Chapter 30: Massacre
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Jack-Oâ-Lantern V8 raced the whole way, as swift as the wind.
At 11 p.m., the number of cars on the main street had already started to lessen and become scarce.
As engine sounds traveled through the streets, Lin Ke became the exact person he himself hated the most-a noise generator blasting sound waves through the whole street while driving a sports car.
The Jack Gangâs base was located near Sand Cityâs river channel intersection and boat quay.
Sand Cityâs river channel was separated into two. The bigger one led straight into the uptown area. In other words, where the wealthy congregated. The smaller one flowed through the slums-where factory waste, coupled with discharged wastewater, turned it into a sewage channel that reeked to the high heavens and got on everyoneâs nerves.
The Jack Gangâs base just so happened to be close to the fork that split the river channel into two. Of course, the tiny Jack Gang wouldnât have been able to seize a critical site like this by themselves. However, behind every small gang was a big gangâs shadow. Every big gang held considerable influence in Sand City.
The powerful backers behind the Jack Gang were in charge of shipping goods via water transport. This was why the Jack Gang, a small gang under the big gangâs command, could use a place near the water channel as a base.
The Jack-Oâ-Lantern V8 roared the whole way as Lin Ke drove. The further north he drove, the more beautiful and prosperous the slums became. A few high-rise buildings even appeared.
Even though the slums were known as such, the degree of affluence in the area gradually increased according to the tiers nevertheless.
With a glorious drift, Lin Ke parked the Jack-Oâ-Lantern V8 at the roadside. It was just that the âglorious driftâ had concluded with the entire car hitting the curb instead because he hadnât unlocked Basic Driving yet.
âAs expected, skills are to be respectedâ¦â Lin Ke then said to Forbes, âWait for me in the car. Keep a lookout with the rear-view and side-view mirrors. If you discover anything amiss, come and look for me in the alley.â
Following that, Lin Ke also added, âKeep your wits about you!â
Forbes nodded incessantly and kept Lin Keâs words in mind. His eyes bore into the rear-view and side-view mirrors as he kept his hands on the door so that he could open the door immediately and rush to the alley by the road when he discovered unusual activity.
Lin Ke held Sand Condor by its neck and lifted it out of the car. âHey, wake up! Itâs time to get to work.â
Sand Condor woke up dazedly and flapped its wings, swiftly soaring into the sky. Maybe it was because it hadnât completely woken up yet, but it crashed headfirst into the wall of the high-rise building beside them after it took flight. It ended up in a fairly pathetic state. 1
Lin Keâs gaze swept across the street, left and right. Fortunately, he found that no one had witnessed that embarrassing scene.
Treasure Hunter Rat held its paws over its face, clearly acting as if it didnât know Sand Condor.
Sand Condor stood at the buildingâs edges and clung onto it, only coming back to its senses after recuperating for a while. It then flew into the night sky and started its reconnaissance.
The Jack Gangâs base wasnât underground. Instead, it was a single-story building connected to other residential buildings. The single-story building spanned over 300 square meters. One end was even beside the riverbed, so one could admire the uptown areaâs wonderful scenery across the river at night.
The uptown areaâs towering high-rise buildings and neon lights were just like addictive drugs, constantly stimulating the desires in oneâs heart.
Two minutes later, Sand Condor reappeared in the night sky and swooped downward. It landed on Lin Keâs forearm and reported the single-story buildingâs situation.
Lin Ke knew that Sand Condor didnât have that great of a memory, so he had only made it survey the situation at the entrance.
The hardest place to infiltrate in the Jack Gangâs base was the entrance. If there were a large number of thugs stationed at the entrance, Lin Ke wouldâve had to do the surprise visit from the building next to the Jack Gangâs base. However, Sand Condor reported that it had seen only two sentries at the entrance. This meant that infiltrating Jack Gangâs couldnât get any easier.
Forbes sat in the car, his whole body tense and tightly-wound. His eyes flickered back and forth between the rear-view and side-view mirrors, ready to make a run for it any moment.
He soon saw Lin Ke enter the alley, and the dark shadows swallowed his entire form.
Sand Condor flew to the top of the high-rise building and closed its eyes in repose as it awaited further orders.
Now that Lin Ke had entered the shadows, it was showtime for Treasure Hunter Rat.
Squeak, squeak.
The closer they got to the Jack Gangâs base, the more detailed the information Treasure Hunter Rat gave to Lin Ke became.
Sand Condor didnât mess up this time-there were indeed only two people at the entrance. In fact, there were only a small number of thugs in the hall.
Lin Ke felt a little confused about this. By right, there should be over 100 members in the Jack Gang. Even if I did kill more than 10 of them, the current number of people in the base doesnât make sense either⦠However, since the information was provided by Treasure Hunter Rat, then there definitely is no mistake about it.
Currently, fewer than 30 people were in the base. Additionally, their defense was lax and vulnerable. It seemed like they truly didnât expect anyone to come creating trouble all by themselves.
Lin Ke initially thought that this would be a lionâs den, where he would be ambushed on all sides. However, in the endâ¦
Is this all there is? Isnât this no different from waltzing in as if I own the place? Lin Ke didnât know whether he should be laughing or crying at this.
The reason for his tears was because that bunch of people had really treated his words like water off a duckâs back. When he said âWeâll meet very soon,â he hadnât been giving empty threats; he really did intend to come!
As for the reason behind his laughter⦠Lin Ke wanted to laugh because their defenses were so lax that he felt that he could infiltrate even their internal structure without anyone realizing.
Even though he didnât know the reason behind the baseâs drastic reduction in manpower, this was a positive thing for Lin Ke in the end.
Lin Ke squatted at the corner of the wall, a mere dozen or so meters away from the Jack Gangâs main entrance.
âAlright, itâs your turn to perform now,â said Lin Ke as he caressed Treasure Hunter Ratâs head.
At times like this, it was necessary for the âking of actorsâ to make its move and attract everyoneâs attention.
âAs for offensive strength, Iâm counting on you guys!â Lin Ke had held nothing back and brought all 3,000 Silver Army Ants with him this time.
Treasure Hunter Rat rubbed its cheeks in resignation. By right, it should have been able to earn a living through its strengths, so why was it always being asked to sell its âsex appeal?â 4
Lin Ke reached out and flicked his fingers against Treasure Hunter Ratâs waist, directly pushing it out from behind the wall.
Treasure Hunter Rat got down on the ground extremely unwillingly and moved toward the Jack Gangâs main entrance.
The process that came after was incredibly simple. Treasure Hunter Rat reported the situation to Lin Ke through its squeaks. At the same time, it also attracted the attention of the sentries at the entrance.
The intelligent-looking Treasure Hunter Rat instantly attracted the two menâs attention. They didnât notice in the slightest that Silver Army Ants had already crawled all over their backs at some point.
Flying ants charged into the sentriesâ mouths with pinpoint accuracy and devoured their vocal cords immediately. 1
Lin Ke appeared from the corner and took advantage of the interval when the two sentries fell to the ground and rolled about while clutching their throats to wrap his flax clothing around the silenced gun muzzle. A couple of whizzes later, he had ended their lives with two gunshots.
Lin Ke had suppressed the sounds during infiltration to the minimum.
The two men didnât manage to make any other sound during the entire process, aside from the grunts the two sentries had made with their throats.
This was Lin Keâs first time bringing all the Silver Army Ants out with him during an operation.
The results 3,000 army ants had when cooperating with each other was unbelievable.
The army ants left the two men like a receding tide and assembled next to them. They lined up into three teams-worker ants, soldier ants, and flying ants. Their formations squarish like large CPU processors, where the ants themselves were the pins on the CPU.
Lin Ke squatted down, seized the two menâs pistols, and stuffed them into his gun sling.
The firearms used by all the gangs came in a varied assortment. Apart from modern semi-automatic pistols, they even carried revolvers too!
Lin Ke wasnât a picky eater. A hard battle awaited him later, so he had to reduce his reloading time as much as possible. 1
âListen up now! All army ants, I order you to destroy the power system in Jack Gangâs base. Whether itâs electric cables or lightbulbs, I want to see all the lights in the hall extinguished within a minute!â
The Silver Army Ants got down to work right after Lin Ke gave the command.
Every flying ant carried one soldier ant and one worker ant on their back. In teams of three, they formed a silver screen in mid-air and swiftly closed in on the Jack Gangâs large single-story building.
In no time, the worker ants and soldier ants entered the Jack Gangâs base.
Some of the remaining thugs in the hall were smoking as they played card games. Some were drinking, some were watching TV, and some were playing with their cellphones, etc.
For them, midnight was their time to rest and party. After a dayâs work of collecting all the rent, they returned to the base to eat and drink.
Although chaos still ran rampant in the slums every day, the situation there had basically already settled. Every gang also had their own turf and property. After innumerable battles and contests with each other, things had already reached a balance.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Lin Ke stood guard at the entrance. As sounds of electrical wire connections short-circuiting rang out, all the lights in the hall went out.
The hall fell into darkness as the army ants soundlessly severed all the lightingâs electrical wires with their teeth.
Various fierce curses and rants could be heard coming from the hall.
âWhat the f*ck! Why is there a blackout in the middle of the night?â
âDonât any of you touch the cards! If anyone takes advantage of the darkness to cheat, Iâll chop off your damned paws!â
âThe electric circuits have probably worn out again. Itâs an old issue, so donât worry. Iâll go and connect the generator.â
The only light source in the whole hall at the moment was the glow from everyoneâs cellphone screens.
In particular, the group playing cards had the most cellphone light concentrated there.
Several people also went over and jokingly egged the people at the card table to hurry and switch the cards. If not, they would lose their chance after the generator was activated. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, none of them knew that danger was currently descending upon them quietly.
âAttack, Silver Army Ants!â
The army ants swiftly congregated from various spots. They then fell onto the thugs from the ceiling like falling leaves.
âEh? Did something just fall?â
Several thugs felt something landing on their heads and bodies. One of them flashed the light from his cellphone over, only to see army ants with a metallic luster all over their bodies in the end.
âWhat the hell?!â
âWhy are there army ants in the base?â
Without waiting for them to react, Lin Ke charged into the Jack Gangâs base like a ghost.
With the tactical machine pistol in one hand and the Glock 17 in the other, the flood of bullets spilling forth was like a soul-summoning song played by the Grim Reaper.
Lin Ke pointed his guns at those holding their cellphones and killed them right away. As for those hidden in the dark, their positions were even clearer to Lin Ke.
With Treasure Hunter Rat directing him, and the Silver Army Ants outlining their silhouettes, Lin Ke was crystal-clear on their positions despite being unable to see them.
A round of gunfire later, the tactical machine pistolâs ammo clip was emptied, and the Glock 17 jammed.
In Lin Keâs vision, a series of pale-blue damage indicators popped up in the hall. Lin Ke was also spammed by message prompts.
[Youâve used the Bezos T1 Tactical Machine Pistol and struck the Ruffian, causing 28 damage points.]
[Youâve used the Bezos T1 Tactical Machine Pistol and struck the Ruffianâs vitals, causing a critical hit. You have dealt 47 damage points and inflicted the Bleeding effect.]
[Youâve used the Bezos T1 Tactical Machine Pistol and struck the Ruffianâs calf, causing 24 damage points and the Slow effect]
[Youâve used the Glock 17 Pistol and struck the Ruffianâs head, causing 115 lethal damage points.]
â¦
Lin Ke somersaulted and took cover behind something as he reloaded. The thugs in the hall fled about in panic and took cover one by one, unable to understand what was happening at all.
âWhat the bloody f*ck! What exactly is going on?â
âAre we under attack from other gangs?â
âMy a*shole has split apart!â 3
â¦
The hall was in utter chaos.
In just an instant, Lin Ke had finished reloading. He then went about in the hall.
The army ants launched their attacks at the same time, causing the thugs taking cover to scream in extreme pain. They didnât even care about the risk of getting shot and got up to smack the ants off their bodies. Some even rolled about on the floor as they screamed.
In an instant, these hooligans-which usually exploited the common people and bullied the townsfolk-had all turned into lambs awaiting slaughter.
Lin Ke charged out from his cover. Sparks suddenly appeared from his gun muzzle, lighting up his slightly young but icy-cold visage.
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