Fight Again

After a second of searing pain, Qin Ran felt the entire left side of his body go completely numb.

He lowered his head and looked at where he had been shot—

It was near his lower abdomen. A bullet had embedded itself in the bulletproof vest, and blood was seeping out from it!

Qin Ran knew very well that without the bulletproof vest cushioning the impact, his lower abdomen would already have been torn open by a huge hole, straight through from front to back.

[Remember this site's domain: Taiwan Novels.]

Even with the bulletproof vest's protection, though, he had been seriously injured.

[Shooting: Your opponent dealt 80 points of damage. Armor negated 40 points. Actual damage received: 40 points. You have entered Moderate Wound Status...]

[Moderate Wound Status: Strength, Agility, and Perception decreased by one rank.]

[Attack power exceeded tolerance. T1 Bulletproof Vest quality decreased!]

Clearly, bullets fired by an assault rifle were far more powerful than ordinary handgun rounds. The vest's damage-negation effect had dropped by around five points.

Not only that, the [T1 Bulletproof Vest] had gone from normal quality to damaged.

More importantly, Qin Ran's HP had fallen directly from 95 to 55, losing nearly half of it, and he had entered the special state of [Moderate Wound Status].

Seeing his Strength and Agility drop from F to F-, and his Perception from F+ to F, Qin Ran could not help baring his teeth.

Compared to the previous graze, this attack had truly made him suffer.

The only fortunate thing was that his digitized body let him know clearly that he was still far from death, even though the pain was almost unbearable and all his attributes had declined.

Gritting his teeth, Qin Ran covered his wound, picked up the fallen "sniper rifle," and entered [Stealth] once more.

Once again, Qin Ran was grateful for this dense stretch of ruins. It gave him enough room to evade bullets and enough time to flee his original position.

By the time Mark led his remaining three subordinates to where Qin Ran had been, Qin Ran had long since vanished.

"Damn it! If we could use rocket launchers, grenade launchers, or even grenades, that bastard would already be dead!"

Handel, who had served as the "bait," vented his frustration at the empty spot.

"That is the major's order!"

Hank answered his subordinate.

His tone was firm, offering no explanation.

Because Hank had no way to explain any further.

Although these soldiers were also Saruka's trusted men, their status was still far below Hank's.

At the very least, Hank knew their true objective!

They were to retrieve that bag of jewels, not kill Qin Ran.

Even if they killed Qin Ran, the mission would still be a failure if they lost that bag of jewels!

And Hank knew full well how Saruka dealt with those who failed their missions.

Therefore, even though Qin Ran had displayed remarkable agility and did not appear to be carrying any extra items, Hank did not dare order the use of weapons such as rocket launchers, grenade launchers, or grenades.

Because Hank did not know how many jewels were in the bag he was looking for—Saruka never told others everything, not even trusted men like Hank.

That left Hank in an absolutely passive position.

Could it be carried on a person?

Or could it not be carried on a person?

If it was the latter, then nothing mattered. As long as they kept searching, they would eventually find it. But what if it was the former?

Could he explain to Saruka that everything he had been searching for had been blasted away in an explosion?

If he truly dared to say that, Hank could guarantee that Saruka would put a bullet in his head!

Thus, even as his men suffered loss after loss, Hank did not order the use of more powerful weapons.

"He was hit!"

One of the searching rebel soldiers discovered bloodstains on the ground.

At once, the rebel soldiers, Hank included, lit up.

"Follow the trail!"

Hank immediately gave the order.

Qin Ran hid beneath a pile of ruins made of concrete walls and collapsed timber. If not for the sunlight leaking in through the cracks, the place would have looked exactly like a dark cave.

After entering, Qin Ran quickened his pace. He knew he did not have much time left.

Even though he had plugged the wound with his inner lining, blood continued to flow out and drip onto the ground.

Ordinary people might have overlooked it.

But these rebel soldiers would not.

They possessed a sensitivity to blood that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

Following those bloodstains, it was only a matter of time before the rebel soldiers caught up to him.

During that time, Qin Ran had to restore himself to a normal condition.

At the very least, he needed to remove the special state of [Moderate Wound Status].

Otherwise, there was no way he could fight this battle.

The decrease in Strength made the "sniper rifle" in his hand and the magazines on his body suddenly feel much heavier. The decrease in Agility made [Stealth] feel sluggish and awkward.

There was no need to ask. The skill closely tied to Agility, [Dodge], had also been affected.

As for the decrease in Perception?

Qin Ran could clearly tell that his vision and hearing had both been affected to varying degrees.

It could be said that the decline in those three attributes had practically left Qin Ran half-crippled.

This was far more serious than the loss of HP.

"I hope this works!"

Qin Ran took out a can that had been hidden deep within the ruins. He had learned not to put all his eggs in one basket after several older children at the orphanage had robbed him of all his candy and snacks following one rare celebration. To ensure that his Agility would not be affected, Qin Ran had hidden the canned food and water from his backpack throughout the ruins before the battle began.

At that moment, he hoped the Underground Game's rules were like those of the other games he had encountered: recovering HP could also heal injuries!

Canned food restored 25% of HP and 50 Stamina within one minute.

For Qin Ran, who had 100 HP, that meant 25 HP.

That was enough to raise his HP from 55 to 80.

[Consuming canned food...]

[Hunger attribute removed...]

[HP will increase by 25 points within one minute...]

Qin Ran opened the can and wolfed it down, then waited quietly.

Then, his HP slowly began to rise. When it reached 60, a notification appeared.

[Total HP has exceeded 60%. Moderate Wound Status removed...]

[Current HP: 80. Light Wound Status...]

[Light Wound Status: As long as you do not touch your wound, you will not be affected!]

Although the wound had not truly healed and blood was still seeping out, Qin Ran could see that it had changed dramatically. It no longer looked as gruesome as before.

The pain had also lessened considerably.

Of course, the most important thing was that [Moderate Wound Status] had disappeared.

Qin Ran could not help letting out a long breath.

If that special state had not disappeared, he might as well have waited to die!

But now?

Qin Ran picked up the assembled "sniper rifle" again. With the special state's effects gone, that familiar feeling returned to his body.

Hank led his three subordinates along the blood trail to the ruins before them.

Looking at the ruins formed from concrete walls and collapsed timber, Hank raised a hand. Handel immediately stepped forward, pressed his body against a concrete wall, and shouted without even peeking out.

"Come out!"

"You're surrounded!"

"If you give up resisting, we'll spare your life!"

Despite the deep hatred he felt toward Qin Ran, Handel still vividly remembered Qin Ran's marksmanship from before.

He had no intention of losing his life through carelessness.

Handel's voice was loud enough that not only could it be heard clearly throughout the ruins ahead, but even from more than ten meters away.

Yet there was no movement from within the ruins.

Seeing the bloodstains on the ground, Hank and the other three confirmed that Qin Ran was inside. His silence at this point naturally meant that he intended to resist to the bitter end.

"Machine gunner, if you don't want me to personally shoot you after this, get here within two minutes!"

Hank said into the radio.

The machine gunner was naturally dead.

But according to battlefield rules, when the machine gunner died, the assistant gunner automatically took over as the machine gunner.

And the newly appointed machine gunner had performed terribly earlier.

After his superior was killed, he had actually hidden away in complete terror.

That behavior could be considered desertion!

At a military tribunal, it would have been enough to earn him an execution. Sometimes, there was no need for a military tribunal at all—the squad leader could make the decision himself.

Hank had naturally intended to shoot him.

He simply had not gotten around to it yet!

Now, Hank thought he could give the man an opportunity!

If he met Hank's demands, Hank would not personally shoot him. He would merely send him to a military tribunal!

What happened afterward would naturally no longer be Hank's concern.

He would have fulfilled the promise he had given the man: he would not personally shoot him.

"Y-yes, Captain!"

A young voice came through the radio.

The slight stammer revealed how terrified the man was at that moment.

"Why was someone like that assigned under Major Saruka? Is he a recruit?"

The man's behavior greatly displeased Hank, and his brow furrowed. But then Hank thought of a possibility.

Major Saruka was domineering and brutal, but he was also brave in battle. It was because of the latter that Saruka had become a major and taken command of one of the best-equipped battalions among the rebels.

Naturally, such a battalion would face the main forces of the government army.

Losses were unavoidable!

To maintain the unit's numbers, recruitment and transfers from other units had become necessary.

The quality of soldiers from other units varied wildly, and recruits in particular were a cause for concern.

In fact, the man had joined Hank's unit before this mission as an assistant machine gunner.

But even so, how could someone with such little courage have caught Major Saruka's eye?

And been assigned to Hank's unit?

Puzzled, Hank shook his head. He could not understand why Major Saruka had done so.

But as someone with a military background, Hank did not dwell on such matters.

He only knew that he needed to obey orders.

But in the next instant, a sense of danger suddenly rose in Hank's heart!

Without a second thought, Hank threw himself violently to the side.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out once more.

Welcome, readers. The latest, fastest, and hottest serialized works are all available here! Mobile users, please read on mobile.