Chapter 1 The Bullet

A brass bullet was casually tossed up, the floating island at this moment passing a dazzling star. A ray of light shone through the staggered buildings of the district, illuminating the spinning metal bullet, like a curved mirror reflecting Han Xiao's handsome face at close range. The bullet spun a few times, reaching its highest point, then slowly fell. Just then, a drop of bright red blood splattered, like a precise sniper, hitting the falling bullet perfectly.

*Pa.*

His fingers closed, catching the bullet. Han Xiao opened his palm, and the bullet lay quietly in the center of the black mechanical gauntlet, the cold metal stained with a touch of warm, bright red.

Not far away, two groups of thugs, seemingly space pirates, had started a brawl, triggered by someone giving the other an extra glance. Angry roars and sinister laughter mixed with the sound of gunfire, deafening. The thugs who fell to the ground found peace, their blood like fallen plum blossoms swept up by the wind, splashing across the entire district. On the side of the street, a group of Dragon Tawn residents watched the spectacle. Han Xiao and several player teammates sat on the scaffolding of a drilling excavator by the roadside, watching the brawl from a distance. A splash of blood landed near them.

"Tsk tsk, another fight. How many is this in the last two days?" Han Xiao shook his head. He was covered in mecha, his helmet folded back, revealing his head. The players next to him had completely encased themselves in Sunil soldier armor.

"It's the seventh time," Meatbun replied immediately. A reporter's memory was indeed good.

The group was playing the waiting game. The Black Star Mercenary Group guarded this level of the district, divided into several small teams holding down various intersections. They had been waiting for two days. In those two days, Han Xiao's team alone had witnessed seven thug brawls on this street. The out-of-town criminals had short tempers, giving the players a full understanding of how dangerous this place was. Three times, different groups of thugs had provoked Han Xiao. The Great Technician Han was very civic-minded and offered to cremate their bodies for free.

After eliminating three waves of thugs and showing their fangs, the area became much quieter.

At this moment, the fighting thugs misfired a shot, shattering half a house with considerable force, killing several onlookers. Suddenly, all the fighting thugs stopped, horror rising on their faces. Ignoring everything else, they scattered and fled.

Before long, the sound of aircraft passing overhead echoed in the sky. Three small, low-altitude aircraft, about seven or eight meters long, appeared. They were entirely dark gold, shaped like winged dragons, with a miniature dragon symbol engraved on the hull. These were the Dragon Tawn Guard's vehicles. The three aircraft chased the thugs, their bottoms extending rows of gun barrels, firing golden lasers that easily pierced the thugs' bodies. After pursuing them for a while and killing most of the fleeing thugs, the Dragon Tawn Guard turned around and left.

Only the Dragon Tawn Guard was allowed to pilot combat aircraft on the floating island. If thugs killed civilians, the Guard immediately moved out to enforce the law. Han Xiao had seen several such scenes in the past two days, and felt that this mid-air rescue plan was really dangerous. If they could not rescue the captives quickly and accurately, getting into a prolonged battle would greatly increase the risk.

At this moment, Goiya sent a message, "Blade's people have locked onto the suspected target, move out!"

Han Xiao received the location. All the mercenaries joined the same channel, sharing the suspect's location. The suspect had just landed at the dock, escorting large iron boxes. It was a slave-trading group. A mercenary from Blade had a transformation ability, turning into a half-wolf, half-dog beast with an extremely sensitive sense of smell. He had smelled the scent of Silver Spirits on this group of slave traders and locked onto the target.

Faserollei of the Purple Gold Corps was the planner, issuing commands. "Let's not alarm them yet, continue to track them. Pert, Black Star, you bring your people to quietly gather and ambush them on their route. We have the numbers, we must defeat the enemy with a thunderous strike. Don't get into a prolonged battle. Goiya, you take the Heavenly Ring people and guard the perimeter. If we fail, you are our insurance."

Now that they had locked onto the target, there was no need to continue tailing them. The plan sounded pretty reliable. Everyone was united, and Han Xiao naturally had no objections. He gathered all the Black Star members and went separately to the ambush location predetermined by Faserollei, which was right at the junction of the dock and the city, a very chaotic area.

...

Paige stepped off the spaceship. All the slaves were held in large, electrified boxes, controlled by shackles and self-destruct collars, waiting to be taken to the buyer.

Thinking about the large sum of money they were about to make, the scavengers were excited. Paige wasn't too thrilled. He led the team on the road to Hollaider's slave market.

Entering the dock street, the slave-trading team was very conspicuous, attracting the attention of a large group of thugs on the street. Many were eager to make a move, and some recognized Paige, greeting him from afar. All was peaceful. Paige was a famous slave trader in the Shattered Star Ring, doing business with many pirates and scavengers, and had some prestige, preventing him from being attacked on Dragon Tawn Floating Island.

After walking for a while, Paige suddenly stopped, his pupils constricting, his vertical pupils almost becoming a line. His head gradually flattened, as if about to turn into a snake's head, and the scales on his body became clearer and tougher. He opened his mouth, flicking his tongue. Paige was a transformation esper, his bloodline of some snake clan returning to its ancestral form, possessing extremely keen senses and premonitions. He sensed that someone was tracking him, and a faint hint of killing intent was floating in the air. A strong intuition told him that if he continued forward, something would happen.

"Oh, the scent of enemies, are they here specifically for me? Who could it be?" Paige's eyes were cold, flicking his tongue. He stopped, raised his hand to command his subordinates, and said, "Return the way we came, back to the spaceship."

Then he opened the communicator, "My dear Hollaider, I have arrived at Dragon Tawn Floating Island. Please come and pick up the goods yourself this time."

Hollaider asked doubtfully, "What's wrong with you? You always delivered the goods before, why do you want me to go there this time... Also, why are you transforming for no reason? You look like a snake, it's too ugly."

Paige said impatiently, "I sensed killing intent, someone is watching me. Hmph, it's probably related to these captives. I think someone wants to intercept the goods. I'll wait for you on the spaceship."

Hollaider said unhappily, "It's too troublesome for me to pick up the goods, I don't want to go to a dock full of pirates and scavengers."

"Then please ask the Dragon Tawn Guard to protect you. Anyway, you are a subordinate of the Controller, you must have the ability to ask the Dragon Tawn Guard to come."

"I think you're just making things difficult for me." Hollaider's face fell. He didn't have the authority to order the Dragon Tawn Guard. Although they belonged to the same faction, if he wanted to ask for help, he would definitely have to bribe the Guard. He rejected any behavior that increased costs.

However, Paige insisted on his own opinion, trusting his vigilance and refusing to take any chances. Hollaider could only compromise annoyedly, and the two hung up the communication.

"Why are they going back?" In the dark, the tracker of the Blade Corps looked puzzled and passed the message to Captain Pert.

In the distant district, Han Xiao, Faserollei, and Pert, with their respective troops, had already ambushed. Receiving the message, their brows furrowed.

"Attention, the target did not continue to advance. According to the route, he seems to be returning to the spaceship. Could it be that the deal with the buyer fell through?" Pert asked doubtfully.

Because Paige had finally shown his face, Faserollei searched the legion's archives and found Paige's information, his expression shocked. "This is not good, that scavenger is called Paige, his ability is to transform into a snake, possessing extremely strong perception, almost short-term precognition. He may have sensed the danger!"

Originally, everyone's idea was not to alert the enemy, but this snake was too sensitive and had already been alarmed. The other party was on guard.

At this moment, Goiya, who was guarding the perimeter, sent a message, his tone solemn, "There's been an accident, Hollaider is leaving the slave market, apparently going to the dock. It's likely that the buyer will pick up the goods himself."

Everyone's face changed. Han Xiao thought for a while and said, "Then there's no other way, let's just kill our way over to rescue the people, we can't let the two sides converge. We have limited time, it's best to act immediately."

The original plan was pretty good, but the real situation was changeable. Faserollei thought that Han Xiao was right, now they could only launch a hasty forced attack. He called everyone to quickly approach the target, and at the same time issued another order, asking a few people to start the spaceship in advance, and then immediately grab the hostages and get on board to leave, to avoid complications.

Paige returned to the dock infested with thugs, and when he was still a few hundred meters away from the spaceship, the mercenaries finally approached him.

"Attack!" Faserollei had no time to worry about anything else. With a violent roar, more than two hundred mercenaries tore off their disguises, their combat uniforms deformed, and various abilities erupted, rushing towards Paige's team!

Han Xiao's mind flickered, and the mecha quickly extended its helmet to protect his head. He turned his head and said, "Let's go too."

He took out an electromagnetic kinetic energy weapon, fired from a distance, and charged forward. Behind him, more than fifty players wearing the same armor held large-caliber machine guns, like a torrent of steel, surging out!

"There really are enemies!" Paige narrowed his eyes. He was already on guard, telling his men to quickly draw their guns and shoot. He was very cunning, secretly shooting at other thugs, involving other gangs as well.

The dock was a huge square, without residents, all outsiders. This was the most dangerous place. The mercenaries and Paige exchanged fire, bullets flying everywhere. Many stray bullets hit the nearby thugs, causing a burst of angry roars.

"Who's shooting at me?!"

"Ouch, my eyes!"

"Damn mercenaries, are you trying to kill us?!"

The dock was extremely chaotic, and groups of thugs were also affected and joined the battle.

A melee broke out suddenly!