# Chapter 73: Encirclement and Killing of the Holy Sword Society
The streetlights cast dim yellow light onto the road. It was already late at night, and occasionally one or two cars would pass by, moving at very high speeds. There was no one walking on the streets, not even stray cats or dogs in sight.
Zhao Sheng walked along the high-rise buildings toward Guangde Mall while keeping an eye on his surroundings. He took two detours along the way before finally feeling completely at ease, never once considering that what was following him was a balloon floating in the sky.
Guangde Mall was built by the rich young master's family. As soon as he joined the Holy Sword Society, he offered his family's mall as a temporary stronghold. With the heavy foot traffic here, Holy Sword Society members could blend in without standing out, and the occasional disappearance of one or two people wouldn't raise any suspicion.
He entered through a small door at the bottom of the building. The player who opened the door was startled to see him. "You're alone?"
"Where's the boss? I need to talk to him," Zhao Sheng said with a dark expression.
The Holy Sword Society had only about a dozen members in total. Half had already left, leaving only seven or eight people in the mall, all now gathered on the third floor.
"That group has at least five or six people, specifically targeting the Holy Sword Society. They might be from the Special Affairs Bureau," Zhao Sheng said. "Boss, we can't just sit here and wait to die!"
"That's right!" Another person chimed in. "I've long been fed up with those Special Affairs Bureau bastards. They take a chicken feather as a command arrow and run around arresting Red Players everywhere. We should teach them a lesson and show them who's boss!"
"Only players can deal with players. We've evolved—why should we fear those ordinary people?"
"Why not just mess with them? Special Affairs Bureau people are hard to catch, but they all have wives, children, and parents. Kill a few families, and the Special Affairs Bureau will have to steer clear of us from now on!"
"If we're going to cause trouble, let's make it big. Killing a few ordinary people won't make waves. There are so many high-ranking officials and wealthy tycoons in Ting City. Grab a couple of them, and we'll have power and money!"
The group grew more and more heated, their evil intentions spilling out as they eagerly wished to rush out and kill people right then. Zhao Sheng turned to Old Eagle, who was sitting there making phone calls. "Boss, I walked right into their trap this time. I'm willing to atone for my mistake by leading the charge!"
The phone rang for a long time without being answered. Old Eagle's face grew increasingly grim. He suddenly stood up and barked, "How did you escape? Cao Yan, Ma Yu, and the others—none of them are answering their phones!"
Zhao Sheng was stunned. "That group knocked me out and left me aside. I took the chance to run while Ma Yu was fighting them."
"Boss, it's not that I didn't want to help. I was seriously injured, and staying would have just been a burden..."
Old Eagle furrowed his brow and cut him off. "You idiot! If they were targeting the Holy Sword Society, why wouldn't they have finished you off first? Why give you a chance to run?"
Zhao Sheng didn't catch on. "To use me as a hostage for exchange... Boss, I was very careful on my way back. No one was following me..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the windows on the third floor shattered one after another. Several metal canisters flew in, landing on the ground and spewing thick smoke!
"Tear gas!" someone shouted, but immediately took a bullet to the leg and collapsed to the ground!
"Boss, what do we do?" Zhao Sheng instinctively turned to Old Eagle, but he never expected this guy to be the fastest runner of them all. In the blink of an eye, he only caught a glimpse of his back disappearing down the stairwell!
The Cannibal Players, who had been brimming with grand ambitions, were doused with cold water. Seeing Old Eagle flee on his own, they no longer cared about anyone else. Some jumped out of windows, others scrambled to find places to hide.
Outside Guangde Mall, the Special Affairs Bureau had already surrounded the area. Fully equipped special forces personnel methodically advanced toward the mall.
The Cannibal Players who jumped from the upper floors trying to fight their way out were first met with a hail of bullets, then electric nets and anesthetic guns came in waves. Two were captured on the spot, while one was exceptionally ferocious, tearing through the electric net with his bare hands and breaking out of the encirclement, knocking down and injuring several people in the process.
"The era of us players is coming! You arrogant ordinary people are nothing but ants. With one foot, I can..."
Nie Xuan, responsible for perimeter surveillance fifty meters away, gave the order into his earpiece: "Take him down."
"Pop!" A bullet from somewhere pierced the Cannibal Player's forehead. A spurt of blood splattered out, and before his body even hit the ground, special forces personnel quickly surrounded him and dragged him away.
The area outside the mall was cleared. Special forces and Special Affairs Bureau personnel entered the mall.
After a few tear gas canisters were thrown in, two people immediately walked out with their hands up, tears streaming down their faces. "Don't shoot! We're not Cannibal Players!"
The special forces wouldn't let them get close. They first bound them with electric nets, then fired two heavy doses of anesthetic. Only after the two collapsed did they use special retrieval poles to drag them out of the mall from several meters away.
Eight players were reduced to five in an instant. Zhao Sheng and the other two hiding on the second floor could only shrink back as they watched this scene.
"What do we do? What do we do? The Special Affairs Bureau has us surrounded. How can we escape?" A thin, weak young man clutched his hair and wailed.
"Shut up! You'll draw them here!" Zhao Sheng hissed in a low voice.
"And you have the nerve to talk to me! If you hadn't led them here, would we be in this mess?" The young man grabbed his collar. "I'm not a Cannibal Player. Maybe if I hand you over, I can atone for my crimes!"
Zhao Sheng punched him away. "You've got some nerve, kid!"
"Stop arguing." The burly man coldly interrupted them. He tore apart an iron shelf with his bare hands, turning it into iron bars, and handed one to each of them. "Only cowards raise their fists against their own. The Special Affairs Bureau won't give us a way out, so we don't need to be polite either."
"What are you planning to do?" The young man cowered.
"Take some people down with me!" The burly man let out a sinister laugh, grabbed the railing, and jumped down from the second floor!
A Special Affairs personnel had just reached the stairs when he heard a sound from above. Looking up, he saw a dark figure descending from the sky. Before he could make a sound, a hard object pierced through his mouth, then came out through his lower abdomen!
The Special Affairs personnel's eyes bulged and his mouth split open. Instinctively, he wrapped both arms around the burly man's arm, but the man lifted him with one hand, hanging him on the iron bar like a skewer!
"Guh... guh..." A torrent of blood mixed with foam flowed from his mouth. The faint sound alerted a nearby special forces member. As he turned around, he suddenly saw a figure flying toward him!
He instinctively dodged to the side, but in the split second their eyes met, a figure had silently appeared right in front of him!
The special forces member was startled. He raised his gun but it was knocked away, and the next second, his throat was bitten through!
Blood splattered across the burly man's face. He wiped it off carelessly, pushed the corpse aside, and lunged at his next target!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Gunshots rang out continuously inside the mall. Nie Xuan heard the sniper report, "Captain Nie, there's one person moving too fast for me to hit."
"Third Squad, report your status," he said into his earpiece.
"Captain Nie! There's a Cannibal Player on the first floor of the mall slaughtering our people!" The Special Affairs personnel reported frantically. "Four people are already dead!"
"I understand. Pull your people out. I'll handle this one myself." Nie Xuan handed over command to his assistant and got out of the car, heading into the mall.