Infiltration

The night grew deeper.

Sixth Avenue.

The once-thriving marketplace had long since been devastated by the war, leaving nothing but wreckage.

However, some buildings had survived relatively intact thanks to their massive size and sturdy structures.

Of course, that "intact" was only in comparison to the other buildings that had been reduced entirely to ruins.

For example: the department store on Sixth Avenue!

As the largest department store in the entire city, it had long lost its bright, glamorous exterior. Even half its roof had collapsed. From the sky, it looked like a battered boot turned upside down on the ground—the kind with a hole in the sole.

Even so, it could still serve as the best shelter from the chaos of war.

The only pity was...

At this moment, it was occupied by a group of armed thugs.

Outside the department store, two armed thugs leaned lazily in the shadows, their eyes sweeping over the surroundings.

However, the carelessness on their faces was enough to show that they were merely going through the motions.

It was not their fault!

Among the survivors on all of Sixth Avenue, which thug did not know that this was Vulture's territory? After the first resisters had been hanged and burned to death not far ahead, outsiders had long stopped setting foot here.

What was more, there was someone on the half-collapsed roof above them.

That was the real guard at the entrance to the Lair.

Not only did he stand higher and see farther, but his weapon was also far superior to the M1905s in their hands: a sniper rifle with a larger caliber, longer range, and greater accuracy.

In the eyes of the two armed thugs, that guy was the real Grim Reaper. Any stranger who approached this place would have his head blown apart by him.

"I want a smoke!"

One armed thug said to the other.

"Come on, let's go together!"

Rather than rebuking him, the other immediately agreed.

The two armed thugs stepped out of the shadows and headed straight into the department store.

They needed somewhere sheltered to smoke.

There was no such good spot outside the department store.

Naturally, the two armed thugs did not use the main entrance. In fact, the walls around the department store were riddled with holes blasted open by shells, and passing through those holes was far more convenient.

The thug who had made the suggestion eagerly crawled through one of the holes. Just as the thug behind him bent down to follow, a hand suddenly shot out from behind and covered his mouth.

As he instinctively tried to cry out, a sharp pain tore through his neck. Then, the armed thug fell completely into the darkness of death.

[Thrust: Vital attack, deals 100 damage to the opponent's Health (50 Cold Weapons (Dagger) X2). Opponent dead...]

"Hurry up!"

The armed thug who had entered the department store first did not notice anything wrong and was still urging his companion on.

He even leisurely lit a cigarette.

Just as the armed thug lit his cigarette, a figure suddenly pounced through the hole, knocking him to the ground. A dagger swept across his throat.

The armed thug did not even have time to react before he died.

[Thrust: Vital attack, deals 100 damage to the opponent's Health (50 Cold Weapons (Dagger) X2). Opponent dead...]

Huff!

After taking out the two armed thugs in quick succession, Qin Ran stood and let out a long breath.

He had arrived nearby half an hour earlier, quietly waiting for an opportunity like this.

With the skill Stealth, sneaking into the department store before him was not difficult for Qin Ran!

The difficult part was getting in without alerting the two armed thugs on the ground and the one guarding the roof.

He needed to enter the underground warehouse—the warehouse door had been deliberately damaged by Vulture's men, and every time it opened, it made a piercing noise.

It would be difficult for Qin Ran to bypass the guards outside and open the warehouse door directly.

Especially the armed thug on the roof. According to what Qin Ran had learned during interrogation, the thug stationed there had a sniper rifle. That was also why Qin Ran had firmly refused to let Colin come along.

Even though Colin had repeatedly insisted.

Qin Ran was confident he could hide himself, but Colin could not.

If he brought Colin along, not only would he expose himself, Colin would also be doomed.

After all, according to the prisoners, the sniper on the roof was quite skilled.

Of course, that level of skill was only impressive compared to these armed thugs.

To a real marksman, he was still nowhere near good enough.

Otherwise, Qin Ran would not have been able to sneak in so easily.

Still, Qin Ran did not underestimate him because of that.

After briefly searching the two armed thugs' bodies and finding nothing, Qin Ran cautiously made his way toward the roof.

As for the guns on the bodies?

Qin Ran already had an M1905 and enough magazines. Picking up more firearms would only hinder his mobility.

The route to the roof was no longer the original staircase, but the half of the roof that had collapsed directly downward.

The reinforced concrete roof had fallen along one side of the department store's wall, yet it had not completely separated from the section still connected to the wall. Since the department store's height was far less than its footprint's radius—

A strange natural staircase had formed.

Qin Ran silently climbed those stairs and reached the roof.

The moment he stepped onto the roof, Qin Ran saw the sniper who had concerned him so much.

The man held his sniper rifle in a half-crouching, half-kneeling stance, his gaze sweeping over the area around the department store.

Without question, compared to the other armed thugs, he was extremely serious about his duty.

But his ability still left much to be desired.

Qin Ran crept closer. He raised the dagger in his right hand slightly and lifted his left hand as well, then both hands moved at once.

As if he had practiced the motion thousands of times, his left hand precisely covered the man's mouth and yanked him backward, pulling his jaw away from the rifle stock and exposing more of his neck. The dagger in Qin Ran's right hand swept across it at once.

Splat!

Blood erupted, staining the entire sniper rifle that had fallen to the ground red.

The man's body trembled violently, his limbs twitching as though shocked by electricity. But Qin Ran's left hand covered his mouth, pinning him firmly against his chest.

Not until he stopped moving completely did he make a single sound.

It only caused the wound in his neck to tear wider, becoming increasingly gruesome.

[Thrust: Vital attack, deals 100 damage to the opponent's Health (50 Cold Weapons (Dagger) X2). Opponent dead...]

Only after the combat notification confirmed that the man was dead did Qin Ran release him.

Qin Ran laid down the lifeless body and picked up the sniper rifle.

"Eh?"

Qin Ran exclaimed in surprise.

Only then did he realize that the so-called "sniper rifle" had actually been assembled from a rifle and an additional scope that looked extremely awkward.

Clearly, the two were not a matching set.

[Name: M12]

[Type: Firearm]

[Quality: Ordinary]

[Attack Power: Ordinary]

[Magazine Capacity: 20 rounds]

[Attributes: None]

[Special Effects: None]

[Can be brought out of this dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: A well-maintained 7.62mm rifle. Reliable.]

...

[Name: Worker Bee Scope]

[Type: Firearm Attachment]

[Quality: Damaged]

[Attributes: 4x–8x magnification]

[Special Effects: None]

[Can be brought out of this dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: It was never meant to be mounted on a rifle.]

Looking at the system's remarks, Qin Ran examined the strange-looking sniper rifle again before finally setting it aside.

Even if it had been a real sniper rifle, Qin Ran would not have taken it.

Aside from the earlier reason—he needed to keep his load light to remain more agile—the sniper rifle was simply too conspicuous and would have a fatal impact on Qin Ran's next plan.

After eliminating the guards outside Vulture's Lair, Qin Ran intended to infiltrate Vulture's Lair.

He had harbored that idea since his first clash with Vulture's men.

Even though Colin had rejected it without mercy, Qin Ran had not given up.

When he learned that Vulture had twenty-one remaining subordinates rather than eleven, Qin Ran became even more determined to carry out the plan.

Because Qin Ran knew very well that even with the skills granted by the game, he could not truly fight one against twenty-one.

After inspecting the roof where the sniper had been stationed and confirming that nothing had been overlooked, Qin Ran climbed down and headed for the underground warehouse.

Qin Ran passed through the wrecked department store and soon saw the slope leading down to the underground warehouse.

After walking down the slope, he immediately spotted the warehouse entrance.

It was simply too conspicuous—

The underground warehouse door was not fully shut, but left half open.

Bright light poured through the gap in the warehouse door. Using that light, Qin Ran could easily see the situation inside.

There was a corridor wide enough for forklifts to pass through, with rooms arranged on both sides.

As Qin Ran understood it, this underground warehouse had not been one large mixed-use storage area. It had been divided into small rooms with concrete partitions and rented out to the department store's merchants.

Now, however, they had become the armed thugs' rooms.

Qin Ran slowly approached.

The glaring light spilling through the warehouse door formed a blinding patch of light and shadow on the ground.

Unlike the other survivors struggling to get by, Vulture and his group were living quite comfortably. Their dealings with the rebels had not only earned them enough supplies to live on, but also a diesel generator.

But that only proved they deserved to die even more!

The better Vulture and his group lived, the more deals they had made with the rebels.

And that meant more innocent women had fallen into the rebels' hands.

The killing intent surging in his heart made Qin Ran's entire body radiate a chilling aura.