Since the target of these soldiers was the floor above them, Haoyun and his two companions dared once again to cautiously approach the window, seeking a concealed angle to observe the situation upstairs. From there, they saw two soldiers standing rigidly against the wall at a perpendicular angle, occasionally rotating their upper bodies significantly to maintain a vigilant watch over their surroundings. The other two soldiers inside the building were marching aggressively, their footsteps echoing as if they were searching for something.

Before long, the two soldiers inside climbed back to the window and began communicating with the soldiers responsible for guarding the building's surface with a series of murmurs. Although Haoyun and his team couldn't understand the soldiers' language, they sensed dissatisfaction among them regarding the outcome of their operation—they seemingly hadn't found anything valuable. After exchanging these murmurs, the four soldiers simultaneously turned their bodies and headed off in different directions within the building. It appeared they were preparing to disperse and conduct a broader search.

Knowing the soldiers were expanding their search range meant the likelihood of Haoyun and his team being discovered had significantly increased. Dao Lao, realizing a direct confrontation was imminent, quickly discussed ambush tactics with Dream Jia. However, as they were strategizing based on the movements of the four soldiers, they heard metallic sounds outside the window, typical of metal being penetrated.

Haoyun and his group witnessed one of the soldiers, descending towards their floor, have its two metallic legs severed at the knee joints. The soldier, left with only its central leg, suddenly lost its ability to cling to the wall and plummeted headfirst downwards.

Following the first soldier's fall, a barrage of gunfire erupted from the front of the building. Tracer rounds streaked through the night sky like a storm, directed towards the other three soldiers stationed on the building's surface. However, these soldiers were clearly not defenseless. As soon as they saw their comrade hit, they all revealed two bright red circular pupils from behind their sunglasses, immediately entering combat mode. Evading incoming bullets, they returned fire in unison towards the direction the gunfire originated from.

Though caught off guard by the sudden engagement, Haoyun and his experienced team quickly adapted. They realized this building was deliberately used as bait to lure these soldiers, and under cover of darkness, an ambush was launched against them. Consequently, Haoyun and his companions hastily withdrew from the window back into the building, avoiding stray bullets and the risk of being mistaken as targets by the ambushers.

The intense assault diverted the attention of all the biometric soldiers, but instead of evacuating from the building, Haoyun and his team resettled in a corner far from the frontlines, maintaining vigilance. They remained here to gather intelligence about the situation since they were still unfamiliar with their surroundings. Moreover, they suspected the biometric soldiers below were only a small patrol unit, and there might be more such soldiers nearby. Thus, to avoid a premature evacuation that could lead them into a conflict with potential reinforcements, they decided to observe further before making their next move.

Once resettled in a corner away from the main battleground, Dream Jia complained with frustration, "Damn it! Since I've known you guys, it's been nothing but trouble, non-stop! No wonder your parents named you Haoyun; they probably hoped the name would counterbalance your naturally unlucky disposition! Geez! Meeting you guys is like inheriting eight lifetimes of bad luck!"

"Why are you always blaming me?! It's clearly his fault! Look at his ridiculous name! Dao Dami, the harbinger of doom! With such an ominous name, of course, he's cursed with bad luck every day!" Haoyun, inexplicably targeted by Dream Jia's curse, expressed his annoyance, but knowing better than to argue with her, redirected the conflict towards Dao Lao.

"Pfft! I chose this name to balance out my luck, to prevent myself from spontaneously combusting with too much luck! You clueless fools! It's about balancing the scales! So Dream Jia's right, you're cursed with a severe deficiency of luck, hence this pathetic name!" Dao Lao retorted without hesitation, refusing to be Haoyun's shield.

"Enough! Enough! Useless bickering from two peas in a pod! Focus on the battle outside! Once we resolve this mess, I'm parting ways with you two, never to operate together again!" Seeing Haoyun and Dao Lao gearing up for another verbal spar, Dream Jia forcefully intervened, using her rifle butt to command their attention.

Just as Haoyun and his team began to argue, the gunfire outside gradually ceased, and the street outside the building returned to calmness. Seeing this, the three immediately moved to a side closer to the front of the building to observe. With their exceptional vision, they spotted a pile of biometric soldier corpses on the smoke-filled street, some sparking with electrical fires and some limbs still burning. It seemed these soldiers, though mechanized, had rather average durability. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been reduced to scattered fragments from the ambush launched from a distance.

Although the biometric soldiers outside the building had been neutralized, Haoyun and his team couldn't afford to expose themselves recklessly in uncertainty. The hidden ambushers clearly had the building surrounded and were targeting any suspicious presence. Thus, with the principle of observing the situation and avoiding unnecessary risks, Haoyun and his team withdrew back into the building once they confirmed the biometric soldiers outside had been eliminated. They began searching the sides of the building for potential hiding spots of the ambushers.

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"Can you see their positions?" Haoyun glanced across the darkened street and asked.

"No," Dao Lao replied helplessly, shaking his head.

"Sigh! Although the enemy might not be very strong, our situation isn't optimistic! Due to system issues here, we can't effectively use the system's alert function to find potential hostile targets. Right now, we can only rely on personal experience to deal with the enemy! So everyone must be on high alert! Because those ambushers are likely still watching this area, and who knows, they might come over to clean up the scene after confirming the danger here has been neutralized!" Dream Jia said seriously.

As if to confirm Dream Jia's concerns, her words were interrupted by the sound of mechanical engines revving up again on the silent street. It seemed a new trouble was approaching.

Upon hearing this, both Haoyun and Dao Lao couldn't help but give Dream Jia a very speechless look. Dream Jia, in turn, stared back at them with embarrassment and scolded angrily, "Shut up! The reason I hit the nail on the head every time is because I'm stuck with you two jinxes!"

Although Haoyun and Dao Lao wanted to take this opportunity to tease Dream Jia, it was clearly not the best time for internal squabbles. They quickly judged that the mechanical roar was drawing nearer to them. It was at this moment that Haoyun and his team became increasingly puzzled by this sound. Because this mechanical roar didn't sound like the noise made by tanks or similar vehicles; it resembled more the sound of aircraft engines. But shouldn't fighter jets be flying in the sky? Then why was this roar coming from the distant streets?

Soon, their confusion was resolved. As the mechanical roar drew closer, they saw from around the corner not far from behind the building, a fighter jet slowly approaching. Specifically, the fighter jet was hovering just under three meters above the ground, conducting a slow, low-altitude flight along the street.

Though their systems were currently unable to assist with night vision, Haoyun and his team, aided by their sharp eyesight and the strong light emanating from the rear of the aircraft, could clearly discern that this approaching fighter jet bore a striking resemblance to the Sparrowhawk fighters from Timeline N38 of Earth.

The jet was painted in a black-gray camouflage, ensuring good concealment on urban streets at night, clearly designed for urban warfare. Mounted on its wings were cannons, confirming it had been modified from a fighter jet into a ground combat unit. Following behind the fighter jet were at least twenty biometric soldiers. It seemed they were specifically sent to support the eight soldiers who had been ambushed earlier.

Seeing this heavily armed squad heading straight towards the building where they were hiding, Haoyun and his team once again cautiously changed their hiding positions to avoid being easily detected. Knowing from their experiences with the Black Hole Journey, when their systems lost contact with the Pantheon Realm, not only did it weaken their divine power intensity, but it also significantly affected their mental recovery rate. Therefore, to ensure they had enduring combat capabilities, avoiding unnecessary conflict was naturally the best choice for them.

However, to Haoyun and his team's relief, this squad composed of fighter jets and over twenty tripedal soldiers didn't launch any attacks on the building upon arrival. The searchlight on the fighter jet only swept the streets around the building before shining its bright light towards the distant roads. Meanwhile, the squad continued past the building where Haoyun and his team were hiding, moving towards the distant streets, leaving only a few soldiers behind to guard the building. It seemed their objective was to prevent anyone from entering the building.

Seeing that the tripedal soldiers hadn't yet prepared to enter the building where they were hiding, Haoyun and his team quickly adjusted their hiding positions once again. Dao Lao and Haoyun took charge of monitoring the lower floors, while Dream Jia was responsible for surveillance above the building. This setup allowed them to better observe the unfolding developments. Of course, they had no intention of taking advantage of the situation to leave the building. Shortly after this squad arrived at the building, Haoyun and his team spotted several fighter jets leading tripedal soldiers heading towards them from multiple streets behind the building.

Upon witnessing the unfolding battle around the building, Haoyun and his team quickly concluded that numerous tripedal soldiers still lurked in the vicinity. Since these soldiers' primary target wasn't the building they were hiding in, their best option was to remain concealed inside rather than risk increasing the chance of detection by attempting to evacuate.

"Dada! Dada!"

Shortly after the first squad of tripedal soldiers turned into the street in front of the building, intense gunfire erupted with flames bursting forth from that direction. Based on the real-time footage shared by Dream Jia, who was on high alert at the top of the building, Haoyun and Dao Lao observed that the squad was now under assault from ambushers attacking from multiple directions, roughly a hundred meters away. Simultaneously, other tripedal soldier squads that had just turned around the street corner swiftly adjusted their upper bodies to face the direction where the firefight had erupted, moving to support their comrades.

"It seems we've been transported into a future battlefield. This situation demands that we quickly discern who among these tripedal soldiers and the ambushers are enemies and who are friendly forces in need of assistance. It's very likely this battle is directly related to those two mysterious individuals, and only by resolving this conflict can we hope to track down their whereabouts," Dao Lao remarked as he observed the intensifying street battles.

"Could it be that this is another trap set by the Countess?" Haoyun speculated, recalling how the Countess had manipulated them into seeking clues about the Beyond Sisters, leading them to Evermore Star and nearly getting them exposed on the planet.

As they pondered the situation, they realized the gravity of their predicament. The skirmish unfolding around them wasn't just a random conflict; it seemed intricately connected to the events and individuals they had encountered earlier. The tripedal soldiers, likely modified for urban warfare, were being ambushed by unknown assailants. The question of who these attackers were and their motives became paramount.

Dream Jia's voice broke the tense silence. "We need to act swiftly. Our position here is precarious, and being caught in the crossfire isn't an option. Let's use this chaos to our advantage and gather intel. If we can discern who the real enemies are, we might find allies in this fight."

With that, Haoyun and Dao Lao nodded in agreement. Despite the uncertainty of their current circumstances, one thing was clear: they needed to navigate this urban battlefield carefully, decipher friend from foe, and uncover the truth behind their unexpected journey to this future conflict zone.