Chapter Forty-Six: Fighting for You (Part Two)

The violet-haired beauty laughed heartily, just about to set off.

"Wait a moment," an aged voice called from behind. Wendy, hearing this, showed an unhappy expression. "Hey, what now, old man?"

"Wendy! You must not be rude to Professor Southwind!" Flannie reproached her. Wendy turned her head away with a snort.

The old man, addressed as Southwind, walked forward with an awkward smile. He looked to be in his sixties or seventies, dressed in a white lab coat like a scholar or scientist. "I understand why you dislike me, and I don't ask for your forgiveness. All I want to know now is, how is Angel?"

Wendy snorted coldly and ignored him. Flannie shook her head. "Professor, as you know, I can't sense her."

Southwind looked disappointed and shook his head helplessly. "Of course... After all, she..." He trailed off, clearly withholding something. Flannie noticed his hesitation and continued, "We still don't know who the group with Angel is. It seems they've fought with people from the city—could they be from the Special Alliance?" Flannie's brow furrowed. "If that's the case, this could be trouble. We've already wasted too much time dealing with those pursuers. We must move on quickly."

"Come on, let's go!" Wendy called to the others. Besides Flannie and Southwind, only Angela remained. They said nothing, simply gathered their things and followed. At that moment, Southwind spoke: "We must bring Angel back safely!"

Wendy laughed. "Of course. Who do you think we are?"

...

"Let's rest here for a bit," Xie Liu said, parking the car in a clearing among the mountains. "Who wants to find something to eat? I need to rest for a while." After stopping the car, he turned to the group. Ye Ling spoke up, "I'll handle it. I brought some food supplies. You go rest. Everyone else, gather some firewood."

At that moment, Ye Ling issued orders with surprising efficiency. Xie Liu watched the busy group and smiled faintly, finally finding a patch of shade beneath a tree. He leaned against the trunk and closed his eyes.

Drifting off, Xie Liu felt himself sinking, as if falling into another dream. In the dream, he had no idea where he was.

All he could see was an endless expanse of water, and he stood atop its surface, ripples spreading from his feet and stretching to infinity.

He looked down at his reflection in the water. "What am I doing?" he asked himself, but there was no answer.

"Strange... Am I still myself?" The water reflected a young man with a sunny, handsome face, a trace of gentleness between his brows.

"No, that's not me."

He shook his head, and the reflection suddenly changed—now cloaked in black, with blood-red eyes like a killer. "Yes, this is me: the one who only seeks maximum profit. Protecting little girls and such has nothing to do with me."

"What foolishness am I up to?" He stared quietly at his reflection, the cold gleam in his crimson eyes. "Playing house?" His lips curled in a mocking smile. He raised his silver Desert Eagle, aiming at his own reflection. "Yes, this is me: such a hateful sight."

"Just a killing machine, nothing more."

He muttered to the reflection, as if about to fire. But in that instant, the image in the water blurred and shifted, transforming into a girl with violet hair. "Xie Liu, please protect that girl. Don't forget, you still have a human heart."

Her words seemed to float in the air. Xie Liu froze, lowering the Desert Eagle, which fell onto the water and vanished. He crouched down, clutching his head as if struggling against himself.

"How pitiful I am..."

...

"Strange uncle... Strange uncle..." In his haze, someone seemed to be calling him. Xie Liu forced his eyes open and saw Angel, her face tinged with fear.

"Angel, what is it?"

Startled, Angel took a step back. "Um, um... Sister told me to call you... for... for..." She still couldn't quite overcome her fear, though she was no longer as unwilling to approach as before.

"Time to eat, right? Okay, I understand." Xie Liu tried his best to show a gentle smile and walked forward. Ye Ling was calling everyone over. Xie Liu found a place to sit. Even in the wild, Ye Ling's cooking was extraordinary. Everyone ate happily, even Angel, who smiled with delight, as if, for the moment, all the fear and pressure of their flight had vanished.

After lunch, Xie Liu suggested they move on, but Ye Ling objected, thinking Angel was too tired and needed a break. The two argued for a while, but in the end, Xie Liu yielded to Ye Ling's stubbornness and agreed to rest. Yet as he turned around, a sense of foreboding washed over him.

"Thirty-four people," Li Shizhu said suddenly. "They're from the Special Alliance!"

"Everyone, prepare for battle!" Xie Liu shouted, quickly tossing a wooden crate from the back of the vehicle. The group retrieved weapons from it.

"Phoenix, protect Angel," Lin Yang said, putting away his lightsaber and grabbing a machine gun. "Everyone, head for the woods."

"Flashblade, I'm not good at leading squads in battle—you take command," Xie Liu said, hoisting his own weapon and running behind Ye Ling. Lin Yang grinned, "I knew you weren't cut out for squad tactics. Leave it to me. Everyone, communicate via spirit ghost. Now, grab your weapons and fall back into the woods." No sooner had he spoken than bursts of flame erupted from the distant forest, and dirt and dust exploded around Lin Yang.

"That was close," Lin Yang said, vanishing from where he stood and reappearing at the forest's edge. "Everyone, hurry up!"

Ye Ling had already taken Angel into the woods. Xie Liu disappeared at the treeline too. Gong Hou picked up a boulder to shield Li Shizhu as she retreated; Xu Xiong, meanwhile, ambled along unconcerned, bullets halting in the air all around him, unable to pierce his shield.

"Stop showing off! What if you get hit by electromagnetic rounds?" Lin Yang shouted.

A gust of wind swept past Xu Xiong, snipping off a lock of hair. "Electromagnetic rounds..." Xu Xiong sprinted away in a flash, vanishing into the woods in the blink of an eye.

Lin Yang retreated to the treeline, firing wildly with his weapon before ducking behind a tree. "Deadeye, can you see them?"

"I see them. Give me a moment," Xie Liu's voice sounded in his mind. Then, a gunshot echoed in the woods, and Lin Yang saw Xie Liu's figure dart away as a hail of bullets shredded the tree where he'd just been.

"One enemy down," Li Shizhu reported calmly. Lin Yang gave a thumbs up. "Keep moving. Let's find a place to snipe them."

"Show-off," Gong Hou muttered, and hurled a dozen massive rocks at the enemy, silencing their guns for a moment.

"Not a single kill," Li Shizhu reported. "Tch," Gong Hou nearly cursed. "That's impossible." Even as he spoke, smoke rose from the enemy lines.

"Nice work!" Lin Yang nearly swore, turning to run. Gong Hou and the others followed, the forest behind them erupting in explosions, bullets and rockets tearing trees to splinters. The shockwave flung them through the air. Still struggling to his feet, Lin Yang shouted, "Everyone, run deeper into the woods—move!"

"Once they follow us in, they won't dare use rockets and grenades so freely. No one wants to risk a grenade bouncing back or a rocket exploding right in their face," Lin Yang explained, pulling Gong Hou to his feet as they fled.

"I'll cover you. Go on," Xie Liu's voice called out again. Another gunshot rang out, and Li Shizhu reported another enemy down.

"Infrared vision? That's handy here," Lin Yang remarked coldly, urging Gong Hou onward. Soon, they were all out of rocket range. "Will they chase us in?" Lin Yang asked his companions as they ran. "Good. Let's find a spot to counterattack. Looks like there aren't any real experts among them—we can win this."

"Don't jinx it," Xie Liu grumbled, crouching behind a fallen log. "Where's Angel?" He paused, realizing he hadn't seen her in the chaos.

"Phoenix took her," Lin Yang replied as he and the others found places to lie in wait. Xie Liu nodded. "I'll go check." With his sniping skills, he could be effective from afar and didn't need to be up front.

"Be careful," Lin Yang said. Xie Liu nodded, then ran off. As he left, Lin Yang directed the others to lie low. The trees ahead rustled—clearly, the enemy was near.

"Brothers, let's fight well," Lin Yang gritted his teeth. "Let them know we're the Hunting Squad!"

Gunshots sounded behind him as Xie Liu pressed on, finally finding Angel huddled at the entrance to a cave. "Where's your sister Ye Ling?"

Angel's eyes brimmed with tears. The moment she saw Xie Liu, she burst out crying and threw herself into his arms. He froze—a first, Angel coming to him of her own accord, though it was out of fear. "It's all right now," he comforted her, patting her head and cleaning her dirty teddy bear before handing it back. "Where's your sister Ye Ling?"

"Bad men... sister... gone!" Angel couldn't express herself clearly, but Xie Liu understood—besides the main enemy force, some had flanked them. Ye Ling must have hidden Angel here and gone to draw them away.

"Please be safe," Xie Liu prayed, though in truth, he prayed for Ye Ling's adversaries—if that young lady lost her temper, no one would be able to stop her.

"Come with me." He scooped Angel up in his arms, and perhaps because she was so frightened, she didn't resist, but buried her face in his chest.

Carrying Angel, Xie Liu dashed off. Roars echoed from deep in the woods—enemies were indeed behind them, bullets flying past, splintering the trees.

Amid the crossfire, Xie Liu heard Gong Hou let out a furious yell and silently mourned for the poor souls facing him—there wouldn't be much left of them.

Sure enough, after a wave of overwhelming force, countless rotten logs were hurled skyward, falling like autumn leaves... Xie Liu smacked himself—if his high school literature teacher saw this, she'd die of exasperation.

After Gong Hou's outburst, the gunfire from afar seemed to halt—his attack had clearly threatened the enemy.

"With that kind of power, even the God of Strength would struggle," Xie Liu muttered, rubbing his forehead as he ducked behind a tree. He could hear someone running below. "Are they coming?" He bit his lip, set Angel down. "Hide here and don't move." Drawing his silver Desert Eagle, he waited. As the footsteps drew near, he frowned. The moment the enemy appeared, he lunged from behind the tree, but before he could act, a shock numbed his hand and his gun flew from his grip.

"Damn!" he growled. His opponent's reflexes far surpassed his expectations. Without seeing who it was, Xie Liu spun, using the force of the blow to pivot, his waist knife flashing with cold light as he slashed at the enemy. There was a surprised "Huh?" as the opponent deflected the knife, but Xie Liu spun twice more, the knife tracing two crossed arcs of cold steel. The enemy staggered back, and Xie Liu's left hand Desert Eagle was already trained on their thigh. In a flash, the gun spat flame, and the enemy grunted, stumbling to the ground. Xie Liu pressed his advantage, stepping in with a flying kick to their chest, then a spinning kick to the chin. Before the enemy could even be seen clearly, he was knocked two meters through the air, spinning away. Xie Liu didn't hesitate—he fired another shot as the enemy tumbled, sending them flying several more meters, as good as dead.

In less than two seconds, Xie Liu had demonstrated the art of killing to perfection. He spared no glance for his fallen foe, nor did he go searching for his lost Desert Eagle. Instead, he looked toward Angel, who shrank behind the tree, eyes wide with fear. As he approached, she shrank back further.

He reached out, wanting to comfort her, but his hand stopped halfway. Angel was afraid of him. He shook his head with a sigh. "However you see me, right now, I must still fight for you."

When had he become so soft? He slapped himself in mockery. Not long ago, he'd been willing to risk Angel to keep the squad safe. Why had he changed? Was it because of the girl from his memories, or...?

Ever since Angel was ambushed and he thought she'd died, something inside him had shifted.

Just then, Ye Ling rushed over, covered in mud, hair in disarray. She must have had a tough time shaking her pursuers. "Where's Angel?" she cried.

Xie Liu pointed to the tree, where Angel stared coldly at him. "She saw me kill someone. She’s probably still terrified of me."

Ye Ling shook her head, went to Angel, and as soon as Angel recognized her, she threw herself into her arms, sobbing.

With a helpless shrug, Xie Liu turned and saw, in the distance, an armed helicopter approaching. He gave a bitter laugh. "This battle is far from over."