Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 163 Detention
Absolute darkness instantly robbed all sight.

"what happened?!"

"Why are all the lights out?!"

"Enemy attack! Prepare to fight!"

A brief gasp and the click of a weapon safety being quickly released echoed in the darkness.

Despite their initial shock, the well-trained hunters remained calm and immediately formed a simple circular defensive formation back to back, their guns pointed warily at the endless darkness around them.

"Stay calm!" Elon's deep, powerful voice quelled the restlessness of the team members.

"Haji! Kunjie! Did you hear that? What's going on outside?"

He frantically called into the communicator, but all he heard in the earpiece was a piercing crackling of electromagnetic noise, cutting him off from all contact with the outside world.

"Instructor! The communications must be jammed! We can't get in touch with them at all!" Xuefeng said, holding his gun, looking somewhat nervous.

"Damn it, it must have been done by the people here!" Jeff spat, gripping his rifle tightly with his finger on the trigger.

Darkness and silence are the breeding grounds for fear.

Unknown enemies may lurk in any corner, and they are like prey thrown into the arena blindfolded.

“We can’t stay here and become targets,” Elon decided immediately.

"Turn on your tactical flashlights! Provide alternating cover, retreat! Return to the entrance position."

Turning on the lights will reveal your location; that's common sense.

But in this completely passive situation, losing sight is more fatal than exposing one's location.

They must understand their environment in order to assess the threats and find a way out.

"understand!"

"Turn on the lights!"

With a few soft sounds, five beams of light swept across the passage.

Under the light, the passageway remained empty, the walls smooth, with no trace of enemies or any obvious signs of attack.

But this deathly stillness is what makes it even more eerie.

"Back off slowly! Watch your head and sides!" Elon whispered, directing the team to slowly move back the way they came.

Five figures moved cautiously backward as the beam of light swayed.

The boots made a slight echo as they stepped on the smooth ground, amplified many times over in the silence.

They retreated less than ten meters before the mutation occurred again.

Just as Xuefeng was staring intently at the top.

Suddenly, a pair of hands emerged from the ground beneath his feet, grabbed Xuefeng's ankle, and then yanked him downwards!
"Ugh!" Xuefeng only had time to let out a short cry of surprise before he sank as if he had fallen into water.

The rifle slipped from his hand and flew off, landing with a thud beside him on the floor.

Things happened so fast, almost in the blink of an eye!

"Snow Peak!"

"There's something down there! There's something underground!"

Elon, Jeff, Gavin, and Gog were horrified, and the beams of their tactical flashlights swept towards the spot where the snow-capped peak had disappeared.

But apart from the rifle that had fallen from the snow-capped peak, there was nothing else there, as if the scene had never happened.

The remaining four men kept their guns pointed at the ground and in front of them, breathing heavily, their foreheads covered in cold sweat.

The enemy can attack from anywhere and in any way, and these hunters are completely unprepared for this bizarre attack method.

"Instructor... what the hell is that thing?" Gavin's voice trembled.

The ability to drag a person instantly under a hard metal floor completely exceeded their understanding of the "enemy".

Elon did not answer; his gaze was fixed on the area deep within the passage that was still shrouded in darkness.

He realized that they had broken into no simple survivor settlement.

As for Xuefeng, he is probably in grave danger.

"Keep the formation...don't scatter..." Elon's voice was hoarse as he gripped his gun tightly, but a sense of powerlessness crept over him.

Faced with an enemy that is invisible and intangible, yet capable of launching a deadly attack from beneath their feet at any moment, their weapons seem utterly inadequate.

Just as Gavin was about to re-establish his formation with his teammates back to back, a very faint sound rang out behind Gavin's head.

The hairs on his body stood on end instantly. His fighting instincts told him to turn around, but it was too late.

A ghostly figure, seemingly emerging from the shadows of the wall itself, appeared silently behind him.

The figure moved with incredible speed, delivering a precise and ruthless chop to Gavin's neck.

"Ugh!" Gavin felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and his body went limp as he fell forward, the rifle in his hand slipping to the ground.

"Gavin!"

"later!"

Elon, Jeff, and Gog turned around in horror, their flashlight beams flailing wildly as they tried to spot the attacker.

However, the passageway was empty.

After knocking down Gavin, the figure vanished without a trace once again.

Only Gavin's unconscious body lying on the ground proved that the attack was not a hallucination.

In less than a minute, the five-man squad lost two members without even seeing the enemy's face.

A chill swept over the remaining three.

They stood back to back, forming an even smaller triangular formation, their guns pointed in every possible direction.

Ding-a-ling... gurgle...

Suddenly, two metallic scraping sounds came from the darkness at their feet.

Elon instinctively shone the flashlight beam downwards.

Two cylindrical metal objects rolled onto the open ground between the three of them.

That's... a stun grenade!

"Watch out! It's an earthquake!" Elon's warning was only half-said.

boom! boom!
Two almost overlapping explosions suddenly rang out!
Accompanied by an extremely loud noise that could pierce eardrums, an incredibly intense flash of light completely overwhelmed the sight and hearing of Elon and his two companions.

"what!"

"my eyes!"

Jeff and Gog let out painful screams, instantly losing all sense of direction and balance. Their weapons fell from their hands, and they clutched their ears and eyes, curling up in agony and retching violently.

Even Elon, the most experienced of them all, was dealt a heavy blow at this moment.

He felt the world spinning around him, all he could see was a scorching white light, his ears were filled with a sharp ringing, and his stomach was churning.

His body swayed uncontrollably, and he barely managed to stay upright by leaning against the wall, but he had completely lost his ability to fight.

And at this very moment, when their senses are deprived and they are in their most vulnerable state.

Swish!
All the light strips on the ceiling of the passageway lit up at the same time, illuminating everything inside the passageway with a soft glow.

Elon fought off the dizziness and nausea, struggling to open his stinging, tearing eyes.

In his blurry, swaying vision, he saw a figure slowly emerge not far in front of them.

It was a person completely covered in dark gray combat clothing, wearing a full-coverage helmet, so his face could not be seen.

This man seemed to appear out of thin air, or perhaps he had always been there, only now willing to let them see him.

Elon was filled with shock and despair.

They didn't even get to engage in a proper battle before being completely overwhelmed by the enemy's unpredictable tactics. Then, endless darkness swallowed his consciousness.

Ertong lowered his fingers from the side of the helmet, and the built-in communication indicator light lit up.

His Ares accent rang out in the corridor: "The people inside are under control, what about yours?"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a female voice came through his earphones.

"We're all better here too. Vehicles and people at the entrance are under control."

Just then, next to where Elon, Jeff, and Gog lay, a body emerged from the metal floor.

Xuefeng, whose hands were bound behind his back with restraints, was pushed out from below.

Immediately afterwards, a figure dressed in the same combat uniform nimbly crawled out of the ground; it was Wumen.

He dusted himself off and stretched his shoulders.

Seeing this, Er Tong glanced at Xue Feng and then asked Wu Men.

"Are you OK?"

Wumen raised his hand and rubbed his side, then pointed to Xuefeng beside him: "It's alright, except this guy kicked me twice."

Upon hearing this, Xuefeng glared angrily at Wumen, but because his mouth was stuffed with something, he could only make muffled "woo-woo" sounds.

Ignoring Xuefeng's reaction, Ertong walked over to the unconscious Elon, Jeff, and Gaoge, and knelt down to check on their condition.

It was confirmed that the person was only temporarily incapacitated by the stun grenade and was not in any life-threatening danger.

Jiuge deftly leaped down from behind a concealed ventilation grille above the passage.

She clapped her hands, her gaze sweeping across the scene before finally settling on Xuefeng, who was bound hand and foot.

To be precise, it landed on the metal beacon on his waist that was about to slip off after all the commotion.

Jiuge bent down, casually picked up the beacon, and weighed it in his hand.

She shook the beacon and said to the snow-capped peak on the ground, "So it seems you took those two that weren't there before?"

"Why are you taking this thing instead of looking for supplies? It's not like it's anything valuable."

Just then, a heavy sliding sound came from the entrance of the passage, and the door opened again.

Two figures, a man and a woman, walked in, each dragging a bound, unconscious hunter.

It was Haji and Kunjie who remained in the car.

The two men tossed the prisoner into the corner like a sandbag.

Seeing that all his companions had also been captured, Xuefeng's eyes widened in fury, and he struggled even more violently.

The gagged mouth emitted even more furious "woofing" sounds, and the body twisted as it tried to rush towards the two.

The woman clicked her tongue impatiently, took a few steps to stand in front of Xuefeng, and looked down at him.

"Stop whining! Sneaking into our territory with weapons, and you say you meant no harm? You think you can fool a three-year-old?"

The more she spoke, the angrier she seemed to get, and she placed her hand on the weapon at her waist: "If you ask me, these kinds of intruders who are acting without explanation should just be dealt with and their source material recycled. Leaving them alive is too much trouble."

As she spoke, she raised her other hand, as if about to make a move.

Er Tong reached out and pressed it down: "Alright, Nata."

"Jiuge said they are hunters of the wilderness, and might know that girl named Hongkou. It wouldn't be good to kill them."

If he hadn't needed to spare them, he would have already slit their throats.

They didn't receive such good treatment when they first came to the village.

At this moment, Jiu Ge also said, "That's right, looking at this uniform and equipment, it's pretty much the same as what Sister Hong Kou described before."

Nata stopped moving, her brows furrowed, clearly indicating that Jiuge's words had had an effect.

She glanced at Elon and the others lying unconscious on the ground and snorted coldly.

Then he glared at Xuefeng, who was struggling even more violently.

"woo woo woo woo!"

“Still calling.” Nata stepped forward.

"Your two teammates shot at me the moment they saw me, and you even started yelling." After saying that, she punched Xuefeng and put him to sleep.

Ertong nodded as he watched Nata swiftly and decisively take down Xuefeng, and then gave instructions to the others.

"Collect their weapons and equipment, and detain them for now. I'll contact Zhang Heng and ask them how to handle this."

Upon hearing this, Nata, Jiuge, Wumen, and the others began to efficiently pick up the rifles, pistols, ammunition, and various tactical equipment scattered on the ground.

These lighthouse-style weapons, while posing no threat to the village's defenses, should not be left to the prisoners.

Just then, a spherical camera that had been stationary at the top of the passage slowly descended and hovered in the middle of the crowd.

The indicator light on the camera surface flashed, and the ASH sound rang out.

"The surveillance outside the shielding tower area has been scanned and no signs of other lighthouse vehicles or personnel activity have been found. It can be determined that this intrusion was an isolated incident."

"In addition, we have successfully intercepted and deciphered their communication records and location signals with the lighthouse. I have maintained the current communication jam and sent a decoy message to the lighthouse, making it believe that the team has met with misfortune or lost contact."

With a smile, Jiu Ge replied, "Thank you for your trouble, ASH."

"You're welcome, let's sing a toast."

After saying that, the spherical camera silently rose back to the top.

As Jiuge watched the hunters being taken away, especially Xuefeng, he nudged Nata beside him.

"Hey, what do you think Hongkou's reaction would be if she really knew them? Would she...?"

Nata haphazardly stuffed the confiscated magazines and weapons into her backpack, interrupting her without looking up: "Who cares about her reaction? Rules are rules, and this is what happens to trespassers. Red Hair is one of our villagers now; she knows her place."

She zipped up her backpack and roughly slung it over her shoulder: "Besides, I've been very gentle with them. Back when Er Tong and I first sneaked into the village..."

Nata paused, as if realizing something, and glanced sideways at Jiuge's somewhat immature face.

She waved her hand: "...Oh, you were too young then, you don't remember."

Just as she turned to deal with the other equipment, Jiu Ge noticed a small patch of dark red blood seeping from her raised arm.

"Sister Nata, are you injured?" Jiuge stepped forward and took her arm with concern.

Nata followed her gaze and clicked her tongue dismissively.

"It must have been when they were dealing with those two guys outside from inside the car that they opened fire, and a stray bullet grazed me, causing a minor injury."

Just as she was about to pull her arm away, Jiu Ge grabbed it: "Let me see."

Seeing Jiu Ge's serious expression, she helplessly stopped what she was doing and let Jiu Ge carefully roll up her torn sleeve to reveal a not-so-deep but still bleeding abrasion underneath.

“I told you it’s nothing…” Before Nata could finish speaking, Jiuge slightly tiptoed, gently cupped her face in his hands, and pulled her down a little.

Then, to Nata's somewhat astonishment, Jiuge closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Nata's forehead.

In an instant, Nata felt the burning pain in her arm quickly subside.

The bleeding from the wound stopped, and a slightly itchy, healing sensation came over me.

This brief contact lasted only a few seconds.

Jiuge released his grip and took a half step back: "Alright, that's fine now."

Nata stretched her arms.

"Your potential, which has virtually no side effects, is quite convenient."

Jiu Ge smiled.

At this moment, Ertong finished counting the equipment and came over, and saw this scene.

He nodded: "Let's leave once it's all taken care of. ASH will continue to monitor us. We need to make sure these 'guests' are settled. Zhang Heng said to detain them first."

(End of this chapter)