fantasy novels Chapter 54: Surrounded, the 3rd Squad Arrives to Reinforce
Chapter 54: Surrounded, the 3rd Squad Arrives to Reinforce
Lin Rui's hand had already reached for the emergency communicator at his waist.
The movement was minimal, just two fingers pressing down. The channel connection notification tone only vibrated once in the eardrum; those outside couldn't hear it.
"This is the Dragon Guard Sixth Squad, located east of the S-level node plaza in the Jiangnan District. We have been surrounded by the Imperial Gate Fifth Squad, which has about twenty members. We request support from the nearest unit."
He spoke quickly, but enunciated each word clearly. It was the fundamental skill of tactical communication, something they practiced relentlessly from their very first day in the Dragon Guard.
There was a three-second silence on the channel.
Then a female voice came in, not loud, with a hoarse tone as if just pulled out of sleep.
"Third squad received. Coordinates confirmed."
Ling Shuang.
Lin Rui's back relaxed a little, but only a little. The old grudge between the Third Squad and the Imperial Gate was widely known within the Dragon Guard system.
Six months ago, the Royal Clan deliberately delayed their support during a joint dungeon raid, causing the third squad's off-tank to be focused down during the BOSS's transition phase and nearly killed on the spot.
Afterwards, the Imperial Guard completely shirked responsibility, and the Dragon Guard investigated for two months but failed to obtain any concrete evidence.
Ling Shuang has never mentioned this matter in any public setting.
But after that, the third squad never spoke a word to the people of the Imperial Gate again.
"Estimated arrival time?" Lin Rui asked in a low voice.
"Seven minutes," Ling Shuang replied crisply. "Hold on."
Communication was lost.
Seven minutes.
Lin Rui put the communicator back on his waist and looked at Wang Ting again.
The opposing team of over twenty people had already formed a battle formation, with four heavily armored melee fighters positioned on the two flanks in the front row, two mages and an archer standing in the middle, and others applying buffs to their weapons in the back row.
A standard hunting formation.
"Have you decided yet?" Wang Ting's question sounded quite casual, as if he were asking him what he wanted to eat for lunch.
Lin Rui didn't answer. He tilted his head and made a hand gesture to his teammates behind him.
Meng Bai and Deputy Tank Zheng Yuan stepped forward simultaneously, blocking the front of the team from the left and right.
Meng Bai raised his heavy shield, and Zheng Yuan lifted his long-handled warhammer. Han Sheng took two steps back, and a dark red light rose from the tip of his staff.
Qin Lu drew her arrow and nocked it, while Song Tangtang retreated to the back and began applying HOT (Heal Over Time) effects to the entire team.
The fighting stances of the six people.
Wang Ting looked at the formation and shook his head.
"Alright."
He raised his hand.
The archer on the right wing was the first to make a move. The arrow pierced the air, heading straight for Lin Rui's face.
Qin Lu reacted even faster. Her arrow was fired 0.3 seconds earlier than the archer's, but it wasn't aimed at the archer—she was aiming at Wang Ting.
The arrow hit its mark accurately.
It hit Wang Ting's helmet.
It bounced off.
The sound of metal clashing was crisp and short; the arrow flew off course a long way, bouncing twice on the ground before coming to a stop. Qin Lu's critical strike arrow hadn't even pierced the armor?!
Lin Rui's pupils contracted slightly.
He stared at the spot on Wang Ting's helmet where the arrow had slid, but no trace had been left.
Even if a gold-tier critical strike arrow deals low damage to a dark gold-tier helmet, it will at least leave a scratch and cause a small amount of durability loss.
But that arrow just now didn't even cause a fluctuation in durability.
This set of equipment is of far superior quality to the legendary items.
wrong.
Lin Rui glanced at the equipment worn by the twenty-odd members of the Royal Clan within the encirclement. Black armor with silver patterns, dark blue silver inlays at the seams, and the ridges on the shoulder armor had a style unlike anything found in the secret realms of China.
The equipment style of the White Eagle Empire.
He had seen this design in the intelligence briefings of the Dragon Guard. The equipment produced in the high-level secret realms monopolized by the White Eagle Empire had very obvious characteristics in appearance: the metal material was in a cool color tone, the energy lines were exposed, and the overall design was more offensive than defensive.
The people from the Royal Gate were wearing equipment purchased from the White Eagle Empire.
One set per person.
More than twenty people, all dressed in dark gold, possibly even with higher-quality accessories mixed in. This sum adds up to at least tens of millions of star coins. A month ago, Wang Ting himself said he spent eight million to buy two pages of intelligence; at the time it sounded like he was showing off, but now it seems that eight million was just a drop in the bucket.
"Something's not right," Lin Rui said in a low voice to the person behind him.
Meng Bai also noticed. "Imported goods."
The two words sum it up very accurately.
Wang Ting dusted off his helmet. "Finished testing?"
The person behind him moved.
Instead of charging in all at once, they compressed the encirclement from both flanks simultaneously.
The four melee fighters in the front row split into two groups, one targeting Meng Bai and the other Zheng Yuan. The mage in the middle row began casting a spell, and the archer fired three suppression arrows in succession, all landing near Qin Lu's feet, forcing her to move.
Lin Rui's heart sank.
Wang Ting's actions were not spur-of-the-moment. Blocking the road, setting a price, applying pressure, and then taking action—this entire process was premeditated from beginning to end.
This is the only advantage for the six teams.
"Drag it out," Lin Rui said, uttering only one word.
Meng Bai and Zheng Yuan understood each other perfectly. Both shields deployed simultaneously, blocking the front of the team. Han Sheng's spells no longer focused on damage, but instead created slowing zones on the ground. Song Tangtang's healing chains were applied to the two tanks, with mana consumption and regeneration remaining roughly equal.
We can't beat them, but we're not completely unable to withstand them either.
The melee fighter in front of the royal gate collided with Meng Bai's shield. Meng Bai was pushed back half a meter, his boots scraping two white marks on the ground.
The difference in strength is undeniable and cannot be bridged by skill. The strength bonus from the Dark Gold equipment makes the opponent's ordinary melee physical attack output almost equal to the full-power burst of a peak B-rank character.
Zheng Yuan was having an even harder time. His warhammer parried the first blow, but the second slash came from the side, cutting a gash in his shoulder armor. The gold-grade shoulder armor was torn apart by the dark gold weapon as if it were made of paper.
Song Tangtang's treatment is progressing well, and her wound is healing. However, the blue bar is dropping faster than expected.
"Is there enough blue?" Lin Ruige parried a long sword that was slashing at him, then used a backhand sword to force the opponent back, and turned his head to shout.
"Three minutes," Song Tangtang said, her throat tightening.
Three minutes of mana, seven minutes of support.
There was a four-minute difference.
Lin Rui clenched his teeth.
Wang Ting stood at the back watching, not personally participating. He wasn't in a hurry; these greenhorns from the Sixth Team couldn't do anything special.
With overwhelming equipment and sheer numbers, they can wear you down.
The second wave of attacks was even more ruthless than the first.
The royal mage finished casting, and two ice-based control spells slammed into Meng Bai's feet. Frost spread along the ground, reducing his movement speed by more than half. Taking advantage of the moment, the archer switched to armor-piercing arrows and fired three arrows in quick succession, aiming at the seams of Meng Bai's shield.
The second arrow pierced through.
An arrow pierced Meng Bai's left arm, blood trickling down the seams of his armor. Song Tangtang immediately applied healing, but her hands trembled. Not from fear, but from the rapidly increasing numbers on the blue bar; each heal was a calculation of how much longer he could hold on.
Han Sheng aimed his staff at the ice mage and fired a fireball, but it was deflected by the mage's shield without even creating a bubble. The dark gold shield's reduction against gold-level spells was too high; the damage was like a tickle.
"You guys are really tough." Wang Ting finally took a few steps forward from behind.
He drew a one-handed hammer from his waist. Dark blue energy patterns flowed across the surface of the hammerhead.
Produced by White Eagle Empire.
When Lin Rui saw the hammer, the last shred of hope in his chest vanished. Wang Ting himself was an upper-middle-tier A-level fighter, and with the added boost from his imported dark gold equipment, his individual output was enough to tear apart the defenses of six teams.
"This is the last time." Wang Ting raised the hammer and pointed the hammerhead in Meng Bai's direction. "Put down the equipment, and you can leave."
Lin Rui gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.
He did not answer Wang Ting's question.
He counted in seconds.
I don't know how much time has passed since the communication was established.
"Everyone, retreat!" Lin Rui ordered. The six men huddled together back to back, their shields stacked like a low wall. Han Sheng abandoned his attack, channeling all his magic into a defensive magic array. Qin Lu sheathed his bow, drew his short sword, and guarded the gaps on the flanks.
Wang Ting scoffed as he looked at the six of them huddled together.
"Stubborn to the end."
He raised the hammer.
In the distance, from the passageway on the west side of the square, came the sound of metal striking the ground. It was rhythmic. The sound of a gun butt hitting the ground.