Eh? You want to try the humanoid girl's iron fist too?

"What fucking idiots," Liu Fei cursed inwardly. She had originally intended to lure the negotiation experts up with words, but before she could even establish contact, these people swaggered up to her.

She didn't even have time to prepare any backup plans.

If things go according to Liu Fei's plan, the three newcomers won't have to face any danger at all.

"not good!"

Russell grabbed the female reporter's right upper arm with his free hand. She tried to pull her arm back, but couldn't budge it.

The photographer immediately took action, pulling one hand back from the Sony camera.

He was tall and strong, and might be able to pull her arm out. But this angered Russell, and the hand on her waist moved again.

This scene prompted Liu Fei to urgently shout, "Aim, aim, aim!"

Stop it, Matt Russell, you despicable scoundrel!

Sniper Danny was also in agony, as the four of them were being pulled back and forth, and he had no chance to fire a shot.

He couldn't help but want to curse, wondering what considerations led the headquarters of the National Strategic Bureau to decide to send people into the hands of the enemy.

Yes, these three people didn't communicate with the JTF members and agents surrounding them at all; they went straight to the target apartment after passing through the checkpoint.

They must have been ordered to do this.

But why?

Russell pulled out a pistol, a Glock 17.

The wounds weren't large, but there were enough bullets. If the bullets loaded into the magazine were the kind specifically designed to cause injury, the outcome for these people would have been much more difficult.

The wound was extremely large and very bloody.

The target may have made this gesture simply to emphasize what he said, but nobody knows or cares what he actually said.

Perhaps he was warning the Black man in charge of photography to stop; his gun seemed to be pointed at the Black man rather than the girl, and the muzzle didn't appear to be raised further. Then—

The silenced rifle went "poof," freezing time as if a photograph had been taken.

Who fired the shot?!

"Who fired the shot!" a scream rang out on the radio. "Who the hell fired the shot!"

Danny released his grip; he didn't pull the trigger, and the bullet remained safely in the chamber.

The trigger didn't move, and the firing pin remained as still as a mountain. The M40A2 sniper rifle is an old hand; it has been with the US military since 1966, fighting in numerous battles.

It's not like a useless P320 pistol that can still accidentally fire even if you put it in your pocket.

"Fire, Fire, Fire!!!" Bill's heart-wrenching scream made him rip off his headphones, and the observer next to him did the same.

The two brothers looked at each other without saying a word, everything was understood in their hearts.

Danny made a slight adjustment and pulled the trigger. It seemed like his finger was acting on its own, but in reality, it was the movement of his finger that was controlled by daily training.

The rifle was violently thrown backward by the recoil of the high-pressure gas, and the shooter had already started to pull the bolt and reload the ammunition.

The wind, of all times, chose this unfortunate moment of the follow-up shot to howl and blew Danny's aim slightly to the right.

Volume 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 47 A Request

The bullet didn't penetrate Russell's skull, but instead struck his cheek in front of his ear.

The bullet shattered into fragments the moment it struck the skull. The target's face was blown off the skull.

His nose, eyes, and forehead exploded into a bloody mist; nothing was left.

Only his mouth remained of his face; Russell's head resembled a showerhead, blood gushing from the wound, his open mouth still screaming.

He was near death, but not quite dead yet. He immediately opened fire with the Glock 17 he was holding, shooting the photographer before collapsing forward onto the female reporter.

The photographer also collapsed, while the female reporter remained frozen in place, not even having time to care about the blood and gore splattered on her clothes and face.

As Russell fell, he instinctively grabbed his now-vanished face with both hands.

Danny's radio headset was still yelling, "Faster, faster, faster!"

But he noticed almost nothing, chambered a second bullet, and recognized a face in a window of the building.

He recognized the face; it wasn't an enemy marked on the scene, but a special profile created by the first wave of agents.

Time then restarted. Members of the hostage rescue team, hastily assembled by special agents, rushed forward, wearing black bulletproof vests.

The two men helped the journalist away, while the other two approached the photographer who was still lying on the ground clutching his Sony camera.

Another person threw a flashbang into the broken window, but Dennis noticed the fleeting shadow.

That shot just now was definitely her doing!

But why?

Yes, Raphael

Her main areas of activity are the Dark Zone (Midtown), Kiples Bay, Murray Hill, and Medical City, because she can easily reach the Williamsburg Bridge for supplies.

The observation posts previously set up by the National Guard have been withdrawn. The text messages and log entries left by Joey Danny indicate that the irregular spread and rising collapse radiation in the dark zone has exceeded the tolerance level of ordinary people.

Even so, a large amount of supplies were still being dropped into the radiation-contaminated zone every day. His Alpha team was ordered to enter the dark zone to investigate the airdropped supplies and found that there was an additional type of cargo: the antiviral drug ARA-11029 (B).

This isn't an antiviral drug; it's a drug to combat ELID infection. The one issued to the military is type "A," a high-dose injectable solution.

After learning about the status of the airdropped supplies, Joey Danny decided to recall his squad. With radiation levels rising sharply, there was no point in risking staying at the outpost.

He didn't just think of himself; he also had to think of the other team members. Some of them were fathers of several children, and some had just gotten married.

So Joey Danny chose to retreat, leaving behind only some supplies he thought Raphael might need in the underground hideout: food and clean water, as well as two syringes and medicine that could sustain a person's physical condition for three days without radiation corrosion.

If Raphael doesn't return and is instead taken by a scavenger who accidentally stumbles in, then it doesn't matter.

The drug's purpose is likely to remain unknown since it is not described, and uncontaminated food and water are more beneficial to them.

Danny also left Raphael a message, in which he found April Keller's whereabouts in the system.

The roadside surveillance cameras, which were still in operation, captured her desperate escape, with a group of Lex Luthor gang thugs chasing after her, carrying firearms and clubs.

Telephone Recording · 1

A: Did you find anything fun?

B: Yeah, we found a piece of trash we could play with. She hid like a frightened kitten for a while, but we had our people around here, so we caught her easily. We're on West 41st Street.

Telephone Recording · 2

A: Hahahaha! I don't know what kind of people those sons of bitches are, but they do have some awesome weapons.

B: Don't get too cocky. Russell has prepared a feast, and a popular female writer is waiting for us to enjoy it.

Raphael had never forgotten Mrs. Keller's request. Clearly, April Keller's matter was more important than the motionless collapse fluid bomb hidden in the Dark Zone.

If you are entrusted with a task, you should be loyal to it.

Raphael tracked them down, and in order to get information about April, she even went to great lengths to hack into the ISAC network and monitor the actions of the Second Wave agents.

Of course, this was also to obtain information from the second wave of agents, who might have unknowingly found clues about weapons during their operations.

That way, we can save a lot of unnecessary effort.

She heard everything: the siege of the post office forward base, the poor performance of the JTF joint operations forces, and the swift and decisive counterattack and mopping-up operation when the second wave of agents arrived.

When an agent used an ISAC pulse to scan the apartment building and reported the kidnapping situation and hostage identification to the interim commander Liu Fei, she knew that this case might be resolved.

She gripped the windowsill with one hand and forcefully threw the triple flashbang into the hallway opposite the room. As it exploded, she braced herself with her left arm and then leaped inside.

Based on her experience in the training camp and the Panamanian War, Raphael would activate her visible laser when she needed to advance, and fire targeted shots at the enemy as quickly as possible.

Someone was shouting right in front of her, and groans could be heard even through the apartment walls...

Raphael groped his way through each room, pushed open all the closed doors, and finally walked into the corridor.

The corridor was filled with human excrement and household garbage. There were no windows, and tungsten filament light bulbs were burning on both sides.

Several people immediately jumped out of a door at the far end of the corridor.

Raphael didn't so much understand as she sensed that these were Lex's gang thugs. She bent down and fired a burst of bullets along the corridor.

Two runners fell down, one stumbled and waved his hand, ran in front of Raphael, and collapsed at her feet, and the last one walked slowly by leaning against the wall, but was tripped by his companion who was rolling and howling in the pile of excrement and garbage.

In the few minutes of the intrusion, it was difficult to distinguish anything, but the concept of "disgust" gradually took shape in Raphael's mind.

Downstairs at the apartment building, the special agents hostage rescue team, having regained their senses, engaged in a fierce firefight with the Lex Gang thugs, with gunfire and the continuous explosions of offensive grenades.

Liu Fei's agents and bandits exchanged fire in a narrow, yet winding, indoor space. After a brief skirmish, they would fire again and throw grenades.

There is no doubt that their rescue plan was completely ruined by Raphael's intrusion.

When Raphael found April Keller, she was tied to a chair, with several men standing beside her, their pants down, their minds filled with...

It's William Saul, shot twice in the chest, and appears to have been dead for some time. The target's weapons have been cleared. The location is secure, I repeat, the location of the incident is secure.

"Casualties?"

"...Apart from one female hostage who went missing, everyone else died in the battle, and two other hostages were executed."

Bill hung up the radio and hurried toward the apartment.

The supervisor, who was hiding in the forward base's security room, had already arrived at the apartment, holding an automatic pistol, and stood directly above Matt Russell's prone body.

Russell's head was completely covered, and his blood was now flowing onto the cracked, rotten wooden floor.

“…Well done!” Inspector Bruno said to the agents on site. This was the biggest mistake he had made in a day filled with mishaps.

"You idiot, you piece of shit!" Bill shoved him against the blood-stained wall. "If it weren't for you, these people wouldn't be dead!"

"I..." Bruno Nicol's eyes were also bloodshot, and he struggled to utter a single word despite his lips trembling for a long time.

Liu Fei then appeared, expressionless.

The photographer lay prone, but his camera was still on. The female reporter knelt on the ground, vomiting violently. Her feelings were understandable.

A female agent had already wiped her face, but the expensive trench coat looked ruined, the wool fabric stained with blood.

"Are you alright?" Liu Fei asked. "Turn off that piece of junk."

The photographer put down the camera and turned off the flash. He sat up, shaking his head, and clutched a spot just below his ribs.

"Thanks to this soft body armor, man, shouldn't I send a thank-you note to the person who designed it? Seriously—"

He suddenly fell silent. Finally, he realized what had happened, and in a panic, he screamed at the top of his lungs while enduring excruciating pain in his ribs to turn on the camera.