Chapter 43: This Thing Is Far Handier Than a Crossbow

After the terrifying explosion, Yan Xi, the operations team leader, felt that he was still conscious, still alive.

But his whole body was burning with pain.

He was only just alive.

As a seasoned mercenary, he knew he had to leave this place immediately.

Unlike previous opponents he had fought, the person living in this villa was not normal—a complete madman.

He wanted to call out to his teammates for help, but he couldn’t make a sound.

He tried to get up, only to find that one of his feet was gone.

A scream tore from his throat as he realized something even more horrifying.

He couldn’t hear anymore; his brain was filled with nothing but chaotic, disorderly roaring. Nothing else.

Worse still, when he looked up, he saw Su Miao standing on the stairs.

Su Miao was holding a crossbow.

Thunk—

An arrow struck directly between his brows.

As one of the trusted and powerful lieutenants under Chi Wanning, a veteran mercenary and leader of Operations Team 12, Yan Xi was dead.

At this moment, Xia Xiao’an, who had been frightened into tears again by the explosion downstairs, suddenly noticed that Su Miao—who had just been trembling beside her—was gone again.

Why again?

She didn’t know.

...

This person was too fierce, too terrifying!

Su Miao stared at Yan Xi’s corpse, still wide-eyed in death, and couldn’t stop herself from trembling.

There were still four survivors on the first floor. Unlike the gunmen from before, these men were only armed with swords.

Heavenly Sword, Dragon-Slaying Saber, Filial Son Sword...

Su Miao recognized them all.

No surprise—they were probably treasured cosplay collectibles from some game fanatic, and after acquiring them, these people had sharpened the blades.

Without a word, Su Miao released several crossbow bolts. In an instant, the men fell to the ground, dying almost immediately.

After killing them, Su Miao quickly retreated.

Throughout, she never intended to go down to the first floor. If there was someone lying in wait outside with a sniper rifle, exposing herself would be suicide.

Still, the guns and ammunition in the hands of the corpses on the stairs were hers now.

Unfortunately, only two guns remained intact.

An M416, and an AK47...

Su Miao was trembling.

Terrifying!

If even one of those guns had hit her just now, she would have died a horrible death.

At the same time, Su Miao felt a hint of excitement.

These were far more useful than a crossbow.

With a gun, she no longer had to wait for the enemy to attack; she could take the initiative.

She could head straight to the third floor and snipe those people herself.

It was a pity the rest of the guns had been destroyed in the earlier fight—especially a heavily modified SKS. That would have made an excellent sniper rifle, one of her favorites from shooting games.

Considering that some of the damaged guns still had usable parts, Su Miao collected them all.

When she reached the second floor, she moved a large wardrobe to completely block the top of the stairs.

“Big sister...”

Seeing Su Miao return, Xia Xiao’an, her face streaked with tears, snapped back to her senses.

She was always the one telling Su Miao to stay strong, but in truth, it was herself who couldn’t hold it together.

“Want to try one?” Su Miao showed off her newly acquired M416 and AK47.

Xia Xiao’an stared blankly at the guns, then at Su Miao’s trembling figure, at a total loss for words.

She shook her head repeatedly.

Terrified.

“You stay here,” Su Miao said, and with the guns in hand, went to the third-floor window. She peeked out quietly and took in the situation below.

The attack on Villa 36 had failed. Outside, the four team members left to maintain order by Yan Xi’s squad had realized how serious things were. Two of them were crossing the rope bridge, intending to report back.

Su Miao blinked, raised the AK47, aimed, and fired.

Bang!

One of the men, just about to reach the far side of the landslide zone, had the back of his head explode. He fell backward into the muddy water below and vanished without a trace.

The other man, startled by the gunshot, dove to the ground as soon as he crossed the rope bridge, using the roadside shrubs for cover and hiding in the broken wall of a villa.

“Huh?”

On this side of the landslide, two more members of Yan Xi’s squad stood in the rain, stunned.

They had just watched a teammate get picked off, and were bewildered, unable to make sense of the situation.

They knew their team leader was being held up attacking Villa 36, and had received orders to report, but how could anyone inside have time to kill them during Yan Xi’s assault?

There was no time to think. Two more shots rang out.

The two standing in the rain fell where they stood.

The refugees who had been driven out of the villa by these men scattered in terror at the sight.

“So scary!”

Three men down, Su Miao crouched with the AK47, shaking uncontrollably.

She had finished off all the intruders.

She couldn’t hold back anymore.

Xia Xiao’an watched her sister Su Miao shaking and crying, utterly numb.

...

Parking lot.

Chi Wanning sat in the hall that used to be the security office, listening to reports from her subordinates.

“Team 2, seized 200 jin of rice, 10 jin of flour, 170 jin of smoked meat, and 60 jin of other dried goods.”

“Team 3, seized 600 jin of rice, 800 jin of corn, 300 jin of salted meat, 300 jin of smoked meat, and 350 jin of other food.”

“Team 5, seized 300 jin of rice, 1,200 jin of soybeans, 250 jin of salted fish, 520 jin of smoked meat, and 2,100 jin of other dried goods.”

“...”

According to reports from undercover agents she had sent in advance, most of the refugees sheltering in the resort area were emaciated from hunger. They erupted into violent conflict over a single meal, and only managed to improve their situation when they started hunting mutated giant rats.

After all, while there were plenty of giant rats in the mountains, they were nothing compared to the daily food needs of thousands of people.

Earlier, she had ordered the collection of so many corpses for the purpose of chopping them up for bait in the rat traps.

She hadn’t expected to seize so much food in the end.

These old foxes were truly interesting.

But thanks to them, all this food was now hers.

With so much grain, she would be able to take complete control of the resort area, turning it into a base—her own kingdom.

She would be the queen who ruled over the life and death of everyone in this kingdom!

Lost in her beautiful vision of the future, Chi Wanning was suddenly interrupted by a disheveled member of the operations team bursting in and shattering the mood.

The newly surrendered local bosses of the resort stood at the side, trembling, not daring to say a word.

“Report! Reporting, boss! Captain Yan Xi requests reinforcements!”

The out-of-breath, panicked operative blurted out.

Chi Wanning said nothing. She closed her copy of the Criminal Code, her expression calm as she looked at the operative. “Speak slowly.”

The bedraggled team member replied, “We were attacking Villa 36 across from the landslide zone, but several brothers died soon after the fighting began. Captain Yan Xi ordered me to come ask for reinforcements.”

He didn’t dare to mention that, during the crossing, someone from Villa 36 had shot and killed another brother outside.

Because, how could anyone inside Villa 36 have time to attack them if Captain Yan Xi was still pressing the assault?

Unless Captain Yan Xi was already dead.

But saying that aloud would mean certain death for him.

Chi Wanning’s fingertips brushed the cover of her Criminal Code as she said, “Operations Team 11, probe and support the attack. Operations Team 10, flank and provide cover.”