, one between two peak-level experts, anywhere near the ground lest she risk massive collateral damage.

Tang Wulin brought out another two civilians from the train carriage. With those two people rescued, there were five carriages left to go through. If they turned tail and fled now, their survival would be guaranteed considering their strength. However, all the people still stuck in the train would die!

Tang Wulin glanced at the sky, then shouted, “Everybody, prepare to retreat!” As he spoke, he rummaged through his coat pocket and fiddled with something. Then despite his own orders for retreat, he rushed back into the train.

Soon, enemy mechas rushed toward the defensive line. The enemies had long since completely suppressed the delegation’s side with ranged attacks. Now some were enjoying superiority in numbers by engaging in close combat.

Before such overwhelming military might, Wu Zhangkong made a grim face and said, “Retreat with the wounded first!” Following that, his battle armor shone bright, the rays of light enveloping him like a swirling blizzard. His giant Skyfrost Sword flared with blue radiance and drew in icy blue specks of light from the surroundings.