Target, Sea!

The equipment of the One-Eye Squad’s four members was all confiscated by Chen Xiaolian.

Among them, the most valuable was naturally the exoskeleton-style armor worn by the four of them… From an appearance perspective, it was already very close to the high-tech black technology of Iron Man. And in terms of functionality, it was quite impressive as well.

The power system would need further research by Roddy once it was brought back to the base. What piqued Roddy’s interest even more were the special features of these several sets of mecha.

One of them was transformation and modular assembly.

According to Roddy’s explanation, these battle armors used a special “module” that could transform mechanical metal for various uses. For instance, after Roddy dismantled it on the spot, he discovered that the armor contained some detachable attachments that could be used separately.

For example, a single-person flying device, like the handheld metal saw used by the One-Eye, and in a non-combat state, this metal saw could transform into a metal-wheeled land vehicle shape, somewhat similar to a hoverboard.

The armor’s defense was quite good, and the power system was excellent. Even without any weapon attachments, wearing the armor allowed for close combat with the strength of someone using the Muscle Fruit skill state, with no inferiority in strength.

Chen Xiaolian had Xiaolei search carefully through the exchange system and found this equipment.

This thing was called the War Fortress and was labeled as a single-unit multifunctional combat armor within the system.

It can be said that the only difference between this War Fortress and Iron Man’s gear is that the War Fortress does not yet possess a fully integrated AI system. During combat, many functions require manual control.

Within the exchange system, this War Fortress receives very high praise: [A] class.

The exchange system describes it with this sentence: “Perhaps among mechanical equipment obtainable through exchange, this is the closest thing to a Floating Angel.”

One thing that can be confirmed is that the One-Eye team follows a standard tech and machinery path. Moreover, they have reached a very high level of development within this category!

All four members of the team can equip such War Fortresses, making this team quite wealthy.

Because this War Fortress is priced at 18,000 points each in the exchange system, and what’s being purchased is only the prototype. All weapon systems and attachments will require additional points for modification and upgrades.

“It also has something I really like, the Nightingale surveillance system. A single War Fortress can release six miniature Nightingale surveillance drones equipped with optical, thermal, and infrared sensors. These six Nightingales can achieve nearly 100% visual coverage of an area within a radius of 3.5 kilometers, with no blind spots from multiple angles.”

Sitting in the Thunderstorm Battle Tank, Roddy happily said to Chen Xiaolian, “This is definitely a good find! Especially in my hands, I can modify it.”

Additionally, what saddened Roddy was that all the confiscated War Fortresses were already damaged, and only three sets remained.

The set belonging to Stinkbug had been completely dismantled by Chen Xiaolian, cut into pieces, and there was no possibility of repair—it could only be taken back to the base and recycled for points as scrap material.

Among the three captured sets, the one belonging to Electronic Youth was the most intact. The one belonging to No Tongue had suffered the most severe damage—it had been damaged extensively by Qiao Qiao’s Viscount of Darkness’s antimatter abilities.

Surprisingly, the one belonging to One-Eye, despite suffering multiple battle damages in the Lun Tai battle, had not incurred too much damage to its core components.

“This thing relies too much on machinery,” Chen Xiaolian sighed, “Mechanical equipment generally only works in physical offense and defense. Once it encounters magic or mental attacks, it becomes useless. We can’t rely too heavily on mechanical equipment. However…” He thought for a moment and said, “Support-type members in the team can use this kind of thing to enhance their combat capabilities, like Xia Xiaolei.”

Everyone agreed when he said this.

Xia Xiaolei’s humanoid discount card was undoubtedly very important for the team in terms of skills, but he was at a severe disadvantage in combat! He was practically just a bystander in every battle. If armed with the War Fortress, it could greatly boost his combat power. At the very least, he would have some self-defense capabilities.

Apart from the three captured War Fortresses, what made everyone happy was the storage wristwatches!

They managed to confiscate four storage wristwatches! For the Meteor Rock Guild, this solved a major issue: the problem of material resupply.

Combined with the existing storage wristwatches of Chen Xiaolian and Lun Tai, the Meteor Rock Guild could almost provide one to each main combat team member.

Chen Xiaolian thought for a moment and made the allocation.

As a mechanized abilities user, Roddy definitely needed one.

And as the logistics master of the team and the humanoid discount card, it was necessary for Xia Xiaolei to have one.

As the primary combat force, Qiao Qiao could also be equipped with one.

The last one, Chen Xiaolian decided to leave for the backup member who stayed at home.

He didn’t choose to give it to Soo Soo because Soo Soo was almost inseparable from Qiao Qiao, so she didn’t need an additional one.

As for Qimu Xi… this girl had not yet demonstrated anything convincing to her teammates.

The loot from the four storage wristwatches of the One-Eye Squad was quite substantial.

In addition to some spare components and weapon attachments prepared for the War Fortresses, there were also some munitions.

And a tracked electromagnetic combat vehicle (one level lower than the Thunderstorm Battle Tank but with faster speed), several combat aircraft, and…

A small submarine capable of carrying nine people!

When Chen Xiaolian saw this submarine in the storage wristwatch, his eyes immediately lit up!

He exchanged glances with the other team members, especially Roddy, whose expression was quite mischievous.

“We had the same idea, didn’t we?” Roddy laughed heartily.

…

After the Meteor Rock Guild redefined its team mission objectives in the second phase, the goal was no longer to complete dungeon tasks but had changed to: evade and preserve ourselves as much as possible!

After becoming the target of all other game participants within the dungeon, this was a wise move. However, it presented significant challenges:

The biggest challenge was that the system would reveal the coordinates of the Meteor Rock Guild to all players in the Light faction every sixty minutes, and each time it was revealed, it would continue to track them for five minutes.

So, where would everyone hide during the remaining time? Where could they find the most suitable hiding place… or was hiding no longer possible, given that the system would disclose their coordinates? Finding the best escape route for the Meteor Rock Guild was of the essence.

The submarine solved this problem!

To the sea!

…

“Among the game participants, very few will have access to maritime transportation. That’s the first point. The second point is that on land, no matter where we hide, we will eventually be hunted down and killed by our pursuers. At sea, the area is vast, and with our submarine, we can utilize the terrain. We can navigate on the sea’s surface, and when necessary, we can dive to the seabed to hide. I doubt other Awakened teams happen to have a submarine.

Based on my experience, there are very few Awakened teams that have access to maritime transportation and even fewer with a submarine.”

It was Lun Tai speaking.

“I agree with Lun Tai’s point,” Roddy added loudly. “Furthermore, the sea has a significant advantage over land: it offers a wide open field of vision, while the terrain on the ground is complex, with various buildings, making us susceptible to surprise attacks. But at sea, we can greatly reduce that possibility.

On land, we might face a situation where we can’t see our opponents, but they’ve already locked onto our position. At sea… we can cruise with the submarine, constantly moving, making it difficult for our opponents to capture us. Moreover, the likelihood of being ambushed is much lower.”

“Why not choose the sky then?” Qiao Qiao, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke up.

Qiao Qiao had only recently awakened, and it seemed she was still adapting to the dark power brought by her new ability and some peculiar changes in her body. After waking up, Qiao Qiao had been somewhat reserved, and it was only now that she expressed her opinion. “We have the Tidal Warplane, so why not take to the skies?”

Roddy sighed, “Among the game participants, many possess anti-aircraft weapons, and flying attack craft are not uncommon equipment. Moreover, many Awakened individuals have flight abilities. The sky is not necessarily safer than the sea.

And, from a practical perspective, most of us, except for me who can summon mechas, lack air combat skills and relevant experience.

If our Tidal Warplane is locked onto in the sky, even though it’s formidable, I don’t think it can withstand the siege of all game participants. Once the Tidal Warplane is destroyed and we plummet from tens of thousands of meters in the sky, none of us will survive… We’ll be done for.

But in the sea, even if the submarine is destroyed, we can resurface and continue to survive. At critical moments, there’s still a chance to escape, but in the sky, there’s nowhere to run even if we want to.

To put it simply, swimming is much easier than flying.”

“Yes, in the sea, even if we fail, we can summon the Tidal Warplane at any time to escape, but in the sky… if the Tidal Warplane breaks down, we won’t be able to use the submarine in the sky,” Chen Xiaolian supported Roddy’s suggestion.

After looking around and seeing no one expressing objections, Chen Xiaolian made a decision, “Alright then, it’s decided! We’re heading to the sea! Roddy, change our current direction. We’re heading west, towards the coastline, and then into the sea!”

“Roar!”

Watching Roddy’s hearty laughter, the driver of the Thunderstorm Battle Tank changed their course.

However, Chen Xiaolian exchanged a glance with Qiao Qiao. He could clearly sense a hint of sadness in Qiao Qiao’s eyes, and she seemed to let out a faint sigh, moving her gaze away to avoid further eye contact with Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian sighed inwardly but knew that this wasn’t the right moment for a private conversation with Qiao Qiao.

His gaze shifted towards… Will!

Little Will!