Chapter 25: Wrath of Nature
With that explosion, the CCG convoy came to a halt. Ghoul investigators armed with assault rifles rushed out of the vehicles, using the car doors for cover as they warily scanned their surroundings.
"Bai Ye, First Class, are you alright?"
Mado Akira ran forward, gripping her koukaku.
Su Xiao hid behind a car and signaled for Mado Akira not to approach.
The explosion just now was likely just a probe, an attempt to see if it could kill him.
With so many ghoul investigators around him now, unless the enemy contractor was brain-dead, they wouldn't engage him here.
The firepower of these hundred-plus ghoul investigators was nothing to scoff at.
Unless the enemy contractor could take them all out in an instant.
The street was eerily quiet, save for the hissing of the burning vehicles.
"It seems someone wants to kill us. Why?"
Uta Sasaki poked his head out to look around, a look of eager anticipation on his face.
Just as Su Xiao was surveying the area, trying to pinpoint the enemy's general location, the enemy contractor made a move.
A green shockwave instantly spread out, sweeping over Su Xiao in the blink of an eye.
After the green shockwave passed, the ghoul investigators beside Su Xiao began to collapse one after another. They weren't dead, just asleep, and sleeping soundly at that, their bodies emitting a faint green glow.
Uta Sasaki, standing beside Su Xiao, swayed as if drunk. With sheer willpower, he managed to stay on his feet.
Su Xiao grabbed Uta Sasaki by the head and slammed it hard against the car door.
*Bang!*
The sheet metal on the door dented in a large chunk, and a trickle of blood flowed down from Uta Sasaki's white hair.
Uta Sasaki's dazed eyes gradually regained focus, and he looked at Su Xiao in confusion.
Su Xiao still held Uta Sasaki's head.
"Are you clear-headed now?" If the other party wasn't, he was ready to give him another hit.
Uta Sasaki nodded, and Su Xiao let go.
"What just happened? I felt so sleepy."
Uta Sasaki held no grudge and instead moved closer to Su Xiao.
"Sasaki, enemies will appear soon. Do your best to hold off one or two of them. Even if they're not ghouls, kill them without hesitation. Understand?"
Uta Sasaki nodded.
This was why Su Xiao had brought Uta Sasaki along. This little white-haired kid had almost no sense of right and wrong. If it were Mado Akira, she would never accept such an order.
For ghoul investigators, killing ghouls and killing humans were fundamentally different.
"Hide here and wait for my orders."
As he spoke, Su Xiao grabbed Mado Akira's koukaku and tossed it to Uta Sasaki.
Mado Akira had already fallen asleep, apparently unable to resist the sleep effect.
Su Xiao stood up, drew Dragon-Slaying Flash, and stepped out from behind the car, his focus razor-sharp.
The street was silent, except for the slumbering ghoul investigators.
The enemy had come prepared. First, they blocked the road with explosives, then used a crowd-control ability to weaken Su Xiao's forces.
In an alley a few hundred meters away, the green-clad girl, Yezi, looked at a piece of parchment in her hand with a pained expression. The parchment was covered in intricate, exquisite patterns, but now large cracks were spreading across its surface.
It was a green skill scroll, usable only once.
"Sister Queen, if that guy doesn't drop a blood card, we'll be in the red."
The Queen's red lips curled into a smile.
"It's fine. Even if he doesn't drop a blood card, the subsequent 'World Source' will be enough to cover our losses and net us a big profit. Then I'll get you a healing-type staff."
When Yezi heard about the healing staff, her eyes lit up, but then she seemed to think of something.
"Forget it. I need to resurrect 'Kaka' first. That will take a huge toll."
The Queen's expression darkened. She, too, knew the cost of resurrecting 'Kaka'.
"Alright. When this world ends, we'll resurrect 'Kaka'."
Yezi was a bit touched and was about to speak when the Queen raised her hand to stop her.
"That guy is coming out. Heibai, prepare to snipe."
The Queen pulled out a metal shield as tall as a door, ready to face the enemy at any moment.
"Understood."
On the rooftop of a building, Heibai was lying at the edge, a dark brown thick cloth spread beneath her.
Heibai spat out her gum. Her long purple ponytail was draped behind her, and her fair fingers lightly pressed against her temple.
*Whirr~.*
The sound of precision machinery came from her.
*Click~, click~, click~.*
A small headpiece appeared on Heibai's head, and a detection device materialized in front of her right eye. It looked somewhat like a night vision scope, but the lens glowed red and was highly intricate.
This was a green piece of equipment, with functions like night vision, thermal sensing, and ultrasonic detection—an ideal tool for a sniper.
Heibai's slender finger rested on the trigger of her sniper rifle, the red crosshairs in the scope aimed at Su Xiao.
She hadn't dared to do this before, because Su Xiao's perception was far too sharp.
Su Xiao, walking down the street, suddenly stopped. A prickling sensation ran down his spine.
He was being targeted, and by a lethal weapon.
Using his instincts, Su Xiao began to sense the source of the danger. He quickly locked onto a general location: his upper left.
He looked in that direction, but only saw a building shrouded in the night.
Through her scope, Heibai saw Su Xiao raise his head and look directly at her position. She clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Damn intelligence-type contractor."
As she spoke, Heibai pulled the trigger...
Su Xiao remained where he was. The feeling of danger reached its peak. Suddenly, a faint stabbing pain came from the area of his heart, and his body instinctively shifted to the side.
*Bang!* A gunshot tore through the night.
A sharp gust of wind grazed past his shoulder, carrying a wave of heat. Behind him, a hole several dozen centimeters in diameter exploded in the asphalt road, sending fragments flying.
A sniper!
Su Xiao had dodged the shot not because he was faster than the bullet, but because he had made the evasive move in advance—it was a prediction.
The moment he had been standing still, Su Xiao suddenly burst into motion, charging toward the source of the danger.
*Bang, bang, bang~!*
Heibai fired three shots in quick succession, but only one grazed Su Xiao's sleeve.
The distance between them closed rapidly, from 700 meters to 400 meters.
A chill ran down Heibai's spine. She felt like she was being targeted by a wild beast.
Her fingers pulled the trigger rapidly.
But Su Xiao seemed to be able to predict the bullet's trajectory in advance, dodging every single shot.
In this life-and-death moment, Su Xiao's perception grew sharper and sharper, reaching an unprecedented level.
Wherever the unknown sniper aimed her next shot, Su Xiao would feel a faint stabbing pain at the targeted spot. This was the key to his bullet-dodging ability.
"Queen, this guy's perception is completely insane. I can't lock onto him. Buy me some time; I'll use that move."
"No problem."
The Queen, hidden in the alley, nodded.
"Yezi, stay hidden here and find a chance to heal me."
Yezi nodded. Just before the Queen left the alley, a faint emerald light appeared in Yezi's hand.
"Honor Emblem."
A brilliant green light enveloped the Queen, and the muscles in her arms bulged noticeably.
"I'm going in. Keep an eye on my HP."
The Queen charged out of the alley, letting out a roar as she rushed toward Su Xiao.
The Queen, whose main attribute was stamina, wasn't fast, but as she charged, her speed increased rapidly, until she was almost a blur.
Su Xiao noticed the Queen charging at him and had to temporarily abandon the unknown sniper.
"Sasaki, go to the rooftop of that shopping mall and deal with the enemy up there."