# Chapter 74: Iron-Fisted Measures
Special affairs personnel and special forces quickly withdrew from the shopping mall. Nie Xuan took one look at the injuries and the number of people reported, couldn't help frowning, and walked through the door with a grim face.
There was no main lighting inside the mall, but some emergency lights were still on, their faint glow barely enough to make out people. The strong man was crouched over a special forces member, tearing into him with his teeth. He looked up at Nie Xuan and let out a sneer. "Look at this poser, wearing a suit in this heat. Damn, I can't stand the sight of him!"
Nie Xuan took off his jacket, unbuttoned his shirt collar, and rolled up his sleeves before saying, "What a coincidence. I can't stand the sight of you either. Enough talk. Come on."
The strong man stood up, pushed off the ground, and suddenly accelerated forward like a cannonball. As he moved, he swung both arms, grabbing two long benches and hurling them at Nie Xuan!
"Righteous Steel Pipe." A white steel pipe as long as an arm appeared in Nie Xuan's hand. He casually swung it left and right, knocking the benches away with little effort. Then, facing the strong man charging behind the benches, trying to catch him off guard, he raised the pipe and rushed forward!
Both sides were accelerating. This strike seemed unavoidable. But at the last moment, just as they were about to come face to face, the strong man changed direction at an odd angle and retreated sharply to the left rear!
Nie Xuan glanced behind him. "Item?"
The strong man retreated to the entrance of a store, patted the black rope on his waist with satisfaction, then kicked off the wall and launched another attack!
Nie Xuan swung his steel pipe and handled it calmly, but gradually, his expression darkened.
He had studied professional martial arts in the military since childhood. In terms of fighting technique, three strong men couldn't match him. But every time he was about to land a hit, the other party used the elastic rope to dodge, wearing down his patience and stamina bit by bit.
Moreover, his elastic rope seemed to be able to latch onto anything—door handles, chandeliers, counters. It was impossible to see when it was attached; it only became visible when it activated to pull someone away.
"Die!" Seeing Nie Xuan distracted, the strong man lunged from the side like a frog, mouth open, revealing a set of yellow teeth, aiming to tear open his throat just like he had done to the special forces member!
"Hard-to-Break Fingernail." Standing still, Nie Xuan suddenly turned around and reached out toward him!
The strong man immediately tried to retreat, but his body abruptly froze mid-air, as if being pulled from both directions, suspended there.
"What did you do?" The strong man struggled. The elastic rope behind him was pulling, and though Nie Xuan was right in front of him, he had only raised his hand—he hadn't even touched him!
Nie Xuan's face was cold. He didn't bother to respond. He pressed his index and middle fingers together and swiped them across the strong man's throat. Blood sprayed out violently!
The strong man clutched his throat in shock, then reached out to grab the person in front of him, but Nie Xuan swung his steel pipe and broke his arm!
The elastic rope lost its effect. The strong man fell to the ground. Nie Xuan stood beside him, watching as he choked on his own blood and slowly died.
Only after the man was completely dead did Nie Xuan step away from the blood spreading at his feet. He bent down, picked up a translucent fingernail from the corpse's shoulder, and pressed it back onto his own index finger. Then he turned toward a certain direction on the second floor. "Are you coming out on your own, or am I carrying your bodies out?"
"Clang!" An iron bar clattered against the tiles. A young man quickly showed his face, raising his hands in a panic. "I surrender! Don't kill me!"
Zhao Sheng followed behind him.
"Come in and make the arrest." Nie Xuan said into his earpiece, then asked the young man, "How many people are here in total?"
"Eight, eight. Including our boss, nine people." The young man said.
Nie Xuan nodded, had someone take them out for identification, then led the team to carry out their colleagues from the mall. After that, he searched the mall's rooms one by one. Unexpectedly, in the staff break room on the first floor, they found several players chained up with iron locks.
"They're all white players." The special affairs personnel checked their numbers.
"Take them all back." Nie Xuan said, then asked, "Have the Holy Sword Society members been verified?"
"Compared," the assistant reported through the earpiece. "Except for the nine members who left two hours ago, the remaining eight all match up. The one you just killed joined the Holy Sword Society only tonight. There's an official wanted notice on him—he's the murderer responsible for the massacre of six families in the neighboring city."
"But the Holy Sword Society's leader, codenamed Eagle, isn't among these people."
"Did anyone break through?" Nie Xuan paused and asked.
"No," the assistant said. "He might have a special item on him. I asked around earlier. Although joining the Holy Sword Society requires handing over items or potions, the really powerful items actually come from Eagle. He's the one who distributes them to the other players."
Nie Xuan surveyed the interior of the mall. If Eagle had used an item to escape, there was nothing he could do about it. But he couldn't rule out the possibility that the man was still hiding inside the mall.
"Have the mall's water, gas, and electricity shut off. All armed personnel except the snipers, come inside."
Subsequently, over forty special forces and special affairs personnel split into two groups. They removed any potentially dangerous items from the mall, then raised their guns and opened fire on everything inside—storefront counters, displays, clothing, even signs and the ceiling. From the first floor to the third, the entire mall was riddled with holes in no time, smoke and dust flying everywhere!
On a residential building near the mall, Xu Huo watched the smoking mall through his binoculars and curled his lips slightly. "A ruthless character."
The female player from before had told the truth. The Holy Sword Society's hideout was indeed in Guangde Mall. That player called Eagle probably did have an invisibility trait. With such a convenient ability, he most likely wouldn't risk fleeing. Hiding nearby in the mall and waiting for the danger to pass would be his first choice.
But he probably hadn't expected the Special Affairs Bureau to be so ruthless—they simply demolished the mall.
Xu Huo waited another half hour before he saw Nie Xuan leading his people out. No extra people came out.
The mall was cordoned off. After leaving a few people behind, the convoy departed.
Xu Huo noticed that the sniper on the neighboring building hadn't withdrawn. He retrieved his floating balloon and waited patiently.
It wasn't until three in the morning that something finally stirred in the mall. The branches of a potted plant swayed slightly.
"Bang!" A bullet punched a hole in the wall behind the plant. Then, several figures swiftly darted through the darkness toward the mall.
Needless to say, these were players arranged by Nie Xuan.
Putting down his binoculars, Xu Huo grabbed his violin strings and went downstairs, heading in the direction Eagle had fled.
At the same time, Eagle, who had taken two bullets, was struggling to evade the pursuit of the Special Affairs Bureau players.
His wounds weren't fatal, but he had lost a lot of blood, leaving a trail behind him. So even though he occasionally concealed his tracks, he couldn't completely shake off those players.
Feeling them getting closer and closer, Eagle gritted his teeth. A golden smoking pipe appeared in his hand. He put some white powder into it, blew into the pipe, and thick smoke surged out eagerly, covering several nearby blocks in the blink of an eye. Standing outside the rolling smoke, he lowered his voice and said, "Fake Golden Smoking Pipe. A brief life, only one hour."
As soon as he finished speaking, the smoke changed. It stopped churning and instead solidified like fog in the area, silencing all sound.
Only then did Eagle breathe a sigh of relief. Pressing his abdomen, he moved away from the smoke zone. He had just walked one block when someone suddenly greeted him from above:
"Hey!"