Chapter 42

For Jingfa's such response, Shang Jianyao and the others were not unprepared. However, they believed that Jingfa would not be able to accurately judge their intentions right away and immediately adopt a strategy to bypass the exoskeleton and continue chasing the jeep. They thought that Jingfa would need at least a few more rounds before he could react.

Who knew that the mechanical monk Jingfa immediately grasped their fundamental intentions, as if his mind-reading ability had no range limit.

Shang Jianyao did not ask Bai Chen what to do. He handled the situation according to the worst-case scenario they had anticipated:

Surrounding the inner line with tire tracks, he tried to push Jingfa to the outer line, hoping to buy more time so the jeep could enter the frequently traveled areas of the Black Swamp Wilderness. The distance and range of movement on the inner line were definitely smaller than on the outer line, effectively reducing the shortcomings of the exoskeleton in terms of reaction speed and fluidity when facing a truly "intelligent" robot.

Thus, a human covered in iron-black metal and a mechanical monk with an iron-black metal skeleton ran, jumped, and chased each other wildly across the wilderness, forest, and swamp edges, not sparing their energy.

During this process, Shang Jianyao attempted several times to fire grenades and electromagnetic weapon rounds, but Jingfa always changed direction in time, pulling away and showing no intention of engaging in battle immediately.

As Shang Jianyao used the exoskeleton to its full capacity, he watched the battery level gradually decrease and the distance to the jeep's possible location gradually shorten. Although he was anxious, he had no way to deal with the situation.

If Jingfa chose to close the distance and engage in a fierce battle, Shang Jianyao could still adapt and fight with all his might, disregarding life and death. But now, he felt as if he had a chronic terminal illness, with no effective treatment, and was slowly walking towards death.

"Don't be anxious." In this state of high-speed running and jumping, Bai Chen could do nothing, but she keenly sensed Shang Jianyao's change in state.

— Jiang Baimian did not give the grenade launcher to her, and Bai Chen did not mind. In her view, the team leader was just preparing for the possibility that the mechanical monk Jingfa would bypass the exoskeleton and directly attack the jeep. Moreover, Bai Chen's current role was to guide, not to fight.

Shang Jianyao did not respond, but he clearly reduced the number of times he tried to break away from the inner line, no longer being so anxious.

At the same time, the jeep's tire tracks in the area changed continuously, making multiple turns, making it difficult for Jingfa to predict the direction of the vehicle based on the tracks. He had to move closer to the inner line to find the last set of tracks.

This gave Shang Jianyao an opportunity.

He raised his left arm and, following the guidance of the "Precision Aiming System," fired a grenade in a certain direction.

The mechanical monk Jingfa, who had just changed direction, seemed to have no way to avoid it.

His eyes glowed red, and the metal joints at his ankles and knees bent inhumanly, forcing him to change direction again and leap into the air.

Boom!

The grenade exploded, like a blooming crimson firework.

However, its expansion was a step slower than Jingfa, failing to engulf the mechanical monk.

Just as Shang Jianyao was frustrated at missing the opportunity, a grenade shot out from a nearby tree!

It aimed at Jingfa, who was in mid-air and had exhausted his momentum.

Jingfa's red-glowing eyes subconsciously looked over and saw Jiang Baimian, with a ponytail and wearing a gray camouflage outfit, holding a grenade launcher.

The team leader of the "Old Adjustment Team" had not followed the jeep far away but was hiding in the tree!

Seeing that he could not avoid the grenade, Jingfa's multiple metal covers on his back and feet opened, revealing deep, black, fist-sized cavities.

With a hissing sound, jets of white gas spewed from these cavities, pushing Jingfa to move horizontally in mid-air.

Boom!

The high-explosive grenade exploded near the mechanical monk, the shockwave tilting his body and making it difficult for him to maintain balance.

Although Shang Jianyao did not understand why the team leader would appear here so strangely, he did not waste the opportunity. He raised his right arm, relying on the "Precision Aiming System," and aimed the exoskeleton's electromagnetic weapon at Jingfa, who had lost balance in mid-air and could not immediately release more gas.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he and Bai Chen suddenly saw a series of slightly illusory figures with protruding bellies, frantically eating soil.

This made them both believe they were extremely hungry.

"Hungry Ghost Realm"!

Through his previous jump and horizontal movement, Jingfa had reduced the distance between himself and the exoskeleton to over twenty meters!

Bai Chen quickly reached into her pockets and took out compressed cookies and energy bars.

This caused her to lose balance and roll off the exoskeleton's power pack onto the ground.

But this did not stop her from tearing open the packaging and stuffing the food into her mouth frantically.

Meanwhile, Shang Jianyao did not make similar movements.

The lower jaw area of his metal helmet, where his mouth was, opened to reveal the inside:

A compressed cookie, soaked in saliva, had swollen and filled half his mouth.

Shang Jianyao chewed and swallowed the cookie to calm his perceived hunger.

This prevented his hands from immediately reaching for food!

Before leaving the jeep, he had put a small piece of compressed cookie in his mouth under the pretext of eating, but had not swallowed it, precisely to gain a few seconds when influenced by the "Hungry Ghost Realm"!

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Shang Jianyao, while frantically swallowing the cookie and showing a twisted smile, pulled the trigger.

With a sizzling sound, a projectile wrapped in a silver-white arc crossed the twenty-meter distance at an indescribable super-high speed and accurately hit the iron-black metal on Jingfa's chest.

Bang and clang sounds rang out almost simultaneously, and a noticeable, fist-sized dent appeared on Jingfa's chest.

At the dent, the iron-black metal cracked and fell off, exposing the hidden wiring and components underneath.

Cracks radiated from the dent like a spider web.

With this damage, the kinetic energy of the electromagnetic weapon pushed Jingfa away, making him fly like a broken kite.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian, who was in the tree, put down the grenade launcher, pulled back her left arm, and threw a metal pole wrapped in countless silver-white electric sparks.

Clang!

This dragon-like metal pole pierced the dent on Jingfa's chest, knocking him out of the air and "impaling" him to the ground.

With a thud, electric arcs spread like countless petals, following the damaged parts and wiring inside Jingfa's body.

The mechanical monk's body stiffened, his eyes losing their red glow, as if turning to stone.

The "Hungry Ghost Realm" effect around them disappeared.

Seeing this, Shang Jianyao quickly changed his position and aimed the electromagnetic weapon at Jingfa's head.

Before he could aim, Jingfa's eyes glowed red again.

His entire metal skeleton body suddenly sprang, carrying the metal pole and the continuous silver-white electric current, leaping away.

Then, the mechanical monk changed direction continuously and fled without looking back.

At this point, Jiang Baimian picked up the grenade launcher again.

She said with evident disappointment:

"He indeed has an emergency backup system and redundant body structure!"

Shang Jianyao wanted to respond to the team leader, but his throat and mouth were full of the "remains" of the compressed cookie, nearly choking him, making it impossible to speak.

It was Bai Chen, who had not swallowed the entire energy bar, who swallowed the remaining part in her mouth and asked loudly:

"Should we chase him?"

She was asking on behalf of Shang Jianyao.

Jiang Baimian looked in the direction where Jingfa's figure had disappeared and shook her head:

"It's too late, and he is now only focused on escaping, much faster than the exoskeleton."

After saying this, she nimbly jumped down from the tree, walked to Bai Chen and Shang Jianyao, and comforted them:

"But it doesn't matter, he has been severely injured by us.

"And the emergency backup system and redundant, isolated body structure can only have basic functions; otherwise, they wouldn't fit.

"In short, Jingfa cannot continue to chase us until he repairs himself. He probably can't even use his weapon system or surveillance system now."

Bai Chen sighed in relief:

"Then we have ample time to escape his tracking range."

As soon as she finished speaking, Shang Jianyao had swallowed the compressed cookie in his mouth and blurted out:

"Team leader, why are you here?

"Weren't we supposed to meet at the Yuelu Station? What about the jeep?"

Jiang Baimian laughed:

"The previous plan was to deceive you."

Her eyes curved with laughter:

"If I didn't deceive you, how could I deceive Jingfa?"

"..." Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen were momentarily stunned.

Jiang Baimian, holding the grenade launcher, looked around and said:

"From the moment Jingfa could 'sense' the female voice at the gate from the blast furnace position in the steel plant, I suspected his surveillance system was even stronger than we imagined.

"This suspicion was further confirmed in several aspects later, making me even more suspicious.

"For example, how could he dare to circle around, adopting a long-term attrition strategy, in case we had more than one spare battery?

"For example, why did he choose the passenger seat for his first attack instead of the more important driver's seat? He didn't know us, so how could he know I was the team leader and the most threatening one? Bai Chen and I had already discussed what to do if Jingfa attacked the driver's seat: I would raise the grenade launcher, and she would lower her body, allowing the grenade to pass through the driver's area and fly out the window to hit the target. But this plan was never used.

"With these suspicions, I deliberately guided you to discuss and formulate a plan to meet at Yuelu Station, to see if Jingfa would fall for it. Even if he didn't 'hear' it and didn't fall for it, he would eventually discover your intention to delay and give the jeep time to escape his tracking range.

"So, after completing the continuous turns here, I quickly stopped the jeep, hid in a nearby tree, and had Long Yuehong continue driving, instructing him to stop after ten minutes and wait for us."

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