Chapter 1706: Chapter 22: Assassin’s Creed

Looking at the group of travelers, Pang Meiqin carefully selected an easy target and finally settled on a woman in her forties.

“Sigh, considering the estimated time before departure, it’ll probably still be a few hours—plenty of time for those Conquerors to catch up!” Ai Yixin sighed heavily. After finally pulling ahead, the choice of transport meant they’d lose their lead.

“What can we do? The cruise ship isn’t going to cater to just one person, unless you’re some high-ranking official like the president!” Chu Baichuan took out a can of beef, cut it carefully into small pieces, and handed them to his wife. “Eat something!”

The time in the lobby couldn’t be reduced even by a fraction of a minute, so each Trojan Squad had to stay here for 80 days. Watching the contestants navigate their perilous competition was, at times, more torturous than invigorating—they wished they could take their place.

The Trojan didn’t provide food or water, but every team was well-stocked, so there was no risk of breaking out into fights over resources.

While those in the lobby wished time would speed up, the survivors of the first phase all wanted it to slow down—they genuinely felt like there wasn’t enough time.

The small town wasn’t particularly large. After half a circuit and realizing she couldn’t gather the materials she needed, Pang Meiqin gave up on her plan to make a bomb. Instead, she ate a simple dinner while outlining the steps of her next move.

“What’s she doing?” Watching Pang Meiqin interacting with a hooligan in an alley, handing him several hundred British Pounds, Yu Deye was puzzled.

“While robbing that woman earlier, she grabbed a passport,” Gu Xueqi noted every detail. “I’m guessing she’ll use it to create chaos when boarding, to avoid being stopped.”

By 3 p.m., boarding finally began. Before it was Pang Meiqin’s turn, workers at the pier suddenly started causing trouble, and a shooting incident occurred, leaving several people sprawled in pools of blood.

Screams erupted, chaos spreading everywhere.

Terrified passengers scrambled onto the ship in a frenzy, pushing past two ticket inspectors who tried to stop them—both were ultimately shoved off the deck.

“Haha, it seems someone else thought of the same plan as Meiqin, though they were a bit more ruthless.” Xu Biyun chuckled.

“This is bad. Meiqin was too focused on distancing herself from the deck and didn’t notice the person pushing the inspectors overboard. That must be one of the Conquerors.” Dantai frowned.

Crew members began to enter the cabins one by one to inspect tickets—a process that posed no challenge for the Conquerors. Between money and brute force, they could easily subdue the staff.

Under the temptation of large British Pound bribes, virtually all the crew members chose silence. After all, once those people arrived in Boulogne-sur-Mer, they’d no longer be the crew’s concern, so why not pocket some illicit cash?

The long voyage began; onboard, the Conquerors resembled suppressed wild beasts, waiting for the perfect opportunity to hunt.

To avoid unnecessary exposure, Pang Meiqin stayed in her cabin the entire time, even ordering crew members to deliver her meals. Three days passed without incident.

While the dull journey and constant threats pushed the Conquerors’ nerves close to breaking, nobody dared to drop their guard.

The night was as cool as flowing water. Unable to sleep, Pang Meiqin lay on the bed, hands behind her head, staring blankly. Suddenly, her cabin lit up with a sharp brilliance.

A teleportation gate opened. Before the punishment forces even stepped through, several bullets came flying.

Slapping the bed with force, Pang Meiqin propelled herself upward like a windmill, spinning mid-air to evade the incoming bullets.

Ping! Ping! Ping! The bullets hit the metallic cabin wall, creating sharp, concentrated echoes.

An English fire rifleman dressed in ornate attire charged through the portal. His firearm didn’t need reloading and spewed tongues of flame relentlessly.

Pang Meiqin grabbed the bedsheet, twisting it like ominous clouds as she tumbled, casting it over the teleportation gate.

The rifleman was engulfed by the sheet, leaving a human-shaped bulge that another rifleman behind him struggled to push through.

Swoosh! Pang Meiqin drew her dagger, landing and darting forward to stab the first soldier’s back. Simultaneously, she deflected the enemy rifle aimed at her and kicked hard.

Bam! The rifleman was sent flying into the cabin wall.

Turning the confiscated rifle around, Pang Meiqin unleashed a round of rapid shots toward the teleportation gate.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The incomplete combustion of white gunpowder created a sharp odor and an enveloping haze in the room. Amid the smog, the air filled with the whistling of pellets and the screams of riflemen.

The punishment forces’ rifles could fire at a rate of ten rounds per minute. Although they didn’t require reloading, a cooldown of twenty seconds was necessary.

Pang Meiqin pulled the trigger but found the magazine empty. Unfazed, she swung the firearm like a club.

A rifleman rushing out was struck directly in the face, his head caving in.

With a fierce charge, Pang Meiqin ripped the bayonet off the soldier’s waist, grabbed his collar, and used him as a human meat shield while stabbing wildly at the advancing riflemen.

Among the dense gunfire, the soldier-meat shield’s back was riddled with gory wounds.

“Holy shit! There are punishment forces now? What the hell, can we even survive this?!”

“Thankfully, their individual combat power is only equivalent to standard first-stage. As long as their numbers don’t exceed a certain threshold, they’re not too threatening!”

“You can’t look at it like that. They’re practically delivering equipment, aren’t they?”

“Deliver your mother! Our group members are getting killed!”

The lobby’s dim lighting, tailored for sleep hours, stirred awake every team member following the sudden incident. Originally, only two to three members were standing guard per team.

The appearance of punishment forces was undeniably malicious. After exhausting their mental strength over three days on this voyage, the contestants were bound to relax slightly before reaching the endpoint tomorrow. This lapse turned out to be the most dangerous time.

Each team’s reaction to the punishment forces varied—while some maniacs thrived, most were full of complaints. Teams that suffered losses, especially, looked utterly devastated.

“Your team is hardcore!”

“This woman is insanely violent! Born to fight?”

“Well, at least she scored big. With these new weapons, combat power will surely be boosted significantly!”

Watching Pang Meiqin rummage through corpses in the cabin, collecting rifles and bayonets, left the spectators envious beyond measure.

The rifles were too cumbersome to transport, so Pang Meiqin ignored them, instead stripping two handguns from the belt of a figure who appeared to be the captain.

The riflemen’s backpacks also contained fist-sized circular bombs, unused before their deaths—now all belonged to Pang Meiqin.

Despite the windfall of gear, Pang Meiqin didn’t attempt to hunt other Conquerors; her focus remained on stability.

The corpses and weapons vanished from the room, leaving only the handguns in the hands of the beautiful-legged stewardess. This wasn’t the Trojan granting the contestants opportunity—it was about ramping up the difficulty.

It couldn’t be overstated: ordinary firearms couldn’t pierce protective clothing. Pang Meiqin’s physical prowess was advantageous, but with the addition of weapons, the gap would close.

On her fifth day of globetrotting, Pang Meiqin stepped onto French soil, heading to Boulogne and boarding a train bound for Paris. Aside from being occasionally harassed by rifle troops, she encountered no additional threats from Conquerors.

These first-group contestants already had considerable advantages. As long as they weren’t reckless, there was no reason to squander it. In fact, most avoided direct clashes and kept their encounters brief or neutral.

“Prepare for the second baton handover!” Watching Pang Meiqin navigate her way to Paris and transfer onto a direct train to Turin, Italy, Dantai exhaled in relief.

“Who’s next?” Lu Fan scanned the group.

Yu Deye stayed silent, praying not to be chosen.

“I’ll go!” Dong Zixuan, fearless and resolute as the policewoman she was, stepped forward. Her temperament was impressively tough, but her lack of combat strength meant definite defeat against stronger opponents, though she would’ve been a stellar team member otherwise.

“How about me?” Ruan Feifei volunteered. “The main fighters should hold back for the final three stages to handle emergencies.”

“Sounds good!” Yu Deye raised both hands in support.

“You’re our area-of-effect specialist and might be needed later. Yu Deye, you’re up!” Tang Zheng rejected the proposal, naming the team’s designated shooter.

“Are you targeting me or something? I’m the only shooting series member in the team. What if we need my skills later?” Yu Deye protested, determined to stall and avoid stepping up.

“The situation is clear, isn’t it? Meiqin is deep in the first group, and everyone’s cautious, avoiding conflict. You just need to maintain this advantage—it’s not too difficult, is it?” Dantai reassured.

“Always screwing me over!” Yu Deye shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum.

“With the Trojan’s nature, do you really think you could make it to the Holy Land War without pulling any weight? Instead of facing harder challenges later, take the second baton now!” Tang Zheng said calmly, then added forcefully, “Besides, you don’t actually have veto power. We could all vote for you, and you’d have no choice but to step up. How embarrassing would that be?”

Yu Deye hesitated.

“Let me take this one!” Ai Yixin and Yin Shangwu both volunteered simultaneously.

“No way, your physical stats are too weak.” Dantai dismissed them outright. “Yu Deye might be English second-stage. Even without abilities, his physique isn’t bad.”

“Haha, that’s true!” Yu Deye laughed in satisfaction.

“Moron!” Lu Fan sneered internally. If there were undisclosed information, it was bound to surface in the second stage. Even if not, it wouldn’t be as simple as they thought.

Little Lolita firmly believed that the Trojan wouldn’t let the first group coast through easily. Otherwise, what hope would the remaining teams have?

On the eighth day, an exhausted Pang Meiqin appeared in Brindisi. As soon as she stepped out of the train station, her wristwatch chimed with a notification.

“Proceed to the designated location for handover!”

Looking at the red dot on the screen, Pang Meiqin picked up her pace eagerly.

“First-group teams, select your second baton competitor. Teleportation begins in one minute!”

The Trojan’s announcement echoed throughout the lobby, prompting eighty-two individuals to stand. The teams that hadn’t yet made it looked on with envy.

Yu Deye basked momentarily in their admiring gazes, straightening his posture, but his enjoyment was short-lived; teleportation began.

This shameless slacker found himself in a dark, damp alley. Taking a step forward, he stepped on something. Looking down, he cursed furiously.

“Fuck! Dog shit? What kind of shit luck is this?!” Yu Deye cursed while scraping his shoe against the ground, though the disgusting sensation refused to fade.

Behind computer screens, the other teams finally seized the chance to mock the Warhammer team, laughing uproariously—only to fall silent moments later when Pang Meiqin arrived.

“Handover complete. Second baton may proceed!”

“Tell Tang Zheng—I’ll definitely get first place!” As soon as the Trojan notification sounded, Yu Deye struck what he imagined to be a dashing pose and prepared to depart.

“Hold up, take this money and this rifle—watch yourself on the road!” Pang Meiqin advised, dropping her suitcase before vanishing into thin air. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, please vote and support on Qidian.com—your encouragement is my greatest motivation! Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for smoother reading.)