Chapter 134: Assault on the Mind, Destruction, Confrontation

Actually, Lin Wang's mind was filled with lingering doubts and numerous unexplainable perplexities.

Why was Ren Zhong, who was merely a Level 2 professional just a month ago, capable of mobilizing a power output of 8,000 kilowatts today?

Lin Wang had personally handed over the exoskeleton currently worn by Ren Zhong, and he was well aware of its performance specifications.

As for why the data displayed on his squad command system was anomalous, he did not even need to ask to know the answer—it was undoubtedly the handiwork of Ju Qingmeng.

Most importantly, why had Ren Zhong suddenly resorted to fatal violence?

Who had given him the courage?

What was his true motive?

Yet, after only a brief moment of thought, Lin Wang decided to launch a fierce and aggressive offensive.

Because he knew it was impossible for him to figure out the answer.

His "sophisticated analysis" had failed him.

Ultimately, Lin Wang only needed to ascertain two things.

First, Ren Zhong's hostility. He had already witnessed it.

Second, his own odds of winning. Lin Wang was a veteran mecha warrior; he could tell that Ren Zhong had relied on an amplifier to draw upon such a high power output. He himself was different, possessing a native power output of up to 6,500 kilowatts, and he was also equipped with an amplifier.

If a real fight broke out, his chances of winning were absolute—ten out of ten.

As long as he closed the distance between them, Lin Wang was confident he could tear Ren Zhong apart within three minutes.

His judgment was sound and highly professional.

The reason Ren Zhong had been able to fight Ma Xiaoling for half an hour without losing was because Ma Xiaoling had suppressed her own equipment's power output to a level slightly lower than Ren Zhong's.

Had Ma Xiaoling truly fought with all her might, even with both sides possessing a sixth sense, and even if Ren Zhong had mastered a dual-sword technique combining "ancient memories" and his own exploration, he still would have lasted thirty seconds at most.

This was the absolute gap between a native power output of over nine thousand and one of a little over two thousand.

In terms of equipment power, performance, and systematic combat skills, Lin Wang was inferior to Ma Xiaoling, but a mecha warrior born from the wild had unique strengths of his own.

Every powerhouse who managed to claw their way out from among the wastelanders was a champion born from the cruel rules of the law of the jungle, possessing immensely rich practical combat experience and combat awareness far surpassing ordinary people.

Therefore, the three-minute combat duration estimated by Lin Wang was entirely reasonable, provided there was no external interference.

Lin Wang's offensive was extremely ferocious.

The very instant his fierce onslaught was unleashed, Ren Zhong's figure, bearing a look of panic, suddenly vanished around the corner.

Lin Wang was not surprised by this; though he looked furious, he had not lost his mind.

Both his silver twin-guns and his live-ammunition weapons possessed tracking and trajectory-altering capabilities—he was not afraid of Ren Zhong escaping.

He lunged forward in pursuit of the artillery fire he had just unleashed, confident that if Ren Zhong was entangled for even more than 0.5 seconds, he would be able to grab him.

However, things did not go as Lin Wang wished.

Just as he took a step forward and his silver twin-guns rounded the corner ahead, a loud explosion suddenly echoed from behind the corner, accompanied by a blinding flash of flame and jets of scorching molten metal splashing outward.

Lin Wang was greatly startled and hurriedly recalled his silver twin-guns with a reverse maneuver.

The twin guns turned around on the spot against the current of molten metal and flew backward, while other live-ammunition weapons such as self-tracking grenades, rockets, and kinetic impact rounds were detonated prematurely one after another behind the corner.

Snap! Snap!

Lin Wang reached out and grabbed the two silver guns. The surfaces of the gun barrels, covered in a large amount of molten metal breathing blue light, rapidly cooled into a galvanic-like, dark blue hue.

This was a Level 4 explosive trap—a quasi-superconducting metal-jet booby trap!

Pan Fenglian had once used this trick to ambush others.

Upon detonation, the molten metal would spray outward in a radial pattern like bursting water droplets, yielding exceptional results in confined spaces.

Aside from the high temperature and impact force of the molten metal itself, the true insidious nature of this booby trap lay in the material of the metal itself.

Once the molten metal cooled and solidified, it possessed superior electrical conductivity, which could significantly impair the ability of anything attached to it to discharge electricity—making it exceptionally effective against surge-capable ruins beasts, such as water-permeable eels and plasma-coil labyrinth bugs.

Lin Wang's silver twin-guns also relied primarily on external electrical discharge; coated with such a large amount of quasi-superconducting metal, the stability of his discharges would be drastically reduced.

This explosive trap also had two major drawbacks: it was too expensive, valued at over ten thousand contribution points, making it hard to even break even when used against Level 4 ruins beasts.

Additionally, it was too bulky—roughly the size of a winter melon—making it inconvenient to carry.

Ren Zhong did not have a spatial storage device to carry such an item.

That left only one explanation: Ren Zhong's murderous act was not a temporary impulse driven by sudden madness, as he had claimed.

He had come here long before the group set out for the hunt, laying a trap specifically designed to counter his own weapon right here!

This was a long-planned, thoroughly prepared betrayal!

Yet, this still did not make sense.

Ren Zhong had no way of knowing that I intended to venture deeper than the usual route today!

Upon discovering that the ruins beasts were in a berserk mode, I had readjusted the hunting route once more, which ultimately led us to push much deeper into this area than usual!

All of this was my own decision, completely free from anyone's interference!

How could he possibly have foreseen it?

It was impossible! Absolutely impossible!

Yet, it had indeed happened.

Realizing this, Lin Wang abruptly halted his steps, beads of cold sweat welling up on his forehead.

Lin Wang, who had always been renowned in Spark Town as cunning, deceitful, and unfathomably wise, felt a profound sense of confusion for the first time, accompanied by a lingering, faint terror stirring deep within his heart.

It was not that he was afraid of Ren Zhong, but rather that the situation was too bizarre—it completely defied his common sense, much like suddenly discovering that the moon was missing from the sky at night.

This was the inescapable soul-shivering terror humans felt when facing the unknown.

At that very moment, Ren Zhong's provocative voice rang out again from behind the corridor turn.

"Oh? My good captain, where did you go? I'm still waiting for you."

Lin Wang slightly arched his back into a defensive posture and shouted somewhat hysterically, "Ren Zhong! I have treated you well; how have I wronged you? How have I been unkind to you? Why do you want to kill me? Why are you betraying me? Even if you want me dead, you should at least give me a clear reason!"

Ren Zhong's hearty laughter echoed from behind the corner. "Do you really want to know?"

"Speak! As long as you tell me, I can let bygones be bygones today. We'll pretend nothing ever happened!"

"Oh? Really? Bei Lihui was your childhood friend, and the two of you had a pretty good relationship, didn't you? Don't you want to avenge him?"

Lin Wang: "I can swear to it! Right now, I just want an answer!"

Ren Zhong gave a light cough. "Captain, you should know that I am quite fond of women. Let me whisper a secret to you—Tang Shuying is already my woman, too."

"You're out of your mind! Women are everywhere on the streets; was it worth betraying me for someone like Tang Shuying?"

Ren Zhong: "Captain, I was just following Brother Hui's example and joking with you. The truth is, President Yang grew tired of a subordinate with such overweening ambition long ago, and he paid a hefty sum to hire me, a professional assassin. I concealed my name, disguised my face, and came to Spark Town specifically for you."

"Impossible! President Yang may be wary of me, but he understands me!"

"Really, Captain? Are you sure?"

Lin Wang fell silent.

Ren Zhong continued, "Let me tell you one more thing. The members of the other two professional squads have already been lying in wait outside the abandoned mine shaft; the moment you show your head, they will take your life."

"Nonsense! You're just bluffing, you're all alone!"

"Then why aren't you coming to kill me, Captain?"

Lin Wang fell silent once again.

His mind was racing frantically as he tried to analyze any trace of a clue from this tangled mess of a situation.

He finally came to a realization.

Eleven days ago, Ren Zhong's injury had been a feint.

Although he did not know how Ren Zhong had managed to alter his facial features so realistically as to deceive his inspection, nor what method he had used to simulate Tang Shuying's combat traces, the person who had quietly gone hunting early a few days ago was definitely not Tang Shuying—it was Ren Zhong.

Ren Zhong was trying to sow discord between them.

Lin Wang suddenly understood.

From the very beginning, Ren Zhong had possessed the strength of a Level 4 professional, but Spark Town could only accommodate three professional squads. He had deliberately approached him in an attempt to replace him!

Lin Wang, who spent his entire life either betraying others, preparing to betray others, or guarding against being betrayed himself, finally tasted what it meant to be truly betrayed by someone else.

Yet, there were still many, many things he could not wrap his head around, such as the existence of the quasi-superconducting metal-jet booby trap, and why Ren Zhong would still act with such madness when he clearly already knew that Spark Resources was planning to relocate.

These myriad mysteries, destined to remain unanswered, churned like a tangled knot deep within his heart, making his temples throb and leaving him somewhat dizzy.

Ren Zhong's voice came from ahead once again, though it was fainter than before, indicating that he was walking away.

"Captain, if you're not coming, I'm leaving. I'll be waiting for you outside with Captain Tang and the others. Well? Still not coming? I'm really leaving now!"

Thirty seconds later, Lin Wang still had not taken a step.

Sima Wan walked up to Lin Wang with trembling steps, looking down somewhat regretfully at Bei Lihui's corpse split into two pieces, and asked nervously, "Captain, what do we do now?"

Lin Wang gritted his teeth. "Retrace our steps. I can't tell which of that bastard's words are true and which are false. Let's get out of here first."

Sima Wan: "Ah? What about Tang Shuying and the others outside..."

"Fake! It's definitely fake!"

"Huh?"

"What else could it be? Chase after him? Can you be sure there aren't even more vicious traps ahead? Retracing our steps is the only safe option."

Sima Wan murmured an acknowledgment and stopped arguing.

Five minutes later.

A powerful surge of information flow swept outward.

"Ren Zhong!"

Lin Wang's impotent roar echoed far into the mine shaft tunnel.

This time, having retreated the way he came, he encountered a directional information-flow jamming bomb buried beneath the ground.

It caused a significant drop in his equipment's controllability, while Sima Wan's micro-intelligent combat unit suffered even more severe damage, its operational performance dropping by at least 50%.

After the ground exploded, Lin Wang did not find any trigger fuse, meaning this bomb could only have been detonated remotely.

Yet this was an abandoned mine shaft where electromagnetic communications were completely shielded, and Ren Zhong could not possibly have obtained a phantom communicator. Why, then, was the timing of the jamming bomb's detonation so precise—exploding right behind his back less than a second after he had just passed by?

After his anger subsided, Lin Wang slowly turned his head to look at Sima Wan and asked eerily, "Could it be that you've betrayed me, too?"

Sima Wan shook her head vehemently. "How is that possible! Am I out of my mind?!"

Lin Wang pointed angrily at the wreckage of the information-flow jamming bomb on the ground. "Then how was this detonated?"

Sima Wan shook her head with an expression of utter bewilderment, far exceeding his own. "I don't know, I don't know, I really don't know."

After a long silence, Lin Wang waved his hand listlessly. "Forget it, keep moving forward."

If Lin Wang had known that the true triggering mechanism of that bomb was simply a time-delay fuse, it would only have deepened his terror.

Not long after walking out, Lin Wang and Sima Wan encountered a magnetic-powder explosive trap once again.

Lin Wang no longer roared.

He was simply left scalp-numb by Ren Zhong's insidiousness.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the path they had walked earlier could be so perilous, fraught with danger at every turn.

And all of this was Ren Zhong's doing.

He fell into a logical dilemma once again.

Should he continue retracing his steps?

Was the entire path they took on the way here like this?

Should I change my route, then?

But what if... there were even more vicious traps waiting on the alternative route?

He felt as though an invisible pair of eyes was staring at his back, and every single move he made could not escape the gaze of those eyes.

He began to hesitate, looking backward and forward with uncertainty.

Ultimately, however, he still chose to retrace his original path.

He began trying hard to anticipate Ren Zhong's anticipations.

Ren Zhong couldn't possibly have buried traps throughout the entire abandoned mine shaft; they must be densely distributed along only one route.

Ren Zhong must think I will change my route, so I won't fall for it again.

This is the last one, it has to be; it will be smooth sailing after this.

...

This time it's definitely the last one!

...

This time for sure...

About an hour and a half later, Lin Wang and Sima Wan finally reached a spot just two kilometers away from the exit.

Along this entire journey, they had been bombed all the way, with one insidious trap after another emerging endlessly.

He had stepped on every single trap Ren Zhong had left behind, missing not a single one.

His automated response equipment had been battered and stripped down step by step, and the surface and hidden armor damages piled up endlessly.

Sima Wan was also injured, barely holding on.

"Let's pause here for a moment."

Standing at a Y-shaped intersection, Lin Wang fell into deep thought.

To the left from here was the original return path, the shortest distance.

To the right was the path leading to another exit, slightly further away.

"Captain, what is it?"

Lin Wang: "Let's split up here. You take the original return path, and I'll take the other one."

Sima Wan: "This..."

"Perhaps Tang Shuying and the others really are guarding the outside. If we appear together, they will definitely launch a fierce, fatal attack at the very first moment, and I won't be able to protect you then. If you go out alone, you are a disassembly specialist; as long as you surrender and switch sides in time, you naturally stand a chance of survival. As for me, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse—if I look out for myself alone and am determined to flee, they won't be able to hold me back."

Sima Wan's lips quivered. She wanted to say something, but in the end, she could only accept it helplessly. "Alright, Captain."

From then on, the two of them went their separate ways.

Lin Wang walked five hundred meters outward.

This time, he finally did not encounter any new traps.

He arrived at a relatively spacious cavern chamber.

This had once been the nest of a large Level 4 ruins beast.

Lin Wang suddenly halted his steps, looked up ahead, and squeezed two words out through clenched teeth.

"Ren—Zhong!"

Ahead, Ren Zhong was leaning on his swords stuck into the ground, a profound smile hanging on his face as he watched the disheveled and battered Lin Wang.

"Captain, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The very next instant, a fierce battle ignited.

The massive cavern chamber was instantly engulfed and overwhelmed by a spreading wave of blazing flames and electric currents.