A cold, heavy fog billowed from every corner of the park, swallowing the landscape.
The jagged outlines of the trees, barely discernible a moment ago, instantly blurred into gray smudges.
Amidst the sudden, eerie silence, the Doctor’s terminal emitted a harsh buzz.
A red warning light flashed rapidly against the gloom.
A synthesized electronic voice reported without emotion: “Status update: Enemy aerial units have entered visual range.
Warning: All friendly reconnaissance drone signals lost.” “No good!
Get down!” The piercing whine of engines cut through the mist.
Reunion Movement drones descended rapidly from the fog-shrouded sky, their targeting lasers cutting through the white haze.
Instructor Dobermann’s pupils contracted.
She twisted her body, barking orders at the squad members behind her.
“Everyone!
Take cover!
Hide under the trees!” Ivan groaned, his vision swimming.
“Am I…
back?” Having just been violently expelled from the Minecraft world, he still felt the lingering, nauseating dizziness of being kicked away by Him.
The dense fog and the deafening noise of the drones made it difficult to distinguish between illusion and reality.
His eyes remained unfocused, the world spinning in slow motion.
Just as he stood there in a daze, a burly figure lunged at him.
Ace did not say a word.
His massive hand clamped down on the back of Ivan’s neck like an iron vice, carrying an irresistible force.
At the same time, his other hand shoved hard against Ivan’s shoulder, driving his entire body down into the wet mud and decaying leaves.
“Ivan!
What are you staring at?” Ace roared over the whine of the drones.
“Get down!” Ivan’s face smashed into the cold dirt.
“Holy crap!” A dense barrage of bullets tore into the area where the Rhodes Island squad had just been standing.
The tracer rounds cut deadly streaks of light through the thick fog, chewing up the earth and shredding the tree bark.
The immense noise and flying debris forced everyone to press themselves flat against the ground, completely pinned down.
The strafing lasted only a few terrifying seconds.
When the roar of the drone engines finally shifted, signaling they were banking in another direction, Ace raised his head.
He scanned the obscured surroundings with sharp, vigilant eyes.
The thick fog and the frantic suppressive fire had completely shattered their formation.
“Damn it,” Ace cursed under his breath.
He instantly read the enemy’s tactical intention.
“Suppressive fire.
Their goal is to split us up!” He quickly checked his immediate vicinity.
Only Ivan, whom he was still holding down, and a handful of other operators were within arm’s reach.
The Doctor, Amiya, and the rest of the squad had completely vanished into the swirling white mist.
Ace hauled the dazed Ivan to his feet, speaking in a rapid, hushed tone.
“Listen, Ivan, stick close to me.” Before he could finish the sentence, Ivan’s entire demeanor shifted.
The moment the words “split up” registered in his ears, the lingering dizziness vanished.
His eyes sharpened.
The fragmented pieces of the plot instantly connected in his mind.
The Doctor was separated.
Crownslayer was out there.
And Mephisto—just the thought of that smug face made Ivan’s fists itch.
He violently wrenched his arm out of Ace’s grip.
Without a single second of hesitation, he charged directly into the densest wall of fog, sprinting in the exact opposite direction of Ace’s rally point.
“What are you doing?!” Ace’s heart sank.
“Damn it!” Ivan gritted his teeth, his boots tearing through the wet grass as he ran blindly through the mist.
“You like to show off, huh?
Today, I’m going to make you fly.” “Hey!
Ivan!
Come back!
Obey orders!” Ace’s anxious shout echoed from behind.
The veteran operator tried to give chase, but Ivan’s speed was completely unnatural, instantly widening the gap between them.
Ivan skidded to a halt in the thick fog and glanced back over his shoulder.
The mist obscured his features, but his voice carried clearly.
“Ace, the Doctor is in danger!
Don’t worry, I’m very strong.” “This has nothing to do with how strong you are!” Ace bellowed, his voice laced with genuine panic.
“Didn’t we agree that I would watch over you?!
Also, how do you know the Doctor is in dan—” Before the word “danger” even finished echoing, Ivan’s figure vanished completely into the white void.
A short distance away, Crownslayer knelt in the dirt, her blade pressed firmly against the Doctor’s throat, pinning him to the ground.
She glared down at the Rhodes Island tactician, her eyes cold and demanding.
“I’m looking for someone.
Tell me everything you know.” The blade inched closer.
“Spill everything in your head!” The Doctor gasped for air, struggling against her weight.
“I…
don’t know.
I don’t know anything.” “Heh.” A frivolous, theatrical sneer interrupted the interrogation, slithering out from the thick fog like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
“This should be my assigned area, Crownslayer.” A figure stepped leisurely out of the mist, stopping just behind Crownslayer.
It was a white-haired youth, a wicked, overly sweet smile playing on his lips.
Mephisto.
“I recall that all individual actions must be reported to me, correct?” Mephisto tilted his head, his tone dripping with condescension.
“Crownslayer.
However…” A sharp whistling sound cut through the air.
An Ender Pearl shot out from the dense fog, leaving a faint trail of purple particles in its wake.
It struck the ground mere inches from Crownslayer’s boots with a crisp, glassy shatter.
“Let him go!” The air imploded.
Ivan materialized out of thin air, his leg already sweeping forward in a brutal, high-speed kick.
He channeled every ounce of frustration from being booted out of his Minecraft server directly into his heel.
Crownslayer’s combat instincts were terrifyingly sharp.
The moment the purple particles flared, her muscles tensed.
She abandoned her grip on the Doctor, crossing both arms over her ribs just in time to take the full force of Ivan’s strike.
A heavy, dull thud echoed through the clearing.
Crownslayer was sent skidding backward uncontrollably, her boots plowing two deep trenches into the muddy earth.
She retreated a full eight meters before finally grinding to a halt, her arms screaming with a sharp, tingling pain.
She stared at the newcomer, shock flickering in her eyes.
What kind of monstrous physical strength was that?
“Blocked it?” Ivan landed lightly on his feet, furrowing his brow.
“Tsk.
As expected, not just some random minion I can instantly kill.” He flexed his leg, feeling a slight strain in his own muscles.
The Steve combat techniques the system had hardwired into his brain were flawless, but his current physical vessel was still lagging behind.
[Brain: I’ve learned it.
Body: No no no, you haven’t.] Dismissing the glowing blue text in his vision, Ivan turned and extended a hand to the Doctor, who was currently struggling to sit up in the mud.
“Doctor, are you alright?” The Doctor stared blankly at the hand, then up at Ivan.
His tactical mind was entirely frozen.
“Ivan?
You…
how did you…?” He could not process the spatial impossibility of how the boy had just appeared.
“Doctor, get behind me.” Ivan’s gaze locked onto Crownslayer, who had already shifted back into a low combat stance, and Mephisto, whose arrogant smile had morphed into an expression of playful curiosity.
“I’ll explain the magic tricks later.
For now, the important thing is them.” Ivan cracked his neck.
“They are Reunion Movement cadres.” As he spoke, Ivan reached out, making a casual grasping motion in the empty air.
Pixels gathered, solidifying instantly into an ancient-looking katana.
The scabbard was a dark, bruised purplish-black, looking as though it had been soaked in dried blood for centuries.
Ivan glanced down at the weapon ‘gifted’ by Him.
Blade of Slaughter.
Ivan’s eyes widened slightly, and he almost fumbled the hilt.
‘Holy crap?
Blade of Slaughter?
No, this isn’t dark enough.
This is just pure edge.’ “Doctor!
Ivan!” Amiya’s voice, breathless and laced with sheer panic, finally pierced the fog.
A second later, she broke through the treeline.
Instructor Dobermann, Ace, and several battered Rhodes Island operators spilled out of the mist right behind her.
“They are Reunion Movement cadres,” the Doctor warned, quickly falling back toward his team.
The Rhodes Island operators instantly fanned out, forming a defensive perimeter behind Ivan and the Doctor, their weapons raised and trained on the two Reunion leaders.
“Ivan!
Listen to me!” Ace stepped forward, his breathing heavy.
“Although everyone miraculously survived the bombing, many are injured, and seriously so.
Don’t be impulsive.” Dobermann moved up beside him, her voice carrying the absolute, icy rationality of a field commander.
“Ivan!
Impulsiveness won’t solve the problem.
Our primary goal is to escape this danger.
Get out of here and find a safe location for treatment.” Ivan opened his mouth to reply, but a slow, mocking clap echoed across the clearing.
“Oh my, oh my~ It seems our guests have all arrived, haven’t they?” Every weapon instantly shifted toward the sound.
Mephisto took a slow, elegant step forward, the wicked smile on his face stretching even wider.
“Although it’s a bit late for formal introductions now, but…” He raised his chin, his crimson eyes sweeping lazily over the bleeding, exhausted Rhodes Island operators before finally settling on Ivan.
“My name is Mephisto.
I am a Reunion Movement cadre, and for now, the…
‘host’ of this area.” He tilted his head, his tone light and sickeningly sweet.
“Since everyone is so ‘lively’ today, how about…
we play a fun game?” Ivan stared at the white-haired boy.
His grip tightened on the hilt of the Blade of Slaughter.
‘You’re putting on a show, you [Lungmen profanity]!’Ivan felt his eye twitch.
He couldn’t take it.
Not even a little bit.
He absolutely despised arrogant NPCs who thought they controlled the cutscene.’You’re putting on a show, you son of a bitch.
Today, I’m going to make you fly.’ [Rhodes’s Note: Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?
(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!
to use the links!)