Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-203

Long Yuehong hid in the attached building of the short building and saw the giant Lopez—wrapped in glistening yellow bullets—holding a light machine gun and a group of foreign refugees armed to the teeth. As he provided suppressive fire, he rushed to the main door and felt considerable pressure.

He half-kneeled there with the Death rocket launcher on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and fired a projectile at the group of outsiders according to his team leader’s instructions.

His goal wasn’t to kill the target group on a large scale. After all, there was no deep grudge between the two parties. His mission was to ‘intimidate’ them, divide them, and scatter them.

Of course, Jiang Baimian also told Long Yuehong that he should prioritize his own safety in an emergency situation. He didn’t have to worry about whether he killed anyone or the number of confirmed kills.

Boom!

Crimson flames surged like blooming flowers.

As the powerful shockwave blasted out, the foreign refugees reacted and searched for cover.

Long Yuehong calmly reloaded and fired another projectile at the area.

Amidst the loud explosions, Bai Chen fired several rounds with ease.

This shattered the yellow, all-terrain vehicle’s driver seat windows, forcing the driver inside to lower his body, crawl out from the other side, and hide behind the tires.

While Bai Chen switched targets to the light truck, the driver quickly changed position.

After a few shots, there was nobody around the two cars. They either tried to counterattack or fled elsewhere in the city ruin under the night’s cover.

In the lakeside parking lot, Anhebus—who had a thick beard that made him look like he was wearing a mask—already knew what was happening outside.

He had heard the voice repeatedly echoing through the loudspeaker.

“It’s fake, it’s fake!” Anhebus instinctively denied it. He wanted to get a group of trusted aides to reinforce Lopez and the others and defeat the attackers. But as his thoughts raced, a sentence flashed in his mind: Anhebus only did this because he was deceived by the foreign refugees…

Anhebus’s eyes flickered. He hesitated for a long time but didn’t give the order.

At this moment, in the area overseen by the Death rocket launcher, Lopez finally broke away from the zone covered by the ordnance and rushed into the low building with his agile skills and sufficient courage.

“I’m the Church’s Harbinger, here for the matter of Anhebus’s collusion with the mountain monsters…”

The person speaking through the loudspeaker continued to repeat himself, his voice sending reverberations across the lakeside.

Lopez’s expression warped. He held the light machine gun and ran toward the sound.

He didn’t just hate the other party, but he felt that he had to finish off the target first and use the target’s loudspeaker to explain himself in order to escape the current predicament.

After circling around a wall, the sound echoing in Lopez’s ears became louder.

He looked over, but he didn’t see anyone.

On a pile of broken bricks and tiles, a small black speaker with a blue bottom stood quietly. It constantly broadcasted: “I’m the Church’s Harbinger…”

Lopez’s pupils suddenly dilated, and the hair on his back instantly stood on end. At this moment, only one thought echoed in his mind: A trap!

Traps often meant terrifying ambushes!

Ignoring the light machine gun in his hand, Lopez didn’t hesitate to pounce to the side and scrambled away from the speaker.

During this process, he gave up on the light machine gun because he couldn’t hold onto it. However, the concentrated gunfire and loud explosions that he expected didn’t sound until he returned to the entrance hall.

In confusion, Lopez hid behind a bunker. As he drew the two United 202 pistols at his waist, he looked at the spot where he had just fled from.

The next second, he saw a figure descend from the sky and land gently on the ground.

This figure wore a short, dark-blue down jacket and a pair of pants made of a thick, blue twill. He wore a smug monkey mask and curled his finger at Lopez’s hiding spot. “Are you still holding a grudge over the previous combat outcome, believing that I won against you by launching a sneak attack? Now, I’ll give you a chance to prove your point.”

Are you crazy!? Lopez was angry and amused. He found it funny that the other party was clearly hiding high above, allowing him to see the small, black speaker with the blue bottom. During his momentary flabbergasting, the other party could’ve shot him a few times using a sneak attack. In the end, the other party didn’t do anything and instead requested to engage in a fair fight.

This didn’t seem like something a normal human would have in their minds.

Lopez was angry because the other party was belittling him. Do you really think the gun in my hand is a toy? You may be crazy, but do you think I’ll join you in your madness?

Without a word, Lopez raised his hands and repeatedly pulled the triggers at the fellow in the monkey mask.

Just as he moved his hand, Shang Jianyao had already begun running to the side.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullets dragged out a firing line behind Shang Jianyao, but they failed to catch up to him before coming to a halt at the wall.

Lopez had already determined that this was a trap. The Vigilance Church had no intention of dealing with foreign refugees like them. Therefore, he didn’t want to stay any longer.

He took the opportunity to turn around and rush out of the building to hide elsewhere. He would explain to Anhebus after the attackers retreated. He knew that he couldn’t convince Anhebus’s Redstone townsfolk no matter what he said before this.

They would definitely suspect the identity of the attacker, but they wouldn’t blindly believe in him.

Damn customs! As Lopez cursed, he ran out along the path that blocked his hunched figure.

Just as he reached the door, a figure suddenly jumped down from the second floor; it was wearing a furry mask with a pointy mouth.

Lopez was just about to raise his two guns when the other party twisted his waist and swung his legs, producing the sound of a lashing whip.

Bam!

Lopez didn’t have the time to fire. He could only block with his arms.

His two United 202s were kicked away as he staggered a few steps to the side.

The person that jumped down from the second floor was Shang Jianyao, who had previously dodged the gunshots. After circling around the wall, he ran up the stairs and intercepted Lopez in time with his perception.

Shang Jianyao didn’t stop. He rushed in front of Lopez and spread his arms. Sometimes he threw a side hook, sometimes he delivered a straight punch, sometimes he clenched his fists and pummeled down like a hammer, and sometimes he swung his arms like a whip.

This series of attacks exhausted Lopez. His eyes were filled with the smug monkey mask that kept darting around.

Finally, he felt that the other party’s attack had softened to a certain extent. It was as if the other party had reached his limit and was catching a breather.

Lopez—who had been suppressed—took the opportunity to unleash a violent combo punch.

Upon seeing that the fellow in the monkey mask was forced to retreat repeatedly and could only muster parries, his attacks became increasingly ferocious.

After a long period of attacks, Lopez reached his physical limit and slowed down.

Oh no! He knew that something was amiss and quickly retreated.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to fall into such a situation and would adjust in advance. However, he had been too anxious just now.

Just as Lopez was about to retreat, Shang Jianyao had already come in front of him. He stretched his arms, gripped his joints, and tripped him.

Thud!

Lopez slammed onto the ground, and he saw stars.

Shang Jianyao quickly bent down and completely restrained the Yargai.

“You lost again,” Shang Jianyao announced with a smile.

The next second, Lopez felt a heavy blow behind his ear. His vision immediately turned black as he lost consciousness.

Before he fainted, he heard the fellow in the monkey mask sigh. “What a pity…”

…

Outside the short building, Long Yuehong slowed down the frequency of firing the Death rocket launcher when he saw that a large number of foreign refugees had given up on charging and were fleeing.

This made the remaining two to three people feel that he had run out of ammunition. They boldly left their cover and approached him.

Long Yuehong’s heart instinctively tightened before he found it funny.

He calmly put down the Death rocket launcher, picked up the Berserker assault rifle, and fired.

Amidst the gunfire, the foreign refugees finally recognized the ‘reality’ of the situation. They stopped resisting stubbornly and fled into the distance.

Long Yuehong didn’t stop attacking. He pulled the trigger, aiming at deserted areas in a scattered manner; he also fired a rocket occasionally.

This made Anhebus’s subordinates in the lakeside parking lot instinctively believe that the battle hadn’t ended. For a moment, nobody had any questions.

At this moment, a figure bent down and rushed to the earthen-yellow, all-terrain vehicle from behind the evergreen trees at the side of the short building.

This figure was Jiang Baimian—who was wearing a grayish-blue camouflage uniform and a graceful monk mask.

Through the shattered glass, Jiang Baimian slowly opened the door and sat inside. She then used the key left behind by the driver to start the vehicle and drove it to the back of the light truck.

With the truck’s cover, she jumped off the all-terrain vehicle. With the inhuman strength afforded to her by her left arm, Jiang Baimian pulled the brown wooden crates filled with weapons off the truck and stuffed them into the all-terrain vehicle.

Towards the end, even the passenger seat had three boxes stacked atop it—the vehicle barely managed to carry most of the firearms. Only some of the less valuable ones were left in their original spots.

After transferring the items, Jiang Baimian looked back at the lakeside parking lot and sat in the driver’s seat with a smile. She then drove the yellow all-terrain vehicle and leisurely left the scene.

In fact, it would be easier to drive the truck directly. However, she was worried that the other party’s driver would drive the truck away in agitation. Therefore, the first thing she got Bai Chen to do was blow up the truck’s tire.

Upon seeing this, Bai Chen—who was wearing her night-vision goggles—immediately put away her Orange rifle, took out her walkie-talkie, and pressed the button. “Retreat.”

Soon, the gunshots, explosions, and ‘broadcast’ by the lakeside subsided.

Upon seeing that the Vigilance Church’s troops didn’t appear again, Anhebus and his subordinates finally confirmed that they had been deceived.

…

At the agreed rendezvous point, Jiang Baimian only waited for about a minute before she saw the military-green jeep belonging to the Old Task Force.

“Team Leader, Shang Jianyao brought Lopez along.” Long Yuehong reported the situation through the walkie-talkie.

Shang Jianyao immediately emphasized, “I didn’t use my abilities!”

“Not bad,” Jiang Baimian praised.

If he had used his abilities, it would’ve been perfectly normal for Shang Jianyao to capture Lopez alive. However, it was definitely worthy of praise if he relied solely on a setup and combat.

Lopez wasn’t ordinary.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Baimian added, “Capturing Lopez is a good thing. It will save us a lot of effort in the future.”

Long Yuehong asked, “Team Leader, where are we going next? Will it be unsafe to return to the hotel camp? When Anhebus reacts and confirms our identities, will he take revenge during the night?”

Jiang Baimian immediately laughed. “Let’s go to the Vigilance Cathedral!”