I Received Messages From Future Self!
Chapter 575 - 571: The Battle Begins

Chapter 575: Chapter 571: The Battle Begins

They had a painfully bleak and interrogative midnight supper.

Fang Xiaocao and her group of five rested for half an hour. Under the light of the pre-dawn moon, they resumed their journey.

The group’s pace was fast, and each member was a skilled master. No matter how difficult the mountain path was, it seemed much smoother under their feet.

When they were less than half an hour away from the Pawnshop headquarters on the mountain path, "Unhappy," who consistently walked ahead and was responsible for scouting, crouched on the treetop once more. He gestured back toward Fang Xiaocao and the others, signaling that he had detected something unusual.

Fang Xiaocao and her team immediately concealed themselves on the spot.

They scanned the dimly shadowed mountain forest vigilantly, ears tuned to every rustling of the wind.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

In the vast mountain forest, the quiet was nearly eerie.

At this moment, it seemed that apart from Fang Xiaocao and her team, there were no other living creatures on the mountain.

Fang Xiaocao narrowed her eyes, sensing that danger lay in ambush ahead.

The instincts of wild beasts are always the most acute.

Clearly, the birds and beasts in the forest had been scared away by the foreboding aura emanating unintentionally from the ambush lurking among the trees.

Under normal circumstances, a mountain forest would not be this quiet.

Night creatures would scurry about, creating sounds, and there might even be some bird calls.

"Looks like it’s the Pawnshop’s people, right?"

Taotie murmured.

Fang Xiaocao nodded, "Being this close to the Pawnshop headquarters, within less than half an hour’s journey, the only ones who’d bother setting up an ambush here can only be those despicable creeps from the Pawnshop. Who else?"

Fang Xiaocao’s thoughts aligned perfectly with Taotie’s.

"Six people to the left front, seven people to the right front — breathing steady, all skilled combatants."

Taotie’s ears twitched as he pinpointed both the position and numbers of the ambushers.

Fang Xiaocao raised her brows in surprise; clearly, Taotie’s advancement to Super Master status had brought an array of new abilities with it — abilities she would need to read up on in his "user manual."

"Mantis, Tom, you two handle this. Taotie, stay on standby for backup, and keep an eye on the surroundings for any reinforcements from the Pawnshop."

Fang Xiaocao swiftly devised a plan and delegated tasks to her team members.

As for Unhappy, he’d already been spotted by the ambushers. Fang Xiaocao gestured for him to remain stationary on the treetop as a diversionary tactic, maintaining the ambushers’ attention away from Tom and Mantis’s impending stealth attack.

The goal was to avoid alarming the enemy prematurely, which might complicate the operation unnecessarily.

"Understood!"

Tom and Mantis responded in low voices.

Tom shrugged off his backpack, and he and Mantis quickly moved out, heading silently in their respective directions toward the positions Taotie had identified.

The hunt began!

"Any unusual movements from the ambushers?"

Three minutes into Tom and Mantis’s departure, Fang Xiaocao checked in with the radar-like Taotie.

Taotie shook his head, "Nothing!"

"Hah! What a bunch of incompetents. Old Tom and Mantis are practically breathing down their necks, and they’re still staring at Unhappy."

Taotie rudely bestowed the title of "trash" upon the Pawnshop’s ambushing team.

Fang Xiaocao ignored Taotie’s complaining.

The blustering fool always loved to stir trouble up a notch as he watched the drama unfold.

He didn’t even consider this: spotting Tom and Mantis required what level of skill, exactly?

These were enemies operating at the same top-tier level — yet Tom and Mantis’s strength surpassed even that of typical top-level masters. With deliberate calculation and stealth on their side, being discovered would be highly unlikely.

"Tom and Mantis have made their move!"

Taotie’s ears twitched as he announced the latest development.

At the news, Fang Xiaocao blinked, signaling to Unhappy up on the tree.

Unhappy immediately understood and leapt gracefully from the treetop, heading directly toward the battle scene like a nimble wildcat.

Simultaneously—

Tom retrieved two daggers strapped to his waist.

After confirming the six ambushers’ position, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Sprite Ball Bomb.

Tom stared at the Sprite Ball Bomb in his hand but hesitated briefly. Then he shook his head, plunged both daggers into the dirt before him, and fished out an additional Sprite Ball Bomb. Finally pleased, he grinned smugly: "Heh-heh, Flash plus Shock — my hard CC kit combo."

Tom gripped both Sprite Ball Bombs firmly in his hands and activated their detonation mechanisms simultaneously.

Counting silently in his head, he waited three seconds after activation — just under two seconds before detonation — then smirked maliciously and hurled both bombs toward the ambushed six individuals’ hiding spot.

"Something’s happening!"

A hushed exclamation came from Tom’s front.

The next instant—

The dimly lit woods erupted into dazzling brilliance, brighter than daylight.

The Flash Sprite Ball Bomb exploded, and the Shock Bomb followed swiftly after.

Under the relentless assault of Flash and Shock, the six utterly unprepared ambushers instantly succumbed to the hard crowd control.

The intense light blinded them; the shock rendered them dizzy.

One among the ambushers let out a piercing scream.

The stabbing pain of their eyes overwhelmed them; the sudden blindness threw them into surprising panic. Screaming was merely a reflexive biological response — even top-level masters were not exempt.

Only ruthless warriors with control over their basic instincts could endure it, but evidently, these six weren’t such individuals.

No sooner had the cries filled the air did Tom, who had donned a pair of sunglasses unbeknownst to them, retrieve his daggers and pounce forward with the agility of a stalking panther.

The outline of a crouched figure clutching their head in pain entered Tom’s sight.

Without a shred of hesitation, Tom lunged forward, daggers flashing.

One blade slashed the enemy’s throat; the other pierced their heart.

Thud—

Two clean strikes unleashed a splatter of blood.

A body hit the ground instantly.

To his death, the ambusher hadn’t understood who had killed him.

One of the enemies died bewildered.

With swift precision, Tom disposed of one target, moving rapidly toward the next potential victim without missing a beat.

The ambushers weren’t spread far from one another; Tom easily reached his next target with just a quick stride.

Grinning viciously, Tom jabbed his twin daggers simultaneously — one penetrating the back of the head, the other slicing the carotid artery open.

"Ah—"

The second target screamed briefly before losing all signs of life.

The lifeless corpse collapsed swiftly, crumpling at Tom’s feet.

The scream was sudden, but the others still failed to react because they were all busy screaming themselves.

This one scream merely stood out louder than the rest.

Normally, even a standard-grade Flash Bomb momentarily blinds and stings the eyes.

But Tom’s Flash Bombs were custom-made — fine-tuned extras at no extra cost. The flash effect alone could substitute six regular bombs.

Observing the remaining ambushers fail to exhibit any alarm despite the outburst of one among them, Tom grinned triumphantly.

His highly potent Flash Bombs had achieved the expected outcome, filling him with satisfaction.

Tom surged toward another target; his daggers moved in seamless rhythm, completing a clean triple kill.

Without pause, he pivoted to zero in on a fourth victim.

Amid the dwindling gleam of the Flash and Shock Bombs, Tom danced through the battlefield like an elegant reaper.

With whimsically artistic movements, he harvested the lives of ambushers effortlessly, his style practically dripping coolness.

Tom withdrew his daggers, maneuvering deftly away from the gushing streams of blood, and swept his gaze around — only to freeze on the spot.

Tom blinked, glanced down to count the bodies, then looked around once more.

"Wait, where’s the last one?"

Tom muttered in a bewildered tone, utterly baffled.