“Do you know me?” Xu Fan moved his gloved hands, a hint of surprise in his voice. “It seems that you have friends who escaped from me before. Interesting.” He smiled widely inside his helmet.
Xu Yang trembled all over, even his hand holding the gun shook violently.
He had no idea how they had provoked such a high-level opponent, merely wanting to capture an easy target with some skills.
Had he known they would face someone like the Butcher, he would never have followed Team Zhao.
His obvious fear spread to the other team members, who appeared tense, sweat forming on their foreheads as they glared at Xu Fan, their guns aimed at him.
Some had heard of the Butcher’s reputation, while others instinctively sensed danger from their leader’s reaction.
“I thought this mission would be difficult, but it turns out to be a group of children,” Xu Fan said, glancing at the group with a hint of disappointment. “Ten seconds.” His lips moved.
Boom!!!
In an instant, his body leaped into motion, transforming into a shadow that charged forward.
The shadow, as swift as a rhino, crashed into the waist of the group.
Before they could react, its arms extended, two dark chains whipped out like black wings, instantly crossing a several-meter range on both sides.
Puff, puff, puff, puff!!
In an instant, the necks of four team members were sliced open, their tracheas exposed, blood gushing forth.
The four stared in shock, not even realizing what had attacked them before losing all strength and crumpling to the ground.
After disposing of the four, the shadow retracted its chains, turning swiftly to evade Xu Yang's gunfire.
Shrinking in size, the shadow transformed from over two meters tall into a little over a meter in diameter, then leapt into the air, crashing into the gap between two team members.
Swish!
The shadow stretched out, grabbing the heads of the two nearby with both hands, charging forward.
Bang!!!
A loud crash resounded as the two heads were brutally smashed against two large trees, their skulls burst open, dead without a doubt.
The shadow sprang up again, dodging a few gunshots, and lunged at the remaining team members.
Puff, puff, puff, puff!
It barreled into the soldiers with the force of a real rhino, its right shoulder slamming against one after another.
In less than ten seconds, the entire slope was left with only Xu Yang and the monkey holding explosives.
Both men trembled, their faces pale, drenched in sweat, standing frozen, eyes locked onto the halted shadow on the opposite side.
“Who are you!?” Xu Yang opened his mouth, though he aimed the gun at the figure; he felt no sense of safety.
More than ten of them! This was half of the joint military team! All professional soldiers, not some street thugs.
Yet, such a number of armed soldiers had fallen so quickly…
But Xu Fan had no time for Xu Yang’s question, instead turning his gaze elsewhere, listening intently to the sounds coming through his mini earphone.
“Hmm, only two left,” Xu Fan said gravely. “Almost done.”
He glanced back at Xu Yang and the monkey, who seemed ready to say something.
But it was too late.
A flame flickered from Xu Fan’s right hand, and the hidden bullet from his pistol shot out, hitting an explosive pack in the monkey's hand.
Boom!!!
In an instant, flames erupted, expanding and engulfing a several-meter radius.
The orange fireball swallowed Xu Yang and the monkey, engulfing them entirely in its blaze.
Flames ignited the surrounding trees and dry leaves, and when the explosion subsided, all that remained was a charred pile of corpses.
Xu Fan’s figure had long disappeared, leaving behind only the faint cracking sounds of branches in the distance.
Yu Hong heard the distant shouts, explosions, and the crackling of flames.
He decided to wait until everything quieted down before discreetly opening the panel to check the situation outside.
Peering through the window, flickering flames cast a bright red hue on everything around him.
Waves of heat wafted toward his yard, mingling with scorched black ashes.
‘Is it on fire?’
He felt the heat encroaching on his yard.
‘Wait, my favorite grass isn’t getting fried, right?’
Thinking this, Yu Hong intended to step outside for a look, but the earlier explosion made him hesitate.
‘What if there’s still fighting out there? It’d be foolish to go out now.’ He remembered that today was the arrival of the hired expert; he received updates from Li Runshan.
‘So the explosions earlier might be the expert dealing with the attackers and their backers.
They even used bombs!?’ A shiver ran down Yu Hong’s spine; his reinforced bear suit definitely wouldn’t withstand a bomb, thankful he hadn’t acted carelessly this time.
‘I’m glad I hired professionals instead of trying to take things on myself.
Safety really is the first priority.’
With that thought in mind, he decided to stay indoors for the day.
Otherwise, if those attackers found out how weak he was now, he certainly wouldn’t stand a chance.
After deciding not to go out, Yu Hong dragged a wooden stool to the door, sitting down, peeking through the window now and then.
Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he quickly pulled the panel shut, only daring to look through a gap.
Outside, figures clad in dark green camouflage were quietly and swiftly approaching from the distance.
These figures moved swiftly, their leader donned in a sleek, dark brown armored vest, much more advanced and complex than the others.
Upon seeing this person, Yu Hong instantly recalled Zhao Zhenghong and Xu Yang from earlier.
‘Is one of them causing trouble!?’ He felt a chill and made sure to stay silent.
He watched as the group quickly neared his yard, leaping inside.
The first few men carried silver, small round boxes, heading toward the wooden door.
‘What are those?’ Unease welled up in Yu Hong’s heart as he noticed the boxes had black and white stripes, with black plastic tape covering the sides, reading: Danger.
Everything about it felt wrong. “Could they be some sort of lock-picking tool?” he guessed, but seeing multiple people holding them only deepened his suspicions.
As they drew closer, a wave of foreboding washed over him.
Zhao Zhenghong frowned, cautiously approaching the wooden door with a bomb in hand.
The area was silent; since splitting from Xu Yang, he had followed the tire tracks, only to be caught off guard by the explosions.
Now, he was rushing back here.
Unfortunately, he found nothing but a raging fire consuming the forest, making it impossible to get close.
With no other choice, he could only guide his men toward a nearby cave, planning to blast open the door and take anything useful before capturing the culprits.
Now things had gone out of his control; it was likely Xu Yang found the culprit and was even in a fight, using portable explosives.
He needed to finish his business quickly, blast the door open, investigate, and then regroup with Xu Yang.
With that thought, Zhao Zhenghong quickened his pace, swiftly pressing the bomb against the wooden door.
Suddenly, a shadow flashed across the metal surface of the bomb.
A familiar, intense feeling of threat surged from his left side.
His expression changed dramatically, and he jumped back.
Bang, bang!
Two gunshots rang out, near where he had just stood.
Zhao Zhenghong dropped the bomb, his body leaping back like a nimble monkey, flipping over multiple times, landing more than ten meters away, finally finding refuge behind a sturdy tree.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!!
The remaining team members sensed something was wrong and quickly drew their guns, shooting at the side.
As bullets ran dry, they roared and drew out knives, short swords, and steel rods, surrounding the direction the shots had come from.
The first teammate rushing to the area suddenly froze, lifted off the ground as a large hand grasped his head, sending him flying.
Whoosh!
The soldier spun through the air, landing two meters away.
Puff!
A double-handed strike pierced through his abdomen like a sharp blade.
The large hands tore apart.
A crisp, tearing sound rang out as the soldier never even got a chance to scream before being torn apart.
A torrent of blood drenched the surroundings, staining the trees, grass, and dark soil crimson.
Flames blazed, mixing the blood mist with sparks, leaving the remaining members in shock.
“Damn you!!!” Just as Zhao Zhenghong steadied himself, witnessing the horror before him, his eyes turned red.
With a sharp short knife in his right arm, he lunged forward, moving like a black monkey at full speed, covering over ten meters and aiming for the shadow that shredded his teammate.
Clang!!
In mid-air, his short knife was caught by a metallic hand.
What met his eyes was a towering figure standing over two meters tall, muscular like a bear, with arms as thick as his thighs.
The giant wore a full set of armored gear, spikes covered in blood adorning his helmet.
His red goggles barely concealed a pair of exhilarated eyes.
“You have some strength,” the giant rumbled, his voice low, laced with mockery and cruelty.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!!
At that moment, the rest of the team charged in, angry shouts rising as they struck the giant with knives and sticks.
Surrounded by a total of six people on all sides, they attacked the giant with all their might.
Including Zhao Zhenghong, they made seven!
Yet…
“Retreat!!” Suddenly, Zhao Zhenghong’s face paled as he backflipped, narrowly dodging a sweeping dark hand.
Although he evaded, the other six were nowhere near as quick to react.
Bang!
The dark hand shot out like lightning, striking true.
One soldier’s head shattered on the spot.
The remaining ones tried to scatter, but the giant grabbed two of them by the arms, throwing them effortlessly.
They spun through the air, crashing into two others trying to escape.
Four soldiers collapsed heavily to the ground, unable to rise.
The last two among the attackers were lucky enough to create some distance, but before they could celebrate, they saw the giant pick up a stone as large as a grinding wheel and hurl it.
Bang, bang!
With two dull thuds, both were struck by the stone, their upper bodies crumpling against the trunk, turned into a mass of flesh.
“Use the bombs!” Zhao Zhenghong was now beyond furious; within less than half a minute, more than half of his team members were gone.
Veins bulged from his face.
Bringing along the few remaining men, they swiftly spread out, pulling out portable bombs to throw forward.
But as they tossed out the bombs, they lost sight of the giant.
Zhao Zhenghong twisted around, seeing the massive shadow was less than three meters away.
The giant spread his arms wide, leaping slightly, posing in a bizarre stance reminiscent of a crane in flight.
Witnessing this posture, a name flashed in Zhao Zhenghong’s mind.
‘Yong Hequan!! Tie Chi Fen Kong??!’
(End of this chapter)