Time rewound to ten minutes earlier.
Hearing that Qin Xun actually had another plan, Xu Chao hurriedly asked, "What plan?"
"Do you know why I had He Laowu tip them off, then had him drive to the city gate?"
"To lure the tiger away from the mountain!"
"No. Our opponents aren't that stupid. They won't fall for our trick so easily. If I were them, I'd hold my troops in place and seal off every exit. Since they're sure we're still in the zone, they'd trap us first!"
"Then what's the point of luring the tiger away from the mountain?"
"It doesn't matter whether they see through the trick, or realize we deliberately let them see that we wanted to lure the tiger away from the mountain."
"Then what does matter?"
"Where are we now?"
"In Zone 108!"
"To be precise, we're in the civilian district of Zone 108. I had He Laowu tip them off, then sent him to the city gate, because I wanted them to be certain of one thing!"
"What thing?"
"That we're definitely in the civilian district right now! And that we're trying to break out by luring the tiger away from the mountain!"
"I know what you're planning." Dazhuang couldn't help admiring Qin Xun's nerve. "You want to go to the noble district!"
"The noble district? Are you sure?" Xu Chao sucked in a sharp breath. "Almost all the Guard Team's elite forces are in the noble district. Trying to break out from there is a dead end!"
"That's what they think too. They think we're in the civilian district, and that we won't go to the noble district, because the forces there are too strong and we couldn't possibly break out from there! They've surrounded the entire civilian district so tightly that not even water could leak through, but even the most meticulous plan has a flaw. The noble district is our breakthrough point!"
Dazhuang nodded. "I understand. You had He Laowu tip them off, then drive to the city gate, not just to let them know we're in the civilian district. You also drew all their attention there."
"So how are we going to break out from the noble district?" Xu Chao asked.
"We're not, because we're not breaking out from the noble district at all. We're still leaving through the civilian district!"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Xu Chao was baffled.
"The real plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain starts now!"
What Qin Xun was really betting on was the noble district!
He was betting that the nobles were afraid of death!
The District Chief was even more afraid of death!
It was possible they would be caught the moment they entered the noble district.
It was possible they wouldn't even make it inside.
But right now, this was their only possible way out.
They had no other choice!
Under the cover of night, four dark figures rapidly approached the noble district!
As He Laowu entered the stretch of road under surveillance, the three men and their dog arrived at the edge of the noble district.
At that moment, everyone's attention was on the civilian district!
The noble district was only a tenth the size of the civilian district.
Yet its residents enjoyed ten times, even a hundred times the supplies available in the civilian district.
The two districts were separated by a three-meter-high wall.
One wall, with something like hell on one side and a place better than heaven on the other!
Unlike the rundown buildings in the civilian district, the nobles lived in elegant Western-style houses.
The streetlights stayed on all night, and surveillance cameras were everywhere.
More than twenty people stood guard at the entrance to the noble district!
Qin Xun and the others chose to climb over the wall a few hundred meters up from the entrance.
"Once we're inside, kill any guards you can and destroy every camera you see. Make as much of a mess in there as you can! Make those nobles afraid! The more afraid, the better!"
Qin Xun pulled out a dagger and gripped it in his hand.
With his left arm injured, he could only get over the wall with help from Xu Chao and Dazhuang.
On the other side of the wall was a villa district.
It was Qin Xun's first time in the noble district, though he had looked inside from the entrance before.
But now that he was actually inside, he was still stunned by what he saw.
Lavishly decorated buildings, smooth concrete roads, bright streetlights-even the greenery had been carefully trimmed.
The air was filled with the scent of wealth.
But that wealth was steeped in filth.
Xu Chao held two guns, which had been taken from He Laowu's dead bodyguards.
A flash of golden light appeared in Dazhuang's right hand. When it faded, a fist-sized rock had appeared in his palm.
He took aim at a camera beneath a streetlight and threw the rock.
The rock flew as fast as a bullet and blew the camera apart with a bang.
The operation had officially begun!
The three men and their dog advanced together, and every camera in their path was smashed by rocks thrown by Dazhuang.
Two nearby Guard Team members heard the commotion and hurried over to investigate.
The Guard Team in Zone 108 was divided into three tiers.
The first tier consisted of ordinary people. They were equipped with fine weapons and wore combat uniforms, and their main task was to maintain order within the zone.
The second tier was made up of elites selected from the first. They were equipped with the best weapons, and their main task was to keep monsters from outside the zone from entering.
The third tier was the strongest, consisting entirely of Psionic Power users. Even the weakest member could match a well-equipped squad from either of the first two tiers.
Their main task was to deal with problems the first two tiers couldn't resolve.
Anyone capable enough could join the Guard Team, civilians included, and those who performed exceptionally well could even be promoted to the nobility as a special exception!
These two Guard Team members belonged to the first tier!
The two groups met at the corner of an intersection!
Xu Chao moved swiftly, rushing forward and snapping one man's neck.
The remaining man was in his thirties. Qin Xun hurriedly shouted, "Leave him alive!"
Xu Chao had moved so quickly that if Qin Xun had shouted a second later, the man would have been dead.
The three dragged the man to a corner by the wall.
When he got close, Qin Xun got a clear look at him.
He froze.
He knew the man.
A month ago, while going downstairs, he had come across an old man who lived on the floor above him, carrying things downstairs load after load.
The old man was in his eighties and knew he didn't have long to live. He planned to sell everything he could from his home and buy his wife a birthday cake.
He said that when his wife was young, she had celebrated her birthday every year.
Back then, Zone 108 had not yet fallen, and every birthday they would buy a big cake and prepare a table full of good food.
Now his wife was near the end, and he wanted to celebrate her birthday once more before she died.
Qin Xun had contributed a little money. He couldn't pay for the whole thing, since he and his younger sister still had to live.
When he came back, he heard that the old man's leg had been broken.
On his way back after buying the cake, the old man had encountered this man. Because he had trouble walking and his eyesight was poor, he had bumped into him.
The man had smashed the cake in the old man's face, then struck him hard on the leg with the butt of his gun.
That very night, the old man died.
But he hadn't died from the pain of his broken leg. He had taken his own life with his wife by swallowing medication.
Everyone in that building knew they had died of despair. When they died, they had been in utter despair!