Chapter 78: Explosion

The hammer of the Rose was terrifying, but the new recruits were no pushovers.

Just as the hammer was about to strike them, several beams of light suddenly erupted, clashing with the giant hammer and forcing it to a halt!

The sound of a buzzing explosion rang out from the point of impact, and a fierce wind swept through the air!

The two forces remained locked in place, neither side able to overpower the other.

At that moment, the other four members of the Masked Squad moved swiftly. They ran west, and the encirclement began to rapidly shrink.

"Run!!"

Lin Qiye, standing at the rear, suddenly shouted, not bothering to check the chaotic battlefield in front of him. He turned and ran south!

Molly and Bai Li pao pao were focused on the intense battle ahead. They froze for a moment after hearing Lin Qiye's shout, then quickly reacted and followed him southward to break through!

"Captain, some people are turning around and running south!" Tian Ping observed the scene, slightly stunned.

Wang Mian hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Get rid of these new recruits first, and hold off the vortex at the south for now."

"Got it!"

The vortex suddenly changed direction and sped toward the three running southward.

At this point, some of the new recruits realized what was happening and tried to break through in different directions, following Lin Qiye's lead. Unfortunately, the encirclement had already fully formed, and those who made a break for it were quickly taken out by the other Masked Squad members.

Lin Qiye didn't stop for a second. He rushed straight into a warehouse that had already collapsed halfway, with Bai Li pao pao and Molly close behind.

The vortex flickered and quickly arrived at the warehouse entrance, closing in on them with astonishing speed.

Whoosh—!

Just as the vortex entered the warehouse, a cart suddenly slid toward him!

The vortex froze for a moment, instinctively sidestepping the cart, but the next moment, a round object gently fell from above, perfectly landing in the cart.

The vortex looked up, only to see Lin Qiye standing on a beam above, giving him a faint smile.

Lin Qiye then turned and leapt onto a nearby weapon rack, swiftly running away.

The vortex looked down, and under the dim light from outside, he clearly saw what was inside the cart.

It was a whole cart neatly packed with bundles of explosives.

And on top of the explosives...

Was a bomb with only two seconds left on its countdown!

The vortex's pupils shrank sharply!

Boom——!!!

Blinding flames mixed with thick smoke erupted, blowing the rest of the warehouse into the air. The deafening explosion echoed through the entire training base!

With the detonation of the cartload of explosives, grenades, fuses, and gunpowder inside the warehouse also exploded, causing a massive secondary explosion!

The Masked Squad, who had just eliminated dozens of new recruits, all changed their expressions simultaneously.

Flames rose like pillars, and thick smoke billowed.

The four members of the Masked Squad rushed to the remains of the warehouse, their faces grim.

Amidst the flames, a disheveled figure staggered out from the ruins. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.

The battered vortex coughed violently a few times, sitting down on the ground and muttering angrily:

"Damn it, this kid has a wicked heart! If I hadn't reacted quickly and opened the devouring vortex in time, I would've been toast!"

He touched the mask on his face, which had been scorched beyond recognition, with fine cracks spreading across it. If he used too much force, it might shatter.

"Luckily... luckily, the mask is still intact, or it would have been a disaster!"

"Vortex, you were too careless." Tian Ping sighed.

"Can you blame me for that?!" Vortex weakly replied.

Yue Gui shrugged and said, "I wanted to warn you earlier, that agent of the Seraphim is no pushover. I didn't expect that we set up such a tight trap, and he still managed to break through."

Wang Mian silently watched the direction in which Lin Qiye and the others had left, his eyes flickering.

"He's really something, the agent, truly exceptional."

"..."

Vortex scratched his head. "Captain? Are you praising yourself?"

"...."

Lin Qiye glanced back at the warehouse, where flames were still rising, and spoke calmly:

"We're safe now. They didn't catch up."

Bai Li pao pao panted heavily, "Qiye, that was pretty ruthless. Do you think he'll actually die from the explosion?"

"If that's all it took to kill him, then he wouldn't be in a special squad," Lin Qiye shook his head, somewhat regretful, "It's a pity. It seems we didn't manage to blow his mask off. If we had, we would have won."

"Aren't we leaving everyone else behind? Isn't that a bit too much?" Molly, carrying her broadsword, looked at Lin Qiye.

"They were never going to make it out," Lin Qiye replied calmly. "Their targets were too big. The reason we managed to break through was that we were only three people, while the Masked Squad had to choose between attacking us three or over forty others. They chose to focus on the larger group.

If we had tried to break through with more people, they would have redirected their forces to stop us, and we wouldn't have gotten out.

In the end, we just exploited the difference in value between us and them, forcing the Masked Squad to make a choice. If we had tried to break through with the others, no one would have escaped."

Molly fell silent.

"So what do we do next?" Bai Li pao pao asked.

"At this point, the foolish recruits should have all been eliminated. The remaining ones have likely split into small groups, scattered across the training camp, trying to find a chance to take down the Masked Squad."

Lin Qiye squatted down and started sketching on the ground with a nearby twig.

"By now, there should be around a hundred recruits still in the game. If we remove the ones who have lost their will to fight and are hiding in corners waiting for the battle to end, the actual fighting force should be about ninety people.

Whether through direct confrontation or surprise attacks, to take down the Masked Squad, we need at least ten people to act at once. Let's assume these ninety people have already formed four to eight groups, scattered throughout the school…"

Lin Qiye drew a simple map of the training camp on the ground, highlighting several spots.

"If I were the Masked Squad, I'd try to eliminate these small groups as quickly as possible. If I'm not mistaken, the next stage will likely be a protracted battle over key locations, followed by a war of attrition."

Lin Qiye briefly sketched out the locations: the cafeteria, classrooms, dormitory buildings, and tactical research rooms.

"I suspect the Masked Squad's next target will be the dormitory building."

Lin Qiye marked the dormitory on the map with a five-pointed star.

"Why?" Bai Li pao pao was puzzled.

"Out of all these locations, the dormitory has the largest area, the most potential ambush points, and the highest degree of concealment.

I suspect there are multiple recruit groups hiding there.

And the Masked Squad… considering that prolonged battles will drain their mental energy, they'll likely go for the toughest target first.

So, they'll probably target the dormitory directly."

Lin Qiye's eyes shone with intensity. He suddenly looked up, only to see Bai Li pao pao and Molly looking at him with strange expressions.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with my reasoning?" Lin Qiye was confused.

Bai Li pao pao and Molly looked at Lin Qiye, then slowly spoke:

"You're a freak..."