Chapter Seventy-Eight: Dimensional Strike

“So which tree is he hiding in, exactly?” Li Daoran asked.

“It’s hard to say. You should head back first. He’s somewhere in that area; just follow our instructions when the time comes. Don’t be too hasty in taking him out—there are still all those hostages. If you want to save them, your best bet is to capture the little leader alive. That’ll give us leverage for negotiations,” Chen Ming replied.

“Alright, but will those scumbags really negotiate?” Li Daoran wondered to himself. Seeing how the people from the Phil Empire had immediately threatened to kill the hostages, he’d never held much hope for their rescue.

“That depends on Charles. Anyway, just grab their leader and leave the rest to us,” David grinned.

Charles smiled faintly and nodded.

Li Daoran, still puzzled, returned to the house, preparing to go back to his own world.

David said to Charles, “How confident are you about this negotiation? The old man seems important. We should try to save him if we can.”

“Thirty percent. If we catch their leader, fifty percent. People who seem the least concerned about others’ lives often value their own the most. They’re nothing but filth,” Charles said with disdain.

What Okamoto Ichiki had done had angered not only Li Daoran; as regular soldiers, they too looked down on Okamoto’s actions.

“By the way, the PR team’s probably working overtime again. What are we going to do about all this bloodshed? The first-person perspectives are too visceral—bad for social stability. We need them to come up with something fast,” Natasha rubbed her temples.

“When does the PR team not work overtime? There’ll be more scenes like this in the future. Let’s not worry about external affairs. Even analyzing the Sunset Mountain battle is enough to drive me crazy. You should pay attention to that and think of a solution,” Chen Ming was equally troubled, but so far nothing had been reported here, and the storm raging outside hadn’t reached them yet.

“I just worry those above might get ideas,” David interjected suddenly.

“Hah, plenty of them have ideas, but what can they actually do?” Charles sneered. He’d long since understood the ambitions of certain people. Of the five present, his official standing was the highest; he had influence across European nations.

“That’s true. Anyway, Li Daoran’s gone in. Get ready,” David said, slumping on the sofa with a vacant stare.

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Back in his own world, Li Daoran stumbled as he returned. Because he’d tried to lure Okamoto Ichiki into attacking him to pinpoint his location, his body was still running as the world shattered. After several hours, he was back, but hadn’t regained full control and nearly fell.

Now seeing through Okamoto Ichiki’s perspective, every move Li Daoran made seemed cunning. Whenever he appeared in Okamoto’s sight, it was never for more than two seconds. He managed to turn his back and climb a tree, yet still miraculously avoided a fatal strike. Okamoto knew he’d met his match. He himself possessed extraordinary intuition, and he sensed Li Daoran was the same.

Peering through a narrow hole in the trees, a sudden inexplicable jolt of fear seized him. He realized he’d been discovered. He trusted his instincts implicitly. Though he couldn’t spot Li Daoran visually, he quickly pushed aside the disguised bark and dropped flat. An energy beam narrowly missed his feet, drilling a hole beneath him.

No time to ponder how Li Daoran had found him—he sprang up, grabbed several smoke grenades from his waist, and hurled them around.

Li Daoran hadn’t expected Okamoto Ichiki to have smoke grenades. He hadn’t brought any himself, which put him at a disadvantage.

Having just located Okamoto, Li Daoran now lost him again as he disappeared into the smoke.

Okamoto, clad in powered exoskeleton armor, had all sorts of sensors—infrared, thermal—but even these were evaded. He could only rely on sight.

Li Daoran fired a few shots into the smoke, then quickly plunged in. The smoke grenades worked remarkably well; a few thrown covered over a dozen kilometers before long.

Thick smoke rose; inside, everything was a blank, white haze. Li Daoran frowned deeply; things had gotten complicated.

After tossing the smoke grenades, Okamoto’s first move was to return to his original tree hollow. The smoke would last five minutes at most in these vast mountains.

He could already hear Li Daoran’s footsteps. Holding his breath, he was surprised Li Daoran had the nerve to enter the smoke. A cold smile appeared on Okamoto’s lips as he holstered his energy pistol and drew a kinetic dagger.

He grabbed some scrap wood beside him, cut it into pieces, and threw them far away.

Li Daoran heard the noise, spun around, and fired.

“Don’t be rash. That doesn’t sound like footsteps. The less you can see, the calmer you need to be. This opponent is no ordinary man. If he’s wasting your energy in this situation, it means he wants to capture you alive. How many shots does your energy pistol have left?” Chen Ming asked.