Angela thought for a moment, frowned, and then answered, "Handling ten at the same time shouldn't be a problem, right? But if it's more than fifteen, I'm afraid we'll be too busy."
草
That number is honestly quite frightening. Hayden can't even go toe-to-toe with a high-level demon in a one-on-one fight now.
Unfortunately……
"Then we'd better be careful."
Hayden said with a stern face,
"Because the heavenly soldiers of the gods are stronger than the demons."
But he still wanted to go.
Go and fucking kill a bunch of Protoss.
Because if he compromises at this point, he can forget about ever turning his life around!
049: True gold is refined by fire
In the foul-smelling, dark, semi-abandoned sewers, the fat young man Todd and eight other students were running hurriedly.
Their computers contained floor plans of the sewer system. They all wore protective masks, which not only concealed their faces but also served as a tactical local area network for monitoring communications and coordinating all equipment, allowing for real-time communication. The arcane ability of Darkvision enabled them to see only a few dozen meters in complete darkness, and the computers accurately told them how long they had been running through the accumulated filth, so Todd knew he had only run for sixteen minutes…
...But he still felt as if he had been walking there for several hours, as if he had walked dozens of kilometers.
The nauseating stench from the sewers was insidious, even with a protective mask. The footstools were sticky, and sewage flowed right beside him. Even more tragically, the overweight young man, Todd, was already used to this environment, which made him want to cry.
Why would this group of student hackers, known as "Bo Xun," be floundering in the city's sewers?
That's a long story.
Today is the evening of the sixth day of the lockdown in New Yatu. However, six days ago, on the night before the lockdown—in short, the night Hayden went to their base and beat them up—Alastor told Hayden about the skill education chips, asked Hayden to deal with the mercenaries hired by the Smoke Mirror Company, and then led the students of [Bo Xun] into hiding in the sewers.
What a cunning man Alastor was! He certainly understood the principle of having multiple burrows. Within New Yatu City, he had more places that could be considered "safe havens" than Hayden, the lone wolf mercenary. At least, Hayden never even considered creating a "safe haven" for himself in the city's sewers.
However, Alastor did just that. He prepared a second secret base for [Bo Xun] here, one that wasn't as comfortable to live in, but offered greater privacy and security. Its prototype was probably some kind of abandoned underground warehouse. At first glance, its function wasn't much different from [Bo Xun]'s original base, except that it lacked residential features.
However, the students might not see it that way. Although their previous secret base was also underground, the basement of the abandoned building was a completely different experience from the sewers reeking of ammonia. While magic can solve many everyday problems, such as bed rest, washing, and air purification, there are also things that modern arcane magic cannot conjure out of thin air.
For example, food.
In this sewer base, there were only military combat ration packs that Alastor had stockpiled beforehand.
To be honest, these combat rations produced by Mars Industries aren't actually that bad. Mars' expertise lies in military industry and agriculture, making them world-class in military ration production, even surpassing Mitra Corporation. They're not only filling and high in calories, but also nutritionally balanced—modern capitalists aren't like those of centuries past; how could they allow their troops to suffer from malnutrition?
So the contents of these food packs are actually quite good: whole-wheat biscuits, Italian-style sandwiches, beef jerky, chocolate, peanuts and nuts, and a grape-flavored sports drink. The main dishes are mostly things like spaghetti bolognese, beef patties, or chicken fried rice that automatically heat up after being torn open. The only problem is that they either look like a clump of flatbread or a mushy mess. As for the taste, although it's a bit salty and strong, it's not exactly something humans would refuse to eat.
To be fair, these combat rations are actually much tastier than the synthetic protein foods that most of the low-income population and laborers in New Jersey usually eat.
However, the question is, are the college students these days the majority of the low-end population and low-level laborers in New Jersey?
Of course not! Most college students from stable middle-class families are used to having relatively normal and delicious meals for three meals a day.
So the students of [Bo Xun] didn't have a very happy week. Fortunately, Alastor had a lot of personal charm, and the students admired him from the bottom of their hearts. Later, it was Todd's side that nine students were tough enough to grit their teeth and go to the ground to get some decent food for everyone to maintain morale, so they didn't cause any trouble during this time.
But there's no doubt that the students' mental state has been quite poor these past few days.
Finally, they made it tonight. Alastor told them that tonight would be the decisive night, and the trade negotiations between the representatives of the three companies would be the final test of all of Mara's long-standing efforts.
The result of this battle was that Mara lost.
Two major companies will join forces in a counter-terrorism operation. It's too late now; there's nothing more to be done.
"You all better run away quickly."
Meanwhile, Alastor secretly instructed several students, led by the fat young man Todd,
“Yoranda and her men had previously colluded with Smoke Mirror Company in secret, and had too many connections with that company. Once Smoke Mirror’s technology tracks them through their sympathetic connections, they will definitely not be able to escape.”
Hearing Alastor's words, Todd finally understood what he meant when he said Yolanda had caused a big disaster a few days ago: it turned out that the mercenaries hired by Smoke Mirror Company were able to find their first secret base a few days ago because of this!
“Only you few, who haven’t done anything foolish with Yolanda before, aren’t directly involved in the karma, and might still have a chance to escape the tracking of the sympathetic magic. Especially while they’re busy locking onto me.”
Therefore, Alastor said this.
"To defeat the strong with the weak, you must know how to take advantage of the terrain. I have prepared a desperate, all-or-nothing strategy in this base. Yolanda and the others can't escape, so they might as well stay and fight alongside me; perhaps there's still a glimmer of hope. So this place will soon become a battlefield, so you'd better run. There's a map of the escape route here, and I've also prepared forged documents and information for you, as well as a few spells to confuse tracking. They might not work, but you should at least try."
Naturally, upon hearing this, Todd couldn't help but ask, "Then you can try running away! As long as you're alive, you can always make a comeback!"
Alastor responded with a wry smile: "I am the leader of the organization, and the big companies will definitely investigate thoroughly. Even if I do escape from the city of New Asia, the Mitra Group will continue to invest a lot of resources in tracking me, and there is absolutely no way I will escape alive. Moreover, once they catch up with me, it would be good if they could just kill me."
At this point, even with the confidence and courage of a genius hacker, his expression turned grim: "They definitely want to capture me alive. But that's precisely why it'll be easier for you to escape. Don't waste any more time. This base is about to become very dangerous, get out of here!"
What choice did Todd and his men have now? They could only leave in tears and despair.
"Fire refines gold. The data chips I gave you contain the essence of my informational arcane techniques and some insights."
This was Alastor's final message to them.
"If you can survive this ordeal, you will no longer be just students playing around with social movements, but real fighters."
That is, if they actually survive to see today.
Without warning or any prior indication.
Just as Todd led the way around the corner of the sewers, a chilling premonition that shot up his spine made him abruptly stop. In the blink of an eye, a beam of red light from a [Stunning Arrow] flew past him, narrowly missing Todd's face and bringing a sliver of light into the endless darkness of the sewers.
The scene seemed to freeze in an instant.
Then the enemy appeared.
First, four figures slowly emerged from the darkness, crouching low. They weren't combat drones, but they wore full-body armor lined with mithril, allowing them to withstand attacks from light weapons and low-level spells. Furthermore, the armor was infused with life-enhancing magic, boosting their combat effectiveness and reaction speed. They carried short, stick-shaped combat magical artifacts—which might sound strange at first, but were actually quite useful in confined combat situations, allowing them to quickly unleash offensive spells to suppress enemies in both ranged and melee combat.
Such equipment and training are far beyond what one would associate with "company security guards"; they're more like special forces. Even Todd and his team possess the [Dark Vision] spell, so these guards' helmets are certainly equipped with it, and the effect is only enhanced. The goggles, composed of countless lenses resembling compound eyes, can even visualize various infrared rays, sound waves, and magical auras, projecting them directly into the guards' consciousness.
So before Todd could even yell a warning to the other students, countless red light arrows rained down like a storm, a beat faster than a heartbeat.
"Tiaozi!"
But it was too late. Sewage splashed from the ground, splattered excrement flew through the air, and sparks rained down on the students' heads. In just a moment, the surprise attack struck four students with the auto-targeting [Stun Arrow], knocking them unconscious in the mud.
"Aaaaaaaaaaa!"
Naturally, the situation then descended into chaos.
Todd and his men were incredibly brave. They didn't collapse, they didn't run away, but roared and fought back. Being mechanical enthusiasts among the [Bojun], they raised their assault rifles and frantically pulled the triggers in the direction the [Stunning Arrows] were coming from. Countless magic bullets rained down on the company security guards, actually forcing the four guards back several steps. They immediately and methodically retreated behind the corner, dodging the rays and activating their protective shields.
Of course, the students also activated their shields. The sewers, which were completely dark just a moment ago, were now brightly lit by the red light arrows, magic bullets flying everywhere, and the blue circles of the shields.
In this dark underground, one shouldn't casually activate a glowing magical shield, as that would reveal one's location and make one a target—but since one has already been discovered and a firefight has begun, that's a different story.
[Nine fugitive criminals have been discovered in area 14-6 and are currently being subdued.]
The security guards, having activated their protective shields, reported the situation to their superiors as they orderly re-emerged from the sewer corner. Magic bullets rained down on their shields, only to freeze in mid-air as if losing all momentum. This incredibly resilient shield was a manifestation of magic manifested through the military-grade magical devices at their waists. These devices were equipment used by the Mitra Group's security personnel worldwide for military operations; how could they be so easily pierced by civilian firearms?
"cover me!"
So Todd roared. Immediately, two more students rushed over. Their three shields overlapped, forming a nearly impenetrable barrier (by mortal standards). In a flash, one [Stun Arrow] after another struck it, exploding like sparks. Taking advantage of this precious opening, Todd extended his right hand towards the four security guards. Mental magic gathered in his eyes, then extended into his arm. He raised his hand forward, grasping firmly.
The magical devices on the waists of the four security guards shut down. The four protective shields instantly went out like light bulbs that had been unplugged.
【! ? 】
The security guards, utterly astonished, hadn't anticipated this dramatic turn of events. Even the special forces trained by a large corporation were momentarily stunned. A hail of bullets rained down on them; the bullets, sealed with explosive magic, didn't penetrate their mithril armor, but they still detonated with a deafening roar. The tremendous impact, while having limited effect on the armor, blasted them from the sewage-filled sewer corridor, sending them tumbling into the adjacent excrement, where they were instantly swept away by the rushing current.
Todd collapsed in the sewer passageway, blood gushing from his eyes and ears.
"That move you just made... was it Alastor's...?"
The two students quickly helped him up, their faces showing reverence.
“Uh, right.” Todd grimaced; his head was still throbbing, like a saw was cutting into his skull. “To hack into other people’s devices without going through the StarNet, to establish a connection ourselves… but it’s still too much of a stretch to do this after only learning it these past two days…”
Even so, the other students still looked on with admiration.
"Stop standing there. Quickly wake up the person who was knocked unconscious."
Todd gritted his teeth, but dared not let them waste their time.
"Just like Alastor said before, we need to make good use of our location. In this sewer environment that we're more familiar with, we can actually hold our own against the company cops, and throwing them into the water would be a good idea. But we still need to run fast. If we don't hurry, we'll inevitably be surrounded—"
Before he could finish speaking, five swirling, spiraling green beams of light shot simultaneously from the darkness, crashing into the three-in-one "almost indestructible" barrier with the sound of shattering glass. Todd narrowly dodged, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw his two companions who had helped him hold up the shield be struck and fall.
Then five company security guards, dressed identically and with reinforced protective shields, appeared.
It was only then that Todd remembered that the Mitra Group's standard combat squad consisted of nine people, divided into two combat teams, with each team consisting of four to five people.
The four security guards at the front were beaten into the excrement and flushed downstream, but that didn't mean they would die immediately. The five behind them, of course, would soon find out what had happened.
[Area 14-6, the escaped criminals who were just reported have been discovered.]
The security squad leader first reported to his superiors before continuing to tell the students, "Put down your weapons and magical artifacts within five seconds, or we'll open fire. Five, four—"
Todd was finally at a loss.
His head was throbbing with excruciating pain, like it was burning him, as if it were tearing him in two, making it impossible for him to cast any spells. Only two student comrades who hadn't been knocked unconscious remained by his side. They immediately took the place of the two who had just been knocked out, erecting a shield for him, their faces filled with utter despair.
Everything failed; they failed.
"I'm sorry, Alastor..."
His face turned as white as chalk, and he muttered to himself.
Shock, discouragement, despair. So at this point, Todd didn't notice a thing.
"Three, two, one! Let's go!"
Hayden, standing behind the security captain, finished the countdown for him, then pointed his scepter at his back. An invisible shockwave immediately caught the cop off guard, and like his four subordinates before him, he fell into the nearby excrement and was swept away by the torrent in the blink of an eye.
"Yo."
Hayden waved his scepter at the remaining security guards and students, who were still almost in a daze, as a greeting.
"What kind of skill is it for a 'street guy' to bully a college student? Come on, let's play!"
Angela, who was standing behind him, clapped her hands enthusiastically.
050: Why live, why fight
To be fair, Mitra Group's security is quite formidable.
Two men emerged silently from the darkness, suddenly appearing behind them and knocking their squad leader into the cesspool. The remaining four security guards reacted in less than half a second, simultaneously opening fire on Hayden. Four short staff-shaped magical artifacts unleashed three green spiral flashes of [Disintegration Protection], followed by a [Stun Arrow] just a fraction of a second later—first dismantling the shield, then stunning the opponent before they could replenish it; this was a textbook example of company security tactical coordination.
Unfortunately, they chose the wrong opponent.
Generally speaking, as long as you are still a mortal and not a god or some other powerful magical creature, you will naturally fall unconscious after being hit directly by the [Stun Arrow].
Does this sound overly domineering? Indeed it is. However, extremely resilient beings, such as gods and demons, can generally resist this kind of spell, but naturally occurring humans without genetic modifications are clearly not included. Therefore, this is indeed a general-purpose arcane spell developed by the upper class specifically to bully the lower class. The arcane level of [Stun Arrow] is only third tier. Even a college student who studies diligently can basically cast it without magical artifacts. With a magical device, even street thugs could use it.
Hayden was just a natural human being who had not undergone genetic modification.
But he has Angela.
The [Conviction Arrow] hit him without causing any pain or itching, but instead made his entire body radiate an emerald-like light.
However, at this moment, the skill of the Mithra Group's security guards became apparent, unlike the students who were ordinary citizens. Seeing that the Stunning Arrow was ineffective, they did not panic like the students had before, but immediately switched to different spells and bombarded Hayden.
"Deep sleep!"
"[Force Field Detonation]!"
"【Steel Rock Hammer】!"
"【Lightning-Strike Spear】!"
Mind spells, pure magical shocks, pure physical attacks, and lightning elemental energy.
In a split second, the four security guards switched to four different types of spells and simultaneously attacked Hayden to test his defensive capabilities.
Whether it's the quality of their equipment or their combat skills, it's clear that these professionals and ordinary students are not on the same level.
So Hayden ignored the sleep spell (which, with Angela's aura, was ineffective against him, just like a stun spell), and with a wave of his staff caught the lightning and pure magic that flew in front of him first. He then threw this energy at the [Steel Rock Hammer] that was flying backward. Bang!
Hayden shrugged, unharmed.
The security guards started sweating profusely.
The three spells canceled each other out, and one spell had no effect on him. Hayden didn't even have to use his own mana. That was his skill, his deflection, his precision. That was his genius, and the professional level he had honed through seven years as a lone wolf mercenary.
The upper class has unlimited magic power that they can use at will. The lower class can't afford to play that game, so they can only carefully study how to carve flowers on grains of rice to cheat.
"Actually, if your numbers were doubled, I really wouldn't be able to handle it all."