From a strength perspective, Ma Long was no match for Gou Tuizhi.
Seeing his opponent attack him with full force, and feeling the immense power contained within Gou Tuizhi's dual strikes, Ma Long panicked for a moment.
He quickly changed his strategy, switching from offense to defense, and fully defended against Gou Tuizhi's attack.
With a "boom."
Ma Long was sent flying backward, his body like a kite with a broken string, completely out of control.
Han Lang, who was following closely, saw this and his face changed drastically.
He quickly stepped forward to grab Ma Long's body, helping him to absorb the force of Gou Tuizhi's blow, and asked anxiously.
"Are you alright? Brother Ma!"
Ma Long stabilized his body and first replied, "I'm fine!"
Then he spat viciously and cursed.
"Damn it! This Gou Tuizhi is too strong now. If I hadn't defended with all my might, this punch would have blown me up!"
Seeing Ma Long return to his usual grumbling, carefree demeanor, Han Lang was finally sure he was alright.
But just then, Gou Tuizhi, pressing his advantage, flashed forward again, throwing another punch at the two of them.
Han Lang was shocked.
He quickly shielded Ma Long behind him, unleashed all nine needles, and thrust them towards Gou Tuizhi's fist.
Another loud noise.
Because Han Lang already had a basic understanding of Gou Tuizhi's strength.
Therefore, although this blow forced him back several steps, he was not as disheveled as before.
Gou Tuizhi originally intended to continue his attack.
But unexpectedly, at this moment, Dan Nan had already arrived.
Without any hesitation, he attacked Gou Tuizhi's left cheek from the side.
Gou Tuizhi dared not resist head-on and had to retract his move to defend, his fist colliding fiercely with Dan Nan's.
"Boom!"
With this blow, both Gou Tuizhi and Dan Nan were forced back.
Neither of them sustained any substantial damage, but it forced Gou Tuizhi away from his original position.
This also gave Han Lang and Ma Long a chance to breathe.
"Thank you, Deputy Officer Dan!"
Han Lang and Ma Long quickly expressed their gratitude.
But Dan Nan, without looking back, said directly.
"No need for pleasantries! Liu Xiaoxiao, you and I will attack, fully suppressing Gou Tuizhi. Everyone else will coordinate with our offense and take him down as quickly as possible. I believe everything he just said was just to stall for time. If we delay any longer, it will be difficult to launch a surprise attack on Dr. Sim's base!"
Dan Nan's words made everyone suddenly realize.
Recalling it, what Gou Tuizhi said was completely nonsensical.
After figuring this out, everyone no longer hesitated. Liu Xiaoxiao, on the left and right, cooperated with Dan Nan to attack Gou Tuizhi with full force.
Gou Tuizhi was terrified.
He never expected Dan Nan and the others to react so quickly.
At the same time, he prayed inwardly that the reinforcements sent by Dr. Sim had already arrived.
The full attacks of Dan Nan and Liu Xiaoxiao, two cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage, were already making Gou Tuizhi struggle.
He did not know that although his cultivation techniques and martial arts had allowed him to rapidly increase his strength, his cultivation foundation was ultimately unstable.
In other words, at this moment, his strength had not completely reached the XS level, unlike the mysterious partner from Xia Country mentioned by Dr. Sim.
Instead, it only stayed at a level slightly higher than Smith's X level.
Therefore, his strength was only comparable to Dan Nan, who had almost reached the middle stage of Nascent Soul.
As for true XS-level espers, their strength was enough to reach the great perfection of the late Nascent Soul stage.
This was a difference of two whole tiers.
Therefore, facing the full attacks of Dan Nan and Liu Xiaoxiao, Gou Tuizhi already felt extremely strained, and his defenses were completely overwhelmed.
Even without Han Lang and the others, just dealing with Dan Nan and Liu Xiaoxiao, defeat was only a matter of time.
"Everyone, put in more effort. We still have a more important mission to complete. We must eliminate Gou Tuizhi as quickly as possible!"
Dan Nan shouted.
Hearing this, Han Lang and the others immediately went all out.
In an instant, flying needles, flying swords, black bricks, claw shadows, and fist winds all bombarded Gou Tuizhi.
Gou Tuizhi had no strength to cope with this.
All his energy had to be focused on the attacks of Dan Nan and Liu Xiaoxiao.
Therefore, he could only do his best to dodge the attacks from Han Lang and the others.
Even so, he inevitably had to endure some of the attacks with his body.
If not for the breakthrough in his strength that greatly increased his physical defense, he might have already been defeated by now.
"Damn it! Why haven't Smith and the others arrived yet! It's only twenty kilometers away, they should have arrived by now even if they were just flying!"
Gou Tuizhi endured the intense pain of being hit by Han Lang and the others, and in his heart, he cursed the ancestors of Smith and Allen.
Logically, at such a distance, they should have arrived even if they were just flying.
Not to mention, the esper base always had fighter jets provided by the White Elephant Country's army ready.
He had been stalling for so long, they should have arrived long ago.
But why had they not appeared yet?
Seeing the subtle expressions on Gou Tuizhi's face, Dan Nan became even more certain of his previous guess.
What Gou Tuizhi said might not be entirely false, but at this moment, it certainly had not achieved the results he claimed.
Otherwise, the espers would have already been fighting the special special forces with impunity!
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh heartily.
"Gou Tuizhi! Your plan has failed, hasn't it? You've been trying so hard to stall, but your reinforcements still haven't arrived. Haven't you ever considered that perhaps the reinforcements can't come, but they simply don't intend to?"
Dan Nan's words made Gou Tuizhi's heart skip a beat.
He had sufficient trust in Dr. Sim.
This trust was not only because Dr. Sim had transformed him into an SSS-level esper.
More importantly, it was because a big figure in Xia Country had made some promises to him.
Therefore, up to this point, Gou Tuizhi had never considered whether Dr. Sim would send reinforcements after he reported the situation to him.
He had always assumed that Smith and Allen were just delayed on the way.
But no matter how delayed they were, shouldn't they have arrived by now?
Thinking of this, Gou Tuizhi's mind became chaotic.
Without paying attention, he was hit in the back by a punch from Ma Long.
"Ah!"
Gou Tuizhi grunted, stumbled, and almost fell from the sky.
Ma Long, seeing that his blow had almost succeeded, was also smug.
"Haha... Look. Doesn't Gou Tuizhi look like a drowned rat now! Perhaps he still doesn't believe that he has been abandoned by Dr. Sim as a pawn! Haha..."
Ma Long's blunt words sent Gou Tuizhi's mood plummeting to the bottom.
He thought to himself.
A pawn?
So, I was just a chess piece in Dr. Sim's hand?
So, for that big figure, I was merely a test subject for Dr. Sim?
Thinking of this, Gou Tuizhi became filled with anger.
He roared loudly.
"No, no! I am not a pawn, I am that adult's most trusted partner, he will not abandon me!"