Chapter 493 - 343: Valley Skirmish

Chapter 493: Chapter 343: Valley Skirmish

Inside the train car, the bodies of the fallen modified soldiers were still crackling with sparks. The air was thick with a scorched smell.

The woman, however, didn’t pause for a second. Like a wisp of smoke, she was about to dart out of the car.

But at that exact moment, a deafening crash echoed from outside. The sealed train door was ripped open by immense force, and a towering figure strode inside.

He was a tall man with bulging muscles and a full metal mask covering his face. His presence was intensely grim.

"Alina. I knew I’d find you here." The electronically synthesized voice was filled with cold, murderous intent.

Upon seeing the man, Alina instinctively took a step back, then gritted her teeth.

"Huo Shan, you people are relentless."

"Heh. Betray the Organization and expect to run? Surrender now. For old times’ sake, I can petition the higher-ups to spare your life," Huo Shan said coolly.

"You think I’d fall for that nonsense again?" Alina said coldly. Her hair began to float as if in a nonexistent wind, and an invisible aura formed around her.

"Then it’s not up to you!" The moment he spoke, Huo Shan stomped a foot down with explosive force.

The alloy floor immediately buckled, a deep crater forming under his foot. The resulting shockwave sent the entire car shuddering violently, drawing cries of alarm.

Like a cannonball fired from its barrel, Huo Shan shot straight toward Alina.

His fist whistled through the air with a sharp, tearing sound.

But Alina showed no weakness. Her hands wove a complex hand sign, and the aura already swirling around her instantly solidified into a transparent shield.

BAM!

Huo Shan’s iron fist slammed heavily against the shield.

The shield shuddered violently, its surface rippling, but it ultimately held against the immensely powerful blow.

Not only that, but Alina also launched a psychic assault on Huo Shan at the same instant. While it might not be enough to shatter his will, it would at least create a distraction.

Huo Shan was both shocked and enraged.

He hadn’t expected Alina to be so difficult to handle.

As a minor commander in the Resistance Army, he hadn’t had much contact with her. He only knew that she had been trained by the Organization since childhood, possessed astonishing talent and immense power, and was later sent to infiltrate the Alliance Government as a deep-cover agent.

He never expected that she would actually turn traitor.

Her betrayal had caused the Resistance Army enormous losses, so the higher-ups had issued a direct order: capture the woman, and if capture was impossible, kill her.

After receiving the order, Huo Shan immediately set this trap. He’d expected the fight to be over quickly, but he hadn’t anticipated Alina being this tenacious.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

A few more punches, yet he still couldn’t break through Alina’s defense. Instead, the recoil jarred him, leaving his blood and energy in turmoil.

Huo Shan started to grow impatient.

The train had been forcibly stopped. An incident this major meant the Alliance military would be arriving soon, and that would be a problem.

With this in mind, he made a snap decision. Abandoning the idea of capturing Alina alive, he immediately pulled back and barked an order into his communicator.

"Prepare for saturation fire!"

’If I can’t take her alive, I’ll just have to blow her to smithereens.’

’As for the passengers on this train...’

’They could only blame their bad luck for being on the same train as a traitor to the Organization. If they died, they had it coming.’

’Besides, it was an honor for them to sacrifice themselves for the great Organization.’

As Huo Shan retreated, Alina immediately sensed something was wrong.

When she heard his order, even though she had braced herself, Alina was still shocked by the ruthless cruelty of her former comrades.

She had thought they would show some restraint when dealing with an Alliance train, which was precisely why she had chosen this method of escape.

Although she had leaked information about the Resistance Army to the Alliance Government, that didn’t mean she had joined them.

In reality, whether it was the Resistance Army or the Alliance Government, they were all cut from the same cloth.

The only difference was that the Alliance Government at least tried to maintain a respectable facade and showed some restraint.

The Resistance Army, on the other hand, would stop at nothing to achieve its goals.

This was the very reason she had decided to turn on them.

But this had also left her in a desperate situation, rejected by both factions and utterly alone.

"Get out of here!" Alina shrieked, hoping to warn the other passengers.

But it was too late. Huo Shan had just retreated into the distance when the nearby hillside lit up with a multitude of flashes.

RUMBLE!

Shell after shell streaked across the night sky, trailing long plumes of fire as they hurtled toward the train.

"AHHHHHH!"

"Help me!"

Seeing this, the passengers on the train erupted into deafening screams and cries of despair.

A glint flashed in Wu Liangchen’s eyes, and a flicker of anger ignited in his heart.

’These people are truly unscrupulous, willing to slaughter the innocent.’

"Big Brother Wu!" shouted Song Ling’Er from beside him, pulling out a pistol and firing out the window as she yelled.

Her marksmanship was superb; even in the chaotic environment, she could accurately hit the incoming, high-speed artillery shells.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Several shells blossomed into fireballs in mid-air.

But there were simply too many shells; she couldn’t possibly take them all down on her own.

Fortunately, that was when Wu Liangchen made his move.

He grabbed a handful of steel ball bearings and flung them out.

There was no time to flick them one by one. Fortunately, Wu Liangchen’s marksmanship talent was maxed out. Even with this scattershot approach, his accuracy remained incredibly high.