Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 8 8. What does it mean when all teammates are sent?

The idea of a paintball gun vanished into thin air when the three men selected a parachute drop site and jumped from a whirring, propeller-less aircraft.

Because the patrol captain - she told Seifer her name was Tien during the teammate recognition session - explained to him before the three of them landed upside down that after landing, everyone except the three people with names on their heads would be an enemy.

This sudden vision requires them to work together to annihilate all enemies. It doesn't matter if a teammate falls in the end, as long as the team wins.

It sounds... quite simple. Cypher looked at the ground getting closer and closer, and suddenly looked up at the sky.

"Ah, blue sky."

"Not bad, young man, you can actually call out the scientific name. Yes, this vision may be the only place where unfortunate people like us can see the blue sky."

The conductor laughed heartily, even swaying his body in the air as if preparing to swim. "Once the vision dissipates, you won't be able to see it anymore. Hurry and look more, or else you won't be able to see it when you're knocked to the ground and kicked out of the vision."

The thing called vision was really gentle. It just kicked people out. When Sefer encountered pirate robbery for the first time and wiped out the whole group, he had prepared himself mentally for the world where blood and war were everywhere.

Nodding slightly, the three of them made a brief decision in the air, and according to Tien's suggestion, they landed together in a building complex that looked like a smelting plant, with different heights and complex interiors.

However, someone else also had their eyes on this place. When Seifer involuntarily changed his posture, with his feet facing the ground and the auxiliary thrusters behind his waist spewing flames to aid his landing, another group of people landed not far from them.

The team even happened to land in an area where weapons and ammunition were stored.

Tien made a prompt decision to move (run away), and the moment her little brother followed blindly, Cypher took a big stride and sprinted forward. At the moment those people grabbed the rather short guns from the ground and opened fire, he jumped sideways, and in sync with the jump, the auxiliary thrusters also spurted out a short flame!
He moved sideways and collided with the metal wall, then jumped off the wall perfectly and passed through the range of the gun. He kicked out at lightning speed and kicked the first person who got the gun away.

When the plane really took off, the man screamed and his sternum caved in. He fell to the ground and rolled around like a rag bag. It was obvious that he was dead.

His teammates were not much better off. One of them swung his arm and punched him in the face as Seifer landed. The last one, who hadn't even touched his weapon yet, subconsciously swung his fist, but when his teammate finished off the opponent, he faced a dagger that stabbed into his neck.

"Hehe... cough?!"

He stretched out his hands helplessly, as if he was going to say something, but in the end he just collapsed to the ground.

Tien hid in the corner, sticking out half of her protective helmet and exclaiming "Wow".

"You're so strong! I've never seen a mercenary with such a quick reaction time. If I were still doing that job, I would definitely recruit you as my top thug."

"Thank you." Seifer nodded slightly, picked up the weapon from the ground, and after a quick inspection found that it was a submachine gun with excellent performance.

The appearance is simple and the lines are tough. It is in the shape of a figure 7 and has no butt. It is small and light in the hand, but its explosive rate of fire cannot be ignored... Could this weapon in the vision be the final reward?

In terms of power, this thing is not as good as the mercenary weapon, or maybe this "competition" also has weapon levels and so on. Only when you compete with others later can you get better things...

Cypher asked very bluntly, "Do you want these weapons?"

The young man honestly raised his hand and said he wanted it.

After a brief exchange, there were sounds of other people moving around in the factory, and even the crackling sound of gunfire had begun to spread all around. Seifer immediately threw the gun over and grabbed a gun that looked like a revolver from the unlucky guy who was knocked away by him.

"Then let's go. We can't stay here for too long—this corpse?"

Tien didn't get the gun. She waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about it. These are all creations from the vision."

The trio continued to act. Not only did Cypher become more and more adept at using his iron body, but his various abnormal actions made Tien wonder if he was a madman from some company who had run away to work on his own.

Tien did not discuss in depth what the company's lunatic was. She just mentioned it casually when there was no fighting - and it was obvious that now was not the time for a leisurely chat.

The three men were trapped inside the furnace of the smelter and were being suppressed by the opposing team's firepower and were unable to get their heads out. The team had picked up three light machine guns from somewhere and were firing at the smelter's gate like crazy.

Two teams were so stubborn that they wanted to break out from the main gate. Now the ground is covered with debris, making it difficult to reconstruct the scene.

"No matter what, we can't win with just momentum. We didn't find any projectiles just now. Do you want to wait a little longer, or...?"

Tien was obviously very experienced in this matter. She hid behind a thick container, stretched out the gun she had picked up on the ground, fired a random shot, and pointed at a window a little far above the factory.

"I saw you were very skilled just now. Why don't we stay here and draw the fire while you take out that team?"

Finally, she added, "I can give you 20% of the settlement reward, my share."

That's a deal. Without a word, Seifer turned, gun in hand, and swiftly leaped across the complex factory building, scaling the high wall in just a few steps. Amidst the roar of gunfire below, he suddenly shattered the glass with a single kick and emerged victorious!

The mercenaries obviously didn't expect that someone could climb walls and run on rooftops with such explosive mobility. Before their large machine guns could even turn around, Sef's shadow, which looked particularly bloated in the sunlight (protective suit), had already covered their heads.

The first shot killed the mercenary farthest from him. He raised his head and killed him on the spot.

The second shot interrupted the mercenary who was trying to fight back with his secondary weapon, and then he shot him accurately in the head with another shot.

When the last mercenary quickly switched to a submachine gun and fired a burst of shots, Seifer slid and his body instantly became half a meter shorter. Not only did all his bursts of shots miss, but he even dragged the mercenary by the leg and threw him to the ground.

The dagger immediately followed and stabbed the unfortunate child's neck firmly.

It was quick and efficient, and he even stood up and used the jet device skillfully. Seifer waved inside, and the two quickly ran out and crouched behind the new shelter.

"Brother, are you really a new independent mercenary?"

That must be it—I wonder if it was the original owner I traveled through. Anyway, this iron body moved very smoothly, even the mercenaries looked a little dull in his eyes.

Seifer failed to realize that his mobility and combat effectiveness were almost overwhelming for the mercenaries who joined the battle.

The three of them searched while heading towards the so-called 'evacuation point'. Seifer still had many questions in his mind, but with the continuous encounters, he had no time to ask these basic questions that were common to the locals.

…and then he didn’t get a chance to ask.

This kind of 'show match' sounds leisurely, and even when Seifer completed two highlight kills, ethereal cheers and whistles could be heard overhead. However, for those fighting on the scene, it was a bloody battle in which there could be no distraction.

While crossing a road littered with abandoned vehicles, Seifer was aware of the ambush at the first moment, but his teammates were not able to do so!
The unlucky henchman accidentally touched the trip wire when he was crossing a car. With a crisp "click", the loud noise and deadly fragments instantly blew him away, and the name above his head immediately disappeared.

Without even a moment to mourn the loss of his friend, he immediately rushed into the ambush site—it was Cypher who broke through the wall! Relying on the tenacity of his machine body, he knocked down the wall that the ambushers used as a cover, pinned down one unlucky guy on the spot, and glanced at the others.

There are still five people, two teams... a temporary team formed just to snipe the most dazzling player in this game?

If they had killed Cypher in one round, they would have had a chance, but unfortunately they only caught a supporting role. So next, it was Cypher's personal show.

Especially this kind of location with narrow terrain, a bunch of shelters, and even a few buildings made of broken metal prefabricated panels used as shelters.

These mercenaries tried to resist, but unfortunately their proficiency with weapons and their use of the combat environment were too... flat.

Perhaps it would be better to give them more time, but they have no chance in this battle.

The unfortunate kid who was pinned by the brick wall had just gotten up when he saw the terrifying 'reserve champion' shooting his last teammate to death, then turned his head to look at him.

The protective suit he wore to protect himself from the sun was stained with blood. He didn't know what the face looked like under the helmet, but this figure had become a nightmare for this unlucky guy.

Throwing away his weapon that had run out of ammunition, Seifer picked up a new weapon that had been assembled into a 'Christmas tree'. He turned around and asked Tien which way to go, but saw her crossing her arms, as if in deep thought.

"what happened?"

"How should I put it? It's a bit embarrassing to say it out loud, but to put it simply, I'm going to fall too."

Tien turned around as if she was talking about someone else. The protective suit on her back had been blown into a bloody mess by another fragmentation grenade, but this guy didn't say a word.

"Those guys just now prepared more than just one grenade, but we still have a chance. As long as you can reach the final evacuation point and grab a spot, we can all get the reward."

Tien waved his hand casually, then fell to the ground after saying this, quickly losing energy.

After a moment of silence, Cypher reached for her weapon and hung it on her sling, quickly leaving the scene before the people who had gathered around after hearing the gunshots could arrive.

I also planted a few extra trip wire mines—if these guys can do it, why can't I? The principle is simple, so why not use them?

Sure enough, after just a short distance away, explosions and screams of some people were heard one after another in the traffic-congested streets and ruins. The effect was very good.

Then... why am I alone again? Could this be some kind of solo curse?

(End of this chapter)