The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

Su Mu did not hesitate.

He took the AWM off his back, propped it against a broken low wall beside him, and rested the butt against his shoulder without aiming.

Su Mu pulled the trigger.

"Bang......!"

The dull roar of the AWM exploded across the empty street, rattling the windows of the buildings on both sides. The bullet shot out of the barrel at supersonic speed, leaving a trail in the air almost invisible to the naked eye, heading precisely for the hunter's head.

It hit its mark.

The bullet struck the hunter in the back of the head, at that location and angle, leaving no chance of evasion. His head jerked forward from the impact, his body lunging forward two steps, the hem of his trench coat billowing as if blown by a gust of wind.

But the hunter did not fall.

His body swayed slightly before regaining its balance. He raised a hand to touch the spot on the back of his head where he had been hit, then looked down at the blood on his fingers.

It was dark red, with a faint sheen in the moonlight.

Then he laughed.

It wasn't a ferocious, maniacal laugh, but a heartfelt laugh with a touch of joy... like someone who had walked in the dark for a long time and finally saw the light.

He didn't look back. He continued walking forward, his steps even lighter than before.

Su Mu frowned.

He glanced at the system panel... no kill notification. Nothing at all. The shot hit, but the person didn't die; the system didn't even consider it a "valid attack."

This means that the hunter had somehow mitigated most of the damage from that bullet. It wasn't dodging, it wasn't blocking, but some ability or equipment that Su Mu was completely unaware of.

In the darkness of the distance, the hunter's figure grew smaller and smaller, more and more blurred, until it finally disappeared completely.

The streets returned to deathly silence.

Su Mu put down his gun, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.

Bai Liuxi stood not far behind him, watching him put down his gun. A complex look flashed in her light-colored eyes... not surprise, but more like a knowing "I knew it".

"He's not that easy to kill," she said, her tone as flat as if she were stating a nice afternoon. "If one shot could take him down, he wouldn't deserve to be called the Hunter."

Su Mu did not answer. He put away the AWM, stood up from the low wall, and dusted off his knees.

Old Wei thrust his shield forward, trying to stop him. But Zhao Cheng placed his hand on Old Wei's arm and shook his head.

The man had long since vanished without a trace.

Su Mu lowered his spear, his brows furrowed deeply. That man wasn't there to fight. His posture, his eyes, his tone—none of it suggested he was preparing to attack. He seemed more like someone who had come to "confirm" something… to confirm the existence of this team, to confirm their strength, to confirm… some information he wasn't sure about.

Old Wei slammed his shield on the ground, making a dull metallic clang: "What do we do now? The drone is gone, and we can't find any trace of it."

Bai Liuxi walked over to Aqi and looked at the dense data on her screen. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke, her tone a few degrees heavier than before: "He doesn't dare to fight us head-on. He's alone, and there are five of us. His abilities need to be maintained by killing, but killing opponents of our caliber would require him to expend more power than he gains... It's not worth it."

Zhao Cheng's voice drifted over from the side, still in that lazy tone, but with a hint of coldness: "So he'll go for easier targets. Survivors. Those who came down from the cable car, low-level, poorly equipped."

Bai Liuxi remained silent.

Zhao Cheng was telling the truth. The hunters dared not confront them head-on, but the survivors were different. In this dark zone, the survivors were like prey locked in a cage, while the hunters were the butchers with knives.

"We can't protect everyone," Old Wei's voice was deep. "The Dark Zone is too big, and the survivors are too scattered. There are only five of us."

Bai Liuxi turned around and looked at Su Mu.

What are your thoughts?

Su Mu leaned against the wall and tapped his fingers lightly on the gun.

He thought for a moment and then said, "Your predicament is simple. The Hunter is extremely mobile, and you can't catch him. Bai Liuxi can keep up, but she can't kill him alone; she needs support. And once you're separated, he'll go and kill the survivors... not because he wants to, but because he needs to kill to maintain his power. If you protect the survivors, he'll run. If you chase him, he'll kill. You can't catch him, and he can't kill them all."

He paused, his tone becoming somewhat subtle: "Actually, there's a very simple way."

"Speak," Bai Liuxi said, looking at him.

"Kill all the survivors first. Cut off their reward source."

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Old Wei's shield slammed into the ground with a dull thud. Zhao Cheng tightened his grip on the Tang sword. A Qi's lips pressed into a thin line. Xiao Jiu squatted on the ground, head down, her expression unreadable.

Bai Liuxi looked at Su Mu, her light-colored eyes devoid of any emotion. She remained silent for three seconds before speaking, her voice soft, but each word seemed to pierce the air like a nail.

"We cannot abandon our humanity as well."

Su Mu was silent for a moment, then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a somewhat self-deprecating smile: "Just saying it casually, to test your bottom line."

Bai Liuxi didn't laugh. She stared at Su Mu for two seconds, making sure he wasn't serious, and then looked away.

Su Mu's smile faded, replaced by a serious tone: "Since you're unwilling to use that method, then let's try another. Have you considered why he doesn't leave? The Dark Zone is so vast; he could easily leave this area and go elsewhere to kill survivors. But he didn't. He's been lingering around here."

Bai Liuxi's eyebrows twitched slightly.

“He’s not provoking you,” Su Mu said. “He’s looking for something. He’s staying near you not because of you, but because there’s something he cares about in your vicinity.”

Bai Liuxi was silent for a moment, then looked at A Qi. A Qi shook his head, indicating that no abnormalities were detected.

Su Mu didn't continue. He remembered Lin Yuwei's news... "I've been targeted by an extremely powerful person." The hunter was targeting Lin Yuwei, not the Black Kill Squad. The reason he had been lingering near the Black Kill Squad was because Lin Yuwei was nearby. He dared not approach, fearing discovery; nor did he want to leave, fearing Lin Yuwei would escape.

The hunter's target is a survivor, a survivor hiding right under the noses of the Black Killer squad.

And that survivor is now near Su Mu.

Su Mu kept this thought to himself and didn't say it aloud.