The six-person team from the Brave Sniper organization were all skilled veterans.
They had tried venturing deep into the wasteland more than once in the past.
Now, riding motorcycles and equipped with flamethrowers specifically for ant swarms, they were even more confident and without hesitation.
The motorcycles sped forward while the players on the back seats sprayed fire at the ant swarms.
The air was filled with crackling sounds.
If the players had an upgrade system here, the "Experience +1" notifications would be endless.
If this place could become a monster-grinding zone, even more ants could be killed to extinction!
Unfortunately, it wasn't.
So the players didn't bother coming.
…
Three thick columns of fire charged into the ant swarm's encirclement, struggling to reach the moving pickup truck.
But in their excitement, they overlooked one thing—
The scale of the ant swarm at this moment was completely different from what they had faced during previous team operations!
After suffering countless deaths, the surging ant swarm seemed to trigger some mechanism and suddenly became "intelligent"—
Instead of mindlessly rushing to their deaths, they quickly bit and clung to each other, forming ant balls larger than the motorcycles.
The ant swarm pushed this large ball across the wasteland, rolling faster and faster, heading straight for the motorcycles!
"Careful! Watch out!" Brave Sniper shouted.
The flamethrowers could only scorch the outer layer of the ant ball, and even when those ants died, they remained firmly attached.
This greatly increased the threat of the ant ball!
—The impact damage of the ant ball was negligible.
But they were speeding at full throttle, and if they crashed, they would fall badly.
And if they fell into the ant tide, they wouldn't even have bones left!
The three motorcycles instantly became flustered, forced to swerve to avoid being knocked down by the increasingly numerous and larger ant balls.
Brave Sniper wasn't a motorcycle expert to begin with, and his teammate behind him kept twisting and turning to defend against the ant tide, constantly shifting the center of gravity, further increasing the difficulty of handling.
This caused Brave Sniper to make a mistake—
He turned at too sharp an angle while dodging an ant ball and crashed.
He and his teammate fell off together, bouncing across the ground like skipping stones.
When his vision stabilized again, he looked up to see an ant tide surging up, nearly two meters high, pressing down!
"Fuck…"
There was no time to grab a weapon.
—The flamethrower's fuel tank was too large, and space on the motorcycle was limited, so he hadn't brought it along.
"I'm done for." Brave Sniper realized he was doomed.
But the next second, an invisible force appeared from the side, instantly tearing apart the wall formed by the ant tide!
The ant swarm, which had originally blocked all light and seemed impenetrable, shattered in an instant and scattered into the distance.
Light reappeared.
She stood dashingly in the sunlight, her right hand raised, her freedom faintly revealing a hint of arrogance.
Clearly, that invisible force was the fierce wind she summoned with a wave of her hand!
At this moment, the fierce wind still surrounded them in a circle, blocking the outer ant swarm.
"Are you okay?" Heye asked, tilting her head.
"Uh, I'm fine."
Brave Sniper looked at Heye.
He noticed some subtle changes in her appearance:
Her cheongsam was no longer completely black, but on the pure black base, there were faint dark lines, seemingly some kind of pattern.
The red string on her ankle now appeared on her wrist.
Her curls also seemed less curly, and the color of her hair tips had also lightened.
This gave Brave Sniper a subtle feeling of familiarity and unfamiliarity.
This person was undoubtedly Heye!
But she didn't seem to be the Heye he knew.
But now was not the time for him to reminisce.
Heye decisively said, "It's good that you're okay, get in the car!"
The young woman snapped her fingers dashingly, and Brave Sniper immediately felt a gentle touch brush across his skin—as if caressed by a breeze.
Looking down, he found that wind effects had indeed appeared on his body.
—He was already very familiar with this effect in the [Dragon Palace Treasure Hunt].
Under this buff, he jumped higher and ran faster.
He turned back to pull his teammate, who was still wondering why the flamethrower wasn't working, and followed Heye quickly towards the pickup.
Only when he ran did he realize:
They were still some distance away from the pickup.
It was Heye who noticed their crisis and didn't hesitate to control the fierce wind, crossing hundreds of meters, forcibly pulling them out of their near-death situation!
The teammates drove the other two motorcycles over to provide cover.
Heye saw the flames spewing from the flamethrower, flipped her wrist, and pushed towards the flames!
The wind fueled the fire.
The coverage of the flames instantly doubled, burning a large cone-shaped area like dragon's breath!
Scaring the teammates half to death.
But soon, they cheered up again:
"Awesome!"
"So strong!!"
"Miss Heye is invincible!"
…
Hearing the nickname [Miss Heye], Heye's eyelids twitched wildly, and she glared fiercely at the person who shouted it.
But now everyone was surrounded, and it wasn't the time to dwell on it, so they cooperated with setting fires with all their might.
As for how to deal with the unpleasant feeling…
Another ant ball rolled over.
The players immediately dodged, but Heye didn't flinch.
At the moment of impact, Heye clenched her small hand into a fist, and under the shocked gaze of the players—and two hundred thousand viewers in the live broadcast—she punched out!
The white fierce wind, visible to the naked eye, was like an armor-piercing bullet, instantly piercing through the ant ball and shooting into the sky!
The huge ant ball, with a diameter of more than five meters, was stopped on the spot by this punch.
Then, following that penetrating force, it exploded violently backward!
Ants fell one after another, but none of them touched the corners of Heye's clothes.
"Holy shit! So cool!!!"
"That's too violent! Cool to the max!!"
"When will it be implemented in the game? Isn't this cooler than shooting guns?!"
"Miss Heye, invincible!"
"Coach! I want to learn this!"
…
The livestream instantly exploded.
Because of the appearance of characters from Silver City, Heroic Sniper's livestream was already rapidly gaining viewers.
After Heyin's magnificent punch, the rate of viewers joining became even more intense!
Heyin's punch not only shattered the ant ball but also flattened a large area of the ant swarm in front.
The player squad finally successfully reunited with the pickup truck!
Without even greeting each other, the motorcycle quickly made a 180-degree turn, and Heroic Sniper and his teammates also jumped onto the narrow truck bed of the pickup.
They took out spare weapons and cooperated with Bai Wei to clear the ant swarm.
In the few seconds it took to retrieve weapons, Heroic Sniper quickly glanced and noticed that Bai Wei and Asang's appearances and clothing had also undergone some changes compared to those in "Frosty Snow Project"—
—Most ⊥ New ⊥ Small ⊥ Say ⊥ In ⊥ Six ⊥ 9 ⊥ ⊥ Book ⊥ ⊥ Bar ⊥ ⊥ First ⊥ Send!
Bai Wei's JK uniform had become much more fitted: no longer stretched out due to her prominent figure, revealing her belly.
She had also tied up her long hair with a hair tie.
The little wolf girl Asang's clothing no longer looked as rough and wild as in "Frosty Snow Project"—it didn't seem like a big change, but in reality, the materials used had become much more modern.
The leather ring on her leg for holding a dagger had also become a girlish lace leg ring.
—These changes weren't that significant.
Some changes might not even be noticeable without careful observation.
However, Heroic Sniper was too familiar with these characters, and he noticed these differences with just a glance.
That feeling of familiarity yet unfamiliarity was even stronger!
This was different from changing into a whole new outfit.
Changes that occur based on the "original skin" are always more noticeable.
But now was not the time to think about these things; covering the pickup truck's escape from the ant swarm was the priority!
……
Under the cover of their superpower-wielding teammates, Heroic Sniper's squad, at the cost of burning all their reserve fuel and damaging a motorcycle and a flamethrower, successfully covered the pickup truck's approach to the cliff.
Afterward, they abandoned the motorcycle and pickup and quickly climbed up the rope ladder.
The girls didn't care at all about losing a pickup truck.
Several players, however, looked at the motorcycle being dismantled by the ant swarm and felt a surge of sorrow.
—Previously, during exploration, they always left the motorcycle on the cliff's edge, but this time they brought it down to try a new tactic.
As a result, it was completely written off.
However, looking at the four characters climbing the rope ladder beside them, everyone cheered up again.
After climbing up the cliff, the teammate who had been rescued by Heyin couldn't wait to express his excitement:
“Ahhh, little Heyin, I knew you were the best to me!!”
Heyin turned her head, her face showing obvious confusion.
“You know me?”
“?” The teammate was stunned. “I'm an Investigator! We're even married!”
This time, Heyin had even more question marks above her head: “Investigator? Investigator from where?”
“Of course, from Silver City! A legendary Investigator!”
—Although this legendary title was shared by hundreds of thousands, even millions…
But Heyin still shook her head: “Silver City doesn't have a position called Investigator, let alone a male Investigator.”
She added, “There haven't been any men in Silver City for a long time.”
“Really?!” The teammate, who had been greatly disappointed, immediately perked up!
Heroic Sniper pushed away this embarrassing teammate and interjected, asking, “If there are no Investigators, how did you solve the [Corrupted Delar] problem?”
[Corrupted Delar] was the big BOSS of version of "Frosty Snow Project," who once threatened the survival of Silver City.
Whether it was the plot before Xu Meng remade the game or the plot after the remake, the crisis was resolved by the player, the legendary Investigator.
“Corrupted Delar?” Heyin blinked and recalled for a moment.
“I remember, it was defeated by Sister Copper Sparrow!”
Heroic Sniper opened his mouth, speechless.
He already understood:
The characters in this Silver City in front of him had diverged from the timeline they were familiar with.
In this timeline, the story of Silver City did not have the participation of Investigators.
Zhu Meng had already hinted at this through the changes in the characters' hairstyles and clothing.
He was a little disappointed, but also relieved—
It was better than watching Heyin be all lovey-dovey with a bunch of people.
He also didn't forget the matter at hand:
“You ventured out of Silver City to contact Sprout City, right? Is there anything we can help with?”
“Well, that's right, Silver City's energy is about to run out,” Heyin replied readily. “We've come here to seek support.”
“Silver City and Sprout City had a pact in the past; if we encounter a life-or-death problem, Sprout City has an obligation to provide assistance.”
“A life-or-death problem?” Heroic Sniper quickly grasped the key point.
But before he could inquire further, rousing music suddenly sounded in their ears.
“This is…” Heroic Sniper felt that this music was very familiar!
A teammate quickly reacted: “This is the music from [City Defense War]!”
“[City Defense War]? A large-scale event?” Heroic Sniper was surprised.
This guess was immediately confirmed—
“Dong—”
“Dong—”
“Dong—”
The giant bronze bell on the north side of Sprout City's central square was struck.
Amidst the rousing music, all players in Sprout City heard a voice—
“The envoys of Silver City have once again arrived in Sprout City.”
“The alliance pact has been activated.”
“The Sprout City City Management Council is issuing a large-scale mission—”
“[Support Silver City]”
“Please, brave warriors, go to the edge of the city, repair the rails, escort the train across the wasteland, deliver urgently needed supplies to our allies, and resolve the crisis of destruction!”
“Completing this mission will unlock version of "Frosty Snow Project"! Providing full support for the Mirage Game Suite!”
