Chapter 445: Hooded Man
After Carnot Heavy Industries' squad left, Lin Ye entered the intersection point where the giant flesh-and-blood creature was located alone, emerging only after some time had passed.
After that, Lin Ye began to accelerate his exploration of nearby intersection points. With Carnot Heavy Industries coordinating in the center, all the major forces were clearing the nearby intersection points. Since there was no risk of death, the efficiency of clearing the intersection points was quite good. After a while, all the intersection points in the city had been cleared once.
Although some special intersection points could not be occupied, when the pathfinder stepped into the last unentered intersection point, the entire Chessboard collapsed.
The things inside those special intersection points were also released outside. There were several other troublesome intersection points like the dark green mist area.
But those major forces had already considered this situation and, before the Chessboard collapsed, had formulated and assigned a handling plan and personnel for each special intersection point.
Lin Ye took the initiative to request responsibility for handling those two giant flesh-and-blood creatures, so the other special intersection points were not assigned to him.
The fused giant flesh-and-blood creature stood motionless in place. Lin Ye stood not far from it, with those survivors standing behind him.
The hastily formulated plan turned out to be surprisingly reliable. Most of the special intersection points were successfully handled, but a few still ran into problems.
The one closest to Lin Ye was that dark green mist area. Carnot Heavy Industries sent people to use some kind of device to suck up all the mist inside the area, but the residual dark green substance kept releasing mist outward, and a large number of dark green dots also appeared on the device that absorbed the mist.
"Can you gather all the things related to the dark green mist together?" Lin Ye communicated with Ms. Carnot using the special communication device.
"Yes, but it won't last for long."
Ms. Carnot answered immediately.
"Then start. Leave the rest to me. I can only act once, don't mess it up."
Lin Ye approached that dark green area. Carnot Heavy Industries' execution squad threw a silvery-white sphere into that area. The sphere generated a powerful force field, sucking everything in that area towards the vicinity of the sphere.
Just as Lin Ye was preparing to act, he sensed several attacks locking onto his head from various directions.
If he continued his action, all those attacks would be triggered.
Even with the effect of the redemption ritual, having one's head blown off was no joke, especially in a place like this. Losing consciousness was no different from death.
The opportunity was fleeting. Lin Ye was completely unaffected. He crushed that spatial Rule Crystal, utilizing the power of spatial rules to move everything near the sphere deep into the Bottomless Pit.
Several attacks of different natures and intensities traversed space and appeared before Lin Ye. Because Lin Ye had just been controlling the spatial teleportation, he couldn't immediately deploy the World of Ashes now.
A large number of biological samples surged out from the small pouch, transforming into a Flesh Wall to block the attacks. The Metal Giant and those Mutation Creatures also used their bodies to help Lin Ye block the attacks.
The giant flesh-and-blood creature spewed out a large amount of flesh chunks. Those chunks struck the positions from which the attacks against Lin Ye were launched and began hunting down the creatures that had launched the attacks.
"Are you alright?"
Ms. Carnot contacted Lin Ye using the special communication device.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What about the other places?"
Lin Ye didn't think the previous attacks were meant to kill him; it felt more like testing his methods.
"Heavy losses, but those troubles have been resolved... Oliver and Andrew are dead."
Ms. Carnot said in a flat tone.
"Wasn't there the redemption ritual? Couldn't they be saved?"
Lin Ye asked calmly.
"The redemption ritual doesn't guarantee absolute non-death. There are many kinds of abilities that can counter the power of redemption rules."
Ms. Carnot also didn't expect her old friends to die so casually.
"That's not what I meant. I feel they didn't die by accident, just like when you were attacked. Someone wants to kill those of us who can influence the situation."
At that moment, a man wearing a hood, his face unclear, appeared behind Ms. Carnot's virtual avatar. He stood right behind Ms. Carnot, a curved smile visible beneath the shadow.
Before Lin Ye could open his mouth to warn Ms. Carnot, the man snapped Ms. Carnot's neck.
"Guess who's next?"
The man licked his lips, took out a prepared note, and stuck it on the back of Ms. Carnot's head, which was now facing forward, then left the range of the communication device.
Lin Ye didn't expect Ms. Carnot to die just like that. He still had matters to discuss with her.
At that moment, another communication invitation popped up on the communication device. Lin Ye accepted the call and found it was Ms. Carnot, sitting in her office on the other end.
"Just as I said, someone wants to kill us."
Ms. Carnot continued the previous topic.
"Don't worry about me on my end. Even if all of you die, I won't be in trouble. If only one person in the entire world can survive, it will definitely be me."
Lin Ye had actually formulated an ultimate escape plan; he had even thought about methods to flee to other Planes.
"That's truly reassuring. On my end, I'll try my best to deal with the faction that man who snapped my neck belongs to. Of the three anomalous creatures outside, how many can you handle?"
Ms. Carnot asked.
"You think too highly of me... But if you lend me that Armored Giant, I can probably handle two."
Lin Ye saw the hooded man appear behind Ms. Carnot again.
"I have tens of thousands of mechanical Aberrations, most of which are not inside the Free City. Unless you can kill me tens of thousands of times, don't waste your time."
Ms. Carnot didn't turn her head, but she had already detected the hooded man's position. Every time she was killed, she recorded part of the hooded man's information. If it happened a few more times, it would be her people appearing behind the hooded man.
"...Damn it, he didn't say we'd have to deal with this kind of thing."
The hooded man hesitated for a moment but ultimately snapped Ms. Carnot's neck. He gambled that Ms. Carnot was lying to him and that she didn't really have that many mechanical Aberrations.
"That's very impolite of you. I hate being interrupted. I advise you to finish what needs to be done as soon as possible, because you've provoked the two people in the Free City who are the most troublesome to mess with."
Lin Ye said with a smile.
"Hmph, you two survive first before saying that."
The hooded man smashed the communication device. Lin Ye's calm expression made him feel somewhat uneasy.
"I can lend you the War Giant, but it's severely damaged and can't be activated now.
I need you to help me take care of two anomalous creatures. After dealing with those anomalous phenomena, we have no spare strength left on our side."
Ms. Carnot didn't know what Lin Ye wanted the War Giant for, but she didn't mind putting waste to use.
"Fine. Leave the one in the sea for you all to handle. Don't let it come over and disturb me."
Lin Ye actually never intended to rely on others. He still had a few trump cards he hadn't revealed yet. However, he wouldn't refuse help if offered; it might make things a bit easier.