Chapter 130: Chapter 123: The Rule Ends... After Guan Tong discovered the commission was an official attempt to bait him, he withdrew his Shadow.
Shortly after, he posted a direct statement on the website, declaring zero tolerance for deception, fraudulent commissions, and fake transactions.
As an example, he publicly banned the accounts of the commissioner, "Flying Owl," and the user who had previously claimed to be a warehouse manager.
The moment the post went up, replies surged.
"What’s going on?"
"So those two were attempting a fake trade. I knew it! Reselling food from the supply depot for a few Sublimation Coins is just too bold."
"Good riddance! It’s hard enough to find a decent platform for communication. We can’t let these scammers ruin it!"
"I support the admin! You should IP ban them too, so they can’t just register new accounts."
The users were overwhelmingly supportive of Guan Tong’s decision. As the Apocalypse Rules became more ingrained, relationships between people grew increasingly strained, and tolerance for scammers hit an all-time low. Everyone desperately hoped for a trustworthy and reliable platform.
After the two accounts were banned, the official network department staff noticed immediately. The news was relayed and eventually reached the first squad, who were still waiting at the trap site.
The captain, Dragon Soul, was stunned when he heard. He had no idea how the site admin could have found out.
If he had come to scout the location, there was no way they wouldn’t have noticed him.
The camp was not only equipped with various electronic detection and scanning devices, but a member of their team, "Night Owl," also possessed a special reconnaissance ability that allowed him to sense the "gazes" of others within a certain range.
They couldn’t figure out how the trap had been discovered under these circumstances.
However, they didn’t have time to dwell on the issue, as an urgent message arrived from Dr. Zhang.
(The fifth squad is in trouble seventeen kilometers away from your position. Go provide support immediately!)
Upon seeing the message, Dragon Soul didn’t hesitate. He immediately led his squad members into their vehicle and sped toward the target location.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield between the fifth squad and the Qingmei team, both sides had suffered casualties after the first exchange.
The fifth squad’s breacher, Old Iron, was gravely wounded by the headphone-wearing youth and then killed by a Sound Hunter.
As for the Qingmei team, the young man with glasses was killed by a saturation attack of items.
Both sides now had four members left. They seemed evenly matched, but that wasn’t the case.
Xu You stared at the enemy. His Psychic Power had been almost completely drained by the headphone-wearing youth. Furthermore, based on the latter’s performance, he could switch between two states: "absorption" and "release."
When his pupils were black, he could absorb Psychic Power through eye contact. He didn’t just absorb it from people; he could even absorb the energy from Psychic-Power-related attacks.
When his pupils turned white, he released the Psychic Power in the form of "inch-long glints." Old Iron, who was tough as nails and had several defensive items, hadn’t been able to block them and was grievously wounded as a result. This showed just how astonishingly powerful those attacks were.
Such a bizarre and powerful ability was proving to be a real headache for him.
Among the other three, Gu Fei was fast and a formidable close-quarters combatant. Without Old Iron, if Gu Fei got close, he, Zhang Qian, and Liu Ze would be in grave danger.
Then there was the sweater-wearing boy who could combine building-block items into multi-form weapons. The fact that he could hold his own against Xu Wei proved his strength was not to be underestimated.
And finally, that little girl...
Xu You frowned as he looked at the girl standing by the car in the rear. She looked to be in elementary or middle school.
The girl hadn’t made a move yet, so her abilities were unknown. She might be a support member, but they couldn’t let their guard down until they were sure.
Just then, the headphone-wearing youth’s eyes turned from white to black. The four members of the fifth squad immediately averted their gazes to avoid eye contact, which would lead to their Psychic Power being absorbed.
Xu Wei gestured to Xu You, asking what they should do now.
Xu You’s last decision on Holy Grail Island had led to his squad being nearly wiped out. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Unable to counter the headphone-wearing youth’s ability, their only option was to retreat for now.
If they continued fighting, they might be able to eliminate more of the enemy, but their own side would surely suffer more casualties. The losses would outweigh the gains.
He gave the signal to retreat. Though the other three were reluctant, they immediately obeyed the order.
Xu Wei used some unknown ability to suddenly become incredibly fast. She shouldered Old Iron’s body, carried it to their vehicle, and drove off with the rest of her team.
Gu Fei saw this and started to give chase, but after two steps, he turned his head to look at the headphone-wearing youth. The latter had just glanced at his phone, apparently having received a message.
The headphone-wearing youth then held up his phone. Displayed on it was the message he had just received: (The officials have sent the first squad as reinforcements. Don’t get tied down.)
Gu Fei’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the message. ’What kind of organization have I joined? They can even track the first squad’s movements?’
He knew the first squad was different from the other four. The members of the other squads came from various backgrounds, but most were selected from registered civilians.
But the five members of the first squad, led by Dragon Soul, all had military backgrounds. They were the most reliable, the most powerful, and had received the most resources and training.
If one had to choose a single squad from the five to represent North Star Country as its national team, it would undoubtedly be the first squad.
This team’s operations were highly classified. Back when Gu Fei was captain of the third squad, he had once heard Dr. Zhang mention that besides himself, only the person in charge had the authority to know about the first squad’s movements. The few other authorized individuals were all outside the base.
’Could the organization I joined be connected to one of those people?’
Gu Fei didn’t have time to overthink it. The rest of his team was already in the car. At a signal from the headphone-wearing youth, he stuffed the body of the unlucky guy with glasses into the trunk, then got in the car and left.
A short time later, the retreating fifth squad ran into the first squad, which had come to provide support.
After the two squads rendezvoused, they returned to the battle site, but the enemy was long gone.
The five members of the Dragon Soul Squad had already received some intelligence in their vehicle. They examined the battle scene, collected a sample of the enemy’s blood from the ground, and planned to take it back for DNA comparison and verification.
The two squads then aborted their original plans and returned to the base together.
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