Game: Civilization Paradise

"A group of players is fighting their way down from above! I think it’s the Scorpion Guild!"

Tang Yue gasped for breath. She’d almost been killed.

"Damn it! Hold the stairs!"

Hearing this, Jing Chuan immediately stopped climbing and decided to hold their position on the stairs.

If they kept climbing, they’d run right into the Scorpion Guild, and it would turn into an assault.

Jing Chuan knew better than anyone how difficult an assault was. Not long ago, they had taken down a group of randoms by defending these very stairs.

"Right!"

Zhihan and the others immediately replied.

Soon, Akaban and his men came down from above, and the two groups met on the stairs—one heading up, the other down.

Bito took one look and shouted excitedly.

"Boss, they barely have any fighters!"

"Heaven is on our side! Get them!"

Akaban was practically giddy with joy as his men pulled out grenades and tossed them down.

Jing Chuan and his team scrambled for cover!

BOOM!

A massive explosion ripped through the stairwell.

"Charge!"

Akaban and his men charged down excitedly.

At that moment, Jing Chuan gave a ruthless command.

"Forget the cost! Let ’em have it!"

The fighters grabbed high-explosive grenades and hurled them upward.

Akaban’s men were stunned. They immediately scrambled back up.

BOOM!

A series of violent explosions erupted below them.

BANG! BANG!

Jing Chuan’s group followed up with a hail of gunfire, showing no concern for their ammo count.

Argh!

Akaban instantly lost two of his men.

"Boss, these guys are nuts! Don’t they care about wasting grenades and ammo?"

Bito asked, completely bewildered.

"How the hell should I know?!"

Akaban was furious.

"So what now? If we try to force our way down, we’ll take heavy losses."

Bito swallowed nervously.

"What’s there to be afraid of? Pin them down! I refuse to believe we can’t finish them off."

Akaban knew this was going to be tough, but a greedy look still crossed his face. ’They must have found something good,’ he thought. ’There’s no other reason they’d be willing to fight like this.’

"Yes, sir!"

Bito nodded quickly.

...

「Sublevel 12 - Central Power Room.」

Ailo slowly raised its head, its ice-blue eyes fixed on Long Ming and Luoxue.

Long Ming felt a primal sense of danger and was about to yell for Luoxue to get back.

But before he could, Luoxue spoke.

"Long Ming, stop it!"

"Huh?"

Long Ming froze for a second before resigning himself to the task. He began to circle away from Luoxue, trying to draw its attention.

Just then, Ailo moved, charging straight for Luoxue.

Seeing this, Long Ming raised the black shadow in his hands and pulled the trigger, firing at Ailo.

BANG! BANG!

Armor-piercing rounds flew toward Ailo.

PING! PING!

The bullets struck Ailo’s body, sending shards of ice flying.

Although the armor-piercing rounds didn’t break through Ailo’s body, they still managed to create small craters on its surface.

"ARGH!"

Ailo let out a pained howl and changed its target, charging ferociously toward Long Ming like a wild beast.

Without hesitation, Long Ming grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin, cooked it for a moment, and hurled it with all his might at the charging Ailo.

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted, engulfing Ailo completely.

But a second later, Ailo came barreling out of the blast.

Long Ming was stunned by the sight, but he quickly squeezed the trigger.

BANG! BANG!

A stream of armor-piercing rounds slammed into Ailo’s body.

Ailo’s advance faltered, and it came to a halt.

Though its body was incredibly tough, getting hit by armor-piercing rounds was still painful.

CLICK! CLICK!

His magazine was empty.

’Damn it.’

Long Ming’s heart sank. He immediately fell back to reload.

Seeing its chance, Ailo raised a hand and tore a cable from the ceiling. A frosty energy emanated from its body, gathering in its hand and instantly freezing the cable into a straight, solid spear of ice.

Long Ming’s brow furrowed at the sight.

Then, Ailo raised its arm and hurled the spear at Long Ming.

WHOOSH!

The ice spear shot through the air.

Long Ming timed it perfectly, diving sideways and rolling to the right.

CRACK!

The ice spear flew past him, embedding itself in the ground and shattering on impact.

Long Ming pushed off the ground with his left hand, springing to his feet and raising his weapon to aim at Ailo.

But he found that he’d lost sight of Ailo.

’Damn it.’

Long Ming’s instincts screamed danger. He looked up.

He saw Ailo plummeting down on him like a mountain.

Long Ming’s eyes narrowed. He pushed off his toes and jumped back.

THUD!

A crater was smashed into the floor where he had just been standing.

Long Ming’s face went pale as he stumbled backward, bumping into a piece of machinery.

Ailo charged again, swinging a savage punch at Long Ming.

Long Ming quickly dodged to the side.

BAM!

Ailo’s fist punched clean through the machinery, and the entire device instantly froze solid.

Long Ming’s heart skipped a beat at the sight. He continued to retreat while unloading on Ailo.

BANG! BANG!

The bullets hammered against its body.

"ROAR!"

Ailo roared in pain, yanking its right hand free before grabbing the entire machine with both hands and lifting it.

’Shit.’

Seeing this, Long Ming stopped firing, turned, and ran for his life.

With a roar, Ailo heaved the machine and hurled it at Long Ming!

Hearing the sound of it hurtling through the air behind him, Long Ming immediately dodged to the side.

CRASH!

Long Ming was still caught in the impact, sent tumbling across the floor several times before he came to a stop.

Ailo glanced at the downed Long Ming and was about to turn toward Luoxue when...

Long Ming struggled back to his feet. He wiped the blood trickling from his forehead, his eyes locked on Ailo.

’If I hadn’t been so quick, that would have killed me. I was lucky to get away with just a few cuts.’

Seeing that Long Ming wasn’t dead, Ailo roared and charged again.

Long Ming gripped his weapon and fired wildly at Ailo.

BANG! BANG!

A dense hail of bullets peppered Ailo’s body.

Ailo stopped in its tracks, then stomped the ground hard and leaped toward Long Ming.

A cold glint flashed in Long Ming’s eyes as he dodged back with a quick leap.

THUD!

Ailo landed heavily on the ground. It then spotted two high-explosive grenades rolling at its feet. It immediately crossed its arms to shield its head as its body rapidly encased itself in ice.

BOOM!

A massive explosion ripped through the area.

Ailo staggered back a few steps, its body scorched black.

Long Ming reloaded his weapon, his nerves stretched to the breaking point as he watched Ailo.

Ailo shook its head, lowered its arms, and let out a small breath from its slightly parted mouth. It was completely unharmed.

Despair began to set in as Long Ming watched. ’This thing is even more absurd than Nimra from the insectoid world,’ he thought. He glanced over at Luoxue and saw she still hadn’t removed the nuclear fuel rod.

"Forget it! We need to run!"

Long Ming yelled.

Hearing Long Ming’s shout, Luoxue replied with a look of sheer determination.

"Just a little longer."

Long Ming’s face darkened at her words. ’Why is she so stubborn at a time like this?’

But he had no choice. He had to see this through to the end. His eyes remained fixed on Ailo.

Ailo charged straight at Long Ming again in a frenzy.

Long Ming immediately raised the black shadow and fired wildly.

But Ailo simply raised its left arm to block, enduring the intense pain as it closed in on Long Ming and threw a punch.

Long Ming’s expression changed drastically as he quickly dodged.