Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

As for the other key member, the Mysterious Warlock himself didn’t even bother to show up after the first wave scattered, simply slipping away.

When you meet a bear in the forest, you don’t have to run faster than the bear—you just have to run faster than everyone else.

At that, the Skull Gang members, who still held a numerical advantage, completely collapsed. The pitched battle devolved into a chase.

A little over ten minutes passed.

Yan Ruoruo killed three of them in one go.

Her Spiritual Energy Arrows, much like Heart Sword, were first-encounter killers; anyone who tried to block them was basically done for.

Relying on his superior Perception and the power of his extra-long leaps, Su Chen also killed six members in one fell swoop.

Among them, some were strong, and some were weak.

Two of them didn’t even drop a Lv5 Rune.

’That makes sense.’

Gangs had their own hierarchies. The leaders and core members did indeed possess Lv7 Runes, but the strength of the rank-and-file members was uneven. Still, the fact that they had all changed classes was genuine, and killing them would always drop Spiritual Materials.

And also...

Five handguns and rifles of different models, three of which were enchanted with Lv4 Acceleration Skill Runes, along with a pile of bullets of various calibers.

’Gong Jun won’t have to painstakingly rifle barrels by hand anymore.’

Su Chen sighed inwardly. Guns and ammunition were commonplace in Oran City; there was really no need to waste effort on work meant for precision CNC machines.

Besides, all roads led to Rome.

Everyone had figured out the extraordinary synergy between the Wind Element Acceleration Skill and gun barrels.

Crime pays.

As long as one participated seriously in this war between the Twin Cities, a whole pile of Lv7 Runes would likely be generated.

And the two Lv7 Runes Su Chen had plundered—Thunderclap and Shadow Leap—were both things he personally needed.

’There will be a considerable amount of waste.’

To upgrade a Lv7 Rune to the next level, the required materials changed to the Soul Core system. Theoretically, absorbing Runes like a snake swallowing an elephant would cause a great deal of waste.

According to the Rune Knowledge radio broadcast, it might cause some Spiritual Materials to precipitate out of the process.

Since he had obtained them so easily, he didn’t dwell on the issue.

In the short term, he had to ensure his personal combat power remained at its peak.

The battlefield situation was changing in an instant; he simply couldn’t afford to delay.

So, during the chase, Su Chen had also absorbed the two Lv7 Runes in one go, like a snake swallowing an elephant, and his overall strength immediately leaped to a new level.

First was Thunderclap...

This Rune was in the binding sequence of his First Authority, so he was already clear on its equivalent Lv7 effect.

Now at Lv8, it granted a 250% boost to physical functions for 3 seconds. This number alone was undoubtedly conservative; the real enhancement was in the mechanics. During its activation, he was completely immune to all control-type effects.

As the bio-current bloomed, it would also dispel all negative effects. His muscle fibers and bone surfaces would be briefly coated in a bio-lightning plating, granting 30% damage reduction from external attacks.

’Not bad.’

Extending bullet time placed a higher demand on the body; a normal person couldn’t withstand a longer duration at all. Thus, breakthroughs in this area were likely rare.

Shadow Leap at Lv7 was also a simple and direct mechanical improvement.

Its main feature was allowing four uninterrupted long-distance leaps within 2 seconds.

The other Rune, a Lv6 Destruction, was also of great use. After being devoured and absorbed, and supplemented with the newly acquired Spirit Marrow Crystals and Spiritual Dust Sand, this Damage Rune was also pushed to Lv7.

Its new characteristic was ’Deep Corrosion,’ which had a particle-penetrating effect. Corroded objects would suffer from structural fatigue, making them fragile and prone to collapse. Against living beings, it could also deaden their nerves.

When this penetrating Negative Energy accumulated to a certain concentration, it would produce a silent burst effect, quietly eroding internal organs and skeletal structures.

’So insidious.’

Su Chen sighed to himself. Compared to the immense and overt power of Flame Burst, this Destruction wave was truly all about stealth and insidiousness.

The struggle over the Teleportation Gate had, in fact, raised the composition of his Rune system to a new, albeit small, level.

In addition.

He had also collected several Wind Element Flying Skill Runes, though their levels were average. After absorbing them, that particular Rune was now just one step away from leveling up.

Yan Ruoruo had also made significant gains along the way, but right now she took out her diamond pendant necklace, using the Rainfall Skill enchanted on it to initiate an energy Recovery for Su Chen.

After all the killing and chasing, his most frequently used Telekinesis Rune, as well as the three Runes involved in Aurora Flash, were nearly depleted of energy.

To ensure his absolute personal safety, there was no need for him to pay too much attention to the small fry.

Just then.

Members of the investigation squad who had participated in the chase flew over.

”Thank you so much. On behalf of the investigation squad, I thank you for your support. Without you, we would have been in grave danger.” Captain Hong came over specifically to talk to them.

Looking at the handsome man and beautiful woman with unfamiliar faces before him, Hong Zhanfeng, who was stationed at Forward Base South-3, guessed that the two were experts from another border.

Nor did they seem to be from the Rune-architected area at Gate South-1.

Otherwise, it was impossible that they would have remained unknown and unheard of for so long.

The establishment of the teleportation hub had undoubtedly increased the mobility of top-tier combatants. At the very least, top-tier independent experts who had found it inconvenient to travel before were now responding quickly to provide support.

’And that Ice Bird... where did they even get something like that?’

Captain Hong was somewhat astonished. The pair hadn’t summoned any creatures during the group battle, clearly because they were unsure of the enemy’s strength and feared that the death of a summon would negatively impact them.

But after the enemy was routed, he had seen an Ice Bird, its entire body glistening and translucent, during the chase just now.

’This person’s background is extremely mysterious. I have no idea where this expert popped out from.’

”It was nothing.”

Su Chen said, unconcerned.

”Here’s your communicator back.” On the other side, Yan Ruoruo handed the walkie-talkie back.

Seeing the battle-damaged walkie-talkie, which had an anime-style sticker on it, a squad member suddenly exclaimed in surprise, ”This is the vice-captain’s!”

”His body and his companion’s are two kilometers beyond the South-3 border. They were likely ambushed and killed by the enemy halfway there. You’ll have to find the exact location yourselves,” Su Chen explained.

”Thank you.”

Captain Hong sighed. Although he had been mentally prepared, hearing the definitive news was still heartbreaking.

After today’s events, the squad’s casualty rate was probably going to look even uglier.

He didn’t know if the squad’s roster would even last for the next three days.

”Here’s the intel we’ve gathered on Oran City. Some of it hasn’t been cross-verified, but it should be at least eighty percent accurate. You can take it for reference.” Captain Hong could only offer the information his investigation squad had collected as a token of thanks.

As for recruiting them or anything like that, it was impossible.

He couldn’t be bothered to waste his breath on these top-tier independent experts who enjoyed their freedom and disliked being tied down.

”Oh, right. There’s also a message that came through the comms operator. Eight minutes ago, a hidden shop appeared in an unnamed ravine in the hill country, roughly in this area.” Captain Hong also gave his map to them.