[Feathered Gliding]The temporary skill was released just in time, significantly slowing down the descent speed.
Li Cheng donned the Single Soldier Exoskeleton in mid-air, activated the Rocket Backpack function, and stabilized his body about twenty meters above the ground.
A metal arrow tore through the sky, aiming straight for his back. Li Cheng twisted his body, and with a swipe of his right hand, he slashed diagonally with the rusty machete to deflect the arrowhead, then thrust his left hand forward and abruptly seized the shaft of the arrow.
The arrow vibrated violently as if it was driven by some invisible force, like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins.
With the help of the Exoskeleton’s mechanical arm, Li Cheng’s left hand firmly grasped the arrow shaft while his right hand wielded the machete with full force to strike down.
The sharp arrowhead was forcibly chipped off, and the invisible force dissipated.
Li Cheng slowly landed amidst tall grass, and upon turning his head, he saw the Rocket Backpack of the exoskeleton was hit during the recent attack. Its exterior was damaged, revealing a control circuit inside that sparked with electric fires, and fuel leaked all over the ground.
Flying was no longer possible, but the other functions could just barely be used.
Li Cheng handed over the broken arrow to Zhao Zijing, who hurriedly took it and also picked up the arrowhead that fell on the ground, stowing them both into the Backpack.
Right beside their feet lay the Task Battery, located deep within the thick grass, surrounded by greenery about four or five meters tall. The moist earth was covered with a layer of humus, with small insects crawling in between.
Based on his knowledge of entomology, these insects didn’t belong to any Earth species.
Li Cheng asked loudly. During the recent crash, Zhao Zijing had used her Telekinesis to catch those who couldn’t fly, so presumably, no one had died from the fall.
Not too far from the landing spot, Midnight Howl said, "I’m okay."
From the six o’clock direction, out of sight, came the coughing of Mendoza, "I’m fine."
Their surroundings were dense with grass like soundproofing material, making everyone’s voices sound somewhat indistinct.
"Walking Grass, use [Grass Field]!"
The voice of the Red Driver came from the six o’clock direction, followed by the feeble cries of a bird and the sound of Pocket Monsters being withdrawn back into Spirit Balls.
[Grass Field]is a grass Attribute move from Pocket Monsters, the effect being to restore a portion of life points to Pocket Monsters on the ground.
It seemed the Red Driver had administered emergency healing to a bird, hastily withdrawing it into a Spirit Ball to prevent further injury from worsening.
"Phew." The Driver sighed in relief, suppressing anger and said, "Zhao Zijing! I want an explanation!"
Unlike those trainers who regarded Pocket Monsters as mere tools, the Red Driver, who grew up watching the cartoons and playing every generation of the game, truly considered Pocket Monsters as companions and family.
"Sorry for injuring your Pocket Monster. I guarantee with the GSA that I will provide compensation after this."
As an elite of the Special Affairs Bureau stationed at the Global Supernatural Alliance, Zhao Zijing was adept in human relations and started by admitting her mistake to ease her teammate’s agitated emotions.
She then turned her head and whispered to Li Cheng, who was close by, "Just now it wasn’t me. It was another Transcendent with Telekinesis in the same Power System, and much stronger than me. They suppressed my will and temporarily snatched away control of the arrow."
Another Telekinesis Transcendent?
Li Cheng raised his eyebrow, the killing field was vast, and the chances of running into other unknown players while wandering around were even lower than winning the lottery.
"Everyone stay in your positions and don’t move. I’ll come to find you."
His thoughts racing, he outwardly remained composed and calm, calling out before taking a drone from the Backpack.
This drone was a standard product from Prometheus Company, not as advanced as Zhao Zijing’s high-end custom model, but it still had basic night vision and infrared sensing capabilities.
As the drone took off into the air and just above the top of the tall grass, it disappeared into nothingness.
Close by, Zhao Zijing also witnessed this scene.
She hurriedly deployed her remaining drones, but just like before, all the drones disappeared without trace after flying over the top of the tall grass and could not be found again.
The drones hovering at the top of the tall grass exhibited strange traits—their upper halves would become ethereal while their lower halves remained solid.
If they ascend, they would disappear entirely.
If they descend, they could safely return to the ground, and the ethereal upper halves would return to normal. Content originally comes from noⅴelfire.net
Not far away, Midnight Howl approached and, seeing this, exclaimed in shock, "A spatial barrier?!"
"It’s more than just a spatial barrier."
Li Cheng shook his head; he tried to activate the [Demon Exchange] skill to switch places with the origami crane he had left on the highway, but nothing happened.
No decrease in Spiritual Power Value.
What’s worse is that even the [Emergency Escape Card], which the system provided and could be used to return to the real world from any situation, was also unusable.
"Mystery Lock," Zhao Zijing took a deep breath, shockingly said, "Only a legendary-level Mystery Lock could possibly do this."
A Mystery Lock, in a narrow sense, is a concept from the world of Dragon and Dungeon. It specifically refers to those powerful barriers made of magic energy that guard cities or holy sites.
In the broader sense of the Slaughter Field Game, a Mystery Lock generally refers to those super-large barriers, formations, or prohibitions.
These constructs often require extremely precise and complex uses of magic (or Spiritual Energy, spells, arcane arts) techniques.
Even the most rudimentary Mystery Lock requires several spellcasters of at least Level 25 to weave together to complete.
"Forbidding long-distance communication, prohibiting spatial teleportation, barring exit from the killing field, and even having an effect that restores the field to its original state..."
Zhao Zijing murmured to herself as she used telekinesis to snap a large swathe of elephant grass within a conical area in front of her.
The elephant grass in front fell in unison, clearing the view.
But as Zhao Zijing’s telekinetic force withdrew, the snapped elephant grass originally on the ground flew up by themselves, returning to their original place as if time were flowing backward.
The tall grass swayed with the wind, showing no signs of breakage at all.
Midnight Howl’s scalp tingled, "Where are the others? We need to leave this place!"
"We can’t walk away," Zhao Zijing said with a wry and helpless smile.
Mysteries bow down to higher-level mysteries.
Such a vast Mystery Lock, and the mysteries it contained, far exceeded what a player of her level could handle.
Midnight Howl, not understanding Zhao Zijing’s words, shouted on her own, "Driver, Mendoza, where are you? Let’s gather quickly and leave."
Mendoza’s voice sounded very close; Midnight Howl followed the direction of the sound, reaching out to part the tall grass and called out, "Where are you? Stop moving, I’ll find you."
Mendoza’s voice suddenly came from about ten meters behind Midnight Howl.
Zhao Zijing’s expression turned bitter, adding another trait to the Mystery Lock, "Space Distortion."
The more traits stacked, the stronger the Mystery Lock.
"Unable to leave, unable to cross the line, and any significant damage to the surrounding field is quickly restored."
Li Cheng looked around and nodded, "Got it, this is the Green Grassland."