Zhou Xuan bent down and channeled his icy energy. The icy energy arrived before he even left, covering a range of fifteen meters. It had already locked onto the pirates in the middle; within fifteen meters, there were at least forty pirates, and beyond that range, in front, were another sixty or seventy pirates.
Zhou Xuan needed to get close enough to eliminate the pirates within fifteen meters before they could react, then rush to the other side and take care of the remaining pirates. And how? The timeframe should be within two or three seconds!
Volume 1, Chapter 184: Emerging from a Deadly Situation, Only to Fall into Another Difficult Situation
Just as Zhou Xuan was about to burst forth, the ice and movement instantly transformed and absorbed the fist-sized brain matter within the minds of the four pirates within his own confines.
Almost simultaneously, the smiles of the forty-odd pirates froze, their movements became fixed, as if they had turned into zombie puppets in an instant, but no one noticed this change.
At this moment, Zhou Xuan bent over and rushed into the middle of the group. He was bent over so that the pirates behind him couldn't see him, and the dozens of people in front of him were all dead, their stiff bodies becoming Zhou Xuan's protective umbrella.
The moment Zhou Xuan rushed out, the rifles of the mercenaries, Fu Tianlai, and the six bodyguards also opened fire, and the eleven people on the left and right fell one after another in the sound of gunfire.
After rushing out of the cave, Shuai Xuan charged forward with all his might through the crowd, stretching his arms straight out to both sides with his fingers spread wide. Ice energy emanated from his fingers, spreading even further. Wherever the ice energy passed, the pirates froze. The further back the pirates were, the more they reacted and reached for their guns. The last pirate even raised his gun and pointed it at him.
Zhou Xuan ran desperately towards the other side, covering the short distance of about thirty meters in nearly ten seconds. Fortunately, there were people blocking his way. The people behind him didn't even have time to raise their guns and fire. When Zhou Xuan reached the very edge, the nearly one hundred pirates stood frozen in place, as if they had all been paralyzed.
Zhou Xuan, who was running on the opposite side, was squatting on the ground, panting heavily, as if he was about to collapse.
The eleven pirates on both sides were shot dead, as were the four mercenaries and Fu Tianlai. The bodyguards turned their guns, ready to help Zhou Xuan again. But when they saw him run straight ahead with his arms outstretched, the hundred-odd pirates stood there dumbfounded, unable to move. They immediately thought he had been acupunctured, because Zhou Xuan had only converted a clump of brain marrow in their brains, killing them instantly without causing any problems.
Zhou Xuan caught his breath, then waved to Fu Tianlai, signaling the others to emerge from the cave. They cautiously looked left and right before walking to Zhou Xuan's side.
Fu Ying was initially worried about Zhou Xuan. But at this moment, she was completely stunned by Zhou Xuan's skills. After a moment of stunned silence, she helped Zhou Xuan up and asked, "Did you...did you strike their pressure points?"
With Fu Ying's keen eyesight, she could naturally see that all the pirates had stopped breathing. However, she watched Zhou Xuan run out and then back to the other side. Aside from running with his arms outstretched, he didn't use any weapons. The only plausible explanation is that he struck the pirates' vital points!
But within a range of several meters to the left and right, nearly a hundred people were killed in just a few seconds. Even Fu Ying felt that she could not match such skill. Looking at the world, which martial arts master has reached this level?
No! At least Fu Ying hadn't seen it. Such skill only exists in legends, or in movies and novels, among martial arts masters! However, the others didn't see it either. Only the four mercenaries, Fu Tianlai's bodyguard, and Fu Ying saw it. Even Li Junjie didn't see it because he had his back to Zhou Xuan's direction at the time.
Zhou Xuan had used too much ice energy and was indeed exhausted. After catching his breath, he still felt weak, but he didn't dare to stay any longer. Seeing everyone rushing over, he quickly said, "Grab your guns, there are plenty on the ground, just pick one up from each side. We need to find a way out of this place quickly, it's not safe here. We just fired another shot. Although it didn't sound very loud in the cave, it would be troublesome if other pirates heard it and came over!"
With a wave of his hand, Fu Tianlai handed almost everyone a gun. The four hired soldiers and bodyguards even picked up a few more guns and carried them on their backs. It's always good to have more guns!
Three mercenaries walked in front, while another mercenary and Fu Tianlai's bodyguard escorted the others, one in the middle and one behind. The remaining mercenaries lacked experience, especially the six executives. Gao Yuzhen and Fu Ying's parents had never encountered anything like this before.
With Fu Ying's support, Zhou Xuan took the lead. He activated the remaining ice energy, which had been greatly depleted. At this point, the ice energy's detection range was only seven or eight meters, but it was better than nothing. However, Zhou Xuan only used the ice energy to probe when the mercenaries were too much for him to handle. Now, he needed to conserve as much ice energy as possible, because in the most critical moment, only ice energy could save his life!
After walking more than a hundred meters out of the cave, the sound of motors outside became very loud. Heading towards another cave, the lights were on and there was a lot of noise. Clearly, there were many people inside. Knowing it was dangerous, Fu Tianlai instructed everyone to keep quiet and quickened their pace.
Upon reaching the entrance to the water cave, dozens of speedboats were moored in the sea below, and some of the larger boats even had heavy machine guns mounted on them.
The nineteen little ones descended the rope ladder one by one. Four mercenaries chose two slightly larger speedboats, while the yacht operator simply picked his own. Of the three boats, the four mercenaries and six cargo ship executives boarded one, the yacht operator boarded his own, and Fu Tianlai boarded another. Li Junjie piloted the boat, and Fu Ying, Fu Ying's parents, Gao Yuzhen, and Fu Tianlai's bodyguard were on board.
After Fu Ying helped her mother sit down, she looked around and saw Zhou Xuan jumping onto another boat and touching everything. She quickly said, "Zhou Xuan, what are you doing? Come here quickly, or it will be too late if the pirates from the other cave come out!"
Fu Ying didn't understand, and neither did Qi An or anyone else.
Zhou Xuan wasn't just fooling around and stalling for time. He was actually using his icy energy to transform and devour the most crucial parts of the other speedboats' engines and heavy weapons. Because the pirates outnumbered him, if they caught up, the only option was to fight with weapons. By crippling their ships and weapons, Zhou Xuan would prevent the pirates from catching up or using their weapons.
After a few minutes, Zhou Xuan finally jumped onto Fu Ying's boat. The boats and speedboats were one after another, and he had only jumped over three. Pirates were shouting overhead, and the yacht operator didn't stop. He started moving and took the lead, driving out of the way, followed by the mercenary's boat.
One man steered the boat, while the other three fired wildly at the cave entrance, their shouts and gunshots blending together.
Fu Ying stretched out her hand anxiously, "Zhou Xuan, hurry up! Little..."
Fortunately, the mercenaries provided cover fire, preventing the pirates inside from surfacing.
Zhou Xuan leaped with all his might, quickly jumping over to the other side, and Li Junjie started the boat moving. Only after Zhou Xuan jumped into the boat did they drive the speedboat away.
But the mercenaries' few guns and ammunition were certainly insufficient. When the bullets ran out, the pirates finally rushed out, firing as they slid down the rope ladder onto the speedboat.
Fu Tianmu watched the pirates slide down from the cave onto the ship. His expression turned serious, because there were actually more pirates than there had been in the cave earlier. They were densely packed together, at least two hundred in number, armed with long guns and short guns. With so many people and so many ships, if they were to catch up, they still wouldn't be able to escape.
Although Fu Tianmo knew Zhou Xuan possessed special abilities, he also knew from his observations that these abilities had limitations. They were effective at varying distances; beyond that distance, they would become ineffective, and he had just witnessed Zhou Xuan's significant energy depletion. Whether they could escape this pirate den depended entirely on fate!
The waterway inside the cave is only six or seven meters wide, making it impossible to navigate as smoothly as at sea, and the speed certainly can't be very high. However, it's still faster than a person running.
The pirates behind them jumped onto the ships, firing their guns and trying to move them, but no matter what they did, the engines on the boats wouldn't start. And it wasn't just one boat that couldn't start; dozens of boats in the entire cave were unable to move!
If only a few of the ships were immobilized, there might be a problem. But if all of them were immobilized, while the three ships that Zhou Xuan and his group sailed away were perfectly fine, then it means they tampered with them!
A pirate leader-like figure was gesturing and cursing. Some pirates found some paddleboards and started paddling, and the smaller ships were paddled and chased after them.
Meanwhile, the other pirates opened fire on the three boats ahead with rifles and rocket launchers.
Zhou Xuan shouted, "Everyone lie down! Don't look up!"
The heavy machine guns and rocket launchers on the pirate ships were unusable, just like the boats – all show and no substance. But the ones brought out from the cave were usable. The pirates, in their haste and rage, fired wildly, but their aim was terrible.
Two of them landed in the sea, creating high waves. The yacht driver, out of fear, drove too fast and crashed violently into the rock wall of the cave. The speedboat exploded. In the flames, the following boat slowed down slightly, but at that very moment, a rocket hit the speedboat, blowing it to pieces along with the people on board!
Li Junjie, at the very back, let out a loud shout. He ducked low and steered the boat through the thick smoke. Several more rockets then landed in the sea behind them, creating churning waves.
Fortunately, the pirates only fired indiscriminately, and no ships chased after them.
Fu Tianlai then realized that Zhou Xuan must have tampered with the ships while jumping and touching them. Otherwise, it would be impossible for dozens of ships to remain without a single one moving! The distance naturally increased, and after five or six hundred meters, the pirates' rockets lost their aim. Because they only had one rocket launcher, and the pirates were clearly far less experienced and accurate than Brooklyn, the rockets went very far off course, two landing in the sea. The other two hit the rocks, blasting the cave walls into a shower of rock fragments.
Before the fifth shot could be fired, Li Junjie suddenly shouted, "Oh no!"
The others on the speedboat also screamed in alarm as they looked ahead!
Zhou Xuan turned his head and saw that about ten meters ahead, a large iron bar, as thick as an arm, was blocking the water. The bar was covered with iron spikes about half a meter long, like a long mace. There were obviously traps installed on the rock walls on both sides. He hadn't seen them when he came in.
However, the situation was different when they came in. Since the pirates were sailing their own ships when they came in, it was normal that they didn't lower their ships to block the way. But what should they do now?
The pirates behind were rowing slowly, but they would eventually catch up. Ahead lay the Wolf's Fang, an impassable obstacle. Speedboats couldn't cross it, and even if someone managed to flip over, it would still be seawater. No land, no road, no boat – it was still a dead end!