Compared to the sonic tunnels that Lute opened during the S1 Apex Contention, the tunnels presented to the players this time were structurally more perfect in terms of data.

Just as Link said, "The bandwidth of this tunnel is sufficient for any data to pass through."

In other words, the data passing through this tunnel... doesn't need to "self-degrade" dozens of times to compress its power, like Lute did last time.

This time, they descended in full condition...

"Woah, woah... it feels like something very bad is coming..." After the sonic boom stopped, Atobe looked up at the sky and muttered.

However, since the surrounding players were still mostly deafened, no one heard what he said...

"Tch... no matter what it is, it's definitely not here to be friendly." As a first-rate sniper, Barcode had already raised the weapon in his hand and was aiming at the sky. "The moment they come out of the tunnel is a guaranteed attack opportunity!"

His judgment was correct; no matter who it was, it would be extremely difficult to dodge a sudden attack the moment they crossed space.

Therefore, Barcode had high hopes for this shot.

He sacrificed his only S-rank skill—

[Name: Philosophical Cannon]

[Skill Card Attributes: Active Skill, Permanently Learned]

[Skill Category: Shooting]

[Effect: Launches a "philosophical" snipe (must be launched with a sniper rifle, cooldown time: ten hours).]

[Consumption: Not only is there no consumption, but it also allows you to comprehend a little bit of philosophy]

[Learning Condition: Shooting Specialization S]

[Note: The designer of this skill has been fired for various reasons. It is said that he is now giving strange touring lectures in India and is very popular.]

Barcode didn't know "who" or "what" would be the first to rush out of the tunnel, but he was willing to gamble with this shot...

If this [Philosophical Cannon] only hit an ordinary grunt, then it was fate.

But... if it hit the enemy's vanguard general and inflicted heavy damage or directly killed them... then this gamble would be worth it.

Buzz—

Soon, accompanied by the sound of energy pulsations, a face emerged from the sonic tunnel.

And the moment it "showed its face," Barcode pulled the trigger and activated the skill.

"The light of day, how can it know the depths of night!"

The above sentence was not shouted by Barcode himself, but "shot" out of his muzzle.

That was how the [Philosophical Cannon] skill worked... every time it was activated, the muzzle would randomly spout a famous philosopher's quote, which would turn into an invisible shockwave and blast toward the target.

Don't let the bizarre form of this skill fool you; its effect was absolutely powerful. Although the skill description didn't mention it, this move had at least four hidden characteristics: first, it could be activated without reloading bullets; second, shooting wouldn't generate heat or recoil; third, it could never be dodged when attacking "targets with conscious thought"; and fourth, it couldn't be blocked by any tangible or intangible means of defense.

Not to mention... this move also had the inherent advantages of "immense power" and "no consumption."

All things considered, this S-rank skill undoubtedly lived up to its name...

Chi—

No sooner said than done!

A second later, Infinite, who had just poked his upper body out of the sonic tunnel... was plastered in the face with philosophy.

After being hit, his head exploded violently, shattering into glittering data fragments that scattered like bursting fireworks.

Moreover... that wasn't all.

Almost at the same second, Infinite's body was also attacked by dozens of ranged means; these attacks were of varying strengths and forms and came from many different directions.

It seemed... that Barcode wasn't the only shooting-type player who thought of preemptively attacking; many players below the tunnel had also realized this point.

"Did it succeed..."

"It should have worked, right?"

"Looks like it wasn't a grunt. Great, we killed an enemy officer."

The players who looked up and saw this scene, though they couldn't communicate well verbally, their thoughts were generally the same—the guy who rushed out of the tunnel first had been taken care of.

However...

"Heh... your way of greeting people is really rough." A moment later, a figure flashed out from the edge of the tunnel and said with a teasing tone to the people below.

That was a man dressed like a nineteenth-century English gentleman. Everyone recognized his face because this derivative, who called himself "Link," had already shown himself to everyone at the beginning of the Dimensional Intrusion.

"Indeed..." On the other side, in less than two seconds, Infinite's empty neck actually grew a new head, and he calmly chimed in, "As soon as I poked my head out, I heard 'the day doesn't understand the night's darkness,' followed by a rain of bullets..." As he spoke, he floated out of the sonic tunnel and hovered in the air, standing still. "This is really... so impolite."

"Outrageous..."

"Putting on a very arrogant display."

"Can he be reborn even without a head..."

"That healing speed is unprecedented."

At this time, most players' hearing had basically recovered, so many people heard Link and Infinite's words.

Although everyone was very clear in their hearts... that these two derivatives were very strong, they still underestimated the enemy's strength in the current situation...

And that was why their fighting spirit was still high.

"The guy next to Link..." Shiva looked up at the sky and thought to himself, "Should be the 'Infinite' that Feng Bujue was talking about."

Although Brother Jue had described the general strength of those two guys to him in advance, Shiva didn't fully believe it... because what Brother Jue said at the time sounded a bit too exaggerated to Shiva.

"If there are only two of them... there should still be a way, right." In the next second, Shiva had already drafted a battle plan in his mind. "I've seen many monsters with self-healing abilities. No matter how perverted their recovery power is, there should be a 'core' inside their bodies. As long as that core can be found and destroyed, even the strongest self-healing power is useless..." As he thought, he summoned the Celestial Dance Hourglass. "For now... I'll use a general-purpose attack with strong oppressive force to force him to reveal an opening... then use the [Eye of Destruction] to seal the deal."

Thinking of this, he immediately spoke to several teammates beside him, "Has your hearing... recovered?"

"Yeah, it recovered a long time ago," Yama replied first.

"Boss, you have an idea, right?" Brahma asked.

"I'm ready at any time," Vishnu also said.

"Good..." Shiva looked up at the sky and ordered in a deep voice, "Since everyone is ready, then... let's just use 'that combination skill.'"