Chen Feng had already undergone beastification. He was also a Beastification Ability User. His transformation wasn’t dramatic; black and white fur simply sprouted all over his body, and his frame bulked up a size.
His expression changed the moment he closed in on One-Eyed Tiger.
Because two figures suddenly shot out from behind One-Eyed Tiger.
Their builds were clearly larger than an average person’s. A single glance was enough to tell they were no ordinary men.
At the same time, several more figures rushed toward him from the surroundings at incredible speed.
Chen Feng immediately realized they were all ability users.
’When did One-Eyed Tiger get so many ability users under him?’
Since One-Eyed Tiger wore a high collar to hide it, his electronic shackle went unnoticed.
And these ability users were, of course, Lin Jiao, Wang Cheng, and their group.
They had remained hidden in front of the fortress earlier, so their appearance now wouldn’t cause any complications.
"Fall back!" Chen Feng shouted, his face pale with shock.
’This One-Eyed Tiger has been hiding his strength so well. To think he has so many ability users.’
But it was too late for Chen Feng and the ability user beside him to retreat. One-Eyed Tiger launched a ferocious attack, tying them down instantly.
However, if it were just this—with Lu Feng and Zheng Lin staying out of sight and not deploying any mecha—it would still be difficult to defeat Chen Feng’s group quickly.
After all, they still had to put on a show for the Li Family later, so certain things couldn’t be exposed.
But the crucial part was, just as Chen Feng and One-Eyed Tiger’s men were clashing, someone began taking cheap shots from a distance, completely ignoring any sense of honor.
And to make matters worse, the shooter’s aim was incredibly precise, with every shot aimed at their heads.
The one firing was none other than Lu Feng.
He was holding an anti-materiel strategic sniper rifle, watching the spot where One-Eyed Tiger and his men were surrounding Chen Feng’s group.
As for what an anti-materiel strategic sniper rifle was, it was the kind that could pierce through armored vehicles with special-made bullets.
With his mastery of old-fashioned firearms, he could expertly handle this anti-materiel rifle, and his aim was incredibly accurate.
Under these circumstances, Chen Feng saw his men being picked off one by one by the ambushers, and panic surged in his heart.
A moment of carelessness, and One-Eyed Tiger slammed a blow into his chest.
As they were both Beastification Ability Users, One-Eyed Tiger’s strike made Chen Feng’s face contort in pain as he stumbled back wretchedly.
But that wasn’t the worst part. As he fell back, the instant he lost his balance, an anti-materiel bullet struck him square in the chest.
Even in his beastified state, the impact sent him tumbling to the ground. Blood sprayed from his chest. He was severely wounded, and his expression was beyond grim.
From a distance, Lu Feng could clearly see the scene of the battle through his sniper rifle’s night vision scope.
He then aimed his muzzle at another ability user Chen Feng had brought along.
’This mastery of old-fashioned firearms is really giving me the thrill of a lurker picking off targets in this unique environment.’
With Chen Feng wounded, his other ability users naturally panicked. Their abilities were not as strong as Chen Feng’s, and they were immediately pushed into a desperate retreat.
Then, one of them was struck directly in the head by a sniper bullet.
This person’s ability was speed-oriented, so his defense wasn’t strong. He was killed instantly with a headshot.
Against a bullet from an anti-materiel sniper rifle, he stood no chance.
This threw the others into an even greater panic. The more they panicked, the more openings they revealed. Soon, another man was shot in the chest by Lu Feng and died on the spot.
The last two were also killed under the combined assault of Lin Jiao, Wang Cheng, and the others.
In a situation like this, they weren’t thinking about taking prisoners. The right move was to eliminate the enemy quickly to avoid any accidents that might lead to casualties on their own side.
Chen Feng clutched his chest, taking a long moment to recover. A gruesome wound had opened up on his torso.
Seeing that all the ability users he had brought with him were dead, he was utterly devastated.
He had never imagined One-Eyed Tiger’s forces would be this strong. He had always thought he was the one using him, that he was the one in control of everything.
He never expected that he was the laughable one, being led by the nose by this One-Eyed Tiger all along.
He didn’t dare hesitate and immediately turned to flee.
Severely injured, his only option was to run. Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be One-Eyed Tiger’s group; once the rest of their men finished off his people and surrounded him, even a random spray of bullets could kill him.
Lin Jiao and the others naturally saw Chen Feng flee.
However, they didn’t pursue him. If they actually finished Chen Feng off, their boss’s upcoming act would fall apart.
One-Eyed Tiger played along, shouting, "That bastard Chen Feng escaped! Everyone, gather up! We’re taking the East Suburb Fortress!"
His shout was loud, intentionally so.
Hearing this, Chen Feng’s fleeing figure shuddered.
He never thought One-Eyed Tiger would be so audacious as to try and capture the East Suburb Fortress. That was City East Alliance territory. Wasn’t he afraid of the City East Alliance’s retaliation?
But he also knew that, under these circumstances, the East Suburb Fortress might really fall. He couldn’t go back there now.
’My only choice now is to flee back to the City East Alliance. The only hope of getting revenge is to ask the Li Family for help. Then I’ll let the Li Family deal with this One-Eyed Tiger.’
’That way, I might still have a chance to get back my position as the East Suburb Surrounding Guard Officer. Then, my plan can still proceed.’
’And it’s a good thing One-Eyed Tiger is this strong. Zheng Lin should be dead at his hands too. The Li Family will have no other way of knowing what happened here.’
Just as Chen Feng was thinking this, a fireball suddenly shot toward him.
The attack was so abrupt that he couldn’t react in time.
By the time he realized he needed to dodge, the fireball had already exploded, and the shockwave sent him flying.
If he hadn’t been injured, a blast of this magnitude wouldn’t have harmed him at all. But now, it made him spit out a mouthful of blood, leaving him even more wretched and his aura unstable.
A figure appeared, slowly walking over.
"Zheng Lin!" Chen Feng’s face changed drastically. ’This guy didn’t die at One-Eyed Tiger’s hands?’
Zheng Lin rushed forward and blasted Chen Feng with another fireball, leaving him on the brink of death. Then he stomped him firmly to the ground. "Chen Feng, you actually colluded with those bandits to plot against the Li Family’s people! Now the bandit problem in the East Suburb is out of control. You’re coming back with me to the Li Family to answer for this!"
A short while later, Zheng Lin dragged the immobilized Chen Feng to a hillside. Chen Feng’s injuries were even more severe, and an electronic shackle had been fastened around his neck.
Zheng Lin held Chen Feng and made him watch the distant East Suburb Fortress.
A battle had already broken out there. The sounds of gunfire and flashes of light were exceptionally clear in the night.
Now completely powerless, Chen Feng was filled with despair. ’One-Eyed Tiger actually dared to attack the East Suburb Fortress. If I’m taken to the Li Family, they’ll never let me go.’
A faint, mocking smile played on Zheng Lin’s lips as he glanced at Chen Feng.
’This was all part of his plan, put on for Chen Feng to see. When we get to the Li Family, everything will fall into place logically.’
After an unknown amount of time, the fighting at the East Suburb Fortress stopped.
Zheng Lin knew Mr. Lu’s plan must have succeeded.
Sure enough, a moment later, a disheveled man arrived and deliberately reported in a loud voice, "Sir, those bandits attacked the East Suburb Fortress! They broke in and plundered a huge amount of supplies. Thankfully, Mr. Lu arrived with his men and fought One-Eyed Tiger’s forces. It seems One-Eyed Tiger just wanted to loot some things and was wary of the City East Alliance, so he didn’t stay long and has already retreated."
"As long as the East Suburb Fortress didn’t fall!" Zheng Lin feigned a sigh of relief, but he couldn’t suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.
Everything was going according to Mr. Lu’s plan.
The story the Li Family would get was this: Chen Feng colluded with One-Eyed Tiger, intending to eliminate the group sent by the Li Family, led by Mr. Lu. However, One-Eyed Tiger used him, instead wiping out the East Suburb Fortress’s guards and ultimately storming the fortress himself.
The result would be that all the useful supplies in the East Suburb Fortress were looted, and the Li Family would also receive news that One-Eyed Tiger had many ability users under his command.
The Li Family was currently short on manpower, especially ability users, due to another matter—one that was very important to them and to some of the other noble powers in the City East Alliance.
When that happened, the Li Family would surely be in a terrible fix.
Once the East Suburb spun out of control and the Flame Emperor became enraged, their authority over the region would certainly be revoked.
But what if, during this time, Mr. Lu and his men were prepared? What if they discovered the plot in advance and evacuated, avoiding Chen Feng and One-Eyed Tiger’s trap? And what if, after One-Eyed Tiger stormed the fortress, they arrived as reinforcements to fight him?
And since One-Eyed Tiger, having looted his fill, didn’t want to linger and risk the City East Alliance settling scores later, Mr. Lu could then logically seize the East Suburb Fortress and naturally take control.
When the Li Family learned of this, they would have no choice but to rely on Mr. Lu. In fact, Mr. Lu could even demand more benefits from them!
Of course, if the Li Family tried to send more people, One-Eyed Tiger could just make another appearance and take care of them all.
What a very familiar script!
...
Lu Feng arrived at the East Suburb Fortress once more. This time, the main gate had been blown to pieces—One-Eyed Tiger’s handiwork.
He, however, walked right in with his men, open and aboveboard.
Inside, many guards could be seen. These were the men Chen Feng had originally recruited, but their eyes were still filled with terror, not yet having recovered from One-Eyed Tiger’s attack.
Those bandits had so many weapons. Coupled with the surprise attack and the involvement of so many ability users, they simply couldn’t withstand it.
The enemy had charged into the fortress, killing wantonly and plundering supplies.
If this Mr. Lu hadn’t appeared with reinforcements, they would have all been done for. Thus, their gazes toward Lu Feng held a measure of gratitude.
Of course, these men had no idea that this was all part of a larger scheme.
Lu Feng naturally felt their gazes and couldn’t help but laugh internally. ’I’ve been eyeing this fortress, and to think Chen Feng would serve up such a perfect opportunity on a silver platter.’
’Now, let’s see how the next act plays out.’
Not long after Lu Feng entered the fortress with his men, Lin Jiao and Wang Cheng returned. One-Eyed Tiger was now under control with an electronic shackle, and Xu Bin had been left behind to monitor the bandit forces, so there was no need for them all to be there.
"Boss, One-Eyed Tiger is awaiting your orders," Lin Jiao said as soon as she saw him.
Lu Feng thought for a moment and said, "Tell him to return to Shangya Town. I’ll give him further instructions when needed. Xu Bin and his team will continue to monitor them from there."
"Understood!" Lin Jiao nodded. Then, she took out three information spheres and handed them to Lu Feng. "Boss, I saw that you were placing a lot of importance on computer-related matters before, even having Cheng Sisi and the others write custom software. One-Eyed Tiger’s men grabbed these three information spheres during their chaotic looting of the fortress. I thought they might be useful to you, so I brought them back."
Lu Feng accepted the information spheres. ’Lin Jiao must have misunderstood something.’
The reason he’d had Cheng Sisi and her team write software wasn’t that he valued computer science in general, but that the specific software they were creating was useful to him.
Still, since Lin Jiao had gone to the trouble of bringing the three information spheres back, he went ahead and used his game’s detection function to inspect them.
But when he saw the note on one of the information spheres, a look of shock appeared on his face. "They even had something like this?"