Waiting for a Hare

"Damn it... where the hell did all these people pop up from?" Standing atop the crumbling ruins, Cha gripped a monocular wrapped tightly in tape, staring off toward the nearby construction site. Roughly three to five people were over there, using wheelbarrows to haul away stone and hardened chunks of concrete. Their movements were brisk; they never lingered, shoveling a cart full and leaving immediately. Cha racked his brains, but he still couldn't fathom where those people had come from—much less how they had erected an outpost right under their very noses. In his memory, Linghu Wetland Park had always been a godforsaken, desolate woodland, with nothing more than an abandoned sanatorium sitting dead center in the woods. Aside from a scattering of birds, beasts, insects, and snakes roaming the place, not even hyenas bothered looking for prey there. Not that it mattered. Shelters, large and small, were just like cockroach eggs—a fresh batch hatched every few days. All he had to think about was how to devour this flock of fat sheep. "Boss, when are we making our move?" Standing beside Cha was a man with a bandage wrapped around his left eye. Across his chest ran over a dozen knife scars that looked like crawling centipedes. At least half had been earned in brawls, while the other half he had secretly carved into his own skin with a blade. "No rush. We're only scouting right now; it's not time to attack." Cha handed the monocular to his comrade standing beside him. Unlike Badger, Cha never underestimated his opponents, no matter who he was up against. Even if the other side had only three to five people without a single gun between them, he would still watch carefully for a long time. Only after confirming there was no danger would he launch a sudden, ferocious raid, striving to subdue the enemy in a single stroke and rob them of their fighting capacity in the shortest possible time. "How about we send a few slaves over to probe them? They've been hauling rocks all morning... I'm worried they're carrying stone back to reinforce their barricades." A hunchbacked man wearing a steel helmet leaned close to Cha and whispered. A large shovel was slung across his back. On closer inspection, the shovel not only had a sharpened edge on one side and saw teeth on the other, but behind its socket lay a crude receiver mechanism—a breech-loading smoothbore gun. Cha pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Fine." "Find a few pieces of cannon fodder to test their waters." The Bloodhand Clan's dungeon held a large number of captives. These slaves served as playthings for their amusement, livestock kept in captivity, and cannon fodder on the battlefield. For livestock and cannon fodder, the marauders of the Bloodhand Clan rarely went out of their way to provide food. Instead, they locked them in half-collapsed sewers, periodically dumping a bucket of swill down to let them fight mutant cockroaches and rats while enduring relentless torment from mosquitoes, fungi, and viruses, raising them like venomous gu. Once their humanity was completely eroded, driving them thoroughly mad until they were reduced to beasts ruled purely by instinct, a portion of them would be picked out, handed clubs and daggers, and promised that if they overran the outpost, they would be allowed to join the post-battle revelry and be accepted as brothers. They called it a baptism of blood. Cha dispatched one of his subordinates to head back, while the rest waited in place. *** On the other side, Fang Chang, ambushing inside an unfinished building near the abandoned construction site, frowned as he stared at the wheelbarrow receding into the distance outside. Squatting by the doorway, Fleeting White Horse grew restless and couldn't resist asking, "Why hasn't anyone shown up yet?" Fang Chang answered impatiently, "Don't ask me. Ask Ye Shi." Ye Shi also wore a gloomy, troubled expression. "Nothing... I don't sense anything. Though there are two mutant cockroaches down in the basement. Should we go clear the mobs?" Gale Force 8 shook his head. "No need." Fang Chang bit his thumbnail, sinking into thought. "The enemy is even more cunning than we thought. I'm certain they've already spotted this construction site, but they aren't rushing to make a move... What on earth are they waiting for?" According to his calculations, the marauders should have set their sights on this place long ago, and they certainly wouldn't spare brick-haulers who didn't even carry weapons. Even if just for revenge, they ought to charge in for a wave! And so, the Cow and Horse Squad had laid an ambush nearby, using the brick-hauling players as bait, preparing to wait for a hare to stumble into their trap. Yet for some unknown reason... They had staked out this spot all day yesterday and rushed over early this morning, only for the other side to act as though they were blind, remaining completely indifferent to the commotion at the abandoned construction site. "Could it be that they haven't noticed this place?" Gale Force 8 asked. "Impossible! As long as they aren't blind, there's no way they wouldn't spot it!" Fang Chang declared with absolute certainty. Even as they spoke, Ye Shi, who was closest to the window, suddenly grew alert and raised his right fist. "Shh, nobody make a sound... There seems to be movement nearby." The three fell silent at once. Seconds ticked by. This time, it wasn't just Ye Shi who heard footsteps; Fang Chang and the others heard them too. The four exchanged knowing glances and crept along the base of the wall, circling around to a window on the other side of the unfinished building. Down below, not far away, six bare-chested men were hugging the perimeter wall behind another unfinished building, edging forward cautiously along a narrow alleyway. Not only were they dressed in rags, but their weapons were also a motley collection: There were rusty machetes, nail-studded wooden clubs, and even a handsaw lashed to a baseball bat with wire—looking thoroughly wasteland-chic. However, these were all melee weapons; there wasn't a single gun among them! Judging from the marauders' path, they clearly intended to follow the alley between the unfinished buildings, circle to the construction site's entrance, and wait for the next wave of survivors hauling stone before bursting out to catch the brick-haulers completely off guard. Little did they realize their plan had long been anticipated. Fang Chang was thrilled. Nocking an arrow to his bowstring, he shot his teammates an excited, affirmative look. Fleeting White Horse understood instantly, tightening his grip on the javelin in his hand. Ye Shi and Gale Force 8 produced Molotov cocktails, lighting them with matches. "Three... two... one, initiate!" "Get 'em!" At Brother Fang Chang's command, javelins, arrows, and flaming bottles rained down together from the third-floor window, catching the marauders completely flat-footed. The worst off was the burly man in the lead: a javelin punched a gaping hole straight through his chest. Like a deflated ball, his legs stiffened for a moment before he collapsed backward into the flames without a sound. Another marauder took an arrow to the arm. It wasn't fatal, but a second arrow followed right after, piercing straight into his mouth. The marauders below were thrown into utter chaos by the barrage falling from the sky, shrieking and shouting in gibberish, their morale visibly shaken. Yet, terrified of the wretched fate awaiting deserters and clinging to the empty verbal promises made to them, they howled and conquered their fear, braving the falling arrows and javelins to charge straight into the unfinished building before them. Before long, however, they learned the meaning of a true nightmare. These players had zero sense of martial virtue, capable of coming up with every bizarre, underhanded trick in the book. Just as the marauders rushed onto the second floor, with only a flight of stairs separating them from the third, and before they could even let out a charging roar, a smoking soda can came tumbling down from above... With a delay of less than two seconds, a deafening boom echoed through the stairwell. Billowing white smoke erupted in an instant. The acrid stench of gunpowder carried jagged scrap metal whizzing through the narrow stairwell—a scene straight out of hell! Before the smoke had even cleared completely, the marauders who had been full of fight just a second ago were all sprawled across the floor, wailing. The unluckiest fellow couldn't even manage a whimper; half his body had been shredded into a bloody pulp, leaving only a lone leg twitching on the ground. "Holy crap... th-this thing is that powerful?" Gripping his javelin and preparing to charge, Fleeting White Horse froze at the head of the stairs, staring at the carnage inside in complete shock. "No shit. Did you think about how much gunpowder we crammed in there?" Fang Chang shoved his shoulder. "Don't just stand there gawking. Hurry up and tie them up..." Any later, and that body lying on the floor would probably be dead for good. Even if these marauders' ultimate fate was to swing from the gallows of justice, that would have to wait until they collected their bounties! *** Several hundred meters away. The blast inside the building drifted over from the distance. Standing atop the ruins with his monocular raised, Cha's expression grew heavy. Although he could no longer see what was happening the moment the cannon fodder charged into the building, some things could be deduced without witnessing them firsthand. It was just as he had suspected. The entire construction site was a trap set by those bluecoats! They had deliberately sent people to haul stone, appearing completely defenseless and harmless on the surface, while secretly posting an ambush all around. Truly cunning! "Boss, what do we do now?" the scarred-chest man asked anxiously. Cha kept his dark expression and remained silent, prompting the scarred man to press on: "I say we just charge over and wipe them out!" "They're only using bows, arrows, and javelins, and they've already exposed their position! We have so many guns, why should we fear them?" The hunchbacked man glanced at him and sneered with disdain. "Are you deaf? Was that explosion just now fake? They clearly lured people inside to slaughter them! Who knows how many are hiding in there?" "Then what do you propose we do?! Everyone else is out north reaping the autumn harvest, while we're stuck here grinding our gears! If you ask me, either we rush them, or we head north too! If we're lucky right now, we might still catch a couple of fat sheep heading east. Once the snow starts falling, there really won't be anything left!" Waiting around doing nothing was indeed unrealistic. Cha knew very well that the brothers needed spoils to survive the winter; no one wanted to freeze on an empty stomach. Yet abandoning this place to head north was equally unrealistic. The chieftain had tossed this piece of fat meat to him as recognition of his loyalty, a mark of trust and a reward. If he screwed this up like that idiot Badger, the chieftain would never let him off lightly. "Wait." Hearing the boss speak, the scarred man froze, unable to stop himself from asking, "...How long do we have to wait? It's already noon." "Until nightfall. Until they crawl under their blankets." With a grim face, Cha turned to the scrawny man beside him and ordered, "Head back again and bring ten fast-running slaves, and prepare some Molotov cocktails and needles." "The rest of you, rest right here and conserve your strength." "At midnight sharp, we'll give them a surprise!" *** Outside the north gate of the outpost. Amid the envious gazes of the gathered players, the Cow and Horse Squad walked back from the direction of the construction site, escorting three captives whose hands and feet were bound. In addition to the three captives, there were three corpses stuffed onto a flatbed cart. One was blown into a mangled pulp, while the other two were scorched black, reeking of an acrid stench. "Holy shit! Holy fucking shit!" "As expected of a hardcore game! But I don't know why—in real life I don't even dare to gut a fish, yet seeing blood here doesn't freak me out at all?" "Maybe this is that next-gen technology based on dream interference principles. Visual filter? Emotional desensitization? Don't really know." "Big bosses are awesome! They wiped out a whole squad!" "Aside from fucking awesome, this lord has nothing else to say!" Having heard the commotion from afar, Chu Guang walked over to the north gate and looked at the prisoners and bodies brought back by the Cow and Horse Squad, his face similarly filled with surprise. A four-man squad taking down a six-man squad wasn't bad at all. These little players actually had some real skill! His astonishment lasted for only a couple of seconds, however. Chu Guang stepped closer to take a look and quickly grasped what was going on. These six were not genuine marauders. There were no bone ornaments indicating their status; instead, characters were carved into their faces or foreheads. "...Cha?" Though a few strokes were wrong, it was likely meant to be read as that character. As expected, these captives were slaves of the Bloodhand Clan. But so what? Accomplices to criminals were still criminals. Since they had taken up arms, they must have been prepared for this outcome. Having verified each of their identities, Chu Guang said nothing superfluous. He pulled a pouch of silver coins from his pocket and handed it to Fang Chang. Facing these overjoyed players, Chu Guang nodded and spoke in an encouraging tone. "The shelter will remember your contributions. Here are 106 silver coins and 5 copper coins. In addition, there is a total of 1,200 contribution points, which will be divided equally among you at 300 points each." "Now, send these criminals to the gallows of justice." "Death will forgive them!"