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Chapter 273: There Is a Traitor
On the surface, this appeared to be a battle dominated by firearms. It erupted between Trigon's fanatical Blood Cultists and A.R.G.U.S. agents, as a rain of bullets engulfed the entire convoy from all directions.
But what no one knew was that the key to this battle had nothing to do with them at all.
Barry Allen, the fastest man alive. When he ran at full speed, even light seemed to stand still. He could casually rush into the vortex of time, pass through the barriers of the universe, and when he didn't want to be seen, no one could track his movements.
Just like right now.
After a brief discussion, the Justice League had decided that The Flash was the most suitable member for this part of the mission: ensuring that no one died in this attack. Although the heroes' previous encounters with A.R.G.U.S. hadn't left them with a good impression of the organization, the agents were, after all, on the side of the good guys. For the heroes of the Justice League, saving people was always the top priority.
Any of them could do this mission, but to do it without leaving a trace, it had to be The Flash. Moving at half the speed of light, The Flash was invisible to both warring factions, like a ghost at extreme speed. In a static, lightning-filled timescape, he weaved through the vehicles and onto the scene, sliding to a stop right in front of the ambushed agents.
He glanced around, locating every bullet, piece of metal debris, and grenade shrapnel that, on its original trajectory, would have injured someone. One by one, he nudged them, altering their flight paths.
Next, he ran to the positions of each of the cultists and observed the bullets fired by the A.R.G.U.S. agents. It seemed that because the cultists were hidden in the darkness while the agents were exposed, the agents' counterattack was mostly just suppressive fire to apply pressure. They didn't know the enemy's exact locations, so most of their shots were wild, with almost no bullets heading toward the enemy.
But that didn't matter. The Flash observed their positions and then, one by one, moved the bullets to lock onto the Blood Cultists.
Thus, when time resumed its flow, the Blood Cultists' round of gunfire either hit the shrubs or the vehicles. Their fire seemed intense, but the volley of shots was completely useless. Their marksmanship was so terrible it was as if they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn; not a single shot found its mark.
The A.R.G.U.S. side, however, was a different story. They couldn't even see their targets, just spraying wildly in every direction, yet every one of them turned out to be an expert marksman. It was as if the damned bullets had eyes; almost not a single shot missed.
There was an even more ridiculous case. A member of the Blood Cult emptied his magazine and ducked behind cover to reload. He didn't even stick his head out, but a bullet that was originally flying over his head suddenly made a bizarre 180-degree turn and flew straight back to hit the cultist.
In the first exchange of fire, the Blood Cultists lost more than half their numbers. Their leader quickly realized something was wrong.
What the hell is with these agents?
Their bullets have auto-tracking, and when we lock onto them, the bullets automatically evade. How the hell are we supposed to fight this?
Are they using invincibility and auto-aim hacks or what?
However, while the minions were taken down, a small group of cultists remained. Bullets clearly aimed at them all seemed to hit some kind of invisible barrier less than half a meter from their bodies, clattering to the ground.
One of the black-robed cultists brandished a scepter like a mage, muttering something under his breath, and unleashed an exploding orb of magical light. An armored vehicle immediately overturned, bursting into flames that shot toward the sky.
It looked like this was a group of elites.
The Flash slammed on the brakes, temporarily stopping behind some bushes to observe the situation, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Dealing with this without being noticed is going to be a bit more troublesome," he thought.
Adrianna ran for her life through the jungle, leaving the sounds of gunfire and explosions behind her.
The vehicle she was in had been the first to flip, its doors blown out of shape. True to the restless, action-oriented spirit of an archaeologist, she had immediately decided she couldn't just sit and wait for death. Seeing an opportunity, she seized it and ran.
From the very beginning, she never thought these A.R.G.U.S. guys were reliable. As expected, in the end, she had to rely on herself.
After running what she felt was a safe distance, she was exhausted and had no choice but to lean against a tree trunk to catch her breath.
She tried to steady her breathing, her chest heaving with the effort. After calming down, she looked around and suddenly, for no reason, felt an urge to laugh.
Although she didn't know the origin of those madmen who had intercepted her, she figured they couldn't be very smart. If they had set up another team here in advance to intercept her, wouldn't she be completely trapped?
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly heard rustling sounds all around. Turning her head, Adrianna's face instantly turned pale. A large group of black-robed Blood Cultists burst out of the shrubs, instantly surrounding her.
"Dr. Adrianna?" the leader asked coldly.
"Who... who are you people? What do you want?" Adrianna said through gritted teeth.
"You have something we want," the man said flatly. "You may need to come with us. This isn't a friendly request, of course. Don't force us to get rough."
Adrianna instinctively took two steps back, biting her lip. Her instinct was to run, but her rational mind told her she could never escape from these madmen.
Then, the next moment, something happened that was completely unexpected, both to her and to the cultists.
One of the black-robed cultists standing behind the leader, without any warning, suddenly struck the back of the leader's neck with a sharp karate chop. Caught completely off guard, the leader's eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
It was a sudden turn of events that no one had anticipated. While everyone was still stunned, the man knocked out another cultist with a high whip kick and shouted at Adrianna in a grim, hoarse voice, "Run."
A cultist shouted, "There's a traitor—Uwaah!"
Before he could finish, a punch sent his nose gushing blood, and he fell backward to the ground.
Adrianna was jolted back to her senses and quickly turned to run. By the time the other cultists came to and tried to stop her, the black-robed figure had already taken one down with a swinging punch and several more with a sweeping kick. Then, with a flick of his wrist, a dart shot out from his sleeve, pinning another cultist's hand to a tree trunk. The dart was even shaped like a bat...
Once again, Adrianna ran for her life. After a while, she was panting heavily.
Today's experience was simply surreal. She was ambushed while in the A.R.G.U.S. convoy, only to run into a group of black-robed madmen. And then it turned out there was a good guy hidden among them...
This time, she ran all the way to a small creek. She knelt, caught her breath for a moment, and cupped some water from the creek to wash her face.
Turning her head to look around, she suddenly felt as if a voice deep in her heart was laughing.
Laughing at how foolish and witless those cultists were. The terrain by the creek was open with little cover. If they had set another ambush here, how could she possibly escape?
It wasn't as if another mole was going to pop out and save her, right?
Just as she thought this, she suddenly heard voices from all around. The next moment, to her horror, another group of black-robed figures emerged from the forest. Their leader said coldly, "Dr. Adrianna, if you would please come with us..."
Adrianna's eyes went wide, a million retorts stuck in her throat.
She was so screwed.
Are you serious?
(end of chapter)
On the surface, this appeared to be a battle dominated by firearms. It erupted between Trigon's fanatical Blood Cultists and A.R.G.U.S. agents, as a rain of bullets engulfed the entire convoy from all directions.
But what no one knew was that the key to this battle had nothing to do with them at all.
Barry Allen, the fastest man alive. When he ran at full speed, even light seemed to stand still. He could casually rush into the vortex of time, pass through the barriers of the universe, and when he didn't want to be seen, no one could track his movements.
Just like right now.
After a brief discussion, the Justice League had decided that The Flash was the most suitable member for this part of the mission: ensuring that no one died in this attack. Although the heroes' previous encounters with A.R.G.U.S. hadn't left them with a good impression of the organization, the agents were, after all, on the side of the good guys. For the heroes of the Justice League, saving people was always the top priority.
Any of them could do this mission, but to do it without leaving a trace, it had to be The Flash. Moving at half the speed of light, The Flash was invisible to both warring factions, like a ghost at extreme speed. In a static, lightning-filled timescape, he weaved through the vehicles and onto the scene, sliding to a stop right in front of the ambushed agents.
He glanced around, locating every bullet, piece of metal debris, and grenade shrapnel that, on its original trajectory, would have injured someone. One by one, he nudged them, altering their flight paths.
Next, he ran to the positions of each of the cultists and observed the bullets fired by the A.R.G.U.S. agents. It seemed that because the cultists were hidden in the darkness while the agents were exposed, the agents' counterattack was mostly just suppressive fire to apply pressure. They didn't know the enemy's exact locations, so most of their shots were wild, with almost no bullets heading toward the enemy.
But that didn't matter. The Flash observed their positions and then, one by one, moved the bullets to lock onto the Blood Cultists.
Thus, when time resumed its flow, the Blood Cultists' round of gunfire either hit the shrubs or the vehicles. Their fire seemed intense, but the volley of shots was completely useless. Their marksmanship was so terrible it was as if they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn; not a single shot found its mark.
The A.R.G.U.S. side, however, was a different story. They couldn't even see their targets, just spraying wildly in every direction, yet every one of them turned out to be an expert marksman. It was as if the damned bullets had eyes; almost not a single shot missed.
There was an even more ridiculous case. A member of the Blood Cult emptied his magazine and ducked behind cover to reload. He didn't even stick his head out, but a bullet that was originally flying over his head suddenly made a bizarre 180-degree turn and flew straight back to hit the cultist.
In the first exchange of fire, the Blood Cultists lost more than half their numbers. Their leader quickly realized something was wrong.
What the hell is with these agents?
Their bullets have auto-tracking, and when we lock onto them, the bullets automatically evade. How the hell are we supposed to fight this?
Are they using invincibility and auto-aim hacks or what?
However, while the minions were taken down, a small group of cultists remained. Bullets clearly aimed at them all seemed to hit some kind of invisible barrier less than half a meter from their bodies, clattering to the ground.
One of the black-robed cultists brandished a scepter like a mage, muttering something under his breath, and unleashed an exploding orb of magical light. An armored vehicle immediately overturned, bursting into flames that shot toward the sky.
It looked like this was a group of elites.
The Flash slammed on the brakes, temporarily stopping behind some bushes to observe the situation, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Dealing with this without being noticed is going to be a bit more troublesome," he thought.
Adrianna ran for her life through the jungle, leaving the sounds of gunfire and explosions behind her.
The vehicle she was in had been the first to flip, its doors blown out of shape. True to the restless, action-oriented spirit of an archaeologist, she had immediately decided she couldn't just sit and wait for death. Seeing an opportunity, she seized it and ran.
From the very beginning, she never thought these A.R.G.U.S. guys were reliable. As expected, in the end, she had to rely on herself.
After running what she felt was a safe distance, she was exhausted and had no choice but to lean against a tree trunk to catch her breath.
She tried to steady her breathing, her chest heaving with the effort. After calming down, she looked around and suddenly, for no reason, felt an urge to laugh.
Although she didn't know the origin of those madmen who had intercepted her, she figured they couldn't be very smart. If they had set up another team here in advance to intercept her, wouldn't she be completely trapped?
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly heard rustling sounds all around. Turning her head, Adrianna's face instantly turned pale. A large group of black-robed Blood Cultists burst out of the shrubs, instantly surrounding her.
"Dr. Adrianna?" the leader asked coldly.
"Who... who are you people? What do you want?" Adrianna said through gritted teeth.
"You have something we want," the man said flatly. "You may need to come with us. This isn't a friendly request, of course. Don't force us to get rough."
Adrianna instinctively took two steps back, biting her lip. Her instinct was to run, but her rational mind told her she could never escape from these madmen.
Then, the next moment, something happened that was completely unexpected, both to her and to the cultists.
One of the black-robed cultists standing behind the leader, without any warning, suddenly struck the back of the leader's neck with a sharp karate chop. Caught completely off guard, the leader's eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
It was a sudden turn of events that no one had anticipated. While everyone was still stunned, the man knocked out another cultist with a high whip kick and shouted at Adrianna in a grim, hoarse voice, "Run."
A cultist shouted, "There's a traitor—Uwaah!"
Before he could finish, a punch sent his nose gushing blood, and he fell backward to the ground.
Adrianna was jolted back to her senses and quickly turned to run. By the time the other cultists came to and tried to stop her, the black-robed figure had already taken one down with a swinging punch and several more with a sweeping kick. Then, with a flick of his wrist, a dart shot out from his sleeve, pinning another cultist's hand to a tree trunk. The dart was even shaped like a bat...
Once again, Adrianna ran for her life. After a while, she was panting heavily.
Today's experience was simply surreal. She was ambushed while in the A.R.G.U.S. convoy, only to run into a group of black-robed madmen. And then it turned out there was a good guy hidden among them...
This time, she ran all the way to a small creek. She knelt, caught her breath for a moment, and cupped some water from the creek to wash her face.
Turning her head to look around, she suddenly felt as if a voice deep in her heart was laughing.
Laughing at how foolish and witless those cultists were. The terrain by the creek was open with little cover. If they had set another ambush here, how could she possibly escape?
It wasn't as if another mole was going to pop out and save her, right?
Just as she thought this, she suddenly heard voices from all around. The next moment, to her horror, another group of black-robed figures emerged from the forest. Their leader said coldly, "Dr. Adrianna, if you would please come with us..."
Adrianna's eyes went wide, a million retorts stuck in her throat.
She was so screwed.
Are you serious?
(end of chapter)
