Chapter 141: Surrounded
After an intense battle, they shattered every mutated mirror in the hall, wiping out the unnatural threat.
“This is amazing! I’ve finally found my people!” Cute and Sparkling was so relieved she could barely hold back her tears.
Now that the scattered squad members had been found, Lin Huai let out a long breath of relief.
“Let’s move. We regroup on the second floor!”
Following the rules they had uncovered earlier, they switched elevator shafts several times until they located a red-light car that did not stop on the basement levels. Stepping inside, Lin Huai pressed the button for the second floor.
Meanwhile, down in the second-floor lobby…
The Young Miss, Milk Tea, Sister Cai, and Peace and Violence had already arrived.
The space was massive yet suffocating. The lighting was poor, leaving most of the area shrouded in shadows, with only a single, harsh white bulb buzzing over the reception counter.
“It feels way too creepy here… Are you sure it’s safe?” The Young Miss shivered slightly, subconsciously clinging to Milk Tea’s arm.
As the strongest combatant among their small group, Sister Cai took point. Gripping her dual short blades, she scanned the shadows with sharp vigilance.
Peace and Violence and Flash Delivery Yellow Knight guarded their rear. Brother He Ping repeatedly tapped and tuned his spirit walkie-talkie, trying to establish a connection with the upper floors, while Little Yellow gripped his firearm with white knuckles, staying on high alert.
Several wide leather sofas sat in the center of the open area. Milk Tea glanced toward the waiting zone. “Sister Cai, Brother He Ping, should we wait over by the lounge?”
Peace and Violence shook his head, frowning. “Better not. That area is completely open. With no cover, any passing players would spot us immediately.”
Sister Cai nodded in agreement. “He’s right. It’s too exposed. Let’s move behind the front desk—the counter will give us decent cover.”
The four hurried toward the reception area, intending to duck out of sight.
Without warning, an icy gale tore across the marble floor. The lone bulb above the reception desk popped with a sharp snap, plunging the lobby into pitch-black darkness.
Right behind the sudden chill came a wave of grating scratches and muffled, agonizing moans echoing from every corner of the room.
“Hostiles incoming!” Peace and Violence warned, his voice dropping low as he raised his submachine gun.
In the dark, countless pairs of blood-red eyes flared to life.
A swarm of twisted, rotting vengeful spirits oozed directly out of the floor tiles and concrete walls.
“Come get a taste of this Miss’s Flame Submachine Gun!” the Young Miss shouted.
Her muzzle erupted into a roaring dragon of fire, the cleansing heat pushing back the first wave of leaping spirits.
Milk Tea was not about to be left behind. She leveled an exotic heavy weapon with a thick, glowing barrel. “Don’t think I’m easy prey either! I’ve got a Golden Light Pulse Gun! Let’s see if I run out of energy crystals before you run out of bodies!”
Accustomed to close-quarters combat, Sister Cai charged straight into the swarm with her twin blades. Arcs of cold steel flashed in the dark, cutting down a broad swath of howling spirits in seconds.
Flash Delivery Yellow Knight fired steadily until his slide locked back with a hollow click. “I’m empty! Need ammo!”
A fresh magazine flew through the dark, tossed cleanly from the Young Miss’s side.
He snatched it out of the air, slammed it home, and racked the slide to resume firing. But in the few seconds it took to reload, several ghostly claws raked across his shoulders, slowing his movements with burning pain.
Fortunately, the horde was not endless. After that fierce clash, the remaining shadows scattered back into the walls.
A heavy silence returned to the lobby.
The group pulled high-powered tactical flashlights from their packs to cut through the gloom, continuing their approach toward the reception counter.
Just as they drew near, a hulking man carrying a broad battleaxe stepped out from the shadows behind the desk.
He let out a loud, mocking laugh. “Hahaha! Looks like our little ambush caught a pack of fat sheep!”
Behind him, more than a dozen heavily armed players stepped into the flashlight beams, their eyes glittering with undisguised greed.
“Did you catch that? That little girl just bragged about having endless crystals. If we crack her inventory open, we’ll all be set for life!”
“It’s not just the kid—look at the gear on all of them. Every single piece is top-tier. Especially those two girls… Packed inventories, and pretty faces to match, hehehe…”
Another thug sneered, his gaze slimy and insolent. “With faces like that, who knows how they earned all those shiny toys…”
Sister Cai let out a cold scoff, her dual blades flashing forward without a second’s hesitation. “Plenty of people want to crack our backpacks open. The question is whether you have the spine to take them!”
Her body spun in a sharp, backhanded arc. In the blink of an eye, the blade sheared through the neck of the nearest thug.
A spray of blood hit the carpeted floor with a soft patter.
“Looks like you’re all mouth,” she sneered, flicking the crimson edge clean. “Died so fast you didn’t even count as a warmup!”
“Bastards! Light them up!”
Seeing their comrade fall in an instant, the remaining thugs abandoned any thought of taking prisoners. They raised their weapons and opened fire.
Peace and Violence reacted instantly, throwing down an intermediate Iron Wall Talisman that Lin Huai had provided. A glowing defensive barrier flared in front of the group, catching the hail of lead while they returned fire with everything they had.
Watching the enemy’s superior numbers and feeling the rapid drain on their spiritual talismans, Peace and Violence knew their stamina wouldn’t last. He made a split-second call: “Sister Cai, fall back! We pull out now and find another spot to wait for the Boss!”
Sister Cai knew the tactical reality—they were heavily outnumbered. Executing a clean backflip to dodge a burst of shotgun pellets, she spun around and sprinted for the corridor alongside the others.
The enemy squad broke into an aggressive pursuit, closing the distance fast.
Watching the pursuers gain ground, a momentary flicker of despair crossed Flash Delivery Yellow Knight’s eyes, only to be replaced by cold, stubborn resolve.
He knew he had always been the weakest link in the squad. Before, with Milk Tea trailing behind him in raw combat, he could swallow the shame.
Ever since she had claimed the sacred flame and personal garden space, however, she had set off on the path to becoming an unrivaled divine healer. Watching her leap forward had left him feeling deeply anxious.
He refused to be dead weight dragging down his companions.
In that split second, he skidded to a halt on the carpet and turned his back on the exit. “Miss! Dump your spare magazines here! I’ll hold the choke point—you three keep moving!”
The group faltered, but the enemies were breathing down their necks, leaving no room for debate.
Sister Cai whipped around without missing a beat, stepping shoulder-to-shoulder with him. “Don’t just stand there! Run and bring Lin Huai! Little Yellow and I will buy you time. Go, now!”
“Little Yellow, Sister Cai, hang in there! We’ll bring the Boss back to pull you out!” the Young Miss cried out, dropping every spare drum magazine, rifle round, and piece of auxiliary gear she could access onto the floor.
With heavy hearts, the three turned and fled into the corridor.
Seeing the mountain of high-grade munitions left on the carpet, the pursuers’ eyes flared with wild mania.
“Look at that haul! They’re loaded to the teeth! Don’t let them breathe! Kill these two, crack their packs, and we might take the number one rank on the leaderboard!”
A barrage of spells, grenades, and heavy rifle fire cascaded forward. The sheer volume of attacks pinned Little Yellow and Sister Cai down, cutting off any chance of catching up to the others.
Little Yellow dropped to one knee to reload behind a concrete pillar. Before he could push himself back up, a poisoned dagger slipped silently from the shadows behind him, driving straight between his ribs.
Pfft—
The sound of cold steel tearing through meat was sickeningly sharp.
Flash Delivery Yellow Knight’s body jerked violently. He slowly looked down, watching the dark, blood-dripping point of the blade push straight through the center of his chest.
