Chapter 971: 607, Limited Skin

In the dead of night, the mysterious task force ventured once again into Taboo Land No. 10, already having advanced inside for nearly four hours.

The Commander glanced at the simple map in his hand, realizing they were already very close to Dragon Fish Lake.

He signaled with a tactical hand gesture.

Seventy soldiers immediately slowed their pace within the forest and swiftly split into ten tactical squads, advancing in the darkness.

Each squad was spaced 21 meters apart, an optimal distance to avoid total annihilation under attack, while still maintaining support for each unit.

If one squad was ambushed, the others could quickly provide support.

The soldiers wore black clothing, blending into the darkness, their faces painted with black and dark green camo.

There were no identity markers on them; if captured, there would be no evidence of their origins.

This was a specialized squad for assassinations.

However, midway in their advance, the last soldier of one squad suddenly had yellow earth snake around his feet, coiling up like a python.

Strangely, this soldier didn’t notice anything unusual, as the earth was incredibly soft and light as air.

Until it wrapped around his neck, and the end of the earthen python suddenly split to form a hand tightly gripping his throat.

Instantly, the ground silently collapsed, and the soldier vanished below the surface, forever sleeping in the soil of Taboo Land No. 10.

As each squad advanced, the soldiers behind always placed their hands on the shoulders of the ones in front.

Under normal circumstances, if the soldier behind was attacked, the moment his hand left the foreman’s shoulder, it would be noticed.

But the one controlling the earth was clever enough that as the soldier was pulled underground, a handful of earth transformed into a hand and continued resting on the foreman’s shoulder.

The person in front noticed nothing amiss.

Then, the invisible earth used the same technique, ensnaring the second-to-last soldier, pulling him underground.

In this forest’s special operations environment, such a silent killing method was as unfathomable as a ghost.

You couldn’t even know where the enemy was.

But, after killing the second soldier, the Qing Clan House Master’s top assassin didn’t proceed with more killings.

Before the soldiers ahead noticed anything strange.

Quickly, the sand on the ground condensed, and in an instant, it took on a human form, even donning the equipment of the soldier who had just died.

This level of efficiency in jungle assassination operations was terrifying.

At that moment, the Commander suddenly raised his right arm, all squads halted immediately, and the assassin, in a moment of carelessness, bumped into the soldier in front.

Amidst the chaotic noise, everyone silently turned their heads to look at him…

Then, everyone realized their squad was missing someone!

The captain signaled: Where is the rear soldier?

The rules of the Taboo Land were strange, the best way to minimize casualties was not to speak.

The assassin thought for a moment and said, “No…”

The captain frowned, “Use gestures.”

Zard, the Qing Clan House Master’s top assassin, remained silent for two seconds: ㄟ(▔,▔)ㄏ

Shrugged.

Don’t know.

Don’t ask me.

Captain: “???”

The next second, all soldiers suddenly turned and fired at Zard.

The serenity of the Taboo Forest was abruptly shattered by gunfire!

Zard sighed, “Can’t you take a joke?”

In an instant, countless bullets poured into Zard, but he transformed into a mass of sand and seeped into the ground.

The barrage of bullets embedded in his sand-like body just fell to the ground, scattered among the dirt.

And in that instant, the Commander’s pupils contracted sharply, realizing who had arrived.

This Qing Clan assassin, though low-profile, had recently caused quite a stir!

Oh no!

At this moment, soldiers fell into the sand one by one, and the Commander immediately barked, “Climb the trees!”

Though it seemed undignified, climbing the trees meant it wasn’t feasible for the enemy to sink dozens of towering trees at once.

In combat, whatever works is the best method.

Looking good doesn’t matter!

Sure enough, once the soldiers clambered onto the trunks, the killing method of engulfing them with quicksand became ineffective.

The Taboo Land regained some of its tranquility.

Agilely, the Commander climbed to a treetop to ponder strategies, but he seemed to be at a loss.

In reality, the Federation’s best measure against earth element Awakeners who could burrow was to bombard them indiscriminately.

All it took was to scour the earth with deep-penetrating missiles that vitrified the sand with high heat, killing the earth element Awakeners underground, as they needed to breathe and couldn’t dive too deep.

However, this Commander lacked the capability for indiscriminate firepower, and being up in the trees, even if he called for reinforcements, they’d be bombarded alongside the assassin.

What to do?

Gritting his teeth, the Commander connected to the hovercraft channel at the rear, determined to become a Suicide Squad and perish with Zard.

But just as the communication connected, the Commander suddenly looked up, seeing a figure sitting higher in the treetop, smiling pleasantly at him.

Qing Ye.

Before he could relay information to the hovercraft command, an embroidery needle flew through the air, piercing his throat and windpipe.

This time, all the equipment carried by the Decapitation Squad had a carbon coating, specifically to guard against Qing Ye potentially being here too.

After all, with Qing Ye, a metal-controlling Awakener, by Qing Chen’s side, it was quite likely.

However, Qing Ye never intended to control their guns; his final killing tool was the taboo ACE-053, Grandma’s Sewing Kit.

This taboo item is quite interesting. Inside the sewing box, there are three endless threads and three embroidery needles.

The embroidery needles vary in size, with the longest being the length of an index finger and the shortest only two knuckle lengths.

The containment condition is that the thread must be passed through the needle eye once every day. While threading, the host’s hands will tremble uncontrollably like an old granny’s hands.

It’s particularly difficult to thread.

Every day, it takes Qing Ye at least ten minutes to complete the needle-threading containment condition.

Sometimes, when Qing Qu sees him threading the needle, he’d jokingly call him Granny Qing.

This taboo item ACE-053 wasn’t originally meant for killing; its function was to make clothes, shoes, and hats extremely tough and durable, almost as useless as the weather forecast pocket watch in Li Dongze’s hands.

This taboo item originally belonged to an old cobbler.

Due to the explosive power of the Transcendent, everyone goes through shoes quickly in battle.

And the old cobbler’s shop was located in the Upper Three Districts of City No. 10, specializing in using the taboo item ACE-053 ‘Granny’s Sewing Box’ to make shoes for the Transcendents.

Later, after the old cobbler passed away, the item was taken by the Shadow and then gifted to Qing Ye.

From then on, Qing Ye manipulated metal with his trump card, which became three indestructible embroidery needles, making it extremely covert to kill.

At this moment, the Commander fell to the ground, and Qing Ye jumped down from the tree crown, crushing the opponent’s communication system and smiling at the Commander: “Two A-Class experts came to wipe you out; you didn’t die in vain.”

However, at this moment, the ground beneath him suddenly turned into quicksand.

Qing Ye roared angrily: “Damn it, you attacked the wrong person.”

In the darkness, someone hurriedly said: “Ah, sorry, sorry!”

“Why so hasty? These people now are just appetizers; the main feature hasn’t arrived. In a while, we’ll really be busy, why are you snatching the credit,” Qing Ye said helplessly, wondering how the Family Head ever noticed such a candidate. He pulled his legs out of the sand and turned to reclaim the battlefield.

…

…

Countdown to return 00:20:00

Only 20 minutes left.

By the lakeside.

Qing Chen and the others were completely unperturbed by the gunshots in the Taboo Forest.

Ma Jingjing and the others sat by the lakeside, trembling, but as they looked around, they saw that besides themselves, surprisingly nobody else appeared panic-stricken.

Yi Wenbo calmed down: “They seem to know exactly what’s happening in the forest, likely connected to the two missing guides. The three guides and four Artifact Spirits had been acquainted for a while, bringing us in was just a casual act.”

Yi Wenbo continued: “But what’s strange is that they seem to have also anticipated the battle occurring in the forest. Who exactly are these people, could someone be trying to kill them?”

However, as Qing Chen and his group didn’t react, the four of them could only watch and see how things unfolded.

Qing Chen set up three small pots, making boiled fish for Yanyang and Zhang Mengchan.

In another pot, Shadow was boiling some mushrooms gathered from the Taboo Land.

Qing Chen looked at Shadow curiously: “Are you really not eating fish? I’m not that stingy.”

Shadow cheerfully said: “You all go ahead, I don’t need it.”

Ma Jingjing’s group sat on the other side watching them, with saliva almost dripping down.

They hadn’t caught a single fish at all!

If nobody had caught any fish, that would have been fine, but others had a good haul while they got nothing, which was utterly dismaying.

At this, Xiao Yu pitifully asked: “You’re eating meat, can’t you at least give us a sip of the soup?”

Qing Chen thought about it, and after Yanyang ate the Dragon Fish, he handed over the pot to them.

Ma Jingjing eagerly peeked inside and instantly felt dejected. He lamented: “This food is so clean that even if you served it to Tang Monk, he probably wouldn’t consider it breaking his vows!”

Qing Chen jovially said: “Right, right.”

Just then, there was a stir in the forest outside the lake shore.

Everyone turned to look, only to see Zard walking out with a little sapling on his head, smiling foolishly: “All solved, I’ve got the most credits. Out of seventy assassins, I alone took down more than fifty.”

“Impressive, impressive,” praised Qing Chen: “…But what’s up with the sapling on your head?”

Zard chuckled: “I saw it on the way and planted it on my head. How does it look, my limited skin?”

Qing Chen: “…Looks good, but why are you so insistent on growing things on yourself?!”

Zard replied: “I’m an Earth Element Awakener, if there’s no grass growing on me, it looks barren.”

Qing Chen: “???

This logic—what the heck!?

Zard giggled: “Hehe, don’t worry, it can’t hurt me. This body of mine doesn’t have any blood vessels, it’ll die in a couple of days. By the way, since I’ve contributed, can I make a request?”

Qing Chen paused, why was a request directed at him?

“What request?” Qing Chen asked.

“A group photo and a video,” Zard grinned: “Can we? You should use your true appearance.”

Qing Chen thought about it; his appearance had long been exposed, so recording a video didn’t matter. He agreed and returned to his true form.

Zard excitedly ran over, sat next to him, turned on the phone in a selfie pose, and asked Qing Chen: “Do I qualify to join Daytime?”

Qing Chen raised his eyebrows: “…Yes, yes, yes!”

At this, Ma Jingjing and his group not far away were stunned, eyes wide, exchanging shocked glances.

What?

Daytime!

Ma Jingjing at this moment looked back at Qing Chen, who was quietly sitting by the campfire; wasn’t he exactly the famed Master of Daytime?

Countdown hit zero.

Return.

The world plunged into darkness.

…

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