Chapter 31: The Thorny Rose

　　Alan's body suddenly swung slightly from side to side, like a flower swaying in the wind. As he swayed, the icy cold at the back of his head disappeared, that was because the sniper could no longer aim at him, after all, using the spinning footwork to move in small increments was the best counter-sniper movement. And with it, the sudden splash of forest leaves around his feet, and the ground blowing a hole in the ground from the sound of sniping in the distance, showed that the sniper was not calm enough, and was eager to kill Allen.

　　The gap between shots would buy Allen time to counterattack!

　　Not even having time to bandage the wound on his abdomen, Allen instantly turned and pounced out. His body leaned forward and sped through the forest like a sturdy snow wolf. From time to time, he interspersed his spinning steps, making Allen's trajectory even more difficult to measure. Although this was extremely exhausting, in the five hundred meters of running, another bullet from his opponent had only blown a hole as big as an ocean in a dense fir tree.

　　It's been pretty close.

　　Alan had rushed out of these woods, and there were only a few scattered umbrella-shaped trees on this rocky ground. The canopy of one of these trees suddenly quivered, and then a figure jumped down and quickly darted in the opposite direction. Allen grunted and stopped. Snipers had such a convenience, once they couldn't set up a trap to trap them, they could completely vanish before being countered.

　　Allen was alone now, and the relatively open terrain of the place made it impossible for him to catch up with the sniper anytime soon, so he could only watch him leave.

　　The hand was pressed against his abdomen, and the blood oozing from the wound was thicker now because of the strenuous exercise.

　　Alan found a hidden place, removed the defensive light armor of his upper body, and tore his upper shirt into cloth to bind the wound on his abdomen tightly. Fortunately, Joe's long knife is not wide, this wound can be automatically healed even without going to the stitches.

　　All it takes is time.

　　Redressing into his defensive light armor, Alan walked back to the woodland. The top had been completely scrapped, so he simply took off Joe's clothes and put them on before removing what he had already packed earlier. Alan looked up to argue the position of the sun, then dug into the bushes and headed west.

　　Not long after he left, two teenagers arrived at the woodland. Upon seeing the bodies of Hera and Joe, one of the teens with flaming red hair and freckles said, "Looks like we're late."

　　Another teenager with glasses said, "Also lucky to be late."

　　The fiery-haired teen flipped over Hera's body, eventually canceling his note to take Hera's gloves, not that anyone would be able to use that particular weapon. As for Joe's tactical long knife, it had been told to be put away for Allen to take with him. The two teens circled around and soon found the box of supplies Allen had left behind. The food portion inside was largely untouched, which made the two teens overjoyed.

　　"It doesn't seem to be nothing."

　　The spectacled teenager looked around alertly and said, "We can't take that much with us, don't be greedy, just take some of it."

　　"I don't need you to tell me." The companion laughed.

　　The boxes of supplies left behind by Alan were like carrion that attracted vultures, and were divided among the teenagers who arrived here according to the coordinates deliberately announced by the organizers, and only a few empty boxes were left in the end. As for Allen himself, he took the road to the west, which was the meeting point for him and Lucy. No matter where the two of them were scattered, they all traveled towards the west. The highest thing that could be seen to the west was the place where they had gathered.

　　That place can be a peak, a tall enough fir tree, whatever, as long as it's conspicuous enough.

　　After leaving the woods, Alan's eyes opened up. A stream curved around and flowed through the grassland in front of him, and a large green field spread out on the ground like a green carpet. To the northwest, a dense green forest dipped into the grassland, and the edge of the forest spread from north to west, pointing to a tall mountain on the horizon.

　　The mountain peaks are stuck in the clouds and the snow line is still visible at the summit. The snow line is white above the snow line, glistening in the sunlight.

　　On the blue sky, a group of birds swept by, emitting a clear bird song, and instantly went away. On the grassland, a group of gentle horned deer were drawing water by the stream. Suddenly, the herd stirred up, hundreds of deer scattered in an uproar, but it was a saber-toothed wolf. A level 3 dangerous species of Saber-toothed Tyrannical Wolf was already able to drive its life source power, and unlike Bai Fang who drove the frosty cold air, the Saber-toothed Tyrannical Wolf's source power was utilized more on strength and speed.

　　Its short-range sprint could reach speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, and its bite was strong enough to tear the human body apart easily. The appearance of the saber-toothed wolf shows that this grassland is not as calm as it seems.

　　Alan checked his weapons once more, Mad Butcher behind his back and Joe's long knife carried in his hand, they would be Alan's guarantee to walk through this dangerous grassland. He looked up, and with his sights set on the mountainous, upright peak, he began to walk into the grassland.

　　Meanwhile, in the forest that stretched from north to west in the far side of the grassland, Lucy was also heading towards the same target location. With a double ponytail and a bouncy personality, the young lady was advancing towards the west with a bulging traveling bag on her back. From time to time, she would climb up a tall fir tree to look into the distance, correct her direction, and then continue on her way. There was always a hint of a seeming smile on Lucy's little face, completely free of the tension and stress that the other teenagers carried.

　　By nightfall, Lucy had found a clearing to camp in. Anticipating that she would be able to reach the centralized location tomorrow, Missy hummed a little tune in a relaxed mood. As the slightly nasal tune spread through the forest, Lucy made a small campfire after clearing a circle on the ground. Using a branch to build a shelf over the fire, and removing slices of instant meat from her traveling bag, Lucy laid them flat on the shelf and roasted them over the fire.

　　In just a few moments, the smell of meat wafted through the woods.

　　Some subtle sounds rang out to her left, and Lucy even saw a strange shadow or two skimming through the forest in the distance, and flickering with red and blue glowing lights. A campfire at night would attract some dangerous species, but Lucy didn't care. She was more concerned with her ability to eat a tasty and satisfying meal. When the meat was already golden brown, she picked one of the slices with her dagger and tore off a shred of meat with two fingers and dropped it into her mouth to chew.

　　With the flavor of meat in her mouth, Lucy nodded in satisfaction. Removing the entire grill from the fire, she intended to wait for the roast to let the night breeze cool it down before serving it. Under the jump of the firelight, two figures appeared in Lucy's eyes.

　　"If it isn't Ms. Lucy! And I smell a roast, what a blessing." A sharp-voiced voice said, the owner of the voice was a fourteen or fifteen year old boy. Soft light brown hair was plastered under his forehead, and the tall and thin looking boy had a strikingly large nose. A black steel lance was resting across his shoulder, his hands circled around the barrel to secure it as he walked with a leisurely look.

　　Next to him was another boy, of similar age, low and strong. In his left hand, he wore a round hand shield over his small arm, and in his other hand, he carried a short-handled, single-bladed axe. The blade of the axe was still stained with blood, and a single drop of blood dripped from the edge, so it was clear that the axe had just gotten a full drink of blood.

　　"Sinta, Sam." Lucy nodded and said, "Well, we said hello. Now you can leave, these woods are huge and there is plenty of room for you to camp."

　　The taller Sinta and Sam exchanged glances, then both laughed. Sinta took his lance off his shoulder and held it backwards in his hand toward Lucy saying, "Have you misunderstood something, Ms. Lucy, we are here for you."

　　Lucy grinned and said, "Don't you guys get any ideas about me baking, that wouldn't be a good idea."

　　"No, we want you more than the roast!" Sinta sprinted suddenly, all but unassisted between standing still and sprinting. The teenager's body leaned forward and came to Lucy like a gust of wind.

　　In his eyes, Lucy didn't even have time to evade or get up, and the young girl still sitting on the ground looked like she couldn't react. Sinta could almost predict that his lance would pierce the young girl's chest in the next second.

　　But before the lance could be raised, suddenly the empty space between the two people was filled with a golden colored automatic pistol. On the automatic pistol, there was a pattern of rosebuds. The pattern extended all the way from the grip towards the muzzle, complicated and gorgeous.

　　The smirk on Lucy's face intensified, "Hitting on me, that's obviously worse!"

　　The young girl squeezed the trigger, not sure if it was an illusion or a reflection of the firelight. Sinta saw the pattern at the grip of the gun fluoresce, and fire flickered in the blackened muzzle. Sinta tried desperately to twist her body to avoid the attack, but she remained in the same position until a bullet with the letter A engraved on the front of the nose pierced through her skull in the chamber.

　　It all happened in the snap of a finger, from Sinta lunging out, to Lucy raising her gun, to the teenager's head exploding and flying down, almost in an instant. Before Lucy could finish her sentence, Sam saw his companion flying backwards out of the room with a spray of blood.

　　With a slight sign, Sam roared. Raising his hand shield to protect his head and face, he launched himself at Lucy with his feet pressed to the ground. Lucy jumped from the ground and raised her hand for a shot. Sam leered and moved his head to the side. Suddenly felt a burning airflow from the ear, the teenager's eyes rounded, unbelievably looked at his hand shield appeared a bullet hole, just now, if not in his heart flashed an unspeakable sense of crisis, so that he made instinctive action. Otherwise, Lucy's bullet would have already pierced through his hand shield along with his head!

　　The hand shield in Sam's hand was made of steel, even though it wasn't top quality. The automatic pistol in Lucy's hand should not be able to penetrate it, and suddenly, Sam remembered a terrible weapon.

　　Magic guns!

　　Sam's eyes became blazing, if it was a magic gun in Lucy's hands, it was worth even more than this chick's life. Could Sam's pitifully barren knowledge not realize that no magical energy gun would fire live ammunition.

　　In the blink of an eye, Sam had rushed to the campfire. With one big kick, he scattered the bonfire. The still-burning branches brought a sky of sparks towards Lucy, using the sparks to distract her, and taking this opportunity, Sam slashed his axe towards Lucy's chest.

　　The moves were vicious, with no intention of showing mercy.

　　"You savage!" Lucy protested, stepping back sharply to avoid Mars and Sam's axe.

　　Sam ignored the young girl's protests as he rolled on the ground, sticking forward. At the same time, the short-handled axe chipped out and went straight for Lucy's long leg. Sam was in hot pursuit, using all the axe skills he had learned, and for a while, he attacked Lucy so hard that she didn't even have a chance to shoot.

　　Lucy seized an opportunity to take advantage of an opening in Sam's axe position and raised her gun. Sam, like a scared bird, immediately rolled to the side. Lucy smiled and ran away, but it turned out to be a false shot.

　　Sam's face was red and hot, he was so annoyed that he threw an axe towards Lucy's pink back. The axe spun at high speed and was about to hit Lucy. The young girl suddenly shortened and spun, letting the short-handled axe cleave against the trunk of a cedar tree. At the same time, Lucy had turned around and pointed her gun at Sam.

　　Sam hadn't expected Lucy to mix evasion and counterattack in one maneuver, and by the time he tried to dodge, Lucy's muzzle was already spewing out tongues of fire. Sam could only roar and raise his hand shield, while source power surged, generating another vague ripple in front of it.

　　This is one of the ten dozen "shields" in the military, a most commonly used means of defense. Using source power to create a source power shield in front of one's body to protect oneself. However, just as he built up this source power shield, Sam's forehead shook, and then his entire body became light and airy.

　　His body gradually fell backward until he died, and he had no idea how Lucy's bullets had managed to penetrate the dual defense of the source power shield and the hand shield to hit him.

　　This is unbelievable!