Chapter Seventy-Seven: Staring Directly at Others Is Not a Good Habit

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“Rat-a-tat-tat—”
“Bang bang—”

Gunfire echoed continuously within the quarantine zone as the mutated beings that had escaped from the pharmaceutical company were systematically eliminated.

Their combat prowess was generally weak, but their mutations were unmistakable: their skin had turned a ghastly gray-white, all body hair had fallen out, blood vessels bulged grotesquely, and their reason had vanished, replaced by an insatiable bloodlust.

Upon spotting the soldiers, they didn’t flee; instead, drooling, they lunged forward, desperate to tear off a chunk of flesh.

But before squads of four well-armed soldiers, their only fate was to be riddled with bullets.

Guided by aerial drones, the soldiers would then swiftly relocate to the next target.

The sweep along the perimeter proceeded smoothly, and the inner cordon stood firm; not a single mutated creature from Alpha Company broke through, with Sun Congliang’s performance standing out above the rest.

With two support weapons mounted on his shoulders firing alternately, the combat assistance system rapidly locked onto targets, his heavy sniper rifle blowing off heads with every shot. When several mutants charged out together, a single micro-missile wiped them out.

The commotion was considerable, but the firepower even greater.

A single micro-missile could be precisely aimed at the very center, inflicting maximum devastation.

Even if some mutants survived, their mobility was severely diminished by their injuries—some rendered completely immobile.

As the lingering smoke quickly dissipated, the other soldiers could easily finish off the remaining threats.

During this time, Zhou Shu’s role as “the one to fill in the gaps” was hardly needed, as not a single mutant managed to breach the cordon.

Everything seemed to be progressing toward stability, but the onlookers atop the high-rise were far from pleased.

There, on the rooftop, stood a man and a woman. The man, burly and unmistakably a foreigner; the woman, likely local, though unusually tall and slender.

The man, displeased by the scene below, turned to the woman and said, “You consume quite a lot of evolution serum every month, and this is the result?”

“And why are they using powered exoskeletons? I received no intelligence about that.”

The woman, displeased by his tone, raised her hand to admire her elegantly curved nails and slender fingers. “The animal-type mutants are deep within the laboratories. Once they’re released, the cordon will inevitably collapse, and fear will still spread throughout the city.”

“As for that piece of mechanical junk, perhaps it’s another test. Once it’s over, it won’t appear again. Don’t your black-clad operatives often come up with novelties too? They only use them once, all the same.”

The woman’s nonchalance seemed to reassure the man. Perhaps he was being overly anxious; after all, he didn’t want the leader’s plan to fail in the area under his charge.

The woman glanced at him again, checked her watch, and said, “My little pets should be coming out now. Just wait and enjoy the spectacle.”

At that very instant, chaos broke out at the main entrance of Alpha Company.

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“Rat-a-tat-tat—”
“Ah! What is that?!”
“It’s too fast, I can’t get a bead on it!”
“Suppressive fire! Maintain a fire net!”

Suddenly, a horde of animals burst out from Alpha Company’s main entrance—mostly cats and dogs, their bodies clearly larger than ordinary, fur matted and filthy, some stained with blood.

Though it was only mid-afternoon, the soldiers saw an eerie glint in their eyes.

These mutated beasts moved with alarming speed; the moment they surged out, the soldiers had no time to aim and could only maintain a wall of gunfire.

The powered exoskeletons’ combat systems, acting decisively, fired off their last three missiles in quick succession.

It was the right call—except the smoke from the triple explosions instantly blocked their line of sight.

Most of the mutated beasts were killed by the blasts, but the smoke concealed the escape of the remaining ones.

Perhaps startled by the sudden explosions, the surviving mutated beasts, after slipping through the cordon, didn’t attack the soldiers but scattered in all directions.

The other soldiers, caught off guard, couldn’t react in time; even those who did, dared not fire—one burst of bullets, and their own teammates might be hit.

Suddenly, a volley of gunshots rang out.

“Bang bang bang bang—”

“Who fired that?”
“Aren’t they afraid of hitting their own?”

That was their first instinct.

In the next instant, they saw the fleeing mutants pinned to the ground, lifeless in pools of black blood.

The time between the first and last shot was just a heartbeat—the moment it took them to be stunned. When they came to, all the mutants that had breached the cordon were dead.

Some, staring at the corpse at their feet, could almost feel the air beside their ears warming.

That was the trace left by a speeding bullet.

“Sniping complete. Maintain formation and keep eyes on the main entrance,” came Zhou Shu’s youthful voice over their earpieces.

Only then did they recall that the Bureau’s psychic sniper had a nest set up on the rooftop of the sixth floor behind them.

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The psychic sniper—ever the god!

As for the taller rooftop nearby, the man and woman stood aghast.

“……”

They had noticed the sniper’s nest at the outset, but didn’t imagine it was held by a psychic.

After all, ordinary human snipers couldn’t possibly combine such speed and precision.

“I’m deeply disappointed,” the man said at last, not even bothering to ask questions.

And this time, the woman didn’t retort. She stared at Zhou Shu’s position, gritting her teeth. “I didn’t expect the Demon Suppression Bureau to suddenly deploy a psychic sniper. The intelligence I received only mentioned four trainees—one recruited barely a month ago. How could this be?”

“I don’t care for your excuses,” the man cut her off. “Let me repeat: I don’t care how you do it. I want results. Don’t let the leader’s plan be delayed. I have no wish to be mocked by the other Bronze division heads.”

“And don’t say I didn’t warn you—if you can’t even handle this, your monthly evolution serum ration will be halved.”

The woman seethed with silent fury, but her expression remained calm. She turned to gaze at the man and said evenly, “Rest assured, even if every mutant in the company is wiped out, I will see the ‘Welcome Gift’ plan through.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” the man said, casting one last glance at the psychic sniper’s position before turning to leave.

But just as he turned, there was a “bang”—his head exploded, blood and black viscous fluid splattering across the woman’s face.

Stunned, the woman instinctively looked toward the sniper’s nest—only to see that the sniper was no longer prone, but standing, sniper rifle in hand, gazing right at her.

She dropped flat to the rooftop.

“Bang—”

Another shot rang out, the bullet grazing her scalp—a fiery pain seared her skin as a lock of hair drifted down before her eyes.