Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 654 - 652: Grazing Bullet
BANG!
The battered flatbed truck burst out of the rolling dust cloud, taking a corner with an extreme drift. The front of the truck swayed as it shed its inertia, returning to its proper course.
Is that...
The racers' expressions grew tense as they stared fixedly at the top of the flatbed truck.
A peculiar plant was growing there. It resembled a human-sized giant cabbage, entirely green, with a pair of fierce eyes and a mouth showing a single upper tooth. From each side of its body extended a large cabbage leaf. The tips of these leaves curled backward, bobbing up and down as the giant cabbage swayed, much like a boxer in the ring shaking their body, trying to find an opponent's opening.
Many racers with keen senses understood. It was this cabbage plant that had stepped forward during the critical moment of the watermelon explosion. Radiating green light, it had suddenly extended its leafy fists. With punches so fast their trajectory was almost invisible, it smashed the watermelons closest to the vehicle one by one. Then, with unbelievably precise control, it transformed the explosive shockwave that should have destroyed the vehicle into thrust, propelling the vehicle forward and helping Crazy Dave's team successfully escape the crisis.
"Cai Wen."
Li Ang uttered the name of the plant in a deep voice, explaining to the somewhat puzzled Witch, "This is a new plant from the mobile game 'Plants vs. Zombies 2.' It's adept at close combat and capable of high-frequency, powerful attacks that can damage zombies within a 1.5-tile radius in front of and behind it. The green light that burst from Cai Wen just now must be from a new feature in 'Plants vs. Zombies 2'—Energy Beans, or Chlorophyll. When used on a plant, it allows the plant to overclock for a short period and unleash powerful abilities."
He paused, then quickly continued, staring at the Cai Wen on top of the truck behind him, "'Plants vs. Zombies 2' is a cash-grab mobile game produced by PopCap Games after their notorious acquisition by the American company Electronic Arts (EA).
"The game discriminates with its pricing, treats players differently, and is filled with in-app purchases. It completely abandoned the excellent traditions of its predecessor, prioritizing the extraction of players' money above all else. It replaced the positive feedback loop of players using strategic layouts to overcome cleverly designed levels—learning and growing stronger—with constantly inflating stats. This ensured that paying for microtransactions yielded far greater benefits than perfecting strategies, meticulous planning, or careful calculations, turning the game into a stinking pile of garbage.
"Of course, no matter how despicable this pile of a game is, some of its mechanics are still quite potent in this world, like the new plants and the Energy Beans that can suddenly supercharge a plant..."
Before he could finish, another change occurred. Dave, wearing a pot on his head, emerged from behind Cai Wen. (The plant's backstory describes it as a kung fu master from the eastern Guangdong region, proficient in both Eastern and Western martial arts, who has taught many disciples around the world; hence, the name is indeed a pun on 'Master Ye'.) Ranting gibberish, Dave fumbled behind his back and pulled out two glowing green beans. He placed them on the head of a Gatling Pea (an advanced form of the Peashooter, with a minigun barrel for a mouth).
The glowing green beans melted away, and the Gatling Pea's body suddenly swelled, a sinister green light flashing in its eyes.
"Not good!" Sunset Gold Smelter shouted, a strong sense of foreboding filling him, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
The Gatling Pea violently rotated its neck. The minigun barrel in its mouth fired at the rate of a heavy machine gun, unleashing a torrent of colorful, cannonball-sized, super-giant peas. The dense barrage rained down like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden, engulfing every vehicle on the track within a one-kilometer radius in front and behind.
"Damn it!" Sitting in a red convertible sports car, Nero from Devil May Cry cursed. Watching the pea cannonballs rapidly falling from above, he gritted his teeth, gripped the Great Sword known as the Scarlet Queen, and leaped forcefully from the car into mid-air. A blue, ghostly figure suddenly materialized behind him.
Devilization, activated!
Nero's entire body, along with the Scarlet Queen, ignited with ethereal blue demonic flames. He hovered in mid-air. Facing the barrage, his Great Sword became a blur of motion, leaving afterimages as it swung.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Like a ninja slicing fruit, Nero cleaved all the incoming pea cannonballs in two. A smile gradually spread across his face, and the tuft of hair on his head swung joyfully from side to side.
The next second, the rainbow-colored pea fragments, still propelled forward by inertia after he sliced them, suddenly exploded. The massive explosions were even more extravagant than the previous watermelon rain. The battered Nero was flung away like a withered leaf in the wind. He was caught in mid-air by a leaping Lion Saber and fell back into their vehicle.
But the other drivers weren't so lucky. The vehicles closest to Dave suffered heavy losses in an instant. Link struggled to use Zero-Time Bomb Reflect, attempting to deflect the pea cannonballs without taking damage. However, the enemy's area of fire was too vast. He could protect himself but not his entire Mechanical Warhorse. The vehicle beneath him was blown to smithereens, and he, along with his Undead teammate, was blasted off the track, landing on a distant Ferris wheel.
The massive commotion at the rear of the first echelon attracted the attention of Shou Margot, who was providing live commentary from the second echelon. This reporter girl had already abandoned her colleagues. She was driving a flying motorcycle solo, with her camera mounted on the tail, livestreaming by herself. With her face turned sideways, she enthusiastically narrated the situation, skillfully maneuvering her flying motorcycle through the dense gunfire, miraculously avoiding being hit or even grazed by any shell. This was a hallmark of Gensokyo, the series Shou Margot originated from. The girls of Gensokyo battle using spell cards and were long accustomed to extremely dense energy attacks. Dodging without taking a scratch, or "grazing," was practically a common skill for everyone there.
The Stryker Armored Vehicle, carrying Li Ang and the others, was some distance from Crazy Dave's flatbed truck. While the pea cannonballs flew over to saturate the area, Dusk Knight slammed down the accelerator. He sprinted continuously, using Sunset Gold Smelter's trajectory prediction to barely find a path with the fewest explosions. Meanwhile, the Witch on the roof, enduring the discomfort of her depleted Magic Power, unleashed several Fire Tornados onto the track behind them. These preemptively intercepted and detonated some of the incoming pea cannonballs.
In the midst of the chaos, Li Ang remained calm. He took a Beehive from his inventory, released several Soldier Bees, then vaulted into the vehicle's cabin and loaded six high-explosive shells into the cannon's magazine.
"What are you doing?" the Witch on the roof asked, clearly struggling to hold on by herself.
"Destroying him," Li Ang stated simply. He jumped back onto the roof, placed his palm on the cannon, and activated Alchemy, adjusting the barrel's direction.
"Those high-explosive shells can't possibly break through their barrage! You…" The Witch started to warn him but stopped when she saw the calm expression on Li Ang's face. Suppressing her doubts, she silently adjusted the Fire Tornados, creating an opening toward Crazy Dave's vehicle.
