Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
There was a huge bowl of fire in front of the prison that crackled as it roared. There were occasional pops and embers leaping from the fire. The sinister entrance of the prison seemed even warmer.
As Ye Wei, Eleven, and Mo Jue came, the old man was extraordinarily angry. As he wanted to catch somebody from the First Terrorist Organization alive, he diverted away most of the experts on the island. Few were left around the prison.
As Xu Nuo passed through the training grounds, she noticed three people guarding the prison. She could not shoot as shooting would arouse suspicion and her master would divert people back to reinforce the prison. If that happened, it would be an utter waste of her effort.
Her dear Stone must be inside there. As she thought about that, Xu Nuo slightly frowned and she slightly flicked her sleeves. Two steel lotuses appeared in her hand, and she shot them into the throats of the men who were discussing the happenings on the island today.
She saw them clutch their throats hard, their eyes wide open. They collapsed to the floor and immediately died.
Xu Nuo, not daring to be careless, looked at the guy who had twenty-over keys on him. One of the keys looked very special and Xu Nuo immediately took it down. Sometimes, acting on instinct improves one’s efficiency at work.
The pathway in the prison was long and flanked by candlelights on both sides. It was both dark and bright, and there were agonizing roars from time to time. The entire prison felt like a scene in a horror movie.
Xu Nuo, although small, was brave. She did not feel afraid but instead felt slightly sinister. The green moss on the two walls of the pathway emanated a strong, poisonous gas. Xu Nuo was able to identify the gas as a nerve agent that would break the will of people.
The main purpose of the gas was to break the will of people so that they would act as they wished. As Xu Nuo’s gaze became cold, she took out a red pill and swallowed it before she advanced. It took her a moment before she reached the actual prison, where eight men were guarding it.
The men were tall and eagle-eyed. Xu Nuo scanned the surroundings and noticed a few independent cages with people in them. There were men and women, either bloodied or covered in wounds, with some in hysteria and screaming at the top of their lungs. Xu Nuo quietly contemplated the situation in the prison. There was a door at the deepest part of the prison. This prison was different from the one on her island as there were no other entrances. Xu Nuo could only take a gamble as to whether her dearest Stone was behind the door.
The computer showed that he was indeed in the prison. Mo Jue located his correct position.
The eight men, hearing gunshots and explosions from outside the prison, were extremely concerned and wished they could rush out and take part in the battle. They were speculating who had the guts to trespass Death Island.
Death Island, what an apt name.
Xu Nuo coldly smiled and looked up at the sharp chandelier on the ceiling. With her silver gun in hand, she fired a shot at the ceiling. The men were in shock and looked up, their assault rifles and pistols at the ready. At this moment, Xu Nuo coldly looked on and fired eight shots in succession.
As the chandelier fell, eight young men lay dead on the ground.
It was cleanly done and showed how badass her adaptability was.
If Xu Nuo took them on face-to-face, she would definitely die a miserable death. She was, however, smart enough to utilize all she could in the house to maximize the damage she could deal to her opponents. When the chandelier fell, anybody’s instinctive reaction would be to look up.
That moment was more than enough for her to kill them.
The men and women in the prison rushed to their cages, excited, thinking that their salvation had arrived. They roared at the fierce and tough small girl.
“Get me out of here!”
“Get me out of here!!”
…
…
There were more than ten men and women who spoke different languages. Xu Nuo coldly ignored them and stared through the cages. Hands, bruised and shriveled, waved at her.
They begged, pleased, and even raged at Xu Nuo’s ignorance. They seemed terrifying amidst their roars.
A few enraged men shook the cage madly and seemed to almost break the railings of the cage. Their eyes reddened and they cursed at Xu Nuo.
Xu Nuo, in her fire-red dress, passed through these anguish sounds calmly and she stared straightforwardly without straying. She, despite her young age, demonstrated an overbearing aura as though she was the queen who was touring her turf whilst the prisoners were her subjects. While domineering, she was still exceptionally calm.
Her fire-red dress made her seem like a rose in full bloom.
She walked straight toward the door, raised her gun, and kicked the door open. As she peeked around and did not observe any movement, bullets suddenly shot out. Xu Nuo coldly smiled as she already saw the two people inside. They were the two teenagers from Paradise Island.
She should, by virtue of seniority, address them as her seniors. Humph!
As she kicked a stone across the door, another burst of gunfire rang out. Xu Nuo rolled on the ground, pulled out her silver gun, and fired two shots mercilessly. The two teenagers cried out. One knelt to the ground and clutched his knee in pain whilst the other collapsed, clutching his abdomen, his fate unknown.
The two of them dropped their guns very far away.
“Xu Nuo…” A faint voice came from the corner. Xu Nuo, touched, looked around and suddenly noticed a cold gaze. The young kid was tied to a cross, his hands and feet secured amidst a whole body of injuries. The set of clothing she got for him was battered until its waist, and several bruises were evident…
The traces of passion.
They seemed especially glaring when contrasted against that piece of jade.
The young kid traced her gaze to himself and flushed.
He struggled a few times. His hands and legs were bound and the sound of chains rattling filled the silent space in an exceptionally chilling manner. The young kid, ashamed and angry, gritted his teeth as he was thoroughly embarrassed.
Xu Nuo’s gaze burned with anger and the murderous intent emanating from her chilled others. She, in her extreme anger, almost crushed her silver gun and her face was almost pale as her fingertips trembled. She suddenly turned around. The maelstrom in her gaze raged, her murderous intent clear.
She walked toward them step by step and said fiercely, “Damn, you all. I had warned you and you dared to touch him… You all dared…”
Xu Nuo coldly pulled the trigger. “Go to hell!”
The bullet hit the youth in his skull and blood was splattered onto Xu Nuo’s shoes, turning it red. As she would not allow anybody to escape her wrath, she also fired a shot into the comatose teenager in absolute brutality.
She had long wanted to waste them, those scum!
She then kept her gun and removed the silver needles in her hair before quickly walking up to Ning Ning. She bent down and helped Ning Ning remove the locks on his two sides, then the locks on his arms. Once she was done, the young kid stumbled for a while before he regained his footing. Xu Nuo picked up the loose clothing around her for him to wear so as to cover the bruises on him.
Oh, dear Stone…
The young kid calmly looked at the expressionless Xu Nuo and did not speak. Xu Nuo did not know what he was thinking and buttoned the last button on his shirt. Xu Nuo then looked up, her typically cold gaze showing a hint of love.
“It’s okay.” She was not too used to expressing her warmth and such Xu Nuo speaking gentle words still carried with it a hint of coldness. Those who were familiar with her would know that this was Xu Nuo at her gentlest.
There was a warmth in the young kid’s gaze, and he suddenly hugged Xu Nuo. As he was slightly shorter than Xu Nuo, hugging her seemed as though he was throwing himself into her embrace.
Xu Nuo pondered for three seconds and hugged Ning Ning back as she seemingly smiled.
“Stone, although I really enjoy you being this rarely obedient, we have to get out of here before carrying on this conversation. This place is not really safe,” Xu Nuo calmly said.
Ning Ning seemed aghast while Xu Nuo raised her eyebrows. “Come on, speak. Did you become dumb after seeing me?”
“I thought I would not get to see you again,” Ning Ning said. Xu Nuo smiled. So her Stone was thinking of her. Hmm, that was really good. Xu Nuo’s beautiful face broke into a smile.
“Relax, you will definitely see me,” she said as she pulled Ning Ning while they walked out. “Didn’t you receive my love token? Heck, I won’t even let go of you for my dear life.”
“That’s great!” Ning Ning smiled elegantly and walked out of the door. He suddenly smiled and said, “Nuo Nuo, I am fine.”
Xu Nuo turned back. He’s okay? As she was a smart girl, she quickly caught onto the young kid’s few words. He was not violated by those two beasts. That was perfect, and her mood lifted.
The young kid smiled gently as Xu Nuo had arrived in time. He was always locked here and interrogated by Xu Nuo’s master. Hence, those two scums had no chance to approach him. It was only when chaos ensued on the island earlier did they have the opportunity to fulfill their bestial desires. He had always thought that he, like his daddy, would have a traumatic past, so he gave up hope. As he was all bound up, struggling was futile anyway. Those two scums were not afraid of him threatening them. Let it be then.
A man should be able to endure a temporary setback. There was not a particularly big deal to it. Worst comes to worst, it was a lesson learned.
It was now that he learned how wrong he was. He was extremely thankful that Xu Nuo came in time. Had she arrived a bit later, her seeing him in a compromised posture would become a trauma he had to endure his whole lifetime.
Thankfully…
“Well, since you are okay, I’ll still kill you if you dare to kiss me.” Xu Nuo smiled in spite of her overbearing and cold statement whilst the young kid smiled extremely sweetly in spite of the curses and roars of the people around them. The young kid quietly listened on and said, “Nuo Nuo, save them too.”
“Should I save them just because you say so? There are several of them from the First Terrorist Organization.” Xu Nuo coldly harrumphed. She then said, “No harm saving them as well. We could use some additional killers.”
She really obeyed and opened the locks. The young kid smiled as he rallied the people from the First Terrorist Organization together. There were actually five of them.
While the young kid had some inkling of their disappearance, he had yet to join the First Terrorist Organization when they went missing. Eventual chats with Chu Li and Jason revealed that several heavyweights in the organization had gone missing without a trace, and all the futile efforts to locate them sent a volatile Jason into cluster F-bombs. That explained how Ning Ning had quite an impression of the incident.
Since it was inappropriate to reveal his identity, they would clearly not believe that the young kid belonged to the First Terrorist Organization.
As they were all prideful people who were still grateful toward Xu Nuo and the young kid, these arrogant punks were slightly less convinced as Xu Nuo and the young kid were children after all. Xu Nuo coldly laughed instead and said, “Ye Wei and Eleven are outside to save him. Do you think that you are important enough to mobilize the two of them to save you?”
As she coldly smiled, she brought the young kid away arrogantly. When they heard that Ye Wei and Eleven were also on the island, they all became excited and rushed to pick up the scattered guns. Not any tom, dick, or harry could be locked up here. Most of the prisoners here were extremely influential figures in the underground scene that were naturally capable.
As Xu Nuo had long expected this point, she pondered about eventually saving people but insistently did not allow the young kid to speak. This had a different meaning to it.
However, as most of them were badly wounded and having been locked up for many years, they were not as capable as before and what they were actually capable of was a question mark. Xu Nuo was only worried about reinforcements from the outside returning to the prison.
As she was no saint, her main intention in saving them was to allow them to be a shield so that she and Ning Ning had time to escape. To save and preserve the wounded was not in her character.
As she looked back quietly, Ning Ning seemed to have read her mind as he did not say anything either. It was probably they both had the same mentality. When they were in danger, most would only consider themselves and people important to them. To people like them, they did not give much consideration to the lives that did not matter.
“Are you really our own?” The First Terrorist Organization’s Asian branch’s head asked hesitantly. He almost believed Xu Nuo and Ning Ning as he would not be imprisoned here if he were a nobody, and neither would the old man brutally interrogate him for this long.
Xu Nuo looked at him unhappily and said, “If you believe, fine. If you do not, don’t ask. Can’t you see that Stone is hurt?”
How embarrassing could it get for a big guy to be called out by a girl! He was speechless for a moment. Xu Nuo was a tough person and she could not care for anyone else save Ning Ning.
“Is it hurting very badly?” Xu Nuo knew that Ning Ning’s body was not in good shape and deliberately walked slower. When she saw him, his many wounds left a strong impression on her. The overlapping of fresh and old wounds was extremely terrifying.
“I can bear it,” the young kid said as beads of sweat formed on his face. He endured regardless. How could a man not endure such a flesh wound? Had word of that spread, it would be an utter joke.
“Dear Stone, please do not act tough.”
“I know.”
Once they were out of the prison, as Xu Nuo expected, reinforcements arrived. The ten-over youths who were out on a patrol happened to return. As fighting in the open was clearly different from that in the prison, Xu Nuo’s first reaction was to grab Ning Ning and run.
“There’s a jailbreak!!” Someone from the other side suddenly shouted. Gunshots immediately rang.
With ten-over men reinforcing, they, along with the ten-over who had returned, constituted more than thirty of them who routed the prison in a semi-circle formation. With massive firepower pouring from their assault rifles, Xu Nuo and company were peppered with bullets once they exited the prison. Xu Nuo and Ning Ning kept low and ducked into the alleyway.
The bullets etched themselves in the wall and left a terrible-looking row of bullet holes. A few of them were nailed by the bullets, collapsed, and died. Xu Nuo knew that things were not looking up. In terms of firepower, they were severely outmatched.
With confusion ensuing, she could only grab Ning Ning and run.
What really enraged Xu Nuo was how the casualties followed whenever she and Ning Ning ran. As they made a very visible target, they could be easily discovered. Xu Nuo turned back and gave the Asian branch’s head a vicious stare.
“If you don’t want him to die, immediately disperse them,” Xu Nuo coldly said as though she was Hades. With such a large group of people following, it was impossible for Ning Ning and her to hide. Them dying was a matter of when.
The Asian branch’s head knew that such a situation was extremely disadvantageous toward Ning Ning and Xu Nuo’s safety. Since they were imprisoned for too long, they had failed to notice that Ning Ning and Xu Nuo were their benefactors, thinking that they would go with them.
“Lao Jiu, you and the other three bring your own and scatter. Avoid direct confrontation.” The Asian branch’s head had the air of a commander and quickly responded by ordering his men to scatter. His men were very obedient and quickly led their own and scattered.
At that moment, a hand grenade flew over and there was a loud explosion followed by the destruction of the roof and demolition of the pillars. The intense explosion sent huge stones flying. As the firepower heaped onto them was immense, the Asian branch’s head quickly used his body to shield the two children then quickly turned to the other side and fired a few shots in the direction of his back.
Ning Ning could clearly hear the agonizing screams behind him. As his heart violently pounded, it felt as though this was the first time his life was clearly on the line.
Smoke arose. Many were clearly after his life.
While danger was so close to him, he was powerless to do anything but rely on Xu Nuo and have others protect him.
He gritted his teeth angrily as Xu Nuo grabbed him and ran. Xu Nuo’s gaze suddenly grew wide in shock as she pounced on the young kid and protected him with her body.
“Nuo Nuo!” Ning Ning, who was suddenly pounced on by Xu Nuo, hit his body against a hard rocky surface and ached terribly. What he was most worried about was what happened to Xu Nuo as he heard her groan.
A piece of sharp stone suddenly impaled her back and Xu Nuo groaned in pain. She quickly turned around and pulled it off. Ignoring the pain, she grabbed Ning Ning and continued running into the mountains.
This was the only way into the mountains.
“Nuo Nuo, what’s happened to you?” Ning Ning was extremely worried. The Asian branch’s head also approached and his eyes went wide when he saw Xu Nuo’s back.
“I’m fine!” Xu Nuo gently responded in a smile.
As the night fell, the terrain was suitable for hit-and-run tactics. But… there were many traps and minefields on the island that would blow one into smithereens at the slightest negligence. Since Xu Nuo was not at Ye Wei or Eleven’s caliber, she could not accurately differentiate the terrain types. The Asian branch’s head had to take point, and his ability should be around Ye Wei’s and Eleven’s given his terrorist background.
“Nuo Nuo, are you okay?” The young kid could clearly sense that something was off with Xu Nuo.
In the dark, he could not see Xu Nuo’s back dyed red.
Apart from the stone impaling her, she pounced onto Ning Ning to block a shot aimed at him, which landed on her shoulder. Although it was not a vital hurt, the pain was excruciating and blood from both wounds turned her back red.
“I’m fine. The stone hitting me just now bruised my back.” Xu Nuo downplayed her injuries and affectionately scolded ‘that damn stone’.
“Right, that damn stone indeed.” Ning Ning caught onto what she said and could not help but hold her hand even more tightly.
From behind them, the Asian branch’s head saw what happened clearly. He clearly saw Xu Nuo take a bullet for Ning Ning and the sharp stone that would have been typically lethal. She only groaned and made no other sound.
He could not help but admire this little girl’s courage and tolerance. As he thought that Xu Nuo belonged to the First Terrorist Organization and was faithful to Ning Ning, he, at that moment, deeply believed that Ning Ning was the future master of the First Terrorist Organization.
With several in pursuit, two children, one without skill and one heavily wounded, how would he, who was heavily wounded as well, evade their traces?
The Asian branch’s head could not help but become nervous.
As he heard gunshots ring out around him, his heart thumped even harder and felt a close call. He had a determination to loyally protect Ning Ning, and what could he not do that a girl could do?
As Xu Nuo lost too much blood, she felt herself becoming weaker and weaker and her body becoming colder. With only willpower keeping her going, a single thought ran through her mind, which was to deliver Stone to Ye Wei and Eleven.
She must!
With them around, her dear Stone would not be in danger.
This steely determination kept her from fainting.
“Wait up. There’s a minefield there. We’ll enter the woods,” the Asian branch’s head said. He lifted up Xu Nuo and Ning Ning with each of his hands and kicked a rock into the sky. As the rock flew into the sky, he carried the two children and quickly dashed through the woods.
The advantage of the island was the abundance of forested areas. The many forested areas allowed them to hide, and even more so as it was night time. He had conserved his energy earlier and sprinted at this moment.
The stone was flung up high and then landed hard on a minefield.
There was a loud boom, followed by light radiating from the explosion and sand flying. As the Asian branch’s head carried the two children and ran into the forest, the explosion lit up a good half of the sky.