Dog Eat Dog

Old Harbor District.

Li He arrived at the assembly point half an hour early.

More than fifty people had already gathered here. Aside from the well-equipped Special Task Force members wearing uniform black combat gear, there were over a dozen martial artists like him who had accepted guild missions.

A middle-aged martial artist with a scar on his face leaned toward Li He and grinned.

"Hey, little brother, what should I call you?"

Li He glanced at him without saying a word.

"Tsk tsk, you're quite guarded. Is this your first time doing this kind of work? Here's a little advice: in this line of business, it's best to give yourself a codename, otherwise you'll easily run into trouble. I go by Old Dog, how about you? Think of a codename?"

"Black Ape."

"Black Ape? Interesting." Old Dog chuckled, already confirming in his heart that Li He was indeed a rookie, having been tricked into revealing himself with just a few words. He wanted to say more, but was interrupted by the captain of the Special Task Force.

"Everyone, sign in!"

Li He and the other martial artists immediately stepped forward to scan the captain's device, completing their electronic check-in and confirming their identities and mission status.

"I am Zhao Gang, captain of the Third Special Task Force of the Public Security Bureau." The captain scanned the crowd. "The target of this operation is to wipe out the Black Snake Gang entrenched here. The primary target is their leader, Black Mamba; dead or alive. The secondary objective is to seize their weapons and smuggled goods!"

"Follow all orders. No one is to act without authorization. Violators will be dealt with for obstructing official business. Do you understand?"

"Understood."

The group replied in unison, Li He included. His expression was calm, but his heart was already taut.

"The Special Task Force will be divided into two groups: Group One will launch a frontal assault with suppressive fire, and Group Two will flank them to prevent the targets from escaping through the back door or the waterway."

"Guild martial artists, you are assigned to Group Two, led by Deputy Captain Chen Qiang. Group One, follow me!"

The operation began.

Li He followed Group Two, led by Deputy Captain Chen Qiang, moving quickly and cautiously along the side of the warehouse.

The terrain here was extremely complex.

Large and small shipping containers were stacked into a labyrinth of varying heights. Many narrow passages were only wide enough for one or two people to pass through, and discarded cables were scattered across the ground.

"Stay alert, watch for crossfire points!"

The Special Task Force members advanced, providing cover for one another, their gun barrels sweeping across every corner of the containers and shattered windows.

The guild martial artists appeared somewhat disorganized as they followed behind. Li He blended in among them, scanning his surroundings and etching the complex details of the terrain into his mind.

Suddenly, deafening gunfire and explosions erupted from the front of the warehouse; the group led by Zhao Gang had launched their assault.

At the same time the frontal attack began, a broken window blocked by debris was smashed open with a loud crash, and several figures darted out.

Clearly startled by the frontal attack, they were attempting to break out through the flank.

"Open fire!" Chen Qiang ordered without hesitation.

Da-da-da!

The gun barrels spat tongues of fire. The two gang members in the lead collapsed to the ground, but those behind them reacted quickly, immediately retreating behind the window and extending their gun barrels to return fire.

"Suppress them!" Chen Qiang roared, bullets raining down against the containers.

Just as the two sides were locked in a fierce firefight:

"Watch out, grenade!" a Special Task Force member shouted.

A round object emitting smoke was thrown from a tricky angle.

At the same time, dozens of gang members appeared atop the containers, firing wildly at Group Two.

The Special Task Force members immediately sought cover, while the guild martial artists fell into chaos. Some were knocked over by the blast, others were pierced by bullets, and screams rang out one after another.

"Take cover!" Deputy Captain Chen Qiang bellowed.

At this moment, bullets flew everywhere, sparks showered down, and the field of vision was obscured by thick smoke.

Li He crouched low, channeling the Turtle Breath Technique brought to him by the Turtle-Crane Health Stance, and remained hidden at the very back of the group.

A ruthless thug emptied his submachine gun magazine and turned to sprint toward the stack of containers.

Now. A cold glint flashed in Li He's eyes. He quickly activated the Wild Goose Eight Steps, darting out along the shadows of the container wall.

He quickly broke away from the battlefield.

Under the cover of the thick smoke, Li He closed in on the fleeing target in an instant.

The target seemed to sense something and turned his head in terror, but Li He was faster. His right hand struck out like lightning, his Silk-Reeling Power erupting to precisely shatter the man's throat.

The sound of the throat bone breaking was perfectly masked by the roar of gunfire.

The thug's eyes widened. He clutched his shattered throat as blood gushed out from between his fingers. He stumbled back a few steps before collapsing to the ground, twitching a few times before falling silent.

Li He's gaze was icy; his movements did not pause for even a second.

He quickly leaned down, picked up the dropped submachine gun, and tucked it into the belt he had prepared beforehand.

His other hand reached toward the tactical pouch at the man's waist.

Li He had long prepared a canvas bag to serve as a container for collecting loot, and he swept all these valuables into it.

He did not leave immediately.

The chaotic battlefield and the gang members fleeing in every direction were essentially nothing more than mobile resource nodes.

A colder glint intensified in his eyes; he activated Wild Goose Eight Steps once more and vanished into the depths of the smoke-filled container maze.

In a corner piled high with discarded fishing nets, a lone gang member was attempting to pry open a welded iron box.

Li He appeared like a ghost, his Old Ape Stretches Arms striking directly at the man's heart. The opponent collapsed to the ground without even a groan. Li He followed up on the gang member's work, smashed the iron box open, and found it was filled entirely with cash.

At the end of a narrow dead-end alley, two gang members were brawling over a briefcase.

Li He dropped down from the wall, used his legs to strangle one man's neck, and in the moment he rose, he employed the Cloud Hand Eighteen Forms to snap the other man's neck.

He snatched the briefcase, which contained neatly stacked red liquid vials of unknown effect.

Under the cover of smoke, firelight, and gunfire, Li He struck again and again, picking off lone gang members. These people didn't even qualify as martial artists and couldn't last a single move against him.

Soon, the once half-empty canvas bag became bulging, filled with banknotes, energy ores, several small packets of unidentified medicine, metal ingots, and more.

"That's about enough." Li He weighed the bag and felt very satisfied. If he got any greedier, he would easily be targeted by the Special Task Force or something even more dangerous.

He identified his direction and went full speed with Wild Goose Eight Steps, darting rapidly through the shadows of the containers, preparing to circle back to the blockade area previously assigned to the second team.

As he rounded a pile of bombed-out cargo containers.

Two figures lunged out from the swirling dust, one in front and one behind, cutting off his path.

Li He stopped in his tracks and quickly scanned the two men blocking his way.

One was tall and thin like a bamboo pole with cold, sinister eyes; the other was short, stocky, and wore a ferocious grin.

Both men had steady breathing and clean clothes.

Damn it, these two must have been lying in wait for me here for a long time! Li He felt a jolt in his heart.

Both of these men were Tier 1 martial artists, and their strength could not be underestimated. Furthermore, he had just gone through a series of high-intensity hunts and sprints, consuming a significant amount of stamina, while these two had been resting and waiting in ambush.

A head-on confrontation, one against two, carried extreme risk. Even if he could win, it would be a net loss if he alerted the Special Task Force nearby.

"Hehehe, brother Black Ape, you're quite nimble, aren't you?" Vulture chuckled sinisterly. "Leave the bag and get lost, and we might spare your life."

Li He looked at the two men as they gradually approached and said, "We are all Federation-registered martial artists. With the enemy still present and the mission unfinished, isn't it a bit too hasty to block me here and kill each other? If you back off now, we can all remain unharmed."

"Heh, enough talk! Hand over the bag and get lost, and we'll pretend we never saw you! Otherwise..."

"Brother Vulture, why bother talking to this kid? He's just a brat; let's just finish him and the stuff will all be ours."

Jackal had no intention of negotiating. He drew a short blade and stepped forward slowly, beginning to tighten the encirclement. He had already made up his mind to rob Li He here.

Li He's eyes turned cold. He had said his piece, but since these two were still pushing him, he couldn't be blamed for what happened next.

"If you want it so badly, then take it!"

His hand, resting on the backpack, exerted sudden force. He grabbed the shoulder strap and hurled the heavy canvas bag into the sky.

The bag traced an arc through the air. The gazes of Vulture and Jackal were instantly drawn to it, their greedy instincts causing them to subconsciously lose focus as they tracked the landing spot.

The very moment the bag left his hand.

Li He lunged sideways, using a tilted iron barrel nearby as cover. At the same time, he lightning-fast drew the submachine gun he had snatched from a thug and tucked into his belt earlier.

Da-da-da-da-da!

The muzzle spat tongues of fire!