A few moments later.

Long Ming lay prone atop a twelve-meter-tall office building, setting up his M24 sniper rifle.

Gunshots echoed continuously from all over the town, punctuated by the occasional scream.

It had to be said, the crew Qin Ye and his group had hired was actually quite skilled.

Guardian Chapter and the others were enthusiastically clearing out players, a sense of unspoken competition brewing among them.

This wasn’t just about outdoing one another; it was also about putting on a show for their client.

After all, the payment Qin Ye’s group offered was just a baseline. The upper limit was a staggering 60,000,000 one-dimensional coins.

Besides, rich guys like Qin Ye wouldn’t be stingy as long as they were satisfied.

To them, this was just pocket change.

As for Long Ming, he couldn’t muster any interest in hunting the weak, so he figured he’d just snipe a few targets.

BANG BANG~

Just then, a burst of intense gunfire erupted from a street in the distance.

Hearing the shots, Long Ming adjusted his position and looked over.

On the street lay one corpse and a player who had lost all mobility after being shot in the stomach.

Two players, each wearing an armband with a red blade insignia, walked up to the wounded player, their faces full of mockery.

"Go on, run! Weren’t you so good at running?"

"Don’t push it! We’re just solo players trying to scavenge a few things. How did we offend you guilds that you have to hunt us down to the last man?" the fallen player demanded in agony.

"Idiot. Being weak is the original sin!"

One of the players then drew a tactical knife without hesitation and killed him with a clean slice to the throat.

Watching this scene, Long Ming silently pulled the trigger.

WHIZ! WHIZ!

Before the two players could react, they were instantly headshot, collapsing as their bodies vanished in a flash of white light.

Long Ming didn’t bother to go collect the loot from their bodies. Instead, he used his scope to search for the next target.

Although this was just a small town, it was by no means tiny. Judging by the density of the buildings, at least a hundred thousand people must have lived here before.

As such, the town’s infrastructure was quite comprehensive, with all sorts of functional buildings.

A thorough search would likely yield some decent loot.

Just then, Long Ming suddenly spotted two familiar figures, and his expression faltered for a moment.

He saw Gu Yi and Chen Wei emerge from a building, cautiously looking around.

Unfortunately for them, despite their careful observation, they failed to notice the danger.

’What’s going on? What are those two doing here?’

Long Ming was completely surprised.

At that moment, Long Ming spotted Zhao Chen rapidly closing in on Gu Yi and Chen Wei. He decisively pulled the trigger.

WHIZ~

The bullet struck the ground right at Gu Yi’s feet.

"Shit, a sniper!"

"Get back in the building!"

Gu Yi and Chen Wei were startled and immediately tried to retreat back into the building.

WHIZ~

Long Ming fired a shot that hit the doorframe.

They instantly changed direction, running toward where Zhao Chen was approaching from.

Seeing this, the corner of Long Ming’s mouth twitched. He fired another shot in front of them, forcing them to retreat.

Like startled birds, Gu Yi and his companion immediately turned and sprinted forward.

Seeing them finally run in the right direction, Long Ming couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But at that very moment, two gunshots suddenly rang out.

BANG BANG~

"AH!"

Gu Yi and Chen Wei were instantly headshot and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, Long Ming’s expression darkened as he looked toward a nearby rooftop.

He saw Guardian Chapter holding an automatic rifle with a 4x scope. Guardian Chapter turned to look at Long Ming, licked the corner of his mouth, and wore a triumphant smirk.

Long Ming immediately raised his M24 sniper rifle and aimed it at Guardian Chapter.

Not to be outdone, Guardian Chapter raised his own weapon, facing off against Long Ming.

Just then, Zhao Chen ran over from the distance. When he saw Long Ming and Guardian Chapter aiming their guns at each other, his face changed drastically, and he ran forward, shouting.

"What are you two doing?"

"Nothing much. I was just kind enough to help him take care of two rats, but it seems he’s not very grateful."

Guardian Chapter lowered his gun and shrugged.

"Hmph. You should just worry about yourself."

Long Ming snorted coldly, then lowered his own rifle and turned to leave.

Guardian Chapter watched Long Ming’s retreating back, a chilling smile spreading across his face as he muttered to himself.

"Interesting!"

...

「Over an hour later.」

After the last hiding player was found and eliminated, every player in the town who hadn’t managed to escape had been purged.

Long Ming’s group reassembled.

"Is everyone taken care of?"

Qin Ye asked, looking at the assembled crew.

"All taken care of."

Guardian Chapter and the others replied confidently.

"Good. Did you find any usable vehicles?"

Bai Xiu looked at everyone expectantly.

Long Ming and the others glanced at each other and shook their heads.

At this, Xu Lie thought for a moment and said,

"I saw a couple of motorcycles, but nothing else."

"How many people can those even fit? There are so many of us, we can’t all ride motorcycles."

A disappointed look appeared on Wang Yin’s face.

"It can’t be helped. Players have landed in this town before. Any working vehicles were driven off long ago," Zhao Chen explained to Wang Yin.

"That’s not necessarily true."

A lean, dark-skinned man spoke up, revealing a set of yellow-stained teeth.

"Do you know where we can find a working vehicle?"

Bai Xiu and the others turned to ask Aladon.

"Follow me!"

Aladon didn’t explain, simply motioning for everyone to follow him.

Qin Ye and the others immediately followed Aladon.

A short while later, Aladon led Long Ming and the group to a dilapidated repair shop.

A large truck was parked inside, surrounded by scattered repair tools and parts.

"Aladon? This is the vehicle you were talking about?"

Zhao Chen asked, his brow furrowed.

"That’s right. Since all the working vehicles have been taken, our only option is to find a broken one," Aladon said with a cheerful laugh.

"So you know how to fix it?"

"Nope! But I’m sure someone here knows how, right?"

"Does anyone here know how to fix it?"

Zhao Chen then looked at the group.

"Leave it to me. It’s just a truck. I can even fix a tank!"

A man with a body of solid muscle and a brutish face stepped forward.

"Alright, it’s all yours then."

Zhao Chen nodded at Xu Lie and replied.

Xu Lie immediately grabbed some tools and started working on the truck.

Long Ming and the others stood by and watched.

...

「South of the Observatory Base · Katen Town Plaza.」

A man sat arrogantly on a chair placed in the center of the plaza. He wore a black mechanical chest plate, his skin was dark, and his face was ferocious, marked by a centipede-like scar on his forehead. On his shoulder, he wore an armband with a death’s-head skull insignia.

At that moment, gunshots and screams echoed throughout Katen Town.

Players scurried about like rats, hunted down by members of the Sin Abyss Guild.

Just then, a bewitching woman with green hair, amber eyes, and clad in a tight-fitting black leather suit spoke with some concern.

"Lord Padoka, this instance is proving to be a bit troublesome. We thought the All Stars Guild and the Star God Guild wouldn’t show up, but they entered right at the last second, just like us."

After hearing Irafu’s words, Padoka’s expression grew even colder.

"What’s there to be afraid of? We’ll just kill them all and be done with it."

A large, bald man—bloated, fat, and with a greasy face—replied nonchalantly. He had ammo belts wrapped around his body and held a heavy machine gun.

"Bide, you make it sound so easy."

"Irafu, you’re not scared, are you?"

"You’d better take that back, or I won’t mind sending you on your way."

A flash of anger crossed Irafu’s face as she drew an automatic pistol and pointed it at Bide’s head.

"You bitch, you think I’m afraid of you?"

Bide immediately raised his heavy machine gun and cursed viciously.

"Enough!"

Padoka’s cold voice cut in.

Irafu and Bide glanced at each other and fell silent.

At that moment, Zheng Bin hurried over to Padoka and reported in a fawning tone.

"Lord Padoka, the area is almost clear. As for those who haven’t regrouped, they will head directly to the observatory entrance to wait for us."

"Let’s go. We need to reach the observatory before the All Stars Guild and the Star God Guild."

Padoka slammed his hand on the armrest and shot to his feet.

"Yes, sir!"

Irafu and the others replied with their heads lowered.

...