You're Alive and Grown Because Everyone Reveres the Law

When it comes to marksmanship, Xiang Qian is truly qualified to mock Vector. Wielding a Type 06 Pistol, Xiang Qian displayed skill on par with the military's elite marksmen; he could even consciously and actively weave himself into the firing rhythm of the others.

The assault team members, scattered across different firing points, controlled their respective rhythms through long-term cooperation and tacit understanding. They formed a crossfire net around Saber, effectively suppressing the dozen or so militants behind Temugin, which allowed Saber to focus entirely on his duel with Temugin without any worries. They soon discovered that Xiang Qian, this relatively "unfamiliar" temporary partner, could actually coordinate with them seamlessly.

Xiang Qian's rate of fire was not fast, and a small pistol could hardly compete with over a dozen automatic rifles, but he always managed to use his comrades' fire to find shooting lanes for himself. Furthermore, every shot he took was perfectly timed to land in the gaps of their own suppressive fire. Whenever one of their firing points had to pause to reload, leading the enemies opposite to think they had an opening, any militant who dared to pop their head up would inevitably hear two crisp, consecutive shots—"da, da"—before falling with a look of disbelief, dying without ever knowing what hit them. To onlookers, it looked as if those militants were actively exposing themselves to the muzzle of Xiang Qian's gun.

The "da-da... da-da" of gunfire rang out intermittently for two minutes until the dozen militants who had followed Temugin deep into the camp were wiped out, most of them falling to Xiang Qian's two-round bursts. By the time it was confirmed that all enemies were down, Xiang Qian hadn't even finished the last spare magazine in his hand.

Vector, having witnessed Xiang Qian's miraculous marksmanship with her own eyes, was completely enthralled.

With the dozen militants cleared out, the eastern side of the camp quieted down. The remaining garrison soldiers, enduring the scorching heat of the flames, quickly moved up to seize positions and seal the breach in the defensive line, effectively trapping Temugin deep within the camp. The surprise force led by Temugin was not large, and their intended "decapitation" strike—a feint to the east while attacking the west—had slammed headfirst into the iron wall of the Spear Bureau Special Task Force. His supposedly brilliant plan now looked like a joke. Worse yet, Temugin himself had fallen into a desperate, isolated predicament.

No matter how fierce the Ten Rings warriors were, they still appeared fragile when facing an elite special forces unit trained and armed by a world power.

Xiang Qian turned his muzzle toward Temugin, who was still locked in combat with Saber, but after a moment of hesitation, he lowered his arm.

"Boys, we agreed beforehand that taking down Temugin is Major Saber's solo performance, so nobody steal the spotlight!" Xiang Qian said with a grin over the comms channel. "Saber, those of us playing backup are all finished. What's going on with you, the headliner? It's been ages and you still haven't taken him down? Can you do it or not? If you can't, just say so; it's not shameful to ask for help from teammates on the sidelines."

Saber didn't say a word, but he clearly accelerated the speed of his blade; a burst of suppressed laughter echoed through the comms channel.

"Looks like a heated fight, but it's all just flashy moves. Did you learn this swordsmanship from a street performer?" Before long, Xiang Qian started chattering again. "I think you should quit the special task force and tell your captain you're retiring. For your captain's sake, I'll introduce you to a martial arts team. With this fancy, useless swordsmanship of yours, you'd at least bring home a medal in the weapons category at the national championships."

Saber still didn't speak, but the laughter in the comms channel was now clearly impossible to suppress.

Vector was struggling hard to hold it in, and she didn't know how many times she had rolled her eyes at Xiang Qian. What kind of person could grow such a foul mouth? She felt that if she were Saber, she would have been angered to death by now.

Vector said to Xiang Qian with great solemnity, "I think the only reason you've lived this long is because everyone fears the law." The comms channel erupted in laughter. Vector herself held it in as long as she could, but finally, she turned her back and burst into laughter.

Amidst the laughter, a sudden change occurred. Temugin, who was in the middle of the fight, retreated to create distance from Saber. Before Saber could pursue, he suddenly waved his hand, creating a series of small-scale explosions between them.

It was a dangerous move; the close-range explosions would not only hinder Saber's pursuit but also injure Temugin himself, but Temugin could no longer afford to care. His followers had been wiped out in an instant, and he was gradually losing the upper hand in his one-on-one fight with Saber. If he didn't find a way to leave now, he would never get out—but he had to choose his path carefully.

The way he came was no longer an option; the garrison had sealed the breach, and this dual-wielding opponent was relentless. Retreating the way he came would inevitably lead to being attacked from both front and rear. Heading west to join his allies who were still fighting was also impossible; that would require crossing the entire defensive line of the garrison, where he would likely be focused down by fire and still pursued by Saber. Looking around, the weakest point was the direction of the man and woman who were currently chatting and laughing.

Facing a small pistol and an unarmed woman was far safer than facing dozens of semi-automatic and automatic weapons. More importantly, those two were less than ten meters away and seemed to be talking, their attention distracted. If he could just rush past them, the three of them would be in close proximity, making it difficult for the others to fire indiscriminately.

Temugin figured all this out in a few short seconds and immediately put it into action. The explosions forced Saber back, buying Temugin a precious opportunity—an opportunity that was fleeting and could not be delayed. Ignoring the tightness in his chest from the shockwave of the explosions, Temugin seized the moment of Saber's retreat and sprinted toward Xiang Qian.

The opponent's attention was indeed not on him; he shouldn't have time to fire—Temugin decided to gamble on it.

Ten steps, five steps, three steps—the opponent really didn't have time to fire! Temugin was ecstatic and roared as he threw a punch. Having just triggered a series of explosions, he couldn't immediately activate the rings' powers again, but Temugin was quite confident in his hand-to-hand combat skills—there couldn't be that many martial arts masters, could there?

Just as these thoughts raced through Temugin's mind, he suddenly saw the young man with the pistol inexplicably break into a smile. Years of combat experience made Temugin instinctively sense something was wrong, but everything happened in the blink of an eye; he had no time to react further. He saw the man's gun-wielding hand remain lowered, but he shifted his body slightly, dropped his shoulder, and slammed into him with a side-on charge at an even greater speed.

The momentum of his lunge and punch left Temugin's front wide open, and Xiang Qian's shoulder-check landed solidly on Temugin's chest.

Baji Quan, Mountain-Leaning Strike!

Xiang Qian had been planning this blow for a long time; he had been preparing for it ever since he started mocking Saber. He had to ensure he could capture Temugin alive. Xiang Qian didn't doubt that Saber could defeat Temugin, but he wasn't sure Saber could capture him alive. The psychological profile team's report on Temugin, besides labeling him radical and reckless, also suggested that the man possessed a strangely pathological sense of honor, making it highly likely he would commit suicide to avoid capture when faced with a dead end.

Xiang Qian had to shatter his ability to resist in one fell swoop while he still held onto hope, and he had to completely strip him of the ability to even commit suicide.