Volume 1: The Wheel of Fate Chapter 8: Mutation in Progress

  Li Ang never thought he would take on the task of being attacked by direct-fire artillery, let alone that the reward for this task was just some bottle caps. Even after arriving in another world, his luck still hadn't changed, and it seemed as though the Goddess of Fortune had never favored him.

  Of course he didn't have the awareness to die for two bottle caps, and he crawled all the way to a huge rock that looked exceptionally solid and could completely defend against cannon fire.

  It's clear that Li Ang isn't the only one who wants to hide, as Lamei Jin and Sakura are already here. It seems these two people have no intention of coming out to fight, with Jin leisurely wiping his armor with a completely nonchalant expression, while even Sakura, a girl, doesn't seem very flustered and occasionally sticks her head out to take a look at the situation below.

  Judging from the number and firepower of the enemy, Li Ang had already lost all confidence, and annihilation was only a matter of time. Of course, not everyone gave up, and Reed above still fired his rifle non-stop with one hand.

  Seeing things can't be done, Li Ang is not so tense after all. It seems that he was greedy and didn't do a good job as a lizard hunter, but instead became a bounty hunter. He was foolish to believe that Jin, who only cared about money and not his life, had no danger, and was deceived into this situation by the bottle cap. Thinking of this made him feel resentful, but it seems that this old fox has already had an escape route, and for now, he might have to follow this guy to survive.

  "This is a completely risk-free mission, how can I believe the words of an old miser who swallows people without spitting out bones?" Looking at Jin Liang who was still maintaining his armor, he felt like he was about to go crazy.

  "Haha." Lame Jin laughed completely without a care, utterly disregarding Li Ang's evaluation.

  It must have been too stimulating for this old man to bear, and he finally went crazy. Looking at the triumphant smile of the crippled Jin Liang, his heart suddenly realized this point. Is it really going to end here? He couldn't help but think of Xiaoxue's prophecy yesterday and the miserable state of Jin at that time. If he wasn't completely no match for Jin now, he would have pulled this despicable old man out of his armor and beaten him up severely.

  The Killer Bees' firepower completely suppressed the firepower on Li Ang's side, as none of them were equipped with flash hiders. Any point of fire became a target for the cannon fire from the hovercraft. Only Red, who was hiding in a high place, was still well hidden, and the muzzle flashes from his rifle shooting were not conspicuous against the background of the burning No. 1 car. However, it was impossible to turn the situation around with just one Type 14 rifle, and Li Ang, who was hiding behind a boulder, even thought that the best way out was to run away when the Killer Bees launched an all-out attack downstairs.

  But sometimes a single rifle can bring variables to the battlefield. When Li Ang felt that the interval between the Killer Bee's cannon fire was getting longer and longer, he dared to pop out his head to check the situation. With Red's gunshot, Li Ang saw that the gunner on the hovercraft in the distance had fallen down with a loud thud. What kind of eyesight is this? At present, Li Ang can only see the rough shape of what seems to be an anti-tank cannon or a direct-fire cannon on the head of the hovercraft. This distance is at least over 100 meters, which is almost the maximum shooting range of the Type 14 rifle. Having used rifles before, Li Ang knew how big the error margin was at this distance.

  Li Ang gazed at Reed with a look of admiration, especially his eyes. Suddenly, he seemed to be able to see through people, and Li Ang could clearly see that the structure of Reed's eyes was very different from ordinary people, not only did his eyes seem strange, but also his ears and eardrums. Was it an illusion? Looking at Jin beside him again, Li Ang confirmed that he had an illusion, Jin was completely normal as usual.

  How could he have such a strange illusion of seeing other people's peculiar structure? As Li Ang thought about Reed's eyes and earlobe's strange structure, another wave of full-body weakness surged up, exactly the same as when Blank stared at him. Not only that, but this time it was also accompanied by a severe headache and dizziness, and Li Ang fell to the ground with a tilt of his head.

  When Li Ang woke up again, he was already helped up by Jin. Looking at Li Ang who seemed to be too tense, Jin finally spoke out to comfort him: "Don't worry, if we go any further, things won't be under our control anymore. You'll understand in a while why I said this mission is definitely not dangerous."

  First, it was hallucinations and then complete physical weakness, Li Ang felt that he had probably reached the edge of mental collapse. Looking again at Jin and Raid, they didn't seem to have any differences at all, and he couldn't see any of the strange structures he had discovered earlier. The only thing that made Li Ang curious was that his eyesight seemed to have improved after his dizziness, even to the point where it was hard for him to adapt. He could now clearly see the killer bees that were originally hidden in the darkness preparing to charge again.

  Originally hoping to annihilate the enemy with cannon fire, the Killer Bees had no choice but to admit that a sniper on the mountain was too formidable. Anyone who approached the artillery could hardly last a minute, so they had no choice but to rely on their own strength to eliminate the enemy.

  Just as Jin was about to speak, Rock's crazy shouting attracted everyone's attention. It turned out that due to their large size, the super mutants couldn't use ordinary weapons, and their thick fingers were unable to pull the trigger of regular guns. Earlier, after running out of bullets, Lock had been hiding behind a car without a suitable weapon, and the frenzied attack by the killer bee warriors left everyone at a loss. In just a short while, over a dozen people charged into the defensive line where Blank and others were hiding, and Rock's massive body was an obvious target.

  Even a super mutant with steel plating can't withstand the direct fire of close-range assault weapons, let alone one equipped with Killer Bee. Although they don't seem to be fatal, the various caliber guns still leave the giant covered in wounds all over his body. Enraged by pain, the super mutant goes berserk and charges into the crowd of Killer Bees empty-handed.

  The sudden ambush threw the Killer Bees' warriors into disarray. Most of them, who were using 9-series small-caliber submachine guns, couldn't inflict fatal injuries on Lock, and instead ended up hurting many of their own people in the chaotic shooting. Lock somehow managed to grab a rocket launcher from someone, and in his pain-induced madness, he started wielding it like a giant club, swinging wildly at the crowd. The massive force behind each swing sent shattered bodies flying, accompanied by splatters of blood. It was as if he had become a giant, golden statue, illuminated by the flames, and Lock clearly saw that some riders were crushed by his blows, their entire chests caving in, before they could even spit out blood.

  After knocking down several enemies, Lock's rocket launcher also transformed. The giant immediately pulled over an air-cushion motorcycle from the side and used it as a weapon. Even the fearless killer bees were deeply shocked by this move and fled to both sides.

  As they watched their own weapons fail to stop the super mutant monster, the Killer Bee riders retreated to both sides, while those farther away pulled out heavy artillery. Seeing the charging enemy being suppressed, everyone felt a great relief and fought back vigorously. Li Ang clearly saw that from Red's hand, his gun immediately aimed at the Killer Bee warriors who were about to fire, and with a flash of fire on one side, a small hole appeared in the center of the shooter's eyebrows, and when the bullet came out of the back of the head, it became a bowl-sized wound.

  Of course, Li Ang suddenly discovered that too good eyesight wasn't all advantages. He could now clearly see the miserable appearance of enemies being shot by Red's rifle. Most attacks were to the head, some shattered skull fragments still attached to the scalp didn't fly out and quivered, yellowish-white brain matter sprayed out in a fan shape from the hole at the back due to sudden pressure, and the poor guy behind him was immediately covered all over with sticky tissue.

  Even though Redd, who was responsible for covering them, shot and killed several people who pulled out rocket launchers to fire, there were just too many Killer Bees, and two rockets streaked towards Locke with tails of flame.

  If it weren't for the fact that he had inexplicably arrived in a strange world and seen one bizarre phenomenon after another, Li Ang would have probably thought he was hallucinating again. Just as Luo Ke was about to be hit by the rocket propelled grenade, something unexpected happened - the person next to Blank, named Otto, suddenly accelerated at an unimaginable speed, leaving behind a long trail of afterimages. The two incoming rockets were deflected by Otto and shot off in different directions.

  How could anyone have this speed, Li Ang suddenly realized that he might have a kind of ability to discover why. He concentrated his mind and tried to observe the situation on Otto's body as clearly as he had seen the structure of Reed's eyes just now, and as Li Ang judged, Otto indeed had a different place from ordinary people. Li Ang clearly saw countless tiny electric currents that were not transmitted through Otto's nervous system, but directly reached the effective part in an arc shape from outside his body. Just when Li Ang was about to observe carefully, a thorough feeling of powerlessness made him faint again.

  For Li Ang's second fainting, Jin the cripple understood it this way: The little brat was trying to pretend to be dead in a very foolish manner. Thinking of this, he roughly threw Li Ang onto the ground.

  Facing the dozen or so people rushing towards him, Otto was able to judge the direction of the bullets before his enemies could even pull the trigger. He effortlessly dodged between the gaps in the gunfire; while his hand wielded a sharp long sword that sliced through the tender spots on the assassins' bodies like cutting through butter. Most of his attacks targeted the enemy's throat, efficient and deadly. Probably because it was too fast, even those who were cut down by Otto didn't immediately realize it at the moment they were sliced. Under the continued gunfire aimed at Otto's figure, their upper body suddenly collapsed, and those who suffered such injuries often couldn't die immediately. The stronger ones could use their guns to end their suffering by shooting themselves in the head, while those without a weapon in hand could only drag their intestines out of their abdomen and struggle on the ground in vain.

  As a loud explosion sounded, Li Ang finally woke up again. The current Li Ang felt that his reaction speed was almost several times faster than before, but the side effect was that his muscles couldn't keep up with the rhythm at all. This made him feel like he had lead blocks tied to his body, and any movement became extremely laborious. It seemed that adapting to such a fast reaction rhythm required a lot of practice for his body. Looking down at the scene below the mountain, it seemed to have reversed. The earlier charge of the killer bees seemed to have been repelled, and the air-cushion cars in the distance had all been blown away. Macky was frantically waving the remote control. Li Ang could completely believe that the explosion just now was his masterpiece. And it seemed that his hearing had also become better than before, as he could hear Macky's prayer to the "Bomb Goddess". The "Bomb Sect" was another cult organization member, no wonder Li Ang immediately classified Macky as a fanatical religious member.

  At this moment, Li Ang's attention was focused on Lila, who looked even weaker than himself. After the enemy retreated, he rushed out of his hiding place, seemingly wanting to rescue Luo Ke, whose target was obvious. Luo Ke, who had fallen into madness, seemed completely unaware of the situation and continued to wield the giant air cushion motorcycle wildly. The giant, who had already lost one eye, had blood all over his face, and his other eye could hardly see anything. When he vaguely discovered someone approaching from behind, he immediately turned around and struck back.

  Lee Ang's attack seemed to be a fatal blow, and even if he had seen it clearly and knew how to react, his body would have been unable to dodge. Lee Ang imagined that Lila, who was smaller than himself, would definitely be blown away by Locke's attack, but the actual situation was completely opposite of what Lee Ang had expected. Lila caught the incoming air cushion motorcycle with just one hand, and with a single pull, she pulled it out of Locke's grasp. Then, Lila's next action left Lee Ang speechless - he seemed to be exerting no effort at all as he casually flung the motorcycle several dozen meters away, hitting a Killer Bee technician who was firing towards them from afar. Afterwards, he pulled Locke behind a cover.

  This Lila must have something different from ordinary people, and Li Ang decided to continue trying to understand and learn about this person's abilities. This greedy person had completely forgotten why he fainted earlier, and as soon as he gathered his spirits, he fainted again.

  But looking at the cripple in front of him, Jin Jian couldn't help but admire this little brother. Even if he was pretending to be dead, he didn't have to be so dedicated, let alone when there was no need for it now. Because Jin really couldn't figure out how someone who hadn't exerted himself from start to finish could be so exhausted.

  If Blank were to use his legendary 'Strategist's Eye' on Li Ang at this time, he would discover that this person who originally had no mutations not only has sensory organs mutated like Red, but also has a mutated nervous system. Even the unusual mutation ability 'Strategist's Eye', which he was proud of, was unknowingly learned by this latecomer. However, whether this acquired mutant can successfully adapt to it like someone born with such abilities is unknown.