Book 9: Chapter 23: Lace’s True Form

“What’s going on, Grant?” Qin Lun did not ask Monica over the earpiece. Instead, he verified the situation directly with Joker through the Team Channel.

“We encountered a third situation. There really was a six-person Apostle team in charge of defense here. From the brief exchange, they seemed to be a hastily assembled team. All were Professional Apostles, but there were no Second Order members.” Grant said gravely, “The Queen of Sandstorm used her ability to chase them. We are still clearing the remaining resistance and will probably reach the surface in about three minutes.”

“Hmm!” Qin Lun raised his head. The Yin-Yang Fish Pattern in his left pupil and the clock hands in his right pupil began to rotate simultaneously. His Perception spread out like mist, just barely enveloping the entire area ahead.

“Found it!” Qin Lun quickly raised his eyebrows. In the black-and-white vision composed entirely of Perception lines, he could see abnormal activity in two shops on the adjacent street.

On the street facing Qin Lun from the MI7 building, a whole wall of a gift shop, including the door and display window, slowly rose. This was a secret passage disguised as a shop front. Behind the MI7 building, on another street separated by a row of buildings from Qin Lun’s side, the front door of a small restaurant was also opening.

These two disguised secret escape routes, one in front and one behind, were very cleverly designed.

Their locations were just not far from the intersection. Without a large number of people, it was almost impossible to block all the roads. From the opened shop doors, three modified Ford SUVs, each shielding a Rolls-Royce car, sped out like the wind. They turned at the intersection and raced forward, their blinding headlights tearing cracks in the night.

Qin Lun pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache. The enemy’s fleeing vehicles: on his side of the street, there were two – one Ford SUV and one Rolls-Royce, heading southwest. On the street behind the building, there were three vehicles, including one Rolls-Royce luxury car, heading northeast.

Clearly, the two big fish Madame Monica mentioned had split up. It seemed the enemy accurately assessed the situation. They knew even if they pooled their strength, it wasn’t enough to break through, so they planned to escape one by one.

“Major, which side do we intercept?” Lieutenant Lieber held his long gun level, aiming first one way, then the other, seeming quite excited.

Qin Lun suddenly had a thought. In his Perception field, underground on the opposite street, a mist-like sand vortex was madly rushing along the sewers. It should be the Queen of Sandstorm, who had burrowed ahead in pursuit.

However, speed wasn’t her strong suit. Plus, with occasional soil blocking the way, the distance between Monica and the three cars was gradually increasing.

Qin Lun blinked and made a decision instantly. “Lieutenant Lieber, you stay here with the snipers and attack the three cars on the opposite street. Madame Monica has already caught up. You just need to slow the vehicles down!”

“Lace, come with me!” Qin Lun tore off the military coat he was wearing, ran two quick steps, and leaped down from the building’s rooftop.

“Yes, Major!” Lieutenant Lieber licked his lips, squinted his left eye, and pressed his right eye to the musket’s scope.

Actually, the rooftop they were on wasn’t a good position to attack the opposite street. Although Qin Lun had specifically chosen a relatively tall building when setting up the sniper point, it was still separated from the opposite side by a row of buildings.

The German Army snipers could only occasionally observe the speeding cars through the narrow gaps between the buildings. This level of shooting difficulty was really too high. Actually, only the magic bullet shooter Lieber could directly attack the vehicles.

As long as the beautiful lieutenant locked onto a vehicle, she didn’t need to consider the obstacles in between. The magic bullets with tracking ability would automatically avoid the buildings and attack the vehicles.

“Switch to sniper grenades. Attack the buildings in front of the vehicles directly, block the road.” Lieber commanded the bodyguard snipers without looking up, slowly holding her breath.

“Bang!” Perhaps too much magic power was poured into this shot. After firing, Lieber was knocked directly to the ground, landing hard on her bottom.

“Ouch, that hurts! Got too excited, I guess. So embarrassing. Luckily Major Gerthard didn’t see!” The beautiful lieutenant rubbed her sore bottom with annoyance. She seemed to think of something, cupped her face in her hands, and a circle of shy blush appeared on her cheeks.

“Hey, look, the lieutenant’s daydreaming again!” A sniper to Lieber’s left rear poked his companion without changing expression.

“Yeah, she used to daydream about Captain Hans. Now it’s just Major Gerthard instead!” This sniper moved his lips silently. Their kind of professional snipers had basically all received sign language training, so they didn’t need sound to communicate.

“Hey, you guys want to die?” Although the snipers didn’t make any sound, Lieutenant Lieber seemed to see through her subordinates’ little actions. She turned her head and shouted fiercely.

While the beautiful lieutenant was yelling at her subordinates, the magic bullet she fired, like a mischievous sprite, twisted and turned through the gaps between the buildings. In an instant, it caught up with the three cars hundreds of meters away.

At that moment, the Ford SUV shielding the Rolls-Royce from behind seemed to sense this deadly threat. The driver suddenly turned the steering wheel, the whole vehicle drifting sideways, just blocking the magic bullet’s trajectory.

But a magic bullet infused with Lieber’s will wasn’t so easy to intercept. The bullet seemed to have a life of its own. It dipped slightly and whistled past under the Ford’s chassis. Then, like lightning, it slammed into the Rolls-Royce ahead.

“Boom!” The rear of the Rolls-Royce exploded in a burst of flame. The entire right rear wheel was blown off. The car body tilted slightly, its chassis scraping a trail of sparks on the ground. The luxury car, like a drunkard, swerved and crashed into a shop along the street.

At the same time, the grenades fired by the other armed bodyguard snipers collectively hit the nearby buildings. Countless rocks and rubble collapsed from above the street, completely blocking the road ahead for the three vehicles.

“Slap!” The German Army snipers on the rooftop looked excited and high-fived each other in celebration.

“Hey, don’t celebrate yet. Blocking them isn’t the mission accomplished. Next, we need to assist Madame Monica in dealing with the Superpowered Beings in the vehicles.” Lieutenant Lieber grinned fiercely and raised her musket again. In her scope, she could already see a mist-like sand vortex rising from the ground, rushing towards the enemy.

……

After jumping off the rooftop, Qin Lun quickly adjusted his body’s balance. About two meters from the ground, a translucent Pentagram Crystal Mirror silently appeared under his feet.

“Bang!” Qin Lun lightly tapped the mirror with his toe. The exploding elemental flow propelled him like a cannonball towards the car ahead. His speed was actually faster than the Ford SUV and Rolls-Royce running at full speed.

“Tch! Didn’t even care about me, just jumped down like that. Did Kelly tell him about my ability?” Lace helplessly twirled the bangs on her forehead, grabbed her Beastmaster Hunting Bow, and jumped down after him.

In the Shattered Starry Sky, any flight-type skills, even equipment that allowed brief levitation, were very rare. This kind of skill equipment could be used to save lives in many situations. Forget ordinary First-Rank Apostles, even Second Order and High-Rank Apostles might not necessarily have such things.

Back then, even Kelly’s levitation martial skill came from that “Flamingo” scroll she bought from Qin Lun. If even that Female Tyrannosaurus found it rare, one could imagine its value.

After jumping off the rooftop, ripples inexplicably appeared behind Lace. Two pairs of transparent wings, resembling those of a dragonfly, suddenly emerged. At the same time, the girl’s forehead also sprouted a pair of furry antennae. Her eyeballs bulged slightly, becoming compound eyes.

Lace finally revealed her true form. She wasn’t human, but a female insect Elf from the Elf world. Her innate flying ability was the main reason the Lost Team focused on cultivating her.

After revealing the two pairs of transparent wings, Lace’s speed increased greatly. Although her maximum burst speed still wasn’t faster than Qin Lun’s, in terms of agility, the young man couldn’t catch up no matter how hard he tried.

The Elf girl’s wings beat extremely fast, beyond the discernment of ordinary human eyes. She seemed to teleport continuously through the air, quickly catching up to Qin Lun.

“Bug?” Qin Lun immediately noticed the commotion behind him. Even though his Staring Aura had no blind spots, he still couldn’t help but glance back at Lace’s greatly changed appearance.

“You’re the bug! Your whole family are bugs! I’m an Elf, an insect Elf, got it?” Seeing Qin Lun’s strange expression, Lace waved her small fist angrily. She had always avoided showing her true form ability precisely because she feared others would look at her with this kind of strange gaze.

“Being a bug isn’t so bad!” Qin Lun chuckled lightly and stopped paying attention to the Elf girl. “Since you can keep up, let’s pick up the pace a bit. No more delays.”

As soon as Qin Lun finished speaking, multiple Pentagram Crystal Mirrors quietly appeared on both sides of the street ahead. They were neatly lined up like two rows of soldiers waiting for inspection. A cold light flashed in the young man’s eyes. His body bounced between the two rows of crystal mirrors like a marble. Although he was no longer moving in a straight line, the dense Elemental Bursts still doubled the pursuit speed once more.

By now, the Ford SUV shielding the Rolls-Royce from behind finally understood someone had to get out and cover the retreat. Otherwise, no one would escape.

“Screech…” As the Ford SUV braked urgently, the large vehicle skidded sideways. Its thick tires left dark marks on the ground as it blocked the path in front of Qin Lun. The Rolls-Royce ahead, however, didn’t hesitate at all. Seizing the chance while their companion covered them, it increased its speed again and fled into the depths of the night.

After the Ford SUV stopped, three people stepped out slowly. The leader was a black-haired young man who looked Eastern, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, full of vigor. His handsome appearance, even in the film industry, would belong to an idol superstar, definitely capable of attracting screams from a large number of young female fans.

“We’re all just doing our missions. No need to be so aggressive!” The young man smiled towards the pursuing Qin Lun. A trace of gravity flashed in his dark eyes.