Night of Bloodshed

Saruka's impassioned speech spread through the entire military camp and beyond through the loudspeakers.

Outside the camp, Qin Ran, hidden in the shadows of the ruins, heard every word clearly.

"Skirting the important points and twisting black into white!"

That was Qin Ran's assessment.

At the same time, Qin Ran was greatly looking forward to Saruka's next performance—on the stage he had set.

As for General Janning?

Qin Ran had just seen several rebel soldiers quietly leave the camp.

The identities of those rebel soldiers were naturally self-evident.

Clearly, General Janning had planted more than one informant beside Saruka.

General Janning would definitely receive news of Saruka's "betrayal" in advance.

And that was exactly what Qin Ran wanted.

He needed the two of them to fight like dragons and tigers!

Only then would he have a chance to kill them both!

Rumble! Rumble rumble!

The roar of tank engines inside the camp was like thunder, while the footsteps of countless soldiers boarding troop carriers buzzed like war drums.

The rebel soldiers under Saruka's command began to move out.

Tanks and troop carriers howled past.

Only three squads were left behind to guard the entire camp.

Qin Ran looked regretfully at the poorly defended camp.

If not for the more important matter at hand, he definitely would not have let this opportunity pass.

After all, there were extremely abundant supplies inside—not only daily necessities, but military supplies as well. Just thinking about the piles of weapons and equipment made Qin Ran's heart stir.

However, Qin Ran was absolutely not someone who would abandon the entire plan for such petty gains.

Though it still hurt to give it up.

It was the same feeling he had when he had been forced to abandon that light machine gun earlier.

The light machine gun and its boxes of ammunition were simply too heavy.

Even after both his Strength and Constitution had risen by one level, Qin Ran could not carry a sniper rifle, all the items on his person, a light machine gun, and a box of ammunition at the same time.

Unless Qin Ran gave up running.

And that was obviously impossible.

Huff!

After taking a deep breath, Qin Ran began to run beneath the cover of the shadows.

In his view, the rebel convoy had already become blurry and indistinct.

Catching up to it naturally would be quite difficult.

Fortunately, Qin Ran knew where the convoy was headed!

With Colin, the local guide, pointing the way, Qin Ran had long since memorized the distribution of rebel forces throughout the city.

Aside from Saruka's camp and the camp where General Janning was located, which Saruka was about to visit, there were two more military camps in the city. They were commanded by different rebel higher-ups and stationed in the southern and western parts of the city.

The rebel soldiers led by Saruka were stationed near the city center.

Meanwhile, Janning occupied the true center of the city: Times Square!

Therefore, the two sides were not far apart.

If one took a "shortcut," the distance was even shorter.

Qin Ran crossed through one ruin after another and reached Times Square before Saruka's convoy, which had to take the longer route. He quickly began searching for a concealed high point.

Then, Qin Ran unexpectedly discovered that someone was already occupying the position he wanted!

The other person lay prone in the shadows, a sniper rifle set up and aimed toward the road, overlooking all of Times Square.

Cold sweat instantly broke out across Qin Ran's back.

If the shortcut he had taken had not happened to pass beneath the other person, through a blind spot in their field of view, he would definitely have entered their firing range.

Although that person was here for Saruka, who could guarantee that they would not clear out a few bothersome people ahead of time?

And if there was one sniper here,

what about the other high points?

With that thought, Qin Ran immediately became even more cautious, curling his entire body into the shadows as he carefully observed his surroundings.

There were at least four more snipers!

After noticing the hidden danger, Qin Ran immediately felt fortunate that he had entered [Stealth] again before approaching Times Square.

Otherwise, he would have been shot full of holes long ago!

"Times Square? It should be called Sniper Square!"

That was what Qin Ran thought to himself.

Looking at the sniper before him, Qin Ran did not act immediately.

Although Qin Ran was fully confident that he could kill the sniper in front of him, there was no guarantee the remaining snipers would not notice. He could only act once their attention had been completely drawn away!

And such waiting would certainly not take long.

Qin Ran knew perfectly well whom they were waiting for.

Saruka!

Clearly, after receiving news from his informants, General Janning had swiftly laid an inescapable net for Saruka.

In the distance, the roar of engines became increasingly clear.

The convoy appeared in Qin Ran's field of vision.

The sniper in front of him quickly adjusted his position, but before he could finish, a powerful hand clamped over his mouth and yanked him backward. Then pain flashed through his neck.

Qin Ran lowered the sniper's corpse and examined his rifle. When he discovered that it was also a [Viper-M1], but had two fewer attributes than his own sniper rifle, he stopped paying attention to it.

He raised his sniper rifle and aimed downward.

However, he still kept part of his attention on the movement around him.

Though he could not be certain whether Saruka had sent people to occupy the high points, Qin Ran had no desire to follow in the sniper's footsteps.

"General, Saruka has arrived!"

The military adviser who had been watching outside saw the convoy appear before the square and immediately turned to report to the other person in the room.

The adviser's deferential attitude was enough to reveal that person's identity.

The gold star on his epaulet represented his status even more clearly.

One of the rebel generals, Janning.

This rebel general looked somewhat younger than imagined. Several strands of white were mixed into his black hair, which had been meticulously combed back.

His slightly plump cheeks were ruddy and glossy.

His brown eyes were sharp and frightening.

Just like the hideous, centipede-like scar on his forehead.

The instant people saw it, they would subconsciously avert their eyes.

Especially when Janning was angry!

"He truly can't wait any longer!"

Janning sneered. The aura of authority mixed with the sharpness in his gaze, making the military adviser beside him too afraid to even breathe loudly.

After receiving the informant's report and being unable to contact the fraudster, Janning had almost immediately concluded that Saruka wanted to keep the jewels for himself and frame him for it.

Although Janning had never intended to share those jewels with Saruka from the beginning, that did not mean he would forgive Saruka's betrayal.

"How are the preparations?"

Janning turned his head and looked at his military adviser.

"Everything is ready! Saruka is as good as dead!"

The adviser answered at once.

Janning nodded with satisfaction at that answer. Then, unhurriedly, he opened an exquisite box and took out a cigar.

The military adviser immediately approached with cigar cutters. After trimming it, he lit it with a lighter before handing it to Janning.

"I like Langpu No. 3. The cinnamon and leather notes remind me of corpses torn apart by artillery shells!"

Janning clenched the cigar between his teeth, took a deep drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

The smoke obscured his sharp eyes.

Yet his somewhat imposing face became distorted within the smoke.

"Do you know why?"

Janning looked at the military adviser again.

The latter's body immediately trembled—the adviser had no idea how to answer.

Fortunately, Janning had not expected an answer from him at all.

After taking another deep drag on the cigar, Janning said directly, "Because standing before other people's corpses proves that—I am the victor!"

With that, Janning rose from his chair.

As he grew older, his once-powerful body had put on weight, but his bearing had become increasingly imposing. As Janning walked forward, he seemed like a lion patrolling its territory.

In comparison, Saruka, standing before the Times Square military camp, appeared far less imposing.

However, Saruka did not retreat in the slightest at that moment.

He held his head high and walked toward Janning.

Janning raised a hand to stop the soldiers beside him from firing. Naturally, this was also the signal he gave the snipers.

"General Janning, we need justice!"

Saruka stopped about five steps away from Janning and shouted.

"Justice?"

Janning raised a hand and removed the cigar from his mouth, disdain surfacing in his sharp eyes.

His disdain was not only for Saruka, but also for the rebel soldiers standing behind Saruka.

Saruka foolishly thought bringing these rebel soldiers would allow him to threaten Janning?

Those rebel soldiers thought their superior numbers would make him change his decision?

How naive!

Janning sneered inwardly.

He would make Saruka and these soldiers wake up properly.

"You think—"

Bang!

The gunshot cut off Janning's words, and his head instantly exploded.

Blood mixed with brain matter splattered all over Saruka.

What was going on?

He had not given the signal to fire!

Startled and confused, Saruka looked around blankly.

Bang!

Another gunshot rang out.

Saruka followed in Janning's footsteps.

His headless corpse collapsed to the ground.

The soldiers on both sides froze, and all of Times Square fell into an eerie silence.

But it lasted less than two seconds.

"Revenge for the major!"

"Revenge for the general!"

Believing that the other side had acted first, soldiers from both sides shouted almost simultaneously.

Bang bang bang!

Boom boom boom!

The next moment, gunfire and cannon fire completely shattered the silence of the night.

The firelight engulfed all of Times Square.