Major

Major!

Someone who could be called that and had ties to Vulture could only be Vulture's mysterious contact within the rebel army.

Qin Ran narrowed his eyes as he stared at the phone's white screen. The ringtone kept sounding.

Instinctively, Qin Ran was about to hang up.

He had no desire to get involved with the rebels entrenched in this city.

He knew full well that, having killed Vulture, he was naturally on the opposite side of them. Any involvement would inevitably lead to conflict.

Though he had taken out Vulture with ease, that did not mean Qin Ran had become overconfident.

He knew exactly how he had managed to kill Vulture.

Aside from the power of his in-game skills, the greater factor had been his opponent's contempt for him!

From the very beginning, Vulture's side had never regarded him as an equal opponent.

That was precisely why he had been able to succeed again and again!

But the military was different!

The military had its own discipline. They would not make the same low-level mistakes as armed thugs!

Even if they were rebels, that remained true!

Combined with their training, more advanced and comprehensive equipment, and numbers in the thousands or tens of thousands, a battle against them would be utterly despairing.

Qin Ran had no intention of facing an entire army with only two people on his side!

His thumb rose and moved toward the hang-up button.

But the instant his fingertip touched it, Qin Ran stopped.

He remembered why he had entered the Underground Game!

To earn enough money to treat his illness!

And he only had one year of real-world time!

That was not a long time. Based on Qin Ran's gaming experience, converted into game time, it would not be long either!

Therefore, he needed to seize every opportunity in the game and grow stronger as quickly as possible!

Only then could he achieve the purpose for which he had entered the Underground Game: earning money!

And right before him was such an opportunity—

A rebel major!

The evaluation for killing a thug leader and the evaluation for killing a rebel major were completely different concepts!

Even though this was only Qin Ran's first time experiencing a dungeon world, he was certain that if he killed this rebel major, his completion rating would rise by at least one grade!

Qin Ran pressed his lips together.

He thought and hesitated.

He knew full well that such tempting rewards came with danger. Calling it a near-certain death would not be an exaggeration.

And once someone died in the Underground Game, they truly died!

Reason told Qin Ran that, for the sake of caution, he should give up!

But deep down, he was unwilling to accept that. He asked himself, If I give up this time because it's dangerous, then... what about next time?

The answer was self-evident.

Once there was a first time, there would inevitably be a second.

If he retreated once, he would naturally retreat again.

Retreating again and again!

Over the course of one year, how many times could he afford to retreat?

"If I don't have enough money for treatment, I'll still die a year from now! I might as well take a gamble now, while I still have time..."

Qin Ran gritted his teeth.

The next moment, his raised thumb pressed the answer button.

"Vulture, I hope the reason you kept me waiting is because you've brought me good news!"

A deep voice, delivered in a mechanical tone, entered Qin Ran's ears through the receiver.

At once, the image of a cold-faced soldier appeared in Qin Ran's mind.

"If not, you'll learn what fate awaits you!"

The other party continued without waiting for Qin Ran to respond.

His tone remained mechanical, but his words carried a strong sense of aggression, like a lion bearing down on a jackal.

Without question, this was how he normally spoke to Vulture.

Clearly, Vulture and the other party were by no means equal trading partners.

It was more like one side was the other's vassal.

Considering Vulture's identity before the war, such a situation was not impossible.

Or rather, only this made sense!

One was a field-grade officer in the rebel army, while the other was merely a gang leader who had gathered a group of thugs. If they truly were equal trading partners, that would be absurd!

And if one side really was the other's vassal, was Vulture truly doing nothing more than abducting women?

"Good news? Definitely not women! It should be something else!"

Qin Ran looked at the woman on the bed beside him, her limbs bound and her mouth gagged. Clearly, the "good news" the other party referred to was definitely not the woman before him!

He frowned slightly and began to speculate about the man's true intentions.

Then an idea suddenly flashed through his mind!

Qin Ran remembered the first sentence of the dungeon's background introduction—

"War swept through this city out of the blue, and the people were completely unprepared!"

This was a city where war had suddenly erupted!

When war broke out without warning, how many people could take all their wealth with them?

The answer was: none!

No one could take all their wealth with them when war suddenly erupted.

Being able to leave with even a small portion of their wealth would make them god's favored children!

In fact, surviving a war at all was already an immense stroke of luck.

You could not ask for more in a war!

But there were exceptions!

For example, the rebel major currently speaking with Qin Ran!

The man's status, the power he controlled, and a vassal like Vulture were enough to allow this Major to do things that others neither dared nor could accomplish.

Qin Ran's thoughts raced. Once he understood the key point, a bold plan emerged in his mind.

Then Qin Ran spoke.

"Vulture? You're looking for that guy? Sorry, but if you want him, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed—from now on, everything here will be under my control!"

His voice was slightly excited, and his tone was even more agitated.

Qin Ran perfectly played the role of a thug who had just seized power and was too delighted to contain himself.

The other party fell silent.

Only after a full three seconds did he speak again.

"I don't care who you are! If you don't want trouble, you'd better fulfill what Vulture promised me!"

The man's mechanical tone did not change in the slightest just because the person on the call had changed.

"Are you threatening me?"

Qin Ran continued in the same tone as before.

"I'm merely stating the facts! Don't forget where the food you eat and the water you drink come from!"

The other party replied.

This time, Qin Ran did not answer immediately. Instead, he deliberately remained silent.

He needed to portray the dignity of a newly risen boss eager to establish his position, but forced to surrender that dignity in order to preserve it.

Because the other party held the initiative!

Without the food and water supplied by the other party, no one could make those thugs obediently follow orders.

Qin Ran could not be certain whether his performance was flawless.

But this was the only way to lull the other party into complacency.

To make him believe everything remained under his control.

Only then would Qin Ran have a chance to seize a sliver of initiative: relocate the wealth Vulture had failed to hand over to him and use it as an opening.

Simply put, he needed to stabilize the other party for the moment.

Qin Ran had no desire to be surrounded in the mall's underground warehouse by rebels rushing out of the barracks ten or so minutes later.

Although the rebels had recently maintained a very regular schedule, Qin Ran believed that once they received a definite order, they would not mind coming out for a little activity.

"Do you understand your position now?"

Faced with Qin Ran's silence, the other party's mechanical voice carried a trace of mockery.

Like a lion watching an ignorant rabbit strut arrogantly in front of it.

"Fine! Fine! You're the boss. Whatever Vulture promised you, I promise it too! They're just women. There's one in Vulture's room right now!"

Qin Ran's voice was reluctant, yet carried a trace of ingratiation.

It sounded extremely awkward.

"Women?"

The other party gave a disdainful snort. Then, only then, did he speak in the same mechanical tone as before. "What I want is jewelry and priceless works of art... Since you're in Vulture's room, you must be able to see them! Tomorrow morning, I'll send someone to collect them. At the same time, I'll bring you more living supplies!"

With that, the other party directly hung up.

"As expected!"

Qin Ran looked at the disconnected phone and thought to himself.

The other party had cultivated a vassal like Vulture not for women at all!

That disdain was enough to explain everything!

What the other party wanted was... the wealth of the entire city!

Qin Ran's gaze instinctively shifted to the two wardrobes standing side by side against the wall beside the large bed. Aside from the bedside table in front of him, they were the only places in the entire room that could be used to store things.

As for the iron cage in the corner of the room?

With everything visible at a glance, Qin Ran understood its purpose even more clearly.

Qin Ran turned his head and looked at the woman whose limbs were bound.

"Hello, I mean you no harm! I'll remove the rag from your mouth now, but you need to promise me that you won't scream or do anything that puts us in danger—although I killed Vulture, he still has more than a dozen lively subordinates outside! If you understand what I mean, then nod!"

The moment Qin Ran finished speaking, the woman with her limbs bound and mouth gagged immediately nodded.

"Very good!"

Seeing that she understood what he meant, Qin Ran yanked the rag from her mouth.