They Said Delta Force—How Did It Turn into Arknights? Chapter 36

Amid the shriek of tearing metal, the remaining car windows burst under the impact. The airbags deployed in an instant, swallowing Texas from view.

The sedan rolled sideways three times like a toy flipped over by a giant, its roof scraping against the ground and throwing off blinding sparks.

In that instant, Han Fei's vision began to spin wildly. Worse still, he had already unbuckled his seat belt when he leaned out to return fire.

The moment the airbags deployed, Han Fei's body felt as though it had been struck by a hammer swung by a giant. Even with heavy blast-resistant gear and a Level 4 ballistic helmet protecting him, he could still feel searing pain shooting through all four limbs.

The pain was so vivid that Han Fei began to wonder whether he had broken any bones.

The good news was that he had kept Shield Dog's ultimate active. It granted super armor and let him ignore negative status effects.

"Fuck, why does this vehicle feel like it's gotten me killed instead? When has my Shield Dog ever suffered this kind of humiliation in a ground fight?"

Han Fei heard Cellinia's suppressed gasps beside him—the girl's breathing had grown heavy and frantic under the pressure of the airbags.

Just then, piercing brakes screeched from all directions, tires shrieking against the asphalt like the roars of wild beasts.

Han Fei knew they had run out of time.

Gritting his teeth, he adjusted his posture and kicked the car door with all his strength. With a teeth-grating rip, the door finally buckled and warped under the strain.

Han Fei swiftly sprang out of the cabin. His tactical boots landed on the overturned car body with a dull thud.

The driver's-side door was right in front of him. With a click, the large shield in Han Fei's hand unfolded, its thick alloy surface gleaming with a cold light beneath the sun.

Eight dark figures closed in from every direction. The weapons in the Siracusan assassins' hands reflected deadly glints. Han Fei pressed his back against the car door, his shield firmly protecting the space behind him—where Cellinia was struggling free from beneath the airbags.

"Face me!"

Han Fei's voice came through the D6 helmet, muffled but resolute.

The Way Home

The silver-haired girl's boot heel crushed a charred shell casing. The Saluzzo Family crest on her top was splattered with blood.

The overturned sedan burned, its twisted metal frame groaning beneath the flames. Thick smoke billowed into the sky, staining the sunlight gray-black. Silent corpses lay scattered across the ground, while pools of crimson blood reflected Lappland's cold face, as though silently recounting the brutality of the battle.

Lappland's gaze swept across the bodies one by one. Among the corpses littering the ground, she saw no trace of that annoying guy.

"So it didn't work after all."

Lappland muttered softly, with little disappointment in her voice.

She had witnessed Han Fei's abilities firsthand. Though she truly disliked that bastard who had stolen her shoes, she had to admit that ordinary Siracusan assassins were nothing more than a meal before Han Fei.

Sending pursuers after him had merely been a casual move on Lappland's part. If it paid off, she made a killing. If it failed, she lost nothing.

A Saluzzo Family assassin slowly approached Lappland and bowed. "Miss, we've confirmed it. No one survived. One vehicle is missing—it may have been taken by someone from the Texas Family."

"They were pretty ruthless."

Yet the news made the note at the end of Lappland's voice rise with delight. She looked at the subordinates waiting before her, her blood-spattered trench coat snapping in the wind. "Is everything ready?"

"Miss, everything is prepared. We await your orders."

"Very good."

Lappland let out a soft laugh, undisguised excitement churning in her eyes.

"Today."

Her voice was as light as a whisper, yet carried unquestionable killing intent. "Leave no one in the Texas Family alive.

"Cellinia, I'm coming for you. Are you ready?"

On the way back to the old estate, Han Fei sat in the driver's seat, both hands firmly gripping the steering wheel.

Cellinia sat curled up in the passenger seat with her arms wrapped around herself. Her gray-blue wolf ears were pressed flat against her hair, and the collar of her uniform was dusted with crystalline fragments from the shattered windshield.

Her profile reflected in the window, and several faint, still-damp streaks hid beneath the shadows cast by her eyelashes—whether cold sweat from the rollover or something else, no one knew.

With no pursuers left, Han Fei did not drive quickly. The stolen black sedan moved steadily through the streets of Columbia.

"Thank you. For earlier."

Texas suddenly spoke, breaking the silence in the car.

"You've already said that once."

Han Fei glanced sideways at Texas, a lazy smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Besides, I didn't really do anything."

After a moment of silence, Texas said in a low voice, "I just... I just don't know how to repay you."

At the instant the car flipped, time seemed to stretch endlessly.

The dull boom of the airbags deploying, the shriek of twisting metal, the sharp crack of shattering glass—every sound became a prolonged hum in Texas's ears.

In that instant, countless fragments flashed through the girl's mind: the flickering glow of a cigar in her father's study, Lappland's silver eyes, the mottled shadows cast by the stained-glass windows of the old estate...

Only then did Texas realize that people truly did see their lives flash before their eyes when facing death.

Remembering that moment, Texas suddenly clenched the fabric of her uniform in the passenger seat.

She was still only a girl who had just come of age. Even though she had weathered Siracusa's blood and storms, even though her cold exterior had long become her armor, when death truly brushed past her, the fear she had suppressed still seeped through the cracks in that armor.

But the scene she had imagined never came. At that moment, through the gap between the airbag and the seat, Texas saw a tall figure.

"Face me!"

Han Fei's voice had been so muffled, yet so firm, that it gave Texas—trapped in that desperate situation—a sense of security she had never known before.

At that moment, she had been utterly certain that this man would block every blade and bullet coming from Siracusa for her.

The feeling had been so intense that even after escaping danger, Texas still could not forget that sight. That voice still lingered in her heart.

"Isn't repaying me easy?" Han Fei said.

"Expensive things, right?" Texas raised the corner of her mouth. "You really never hide what you like."

She remembered how, after the battle, Han Fei had injected himself with some unknown medicine and then squatted beside the corpses, rummaging through them nonstop like a miser.

For a moment, Texas could not tell which Han Fei was the real one.

He was clearly a calm, dependable warrior, so how had he suddenly turned into someone so greedy for money?

But that thought lasted only a brief instant before Texas accepted that this was simply who Han Fei was.

She did not think it was a bad thing. On the contrary, this version of Han Fei felt more real—more like a living person of flesh and blood, rather than some flawless legend from a fairy tale.

Living people were supposed to have desires and emotions.

Han Fei nodded slightly. "Yeah. Same as before—antiques, fine wine, high-tech products. I'm not picky."

"The old estate does have quite a few valuable things stored away," Texas said. "Unfortunately, I'm only the family's eldest daughter, not its head. Without the key, I can't open the family treasury."

Han Fei raised a brow. "He has it?"

"That's right."

Texas answered softly, "Without his permission, not even I can open that door."

Han Fei tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. "I get what you mean."

The stolen black sedan merged into the city traffic, weaving through bustling Columbia.

As the sun gradually climbed to its highest point, the outline of the Texas Family's old estate grew clearer beneath the blazing noon sun.

Before long, the black sedan drove into the manor. Its shattered windows and bullet-riddled body immediately drew the attention of the family guards, and countless eyes watched it openly or from the shadows.

Had the family's eldest daughter not been seated in the passenger seat, the car likely would never have made it to the old estate's entrance.

Han Fei parked the car steadily. Then he and Texas got out together.

The old butler, having received word early, was already waiting at the entrance. Upon seeing Cellinia step out, he immediately said respectfully, "Miss, you're back."

Cellinia looked at the old butler expressionlessly. "Where is the family head?"

The question, devoid of even a trace of respect, made the old butler hesitate. He could not help but look at Cellinia again before answering truthfully, "Lord Giuseppe left the estate not long ago. He may not return until this afternoon."

"In that case."

Having received the news, Cellinia glanced at Han Fei. "We're going to the study."

"Miss, you..."

As he spoke, the old butler looked at the somewhat disheveled Cellinia, then let his gaze fall upon the battle-scarred black sedan behind her.

Everything conveyed one message—Cellinia had just gone through a vicious fight.

The old butler still cared about Cellinia. "Miss, you should see a doctor first."

"There's no need."

Cellinia passed the old butler without expression, walking toward the study with firm steps.

She had had enough of everything here. It was time to end the life she hated.

Release Announcement

Okay, before I knew it, it was time for this book to go premium. Updates for this book have been very stable. Aside from that one day when I woke up with a terrible headache and a fever, forcing me to take a day off, it has basically been a perfect attendance record—steady updates of over four thousand words every day without fail.

And thank you all for reading this far. Your continued support has given this book a pretty decent performance, and I'm truly grateful.

Okay, enough chatter. Tomorrow's update will have two chapters released in the morning, and after I wake up, there will be three more chapters.

Five chapters in total, probably just over ten thousand words.

Then, as usual, I'll open a reward campaign.

200 monthly tickets: 1 extra chapter.

10,000 in donations: 1 extra chapter.

100 blades: 1 extra chapter.

All Joy Silver Treasure Chest: 10 extra chapters.

All Joy Gold Treasure Chest: 20 extra chapters.

No upper limit, valid until the end of the month.

Given how steady my updates are, I can guarantee that part. Since you've read this far, you can trust me a little.

And while I'm at it, please subscribe. Since it's going premium, like every other author, I also hope to see some nice subscription numbers.

Okay, now it's time for my personal rambling.

I have to say, Delta Force is seriously addictive. Before I started playing it, I hadn't played an FPS game in a very long time. Put it this way: the last time I played an FPS, Team A was still in its dynasty era in CS:GO, and Denmark still had its core technology.

So at first, I wasn't interested in Delta Force at all, because I knew I had been away from FPS games for too long. I definitely wouldn't be able to beat the younger players.

But after playing it, I realized, holy shit, why is this game so fun?

Even an FPS scrub like me can enjoy the game by looting valuables.

Likewise, when a cheap loadout wipes a fully geared squad, that feeling is unbelievably satisfying.

I still remember during last year's S1 season, I ran a glass-cannon build with a Golden Egg Julang and wiped an entire Liu Tao Squad by myself. Damn, it felt incredible.

That was when I got hooked on Golden Eggs.

Running Classified Space City with Golden Eggs is honestly hard to profit from. Because of that, I went broke several times back then. Later, I copied Sweet Medicine's approach and went to Victor's Top-Secret Space City.

At first, I was making money—over twenty million a night. I was thrilled. But maybe because I killed too many people, once the intensity ramped up, I gave it all back pretty quickly.

After all, I'm really not some powerhouse, yet I insist on playing Veyron and rushing in as the first attacker.

And then began another journey into bankruptcy.

Put it this way: I paid my Space City tuition in Top-Secret Space City. To this day, I've played Classified Space City fewer than twenty times.

You can imagine how many Haf Coins I paid in tuition there.

So I finally behaved myself and crawled back to my beloved Brakkesh.

I've probably played over two thousand matches in Brakkesh. Entering that map feels like going home.

It was only this year that I quit running Golden Eggs in Classified Brakkesh and slowly started saving up assets.

Last year, I was truly the king of bankruptcy. My total assets never exceeded 70 million. This year is a little better—I've saved up 200 million.

But even so, I still haven't completed the 50 million Haf Coin Great Collector mission.

A textbook case of being bad but loving to charge in aggressively.

All right, that's enough rambling. Lastly, let me show you my badge.