Behind cover, Kaili gasped for breath in terror. The flesh of a bullet wound on his cheek had been torn open, and blood dripped down, mingling with sweat.
He had come within a hair's breadth of following his teammates to their deaths beneath the sudden hail of bullets.
"What the hell is that monster?!"
The long-haired man shouted in horror, his face pale as blood gushed from a gunshot wound in his abdomen.
Two red lights flickered in the darkness like the eyes of a beast waiting to devour someone. Under Kaili and the long-haired man's horrified gazes, the First-Generation Ranger came fully into view, smoke rising from the gun barrels on its ten fingers. Its neckless design looked comically cute, making it hard to connect it with the killing machine from moments ago.
"A robot?!"
Kaili's eyes widened.
He bitterly regretted not trusting his instincts. His carelessness had resulted in the near-total destruction of his team.
What should I do now? Kaili wanted to retreat. He could always earn more money, but if he lost his life, he would lose everything.
Once the long-haired man's terror passed, extreme anger rose in its place. He roared as he poured bullets into the First-Generation Ranger. "Die, die, die-"
Clang after clang rang out as submachine-gun fire warped the First-Generation Ranger's thin armor. Seeing this, Kaili and another teammate joined the counterattack.
[Your mechanical creation [First-Generation Ranger (Tracked)] lost 14 armor points...] [Your mechanical creation [First-Generation Ranger (Tracked)] lost 17 armor points...]
The First-Generation Ranger's armor material was nothing special and could not withstand the damage. Its armor points plummeted, and both ammunition belts had been emptied in that one burst, leaving it a useless lump of metal.
There was nothing he could do about it. Resources were tight, after all, and Han Xiao had not mounted any more weapons on the First-Generation Ranger. Equipping it with two small-caliber machine guns had already been the limit. He was poor.
"Tsk, why hasn't the Thirteenth Bureau made a move yet?"
Han Xiao clicked his tongue inwardly. He did not believe the agents watching in secret would let the mercenaries run rampant forever.
Sure enough, he did not have to wait much longer. The sound of military boots rapidly approached, steady and precise, enough to bring to mind fully armed soldiers on the move.
"Everyone, drop your weapons!" someone shouted from the darkness, their tone grim and steely.
"We need to retreat, now." Kaili's heart sank.
The long-haired man's anger had not yet subsided. He emptied the last few rounds in his magazine into the nearly wrecked First-Generation Ranger before saying, "All right, let's go."
Just then, Han Xiao sent the First-Generation Ranger into motion. It sped toward the three mercenaries' cover, and a flash of fire suddenly swelled in its chest. It burst apart with a deafening explosion.
A wave of fire and a shock wave erupted outward, kicking up clouds of dust like a gale. The surrounding area became a sea of flames in an instant.
Self-destruction!
Orange-red flames lit up the night!
Dozens of meters away, Li Hui and the other field agents were startled by the explosion.
"Damn it," Feng Jun cursed inwardly. Their orders from above were not to cause too much of a commotion, but now the flames could be seen from kilometers away. He could already guess what tomorrow's newspaper headlines would be.
Things had already slipped beyond their control when Han Xiao exchanged fire with Raccoon Cat. The gunshots had been too conspicuous and had drawn the attention of many civilians, but the Stinging Bee Squad had not made its move yet, so Li Hui and the others had been forced to obey orders and wait anxiously.
Once the Stinging Bee Squad entered the fight, the agents had rushed to act, hoping to limit the impact. But the First-Generation Ranger's self-destruction had brought their plan to nothing.
The long-haired man and the other member were killed in the blast, and Kaili was left covered in dust and soot. Han Xiao's methods had thoroughly terrified him. Without a word, he turned and ran.
Han Xiao shook the sand and dirt from his hair, not the least bit distressed.
The mechanic class's fighting style involved consuming various machines in the first place. He had the blueprint and could build another as long as he had the resources. The crafting experience alone had already made it worthwhile, not to mention he had killed several people.
Li Hui could only vent his anger on Kaili, firing a burst from a distance with murderous intent.
Trying to steal my kill? Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. He had to kill every mercenary to complete the hidden requirement. If someone else killed Kaili, all his previous efforts would be wasted.
With that in mind, Han Xiao sprang into action. He took a curved route around Li Hui and the others and cut Kaili off ahead.
Kaili stopped in horror. The aura around Han Xiao seemed completely different, giving him an overwhelming sense of danger.
"Die!"
Kaili gritted his teeth and raised his gun.
The instant his finger was about to pull the trigger, Han Xiao bent sharply at the waist, sinking his center of gravity into his feet. He swayed from side to side with the footwork of a seasoned boxer, nimble and elusive as a ghost, rapidly closing the distance.
Kaili fired in a panic, but Han Xiao dodged every bullet or blocked it with his mechanical arm.
"Not a single shot hit?!"
Disbelief filled Kaili's face. He had seen Han Xiao's physical abilities for himself; they were only about on par with an elite mercenary's, far below the standard of a superhuman. Han Xiao could not possibly be faster than a bullet, which meant he had predicted the angle of every shot. Only an ace fighter who had survived countless battles could possess such terrifying experience. Even in his mercenary career, Kaili had only seen two or three ace mercenaries at that level!
Han Xiao chuckled. Compared with piloting a mech through an inescapable barrage of countless floating cannons back then, predicting attacks at this level was a piece of cake.
His bullets spent, Kaili hurriedly backed away and fumbled to change magazines. But Han Xiao sprinted straight at him and closed in instantly, making terror flash across his face.
Han Xiao hunched his back, his muscles and bones cracking. Power surged from his feet, growing like an avalanche as it rushed into his left arm, driving the Light Power Arm through a wide arc in a devastating hook!
A perfect combination of strength and steel!
"Overload!"
The air pump's piston and the meshing gears suddenly accelerated. Click, clack-the cooling pipes spewed a jet of black smoke as the power output instantly increased by 30%, and the steel fist slammed squarely into Kaili's face.
Critical hit!
Overwhelming strength!
Kaili's face was smashed open on the spot, spraying bright red fluid everywhere.
A one-hit kill!
Li Hui and the others finally arrived to find this scene before them:
Kaili's corpse crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Blood spattered Han Xiao's expressionless face, where the firelight cast shifting, mottled shadows. Chunks of flesh clung to the fist of the menacing exoskeleton mechanical arm on his left side, dripping beads of hot blood.
Even the battle-hardened field agents could not help feeling a chill.
[E-rank mission [Pursuit] completed. Obtained 10,000 experience.] [Hidden condition completed: killed six pursuers. Obtained Skill Upgrade Card (Basic). Claim it?]
"No." Now was not the time to claim it.
"Don't move!" Li Hui snapped out of his daze and hastily raised his gun.
Expressionless, Han Xiao removed the Light Power Arm and raised both hands. Two agents strode forward and pulled a black hood over his head.
His vision went pitch-black. Han Xiao felt himself being shoved along and knew he was being taken to the Thirteenth Bureau.
You finally showed up!
Feng Jun glanced at the battlefield and sucked in a breath. "He killed all six mercenaries. Did he fight using these machines?"
Li Hui's expression was grave. "Take all the parts he left behind, and notify the police department to handle the aftermath."
With that, the group escorted Han Xiao into a vehicle and drove off. They had come and gone in a hurry, feeling as though they had merely shown up without accomplishing anything. The field agents felt stifled.
Han Xiao sat in the back seat, sandwiched between two agents. Although he could not see, he could feel the other agents' attention fixed on him.
Behind the black hood, a strange smile appeared.
Despite one small deviation, everything so far had been within his expectations.
No one in the car spoke. A tense silence spread among them, broken only by the sound of the moving vehicle.
Li Hui and the others had been ordered not to speak to the target before reaching their destination. Han Xiao's composure, however, made them glance at him repeatedly, as though he had already guessed they would appear.
Raccoon Cat looked at his subordinates, who had suffered heavy casualties, his face grim.
"Bring me the computer!"
He logged into the dark web and entered the bounty section, where he immediately saw a bounty bearing Han Xiao's picture.
"Zero, a bounty of one million, posted by the Germinal Organization?!"
Raccoon Cat's expression changed drastically. His hands trembled, and the computer fell at his feet.
He really was a fucking bounty target! And the bounty was posted by the Germinal Organization, a leading power in the underground world!
If I'd known Han Xiao was a dangerous figure of that caliber, how would I have dared make a move against him?
Ma Jie and the blond arrived, gasping for breath. They stared dumbfounded at the traces of the battle, trembling all over in fright.
The sight of them enraged Raccoon Cat. He kicked Ma Jie to the ground and roared, "Fuck, this is all your doing! I won't let you off!"
Ma Jie clutched his stomach in pain, sprawled on the ground and trembling like a quail, with no idea what he had done wrong.
Suddenly, police sirens blared. Seven or eight police cars sealed off the junkyard's entrance, and heavily armed police in bulletproof vests poured in.
"Hmph, the police are always late." Raccoon Cat straightened his clothes and went to meet them. As he saw it, he was the victim, and he had greased palms throughout the Seventh District and had connections at the police station, so he was not worried.
But before he could speak, the heavily armed officers strode forward, pinned him down, and promptly handcuffed him.
Raccoon Cat froze, then struggled and shouted angrily, "What are you doing? I'm the victim here, all right? I know your chief's secretary..."
"Don't waste your breath," the officer holding him down said flatly. "Orders from the Thirteenth Bureau."
Raccoon Cat's eyes widened. The Thirteenth Bureau handled major matters involving threats to the nation, so why would it come after him? He must have been caught up in some incident. Han Xiao's figure flashed through his mind; he could think of no other possibility.
The Thirteenth Bureau was actually backing him?
Suddenly, a clear chain of connections appeared in his mind.
Germinal traitor... Thirteenth Bureau... Stardragon... intelligence...
Raccoon Cat understood at once.
They were silencing witnesses!
From the moment Han Xiao deliberately removed his mask in front of him, the outcome had already been decided.
What a massive trap!
Raccoon Cat could no longer remain calm. He began shaking like a leaf, his heart completely consumed by fear and rage.
"Han Xiao! Fuck your uncle!!"
Ma Jie fainted outright from the spectacle, foaming at the mouth as he collapsed limply to the ground.