Mira’s expression flickered. She turned and shouted to Xiaoqi.

"Xiaoqi!"

"Sister Mira."

Xiaoqi replied nervously.

"You take the Rat Group and retreat first. I’ll have Cao Jie and his men cover you,"

Mira said to Xiaoqi.

"What about you guys?"

"Don’t worry. We’ll hold them off for a while and then pull back. You have to get the Rat Group out."

"Okay!"

Xiaoqi nodded firmly.

"Go!"

Mira waved her hand at Xiaoqi and the others.

Cao Jie and his men immediately began escorting Xiaoqi, breaking out from the right flank.

At that moment, on the rooftop of a dilapidated residential building.

Bair observed the movements of Mira’s group through a pair of binoculars. When he saw the Rat Group begin their breakout, he hurriedly reported to Ferenc.

"Sir, their Rat Group is trying to escape."

"Escape? In their dreams. Bair, I’m leaving this to you. I’m taking my men to wipe them out!"

"Huh? Sir, they have so many people. How can I possibly beat them?"

"Who told you to fight them head-on? Just take your men, take a few potshots every now and then, and pin them down here. That’s all you need to do. Once I’ve devoured their Rat Group, we can withdraw!"

"Understood."

"Don’t screw this up for me, or you’ll have hell to pay when we get back!"

After warning Bair, Ferenc turned and left with thirty of his subordinates.

....

Meanwhile.

Long Ming was carefully leading Johnny and the others toward the extraction point. Along the way, the fog gradually began to dissipate, and visibility improved considerably.

"Bro, are we going the right way?"

"What’s wrong?"

"Why is it so quiet?"

Johnny swallowed and asked nervously.

"I don’t know. Let’s just get to the extraction point first and see!"

Long Ming’s expression grew more solemn. He raised his wristband to look at the map; they were less than a kilometer away from the extraction point.

Under normal circumstances, if the main force was also retreating this way, they should have heard some commotion by now.

"Yeah."

Johnny and the others nodded quickly.

Not long after, Long Ming led Johnny and the others to an abandoned construction site.

"The extraction point!"

Seeing the extraction point situated in the middle of the abandoned construction site, Johnny and the others excitedly prepared to rush forward.

"Wait!"

Long Ming frowned, raising a hand to stop Johnny.

"What’s wrong?"

"Didn’t you notice that the combat squad that was supposed to be guarding this place is gone?"

"You’re right. Where are Jiang Ying and her team?"

It dawned on Johnny and the others; normally, they should have been here on guard.

"No idea!"

Long Ming warily scanned the surroundings but didn’t find any suspicious signs.

"Bro, it looks like no one’s here," Johnny and the others said, scratching their heads.

"Let’s go check it out."

After confirming there was no ambush, Long Ming led Johnny and the others cautiously forward.

They soon reached the extraction platform. There, they saw seven backpacks lying on the ground, clearly discarded.

Long Ming immediately looked at the extraction platform and discovered that the indicator light on the mechanical extraction platform was off, a clear sign that it had already been used.

Just then, Johnny and the others stepped forward to inspect the backpacks. Their faces turned grim as they reported to Long Ming.

"The packs have been cleaned out. Nothing’s left."

"They must have been taken out by other players. This extraction point is a bust."

Long Ming felt a headache coming on. He hadn’t expected to have the rug pulled out from under them at such a critical moment.

"So what do we do now?"

Johnny and the others looked at Long Ming, at a loss.

"We’ll switch extraction points. But the closest one is seven kilometers away. And there’s no guarantee it hasn’t been used. But we have no choice right now but to take a gamble."

Long Ming raised his wristband to check for nearby extraction points.

"Alright. We’ll follow your lead."

Johnny and the others all nodded in agreement.

"Let’s go!"

Long Ming wasted no time and immediately led them towards the nearest extraction point.

「Over half an hour later.」

The fog was gradually clearing, sunlight spilling into the silent city.

Long Ming and his group were on an overpass, running towards their destination!

BANG! BANG!

Just then, the faint sound of gunfire came from the distance.

Wu Qing turned his head to look, and upon seeing Xiaoqi and her group, he immediately waved his hand excitedly and shouted.

"It’s Sister Qi and the others! We’re over here!"

Long Ming’s face changed drastically. He quickly reached out and covered Wu Qing’s mouth, then warned him.

"Don’t make a sound!"

"What’s wrong?"

Johnny and the others looked at Long Ming, bewildered.

"Can’t you see something’s wrong? The people behind Xiaoqi’s group aren’t our allies. They’re hunting them."

Long Ming reminded them with a grave expression.

"What’s going on? Why is Sister Qi’s group being hunted?"

"Where are Captain Mira and her team?"

Johnny and the others took a closer look, and were all dumbfounded.

Long Ming frowned and turned to ask Johnny and the others.

"I don’t know. Is anyone carrying a gun?"

"Are you kidding? Guns and ammo are way too expensive. If you die once or even just fire a few too many shots, you’d be in the red even if you got a purple drop."

"Exactly. Who carries a gun unless they’re trying to pick up girls or just show off?"

"I get it. You guys take a detour to the extraction point. I’m going to help them."

"We’ll go with you!"

Johnny and the others replied without any fear.

"Alright, follow me!"

Long Ming didn’t waste time on pleasantries, simply leading them in a dash forward.

He intended to lead Johnny to get ahead of Xiaoqi’s group and set up an ambush.

...

On a distant street.

Ferenc was leading his subordinates in a dogged pursuit of the Rat Group.

"Damn, Boss, these guys can really run!"

A bald, beefy brute cursed as he spoke to Ferenc.

"Of course rats can run. But what good does it do? Can they outrun a bullet?"

Ferenc said to Tank disdainfully, then raised his AK rifle, aimed at the fleeing people ahead, and pulled the trigger, spraying a burst of fire!

"AHH!"

Along with screams of pain, a combat team member and a member of the Rat Group fell. Their bodies turned into points of light, and their backpacks dropped.

"The boss is a fucking badass!"

Tank and the others were also extremely excited, firing wildly at the fleeing Xiaoqi and her group.

In that moment, another three combat team members and two Rat Group members fell.

Afterwards, when Tank and the others ran over, they reached out and scooped up the backpacks and weapons.

As they continued the chase, they quickly looted the dropped backpacks, shouting excitedly.

"Whoa, so much food and medicine!"

"A purple microscope! We’re rich!"

"Haha, this feels great!"

"Scavenging for loot is nothing compared to just taking it from others!"

...

At this moment, seeing the members of the Rat Group being continuously shot down, Cao Jie angrily said to Xiaoqi.

"Damn it! You guys run! We’ll hold them off!"

"Okay, be careful!"

Xiaoqi had no choice but to nod in agreement.

"Don’t worry, I’m pretty tough!"

Cao Jie then led his team members to spread out and take cover behind scrapped cars, firing fiercely at Ferenc and his men.

BANG! BANG!

Three of the pursuing players were hit and fell to the ground.

"Fuck, you’re asking to die!"

Ferenc raised his AK rifle and unleashed a furious barrage.

A dense spray of bullets continuously struck the cars they were using for cover, sending sparks flying!

Cao Jie and his men were immediately suppressed, unable to raise their heads.

"Brother Cao! Their firepower is too intense."

Qiao Shan said anxiously to Cao Jie.

"Damn it!"

Cao Jie then risked it and dashed out, rolling to take cover behind a nearby metal dumpster, and raised his gun to fire a shot at Ferenc.

BANG!

Ferenc was instantly hit in the left shoulder.

"Argh!"

Wincing in pain, Ferenc quickly ducked behind cover.

He quickly glanced at his left shoulder; the bullet was lodged in his body armor. Thankfully, it had held, or he would have been in serious trouble.

"Sir, you’ve been shot?"

Tank asked with concern.

"Get lost!"

Ferenc cursed angrily, then pulled out a high-explosive grenade, pulled the pin, silently counted for a few seconds, and threw it towards Cao Jie.

When Cao Jie saw it, his face changed drastically, and he turned tail and ran!

BOOM!

Unfortunately, he was still hit by shrapnel from the explosion, fell to the ground, and dissipated into motes of starlight!

"Brother Cao!"

Seeing this, Qiao Shan and the others became frantic and all started firing at Ferenc and his men.

Ferenc’s side stopped dodging as well, returning fire fiercely.

The two sides exchanged fire face-to-face.

BANG! BANG!

All five of Qiao Shan’s group were hit and went down, while Ferenc’s side also lost two men.

Tank and the others quickly went forward to pick up the weapons and gear of Qiao Shan’s team, saying excitedly.

"Not bad, the durability is high on these. We can make some of our money back!"

"Hurry up! Finish looting and let’s keep chasing!"

Ferenc couldn’t wait to devour this Rat Group.

"You got it!"

After quickly finishing their looting, Tank and the others immediately followed Ferenc to continue the pursuit.

...