With the explosion still ringing in their ears, CCG's convoy came to an abrupt stop. Ghoul Investigators armed with assault rifles jumped out, taking cover behind the car doors, their eyes scanning the surroundings with caution.
"First Class White Night, are you alright?" Mado Akira shouted as she rushed forward, holding her Quinque tightly.
Hiding behind one of the vehicles, Su Xiao signaled for Mado not to approach. The earlier explosion was likely just a test—an attempt to see if they could kill him outright.
Now, with a large group of Ghoul Investigators by his side, there was no way the enemy contractors would attack openly. Unless they were foolish beyond belief, no one would engage in a direct fight under the barrage of this much firepower.
The street was eerily silent, save for the crackling sounds of burning vehicles.
"Looks like someone wants to kill us. I wonder why," Juuzou Suzuya remarked, peering around with an eager grin, clearly itching for a fight.
As Su Xiao scanned his surroundings, searching for the enemy's location, the hostile contractors made their move.
A wave of green energy suddenly surged forward, sweeping across Su Xiao in an instant.
[You have been struck by "Nature's Wrath," Intelligence check required.]
[Result: Intelligence exceeds 10 points. You are immune to the sleep effect.]
[You have resisted the control effect of "Nature's Wrath," restoring your health to 100%.]
After the wave passed, Su Xiao saw the Ghoul Investigators around him begin to collapse one after another. They weren't dead, but they were fast asleep, breathing peacefully as they emitted a faint green glow.
Next to Su Xiao, Juuzou Suzuya wobbled as if he were drunk, barely staying upright through sheer willpower. Su Xiao reached out, grabbed Suzuya's head, and slammed it against the car door with a loud thud.
The metal of the door dented deeply, and a trickle of blood ran down through Suzuya's white hair. The dazed look in his eyes slowly cleared up, and he looked at Su Xiao in confusion.
Su Xiao, still holding onto Juuzou's head, asked, "You awake now?" He was ready to do it again if necessary.
Juuzou nodded, and Su Xiao released him.
"What just happened? I feel so sleepy," Suzuya asked, still dazed but smiling.
"Juuzou, enemies will show up soon. Do your best to hold off one or two, even if they're not ghouls. Kill them if necessary. Understood?"
Juuzou grinned and nodded enthusiastically.
This was why Su Xiao had brought Juuzou along—he had no moral compass. Mado Akira would have never agreed to such an order. For Ghoul Investigators, killing humans was fundamentally different from killing ghouls.
"Hide over there and wait for my signal," Su Xiao instructed, handing Juuzou Akira's Quinque.
Akira, having succumbed to the sleep effect, was completely unaware.
Su Xiao stood up, holding Dragon Slayer at the ready as he stepped out from behind the vehicle, focusing all his attention.
The street was still silent, save for the sound of the unconscious Ghoul Investigators' soft breathing.
The enemy contractors had come prepared. First, they blocked the road with explosives, then they used a large-scale crowd-control skill to disable his backup.
Hundreds of meters away, hidden in a narrow alley, a green-clad girl named Yoko gazed sadly at the parchment in her hands. It was covered in mysterious and intricate symbols, but now, cracks spread across its surface.
It was a green skill scroll, a one-time use item.
"Sister Queen, if this guy doesn't drop any blood cards, we'll be at a huge loss," Yoko said worriedly as the parchment disintegrated into ashes.
The woman called Queen smirked, her red lips curling. "Don't worry. Even if we don't get blood cards, the 'World Source' we collect later will more than make up for it. We'll even turn a profit. I'll get you a healing staff after this."
Yoko's eyes lit up at the mention of the healing staff, but she quickly remembered something.
"Actually, no. I need to focus on reviving 'Kaka' first. That's going to cost a lot."
Queen's expression darkened as she nodded. She knew the price of reviving 'Kaka' all too well.
"Alright. After this world ends, we'll revive 'Kaka,'" Queen promised.
Yoko was touched and was about to respond when Queen raised a hand to stop her.
"That guy's coming out. Black and White, get ready to snipe."
Queen pulled out a massive metal shield, nearly as tall as a door, and braced herself.
"Understood," a voice answered from above.
On the rooftop of a nearby building, a woman with long purple hair, known as Black and White, lay prone at the edge, her sniper rifle aimed down at the street below.
She spat out her gum, her long ponytail draped over her back, and pressed a button near her temple.
Whirr…
A mechanical hum resonated as her visor whirred to life.
Click, click, click.
A high-tech device resembling a night vision scope appeared over her right eye, its lens glowing red. This was a green-tier piece of equipment, capable of night vision, thermal detection, and even ultrasonic scanning—ideal for a sniper.
Black and White's finger rested lightly on the trigger, the red crosshair in her scope zeroing in on Su Xiao.
She hadn't dared to aim at him earlier because his awareness was unnervingly sharp.
Su Xiao, walking down the street, suddenly stopped. A chilling sensation crawled up his spine—he was being targeted by a lethal weapon.
His heightened senses locked onto the threat. It was coming from above, to his left.
He glanced in that direction and saw only a shadowy building looming in the night.
Black and White smirked as she peered through her scope, watching him look straight toward her.
"Cursed intelligence builds," she muttered, slightly annoyed, before pulling the trigger.
Su Xiao remained motionless, but the sense of danger intensified. A sudden sharp pain pricked his heart, and his body instinctively dodged to the side.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, echoing through the night.
The bullet zipped past his shoulder, the heat from it grazing his skin, and slammed into the asphalt behind him, blasting a hole nearly a foot wide into the road.
A sniper!
Su Xiao hadn't dodged the bullet by being faster than it; he had moved preemptively based on pure instinct.
Without a moment's hesitation, he burst into action, sprinting directly toward the source of the shot.
Bang, bang, bang!
Black and White fired three more rounds, but only one managed to graze his sleeve as he closed the distance from 700 meters to 400 meters.
Cold sweat dripped down Black and White's neck as she felt an overwhelming sense of being hunted.
She fired again, but Su Xiao somehow dodged, as if predicting where the bullets would fly.
In this life-or-death moment, his awareness was sharper than ever. He could faintly sense where the sniper aimed, allowing him to avoid the shots.
"Queen, this guy's awareness is ridiculous. I can't lock onto him. Buy me some time—I'll use the big one," Black and White radioed in.
"No problem."
Hidden in the alley, Queen nodded.
"Yoko, stay here and heal me when needed."
Yoko nodded, her hands glowing with a soft green light.
"Honor Badge," she murmured.
A green aura enveloped Queen, making her muscles bulge slightly.
"I'm going in. Keep an eye on my health."
With a roar, Queen charged out of the alley, sprinting toward Su Xiao. Though her speed wasn't impressive at first, it quickly ramped up until she was moving like a blur.
Su Xiao noticed the charging Queen and had no choice but to pause his pursuit of the sniper.
"Juuzou, head to the mall's rooftop. Take care of the enemies up there."
(End of Chapter)
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Translator's Note :- I am Not that familiar with a lot of the fictional worlds mentioned in the story. So if I make a mistake naming something please correct me by writing a paragraph comment on the mistake. Thank you.