71 Chapter 56: Bottomless Abyss
The blonde beauty, upon seeing Yan Fei approach, immediately let go of the leopard and took off running. Yan Fei lunged into pursuit as the leopard bolted away, whimpering and tucking its tail.
After a night's ordeal, Yan Fei was severely drained, his strength reduced to a mere third of his peak condition. Though his recovery abilities were formidable, they now paled compared to his former vitality. The blonde, having sustained repeated injuries, was even more exhausted. Lacking Yan Fei's robust healing powers, her strength had dwindled to just one-tenth of her peak. This advantage allowed Yan Fei to thoroughly overpower her.
The blonde dashed with all her might as Yan Fei chased her relentlessly. The distance between them swiftly closed until he caught up with her at the edge of a precipitous cliff. Below the cliff lay a bottomless abyss; beside it, a massive waterfall roared powerfully downward, its deafening noise filling the air, while mist shrouded the depths, concealing the true distance to the bottom...
The blonde's speed, already slower than Yan Fei's and further reduced by her great loss of strength, inevitably led to her being cornered at the cliff's edge. She glanced at the dark expanse but only saw pitch blackness, an unfathomable depth. The rocks, smoothed by the waterfall's perpetual cascade, offered no foothold, and with no vines within reach, the blonde had nowhere to run.
Trapped at a dead end, the blonde ceased her escape and quickly tied up her hair. Wiping the blood from her face and adjusting her clothes, she revealed a charming smile and spoke in a coquettish voice, "Little brother, you're so eagerly chasing me—could it be that you fancy me?"
Yan Fei wasn't fooled. He suddenly advanced and delivered a punch to the blonde's head. Exhausted and unable to ward off Yan Fei's blow, she was promptly knocked to the ground. Following through, Yan Fei stomped viciously onto her stomach, worsening her abdominal wound and utterly nullifying her ability to resist.
He then ripped off the backpack the blonde was carrying, unzipped it, and inside found the rusty gear. Grasping it, he focused his mind and the gear vanished into the Universal Space. Within the Auxiliary Brain, the previously greyed-out gear icon turned red, signifying that the Drone Upgrade Essential Item had been acknowledged by the Auxiliary Brain.
Only then did Yan Fei relax, knowing that once placed in the Universal Space, this Drone Upgrade Essential Item could no longer be stolen. Despite the constant setbacks and life-threatening dangers on his African mission, he had finally achieved his goal.
The blonde beauty never expected her ploy to fail so completely, nor that she'd still have her possessions taken by Yan Fei, leading to her deflation. She then saw Yan Fei make the rusty gear disappear and her face promptly took on a grave expression as she said, "Little brother, it seems you have plenty of secrets. To keep them, are you going to kill me to silence me?"
With the task items in hand, Yan Fei's mood vastly improved as he replied, "Your guess is absolutely right, but that won't change your fate. Truth be told, you and I have no past grievances, and I had no intention to kill you. Yet you plotted against me, even deploying US Army troops and fighter jets to take me down, making you my enemy. While I have many foes, most are already dead, which means you must die as well."
The blonde suddenly put on a coquettish act and said, "Little brother, would you really bear to kill me? I'm quite skilled in that area, why not give it a try with me?"
Seeing the blonde's exploded stomach and her bloodied state, Yan Fei felt a bit sickened and replied, "I have no interest in being intimate with my enemy. Besides, do you think you're still attractive at this point?"
The blonde looked down at her pitiful condition and realized this was hardly the time to be seductive. However, she didn't lose hope and asked, "Since you came for this thing, you must know what it's for, right?"
Yan Fei's interest was piqued; he had seized the item simply because the Drone's Intelligent Brain flagged it as an Upgrade Essential Item, not knowing what it truly was or its purpose. Given that both the deceased Sam and the blonde sought it, they likely knew of its extraordinary nature and potentially its true purpose.
Keen to extract intelligence, Yan Fei said, "Of course I know its use."
The blonde asked, "Are you with the Chinese government?"
Yan Fei vaguely responded, "You have good eyesight."
With a sigh, the blonde said, "You must be with Captain China. If our people hadn't drawn Captain China away to another place, he would've personally come tonight. Had he intervened, we'd stand no chance. We schemed against him, only to find his men, like you, thwarting us and leading to our ruin. You've advanced your technology even further, actually managing to imitate our Predator Drones and modifying them so impressively that we were utterly defeated tonight, with staggering losses."