Chapter 53 - Leaving with a Bang

With the help of the Starseed, Jiang Liushi moved to the floor above, and entered the room that was just above the one used by the Bai brothers. Thankfully, it was a storage room, and he didn't risk discovery with a fight against a sentry or someone else.

One there, using the Starseed again, he slowly dug a small hole in the floor. A hole just wide enough for a grenade to fall through. He only left a small layer to avoid detection from Bai Zhanshan, who was most likely lying on his back, with his eyes facing up. He prepared 3 grenades, one of each type, and took the flashbang and the concussion grenades in hand. He pulled the safety pin on both of them with his teeth, and released the activation levers.

He waited until the last seconds before dropping them in the hole, simultaneously opening the hole at the other end, and cutting the electric cable of the light on the ceiling, momentary plunging the room in darkness.

Paranormals had a strong survival instinct. But it was only active when they were already aware of danger, or when they were about to attack a target, thus entering a combat state of mind. When they felt safe and dropped their guard, their reactions were slowed down. For the Bai brothers, and any other survivors, electric fluctuations were nothing new since there weren't any people doing maintenance on the electric network. They didn't think the loss of light had anything to do with an attack. They didn't notice the grenade falling near them.

BANG!

The flashbang detonated before reaching the ground, at around c.h.e.s.t level of a standing a.d.u.l.t. The slightly better senses than normal made the grenade even more effective on the paranormal brothers. The overload of their senses stunned them, and prevented them from using their abilities. Less than a second later, another grenade was already reaching them.

BANG!

The lethal radius of the concussion grenade was 2m, and the Bai brothers were well within that radius. Neither had the chance to defend against it. Bai Penghai was blasted against the wall, with many bones broken and his internal organs crushed. He suffered severe skull and brain damage, and his eyes exploded. Bai Zhanshan suffered from similar injuries, but was crushed to the ground alongside the collapsed bed instead of being blasted away.

The noise alerted everyone on their floor and the floor above. The 2 guards that were outside rushed in, just in time for a 3rd grenade to drop, a fragmentation grenade.

BANG!

They were blasted backward and didn't move again. Their gear could provide some limited protection, if the grenade didn't explode at c.h.e.s.t level at such close range. Their heads weren't protected enough, and their faces got messed up. Above, Liushi armed himself with his RPG launcher, widened the hole a bit, and fire into the room, between the 2 brothers.

The floor beneath him trembled with force of the explosion.

[The bioenergy of the 2 paranormals is leaking.]

That was the confirmation that the 2 brothers were dead. He widened the hole and jumped down. He could hear people rushing toward him, so he grabbed another concussion grenade and threw it in the hallway. When the newcomers arrived, they were greeted with another explosion.

Liushi dragged the disfigured, burned and bloody corpses of the brothers next to each other and drained them of their paranormal energy, all the while waiting for the reinforcements to come. He also took blood samples. He had been interrupted twice, once by people on the floor above entering the storage room and finding the hole, and the second time by the rest of the people on his floor. He had used his last grenades on them, not willing to get caugh in a long fight.

As soon as he finished, he merged with the walls again and slowly snuck out of the building. Indubitably, the area was in chaos, with the alarm having been rung. He reloaded the rocket launcher, and fired toward the largest concentration of people near him before rushing toward his escape point.

On her vantage point, Lu had been patiently waiting for Liushi after she had seen enter the building through the drones camera. Her heartbeat rose when she noticed the flurry of activity around their command center. When he got out of the building, she released a sight of relief and smiled. Her smile grew when she saw him use the rocket launcher to blast people away. To her, the lives of the people in that place weren't important, especially if they worked for the 7 Gods. Seeing Liushi blast them made her shiver in excitement.

She quickly composed herself when she saw him run. He had taken her to watch his back, and she would do so. She wasn't a sniper, but she could fire with enough accuracy to prevent peole from going after him.

Piupiupiu. Piupiupiu. Piupiupiu.

The battle rifle fired in burst of 3 rounds, and with its silencer, nobody could hear it. The silencer also reduced the muzzle flash so much than nobody could see it from affar. Her targets could only hear the bullets pass near them and impact the walls or the ground, forcing them to stop and take cover. She got a few lucky hits though.

Meanwhile, Liushi was running, and he no longer needed to refrain from using his handgun. With his equipment, he stuck out when he was sighted. And words about his dispute with White Boss and subsequent departure had already spread enough. People who didn't immediatly back off when they saw him were shot in the legs if they were unarmed. If they were armed, he aimed for the c.h.e.s.t. He didn't have the time to ask questions.

Liushi didn't have much trouble reaching his escape point, and had already contacted Lu so she got down from the roof. After passing the hole in the wall, he loaded his last rocket, and fired one last time at his pursuers. He then turned around and jogged to the Doomtrooper. Lu was waiting for him, and only got inside when he reached the door.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she strapped herself.

"Even though I took a few hits, I'm fine."

With that said, he quickly drove away. They stopped for a bit to recover the drone, and sent a message ahead to warn the others that they were fine. They continued until they reached their camping ground.

The first thing Liushi did on arrival was store the blood samples he collected in the trailer. When he got out, Lu was waiting for him. She wr.a.p.ed her arm around his and led him into the Doomsday Ride. Zhuying and Xiaotian were waiting for him near the entrance; he received a hug from the former while the later did the same with her sister. The other 4 people stayed a small distance away, but greeted them nonetheless.

The sisters were curious about how the mission went, so Liushi gave a summary while Lu helped him take off his gear. Assured that everything was alright, the 2 men went back to their own vehicle. Done with the gear, Lu proceeded to force Liushi to take off his top.

"What are you doing?" he asked, puzzled and slightly embarrassed by her actions.

"You said that you got hit, and earlier with Haizi, you hinted a it making bruises. I'm just making sure you're completly fine."

And after hearing that, Zhuying and Xiaotian eagerly helped her. He did have a few bruises on his arms and shoulders. His armor completly prevented the bullets from harming him, but the bodysuits couldn't negate the force of the impacts.

When he got out of the bathroom, Lu took his place, and Xiaotian applied the medecine on his bruises. She also noted that the wounds he had received from the mutant bees were completly healed. Thinking about it, he realised he didn't feel any discomfort in his limbs despite the efforts he made recently. That was another good news for the day.

As Lu had predicted, he would sleep with both her and Zhuying for the time being. Ran Xiyu got the bottom bunk. She was also given a robe kimono as sleepwear, and despite being malnourished, she still looked good in them.

Any other time, for propriety sake, he would have slept on one side, his sister in the middle and Lu on the other side. However, the girls had decided he would be in the middle. He thought wryly that there were worst things than sleeping with 2 pretty girls in dudou and boyshorts/thong. Especially when they snuggled against you.