Three fierce strikes smashed down in succession, violently crushing her target's skull.
Seeing the man finally stop struggling—and more importantly, noticing a blood-red key appear beside the body—the girl breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly discarded the wooden club and bent down to pick up the key.
She happily wiped her spoils, not caring whether the red on it was from blood or if the key was naturally that color.
As she looked around again, her expression grew puzzled.
"That's strange. Two people left, one of them is me, and this guy's dead. There should be one more, right? Where's that kid who disguised himself as a customer? Could he have slipped away while I was setting up the gas leak? Am I really that unlucky?"
After searching but failing to find any trace of Qin Ming, her gaze locked onto the restroom door.
The door remained largely intact, likely because of its angle and the fact that the men at the entrance had absorbed most of the explosion's impact.
Especially noticeable were the prominent kick marks on the door.
Her expression turned serious. She quickly picked up a dining knife from the floor, cautiously raising it as she approached the restroom.
Just as she was about to push open the door, a sharp knife suddenly burst through it with a crack, the tip protruding from the wood!
Startled, the girl instinctively jumped back, creating some distance.
Watching as the knife shook for a moment and then quickly retracted, the girl took a deep breath. But instead of being afraid, she broke into a wide grin.
However, her smile was so wide it looked almost grotesque.
"Not bad, kid! You managed to dodge that! Good, very good! This is getting interesting, huh? A one-on-one fight seems fair, right? How about coming out and facing me?"
Inside the restroom, Qin Ming stood silently, his face expressionless, gripping his dining knife, ready to strike at any moment. His eye was glued to the small hole he had just created, watching the enemy's every move.
For a few tense seconds, both of them—one inside, one outside—stood on opposite sides of the door, each holding a dining knife, locked in a silent standoff.
After a few moments of silence, the girl suddenly tossed her knife aside and burst out laughing.
"Congratulations, you made the wrong choice! If you'd charged out to fight me, you might have had a chance to win! I'm terrible at fighting! But now it's too late!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand, and out of nowhere, a handgun materialized in her grasp.
"Tada! An American Colt 1911! I got this beauty from that blood-red key we got off our dead teammate. How many shots do you think you can take from this?"
She waved the plain handgun she had looted from the key drop after an adventurer's death and aimed it at the restroom door, her finger just about to pull the trigger when she froze.
In the distance, she could hear the faint sound of police sirens, indicating that the authorities were on their way.
She glanced at the flashing police lights in the distance, then back at the tightly shut door, realizing that the person inside had no intention of coming out to fight.
Her smile instantly vanished, replaced by a furious scowl. She raised the gun and fired wildly at the door.
Due to the weapon's immense recoil, her shots went in all directions. The bullets sprayed haphazardly, some even hitting the walls.
After emptying the entire clip and seeing no movement from the restroom, the girl stomped her foot in frustration but didn't dare linger. She quickly turned and ran, disappearing through the kitchen and out the bar's back door.
Only after she had completely left, and the sirens had drawn near, did the restroom door slowly creak open.
Qin Ming, pale-faced, slumped to the ground, pressing a hand to his bleeding waist, grimacing in pain. His voice trembled as he spoke.
"Not only did you set off a gas explosion, but you had the nerve to shoot me too? Fine, you're ruthless enough. Just wait, this isn't over between us!"
Having lived his whole life in peaceful times, Qin Ming had never been shot before. Although he was lucky enough to have only taken one bullet, the pain was still unbearable, and he couldn't stop a groan from escaping his lips.
When he saw the damaged door being pushed open and several paramedics rushing in, he hurriedly raised his hand and waved.
"Over here! I've been shot! I need treatment! I think I can still be saved!"
Moments later, more police cars arrived from all directions.
After being quickly bandaged, Qin Ming was loaded into an ambulance to be taken to the hospital. Given that he could still walk to the vehicle, he was considered one of the lucky ones—many others were being carried in on stretchers, unable to move.
Of course, the unluckiest ones didn't even need to be moved—they were already headed straight to the crematorium.
Looking at the unfortunate fellow across from him, wrapped up like a mummy, Qin Ming couldn't help but grimace. His thoughts returned to that crazy girl, who had looked pretty but acted completely insane. Now, he feared her even more.
Such ruthless methods! Such a mad personality!
He was lucky he reacted quickly; otherwise, he'd probably be in the same condition as the poor soul in front of him.
Grimacing, he shook his head and glanced at the guy across from him, whose eyes were rolling around, his mouth making faint hissing sounds, unable to speak.
Qin Ming felt a pang of guilt. After all, this guy had been caught up in this mess because of him.
Smiling, Qin Ming put on his best Good Samaritan face and started to comfort him.
"Hey, don't worry about it. It's just a fatal injury, right? You're not going to die. And even if you do, there's compensation, right? It's not like you're dying for nothing. Look, you've probably worked all your life for just a few hundred thousand yuan, but if you die here, you might get that much in compensation right away! Think of it like this: you've just saved yourself a lifetime of hard work! Doesn't that make you feel better?"
His soft-spoken consolation had an immediate effect—the mummy-man started trembling violently, the hissing noises from his mouth growing louder!
Before Qin Ming could continue his "therapy," a shout came from outside the ambulance.
A group of guys with outrageous hairstyles were arguing loudly with the paramedics. The leader, his voice the loudest, could be heard clearly even from inside the ambulance.
"Get my big brother treated! If my big brother dies, I'll make sure all of you pay with your lives! I'm warning you! We're from the Vise-Teschion gang!"
"Sir! Please calm down!"
"Calm down?! I'll blow you to pieces and see how calm you are! And why are you all just standing around? Go find the bastard responsible!"
The burly man, clearly in charge, cursed as he ordered his men to spread out and do their jobs.
Inside the ambulance, Qin Ming quickly turned his gaze toward the "mummy-man" across from him.
"Big brother? Vise-Teschion? Why does that name sound so familiar…? Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Vise-Teschion... Oh crap, isn't that the name of the first boss in the game?! Are you Vise-Teschion?"
Looking at the guy in front of him, whose appearance didn't match the boss at all, Qin Ming quickly shook his head, dismissing his own guess.
There was no way the first-stage boss, Vise-Teschion, could have been taken out by a gas explosion. That'd be ridiculous. This guy definitely wasn't Vise-Teschion.
Still, whoever he was, he was clearly someone important in Vise-Teschion's gang, and probably a mid-level leader.
Given that…
Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, and seeing that the gangsters were still arguing with the paramedics, Qin Ming suddenly coughed and discreetly pulled a dining knife from the edge of his shoe.
In one swift motion, and under the shocked gaze of the man on the stretcher, Qin Ming stabbed him right in the chest!
Then he quickly withdrew the knife, hiding it away as if nothing had happened, sitting quietly as though nothing at all had transpired.
Of course, Qin Ming could act like nothing had happened, but the man who had just been stabbed certainly couldn't!
Though he wasn't dead, the guy began thrashing violently, his muffled screams growing louder as he struggled.
Startled by the sight, Qin Ming panicked, pulled the knife out again, and, holding the man down with one hand, began frantically stabbing him with the other.
Not dead yet? Well, I'll keep stabbing until you are!
(End of Chapter)