However, after the scene changed, an even more terrifying plot awaited the mercenaries.
This time, the robots weren't shambling along like zombies. They took off on their little legs, charging at the mercenaries at full speed.
"Holy shit!" A Ping barely managed to get those words out before turning and running.
So these were the crying little devils Lao Liu had been talking about!
The ones they'd just faced were only the easy mode! This game wasn't meant to be beaten at all!
But not every mercenary reacted as quickly as A Ping. Some were still firing measured shots, but the Xiaolang Suicide Squad, now charging at full speed, was nothing like the easy mode they'd faced before.
Ignoring the hail of bullets, several members of the Xiaolang Suicide Squad raced forward with their "panicked S-shaped run" and soon reached the mercenaries at the front.
After several booming explosions, more members of the Xiaolang Suicide Squad burst out of the smoke before it had even cleared, charging at the survivors.
A Ping and two others had reacted quickly and started running back at once. The Xiaolang Suicide Squad behind them was much faster now, but those little legs were a natural disadvantage that hard work couldn't overcome. They still managed to put some distance between themselves and their pursuers.
"Ah! The size..." Nie Yun sighed softly from outside.
Faced with the overwhelming terror of life and death, A Ping and the other two soon made it back to Captain Ruan's group.
"C-Captain! This is bad! There are too many little devils behind us—we can't stop them! Think of a way to escape! Hurry!" A Ping's shrill cry reached them before he did.
Only then did Captain Ruan snap out of his shock at being trapped in a "ghost wall." Even if he wanted to blow open the hatch with a bomb, it was already too late!
With pursuers in front and no way back, he looked around. Naturally, this corridor had more than one room besides the core chamber where Chu Xiaoxiao was.
Bang! He decisively kicked open a nearby door. Inside was a room with a large ocean-facing window.
"Move! We're jumping into the sea!" Captain Ruan made the call without hesitation, and everyone filed into the room.
The mercenaries who entered last aimed their guns at the doorway in fear. Those self-destructing "little devils" had terrified them!
Bang, bang! Captain Ruan fired a burst at the window, shattering it. The window was designed so it couldn't be opened.
He leaned out. Beyond it stretched a pitch-black sea.
"A Ping, have three men hold them off. Lao Liu, you jump first!" Captain Ruan ordered.
Lao Liu was already scared witless. How could he possibly jump? He stammered, "T-There's a ghost ship out there!"
"Ghost ship my ass!" Captain Ruan swore, then snatched a pack from one of his men and pulled out the mysterious box inside.
After this, the mercenary group was finished. If he got another chance, the treasure in this box might give him an opportunity to start over.
He hugged the box tightly, then called out, "Everyone, jump with me!"
Without waiting for anyone to respond, he prepared to leap out the window first!
But at that very moment, a massive shadow slowly appeared outside the window. In the moonlight, the ship's cracked hull looked eerie, and rows of silvery-white cannons gleamed with a cold, ghostly sheen.
Everyone swallowed hard and slowly backed away.
"It's... it's a ghost ship!" Lao Liu cried in terror, completely breaking down!
Just as everyone was fearfully backing away, A Ping screamed from behind them, "Those little devils... They're back!"
They turned around. Sure enough, a small, teary-eyed, adorable head was poking through the doorway.
The mercenaries opened fire in terror. But in the face of overwhelming power, humans were so fragile. After a burst of gunfire and explosions, the room fell completely silent.
Captain Ruan lay dead in a pool of blood, his eyes still fixed on the box that had fallen nearby.
He should have gained a great opportunity from that box, then risen step by step to become a major figure in the international mercenary world. Who would have thought he'd die so bizarrely at the hands of a ghost ship? This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!
Mercenary Captain—Ruan Yinhui, deceased!
"At least... I finally got a name before I died." Ruan Yinhui slowly closed his eyes, finally able to rest in peace!
Only one person in the room was still alive: Feng Ge. He was covered in wounds, but still had half a life left.
It wasn't because Feng Ge was blessed with great fortune, impervious to bullets, or possessed boundless magic. Under Nie Yun's control, the Xiaolang Suicide Squad's explosions had simply missed him by a little, sparing his life.
Now, a strange pool of silvery-white liquid had bound his limbs and pinned him firmly to the floor. Unable to move, he stared in terror at the bizarre scene.
"It... It really is a ghost ship!" Feng Ge was filled with fear of the unknown.
Just then, a silvery-white bridge extended from the "ghost ship" outside and connected to the shattered window.
Feng Ge's eyes widened as he watched a figure in a black robe and hood walk along the bridge, step by step, into the room, as though treading on moonlight.
"Who stole my heart?!" the hooded figure asked in a low, hoarse voice.
What? His heart?!
Why did this plot seem so familiar? A strange thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Oh! My precious little darling, there you are! You've finally come back to Daddy!" the hooded figure exclaimed happily, then bent down and picked up a box at his feet.
Feng Ge stared in astonishment at the box. Wasn't this the mysterious box they'd all thought contained treasure?!
So it was his heart! The mercenaries had stolen the ghost ship captain's heart!
At last, the reason for everything became clear. The ghost ship had attacked them because they'd stolen its captain's heart!
Feng Ge wished he could drag out the mercenary who'd found the box and shoot him all over again!
It never even occurred to him to wonder how the ghost ship captain could still be alive without a heart. Wasn't it only natural for a ghost ship captain's heart to be stolen and then reclaimed?
That's what always happened in the stories! He even had a predecessor named Davy Jones.
"Now then! Tell me, why did you steal my heart?" the hooded figure asked Feng Ge in a hoarse voice.
"R-Respected captain of the ghost ship, we truly didn't mean to steal your heart! Th-This is all a misunderstanding!" Feng Ge wailed.
"Oh? A misunderstanding? Then what are you doing here, and how did you get my heart?"
Feng Ge was already so scared he'd wet himself. He didn't dare hesitate and hurriedly blurted out why they were there and how they'd gotten the box.
"So you're with the Riyao Group, and your young master sent you to kidnap the daughter of one of his rivals?" the hooded figure asked.
"Yes, yes! We never meant to steal your heart! Please spare me!" Feng Ge begged, his nose running and tears streaming down his face.
He didn't realize that the hooded figure wasn't interested in his own "heart" at all, but in their purpose for being there.
"Mm, I see. You've been honest, so I've decided to reward you by making you one of us!"
"Uh... One of you? What does that mean?" Feng Ge asked, stunned.
"Why, it means... becoming a ghost, of course!"
The hooded figure pulled a pistol from his robe and aimed it at Feng Ge.
Feng Ge stared blankly. He knew that gun. It was a Type 54.
Bang! After the shot rang out, Feng Ge's final thought was: Do ghosts use guns to kill people now?
And a made-in-China gun, no less?!
The second time he'd killed someone with his own hands, Nie Yun felt no discomfort. In any situation, showing mercy to one's enemies was the most useless thing. Nie Yun had understood that from childhood.
Then the black robe and pistol on Nie Yun's body strangely melted into a pool of silver liquid, which formed a silver bracelet around his wrist and revealed his original appearance.
"The Riyao Group. So it really was them." Nie Yun's eyes narrowed slightly.
No one could covet my wealth or hurt my friends on my turf!
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