In the distance, gunfire echoed sporadically in the sky. It was the 2nd Airborne Battalion ambushing the New York police and the subsequently arriving National Guard. The sounds of gunfire crackled like popping beans, with flashes of light flickering everywhere, and smoke from explosions resembling festive fireworks. The streets were filled with civilians screaming in panic, creating an atmosphere of fear.
Under normal circumstances, Fatty would have been terrified, but now he sat in the Humvee, intently observing his surroundings, his eyes wide open and unblinking. His whole body trembled slightly, and he murmured repeatedly, "Dying with eyes open, dying with eyes open..."
Shen Yi found this somewhat amusing and spoke softly, "You don't need to be so tense. The more you care about something, the more nervous you become. That's what worry is all about. People often make mistakes because they are nervous, and they lose what they care about because of those mistakes. So, if you want to keep what you cherish, the best way is to relax a bit. Try to imagine that you don't care about death, and you'll find it easier to face everything."
Fatty nodded repeatedly, feeling slightly more relaxed. "It seems to be working!" he exclaimed to Shen Yi, surprised. Whether it was psychological or Shen Yi was right, Fatty felt less fearful.
Shen Yi laughed and patted him on the back, "Don't worry, take it step by step. You'll overcome it. Danger perception is a great ability. If you can truly overcome its negative effects, you might be the one who survives the longest among us."
Fatty looked at Shen Yi with gratitude and nodded again.
"Don't thank me. I don't want a burden in my team. A calm and composed attitude is your best weapon against danger. Stay as cool as possible... and sometimes, acting cool isn't bad either, don't you think?"
Fatty smiled sheepishly, "It is cool, but with my size, I can't really pull it off."
"In Bloody City, does size matter?" Shen Yi said languidly.
Fatty paused, then replied, "No, it doesn't. Size doesn't matter, nor does life. Here, power... is the only thing that matters."
Shen Yi laughed heartily, "You've finally got it."
The gunfire was getting closer, but the battle in the underground garage was still ongoing. Shen Yi used Wen Rou's binoculars to scan the distance, seeing a large number of troops approaching. It seemed their commotion on the highway had attracted not only the police but also the full mobilization of the National Guard.
Picking up the radio, Shen Yi ordered, "Tell them to hurry up, our trouble is getting bigger."
"Yes, sir," a soldier responded through the radio.
Moments later, Wen Rou's voice came over the communicator, "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"The good news."
"There are more mutants than we expected."
"And the bad news?"
"There are a lot more," Wen Rou said succinctly.
"How many?"
"At least forty."
"Difficult to deal with?"
"Very troublesome. Luckily, there are no high-level mutants, but there are over ten level-two mutants. They are not weak, and there are many of them. If we hadn't taken them by surprise and killed quite a few at the start, we might have been overrun by now."
"We underestimated the difficulty of the mission," Hong Lang interjected. "Fighting against the government means the mutants are strong."
Jin Gang added, "Fortunately, not all mutant abilities are offensive. Some are useless, like one I killed who could change from fat to thin. So, they mainly rely on weapons for combat. Their close combat abilities and physiques are only slightly better than ordinary people. But even so, they are not easy to deal with. At least half of them have troublesome abilities, and a quarter are quite threatening."
"I'll come and support now," Shen Yi said, activating his Honor Medal and spending 600 Bloody Points to summon forty regular soldiers.
Jumping out of the Humvee, Shen Yi called to Fatty, "Luo Hao, I'm going in to help them. Can you handle it here?"
Fatty's face paled slightly, but he nodded and cast a psychic armor on Shen Yi.
"Believe in yourself, you can do it. You don't always have to rely on others to live," Shen Yi encouraged.
Leaving ten soldiers with Fatty, Shen Yi led the others towards the building.
Just before entering, Shen Yi suddenly turned back, "Do you have faith?"
Fatty shook his head in confusion. "Then let's just believe in something random that benefits you," Shen Yi chuckled and walked away.
Carrying their guns, they charged into the building, and the sounds of gunfire from below grew clearer. Explosions occasionally echoed, indicating an intense battle was taking place.
Shen Yi activated his communicator and said, "We're in."
Wen Rou's melodious voice immediately responded, "The mutants are mainly gathered on the south side of the garage. Have your people enter from the left and right lanes to flank them."
"What about me?"
"The mutants are attempting to break through the escape passage. They plan to create an opening from there. You go help them."
"No problem. The American soldiers outside will encircle us in no more than eight minutes. We better resolve this in five."
"Understood."
Shen Yi gestured, and thirty soldiers rushed towards the garage along both lanes. He himself headed quickly for the escape passage.
At the entrance of the escape passage, Ralph was leading a dozen soldiers, engaged in a fierce battle with the mutants. One mutant suddenly dashed out from the passage, incredibly fast. A soldier aimed and fired at him, but the mutant leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the bullets. In mid-air, he brandished a sharp knife.
The knife silently slashed across the soldier's throat, and he fell to the ground, blood gushing from his neck.
The mutant let out a sinister laugh as he landed, and his face resembled a furry gorilla. His arms were unusually long, and a fierce glint shone in his eyes.
Several soldiers shifted their aim towards the mutant, but he swiftly leaped backward, evading the hail of bullets. The soldiers, experienced in dealing with fast-moving mutants, knew that hitting him with precise shots would be difficult. Instead, they used a barrage of bullets to restrict his movement.
No matter how agile he was, he would eventually land.
At that moment, another mutant rushed out of the passage. His entire body gleamed like iron, and he advanced against the bullets, which produced metallic clinks upon hitting him.
Ralph shouted and threw a grenade at him. The explosion rocked the mutant, and his iron-like skin gradually melted away.
It seemed that after enduring the explosion, his energy was severely depleted and no longer sufficient to protect himself.
However, he successfully diverted all the firepower away from the gorilla-like mutant.
The gorilla mutant roared in anger and pounced towards Shen Yi. Shen Yi snorted and raised his left arm. As the mutant reached out to grab his arm, a dazzling burst of light erupted from Shen Yi's wrist, accompanied by a tremendous force.
The mutant's expression changed dramatically, realizing that things were going south.
Thunder Wristguard, equipped with its unique skill, Thunder Strike, was activated.
It consumed 3 Spirit Points and dealt an additional 45 points of damage to the target, along with a 10% chance of stunning for 3 seconds and a 10% critical hit effect, doubling the attack power. Skill Priority: 20.
Shen Yi now possessed 30 points of Strength. With this punch, the gorilla-like mutant let out a mournful cry and was sent flying towards the ceiling. Although he was injured, his robust physique allowed him to survive. He reached out, grabbed the chandelier on the ceiling, and hung on. Blood spurted from his mouth as he hoarsely asked, "Are you also a mutant?"
Ordinary people could never deliver such a punch.
"We're not quite the same," Shen Yi replied coldly.
He raised his Flame Gun towards the airborne target, firing a series of shots. The bullets, with much higher damage than those of the 2nd Airborne Division soldiers, inflicted painful burns on the iron-skinned mutant.
Other soldiers noticed this and also opened fire on the mutant, relentlessly pouring bullets into him. The mutant's innate energy was rapidly depleted, and he could no longer protect himself, becoming riddled with bullet holes.
Meanwhile, the gorilla mutant, infuriated, lunged at Shen Yi again. Shen Yi coldly observed his opponent, and with a swift motion of his left hand, the Vampiric Touch appeared. He used it to parry the mutant's knife.
With a clear clang, the Vampiric Touch deflected the mutant's knife, then swiftly stabbed into the mutant's palm. Shen Yi pulled back forcefully, severing three of the mutant's fingers. The mutant let out a loud, agonizing scream as Shen Yi moved in closer.
Shen Yi delivered a knee strike to the mutant's chest, forcing him to lower his head. He then aimed his Flame Gun at the mutant's head.
Shen Yi declared coldly, "Goodbye!"
The whistling bullets pierced through the mutant's head, and a gush of blood sprayed all over Shen Yi's body in an instant.
The Bloody Crest emitted two consecutive clear "ding" sounds, indicating that Shen Yi was gaining Kill Points.
"You killed a Level 1 mutant and gained 1 Kill Point."
"You killed a Level 2 mutant and gained 5 Kill Points."
It turned out that the gorilla-like mutant was a Level 2 mutant, which explained his formidable strength.
Shen Yi pondered and could reasonably conclude that Level 1 mutants were only slightly stronger than ordinary people, with very limited use of their abilities, as demonstrated by the earlier iron-skinned mutant. Well-trained soldiers could handle them. Level 2 mutants were somewhat more challenging, with significantly stronger physical attributes than ordinary humans, but they still fell short compared to adventurers.
Based on this, Level 3 mutants probably weren't much stronger than adventurers, and Level 4 mutants were likely superior to adventurers.
Of course, it didn't rule out the possibility that some high-level mutants had sufficient energy but not particularly powerful abilities.
However, considering the relatively large population of mutants, it was inevitable that there would be an increase in individuals with deadly combat capabilities.
Jin Gang was right; the Bloody City mission concealed traps. Adventurers focused on hunting mutants and rushed to compete, overlooking the inherent danger posed by the mutants themselves.
Thinking of this, Shen Yi suddenly turned to Ralph and said, "I'm going in. You guys stay outside and don't let anyone escape."
"Please be careful, sir. There are many people inside the passage," Ralph replied.
"I have my ways," Shen Yi replied.
He took out a beginner's gun and casually swapped in a special bullet cartridge. Shen Yi fired several shots into the passage.
A dense cloud of smoke billowed, filling the entire space.
"We can't see anything!" panicked voices came from the other end of the passage.
Gunshots rang out, but they had no idea that the Angel of Death had quietly infiltrated.
Amidst the darkness and smoke, protected by bulletproof gear and his psychic energy armor, Shen Yi swiftly approached one of the mutants. He covered the mutant's mouth with his right hand and plunged the Vampiric Touch deep into the mutant's throat.
As he released his hand, the mutant collapsed to the ground.
Firelight made for the best target, and the mutants' blind firing in the darkness provided Shen Yi with their positions.
With cries of pain occasionally echoing, the gunfire from the smoke gradually diminished.
Someone shouted, "Stop shooting!"
The gunfire ceased.
People groped in the darkness, cautiously asking one another.
A mutant accidentally bumped into someone and asked nervously, "Who's there?"
"It's me, Grace."
The mutant breathed a sigh of relief.
In that split second, a knife suddenly slid across Grace's throat, spraying a pool of blood. Grace, the mutant, was covered in blood.
"He's here!" Grace yelled.
All the guns opened fire simultaneously, turning Grace into a sieve.
"Is he dead?" someone shouted.
"Unfortunately, no," a voice came from behind.
A cold blade pierced through the mutant's back.
One mutant after another fell, their lives harvested by Shen Yi. When only one mutant remained, he couldn't bear it any longer and frantically fled backward.
As he turned down the long, narrow, dark corridor and reached the spacious garage, the mutant finally breathed a sigh of relief.
There were still several mutants fighting with Wen Rou and the others in the garage.
Seeing the fleeing mutant, someone angrily asked, "Why did you come back? Hasn't the other side been opened yet?"
"Someone killed all of us!" the mutant shouted in terror.
"Who was it?"
"I don't know. It's pitch black everywhere, and I couldn't see him. He killed Ironman and the gorilla..."
Bang!
A bullet pierced through the back of his head, creating a bloody hole in his forehead.
The mutant fell to the ground dead.
The mutants in the garage simultaneously turned their horrified gazes towards the direction of the passage.
Accompanied by the cold sound of footsteps, Shen Yi's figure appeared like a ghost.