Qin Ye stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Long Ming, confused.

"Why aren’t you moving?"

"Do you know where the others are?"

"No."

"Then we wait for the others to find us. Get inside."

Long Ming told Qin Ye coolly.

Although Long Ming was confident in his own abilities, that didn’t mean he could guarantee this guy’s protection.

He had just stealthily circled around behind Qin Ye, partly as a test. The result spoke for itself.

"No way. It’s too dangerous outside. We have to find Qin Ying right away."

Qin Ye said to Long Ming, his voice laced with anxiety.

"Won’t Zhao Chen and the others look for her? If I take you with me and you end up getting killed, then what?"

"Well... sigh... Fine. We’ll do it your way."

Although Qin Ye felt extremely frustrated, he still deferred to Long Ming’s judgment.

’He was also quite surprised. Normally, whether it was his own subordinates or the hired guns, they all treated him with deference and rarely went against his word.’

’This guy, though, was something else. He’d been contradicting him from the moment they met.’

’An expert truly is an expert.’

Long Ming then led Qin Ye into a nearby building that faced the street.

The air inside was thick and stagnant, and dust covered everything.

Long Ming saw the look of disgust on Qin Ye’s face, but thankfully, he wasn’t so spoiled as to complain about it.

"Upstairs."

Without waiting for a reply, Long Ming started up the stairs to the second floor.

"Hey, wait for me."

Qin Ye hurried to follow.

Soon, Long Ming had them holed up in a room on the second floor overlooking the street.

BANG BANG~

At that moment, gunshots began to ring out intermittently from outside.

Long Ming went to the window and cautiously observed the situation.

Qin Ye sized up Long Ming with great interest. He felt this guy was different from the people he’d hired in the past, so he asked curiously,

"Hey man, where are you from? Your accent doesn’t sound like you’re from Sin City."

Long Ming didn’t answer, just listened quietly to the gunshots.

Qin Ye felt a little annoyed and asked again,

"Why didn’t you answer me?"

"I’m your bodyguard, not your nanny. Be quiet and stay put."

Long Ming didn’t give Qin Ye any face just because he was the client.

Having been rebuffed, Qin Ye could only stand there resentfully.

「Half an hour later.」

Qin Ye sat on the floor, yawning.

He had originally thought some enemies might sneak over, giving him a chance to see Long Ming in action.

But a long time passed with no sign of anyone, and the nearby gunfire soon died down.

"How much longer do we have to hide here?"

Qin Ye asked out of boredom.

"Not long now."

"How can you tell?"

"The gunfire all around has stopped. Guardian Chapter and the others have probably cleared them out. It won’t be long before they make their way over here."

Long Ming explained thoughtfully.

"For real?"

Hearing Long Ming’s words, Qin Ye was skeptical.

Just then, Qin Ying and a few others, under the protection of Zhao Chen’s group, began to approach the building where Long Ming was.

Long Ming spotted them at a glance. He immediately went to the window, raised his left hand, and gave a wave.

Guardian Chapter and the others noticed at once, instinctively raising their weapons. However, upon seeing it was Long Ming, they held their fire.

Not long after, everyone successfully regrouped.

"Alright, everyone’s here! Let’s discuss our strategy for this operation."

Qin Ye said to the group excitedly.

At that moment, however, Bai Xiu spoke up hesitantly.

"Everyone, should we maybe consider finding an extraction point and abandoning this instance? You have to understand, over 3,000 people have joined. And I saw clearly when we came in—the three major guilds are all here."

Hearing Bai Xiu’s words, Qin Ye and the others were all stunned.

Wang Yin also started to advocate for a retreat.

"I think Bai Xiu is right. Never mind the three major guilds; we can’t afford to offend the Sin Abyss Guild alone."

"Fuck, how did we get so unlucky!"

Qin Ye was furious when he heard this.

"Sigh..."

Bai Xiu and the others all wore helpless expressions.

Just then, Long Ming spoke up, his voice cold.

"Are you sure you want to give up? You’d better think it through. There are 3,000 people this time. Next time, it could be 5,000, and maybe 10,000 the time after that. You’ll have even less of a chance then! Also, this Observatory Base instance only opens once every three days, and only five people can complete the mission each time. Don’t think you can just wait for the three major guilds to finish their runs. You could wait until the end of time, and it still wouldn’t be your turn."

"Then what are we supposed to do? We can’t run, and we can’t win a fight!"

Hearing Long Ming’s words, Qin Ye and the others felt utterly stifled.

"You’re the clients, so you call the shots. But even if you give up, you still have to pay the full price."

Long Ming said to Qin Ye’s group, his face devoid of expression.

Instantly, all the hired bodyguards on site turned to look at Qin Ye’s group of five. They didn’t care if they retreated or not—just as Long Ming had said, they were getting paid either way.

Bai Xiu and the others were now in an even tighter spot, and they all looked to Qin Ye.

Pushed into a corner, Qin Ye stomped his foot and declared viciously,

"Fuck it! We’ve already spent the money, so who gives a damn if we can win or not! Let’s take them on!"

"He’s right! Let’s go all in and fight them!"

Bai Xiu and the others were also ready to risk it all.

"Fine. Since that’s settled, let’s start discussing strategy."

Long Ming replied coolly.

"Okay. We’ve landed in Agatu Town, which is located 310 kilometers north of the Observatory Base. And according to current intel, this town has already been searched."

Bai Xiu raised his wrist device, opened a map, and spoke to Long Ming and the others.

The entire terrain of the Observatory Base area was actually quite simple.

The Observatory Base was situated in the center of a continuous mountain range. Radiating out from the base in a 500-kilometer radius were over a hundred scattered towns.

All players were dropped into these towns.

"Damn, our luck really sucks."

Lu Xu shrugged helplessly.

"Since it’s a town that’s already been looted by other players, there probably aren’t any good vehicles left."

Zhao Chen said, his face tense.

"Vehicle or no vehicle, we have to find one. We’re 310 kilometers from the Observatory Base. If we go on foot, it’ll be way too late."

Long Ming reminded them in a cold voice.

"So what should we do?"

Qin Ye was at a loss.

"We must first slaughter every other player in this town. That will reduce the number of rivals competing with us for vehicles and prevent anyone from shooting us in the back."

At this, a man dressed in black combat fatigues and a spider-themed mask offered the icy suggestion. His brows were sharp, and his deep black eyes glinted with a cold light.

Long Ming glanced over. The speaker was Wang Yin’s hired expert, a man who seemed to be named Dino.

The other hired guns broke into excited grins, voicing their approval.

"Not a bad idea!"

"Let’s wipe out these scrubs first!"

...

Bai Xiu and the other clients all looked toward Qin Ye.

Although they were all clients, Qin Ye was the de facto leader for this operation.

"Alright. Leave one team here to protect us. The rest of you, go clear out the other players and then look for a vehicle."

Qin Ye agreed without hesitation.

Hearing Qin Ye’s command, Guardian Chapter and the others fanned out excitedly.

Long Ming didn’t linger either and simply turned and left.

...