Chapter 136: Sentiments Beneath the Crimson Glow

No one had expected Xie Liu to burst in so suddenly. After a moment of stunned disbelief, Wu Yuan cursed, “Deadeye, are you really going to make an enemy of us?”

His eyes seemed to spit fire. He could have disposed of the modified human with ease, but after Xie Liu intervened, he no longer had the slightest chance. What Wu Yuan could never have imagined was that Xie Liu would turn his weapon against him.

By helping the modified human fight the United Squad, Xie Liu had effectively committed open treason. Even his status as a Hunter could not save him.

“You’d better understand what you’re doing. You know the consequences of this, don’t you?”

Xie Liu knocked Wu Yuan’s sword aside with a single stroke. Hearing the threat, he helplessly shrugged.

“Sorry. I’m just an idiot, so I don’t know what the consequences are. Maybe Vladimir will dock my pay for a month. I might be sent before a military tribunal. Most likely, they’ll drag me out and shoot me.”

Clearly, Xie Liu knew exactly what awaited him. Wu Yuan’s expression shifted slightly. He knew that assisting the enemy could result in a severe sentence, but he had never imagined it might warrant execution. Yet Xie Liu understood how grave the crime was and had still stepped forward. Wu Yuan could not understand him.

Xie Liu paid no attention to the charges. He merely motioned for Wang Qi and Qili to hide behind him.

“Although the consequences are serious, I still can’t stand by and watch you kill an innocent child.”

“An innocent child?” Wu Yuan’s eyes widened. His gaze passed over Xie Liu’s shoulder and fell upon Wang Qi and the infant in his arms. “How could a modified human’s child be innocent?”

“They’re beasts born to kill. They cannot be allowed to live. They must be killed, before they become a future threat.”

Wu Yuan spoke without the slightest hesitation. In his eyes, anything connected to modified humans deserved to be eradicated. Nothing could be left alive.

Xie Liu realized there was no point arguing with someone whose mind had been completely hardened by such beliefs. The only way to resolve this was with the sword in his hand. He stepped back and placed himself in front of Qili and Wang Qi.

“When the fighting starts, don’t worry about me. Just run.”

A strange look flickered through Qili’s eyes. She had never understood why this man was helping her. They should have been enemies. But there was no time to think about it. The moment Xie Liu urged them to leave, Qili sensed two other presences rushing toward them from afar.

“Their reinforcements,” she whispered.

Xie Liu nodded.

“I know. Go.”

Qili and Wang Qi did not hesitate. They had already agreed to leave this place; they were merely departing a little earlier than planned. At the last moment, Qili cast a reluctant glance at the home where they had lived for so long, then turned and pulled her husband away.

When Wu Yuan saw the couple fleeing, he flew into a rage.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

He reversed the sword in his hand and thrust it directly at the departing pair. At the same time, Xie Liu appeared before them. His returning blade moved later but arrived first, whipping through the air and knocking the energy sword from Wu Yuan’s grasp. Wu Yuan lost his balance and staggered backward.

“Are you really determined to oppose us?” Wu Yuan roared after Xie Liu sent his sword flying.

Xie Liu remained silent. Some matters could not be settled with words. The only thing he could do was stop them by force.

“Shelly! Stop them!”

Driven back by Xie Liu’s blade, Wu Yuan sensed that his teammates had arrived. He shouted while locking his gaze onto the fleeing couple.

The United Squad operated in teams. Wu Yuan and his comrades had fought side by side for many years. He needed no further explanation. The woman who had appeared on the roof immediately understood his intention.

The graceful woman raised both hands. With a sharp whistling sound, Xie Liu heard countless wires tearing through the air. They swept toward Qili below.

“Be careful!”

Xie Liu shouted toward the people behind him. The wires controlled by Shelly were not aimed solely at Qili and Wang Qi; some lashed directly at Xie Liu as well. He dared not meet them head-on and retreated two steps in succession. Yet the wires seemed to have eyes of their own, following his movements and continually tightening around him.

It was the ability known as Micro-Control.

Xie Liu suddenly recognized the woman’s supernatural power. He had encountered it before at the training center in the city. It was a branch of Force Manipulation, allowing its user to precisely control extremely minute forces. It possessed little destructive power, but it could manipulate countless small objects—such as these steel wires.

Xie Liu dared not charge recklessly into them. The strength of Micro-Control did not lie in its destructive force, but in its ability to leave an opponent nowhere to exert power. That was why even many high-level ability users had fallen to low-level practitioners of Micro-Control.

As he pondered, Xie Liu felt two gusts of wind skim past his cheeks. He twisted sharply to evade them, then saw two faint streaks of light sweep past his body. A moment later, dust billowed from the ground behind him as the concrete shattered into fragments.

Steel wires guided by Micro-Control were not only astonishingly nimble; their power was formidable as well.

Xie Liu dodged three or four successive attacks. The wires were troublesome, but they were not what worried him most. One of their enemies had yet to reveal himself, and Xie Liu still had no idea what his ability was.

Seeing Xie Liu entangled, Wu Yuan did not attack him. Instead, he turned and pursued Qili and Wang Qi, who had not yet escaped far. Shelly could control only a limited number of wires. After diverting three to restrain Xie Liu, she used the remaining two to intercept Qili and Wang Qi. But they were not enough. The couple ran farther and farther away, nearly escaping the range of Shelly’s attack.

Wu Yuan naturally noticed the problem. Ignoring Xie Liu, he immediately pursued the couple, who had already reached the edge of the battlefield.

Qili saw what was happening. She shoved Wang Qi forward and stopped behind him.

“Take our daughter and go. They’re after me!”

“No!”

Wang Qi was horrified, but Qili’s strength was astonishing. With a single push, she sent him stumbling backward until he reached the edge of the battlefield.

Qili drew the dagger from her waist and waited cautiously. At that moment, Wu Yuan activated the functions of his combat suit. His speed instantly multiplied several times over. His entire body became a white blur, and in the next second he crossed more than a dozen meters, appearing directly before Qili.

The energy sword in his hand sliced through the air with a deafening hum. Gritting her teeth, Qili raised her dagger to meet it. Both were known for their speed, and the moment they clashed, they fought with lethal intent, holding nothing back.

Wu Yuan’s sword flashed more than a dozen times in a single second. Blossoms of light burst from its path, dazzling enough to blind the eye. Qili was not slow, but compared with the man before her, she was far too sluggish. She could only defend while retreating. Sparks flew violently as dagger and energy blade struck against each other.

Qili was weaker than Wu Yuan, and her concern for her husband made matters worse. Within barely ten seconds, she was forced to the brink of defeat.

But her purpose was not to defeat Wu Yuan. She only needed to delay him.

Wang Qi was deeply worried about his wife, but he knew this was no time for hesitation. Their daughter was crying in his arms. He had to protect the life that had only just entered the world. It was his duty.

Seeing that Wang Qi was about to escape the range of Shelly’s attack while Wu Yuan still had not finished Qili, Wu Yuan grew anxious.

“Damn it! If you’re going to act, then act now!”

The words had barely left his mouth when a gunshot rang out from another rooftop.

The shot was aimed directly at Wang Qi, who had reached the edge of the battlefield, and at the daughter in his arms.

“No!”

Qili realized what was happening the moment Wu Yuan shouted. She let out a piercing cry, but in that instant the distant gunshot had already sounded.

The bullet screamed through the air, flying straight toward Wang Qi and the child.

A tremendous explosion erupted far in front of him. Dust scattered in every direction, and broken stones flew through the air. At that moment, Xie Liu’s figure shot backward from the center of the blast, smashed through a roadside lamp, and crashed to the ground.

No one had expected this. Xie Liu had actually thrown himself forward to block the shot for Wang Qi.

After that single bullet, everyone—Wang Qi and Qili, Wu Yuan, and the rest of the squad—stood frozen.

What Xie Liu had done was beyond anyone’s expectations. More astonishing still, after hitting the ground, he immediately rolled once across the pavement and sprang back to his feet. A cold gleam flashed in his hand. With a flick of his arm, the blade traced a strange, solitary arc through the air and flew directly across Shelly’s front.

Shelly screamed. A spray of blood burst from her lower abdomen, and her delicate body convulsed before tumbling from the rooftop.

“Catch her!”

Wu Yuan was stunned. As Shelly fell, a tall white figure leaped from the opposite rooftop. He arced through the air, caught Shelly, and descended with her. After two rises and falls, they landed atop a sedan parked a short distance away.

“Are you all right?” Wu Yuan asked anxiously.

The man who had caught Shelly gave her wounds a quick examination, then shook his head to indicate that she was fine. The injury was only superficial.

Xie Liu had indeed held back. But he had accomplished his purpose. Blocking that shot had not been easy, and now he felt a sweet taste rising in his throat. Clearly, the bullet had injured him as well.

Wu Yuan was preoccupied with Shelly’s condition, leaving an opening in his guard. Qili seized the chance and lunged forward, driving her dagger toward his face.

Wu Yuan reacted too slowly and could only retreat repeatedly, but he was still a step too late. Qili’s dagger struck the transparent mask before his face and pierced through it.

Wu Yuan was shocked. He stumbled backward, trying to avoid it. The mask had been filled with streams of data, but Qili’s blade had punctured a hole through it, and the information displayed before his eyes began to flicker and destabilize.

“Damn you! Get away from me!”

His concern for his wounded comrade and his hatred of modified humans erupted at once. He swung his sword with tremendous force, knocking the dagger from Qili’s hand.

“Ah!”

Qili cried out and staggered backward. But Wu Yuan, consumed by rage, had no intention of sparing her. His energy sword swept around, and in the next instant he stepped forward and raised it high above his head, ready to cleave Qili in two.

“Stop!”

Xie Liu shouted coldly. He had just taken the bullet. His injuries were not severe, but his chest was tight and every breath came short. He tried to rush to Qili’s aid, yet he could not draw enough breath and nearly collapsed.

Seeing that Qili was about to die beneath Wu Yuan’s sword, Xie Liu was filled with shock and fury.

“It’s over!”

The thought arose simultaneously in the minds of Xie Liu and Qili.

Wu Yuan, however, smiled. He was about to destroy the enemy before him. None of the modified humans deserved to remain in this world.

“Die!”

Wu Yuan brought his sword down. A long, resonant hum filled the air. No one could stop his blade now.

Despair appeared in Qili’s eyes.

Then, at that very moment, Wang Qi’s voice suddenly sounded before her.

“You!”

Before Qili could react, a force shoved her aside. She saw Wang Qi smiling at her, his lips moving as though he were saying something. Their daughter was still crying in his arms, drowning out his final words.

“No!”

Qili’s body trembled as she realized what was happening. She watched helplessly as Wu Yuan’s sword came down, unstoppable, and struck Wang Qi across the back.

Blood sprayed through the air. A crimson jet burst forth and forced Wu Yuan backward. Wang Qi’s body had interposed itself beneath the sword—a scene no one had imagined.

“No!”

Qili’s heart-rending cry erupted. As Wang Qi collapsed, she rushed forward and caught her husband, along with the daughter still in his arms.

“Lili… run…”

Wang Qi spoke weakly as he placed their daughter in Qili’s hands. The light in his eyes was already fading.

Blood reddened her vision. It reddened the entire world. Trembling, Qili held Wang Qi in her arms and felt the body before her gradually grow cold.

Then she threw back her head and let out a furious howl.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

Her scream tore through the air, carrying all her despair and rage. The windows of every nearby building shattered beneath its force.

Xie Liu covered his ears. The penetration of Qili’s cry was overwhelming even to him, and stabbing pain pulsed through his mind. Wu Yuan and his comrades were scarcely better off. The scream pierced straight through their combat suits and shook their heads with agony.

The cry continued for more than ten seconds. When Qili finally stopped, Xie Liu struggled to his feet and immediately looked toward her.

Even he froze.

Qili had changed.

Her entire presence had become like an indestructible sword. Her eyes were filled with murderous intent, and her pupils had turned crimson, creating an eerie and terrifying sight.

Leaning on his sword, Xie Liu rose and stared at the transformation in astonishment. At last, he could only ask in shock,

“What on earth just happened?”