The group organized their equipment and hurried to the vicinity of the Church mentioned by the Puppet Master in the communication screen.

As night fell, the abandoned Church stood alone on the boundless snowy plain, like a lost island.

From their location, they could just catch sight of the entire dilapidated outline of the Church. Under the crumbling dome, countless black puppet figures wandered. There were puppet sentinels responsible for vigilance, all armed, leading Ghouls walking in the dark; those sensitive creatures would raise the alarm the moment enemies approached.

Xu Xiaoyou also noticed a subtle figure on the second floor. It was a girl turned puppet, her eyes dull, wearing combat attire similar to theirs, leaning behind a half-broken wall, holding a heavy sniper rifle; the 0.5-inch caliber bullets it fired could shatter the skulls of most Fourth Tier Cleaners.

The most conspicuous was the puppet guarding the Church's entrance, a figure clad in heavy armor. A nearly three-meter-tall body, like a humanoid beast wrapped in armor, emitted a rough and heavy aura. The giant Guitar Axe in its hand was streaked with crimson, unclear whether it was its original paint or someone else's blood.

This was actually a Three Tier Cleaner, and there were similar Cleaner puppets stationed at both the back door and east door of the Church. It was hard to imagine how the Puppet Master managed to enslave these High Tier Cleaners to serve him.

Undoubtedly, this Church was heavily guarded, so tightly that not even a fly could get in.

Xu Xiaoyou lay in the bushes, silently putting away her binoculars.

No wonder the Puppet Master dared to challenge them directly; with this puppet army, even if all members of a medium agency in the city were deployed, they couldn't do anything about him.

Except for using tanks and cannons to blast open the Church doors directly, they couldn't think of any means to assault the Church head-on.

"Where did this guy find so many monsters?" Chen San frowned. "So many guns, the firepower is on par with a family agency."

Xu Xiaoyou sat up and gestured for everyone to look at her:

"Let me briefly outline the subsequent combat plan."

The three raised their ears, eager to hear what earth-shattering battle plan the girl could come up with.

Xu Xiaoyou pointed at Chen San: "You go and take out the main attacker at the Church entrance."

Chen San was dumbfounded, pointing at himself: "Me?"

Not just Chen San, Lin Sheng and Tang Xin also looked confused; it's worth noting that this was a Three Tier Heavy Knight, renowned for its unparalleled Power and frontal combat strength. Even Lin Sheng dared not assume he could win against it directly, let alone Chen San, a First Tier agency clerical member.

"In such a serious situation, let's not joke around."

Chen San hadn't finished speaking when Xu Xiaoyou interrupted, waving her hand, sneering coldly with a detached attitude: "Do I look like I'm joking with you?"

"Or, Chen San, do you, a commander who repeatedly makes wrong decisions and leads the team into danger, have the confidence to question my decisions?"

Chen San paused, and everyone looked somewhat shocked at the changed aura of the girl. The cold aura emanating from her made them feel unfamiliar, as if she was born a superior Chess Player, whose words were neither to be questioned nor refused.

"If you can't think of a better plan and don't have the determination to bear all costs and consequences, then shut your mouth and let me finish."

Chen San suddenly went silent, saying no more. Xu Xiaoyou's icy demeanor softened slightly, with a hint of gentleness.

"Of course, I'm not asking you to attack directly head-on; later, I'll use a Substitute to cooperate with you in holding that guy off."

"What you need to do is follow my instructions, keep moving and avoid being taken out. Taking that guy down would be best, but not managing it is also within my expectations."

"Risking little to gain much, a small stake to win a big one, I want to win the largest outcome with the smallest wager."

"Let's go and face that guy."

With that, Xu Xiaoyou stood up, dusting off her clothes, her gaze steadily set on the distant Church, sweeping past the wandering puppet sentinels nearby.

She made an unexpected move, with a champagne glass in one hand and a spoon in the other, tapping the spoon against the lower part of the champagne glass, producing a clear ringing in succession. Her tactical vest cinched around her straightened waist, like a miss not received an invitation yet poised to attend a grand banquet.

"The less welcome we are, the more grandiose the scene should be, to let him know we've arrived."

"What are you doing?" Chen San's voice trembled at the girl's madness.

After she did so, all the puppet sentinels in the bushes looked over, red light bursting from their eyes.

"Tang Xin, buff up, and first take care of these peripheral minions. That Puppet Master has too far-reaching a gaze, too greedy, let's help him clear it a bit."

Tang Xin quickly reacted, softly chanting, {Sound of Wings Blue}, {Heroic Ode}, and {Elegy of Life} triple effects were granted to the team members.

Xu Xiaoyou stepped forward, holding the Dawn Long Blade, taking down a nearby puppet in a single strike, then in her other hand, a pistol appeared.

She charged ahead, using the puppet's remains as a shield against the sentinel puppets' gunfire, subsequently picking off nearby puppet sentinels with precise shots.

The commotion there quickly caught the attention of the puppets from afar at the Church, and just as the puppet girl on the second-floor rubble raised her head, her gun barrel barely extending beyond the wall, Xu Xiaoyou decisively shouted:

"Chen San, shoot her down!"

Even if his heart belied uncertainty, Chen San reacted instantly, quickly setting up the sniper rifle, pulling the trigger before the other could fire at Xu Xiaoyou.

The puppet girl's half head exploded, and her body slumped limply.

Tang Xin swiftly followed Xu Xiaoyou's pace, employing Water Technique to intercept the web of gunfire for her, while Lin Sheng swept his blade, clearing away a large swathe of puppets.

The nearby puppet sentinels posed little threat to them, and soon they cleared a space. Xu Xiaoyou closed her eyes, envisioning a map spread out in her mind within a thousand-meter radius centered on the Church. She recalled every detail.

If this distance from them to the Church was divided into three zones, they were currently in Zone Three, where puppet sentinel numbers were the highest and Puppet Master's surveillance was most concentrated. This area was relatively easier to breach, but even if they cleared a small batch of puppets, nearby sentinels would quickly fill the gap.

The whole process took less than five seconds, and another batch of puppets appeared around them, red glows flickering densely behind the cover of trees.

Xu Xiaoyou swiftly sprinted out from behind cover, severing the neck of a puppet in front, then stepped towards another side, ducking behind a tree, evading more puppet gunfire.

Responding to those puppet sentinels were waves of scorching flames; after dealing with the sentinels with Fireballs, Xu Xiaoyou didn't dive deeper but spread out longitudinally, continuing to handle the scattered Ghouls, her mind calm and calculating swiftly.

In this third zone, the Puppet Master had extremely brief periods of vision blind spots, and their every move would be seen. Precisely because of this, they might as well grandly announce that they have decided to 'assault' the Church, clean up a bunch of eyesores in the process, reducing future troubles while fully launching this operation!

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