Blocking the Bridge

Before long, they returned to the Pan Mountain Highway. "Are they all dead?" Qin Ye asked in irritation. "All dead, Young Master. We can get moving again," Zhao Chen replied with a prompt nod. "Damn bastards really had a death wish." Qin Ye and the others cursed under their breath, still fuming. Just then, Dino walked over and said, "I scouted the road ahead. No mines." "Look at those paupers—they didn't even have decent guns, so how could they afford mines?" Qin Ye sneered, disdain written across his face. "Right, but the road ahead is blocked by boulders. We'll need a few hands to shift them," Dino continued. "Let's go!" Long Ming and the others followed Dino forward. A few moments later, they had cleared away the boulders serving as roadblocks and returned to the truck. Zhao Chen restarted the truck and drove forward. However, since the outriding motorcycles had been wrecked, no one could scout ahead anymore, so Zhao Chen eased off the gas and lowered their speed. Along the way, Long Ming and the others kept a watchful eye on their surroundings to guard against another ambush. These rolling mountain ranges were tailor-made for ambushes. They had been fortunate that the previous ambush squad lacked decent weapons and gear, or the group might well have capsized in a ditch. Yet the risk was unavoidable; proceeding without a vehicle simply wasn't an option. More than two hours later. Outside Observatory Base City · North Bridge. The entire bridge stretched over a hundred meters, spanning a rushing river. Stacked along both flanks at the far end of the bridge were massive iron crates. Behind the crates stood a seven-meter-tall stone city wall with an open gate beneath it. More than a hundred players were hiding behind the iron crates and the wall. At this moment, a man wearing a gray bulletproof vest, with thick eyebrows, wide eyes, a dark mole at the corner of his mouth, and a red dagger guild armband sat on a wooden crate, smoking a cigarette. "Big Brother Aobi, a vehicle's coming!" a scrawny underling with sharp, ape-like features ran over and reported excitedly. "Jiafei, tell the boys down there to hide well. Don't give us away." "Got it!" Jiafei answered at once. At that moment, Zhao Chen drove the truck closer from the distance, then hit the brakes and brought it to a stop before the bridge. "We've reached the bridge," Bai Xiu said, looking ahead. "Let me take a look!" Qin Ye raised a pair of binoculars and began scanning. After searching for quite a while, his brow furrowed. "Strange. I don't see a single soul." "Big Brother, there's no way it's empty. They're definitely hiding," Qin Ying warned with utter certainty. "Exactly. It'd be a miracle if no one were here." "I remember the only time we didn't run into an ambush was when we ran a rush strat, found a car right away, and headed straight for the Observatory. Every other time, someone was waiting in ambush," Wang Yin and the others agreed firmly. "Off the truck first!" Long Ming hopped down without hesitation. Qin Ye and the others climbed down from the truck as well. Up on the city wall, Aobi saw Long Ming and his group hesitating to cross, growing slightly impatient. "Damn it, cross the bridge already!" "Big Brother, could we have been spotted?" Jiafei asked hesitantly. "Bullshit! My setup is seamless, and the area was cleaned up spotless. How could they possibly spot us?" Aobi was brimming with confidence in his handiwork. "You're right, Big Brother," Jiafei agreed quickly with a nod. Meanwhile, Qin Ye and the others looked at the dead-silent bridge, finding the situation troublesome. "What do we do? If those guys keep hiding, stalling like this isn't going to work," Bai Xiu asked, turning to Qin Ye. "Leave it to me!" Qin Ye said dismissively. Bai Xiu and the others turned to look at him. Qin Ye cleared his throat and yelled at the top of his lungs, "No need to hide! We already see you—come on out!" When Jiafei heard the shout, he turned to Aobi and asked, "Big Brother, did they really spot us?" "Bah! Trying to bluff me? Not a chance. I'm not falling for that," Aobi sneered. Seeing that his shout drew no response, Qin Ye felt a pang of doubt. "What's the deal? No answer?" Seeing this, Long Ming activated the thermal vision on his Red Ghost mask and peered at the iron crates at the bridgehead. Immediately, he caught sight of a foot sticking out slightly from behind the edge of one crate. Decisively stowing his carbine, he switched to the M24 sniper rifle, lined up his sights, and swiftly pulled the trigger. *Crack!* Long Ming's shot struck the exposed foot instantly. "Aaargh!" A bloodcurdling shriek pierced the air. Seeing Long Ming's shot, Qin Ye gave him an excited thumbs-up. "Nice shot!" Hearing the howl of pain, Aobi and his crew were left speechless. There was no concealing their presence now. Infuriated, he roared at his subordinates, "Damn it, take them out!" Aobi's men popped up all at once, unleashing a furious barrage toward Long Ming's group. At that moment, Zhao Chen slammed the gas pedal to the floor, cranked the steering wheel hard, and stomped on the brakes. The entire truck swung sideways, turning into an improvised barricade. Long Ming and the others ducked behind the vehicle immediately! *Ping! Ping!* A dense hail of bullets peppered the truck body. Qin Ye and the other patrons scrambled flat against the ground, while Long Ming, Wei Zhang, and the other escort fighters opened fire in return. *Bang! Bang!* Their side didn't fire with high frequency, but their accuracy was deadly! "Aargh!" Aobi's subordinates were struck one after another, crying out in agony. After several exchanges of long-range fire, Long Ming's side hadn't suffered a single scratch, while sixteen of Aobi's men had already dropped dead. Watching the scene, Qin Ye shouted excitedly, "Hit them hard! Whoever racks up the most kills gets an extra bonus of two million Yiwei coins from me!" "I'll throw in two million as well!" "Count me in!" Wang Yin and the others raised the stakes eagerly. Long Ming glanced sideways at Qin Ye and the patrons. Big spenders were big spenders indeed; money meant nothing to them. Hearing the patrons' promises, Xu Lie and the others fought with even greater ferocity, steadily picking off players on the bridge with precise semi-automatic fire. "Three," Dino counted eagerly. Even though Aobi had far more men than Long Ming's group, they were pinned down so hard they could barely lift their heads. Essentially, the moment anyone poked their head out, they were eliminated on the spot. The combat ability of the two sides was on entirely different levels. Seeing the slaughter unfold, Jiafei said anxiously to Aobi, "Big Brother, this isn't working! Those sons of bitches are way too fierce!" "A bunch of useless trash! But if they think they can beat us like this, they're dreaming. I'll make them pay in a minute," Aobi ground out through clenched teeth. Just then, several water ghost players quietly climbed up from the rushing river, creeping toward Long Ming's group from both flanks before suddenly opening fire! *Bang! Bang!* In an instant, an escort fighter named Qiaose took a bullet straight to the thigh and collapsed to the ground. Long Ming's reaction was lightning-fast. He drew the Fang immediately and opened rapid fire at the approaching water ghosts! *Pop! Pop!* He dropped two in the blink of an eye. Wei Zhang and the others quickly swung their muzzles around to fire as well. "Aargh!" The water ghosts were struck and collapsed one by one. At that moment, a vigorous woman in the squad with wheat-toned skin and flaxen hair reacted swiftly, dragging the fallen Qiaose behind the truck. Right after, Feimi drew an injector from her tactical belt and plunged the needle straight into Qiaose's arm.