Chapter 81

Bang, bang, boom... The sounds of collisions, gunshots, and the explosions of grenades and landmines echoed continuously through the jungle. The Cleaner, piloting his mech, stood at the front, engaging in a fierce battle with a monkey demon over two meters tall, with a robust body, sharp fangs protruding from its lower lip, and bloodshot eyes.

Not far behind the Cleaner, Leigong operated various small robots that fired bullets, coordinating with landmines to block the advance of several monkey demons. In areas where no landmines exploded, Leigong would wield daggers, hammers, wrenches, and other repair tools, engaging in close combat with the monkey demons, then quickly retreat and circle around the minefield. Occasionally, some of the small robots would self-destruct, taking out their targets with them. Not far from Leigong, Kantu set up a light machine gun and continuously swept the area.

If a couple of monkey demons slipped past, the light machine gun in Kantu's hands would transform into an assault rifle. He would slide and tackle the charging monkey demon, or kick it into the air with an uppercut, then press the assault rifle to continuously sweep and shoot until the monkey demon was eliminated.

At the forefront of the battle zone, Taohuayan controlled psychic weapons, sweeping through the tree vines and brightly colored flowers. The psychic weapons, like a gardener's saw, cut through countless tree vines and caused flowers to fall. Upon discovering attacking tree vines or man-eating flowers, the Cleaner would lead the monkey demon he was fighting to help, or quickly finish off the monkey demon he was battling and rush over to assist.

Not long ago, the Cleaner and his team had suffered greatly from the combination of plant and animal monsters in the vine forest. Countless tree vines stretched out, often hiding small venomous snakes or python-like thick vines, or suddenly revealing wild cats or charging boars from the dense foliage. This made the Cleaner and his team extremely cautious.

In this area of monkey demons, plant monsters were still mixed in. A large flower quietly blooming in the grass might be a man-eating flower. At the slightest disturbance, the man-eating flower would bite down like a striking python, injecting paralyzing venom into its target. Then, a strange fragrance would attract swarms of man-eating ants from hidden burrows, which would gradually devour the paralyzed prey. Most of the prey was consumed by the man-eating ants, and the remaining residue would rot on the ground, becoming the best fertilizer for the man-eating flowers.

If the man-eating flowers were attacked, the man-eating ants would also emerge to fight. Swarms of thumb-sized ants would crawl over, even making the Cleaner's scalp tingle. These man-eating ants were fast but moved very quietly, not triggering pressure-activated landmines or tripwires. While they looked large and chaotic, shooting them with a gun was not very effective. Throwing a grenade, however, was quite effective.

However, the team had a limited number of grenades and couldn't use them all to kill ants. So, Leigong and Kantu focused on killing the monkey demons, while Taohuayan, like a gardener, trimmed the tree vines and flowers that the team might touch in the battle zone. The Cleaner, while fighting the monkey demons, also supported Taohuayan.

If a tree vine monster or a man-eating flower was hit, attracting man-eating ants, the Cleaner would rush over, stomping on the ant swarm with the large feet of his mech. Even if some ants climbed onto the wolf mech, their large, pincer-like teeth couldn't do much damage. Although smaller ants were hard to crush, the thumb-sized man-eating ants, combined with the weight of the wolf mech and the Cleaner's precise footwork, were crushed efficiently. This method of stomping and micro-manipulating the mech's feet was more effective than Kantu's gunfire and almost as deadly as landmine explosions.

This efficient ant-killing method, combined with Taohuayan's occasional area-of-effect psychic skills, made the ants fall in large numbers.

Swoosh! Taohuayan controlled his psychic weapons, sweeping over a group of man-eating ants and using a few small psychic skills to clear the ants attracted by the attacked man-eating flowers. He continued to clear the path forward, with the Cleaner assisting him in dealing with any monkey demons they encountered.

Leigong and Kantu quickly laid minefields in the areas cleared by Taohuayan, then began to lure the monkey demons to reduce the Cleaner's pressure, drawing the monkey demons in Taohuayan's area to their side. The team advanced segment by segment, and their cooperation became increasingly默契 (cohesive).

Kantu, who was manning the heavy machine gun at the back of the team, had improved significantly in recent days. Previously, he only knew how to shoot from the back, but his close combat skills had greatly improved. Using his dominant skills, he could handle a single monkey demon in close combat. With Leigong's constant reminders, Kantu's experience in quickly laying mines also increased. He no longer created uneven minefields that revealed the positions of the landmines to the enemies.

Bang, bang, bang! Leigong, who seemed to carry a treasure chest, could instantly transform his weapon into any repair tool or dagger. He continuously battled a monkey demon, using a variety of weapons and unpredictable combat methods. Sometimes he led the monsters to step on more landmines, and other times he engaged in close combat to increase the monsters' injuries. At the right moment, he would throw a landmine into the monster's mouth or command a small robot to circle behind the monster and self-destruct, using a variety of combat tactics that were hard to defend against.

Kantu, no longer blindly spraying bullets, now focused on the vital points of the monkey demons. For example, he would continuously shoot at the joints to slow them down, reducing Leigong's pressure. Or he would use rapid concentrated fire to shoot at the head or heart, quickly eliminating a monkey demon. Kantu's face now showed confidence rather than confusion, whether he was shooting or supporting his teammates.

Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat... Another wave of luring began. Kantu found a good position from a distance and started shooting, drawing several monkey demons from the area Taohuayan needed to clear. Leigong released a few self-destructing small robots to assist in the minefield gaps.

These small robots had a greater explosive power than grenades, equivalent to a landmine. They could move continuously, making them more flexible than landmines and grenades. Their explosions were not triggered but detonated by Leigong's command, making them very effective when used with certain tactics.

After luring the monsters into the minefield, Kantu adjusted his targets, focusing on a few to eliminate them, then turned his gun to support Taohuayan's battle. Locking onto a monkey demon, Kantu started shooting, aiming at the demon's head.

However, after a series of bullets, the monkey demon, which should have fallen like the others, did not make a sound and charged towards Kantu. Leigong, who was fighting other monkey demons, did not notice the abnormality. After all, many monkey demons had been lured by Kantu, and as long as no more than two were drawn, Kantu could handle it.

Surprised that the monkey demon did not fall, Kantu continued shooting. But just as he was about to finish it off, the monkey demon suddenly increased its speed and charged at Kantu.

Seeing the charging monkey demon, Kantu was not afraid. He quickly switched from his light machine gun to an assault rifle and rushed towards the monkey demon. Just a meter away, Kantu leaned back and slid, aiming to tackle the monkey demon's ankles, with his left leg ready to kick.

In previous battles, this slide would knock the monkey demon down, and as it fell, Kantu could kick it in the abdomen, sending it flying. Then, he would raise his assault rifle and spray bullets at the flying monkey demon.

This was the three-hit combo Kantu had practiced the most in recent days, and he was quite proud of it. He even had Leigong record a video of it, which he found "incredibly cool."

Although the Cleaner thought the move was a bit flashy, using a slide and a kick was less direct than a knee strike to knock the target down and then shooting. Standing and shooting was faster and more accurate than lying down, making it better for short-term firepower.

However, when the battle pressure was not too high, the Cleaner usually didn't comment on Kantu's showmanship. After all, young people liked to show off, and as long as the goal was achieved, the Cleaner had no objections to his preferred combat style. He was quite democratic in teaching his apprentices and didn't impose his own methods.

As Kantu slid, he was about to kick the monkey demon's ankles, with his left leg ready to kick and his assault rifle raised. He prepared to shoot as soon as the monkey demon fell and continue shooting as it was kicked into the air, increasing his damage output.

Kantu raised his assault rifle, aiming for the monkey demon's chin and throat, which were vital points, and the angle was optimal as the demon fell towards him.

As he moved forward, Kantu subconsciously believed his right foot had hit the monkey demon's ankles, and his raised assault rifle was ready to fire. But just before he pulled the trigger, the monkey demon's ankle moved, dodging Kantu's slide, and then kicked forward.

Bang! A collision sound, accompanied by a slight crack, echoed as Kantu's body was sent flying backward. The gunner's dominant skill, which could always hit if the target had no dominant skill, failed because it missed.

Kantu's slide missed the target, and the gunner's dominant skill only applied to the skill itself, not the gunner's body. So, the weak Kantu was kicked away without any resistance.

Fortunately, Kantu's left leg was bent and ready to kick, which saved him from a more severe injury. If his legs had been apart during the slide, the monkey demon's kick might have ended his game career.