1
At the sudden approach of the roaring sound, Glasses Man and the others were momentarily stunned. A few Falcon Members who were preparing to advance with guns instinctively paused and looked around with suspicion. Numerous buildings towered nearby, some of them quite tall, and standing on this Rooftop actually limited their view somewhat.
Luo Ming listened intently for a moment and almost instinctively blurted out, âHelicopter! Itâs that Helicopter!â His expression immediately turned grim. According to their original plan, this aircraft wasnât supposed to come back⦠Even if the Pilot was held hostage, such a situation shouldnât arise, unless⦠someone on that chopper intended to go down with them!
When planning this operation, they had prepared for various potential scenarios. Capturing Ling Mo alive inevitably required taking some risks, but according to their calculations, these risks could be minimized. Even if there were threats against the Pilot, without being able to control the Helicopter, those people were unlikely to take any drastic actions. Moreover, the Pilots were well-prepared for this, so no matter the level of intimidation, they wouldnât alter their course of action.
It was an absolute advantage! Because the power and choices were entirely in their hands! No matter how strong Ling Mo was, he had to concede in such a situation. But what was happening now? Judging by the proximity of the sound, it seemed the Helicopter might already have reached the back of the tall buildingsâ¦
âWhatâs going on?â Glasses Manâs expression changed instantly, but no one could answer his question, except⦠Ling Mo!
Just one or two seconds later, the Helicopter swiftly appeared above a tall building. At a distance of about one to two hundred meters, the Cabin door suddenly opened. As the dark muzzle of a gun emerged at the door, a foreboding sense surged in Glasses Manâs heart, and he immediately shouted frantically, âGrab Ling Mo!â
But as soon as he finished speaking, two muffled grunts were heard simultaneously, followed by a sudden burst of gunfire. One bullet even grazed past Glasses Manâs shoulder, and as a sharp pain hit, he let out a scream. He instinctively dove to the ground, and the Falcon Members standing in front of him reacted in the same manner. Most of them had their attention diverted in that moment, and many didnât even comprehend what was happening, being suppressed by the gunfire to the point they couldnât lift their heads.
Some, however, immediately began to return fire, and for a moment, the sound of intense gunfire echoed through the area.
Glasses Man looked up, pale-faced, nearly coughing up blood in shock. The figures that had been inside the Cabin had already rushed to the edge of the Rooftop amid the chaos, choosing a route that avoided the crossfire between both sides, now calmly jumping down. As he turned his gaze there, the girl holding the Sniper Rifle was staring at him with wide eyes, and recalling that extremely dangerous shot earlier, he quickly deduced that the shot came from this girl!
âDidnât expect anyone to hit me within my Superpower range⦠that was close!â Glasses Man trembled all over as a searing pain hit his shoulder again.
And Ling Mo, who was exchanging fire with them? He was actually standing there too!
What made Glasses Man feel even more suffocated was that Ling Mo didnât even have a gun in his hand! The ones shooting back at them were actually those two Pilots!
The Pilot holding the gun was almost in tears. When the roaring sound first appeared, he was dragged out by the long-haired girl, and then heard the young man say with a smile, âIâll give you a gun in a moment, and youâll stay put here and shoot at your comrades; if I see you make any moveâ¦â
âThunk!â
The sudden chill of a small hole forming in the crotch of his pants caused the Pilot to collapse in panic. âHelp!â he screamed, firing his weapon while letting out piercing cries. Watching the bullets hit the ground around him, the flying cement debris stung his entire body, causing him to scream even louder.
The Co-pilotâs expression wasnât much better; given their prone position, they couldnât see Ling Mo and his group at all. He didnât dare turn his head to look, let alone aim the gun at them⦠The only small relief was that Ling Mo didnât force them to take careful aim and shoot⦠Though, for these two non-combatants, their marksmanship wasnât much better than Ling Moâs.
âLing Mo!â
The moment Ling Mo locked eyes with Glasses Man, a slight smile appeared on his face. He grabbed Mu Chen by the arm and mouthed towards Glasses Man: âByeâ¦â
âGet him!â Glasses Man shouted angrily.
But amid his shouting, Ling Mo took a light step back, suddenly stepping into thin air. Mu Chen, being pulled along, tipped backward involuntarily, letting out a scream, âAhâ¦! Oh no! Could you give a warning first?!â
As Ling Mo vanished, Glasses Manâs expression turned extremely ferocious, his gaze fixated on the two Pilots. Suddenly, he let out a deep growl, âStill shooting? Stop it!â His voice seemed to carry a strange power, causing both of them to collapse simultaneously and the gunfire to cease immediately.
But just as Glasses Man was about to stand up, an unsettling sensation crept over him again. Instinctively, he looked up at the Helicopter, then shouted in a suddenly altered voice, âGet inside the building, now!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âRat-a-tat-tat!â
The gunfire that had just ceased started up again, but this time, it was the Helicopter they had intended to use against Ling Mo that spewed the fiery assaultâ¦
As Old Zheng shouted and fired his gun, he lamented inwardly, âWhy?! Why have I inexplicably ended up at odds with Falcon again?! All my missions have been sabotaged by that bastard Ling Mo! In all of X City, heâs the only one left. I can only ally with him!â
The only one smiling was the sunglasses man, who licked his lips in excitement and thought to himself, âThis is really satisfying. I never expected Ling Mo to turn against his partners because of this. It seems my intelligence was even more useful than I thought. Even without setting out to search, theyâre already fighting among themselves. What if I leaked some of the information Niepan collected to him? Could that lead him straight to his doom? This plan might work!â
As Glasses Man and his group scrambled into the building, a few stray bullets were fired towards the Helicopter, even near the Cabin door. The shooting from these Falcon Members was evidently more accurate than Old Zhengâs. After holding out for just a few seconds, he ducked back into the Cabin and shouted, âGo!â
The Pilot immediately complied, swiftly landing the Helicopter behind the tall building. However, at this moment, both he and the Co-pilot wore expressions of utmost cooperation. Yet, what appeared before them wasnât the tall building in reality but a series of dilapidated structures overrun with decaying vegetation⦠And those inside the Cabin with them werenât Old Zhengâs group, but âFalcon Membersâ dressed similarly.
The Co-pilot displayed a fervent expression, muttering, âThis is great! Weâre about to fly out of this damned place⦠Itâs a pity we didnât completely take down those Monsters earlier. Such a shameâ¦â
Lan Lan rushed to the window and, with a sigh of satisfaction, exclaimed, âHow exciting, an aerial shootout! I really wish I could have fired a shot too! Itâs such a pity. Next time, I need to learn howâ¦â
âAlright, if it werenât for my Illusion this timeâ¦â Old Zheng managed to catch his breath twice before suddenly jumping up, âThatâs right! He did it on purpose. He wanted to use my Illusion! Damn it! Iâm not done with him, really not done!â
âFind a place to land quickly. Didnât you hear them say the fuel is limited?â Wang Lin reminded them, exasperated. âBesides, this isnât Ling Moâs fault; the Falcons made the first moveâ¦â She shot an annoyed glance at the two flight crew members and said, âThese two dared to threaten us like theyâre untouchable in the air. They really think we canât do anything to them up hereâ¦â
Old Zheng shook his head with a wry smile. âWeâve boarded Ling Moâs pirate shipâ¦â
Meanwhile, Ling Mo and his group, who had jumped down to the corner of the street, regrouped. Mu Chen, still shaky, leaned on his knees and asked, âSo whatâs next? Do we trap them in the building? But it looks like there are many exits, so it wonât be that simple⦠there might even be traps inside.â
âWe canât go in.â Xia Na looked up at the building and said, âTheyâre using this building as a stronghold, so somethingâs definitely off. Even if not, they could shoot at us from the hallways, completely suppressing us. Especially that Glasses Manâ¦â
Ling Mo cautioned, âXia Na, be careful with the sweeping generalizationsâ¦â
âI meant that specifically!â Xia Na rolled her eyes and continued, âThat guy⦠thereâs something odd about him. Ye Lian tried to ambush him, but somehow she missed. Even the people around him seem hard to hit.â
âItâs his Superpower⦠If heâs been sent to deal with me, he must be pretty strong. Fortunately, they only know the old me; our numbers this time caught them off guard, leading to the earlier scene,â Ling Mo explained. âFor now, letâs get out of here. They wonât let me just walk away; Iâd bet theyâve got people guarding the exits tooâ¦â
As Ling Mo and his group started to move along the street, a furious roar suddenly erupted from within the buildingâ¦
Footnote:
Pirate Ship(è´¼è¹):
âThe phrase âboarding someoneâs pirate shipâ is a metaphor in Chinese. It means getting involved in a risky or dubious venture, often reluctantly or unknowingly, similar to being tricked or trapped into a situation thatâs hard to get out of.â