Give It Back to You!

"Give me a gun. We'll go in together."

Lin Xu put on his body armor and helmet, then expertly flipped down his night-vision goggles.

Skullhead stared at him in astonishment and asked:

"You? A gun?"

"Can you shoot?"

"I'm very good at it."

Lin Xu took the rifle from Skullhead, removed the magazine and worked the bolt. After confirming the chamber was empty, he reinserted the magazine, then flipped the optical sight aside and switched to iron sights that wouldn't be affected by the night-vision goggles.

Even Skullhead was dumbfounded by that sequence of movements.

"You trained before?"

"No training. But I've fought."

"Are we going or not?"

Lin Xu raised his rifle and looked out the vehicle window.

"Let's go!"

Skullhead pulled open the door, and the six mercenaries, along with Lin Xu, jumped out.

"Stay behind us!"

"Everyone, enter in single file."

"Breacher, prepare to breach."

"Sniper, eliminate high-threat targets and cover our entry."

"Understood!"

At the command, everyone immediately sprang into action.

Lin Xu held his rifle in one hand and kept the other on Skullhead's back. Together with the other five team members, he watched different directions while advancing rapidly.

His tactical movements weren't particularly practiced, but they were passable.

----Nonsense!

In fact, he had taken part in battles like this at least twenty or thirty times over the course of his previous dozens of experiences.

His tactics and techniques might still have been lacking, but he had at least learned to imitate the routine convincingly.

The seven-man group approached the gate of East China Chemical Fiber. The security guards at the entrance had clearly noticed them, but out of caution, the armed guards did not attack immediately. Instead, they shouted:

"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"

They probably never could have imagined that on this land, fully armed mercenaries would dare launch an assault on a factory in broad daylight.

That was completely against all common sense, wasn't it?

Yet it was precisely this absurd operation that bought the mercenary squad precious time.

Without giving the guards a chance to say anything else, Skullhead pulled the trigger.

Rat!

The subsonic bullet sliced through the air and struck the guard squarely in the head.

Blood burst forth, and the innocent guard collapsed on the spot.

At that instant, a flicker of guilt rose in Lin Xu's heart.

He didn't know whether such an extreme course of action was right.

Killing one innocent person, or even a group of innocent people, for technology and for his own purposes?

It clashed somewhat with his values.

----But then again, even if I don't kill them, how long can they live?

In the world inside the wristband, they would die in the apocalypse twenty-five minutes from now!

So what he was doing was by no means noble, but it was definitely the best choice.

Fast. They had to be fast!

Lin Xu drove every distracting thought from his mind and focused on the weapon in his hands.

At that moment, the distant sniper also fired. The two guards in the elevated watchtower fell simultaneously.

Bang!

One of the bodies crashed down beside Lin Xu's feet, but he did not spare it a second glance.

"Keep moving!"

"Breacher, get ready!"

Skullhead was surprised by Lin Xu's composure, but he did not pause for even a second.

The breacher quickly stepped forward and set the explosives in only a few seconds.

Then—

Boom!

A massive explosion rang out.

Smoke and dust billowed everywhere. Lin Xu coughed and said:

"That explosive... was over the limit, wasn't it?!"

"That's CL-20!"

Skullhead answered casually as he led the squad swiftly inside.

The gate had been blown open. Beyond it stretched a vast factory complex.

"Where to?"

Skullhead shot down a guard trying to run for cover. As he advanced toward the cover, he turned and asked Lin Xu.

Earlier, in the vehicle, they had used their limited time to quickly analyze the layout of Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant, and several main buildings had already been marked.

Lin Xu rapidly surveyed the surroundings before answering:

"Main office building first. Set up a defensive line there."

"We have twenty-four minutes left. We have to move fast!"

"Understood!"

Skullhead gestured for the team to follow, then turned back and shouted:

"How the hell did you calculate those twenty-two minutes??"

"Don't worry about it!"

Lin Xu aimed at a guard raising his weapon in their path and pulled the trigger.

Bang bang bang bang—

Whoosh—

The other man's bullet streaked past Lin Xu's ear. He first felt a chill, followed immediately by searing pain.

His ear had been torn open, and blood instantly poured out.

"Watch the front! Protect the VIP!"

"Advance in a fan formation!"

Seeing that Lin Xu had been wounded, Skullhead immediately adjusted the deployment.

It had to be said, when it came to professional ethics, he was beyond reproach.

The squad continued advancing. Under their overwhelming firepower, the entire passage was cleared in an instant.

But at that moment, the quadcopter reconnaissance drone overhead was jammed by the security team. It crashed almost instantly, and they lost their overall view of the battlefield.

"Keep going! Keep going!"

"There's no time!"

Shouts from the rear support team came through Lin Xu's earpiece.

"The factory has raised the alarm. The first police units are expected to arrive in forty seconds, and special response units in two minutes!"

"We have to finish the fight within two minutes! Otherwise, it'll be hard to get out!"

"Understood!"

Skullhead panted heavily. By then, Lin Xu had already stepped into the main office building.

There was no one inside.

Of course. It was already 11:39. How could anyone still be here?

Damn.

If no one's here, where am I supposed to find the documents I need?

Sweat began to bead on Lin Xu's forehead. He rushed to the department directory found in every office building and quickly located the Technical Department.

Second floor.

Very close!

"Upstairs!"

Lin Xu took the lead and charged toward the staircase, but the instant he reached the landing—

Bang!

A shotgun blast came straight at him, and the tremendous impact sent him flying backward!

"Flashbang!"

Skullhead shouted as he threw a flashbang.

Buzzz!

The sound wave exceeding 185 decibels left Lin Xu briefly deafened. His ears went silent, and his vision was filled with blazing white light.

Only the agonizing pain in his arm, chest, and shoulder reminded him that this wasn't the apocalypse yet.

There was still time.

He had to hurry.

Lin Xu struggled to his feet, following the indistinct silhouettes ahead.

Muzzle flashes flickered before his eyes from time to time. He didn't dare fire, afraid he would hit a friendly.

A moment later, the gunfire stopped, and silence returned to the office building.

"Where?! Where?!"

Skullhead yelled at the top of his lungs beside Lin Xu's ear. Lin Xu shoved him away with his injured arm and said:

"I can hear now!"

"Find the hostages!"

"Understood!"

Skullhead grabbed Lin Xu and hauled him up. The sharp pain made Lin Xu cry out.

"Fuck!"

"Easy!"

"There's no time!"

Skullhead's voice was filled with barely concealed anxiety.

"All the hostages have been disarmed! Whatever you're doing, do it fast! We don't have time!"

"You don't have time."

Lin Xu's vision gradually recovered, and he finally saw the blurry figures before him.

Ignoring his blood-soaked arm, he grabbed one hostage by the collar and demanded fiercely:

"Where are the production process documents for PEEK-RTM and M46X??"

"Hand them over!"

"The factory belongs to the capitalists. Your lives belong to yourselves!"

Before the hostage could answer, Skullhead said urgently:

"There really isn't time!"

"We need to leave first. Take the hostages and go!"

"You go. I'm not leaving."

Lin Xu answered calmly.

"What do you mean?!"

Skullhead was dumbstruck.

"If I tell you to go, then go! You'll be paid automatically!"

"...Fine."

Skullhead dropped two magazines and decisively gave the order:

"The VIP has requested that we abandon protection and withdraw."

"Everyone, fall back with me!"

"Understood!"

The other mercenaries responded through the earpiece. Lin Xu took off his earpiece and helmet, and his body instantly felt lighter.

He took a deep breath, looked at the two terrified people before him, inhaled deeply once more, then asked in the calmest tone he could manage:

"Where is what I want?"

"As long as you tell me, don't worry. No one here will die."

He raised his gun. The two people opposite him instinctively recoiled.

Then one of them suddenly shouted:

"Give it back to you!"

"We'll give it all back to you!"

"We didn't steal this technology. We only used it..."

"Don't kill us, don't kill us..."

"Give me the technology, and I won't kill anyone!"

Lin Xu stood up.

"Take me to see it!"

The speaking man trembled as he climbed to his feet. After hesitating for a moment, Lin Xu aimed at the other man's knee and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Blood spurted out instantly, and screams echoed through the empty office.

Lin Xu struggled forward, dragging his injured body as he pushed the hostage ahead. The other man stammered in utter terror:

"We... we weren't against you. We were just carrying out orders..."

"We didn't take advantage of you... We're all the same... all the same..."

"Take advantage of who?"

Lin Xu asked instinctively.

The man froze for a moment before answering:

"Planetary Reincarnation... Planetary Reincarnation!"