Chapter 549: Rattlesnake
A’Ji thought about it and said, “Big Brother Chao, that makes sense. But you were really fierce just now. You nearly cut his neck, even. It’s only normal for him to call for reinforcements to catch you, right?”
“The forces you mobilize when you want to capture someone or kill someone and the weapons you use as well as the strategy you deploy are all different.
“If the abnormal beast didn’t infiltrate the gangs and the gangs only wanted to lock down Leprosy Village, once they discovered that I have run out, they woul definitely think of ways to subjugate me, tie me up, make sure that I have nothing suspicious on me, and deliver me to Saber Jin Wanhao or the other gang leaders to ask just what is going on. During that process, they won’t be averse to getting into contact with me. In fact, they will take the initiative to get important information from me.
“But if the gangs have already been infiltrated by the abnormal beast, then they won’t allow me to leave this place alive. They will definitely try to kill me immediately. They will bring heavy weapons to level the entire place to the ground and get rid of all possibilities for me to get in contact with the outside world.
“So, all we need to do is see how they’ll react and we’ll know just how far the abnormal beast’s scheme has progressed.
“Also, I need to talk with the higher-ups in the gangs, and I have two methods for that. First, I just go to them. Second, they come to me. It doesn’t matter whether they’re prepared to capture me or kill me. The one commanding the operation won’t be some nobody. Through this commander, we might be able to meet Saber Jin Wanhao.”
A’Ji was dumbfounded as he listened, and he stared at Meng Chao with a strange look. He mumbled, “Wow, Big Brother Chao, you’re so sinister. You’re completely different from the persona the social media platforms created for you!”
“I have no choice. If it’s possible, I’d like to be an innocent, honest, and normal university student too.” Meng Chao sighed. “Unfortunately, if I want to survive in this dangerous and evil world, I must be sinister. A’Ji, you probably have a deeper understanding about this than me?”
A’Ji was a little stunned. He did not seem to have understood what Meng Chao meant.
Meng Chao cast him a glance through his peripheral vision before he focused on the street dozens of meters away from the window they were hiding behind.
“They’re here,” Meng Chao whispered with narrowed eyes.
Dong Sibao had returned quickly.
There was a mini ambulance behind him.
A few people with white-hooded cloaks with a red cross on them and poison filtration masks came out of the ambulance.
“Doctors!” Su Mulian exclaimed happily. “Looks like the abnormal beast wasn’t able to carry out its scheme in the gangs. We’ll be able to meet Saber Jin Wanhao immediately!”
“Don’t be in such a haste. We’ll continue watching,” Meng Chao said. “These people’s muscles are far too developed for doctors. Their footsteps are also too heavy. By the looks of it, they’re wearing armor made of super alloy, which weighs dozens of kilograms.
“Mhm… Even if those doctors are all workout enthusiasts and armor collectors, then how are you going to explain the bumpy, tube-shaped things on their backs? If they’re not heavy machines or weapons, are they supposed to be large medical kits?”
“Huh?” Su Mulian felt a little dumbfounded. She then focused and observed them, only to notice that the people in white did indeed give off a different presence compared to the doctors she usually came in contact with.
Three of the people in white moved forward in a triangle formation. With every step they took, they observed the area, as if they were snakes alert of their surroundings.
“This is the standard triangle formation for urban warfare,” Meng Chao said coldly. “They’re not doctors. They’re trained killing machines.”
“Big Brother Chao, there are people over there!” A’Ji tugged at Meng Chao’s cloak.
Meng Chao and Su Mulian looked along the direction where he pointed, and they saw a street to the right of the building.
A group of armed forces in camouflage uniforms and carrying loaded guns sneakily surrounded the building.
The glint from a high-powered scope shone faintly from the building across from the one in which they were supposed to be meeting up. It was clear that a sniper had occupied a high point.
A large number of armed forces had also gathered around the building. As their leader shouted something, the heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft artillery that had been directed at Leprosy Village changed their direction and were directed at the building where Meng Chao had been hiding earlier.
Meng Chao also sensed a few powerful presences. They were on the walls of the buildings nearby and were climbing swiftly like geckos to close in on his previous hiding spot.
If he had really waited there like an idiot for Dong Sibao to bring doctors to save him, he would have fallen into an all-encompassing trap filled with blades.
“Judging by this lineup, do you think these guys just want to capture me?” Meng Chao sneered.
A’Ji and Su Mulian looked at each other.
Even if they were blind, they could still sense a strong killing intent from the weapons and guns of the armed forces.
Those people did not intend to capture Meng Chao alive.
The moment they arrived, they planned to kill him without mercy!
But why?
“Even if the abnormal beast was able to tempt Bai Shan to join its side, it would have been impossible for it to tempt all the higher-ups in the gangs within just half a day? After all, there are plenty of them,” Meng Chao mumbled. “No matter what, I’m quite the internet celebrity on social media platforms and have millions of fans.
“How could they listen to everything the abnormal beast said while they know who I am and still want to kill me? I’ll only know the answer once I capture their commander.”
As the saying went, “the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.” When the enemy thought that they had quietly approached the building where Meng Chao originally was, the real Meng Chao was observing all of them coldly from the darkness while he attempted to figure out who their commander was.
Fortunately, their commander did not hide his tracks. He gave commands in the open and even did so from the frontlines.
When Meng Chao saw his face clearly, he was stunned for three whole seconds.
“Rattlesnake Xiang Wei?”
Meng Chao remembered that he was one of the powerful elites in Poison Scorpion. He was a Heaven Realm superhuman, which was something rare in the lair.
More importantly, he was one of the people who had infiltrated Leprosy Village with the hunting squad. Later, he disappeared during the explosion caused by the super crystal bomb!
He was really the person Meng Chao thought he was. As Meng Chao observed him closely, he noticed that Rattlesnake Xiang Wei’s hair had been burnt. His bald head and face were covered by ugly scars that had just scabbed over. His right arm seemed to be suffering from comminuted fracture; it was fixed to his chest by a strengthened protector made of alloy. His expression was grave, and he looked murderous, as if he wanted to flay Meng Chao alive.
By the looks of it, he had been injured by the explosion in the Deification Capsule pharmacy, but had managed to retreat from Leprosy Village in time.
But this puzzled Meng Chao to no end.
‘He was clearly on the same side as me in the morning when we entered Leprosy Village to hunt down the abnormal beast, so why is it that in just a short half a day, he came to kill me with such murderous rage?’
Meng Chao’s first reaction was that this person joined the other side because of the abnormal beast, just like Bai Shan.
But he could not ignore the people he commanded. They had all sorts of equipment and different emblems sprayed on their cloaks.
There was Poison Scorpion’s fierce twin tails, Black Bone’s intersecting bones with the sharp sword in the middle, and Golden Tooth’s huge fang, which seemed like a golden horn.
The powerful gangs in the lair had all sent their forces to surround Meng Chao. Rattlesnake Xiang Wei did not have such a high status in the lair, right?
Meng Chao quickly assessed the enemy’s strength and his own strength.
Even if Rattlesnake Xiang Wei had a broken arm and his cultivation realm had plummeted to the ground because of the crystal bomb explosion, he should still have the strength of someone at the peak of Earth Realm.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to be sent to the frontlines to command the troops. Instead, he would be staying in the medical cabin.
Even though Meng Chao had been treated by Su Mulian, he had not recovered all his fighting strength.
It would be difficult for him to quietly take Rattlesnake Xiang Wei away and shake off his pursuers right in front of so many armed forces and hundreds of guns.
However, at that moment, Meng Chao noticed a person who appeared to be slightly more fragile compared to the other people. He had a large head and spirit tattoos at the corners of his eyes and his temples. He was talking to Rattlesnake Xiang Wei, and the other armed forces appeared to be quite respectful to him.
If Meng Chao’s guess was correct, this person was the “military adviser” and the “brains” of the gang. He mainly used spirit energy to stimulate his brain so that he could increase his logic and deduction abilities, thereby allowing him to make plans for the gang.
Although he was a superhuman, he was support-class superhuman or researcher-like. His fighting strength should be nothing amazing.
Meng Chao knew his sort. At most, they practiced a few mind attacks.
Half of Meng Chao’s soul had come back from the apocalypse, so he did not fear mind attacks.
‘That’s it. You’re my target…’
When three “doctors” reached the entrance of the building where Meng Chao had previously hid and the tactical teams, snipers, and superhumans around the area entered their positions, the atmosphere was so tense that a single spark could make a battle erupt.
So Meng Chao told A’Ji and Su Mulian, “A’Ji, when you hear the first explosion, immediately take Ms. Mulian to the underground tunnel you found. We’ll meet underground.”
Before his voice could fade away, he charged out like an arrow.
The three doctors tapped the door a few times at the entrance of the building, but received no reply. Then, they released their spirit energy to scan the area carefully, but they heard no breathing or heartbeat. It was then that they realized that the situation was not right.
The doctor who was at the very end raised his arm up high before bringing it down swiftly, motioning for the tactical team and snipers behind him to fire.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
In an instant, dozens of bullets shot from the high points. The dense bullets storm was like a burning tornado. Not only did it destroy the windows of dozens of rooms on the first, second, and third floors of the building, a large number of armor-piercing shells even blasted the walls made of reinforced concrete full of holes. The shrapnel bounced off the walls and, along with a large number of debris, rendered the rooms a mess.
Right after the burning tornado swept through the rooms, four trained tactical teams simultaneously jumped into the dilapidated building from different angles.
Rattlesnake Xiang Wei was among them. The superhumans’ eyes shone intensely and burned with spirit energy. They carefully searched through the hot ruins for the slightest heat signal and magnetic field of a living creature.
Unfortunately, all they shot was air and the smoke bombs, flash bombs, tear bombs, and the large number of inflammable monster materials and crystal shards that Meng Chao had set up earlier.