Book 6: Chapter 29: The Lost Map

Qin Lun’s pupils contracted sharply as more than thirty figures shot toward him like meteors. He knew that everyone who could enter the Domination War had some special skills, but he hadn’t expected their Explosive Power to be this strong.

With the speed of Swift Wind Step, he had almost escaped the encirclement. But now that these people started bursting with power, he found himself vaguely surrounded again.

In his original plan, Black Rat and Silver Sail served as decoys to draw away the encircling forces. After he exposed himself, he expected only a few Apostles to chase him. Then, while fighting them, he could leave the map behind and escape the encirclement.

However, he clearly underestimated how attractive the Demiplane coordinates were to these Apostles. He also didn’t expect Black Rat and Silver Sail to be so decisive – they actually threw away all the Dark Gold materials taken from the Apostle Mech to gain the other Apostles’ trust.

Because of this, Qin Lun’s original plan became unworkable. Even if he broke through the encirclement now, a bunch of pursuers would definitely follow him.

Facing four or five Novice Apostles, he could pretend to fight hard but fail, then drop the Treasure Map and run. But facing over thirty Apostles, he might get killed in the first encounter. He didn’t dare risk stopping. However, Swift Wind Step only lasted about ten seconds – enough for a temporary breakthrough, but definitely not enough for a long escape run.

Qin Lun sighed. Since he couldn’t escape outward, he could only return to the Fortress. Having decided this, he didn’t hesitate any longer. A light flashed before him, and a huge Pentagram Crystal Mirror suddenly appeared.

Qin Lun stepped on the crystal mirror with one foot. Like a parkour athlete, he flipped backward in mid-air to dissipate his forward momentum. His figure left a trail of afterimages as he shot back toward the breach in the Fortress.

At that moment, Qin Lun shivered all over, feeling a creepy sensation rising in his heart.

“It’s a sniper!”

Qin Lun had never been targeted by a sniper before. However, he had once possessed Gerthard, a top German Army sniper, and absorbed that Plot Character’s residual memories.

Gerthard’s residual memories were usually his most unforgettable experiences, and his confrontations with Allied Forces snipers were among them. This precious experience saved Qin Lun’s life now. Alarm bells rang in the young man’s mind, and he instinctively ducked and dove toward the nearest pile of ruins.

“Bang!” In the eyes of all the Apostles present, a spiral electric streak tore through the air like a drill bit, leaving a dazzling light spot on everyone’s retinas that took a long time to fade.

Qin Lun’s diving body seemed to freeze in mid-air at that moment. Although his early awakening saved his life, it didn’t completely avoid the sniper bullet.

This sniper bullet seemed to be a dumdum round. It was originally aimed at Qin Lun’s head, but instead hit the large canvas bag behind him. The bullet not only completely shredded one corner of the canvas bag, but some fragments also created several bloody holes in his left shoulder.

Qin Lun’s body was hit as if by a battering ram. Spinning through the air, he crashed into a pile of ruins. The canvas bag on his back was directly torn apart, with military rations and water bags flying through the air like scattered flowers.

However, as he tumbled through the air, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Qin Lun’s mouth. The reason was that the “Treasure Map” he had hidden in the canvas bag finally appeared. The map, which he had already tampered with, now became twenty or thirty fragments, floating in the air like butterflies.

Blood spurted from Qin Lun’s severely injured left shoulder as light flickered faintly in his eyes. He now faced another critical choice – the “Treasure Map” had appeared, but the surrounding Apostles didn’t yet understand its value. He had to make them value it before they saw the Apostle Mech.

However, because of that sniper’s presence, he didn’t know if he could accomplish this within the sniper rifle’s cooldown time.

Countless plans flashed through Qin Lun’s mind. Only now, facing a top sniper himself, did he truly understand how his previous enemies must have felt facing him. It really was like biting a hedgehog – getting pricked everywhere.

In an instant, Qin Lun’s eyes became vacant. Three needles slowly pulsed deep within his clock-like pupils. But this time, the needles moved counterclockwise instead of clockwise.

In Qin Lun’s Clock Eye, his body that was about to crash into the ruins began flying backward instead. The bleeding shoulder expelled the bullet and began healing. The scene of the sniper rifle firing just moments ago played out completely in reverse, like a movie with the rewind button pressed.

Countless data cascaded like a waterfall in the Death Notice, constructing an inverted Combat Model. Although there were still many unknown data points in this Combat Model, the firing angle and initial velocity of that bullet were already listed.

“With that shot’s power and initial velocity, if it was an A-grade skill or higher, then that sniper can’t fire again now. If it wasn’t an A-grade skill, it shouldn’t be able to change direction in such a short range.” Qin Lun blinked, and the Clock Eye slowly faded. “With the firing angle and initial velocity… I can block it. I can block his second shot!”

From the sniper rifle’s sound to Qin Lun being shot and the Treasure Map appearing – in that brief moment, he had already figured out his next course of action. Just as he was about to hit the ground, his intact right hand pressed against the ground, elbow slightly bent to absorb the impact force. Then, using his core strength, he bounced up. While changing his body posture, a Pentagram Crystal Mirror appeared beneath his feet.

Qin Lun crouched on the Pentagram Crystal Mirror. Amid the crisp sound of the mirror shattering, he shot into the air like an arrow, his arms waving as he grabbed at the Treasure Map Fragments scattering through the air like flowers.

Actually, he could only grab a few pieces before his body began to fall. As he descended, Qin Lun quickly scanned the area. By now, the closest Apostle was only about ten meters away – and it was actually that swordsman who had led the chase.

This swordsman had been the fastest to react during this dawn’s game, initially taking the lead position. But later, while chasing the two Rogues, he had fallen slightly behind. Yet now he had caught up again, once more becoming the vanguard chasing Qin Lun, showing that his speed attribute was extremely high and his strength was likely among the best in this group of Apostles.

“That’s about enough!” Qin Lun narrowed his eyes slightly. He rolled upon landing, and when he stood up again, he held a Magic Scroll in his hand. With just a shake, waves of law fluctuations passed before him.

“Trying to run!” The swordsman’s eyes flashed with sharp light as he flicked his sword, his body moving with the blade. A sword light as thick as a barrel carried his body forward. In an instant, he crossed the short ten-meter distance between them, appearing before Qin Lun.

“You’re too late!” A hint of mockery flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes. The next moment, an Earthen Wall two feet thick separated the two of them.

“Bang!” Just as this earthen wall completely obscured Qin Lun’s figure, another heart-pounding gunshot sounded in the distance. The earthen wall instantly exploded with two deep pits – the larger one from the swordsman’s sword light, the smaller one from the sniper’s high-explosive bullet.

The earth defense scroll that Qin Lun tore open perfectly blocked both deadly attacks. Stuck in cooldown time and catching their breath after the big sword move, the swordsman and sniper – the two most threatening Apostles to him – could only watch as his figure flashed and disappeared back into the Fortress breach.

Seeing Qin Lun hide back in the Fortress, the pursuing Apostles gradually slowed their pace, each maintaining distance from the others. They didn’t immediately chase into the Fortress – they understood the principle of not pursuing a desperate enemy. Besides, hiding in the Fortress could only provide temporary shelter; they would eventually find him.

Instead, their attention shifted to the map fragments still floating in the air. Everyone’s gaze was different. They had all witnessed the previous scene. That escaping Apostle refused to give up these map fragments even under the sniper’s certain-kill attack – obviously not without reason.

Or perhaps these map fragments contained information about the Demiplane coordinates. Thinking this, the Apostles’ eyes revealed a trace of heat. However, they didn’t immediately grab for the fragments. Instead, they showed slight wariness, secretly observing each other’s expressions.

“Hmph!” Cold light flashed in the swordsman’s eyes as he raised his right hand. A sword light gently swept through the air, bringing down one of the map fragments. As he pinched the fragment in his hand, he frowned. It seemed to show some kind of mechanical device, but it was too fragmented to see anything special.

The swordsman’s eyes flickered slightly, and he immediately reached out again to bring down another fragment. At this point, the Apostles gathered around finally couldn’t hold back anymore, each leaping up to grab the remaining map fragments in the air.

Since these Apostles’ abilities were roughly on the same level, the twenty or thirty fragments were distributed fairly evenly – basically one or two per person. However, because the images were quite fragmented, nobody could immediately discern the pattern’s secret.

But most of them soon turned to look at Black Rat and Silver Sail standing at the crowd’s edge. At this moment, no Apostle attacked them anymore – those two had even thrown out Dark Gold materials, so the most valuable thing about them now was actually information.

“It’s the pattern of that mech!” Silver Sail also held a fragment in his hand. Unlike the other Apostles, he and Black Rat had been deeply impressed by that Apostle Mech. Even holding just part of one component’s side, he immediately connected it to the Apostle Mech.

“You’ll see it once you enter the Fortress. We brothers don’t plan to get further involved in this matter. See you later!” Black Rat and Silver Sail glanced at each other. The two Rogues tightly clutched the map fragments they had obtained, smiling insincerely as they slowly backed away, their figures soon disappearing from sight.

“These map fragments contain secrets! Long Feng, what should we do?” A one-eyed Apostle had appeared beside the swordsman at some point. This Apostle carried a huge sniper rifle on his shoulder, with colored light flickering in his single eye.

“It’s him, that sniper! He and the swordsman are a pair!” Murmurs rose among the surrounding Apostles, their words carrying strong apprehension. They weren’t too afraid of just the swordsman or just the sniper, but the two combined made them quite fearful.

“Those two Rogues said this is the blueprint of a mech. Whatever we do, we should first take a look at that mech!” The swordsman called Long Feng put the map fragment into his pocket, a cold smile appearing on his face.