Interrogation

"Are you crazy?!"

Colin growled in a low voice.

"No!"

Qin Ran answered with certainty.

"Then do you even know what you're saying?"

Colin's gray eyes seemed to be looking at a madman.

"Of course. I know exactly what I'm saying, and I understand what I want to do. Just as I know Vulture's lair must be heavily guarded and fraught with danger—but I have to do this... This is an opportunity!"

Qin Ran looked at Colin and spoke with utmost seriousness.

"Vulture sent his men to wipe us out. He clearly doesn't intend to let us live, even after this failure! In fact, Vulture will only become more ruthless. Like you said, that bitch can only protect his reputation by killing us, and showing his vicious side is the best way to do that!"

Seeing Colin's expression soften, Qin Ran took a deep breath and continued.

"And when Vulture sends more people, those guys won't be as easy to deal with as the ones in front of us! Their vigilance will make it hard for us to strike! Don't even dream of another ambush like this! And their equipment will be better too—don't tell me the whole police department relied on these pistols to keep the peace before the war!"

As he spoke, Qin Ran gestured toward the spoils in his hand.

"But, but..."

Colin frowned, wanting to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

Because she knew Qin Ran was telling the truth.

Although she had mocked Vulture before, that could not change the fact that Vulture's side was powerful.

"So, we have to take him out before Vulture can react! Wipe him out completely!"

Qin Ran declared forcefully.

"All right, all right. I accept your reasoning, Qin Ran, but you need to know this won't be easy!"

After thinking for a moment, Colin raised both hands in surrender.

However, her words still carried an attempt at persuasion.

What Colin needed was someone she could rely on for the long term. Even if Qin Ran's arguments made sense, she still wanted the whole plan—or rather, the whole matter—to be more secure.

Especially now that they had gained some advantages.

What Colin wanted even more was to trade the spoils before them for supplies, then survive longer in this damned war, even if it meant hiding and keeping their heads down.

After all, that was how she had lived for the previous four months.

But Qin Ran was different!

Qin Ran was a player!

And he was a player who needed to earn enough money through this game to treat his terminal illness!

So, he needed to grow stronger quickly, kill enough enemy NPCs, obtain weapons and equipment he could sell, and save up his treatment expenses as soon as possible.

Therefore, Qin Ran would never let an enemy NPC like Vulture, who was obviously a BOSS, slip away.

As for hiding out to get through the rest of the game?

If Qin Ran had been an ordinary player, he would have considered it.

But unfortunately, Qin Ran was not.

"I know it won't be easy, so we need to make it safer and simpler—Colin, could I trouble you to keep watch on the surroundings? Oh, and I need to borrow your kitchen knife!"

Qin Ran pointed at the captive on the ground as he spoke to Colin.

"Okay!"

Colin sighed and walked toward the other side of the ruins.

Not only could she hide there, but she also had a clear enough view to see everything around them. Before leaving, Colin followed Qin Ran's instructions and left the kitchen knife behind.

This kitchen knife had originally been Qin Ran's spoil of war.

It was only because of tonight's battle

that Qin Ran had given it to Colin as a precaution.

Now that Qin Ran was borrowing it back, Colin naturally had nothing to say.

And what did Qin Ran intend to do?

Colin had already guessed, but she chose to support him.

After living through four months of war, Colin had long since changed her old way of thinking. She no longer clung blindly to right and wrong. As long as something helped her survive better, that was enough.

That was the wish of everyone living through war!

Colin was naturally no exception.

Watching Colin head to her lookout position, Qin Ran finally turned his gaze to the captive before him.

Qin Ran did not know exactly what Colin was thinking. He only knew that she was in the same boat as him and could be trusted.

Qin Ran lifted his leg and kicked the captive, waking him from his unconsciousness.

"Please, spare me!"

The gunman, stripped of his fangs, began begging again the instant he woke up.

"Mm, I can, as long as you tell me everything I want to know!"

Qin Ran nodded and replied evenly.

But that calmness only made the captive gunman more terrified, because he could not tell from Qin Ran's tone whether he meant it or was deceiving him.

But he had no choice.

Because the initiative was completely in Qin Ran's hands.

"What do you want to know?"

The captive gunman asked cautiously.

"Everything about Vulture, including your lair and your numbers!"

Qin Ran said.

"I don't know much about Boss Vulture. The lair is in the underground warehouse of a shopping mall on Sixth Avenue. There are twenty of us... Ah!"

Before the gunman could finish, he let out a scream.

With a flick of his hand, Qin Ran brought the knife down and cut off one of the man's fingers.

"Shut up! You know I'm not asking about what everyone already knows. I want to know what no one else knows—you have two more chances!"

Holding the kitchen knife, Qin Ran looked at him coldly.

The man's scream stopped abruptly. Looking at Qin Ran's impassive face and the bloodstained kitchen knife in his hand, the gunman's fear overcame his pain.

"I really don't know much about Boss Vulture. He had no reputation before; he only suddenly rose to prominence during the war! The lair really is in the underground warehouse, but there are thirty of us—Boss Vulture recruited another batch of people a few days ago!"

Pain and fear made him reveal something substantial.

Thirty people?

Qin Ran narrowed his eyes.

Twenty people and thirty people were completely different concepts!

If it had been the former, after dealing with the two gunmen from yesterday and the seven from today, Qin Ran would only have needed to face eleven enemies.

But now, he would have to face twenty-one!

Qin Ran immediately felt the pressure double!

But the next moment, Qin Ran frowned as he thought of a problem.

"How could you gather enough supplies to support thirty people under these conditions? And you clearly don't lack food or water! The mall where your lair is located is only a department store, not a supermarket! Don't tell me Vulture brought all of that out of the police station too! You're lying to me!"

As he spoke, Qin Ran raised the kitchen knife.

Just as Qin Ran had said, supporting thirty people at a time like this was extremely difficult.

This was neither peacetime nor the beginning of the war.

After four months of fighting, the city's daily supplies had long become extremely scarce.

Even though Qin Ran had been here for less than two days, he could already feel how precious food and water were.

Yet the captive gunman showed no signs of hunger or thirst at all.

On the contrary, he was not only strong and vigorous, but full of life.

If only one person had been like that, it could have been explained as luck. But Qin Ran recalled that every gunman he had encountered had been the same.

Clearly, these gunmen did not lack food or water, and their stockpile was abundant. There was absolutely no chance of it running out anytime soon. This was no longer merely a matter of supplies needed for thirty adults.

They had at least enough supplies to support thirty adults for two or three weeks!

But even with weapons and a numerical advantage, it would have been impossible for Vulture to accomplish that.

Unless they had looted a large supermarket.

But that was impossible too!

Because when the war first began, the city's residents had already emptied those places.

So Qin Ran instinctively believed the man was lying.

"No! I'm not lying! Boss Vulture has a special channel for getting supplies!"

The man's pupils contracted at the sight of the raised kitchen knife, and he immediately explained.

"What channel?"

Qin Ran asked.

The man hesitated, but Qin Ran did not hesitate at all.

The raised kitchen knife came down fiercely.

Another one of the gunman's fingers was chopped off.

"Ah!"

The gunman cried out miserably again.

"It seems you still don't understand your situation. Do I need to remind you again?"

As he spoke, Qin Ran raised the kitchen knife once more.

"The rebels! The rebels!"

The gunman immediately blurted out.

"The rebels?"

Qin Ran froze.

Qin Ran had never expected Vulture to be involved with the rebels. After all, according to Colin and the captive gunman, Vulture had been nothing more than a petty thug before the war broke out!

How could someone like that have connections with the rebels?

"Boss Vulture captured some women. Using those women, he formed a partnership with a rebel major!"

Apparently afraid that speaking too slowly would earn him another cut, the gunman spoke without waiting for Qin Ran to ask.

The instant he heard that, Qin Ran clenched the knife handle tightly.

Qin Ran was not stupid, so he naturally guessed what kind of arrangement Vulture had with that rebel major.

A surging fury erupted from the depths of his heart.

Then, that fury turned into killing intent.

Yet when he looked at the gunman, he appeared calm.

"Good. It seems you understand how our conversation works now—next, tell me everything, one by one: the layout of the lair and where everyone is stationed!"

Qin Ran said.

"Okay, okay!"

The gunman nodded repeatedly and poured out everything he knew like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

He did not notice in the slightest that Qin Ran's eyes were growing colder and colder.

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