Chapter 9.2 – The Next Time For Sure
Twenty minutes later, the final bit of light punctually disappeared over the horizon. The enormous abandoned city completely sank into darkness.
In a small alley, Laiknar raised his head and gazed towards the towering buildings on both sides of him in silence. O’Brien stood at his side, and his face was finally unable to cover up his fatigue despite the faint smile on his face. Even Li Gaolei with the least workload felt like it was becoming more difficult to move about.
This game of pursuit was not easy; both the roles of hunter and prey were continuously being switched around.
Each person had to remain vigilant against bullets that could arrive from any direction. Even though Su only fired a single bullet this entire time and only laid down one trap, the persistently tense situation was quickly exhausting everyone’s strength. When that shot had been fired, O’Brien’s mind seemed to have become extremely weary, and a large part of his strength had been consumed as well. Who knew how many more bullets he could block?
At night, the city was like an enormous dark beast. It was as if it could topple over at any moment and crush everyone into minced meat.
They had already roamed about this maze-like city for an entire day and night.
Fatigue crept into Laiknar’s mind like a vine, and that vine was slowly extending its branches into every corner. This was the first time that Laiknar felt that the glory he would receive from capturing Su was no longer as attractive as it was in the beginning. Compared to the great future prospects he could receive, the danger to his life felt more realistic. During the earlier pursuit, even though it was extremely difficult and every kilometer closer to their target was a small victory, he had always remained confident in the backing of his group’s strength. Others might feel fear, but the Black Dragonriders wouldn’t, for every standard member of the Black Dragonriders experienced strict anti-sniper training. Su might be far more dangerous than an ordinary sniper, but with O’Brien’s troops here, they still had the resources to chase after him.
Now, their prey was almost within reach. This enormous city seemed to be suffused with Su’s aura, and he didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving, however…
When Laiknar turned around, what he saw was O’Brien’s pale face. This stirred up his final bits of ambition.
“You might be right. Let’s leave this place for now and ask for headquarters’ assistance.” Laiknar’s smile was a bit forced. Now that their strength had been exhausted and their minds were on the verge of collapse, they finally began to regret the energy they wasted in Habitat K7 and the Falcons’ headquarters. Back then, the energy used to set aflame those provocative or even deceitful refugees seemed insignificant, as only a few hours of rest could completely recover it. However, how could they have anticipated that they wouldn’t even have the ample time to rest during the next few days and nights? Even though their manpower was sufficient, and in theory, it shouldn’t be a problem with their rotation of men standing guard, the sniping ability Su displayed made it so that no one dared to enter a deep state of sleep. Under the shadow of a muzzle like that, even their comrades-in-arms became completely unreliable. Right now, every ounce of strength and energy was extremely precious.
Thinking back, even the intense excitement and thrill of torturing those people was a great waste of energy.
While hidden within the darkness, Su was just like the most crafty rotting wolf, patiently waiting for his prey to tire out. Undoubtedly, the heavily wounded Su should have fallen before the strictly trained Black Dragonriders, yet after this game of back and forth pursuit, the first ones to show signs of collapse were Laiknar and his troops!
It was possible that Su might collapse after another minute and give up, but this possibility no longer existed.
The group of people silently moved within the darkness. Apart from Laiknar, all of the subordinates seemed to have relaxed. Past the intersection in front of them was the edge of the city where they could find a safe place to set up camp and also call the Black Dragonriders Headquarters for assistance. After experiencing Su’s perseverance and craftiness, all of the subordinates believed that only by transferring high level dragonriders here would there be a possibility of capturing this cunning existence.
The abandoned city was full of large chunks of cement, randomly protruding reinforced steel bars, and geological faults along the road. It all seemed particularly sinister within the darkness.
Flap flap flap! A large group of giant bats flew from the distant city. They seemed to have been startled by something, and as a result, large numbers of them flew across the sky above Laiknar. The originally nearly pitch-black night seemed to have now been fully covered up.
Crash
Less than ten meters away from Laiknar’s location, a piece of fingernail-sized concrete fell and rolled down a pile of abandoned earth and trash.
Laiknar suddenly stopped his steps. When he turned around, he saw a brilliant spark ten meters away!
At this moment, Laiknar’s mind entered an extremely nervous state, as well as an extremely calm state. He seemed to be able to see that bullet rotate as it arrived, as well as the faintly discernable trace of fire around the bullet caused by the high speed friction with the air. It then disappeared above his field of vision.
“Actually between the brows…” Laiknar still had the time to produce this thought, but unfortunately, his level of awareness was far above his flesh’s ability to react. As the bullet flew from ten meters away, Laiknar’s body was completely unable to avoid it.
The bullet passed through Laiknar’s forehead, and then it flew out from the back of his head. The tremendous kinetic energy sent his head flying backwards, and as it smashed into one of the subordinates, an entire ear was torn off, causing blood to immediately pour out like a waterfall.
The abrupt change stupefied everyone here!
From within the heap of trash ten meters away, a faint black shadow nimbly entered the nearby subway tunnel and disappeared into the pitch-black passages.
Laiknar was still standing there, maintaining his pencil straight posture He then slowly fell backwards.
A warm, trembling hand held Laiknar’s body and gently rested him down onto the ground. Laiknar stared blankly into the night sky, and his right hand slowly reached upwards, as if he was trying to grab at something.
O’Brien grabbed Laiknar’s hand. A hint of consolation flew past his eyes, and his right hand gripped tightly like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of straw. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but right at this time, the expression in his eyes suddenly vanished. His right hand gradually lost strength and loosened its grip.
This time, it was O’Brien’s turn to tightly grab Laiknar’s hand, preventing it from sliding away. His left hand that was holding Laiknar’s head was filled with a warm and moist sensation, but O’Brien didn’t dare to look in that direction!
O’Brien’s grey hair suddenly flew upwards, and he roared angrily towards the darkness, “Wasn’t I the one you were going to kill next?! You liar!”
His roar rumbled outwards for who knows how far, echoing throughout the towering skyscrapers. If one didn’t see it for themselves, who would have thought that this delicate body could release such a tremendous volume of sound!
The subordinates looked at each other in dismay. They couldn’t comprehend the meaning behind O’Brien’s cry of anger.
It was as if O’Brien could see through the boundless night sky and see Su coldly laughing, mocking his innocence. He had always maintained his perception at around 500-800 meters, as this was the optimal distance where a sniper fired from, yet he never expected that Su was actually hiding by their route of departure, moreover waiting until they were within ten meters before firing. No matter how powerful one’s defensive capabilities were, they still needed time to be activated. If this shot had been aimed at O’Brien, he similarly wouldn’t have been able to block it. Even though he wouldn’t have died, he would have at least been seriously injured.
However, this shot was aimed at Laiknar.
O’Brien gently placed Laiknar down. Then, he suddenly stood up and ran towards the pitch-black underground tunnel! As soon as he exerted some strength, his body immediately turned into a light wisp of smoke and traveled at a speed that didn’t seem any bit slower than Su’s.
