Chapter 318 - 224: Swift Surge in Power (2)
"Clang," the armor-piercing shell glanced off the surface of the bone wall, leaving only a fist-sized dent.
Before the gunner could reload, Su Mo had already circumvented the machine gun tower with his speed, leaped onto the vehicle, and activated his recently Promoted High-tier Dragon Flame Blood Code.
Surging flame marks appeared on his body and gathered in his throat, spewing out dragon flame that turned incandescent white under the high temperature, directly striking the top of the tank.
"Whoosh—" The intense dragon flame burned at a temperature of over a thousand degrees, causing the armor at the center to glow red and continuously melt. The residual flames swept over the tank’s surface along its body.
As Su Mo continued to spew flames, the top armor of the tank was scorched through, and the dragon flame ravaged the cabin interior, resulting in the heart-wrenching screams of the crew members.
Charred hands reached out from the melted holes, but the openings weren’t large enough for their bodies. They could only flail their arms wildly in the dragon flame, resembling burning torches.
Su Mo ceased the dragon flame, allowing the tank to burn intensely, and continued to chase the routed soldiers.
The playground was surrounded by tall iron nets, with only a few entrances and exits. The soldiers jostled together, significantly hindering their escape speed.
Su Mo, with his massively enhanced Blood Code, darted across the battlefield like a storm, waves of dragon flame sweeping through, incinerating every soldier he passed into charcoal.
Even the soldiers who luckily escaped the playground did not survive, as Su Mo caught up and eliminated them one by one, ensuring that no one who witnessed his power was left alive to leak information.
Wacai’s base was large, and there were many soldiers in other areas who were unaware of what was happening with Su Mo. Not having faced him, they ran around like headless flies.
Su Mo couldn’t kill all these stragglers and stopped concerning himself with them.
He headed straight to a low building beside the playground, entering Wacai’s office.
Wacai had previously used the computer, and the screen was still on, saving time searching for passwords.
Su Mo opened the folder containing this month’s financial account and carefully perused the chat records in the communication software.
As he read, he let out a short laugh, muttering to himself, "So Song Sangla, you’ve got me this time."
He found a USB drive in the drawer, copied all the data from Wacai’s computer, and left the office.
By this time, Wacai Base had plunged into complete chaos, and the commotion had attracted numerous wild beasts, which crashed through the gates and rampaged among the crowds.
The gunfire, roars of beasts, and human cries mingled together, weaving a chaotic symphony.
As Su Mo was about to leave the base through the side door, a few people suddenly blocked him, crying and pleading: "Brother, brother! We were all in the same boat before, take us with you!"
These people were stowaways who had come over with Su Mo, harboring delusions of making a name for themselves here, only to be brutally awakened by reality.
Su Mo felt both sympathy and disdain for them.
He sympathized because they were the oppressed underclass of this cruel world, bullied and with no chance to rise, forced to gamble on a new locale. This sentiment was understandable.
He scorned them because, before they set off, most were aware that the Land of No Master was filled with clandestine industries feeding on others, and yet they were dead set on earning dirty money. They were nothing but leeches that had yet to hatch.
Su Mo glanced at them and coldly said, "You have legs; go where you want. If you want to follow, then follow. But I have no obligation to protect you. If you die on the road, it’s not my business."
He took a motorcycle from the garage and left the base towards the dock.
The stowaways also gradually started their vehicles to follow. They were lucky not to encounter wild beasts or other armed forces on the road, following Su Mo all the way to the dock.
The chaos had yet to reach here. Su Mo cleared out the remnants of Wacai’s forces nearby, then contacted Shangguan Li with his communicator: "I’m at the dock, how about your side?"
Shangguan Li replied: "All good. We’ve entered Saint Rivelan waters. I chartered a boat to pick you up, it’s red, keep an eye out."
Su Mo soon spotted the red fishing boat in the distance on the sea and waved at it.
The red fishing boat confirmed there was no danger nearby and approached the shore.
Shangguan Li had rented the entire boat, so taking a few additional stowaways was no big deal, and the boat captain didn’t stop those following Su Mo from boarding.
A stowaway jumped onto the boat and suddenly noticed it was empty behind him.
He looked back at the spectacled man standing on the shore, saying, "Bro, why are you just standing there? Come on up!"
The spectacled man clenched his fists, remained silent for a moment, then managed to squeeze out a few words, "You guys can go ahead, I’m not going back."
The stowaway exclaimed, "Bro, are you out of your mind? Didn’t you see how many people died? You want to stay in a place like this?!"
The spectacled man’s eyes were filled with sorrow: "And if I go back, then what? I’m buried under a mountain of gambling debts, my fiancée left me, my family has disowned me. I sleep on the streets every day, digging through trash, living a life worse than a dog!"
"At least here I’m free! If I can’t eat, I’ll just grab a gun and kill people. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll become a warlord like Wacai, commanding thousands, rich and surrounded by beauties!"
He tore off his tie and threw it forcefully to the ground, his expression full of ambition and ferocity: "I’ve had enough of those days of humiliation! It’s not that I lack capability, but the environment doesn’t give me a chance! It’s all the fault of society!"
"Now I’m free! Just wait, one day, I’ll make a name for myself here, and make those who looked down on me regret it!"
Faced with the spectacled man’s impassioned speech, the stowaways looked at each other, at a loss for words.
Gradually, a few stowaways came to their senses from their panic, recalling why they had come here in the first place.
In their eyes, the same emotions began to surface—resentment, violence, ambition, and desire...
One by one, the stowaways jumped off the boat, standing beside the spectacled man.
Only one stowaway remained onboard.
The boat captain leaned against the rear hatch door, with a look of casual disinterest, and said while smoking, "Get off quickly if you’re getting off, otherwise get into the cabin, we’re setting off."
The stowaway gritted his teeth, looking back and forth between the boat cabin and those determined companions.
Finally, he showed the same expression, resolutely jumping off the boat and calling back to the captain, "You guys go, I’m not returning."
The boat captain seemed to have seen this many times before, making no effort to persuade them, simply gesturing to the crew: "Raise the anchor, we’re leaving."
The boat departed, gradually distancing from the dock.
From the ship, the figures of the stowaways gradually flattened, almost blending into the vast coastline.
The waves rolled, the light refracted constantly on the sea surface under the sun.
With the final great wave, those figures disappeared into the waves, never to be seen again.
The boat captain finished his cigarette, tossed the butt into the sea, and sat across from Su Mo in the cabin.
He handed a bottle of mineral water to Su Mo, casually stating, "They all came with you, you’re not even going to say something to persuade them?"
Su Mo answered in a flat tone, "They’re all adults with the ability to decide for themselves. They can do whatever they want; it’s not my concern."
The boat captain laughed heartily, "This guy sounds like a seasoned old-timer. Let me tell you, I’ve been in this line of work for a long time. Every few days I see these young dreamers coming to the Land of No Master."
"I sometimes wonder. Conditions in World Government Territory are so good, civilized and orderly. People who can’t get by there think they can achieve the impossible in the Land of No Master?"
"Of course, there really are the occasional buried talents, who are failures in World Government Territory, but turn into shining stars once they reach the Land of No Master."
Speaking of this, the boat captain looked towards the direction of the Land of No Master outside the cabin, saying meaningfully, "But more people will probably die like trash, right?"