Tick-Tick.
The thick, viscous blood oozed from the slightly curved blade of the Military Knife, staining the ground as the lifeless bodies of six German soldiers fell from the rear compartment of the vehicle.
“Phew~” Kyle’s heart raced with excitement, adrenaline pumping through his veins, and sweat cascading down his forehead.
Every ounce of his robust physique and honed combat skills had been put to use during those fleeting five seconds of lethal efficiency. Not a single German soldier had been given the chance to raise the alarm and alert their comrades in the base.
Kyle couldn’t afford to relax just yet. He swiftly surveyed his surroundings, ensuring that he hadn’t inadvertently alerted any other nearby soldiers. Taking a moment to wipe the blood off the Military Knife with the clothing of one of the fallen soldiers, he carefully sheathed the blade and secured it back to his waist.
Without wasting a second, Kyle carried the bodies of the three soldiers outside the car, discreetly placing them in the rear compartment. As he did so, the young girl he had rescued peered out from the wooden crate, her eyes wide with astonishment as she took in the sight of the six lifeless bodies before her.
The girl who felt fear moments ago was now in awe. She looked at Kyle, unscathed despite the grisly scene, and found herself filled with gratitude and wonder.
German soldiers— known for their formidable combat gear and unwavering military discipline— were often perceived as unstoppable killing machines by civilians.
Yet, these six powerful soldiers had been swiftly dispatched by a young man’s blade, without a chance to call for help. It was an extraordinary feat that few would believe if they hadn’t witnessed it with their own eyes.
“Um…” The girl mustered her courage and spoke softly to Kyle, “Thank you.”
Kyle shrugged, still catching his breath. “It’s too early to thank me. We’re still deep inside a heavily guarded German base.”
“Huh?” The girl looked slightly bewildered, struggling to grasp the gravity of their situation.
“I don’t have time to explain this to you right now. Just stay hidden here, don’t make a sound, and I’ll come back to rescue you later.”
With those words, Kyle swiftly left the compartment and sealed the iron door at the rear of the car. Though it wasn’t an ideal situation to keep a delicate girl in close proximity to six lifeless bodies, there was no time to address that concern now.
Having already spent considerable time infiltrating the base, Kyle was acutely aware that he had approximately twenty minutes left until the planned attack on the Mission.
Even if their unit didn’t initiate the operation, the other four units would commence their assaults on enemy camps in four different locations. Once that happened, the large base he was in would be on high alert, rendering his surprise attack futile.
“Stealth Mode On.” Gripping his military knife tightly, Kyle activated his Nightwalker ability, silently making his way deeper into the base. Every step was cautious, his senses attuned to the darkness that enveloped him.
“Step, step, step…”
He moved with precision, evading a passing patrol team by a mere five meters without arousing suspicion.
Though the base had sporadic lighting fixtures and stationed patrols at regular intervals, it wasn’t brightly lit nor overflowing with troops. This allowed enough room for darkness to be his ally as he maneuvered through the base, silently and undetected.
In the cover of darkness, Kyle relied on his keen perception of his surroundings, accurately gauging distances, and leveraging his stealth. It was more effective than mere invisibility, granting him the ability to navigate the base unnoticed.
Kyle continued his stealthy journey, eventually halting at a corner in front of a wooden house.
This particular house stood out from the others, as it was heavily guarded by multiple patrol teams, with a soldier stationed at the entrance.
“Could this be the officers’ rest area? Or perhaps the command center?” Kyle pondered, intrigued by the heightened security measures. To his surprise, the door of the house was unlocked and was slightly ajar.
If he could eliminate the base’s commander first, his lone infiltration mission would be halfway accomplished.
The question remained: how could he gain entry to the house undetected?
Frowning, Kyle suddenly recalled something— a realization that brought a mischievous smile to his lips.
Standing before the spacious house, the guard on duty remained vigilant, resembling a tall poplar tree. His weapon was firmly held in his hand, his gaze scanning the surroundings.
Even within their own base, there was no room for negligence when it came to guarding the items stored inside this house. The officers ensured that stringent protection measures were in place.
“Just one more hour and someone will take over my post,” The guard mused to himself when, out of nowhere, a dark lifeform descended from above. It fluttered its wings and struck the guard’s face.
“A bat?”
Startled, the guard instinctively reached out to catch it. However, this bat was anything but ordinary. It displayed a ferocious aggression, sinking its teeth just below the guard’s eye and refusing to let go.
“Get the f*ck off!” The guard winced in pain, his eyes tightly shut, as he stumbled backward and collided with the door. With anger burning in his veins, he reached out with both hands, desperately grasping at the bat.
Seizing the opportunity created by the guard’s momentary lapse in defense, a figure blurred past the guard’s side and swiftly crossed the threshold of the house.
“What in the world is happening?!”
A patrol team arrived promptly, drawn by the commotion. Their eyes widened as they witnessed the guard angrily hurling the lifeless bat to the ground and spitting on it. “Bah, it’s nothing, just a bat.”
The members of the patrol team exchanged bewildered glances, finding the scene before them rather comical.
The door to the house closed behind the guard, and from the darkness inside, a distinct human figure emerged. It was Kyle, still concealed by his stealth mode.
“The Lifeform Card is even more practical than I had initially anticipated,” Kyle muttered to himself. The White Lifeform Card had proven to be remarkably effective in this situation.
This was primarily due to one of the inherent characteristics of the Lifeform Card— Obedience.
The lifeforms summoned from the Lifeform Card dutifully followed their owner’s commands, which greatly minimized the risk of accidents, transforming it into a truly formidable “Lifeform” weapon.
“Alright, now let’s see what this place is all about.”
Kyle’s gaze fell upon the house’s hallway. From the moment he stepped inside, he sensed that it wasn’t a command center or a mere resting area.
The layout seemed to resemble that of a storage warehouse for supplies. Within the expansive house, rows of densely packed shelves stood, housing boxes of various sizes, stacked atop one another.
Without needing to open the boxes for inspection, as Kyle focused his attention, a series of messages from Extractable Item Cards appeared on each box.
【German Rifle】, 【Rifle Bullets】, 【Anti-Infantry Jumping Mine】, 【Detonator Grenades】…
An armory?
Kyle’s eyes gleamed with excitement. This discovery held far greater significance than locating the command center. Uncovering the armory meant gaining control over the lifeblood of this sprawling base.
Stepping further into the house, Kyle began extracting weapons and equipment from the armory at a rapid pace, retrieving one item every three seconds.
His relentless search continued until he reached the innermost part of the house. Suddenly, he halted in his tracks, squatting down on the floor and tapping it lightly with his fingers, producing a subtle hollow sound.
A hidden basement beneath the armory?
A faint smile curved on Kyle’s lips. Such a rudimentary trick could not deceive him. Swiftly identifying the floor panel that concealed the entrance to the basement, he descended the stairs. However, contrary to his expectation of encountering total darkness, the underground chamber emanated a mysterious blue glow.
As Kyle fully entered the basement, his attention was immediately drawn to a box-shaped energy source radiating a luminous blue hue. The sheer power exuding from it permeated the air, creating an unmistakable presence.
…