The Almighty Ring

“I’m going to explain this quickly. The enemies are coming at us from three directions. If we move on with our current path, we will be surrounded like a nice succulent dumpling. I have a strategy. Follow me and we can strike them where they least expect it. Make your decision fast!” said Jiang Fei, striking the iron when it is hot.

“What’s there to think about, if you have a plan of attack, we should go for it!”

“That’s right! It’s time for us to strike them back for once! I’ve had it with them!”

Everyone was motivated when the threat of death was at their throats. Jiang Fei’s words had revitalized these poor souls.

“I’d say we give them hell! Since we are leaving, we should give them a parting gift! We must let them know that even if we are running away, they should never have looked down on us!” cried Bai Wanli, jumping on the bandwagon.

“That’s right! They’ve got hell to pay!” Zhu Tianfei roared with rage coursing through his veins.

Akin to the cowardly rabbit, they were now cornered by the fierce tiger. In desperation, they would retaliate with everything they had.

“Well said!” Jiang Fei preached excitingly. He then turned to the Androids and asked, “What about you?”

“We are tasked to protect you until you have safely reached the rendezvous point!” Z8-001 replied.

“Very well. Follow us close then,” Jiang Fei implored worriedly and led the entire group of rabbits to strike the tigers.

Jiang Fei led the group into the mountains and away from the approaching Mutants. In the meantime, Jiang Fei had asked 0541 to deploy holographic baits while hiding their real position from the Mutants. The barrier was erected and everyone disappeared from the world. At the same time, a clone of the entire group was made and ran off towards their initial direction.

They had basically made a U-turn from where they were and slipped past the Scarlet Hunters and towards Shroder’s group. With 0541’s protection, no one could detect Jiang Fei and the rest. The Mutants followed through their initial plan while Jiang Fei prepared his.

“Everyone, this is our time to strike. Let’s show them what we’re made off!” cried Jiang Fei, motivating the martial artists one last time before they commenced the attack.

Jiang Fei had no idea that he was targeting Shroder’s group but he knew that he was targeting the weakest Mutants. If the martial artists could get a win, for the first time, their confidence and morale would be greatly boosted, allowing them to have what it takes to face off the rest of the Mutants.

It was a benchmark test. If they could not even defeat the weakest group of the Mutants, everyone would lose their will to fight. By then, they would never be able to fight the Scarlet Hunters and the main group of Mutants. Leaving Japan would then be equivalent to playing a losing game.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Shroder was purposely leading the group slower than they could. He had doubts and hesitation in his heart to fight against Chinese martial artists. His slow progress had allowed Jiang Fei’s group to chase after him easily. At the same time, the Scarlet Hunters were sprinting at an intense speed, away from Jiang Fei’s and Shroder’s group, creating a huge gap between them. It would have been too late by the time the Scarlet Hunters found out that Shroder’s group was under attack.

Three minutes later, Jiang Fei and his group managed to catch up with Shroder’s group. Their keen sense of everything that was going around them allowed them to know when and where the Mutants had trekked through.

Shroder had more than enough Mutants in his group. There were more than 500 Level 4 Mutants, and up to 2,000 Level 3 Mutants. They were all ranged attackers. Lincoln arranged it that way to allow them to deliver maximum damage from a distance.

“Get ready! The enemies are just ahead!” cried Jiang Fei as he brandished the Chengying Sword.

“We are ready!” Zhu Tianfei reassured Jiang Fei. He had his sword readied the moment he could sense the enemy.

“We are, too!” Bai Wanli and Ganyang Zhenren replied as well.

The reason why they were all so motivated was because of the one similar subconscious thought that everyone had—their lives depended on this fight. If they won, they would be able to go back home and if they lost… they would have to bury themselves in this foreign land, resting in peace, or in pieces.

Compared to the Mutants, martial artists were like cheetahs, running at an intense speed that they could never keep up. Hence, by the time they had revealed themselves, the Mutants were caught off-guard.

“It’s time for revenge!” Jiang Fei roared, leading the charge.

The group got too close to the Mutants and the barrier that was hiding them lost its effectiveness.

“What the f*ck!?”

“How are they here?”

“Sh*t! They must have reinforcement!”

Shroder and his men were practically caught with their pants down. They had gotten too comfortable depending on military technology and information and had never anticipated the incoming sudden attack. They were in constant link with the military and were being fed information about the martial artists were heading towards where the Scarlet Hunters had laid their traps. Unfortunately, they were being fed “semi-false” information as those martial artists were just illusions created by Jiang Fei in order to fool everyone.

Exargerratingly speaking, all the martial artists then had an ominous aura that made them glow red like the devil himself. Their eyes were filled with so much hatred that they did not care whether or not the Mutants were young or women, they delivered the fatal blow nonetheless. Killing those Mutants was what stood between them and going back home.

“You…”

Shroder had already tried his best to push his feelings aside and followed orders. Unfortunately, when he was just about to attack, the first person he stumbled across the battlefield was Jiang Fei. Shroder was shocked to his core. He was about to kill the very same man that had saved his life without hesitation.

Worst of all, the girl that was standing next to Jiang Fei felt all too familiar. However, he was sure that he had never seen the girl before.

“What is going on?!” Shroder screamed in his heart.

While he lowered his hands, trying to talk to Jiang Fei, the rest of his comrades moved beside him, charging towards the other martial artists to attack.