Boom!

"Cough, cough..."

As Qin Ran pulled out the rag stuffed in her mouth, a string of coughs followed. However, the woman before him... or, more accurately, the young-faced girl remembered Qin Ran's earlier warning. Even as she coughed, she kept her voice low, her eyes fixed directly on him.

Her meaning could not have been clearer.

She wanted Qin Ran to untie her.

"Wait a moment. Can you introduce yourself? Preferably in detail."

Qin Ran did not immediately untie her. Instead, he questioned her.

He needed to judge further whether she would cause him trouble. Although she had behaved well just now, Qin Ran hoped that such good behavior would continue.

After all, unlike Colin, with whom he had already built trust—

She was only a stranger.

Even if she had been tied to Vulture's bed as a victim.

That was not a reason for Qin Ran to lower his guard.

"Maggie, an intern nurse at St. Joanna Hospital... I was hiding with everyone in the tunnels of the Hails Street subway station before—the tunnels have a hidden passage leading to an abandoned air-raid shelter! I was captured by them when I came out looking for food!"

After hesitating slightly, the girl began introducing herself. In her somewhat timid voice, she also explained why she was here.

However, there was still something Qin Ran cared about.

"How did you find the hidden passage?"

Qin Ran asked.

"My father was a worker who maintained the subway station, so I knew about it!"

When the girl mentioned her father, a mournful look appeared on her face.

In this war-torn city, that sorrow represented the loss of yet another living life.

The dead in wartime had long lost the peace of peaceful eras.

People had also lost their solemnity when facing the dead.

Even for those closest to them, all they could do was grieve.

Because everyone was equally helpless.

"I'm sorry. But I still want to ask: how many people were there?"

Qin Ran's upbringing made him apologize, but his caution made him continue questioning her.

"I was the last one to leave—although it was safe there, there wasn't enough food or water. At first, everyone still had supplies, but when the stored food and water ran out, people began leaving one after another! I was too scared to leave, and only came out when I truly couldn't hold on any longer! But the moment I left the subway station, they captured me!"

Maggie lowered her head as she spoke, ashamed both of her naturally timid personality and of her helplessness when facing Vulture's gang.

"There's nothing shameful about that. They're notorious armed thugs around here. Ordinary people are no match for them at all!"

Qin Ran spoke words meant to comfort her, but they only made Maggie feel even more ashamed.

Because she had personally watched Qin Ran effortlessly kill the thug leader who had terrified her so deeply.

"All right, we don't have much time. Once we find the key item, we need to leave immediately!"

Qin Ran used his dagger to cut the rope binding Maggie's hands. While Maggie used her hands to untie the rope around her feet, Qin Ran had already begun searching Vulture's room.

However, even while searching, Qin Ran kept part of his attention on Maggie.

Even now, Qin Ran could not completely trust Maggie.

Although he had found nothing contradictory in her words, without an experience like the life-and-death battles he had shared with Colin, Qin Ran could not rest easy entrusting his back to her.

Therefore, Qin Ran had deliberately only removed the restraints on her hands.

Otherwise, with the sharpness of the dagger in his hand,

After cutting two ropes, how difficult would it have been to cut another two?

Qin Ran ignored whether Maggie had noticed his wariness and guardedness. The next moment, he had already opened the drawer of the bedside table closest to him.

Several items lay in the drawer: a pistol, two magazines, and two grenades.

The pistol was still the familiar [M1905], and the magazines naturally matched it.

The important thing was the grenades!

[Name: -Ⅱ]

[Type: Grenade]

[Quality: Ordinary]

[Attack Power: Relatively Strong]

[Attribute: When used against unarmored creatures, power +30%]

[Special Effect: None]

[Can Be Taken Out of This Dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: It is called a defensive grenade, so the thrower must remember to protect himself.]

As Qin Ran looked at the grenade's description, especially its attribute, an idea suddenly sprang into his mind.

The next moment, Qin Ran swiftly picked up the two grenades and put them into his jacket pockets.

He also put away the gun and magazines.

Then, after checking again and confirming there was nothing valuable in the bedside table, Qin Ran went around the bed and walked toward the two large wardrobes placed side by side against the opposite wall.

At this time, Maggie was still struggling with the rope tied around her ankles.

Qin Ran directly pulled open the door of the wardrobe on the left.

It was not that Qin Ran was insufficiently cautious. Rather, he did not believe Vulture would set traps in his own room. The man Qin Ran had killed with a single blow clearly did not possess such knowledge or vigilance.

Creak!

With a somewhat grating sound, the door of the wardrobe on the left was fully opened by Qin Ran.

Canned food, bottled water, firearms, and bullets were packed densely inside, like a supermarket display pile.

With one glance, Qin Ran saw no fewer than thirty cans, while the bottled water came in box after box.

Among six or seven ordinary [M1905] pistols was another [M12] assault rifle. Golden bullets were packed in a large box, stacked layer upon layer.

"Tsk!"

Seeing this, even though Qin Ran had been mentally prepared, he could not help clicking his tongue.

After all, if he took this food and water out, it would be more than enough for him to safely last through the remaining mission time.

Picking up the [M12], Qin Ran slung it over his back and stepped over to the other wardrobe. Just as before, he directly pulled open both doors.

Compared to the previous wardrobe, this one was much neater.

Aside from the still considerable amount of canned food and bottled water, there was only a hiking backpack.

Without hesitation, Qin Ran picked up the backpack.

Its considerable weight forced Qin Ran to change from holding it with one hand to using both.

Moreover, in order to open the hiking backpack smoothly, Qin Ran had to raise his left leg and use his thigh to support it, while his knee pressed against the wardrobe door.

Qin Ran pulled open the zipper.

The dazzling reflection made Qin Ran narrow his eyes.

Glittering gold jewelry, inlaid with gemstones of every color, had been stuffed into the backpack without any order.

Even though he had been prepared, when Qin Ran truly saw this entire bag of jewelry—especially when he thought of its price—his breathing still caught.

However, the game prompt that followed immediately snapped him awake.

[Name: Priceless Jewelry]

[Type: Jewelry]

[Quality: Mixed (There are multiple items, so they cannot be accurately identified)]

[Attribute: None]

[Special Effect: None]

[Can Be Taken Out of This Dungeon: No]

[Remark: You may choose to hand it over to the major, or do something else!]

"It can't be taken out?"

Seeing this prompt, Qin Ran felt deep regret.

Just looking at the name told him these jewels were worth a fortune.

If he could take them out of the dungeon, Qin Ran would not mind abandoning his later plans and finding somewhere safe to spend the rest of the time.

Because judging from the description above, this bag of jewelry might have been enough for him to achieve the goal that had brought him into the underground game.

But unfortunately, the game's designers clearly would not let anyone exploit such a loophole.

If this bag of jewelry could truly be taken out of the dungeon, then the place Qin Ran was about to break into would naturally not be an underground warehouse occupied by thugs, but a military base equipped with the most advanced gear.

As for Vulture, whom Qin Ran had easily killed?

At the very least, he would have been an all-around combat expert, perhaps even a so-called martial artist!

Every reward came with corresponding difficulty!

That was the rule of the game!

Unless... he found a BG, or activated cheats!

And Qin Ran, a newcomer to the underground game, naturally could not find any BG in the game.

As for cheats, there was no need to even think about them.

After zipping the hiking backpack shut again, Qin Ran turned to look at Maggie.

By then, Maggie had already untied the rope around her legs. Yet she merely sat on the bed without making any suspicious moves, even after seeing so much food, water, and weaponry.

Whether she was sincere or merely putting on an act, she had earned a little of Qin Ran's goodwill.

The former meant she was innocent, while the latter meant she knew how to weigh her options.

Both were beneficial to Qin Ran.

Even if the latter was slightly troublesome, as long as Qin Ran displayed enough strength, she would understand what she could touch and what she could not.

"I'm going out to deal with the trouble outside. I'll be right back!"

With that, Qin Ran walked out of the room.

Just as Qin Ran had said, he intended to deal with the remaining armed thugs.

This had not been Qin Ran's original plan.

But after obtaining the two grenades, everything had changed.

Qin Ran walked over to the diesel generator. Beside him was the room where the armed thugs had gathered, and the noise inside remained loud. They had not noticed anything wrong at all.

Qin Ran raised his hand and shut off the diesel generator.

Immediately, the entire corridor fell into darkness.

"Damn it! That piece of junk broke down again!"

"Go check it quickly, or Boss Vulture is going to lose his temper!"

"We should find more generators!"

The room to one side first fell silent, followed by a string of curses and complaints.

Then came a series of unsteady footsteps.

The darkness caused them considerable trouble.

Next, an armed thug opened the door.

The instant the door opened, Qin Ran, who had been standing in the darkness, moved. He suddenly raised his left leg and kicked forward, his foot stomping viciously into the armed thug's lower abdomen.

Completely unprepared, the armed thug let out a scream and rolled backward into the room.

At the same time, Qin Ran threw the grenade after pulling its pin into the room.

"What happened?"

"What's going on?"

Boom!

The armed thugs, utterly unable to understand what had happened, panicked. But after the explosion, everything fell silent.

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