459 Destroying the formation
When he saw the steam locomotive approaching, Zong Cheng had an epiphany. After considering the doubts that had accumulated in his mind in recent days and analyzing them further, he surmised that the steam locomotive was probably not Wang Congyang’s doing at all. Instead, it was probably Ren Xiaosu’s own power!
Although Zong Cheng did not really want to accept such a presumption, he had no other choice.
And once this presumption was established, many things that happened previously could finally be explained. For example, why had Xu Xianchu’s shadow clone appeared at two different locations? Xu Xianchu had admitted before that he could not control the shadow clone beyond a distance of one kilometer.
And for example, Wang Congyang’s steam locomotive was known to only have four carriages, but why did the Zong Consortium’s troops keep seeing one that had 16?
Therefore, Ren Xiaosu’s superpower was that he could copy the superpowers of other supernatural beings!
This made Zong Cheng even more fearful. If supernatural beings were the gods of the world, what kind of existence would a supernatural being that could outrageously copy the powers of other supernatural beings, and even further enhance them, be?
When Zong Cheng attacked Ren Xiaosu’s group, he did not give a fuck about this young man. His target had all along been Yang Xiaojin and the organization backing her, the Saboteurs.
Now, Zong Cheng realized that he had made a huge mistake.
Suddenly, Zong Cheng stopped a military off-road vehicle that was speeding back to the base. He dragged the Zong Consortium soldier out of the driver’s seat and threw him onto the ground. Then he drove the vehicle away!
As the night curfew had already been imposed on Stronghold 146, there were no pedestrians out on the streets. Only the Zong Consortium’s soldiers could be seen patrolling.
But no matter how many soldiers came back as reinforcements, Zong Cheng was not going to turn around anymore. He just shouted into the vehicle’s walkie-talkie and commanded all of the Zong Consortium soldiers in Stronghold 146 to come back to hold off Ren Xiaosu.
Zong Cheng thought to himself, ‘There should be an extent to how much supernatural beings can use their superpowers, right?’ For example, he could only control 30 to 50 people with his power. In that case, there also had to be a limit for the Steam Locomotive. Didn’t it get blown into thin air after being bombed by the land mines in the wilderness?
As long as he had enough soldiers, he could crush Ren Xiaosu.
Zong Cheng regained his composure slightly. One by one, the Zong Consortium’s troops started returning to the base, with the largest consisting of a full company, while the smaller groups were made up of individual platoons.
These sporadic forces would not be enough to stop Ren Xiaosu. Zong Cheng looked at his surroundings and immediately ordered through the radio, “I’m leading the target towards Zijing Road now. All soldiers in the vicinity of Zijing Road, organize a defensive formation immediately and mount HMGs. Make sure to stop the steam locomotive that’s chasing me!”
This would be the most effective method. Zong Cheng knew he could not run away aimlessly and should instead lead Ren Xiaosu to where the Zong Consortium’s soldiers were the most concentrated so they could take him out while he was exhausted!
It was destined to be a sleepless night in Stronghold 146 tonight. The alarm that blared through the night, along with the explosions and gunfire, would make it difficult for any residents in the stronghold to fall asleep.
As some people watched quietly from a residential building on the street, they got a strange feeling. During the day, it was the Zong Consortium that was chasing after the young man. But now that it was nighttime, why had it suddenly become the young man chasing after the Zong Consortium soldiers while driving a train?
Why had the roles suddenly reversed?
Clarion and pleasant clangs of metal rang out as the steam locomotive traveled. This was the first time the residents in the stronghold witnessed a superpower with their own eyes.
A child leaning against the windowsill shouted to their parents, “Daddy, it’s a toy train!”
There were railroad tracks and trains that operated between Stronghold 146 and Stronghold 145, and many of the residents had taken them before. But in recent years, the Zong Consortium had been preparing for the war so intensively that the trains had become an exclusive means of transport for the military.
When the adults heard their child’s words, the father said with a complicated expression, “My child, that is a real train.”
Zheng Yuandong, the Qing Consortium’s spy, was standing at a window somewhere in the stronghold. He had just witnessed with his very own eyes an off-road vehicle of the Zong Consortium fleeing with a train chasing behind it.
Zheng Yuandong had heard of car chases before, but this was the first time he saw something like that, and this one even involved a train.
Zheng Yuandong was probably one of the few who really knew what was happening here. He was the one who had personally led Ren Xiaosu into the base, while the steam locomotive had come charging out of there. Without even needing to analyze, he guessed what was going on.
It was just that he could not understand why this young man was being so vicious.
After Zheng Yuandong led Ren Xiaosu to the garrison base, he went back and reported to Luo Lan that it was probably the end for that kid. After all, he would definitely be done for by barging into such a tightly defended base by himself.
At that time, Luo Lan remained silent for a while before saying, “I understand. He made his own choice.”
Even an idiot could sense the sadness in Luo Lan’s tone when he said that.
But what was he supposed to tell Boss Luo now?
He could say, “I’m sorry, I made a mistake. It wasn’t the end for that young man. It’s the Zong Consortium that was done for...”
Zheng Yuandong quietly climbed to the roof of a building. He was moving freely on top of the buildings and could leap five to six meters across buildings with a single step even though the gap felt like a gulf.
Although he was not a supernatural being, he was one of the toughest spies in the Qing Consortium’s secret troops.
Zheng Yuandong chased after the train for the entire time and saw for himself how the steam locomotive was smashing through every obstacle. The young man in the train calmly pursued the off-road vehicle in front of him and even threw several grenades from time to time.
Ren Xiaosu had already put away his armor and stored the nanomachines back into his body to recharge it for the next battle. When he turned his head, he saw Zheng Yuandong leaping and scurrying across the roofs. He smiled and waved at Zheng Yuandong. He also signaled for him to stay away in case he accidentally got hurt.
Just what kind of mental fortitude did he need to have to remain smiling in the face of all the danger around him?
He wanted to tell Luo Lan every detail about today’s events so the Qing Consortium could reassess the capability of this young man from an objective point of view!
Ren Xiaosu had pursued Zong Cheng until they were in the vicinity of Zijing Road. The traffic lights were still flashing at the huge intersection, while the neon lights on the surrounding buildings were still lit up.
Hundreds of Zong Consortium soldiers stood guard at this intersection armed with a massive amount of weapons as they waited for the strange steam locomotive to enter their kill zone.
Even Zong Cheng could not help but step on the brakes when he saw the formation up ahead and wondered if they would be enough to stop Ren Xiaosu!
But before the steam locomotive could arrive, something strange suddenly landed at the Zong Consortium’s position via the Shadow Door.
A soldier looked over and caught sight of it. He was surprised to see four playing cards lying on the ground.
He saw four “sixes,” with the spade, heart, club, and diamond suits shining extraordinarily bright.
At first, some of the soldiers did not even realize what was going on. They thought it was their fellow comrades who had accidentally dropped the cards and were wondering who had brought them here. If their commanding officer found out, they would probably be severely punished.
But before they could figure it out, they saw the four “sixes” grow brighter and brighter. With a loud boom, the Explosive Poker instantly blasted close to a 100 people into the sky!