Battle Again

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

He lowered his head to look at where he had been shot—

It was near his lower abdomen. A bullet was embedded in the bulletproof vest, with blood seeping out around it!

Qin Ran knew clearly that if not for the bulletproof vest cushioning the impact, his lower abdomen would already have been blasted open with a huge hole straight through it.

However, even with the bulletproof vest's protection, he was still seriously injured.

[Shooting: Your opponent dealt 80 HP damage. Armor equipped, immune to 40 damage. Actual damage received: 40. Entering Moderate Wound Status...]

[Moderate Wound Status: Strength, Agility, and Perception decrease by one level.]

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

Clearly, bullets fired from an assault rifle were far more powerful than ordinary handgun rounds, reducing the bulletproof vest's immunity effect by around 5 points.

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

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

Looking at his Strength and Agility, which had fallen from F to F-, and his Perception, which had fallen from F+ to F, Qin Ran could not help baring his teeth.

Compared to the earlier scrape, 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 he was currently in excruciating pain and all his attributes had dropped.

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 field of ruins. It gave him enough space to evade bullets and enough time to escape 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 guy would have been dead already!"

Handel, who had served as the "bait," could not help venting his dissatisfaction as he stared at the empty area.

"That is the major's order!"

Hank answered his subordinate.

His tone was forceful, without 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 what their real objective was!

It was to retrieve that bag of Gems, not kill Qin Ran.

Even if they killed Qin Ran, the mission would still fail if they lost that bag of Gems!

And Hank knew Saruka's methods all too well when it came to those who failed missions.

Therefore, even though Qin Ran had displayed highly agile evasive movements and did not look like he was carrying anything extra, Hank did not dare order the use of weapons such as rocket launchers, grenade launchers, or grenades.

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

Thus, Hank was placed 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 find it eventually. But what if it was the former?

Could he explain to Saruka that the thing he was looking for had been blown away in an explosion?

If he really dared say that, Hank could guarantee that Saruka would shoot him dead without hesitation!

Therefore, even as his men suffered losses one after another, Hank had not ordered the use of more powerful weapons.

"He was hit!"

A rebel soldier searching the area found bloodstains on the ground.

Immediately, the eyes of the rebel soldiers, Hank included, lit up.

"Follow it!"

Hank gave the order directly.

Qin Ran hid beneath ruins formed from concrete walls and collapsed timber. If not for the sunlight filtering down 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 lining, blood was still flowing and dripping onto the ground.

Ordinary people might overlook it.

But these rebel soldiers would not.

They had a sensitivity to blood that ordinary people could not imagine.

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

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

At the very least, he had to remove the special [Moderate Wound Status].

Otherwise, this battle would be impossible to fight.

The drop in Strength made the "sniper rifle" in Qin Ran's hand and the magazines on his body suddenly feel much heavier. The drop in Agility made him feel sluggish and awkward while in [Stealth].

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

As for the decrease in Perception?

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

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

It was far more serious than the loss of HP.

"Hope this works!"

Qin Ran took out a can 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 snatched all his candy and snacks following a 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.

And now, he hoped the rules of the Underground Game were like those of the other games he had encountered: when HP was restored, injuries could be healed as well!

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

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

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 began wolfing it down, then waited quietly.

Soon after, Qin Ran's HP slowly rose. When it reached 60, a notification appeared.

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

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

[Light Wound Status: Do not touch your wound, and it will not affect you!]

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

Moreover, the pain had also been greatly reduced.

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 status had not disappeared, he might as well have waited for death!

But now?

Qin Ran picked up the assembled "sniper rifle" again. With the special status 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 made of concrete walls and collapsed timber, Hank raised a hand and waved. Handel immediately stepped forward, pressed his body against a concrete wall, and shouted without even sticking his head out.

"Come out!"

"You're surrounded!"

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

Although he was filled with hatred toward Qin Ran, Handel still vividly remembered Qin Ran's earlier marksmanship.

He did not want to lose his life through carelessness.

Handel's voice was loud. Not only could it be heard clearly in the ruins ahead, it could be heard more than ten meters away.

Yet there was no movement at all within the ruins.

Seeing the bloodstains on the ground, the four men confirmed that Qin Ran was inside. His refusal to answer 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 spoke into the radio.

The machine gunner was naturally dead.

But battlefield rules dictated that when the machine gunner died, the assistant gunner automatically took over as machine gunner.

And the man who had automatically assumed the role earlier had performed terribly.

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

Such behavior could fully be considered desertion!

At a military court, it would have been enough to earn him execution. Sometimes, he would not even need to appear before a military court—the captain of the squad could make that decision himself.

Hank had naturally planned to shoot him.

He simply had not had the chance yet!

Now, Hank believed he could give him an opportunity!

If the man met his demands, Hank would not personally shoot him. He would only send him to a military court!

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

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

"Y-yes, Captain!"

A young voice came through the radio.

He stuttered slightly, revealing just how terrified he was at that moment.

"Why did someone like that enter Major Saruka's command? Is he a recruit?"

The man's behavior left Hank deeply dissatisfied, and his brows immediately 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.

Casualties were unavoidable!

To maintain the unit's organization, recruiting soldiers and receiving reinforcements from other units had become necessary.

The quality of soldiers from other units varied greatly, especially the recruits, who were even more worrying.

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

But even so, how could someone with that man's courage possibly have caught Major Saruka's attention?

And joined his squad?

Unable to understand it, Hank shook his head. He could not figure out why Major Saruka had done such a thing.

But as a career soldier, Hank did not dwell on it.

He only knew that he had to obey orders.

But in the very next moment, a sense of danger suddenly rose from the depths of Hank's heart!

Without even thinking, Hank threw himself violently to the side.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out once more.

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