In a large abandoned warehouse, a group of ghouls was fighting against the CCG.
"Break through! Hurry!"
"No way, boss, the back is blocked!"
"Are these ghouls crazy?"
The sound of gunfire echoed through the air. Su Xiao stood behind a tall concrete pillar, dust rising from the shots hitting it. He was battling a stubborn group of over a hundred ghouls, led by an S-rank ghoul. Surprisingly, this group was armed with a lot of guns. From what he could see, they had at least a hundred firearms of various types.
This was the third group of ghouls he had dealt with after the fight in a half-finished building, and it was the last gathering place for ghouls he could find.
"White Night, their firepower is too strong. We can't push in," said Jin Hu Xiao, standing beside Su Xiao. Bullets were kicking up dust around the concrete pillar, and the sound of grenades exploding could be heard.
Just as Su Xiao was about to peek out, he felt a tingling sensation on his scalp. He pushed off the ground, grabbed Jin Hu Xiao, and jumped behind another concrete pillar nearby.
This warehouse had at least a hundred concrete pillars, each about a meter wide.
"Boom!"
As Su Xiao jumped away, he felt a wave of heat behind him, the force of the explosion making him stumble a few steps. Jin Hu Xiao sat behind the pillar, staring in disbelief at the explosion.
"Fire... a rocket launcher??"
Not just Jin Hu Xiao, even Su Xiao was shocked that the ghouls had a rocket launcher. Su Xiao raised his automatic rifle and, without aiming, started firing wildly at the ghouls. Whether he hit anyone was anyone's guess.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
After his random shooting, the ghouls let out two screams, and Su Xiao received a notification that his CCG contribution points had increased. It was pure luck; he swore he hadn’t aimed at all.
"White Night, great shooting skills," Jin Hu Xiao said, possibly not noticing Su Xiao's casual shooting style, only seeing the ghouls fall.
"Well... it's okay," Su Xiao replied, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Most ghoul hunters relied on close combat, but this time it had turned into a gunfight.
"Boss White Night, we can't hold on much longer. My brothers are about to give out!"
A middle-aged investigator, holding a bulletproof shield, rushed to Su Xiao's side. Some of the investigators who had followed Su Xiao to clear out multiple ghoul gathering places called him "boss," showing their respect.
"Ban Cang, where did you get that?"
Su Xiao asked, interested in the bulletproof shield in Ban Cang's hands.
"During a surprise attack at the back door, a ghoul had it. I blew him up with a grenade," Ban Cang said proudly. Grenades were the only explosives allowed by the CCG.
He handed the shield to Su Xiao. The shield was completely black, about 1.4 meters tall, with a rectangular viewing port at the top, reinforced with bulletproof glass.
"Boss White Night, this is the FXF6-T anti-explosion shield made in China, level 6 bulletproof! It can withstand all firearms except heavy sniper rifles."
Su Xiao took the shield; it felt heavy and solid in his hands.
"Everyone, pay attention! I'm creating an opportunity. Get ready to wipe out these ghouls!"
Su Xiao raised the shield in his left hand and held a knife in his right, charging out from behind the concrete pillar.
"Tap, tap, tap!"
Through the bulletproof glass, Su Xiao saw a line of ghouls with their dark gun barrels spewing fire, shooting bullets.
"Bang, bang, bang."
The dense bullets hit the shield, slowing Su Xiao's charge. Each bullet had a strong impact, and now he was facing dozens, even hundreds.
Seeing Su Xiao charging with the shield, the ghoul leader was startled. He recognized Su Xiao as the man who had killed six of his subordinates in just a few seconds. This ghoul leader looked like a mercenary and was an excellent shot.
"Push him back! We can't let him break through our lines!"
The scarred mercenary ghoul's face twitched, and a cruel smile appeared as he rummaged around, lifting a sniper rifle that was at least two meters long.
"I'll take you down."
The mercenary ghoul's eyes glinted with malice, his finger about to pull the trigger. At this distance, he didn't even need to aim.
Su Xiao saw this through the bulletproof glass but didn't react much. He put away his Dragon Slaying Flash and pulled out a fist-sized iron ball from his waist.
"Clank."
The clear sound of metal hitting metal rang out as Su Xiao threw the iron ball near the mercenary ghoul.
Rolling, the iron ball landed at the feet of several ghouls.
"Idiot!"
The mercenary ghoul cursed, dropping the sniper rifle and curling into a ball, his kagune appearing to wrap around him.
"Boom!"
A fireball spread through the warehouse, dust falling from the ceiling.
The dense shrapnel hit Su Xiao's shield, making a loud racket. This was a high-explosive grenade, which Su Xiao had to request twice from the CCG headquarters before they reluctantly approved it.
Most of the ghouls' firepower stopped at that moment, and a burnt smell filled the air.
With a thud, half of a mangled leg fell in front of Su Xiao, the broken end blackened, flames licking at the torn pant leg.
Su Xiao had wanted to throw the high-explosive grenade earlier, but the ghouls' firepower was too intense. If he threw it from a distance, it might get shot down before it reached them.
"Charge!"
At Su Xiao's command, the investigators rushed out from their cover.
Su Xiao led the charge, moving to the front.
The mercenary ghoul stood up dazed, looking around in confusion. His kagune had been blown apart, blood pouring from his ears, and he was in a state of shock.
Before the mercenary ghoul could recover, Su Xiao was already in front of him, swiftly slicing his neck. Without a second glance, he moved on to find other ghouls.
In an instant, the battle turned. What was once an evenly matched fight became a one-sided slaughter.
Half an hour later, the warehouse was left with only humans able to breathe.
Su Xiao sat on a broken chair, resting. After the gunfire, the chair had only three legs left, making it uncomfortable to sit on.
The investigators began gathering the ghoul bodies together.
"Boss White Night, the ghouls have been cleared. We’ve driven away 147 ghouls, and our side..."
After hearing the report, Su Xiao nodded, signaling Jin Hu Xiao to handle the follow-up matters.
Tomorrow, Yoshiki Shinohara would be transferred to District 20, and Su Xiao had cleared out all the ghouls he could find.
I Bird could never have imagined that the map she casually drew would indirectly lead to the deaths of over a thousand ghouls.
At this moment, Su Xiao's task completion status changed to, "First-Class Investigator, Contribution 2053/2000. Promote? Yes/No."
Su Xiao chose to promote, and the notification from the Reincarnation Paradise faded away.
As soon as he received news from the CCG headquarters, he would complete the main quest.
This relieved Su Xiao; he didn’t want his fate in the hands of the CCG.
Just as he felt relaxed, a notification suddenly appeared from the Reincarnation Paradise.
"The Hunter has driven away 95% of the ghouls in District 14, with the Hunter killing 34% and indirectly causing 46% to die or escape."
"Due to the Hunter's actions, a large number of ghouls in District 14 have died or fled. Achievement Task Completed: Scavenger."
"Achievement Task: Scavenger. (Need to personally drive away more than 30% of ghouls in an area and cause over 90% of ghouls in that area to die or escape.)
"Achievement Task (Scavenger) Reward: 1 Attribute Point, 7% Source of the World."
"Currently, a total of 14.3% of the Source of the World has been obtained."
(End of Chapter)