BXBX NOVEL Chapter 199: Airdrop
Chapter 199: Airdrop
The dove circled around in the air for a while following the departure of Adam's team, then flew away from the scene.
On the other side, the severely wounded technomancer informed Oni no Miko of what the dove had seen.
"Mistress Miko, that team has left the supply point. Should we follow them?"
"No. Leave them be for now." Oni no Miko's complexion was rather pale. Every time she invoked Yamata no Orochi, she would always suffer from an extended period of fatigue. "That clown anomaly hasn't sustained much damage.
“If we go after them in our current state, even if we manage to win, it'll be a very hard battle. If we run into any other strong teams or artificial anomalies after that, we'll be in a lot of trouble. There's too much risk involved in that course of action, so let's prioritize recuperation and resource collection for now."
Oni no Miko's team was in an even worse situation than Adam's team.
Over on Adam's side, Mummy was in terrible condition, but Clown, King Arthur, and Nie Yiyi were all relatively unscathed.
In contrast, Diamond was in a weakened state, the Technomancer Tiger was severely wounded, the Shelled Tiger had been poisoned, and Oni no Miko had expended an enormous amount of psychic power.
"If I have to invoke Yamata no Orochi again in a short time, I'll drop dead on the spot." Oni no Miko cast her gaze toward the distance as she said, "Let's collect some resources and see if we can find any psychic power recovery cards. All of you have to tend to your injuries as well."
"Fuck!" At this point, Diamond had already returned to his human form, yet even in this form, he had still lost a lot of weight. "We had them backed into a corner before that bitch got involved! And those four mecha idiots as well! I'm going to make them regret ever standing up to us!"
Diamond was furious at Medusa and the four mecha brothers, particularly because he had fallen prey to the trap they had set for him.
"Don't get agitated. They may have gotten lucky once, but there's no way they'll be in luck every time."
After taking a moment to catch her breath, Oni no Miko and her team departed in a different direction from Adam's team.
The zone hadn't shrunk down very significantly yet, so it was still possible for the two teams to completely avoid one another.
……
At this point, Adam's team had already traveled several kilometers away from the supply point. Everyone was moving very quickly, and they were wasting no time.
Adam had fused as one with Nun, so he was able to keep up with the rest of the team, albeit not very convincingly.
Following the battle in Sithu's psychic world, all of his other anomalies had become stronger. Even though the majority of the anomalic power yielded by Sithu's anomalies had been devoured by Raven, some of it was still left behind for Adam's anomalies.
Most of the anomalies in Sithu's psychic world had been level three anomalies, and their anomalic power didn't have much of an effect on Mummy, but it was a great source of nourishment for all of Adam's other anomalies.
"Is this the best form that you can maintain right now?" King Arthur asked as he took a glance at Adam.
He could tell that Adam was struggling to keep up.
"Unfortunately, yes. Maintaining a fusion with Clown is too taxing, so this is the only form I can use right now."
"I see. We'll be fine as long as we don't run into any particularly powerful teams. I'll act as the spearhead of the team for now." King Arthur nodded in response, following which a thought suddenly occurred to him. "By the way, what did Medusa say to you earlier?"
Nie Yiyi immediately perked up slightly upon hearing King Arthur's question.
"All she told me is that Oni no Miko may not be as powerful as we imagine, and that there's a good chance she would've severely overexerted herself after invoking Yamata no Orochi."
"Doesn't that mean this is a great opportunity for us to strike back?" While sitting in the mouth of King Arthur's dragon steed, Hook was fiddling with a compass-like device that was measuring the distance between everyone and the boundaries of the zone. "Everyone else on her team is injured or weakened. If she's severely overexerted herself as well, perhaps this is the most vulnerable their team will ever be!"
King Arthur patted his dragon steed on the back upon hearing this, and Diana immediately drew to an abrupt halt, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
"You're right! Should we go back then?"
"It's too risky. What Medusa said was only a theory." Nie Yiyi also stopped in her tracks as she considered the feasibility of turning back. "If she's wrong, then we'll be shooting ourselves in the foot if we turn back now. Also, even if she's right, as long as Oni no Miko is able to summon that serpent again, we'll be no match for her, considering she has Diamond on her side. I think it's better for us to wait until the very end and try and capitalize on the chaos to strike at them instead."
"I agree." As a certified coward, Hook was always in approval of the courses of action that would avoid direct confrontations. "Why would we face in a one-on-one battle when we're clearly weaker than them? We should wait until the zone shrinks to the point that everyone is forced to come together. Just like Yiyi said, it's far better for us to try and take advantage of the chaos of the final free-for-all battle.
“With everyone gathered together, the situation will be way more favorable for us. Remember Eyeless? I'm sure he'll be able to survive to the very end. On top of that, I heard that he's always picking fights with the most powerful opponents he can find. Once Oni no Miko summons Yamata no Orochi again, he'll be sure to challenge her! When that time comes, all we have to do is sit on the sidelines and watch them battle it out!"
King Arthur was swayed by Hook's reasoning, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little exasperated.
"Why are you always thinking about these underhanded tricks?"
"Because I'm weak! For powerful adapters like yourself, you're always thinking about contests of power, whereas weaklings like me are always thinking about strategy." Despite referring to himself as a weakling, Hook seemed to be a little proud as he made this declaration. "For me, every battle that I've won since I left the academy has been an underdog story, and all of the enemies I've beaten have been far more powerful than myself!"
"You know what? You're right!"
Hook's first-ever battle outside of Layton Academy was against the scarecrow anomaly, which was either a peak level four anomaly or a level five anomaly that was on the slightly weaker side. At the time, Adam and his friends had been far weaker than the scarecrow anomaly, yet they had still managed to come out on top, and they had done so by relying on the environment and the assistance of Deranged Pig.
"Compared with how much more powerful than us the scarecrow anomaly was back then, the power gap between us and Oni no Miko right now is nothing!"
"You're right!" Nie Yiyi also recalled that battle after being reminded by Adam. "We have way better chances now than we did back then!"
"It sounds like you've endured some very hard battles together," King Arthur remarked as he patted his dragon steed, instructing it to continue on its way. "I look forward to seeing you beat the odds again."
With that, the team progressed onward, and they soon arrived at the next supply point under Hook's guidance.
However, all of the cards in this supply point were already gone, and there were some signs of battle on the scene. It was clear that they had been too late.
However, right as they were about to depart from the supply point, a fleet of supersonic planes suddenly flew across the sky, dropping a series of loot crates that fell out of the sky with parachutes attached to them.