Clearing

A moment later, Long Ming lay prone on the roof of a twelve-meter-tall office building, setting up his M24 sniper rifle. Gunfire echoed continuously across different parts of the town, interspersed with occasional screams of agony. It had to be said that the fighters hired by Qin Ye and his friends were genuinely skilled. Wei Zhang and the others were enthusiastically sweeping the town for players, a tacit undercurrent of competition brewing among them. It was not just about refusing to concede to one another; it was also a chance to show off before their benefactors. The compensation Qin Ye and the others offered had a guaranteed baseline, but the cap reached sixty million Yiwei coins. Furthermore, tycoons like Qin Ye would never be stingy as long as they were satisfied. To them, this was pocket change. As for Long Ming, he had no interest in hunting down the weak and intended only to pick off a few targets as needed. Bang! Bang! A fierce burst of gunfire suddenly erupted from a distant street. Alerted by the shots, Long Ming adjusted his angle to take a look. A corpse lay sprawled across the road, alongside another player who had taken a bullet to the abdomen and lost all mobility. Two players wearing armbands marked with a red blade insignia walked up to the wounded player, sneers plastered across their faces. "Run! Weren't you great at running?" "Don't push people too far! We solo players only came in to scavenge a few things. How did we offend you guilds that you have to wipe us out completely?" the fallen player demanded in anguish. "Idiot. Being weak is the original sin!" Without hesitation, one of the players drew a tactical dagger and cleanly slit his throat. Watching the scene through his scope, Long Ming silently pulled the trigger. Thwip! Thwip! Before the two players could react, headshots dropped them instantly, their bodies dissolving into beams of white light. Long Ming made no move to loot the corpses, scanning through his scope for the next target instead. Though this place was only classified as a small town, its scale was substantial. Judging by the density of the buildings, at least a hundred thousand people must have lived here in the past. Consequently, the town's infrastructure was well developed, complete with every kind of functional facility. If one searched thoroughly, there would surely be profits to reap. Just then, Long Ming caught sight of two familiar figures and paused slightly. Gu Yi and Chen Wei were emerging from a building, cautiously craning their necks to examine their surroundings. Unfortunately, despite watching for a long time, they failed to detect any danger. *What's going on? How did those two end up here?* Long Ming was genuinely surprised. Then he spotted Zhao Chen rapidly closing in on the pair. Without hesitation, Long Ming pulled the trigger. Thwip! The bullet struck right at Gu Yi's feet. "Look out, a sniper!" "Back into the building!" Startled out of their wits, Gu Yi and Chen Wei immediately scrambled to retreat inside. Thwip! Long Ming fired another round into the doorframe. They instantly veered away, running straight toward the direction Zhao Chen was approaching from. Long Ming's mouth twitched at the sight. He fired another round ahead of their path, forcing them to turn around. Spooked like startled birds, the pair whipped around and fled the other way. "Phew!" Seeing them run in the right direction, Long Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Yet at that very moment, two gunshots rang out. Bang! Bang! "Ah!" Gu Yi and Chen Wei took bullets to the head and crumpled to the ground. Long Ming's expression darkened instantly. He shifted his gaze to a nearby rooftop. There stood Wei Zhang, clutching an automatic rifle with a 4x scope. He turned toward Long Ming, ran his tongue over his lips, and flashed a smug, triumphant grin. Long Ming immediately raised his M24 sniper rifle and aimed it straight at Wei Zhang. Refusing to be intimidated, Wei Zhang raised his own weapon to face Long Ming in a tense standoff. Just then, Zhao Chen came running from the distance. Seeing the two aiming guns at each other, his face changed drastically, and he shouted as he rushed forward, "What are you two doing?!" "Nothing. I was just kind enough to deal with two rats for him, but he doesn't seem very grateful." Wei Zhang lowered his rifle and shrugged. "Hmph. You'd better mind your own business," Long Ming snorted coldly. He lowered his weapon and turned to leave. Watching Long Ming's retreating back, Wei Zhang wore a chilling smile and murmured, "Fascinating." More than an hour later, the last hiding player was flushed out and eliminated. Every player in the town who had not managed to escape had been purged. Long Ming and the others regrouped. "Everyone taken care of?" Qin Ye asked, looking around at the crowd. "Handled," Wei Zhang and the others answered confidently. "Great. Did you find any usable transport?" Bai Xiu asked everyone with keen anticipation. Long Ming and the others exchanged glances and shook their heads. After a moment's thought, Xu Lie spoke up. "I spotted two motorcycles, but nothing else." "How many people can those carry? There are so many of us—we can't all ride motorcycles," Wang Yin said, disappointment written across his face. "It can't be helped. Players have spawned in this town before, so all the usable vehicles were driven off long ago," Zhao Chen explained to Wang Yin. "That's not necessarily true," a lean, dark-skinned man said, showing his yellow-stained teeth. "You know where to find a working vehicle?" Bai Xiu and the others asked, turning toward Aladun. "Follow me!" Aladun offered no explanation, merely gesturing for everyone to follow. Qin Ye and the others followed him. Before long, Aladun led Long Ming and the group to a dilapidated repair shop. A large truck was parked inside, surrounded by scattered maintenance tools and spare parts. "Aladun? This is the vehicle you were talking about?" Zhao Chen asked with a deep frown. "That's right. Since all the intact vehicles were taken, we can only look for broken ones," Aladun said with a chuckle. "Can you fix it, then?" "Nope! But I'm sure someone among us can, right?" "Can any of you repair it?" Zhao Chen turned to ask the group. "Leave it to me. It's just a truck—I can even fix tanks!" a burly man covered in hard muscle and sporting a fierce face stepped forward and said. "All right, it's on you then," Zhao Chen said, nodding to Xu Lie. Xu Lie stepped forward, picked up the tools, and set to work repairing the truck while Long Ming and the others stood aside to watch. *** Kateng Town Plaza, south of the Observatory Base. A fierce-looking man with dark skin and a centipede-like scar across his forehead, clad in black mechanical chest armor and wearing an armband emblazoned with a skull emblem, sat arrogantly on a chair placed in the center of the plaza. Gunfire and agonized screams echoed all across Kateng Town as players scurried like rats, ruthlessly hunted down by members of the Sin Abyss Guild. An alluring woman with green hair and amber eyes, dressed in tight black leathers, spoke with a hint of concern: "Lord Padoka, this instance is turning out to be troublesome. We thought the Star Cluster Guild and Star God Guild wouldn't enter, but they timed their entry right down to the wire, just like us." Hearing Aifu's words, Padoka's expression grew increasingly grim. "What's there to be afraid of? We'll just slaughter them all together," a bald, grossly overweight man with a greasy face and loops of ammunition belts draped over his body replied nonchalantly, hefting a heavy machine gun. "You make it sound so easy, Bide." "What, Aifu, are you scared?" "You'd better take that back, or I wouldn't mind sending you on your way." A flash of fury crossed Aifu's face as she drew an automatic pistol and aimed it at Bide's head. "Bitch, you think I'm scared of you?" Bide raised his heavy machine gun, snarling viciously. "Enough!" Padoka barked coldly. Aifu and Bide exchanged glares and fell silent. Just then, Zheng Bin hurried over to Padoka and reported obsequiously, "Lord Padoka, the players are almost completely cleared out. Those who haven't rejoined the ranks will head directly to the Observatory entrance to wait for us." "Move out. We need to reach the Observatory before both the Star Cluster and Star God Guilds." Padoka slapped the armrest and rose abruptly. "Understood!" Aifu and the others bowed their heads in response.