Outside the auction house, a group of search officers armed with assault rifles waited anxiously. They had never received such a strange order before; instead of actively hunting ghouls, their task was to guard the exit.
The sounds of fighting coming from inside the auction house made the search officers even more uneasy.
Zhen Huxiao was also restless, pacing at the back door. "What’s happening in there? Bai Ye is really going too far. No matter how strong he is, he can’t take on so many ghouls alone."
Twenty minutes had passed, and the once chaotic screams from inside had turned into an eerie silence, which made Zhen Huxiao feel uneasy.
Just then, a tired voice came through her Bluetooth earpiece. "Come in, start clearing the auction house, and prepare for fire control."
Fire control? Zhen Huxiao was confused but still led her team to open the back door of the auction house.
As the door swung open, Zhen Huxiao and a group of search officers rushed inside.
The moment they entered, a strong smell of blood hit Zhen Huxiao, and she frowned.
Her steps quickened as she rushed toward the main hall of the auction house. "Bai Ye~!"
What she saw left her stunned.
There were piles of ghoul bodies scattered everywhere, and sitting atop the heap was a man smoking a cigarette.
The brutal scene made Zhen Huxiao instinctively take a step back.
She had seen many corpses before, but this was the first time she had encountered such a sight; it looked like something out of an ancient battlefield.
As she tried to approach Su Xiao, she suddenly slipped and almost fell.
Looking down, she saw the ground was soaked in blood.
"What are you standing there for? Start clearing the bodies," Su Xiao said, flicking away the cigarette butt and putting away his weapon, the Dragon Slayer.
"Yes."
Zhen Huxiao straightened up instinctively.
The other search officers were also shocked by the scene, but they had strong mental fortitude. They took out body bags and began the grim task of clearing the corpses.
Su Xiao moved his sore body, realizing he had pushed himself to the limit.
If there were more than a hundred ghouls, he would struggle; if there were over two hundred, he would surely die.
When the lights in the auction house went out, he had used night vision to gain the upper hand and intimidate the ghouls.
The two S-class ghouls had not managed to unite; if they had led the other ghouls in battle against him, the outcome would have been very different.
Although the situation tonight seemed dangerous, Su Xiao was not acting recklessly alone. He had a plan; with just a command, a large number of search officers would rush in to support him.
He was confident he could hold out against a swarm of ghouls for quite a while.
Su Xiao knew his strengths: overwhelming attack power and rich combat experience. In a one-on-one fight, he could showcase his full strength.
However, in group battles, his low stamina made him weaker, as his health points were not very high.
No one is perfect; Su Xiao had balanced development in three attributes. If he focused on increasing his stamina, his progress would slow down, causing him to fall behind other contractors.
As a hunter, he needed to be stronger than other contractors; otherwise, how could he hunt his targets?
Sitting in a CCG vehicle, Su Xiao looked at the search officers cleaning up the bodies.
It would take some time to clear the auction house, so he took the opportunity to rest and recover his health, which was only at 27%.
He took out a portion of Golden Fried Rice, a restorative food that needed to be activated before eating.
After activating it, the outer layer of the packaging burst open, releasing steam. The fried rice was steaming hot.
A delicious aroma wafted through the air, and Su Xiao couldn't help but swallow; it smelled so good.
He pulled out the chopsticks he had prepared and took a bite.
The rice was wrapped in soft eggs, and while the grains were slightly firm, the taste was excellent. The skillful cooking made the flavors of the rice and eggs blend perfectly.
After the first bite, he couldn’t resist taking a second.
This Golden Fried Rice was unbelievably delicious; it was worth every bit of praise, like something out of the world of Food Wars.
Suddenly, Su Xiao had the thought of maybe kidnapping a chef from that world.
He shook his head with a bitter smile; the cost versus reward wasn’t worth it. It was more important to improve his strength. With strong abilities, he wouldn’t have to worry about delicious food.
Before he realized it, he had finished the entire portion of Golden Fried Rice, leaving not a single grain behind, still wanting more.
After downing a bottle of mineral water, Su Xiao leaned back in his seat, feeling satisfied. After a fierce battle, nothing felt better than a good meal.
A warm feeling spread through his stomach, and his health gradually recovered.
As his health improved, the wounds on his body began to heal quickly.
"What’s that smell? It’s so good."
Suzuki Shizuo ran over, his nose twitching.
"Shizuo, get in the car. We’re heading back to the division."
Though Suzuki Shizuo had a quirky personality, he generally followed orders.
"Are you eating something? Can you share some with me?"
Suzuki Shizuo peeked over the seat, grinning at Su Xiao.
"I’ll treat you all to a big meal tomorrow."
He would need these people to help him clear out Area 14, so it was important to win their goodwill.
He had driven away many ghouls, and according to CCG regulations, there was a nice reward for each one eliminated.
That made sense; being a ghoul search officer was a high-risk job, and the pay was enviably high.
After sending Suzuki Shizuo away, Su Xiao began to summarize the gains and losses from this battle.
He earned 372 contribution points, bringing his total to 897/2000 as a first-class search officer. He needed 1103 more points to complete his mission.
He had received one green treasure chest, but despite killing over a hundred ghouls, he hadn’t dropped any white treasure chests.
This made him wonder if he had a tendency for bad luck, like being "black" in gaming terms.
Throughout his treasure hunting, aside from specific items, it seemed he hadn’t received anything particularly good.
The Dragon Slayer (white) was something he had taken, not from a treasure chest.
The Small Soul Crystal was also due to the huge gap between him and the monsters he faced.
The Evil Spirit Howl (green) had come from a gecko's treasure chest; the gecko was a key character in the plot, and defeating it had yielded a lot of "World Source."
Even so, he had only received a green ring with a score of 21.
"Ugh…"
Su Xiao sighed, suddenly realizing he had the qualities of a "chief."
At least he wasn’t extremely unlucky; he was just average in luck.
With a bitter smile, he decided to stop dwelling on these matters.
By 1 AM, the bodies in the auction house were cleared away, and the CCG search officers gathered before the convoy began to return to the division.
This was undoubtedly a glorious victory, having completely wiped out the enemy without any casualties on their side.
Many search officers wore smiles, looking at Su Xiao with admiration.
The convoy traveled through the empty streets at midnight, the dim streetlights casting an unusually quiet atmosphere.
As Su Xiao leaned back in the passenger seat, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of dread, as if he was standing on the edge of a deep abyss, with his body leaning forward.
Danger was approaching from below!
Without hesitation, Su Xiao opened the car door and jumped out, rolling on the asphalt before stabilizing himself.
Another figure jumped out with him; it was the clever Suzuki Shizuo.
"Boom!"
The vehicle Su Xiao had been in suddenly exploded, launching into the air and flipping several times before coming to a stop.
A massive crater appeared on the road; the explosive was not hidden under the car but buried underground.
Flames shot up into the sky, and a strange burnt smell mixed with the stench of gunpowder filled the air.
Su Xiao quickly identified the smell as that of burning isobutylene; someone had planted a C4 plastic explosive along his route.
There was a contractor lying in wait to ambush him, but thinking they could take him out with just a bomb was too naive.
The Dragon Slayer appeared in his hand as Su Xiao cautiously scanned his surroundings.
He had rested in the car for over an hour, regaining about 80% of his stamina, and after eating three restorative meals, his health was fully restored.
Su Xiao had suspected that a contractor might attack him; he just didn’t know when exactly.
When his health was low, he had no choice but to consume expensive restorative food as a precaution.
Now it seemed his decision was correct; otherwise, in his previous state, he might have faced certain death.
(End of Chapter)