Chapter 737: Caged by a Line

Chapter 737: Caged by a Line

Watching the horde of over a thousand crazed pirates charging toward them, Zhang Yi and the others felt like they were staring at a swarm of vile locusts.

“They actually dared to launch a frontal assault? Are they looking to die?”

Wu Di sneered in disdain.

“They have no idea who they’re messing with.”

Pirates only thrived at sea.

Once they set foot on land, it was like cutting off their own arm.

Forget the average squadrons—even the Sea Dragon King himself wouldn’t dare go toe-to-toe with the Investigation Team.

So in Wu Di’s eyes, these fools were walking straight into death’s arms.

But Zhang Yi remained silent, coldly eyeing the pirate swarm.

For some reason, a sense of unease crept into his heart.

After a brief pause, he took a few steps back—

Only to suddenly feel that same solid, immovable resistance behind him.

Reaching back, he touched it.

Sure enough, their way out had been sealed by that same invisible wall!

“We might’ve walked into a trap—check the surroundings!” he ordered immediately.

The team instantly began scanning the area.

And quickly, they noticed something off.

At some point, a massive transparent cage had formed around them, locking them all inside.

Even above and below—nothing had been overlooked.

Meanwhile, the thousand-plus pirates had encircled them completely, weapons in hand.

Grins split their faces like they’d just seen fish bite the hook.

But they didn’t attack right away—nor did they approach.

A path opened among the pirates, and a tall, lean man with a shark-like face stepped out.

He was none other than Kanute, the captain of the Tianlong Pirate Crew’s Western Squadron.

Kanute’s cold gaze swept across the Celestial Hound Squad.

“Since you're already here, might as well introduce yourselves.”

But Zhang Yi wasn’t the least bit flustered.

He didn’t even acknowledge Kanute.

Instead, he instructed his team calmly:

“Try to break through. Unless their side has an Epsilon-level Awakened, I refuse to believe any barrier is truly impenetrable.”

The team immediately spread out and launched test attacks at various points.

Bullets, abilities—even brute-force punches.

But no matter what they tried, the transparent barrier didn’t react in the slightest.

It wasn’t reflecting their attacks nor resisting with power.

It was like an ocean—absorbing everything without a ripple.

Seeing no one respond to him, Kanute shrugged helplessly.

“How rude. Haven’t you people heard of manners?”

He raised his right index finger.

“But I’ll tell you now—don’t waste your strength! Once you enter this cage, there’s no way out!”

“Right now, you’re just birds trapped in a cage.”

Among the pirates was an Awakened named Chen Siyu.

In his vision, the space where Zhang Yi and the others stood had turned into a massive transparent cube.

His ability was called Draw the Ground to Cage.

Like a bird trap, the prison was pre-set to cover a specific area.

Once someone entered, the trap would spring and lock the target inside.

And anyone caught inside could never escape.

However, to maintain the cage, Chen Siyu himself couldn’t move.

If he did—or if he died—the ability would end.

That was the rule of his power.

The smile on Kanute’s face vanished. With a wave of his hand, he shouted:

“Kill them!”

At his command, over a thousand pirates cackled madly and pulled their triggers.

From all directions, countless streams of bullets rained down toward the cage!

“Defend!” Zhang Yi shouted.

He immediately activated Absolute Barrier Between Two Realms, shielding himself, Liang Yue, Hua Hua, and Yang Xinxin.

There was no choice—its radius was only one meter. Within that range, he was invincible. Outside of it, he couldn’t protect anyone.

Fortunately, the bullets weren’t much of a threat to the rest of the team either.

Each of them used their own abilities to fend off the barrage.

“This isn’t right. Our attacks can’t get out, but theirs can come in.”

“Is this barrier... one-way?” Baili Changqing shouted while using his Fangtian Halberd to swat bullets away.

Zhang Yi remained composed.

Even if they were caged, as long as he could use Dimensional Space, he was still invincible on defense.

Just then, one of the enemy Awakened leapt from the pirate ranks.

He raised both hands, and the shattered ice on the ground rose into the air.

A moment later, it condensed into a massive ice ball—dozens of meters wide!

The ice ball, like a cannon shell, launched straight toward them!

Baili Changqing was about to intercept it.

But Zhang Yi quickly realized that if the ice shattered on impact, their movement would be severely restricted.

Even with their strength, it would be hard to fight effectively in tight quarters.

“I’ll handle it!” Zhang Yi stepped in.

“Liang Yue, Hua Hua—cover me!”

As he spoke, he deactivated Absolute Barrier Between Two Realms.

Then, right in the path of the incoming ice, he summoned a Dimensional Gate.

The massive ice ball vanished silently, sucked into the dimensional space.

Kanute frowned.

“Tch, so this is the guy Phoenixin wanted me to kill? Just like the intel said—his defense is tricky.”

“But if you can’t leave that cage, I’ll wear you down eventually.”

Among the pirates, many had already brought out shoulder-mounted cannons and rocket launchers.

Even Awakened powers had their limits.

Once their abilities ran dry, even they would be torn apart by heavy fire.

To the Tianlong Pirate Crew, this was a long hunt.

And they had all the patience in the world.

But Zhang Yi suddenly opened two Dimensional Gates, swallowing up attacks from the two most intense firing lines.

While the Dimensional Gates had a limit, it would take an entire arsenal of heavy weapons just to reach that ceiling.

Then—an idea struck Zhang Yi.

If external attacks could enter the cage… but theirs couldn’t leave…

Then what exactly determined that boundary?

With that thought, he made a bold attempt.

He raised a hand and used the Dimensional Gate to collect a massive batch of ammo.

Then turned it around—

And fired it right back at the pirates!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The bullets flew back exactly as they’d come.

But unlike Zhang Yi’s team, those pirates weren’t wearing battle suits.

In a blink, dozens of them were shredded into bloody sieves!

Zhang Yi’s eyes lit up, a grin spreading across his face.

“I get it now. I know how this cage works!”

Author's Note