Jason stood no chance against his opponent!
This thought emerged in both of their minds.
"Commander, we need to retreat,"
Aiwei spoke directly.
"With the appearance of the Assaulter, we must report back and alert the entire 'Extraterrestrial Surveillance Bureau'."
Kelao spoke much more tactfully.
"You both head back to the Cherry City branch immediately and report everything that has happened here to headquarters."
"I will find a way to help Jason and await reinforcements."
Cortana nodded in agreement.
But Aiwei furrowed his brow, about to voice his objections when he remembered that Cortana was his commander; to go against her was to violate his military creed. Therefore, Aiwei remained silent.
Kelao, on the other hand, saluted promptly.
As Cortana turned her back, Kelao swiftly knocked her unconscious with a chop of his hand.
Aiwei caught Cortana in his arms.
"Orders from headquarters take precedence over Commander Cortana's,"
Kelao said, his tone utterly flat.
Then, taking Cortana from Aiwei's arms, he flung her over his shoulder and turned to run.
Aiwei saluted Jason, who was confronting the Assaulter, before following.
Jason, sitting atop a pile of scout corpses, witnessed this.
However, he didn't care.
To Jason, Cortana and the others weren't as important as the 'food' beneath and before him.
To avoid any accidents with the 'food', he had even gone to the trouble of stacking them up and sitting on top.
What about the food in front of him?
That was an unexpected bonus.
Jason eyed the shoulder cannon on his opponent, the scent of 'food' emanating from it more fragrant than that of all the scouts' carried 'food' combined.
"Is this buffet about to serve up some roasted duck on schedule?"
"What a delightful surprise,"
Jason murmured to himself, unable to resist.
And then, the figure seated there simply vanished.
Night, darkness, shadows—none of these ever hindered Jason.
On the contrary, this was Jason's home turf!
Enhanced by another core skill [War Pattern: Proust: Griffin: Stealth Body Forging Technique] and a derived Talent [Embrace of the Night], Jason was the undisputed master of stealth and concealment.
The moment Jason disappeared, the Saabi Star Assaulter's mask on the right side of the eyes began to emit a series of beeps.
Three red dots started to blink incessantly, searching the surroundings.
Heat signatures flashed before the Assaulter's eyes.
But, there was no sign of Jason!
The Saabi Star Assaulter surveyed the area; its senses, as well as the technological detectors, failed to locate Jason, which elicited an unintelligible roar from its mouth.
Meanwhile, a short rod appeared in its hand.
With a flick of the wrist, the rod extended into a spear.
The Saabi Star Assaulter started to swing the spear at the surrounding air.
The dull sound of slicing through the air led to nothing.
Then, the Saabi Star Assaulter began to expand its search area—
The shoulder cannon started to rotate.
Without charging, it began firing at the surroundings.
Energy bullets that resembled meteors landed around the Assaulter.
The successive explosions kicked up swathes of dirt, and a figure covered in cold, wet mud sprang forth, wielding a Broad Blade Cleaver, slashing straight out.
A flash of Cold light.
A single stroke decapitated.
The sounds of swinging and shooting ceased at once.
The Assaulter fell to its knees, rigid and lifeless.
To the end, it couldn't understand how Jason had appeared in front of it without being sensed at all.
This was not merely the stealth and concealment techniques of a master.
Having seen how the Assaulter's shoulder cannon had targeted Cortana and the others earlier, Jason had guessed that the enemy likely used infrared heat imaging to automatically lock on to targets.
So, when he entered Stealth mode, he deliberately rolled around in a small puddle in the forest.
The effect was better than he imagined.
Jason easily eliminated his opponent.
For Jason, this Assaulter was no more challenging than the previous ten scouts.
The previous ten scouts had coordinated their attacks and caused him some trouble.
Under the premise of 1V1, Jason didn't think the Assaulter was any stronger than the scouts.
Even if it was stronger, it was within his ability to counter, and the shoulder cannon?
With preparation, it was just a decoration.
Of course, what intrigued Jason the most was the taste of the shoulder cannon.
Jasontook apart the shoulder cannon from the armor with brute force and then collected the spear, Bowl Blade, throwing stars, and other 'food' gathered earlier, laying them on a clean piece of plastic. From a backpack, he took out some liquor and began to wash each item meticulously.
Knowing that 'gourmet food' might arrive, Jason was thoroughly prepared.
It wasn't just the liquor for sterilization.
He also brought seasonings.
Black pepper sauce was smeared on the Bowl Blade.
Mustard honey sauce coated the throwing stars.
Tomato sauce was spread on the spear.
This wasn't done haphazardly; Jason had already tasted the 'food' from an earlier scout and knew how to choose the seasonings.
Fried chicken tender flavor for the Bowl Blade.
Fried chicken nugget flavor for the throwing stars.
And french fry flavor for the spear.
Jason began his delightful late-night snack.