“What now?” George asked in panic.
James, Elizabeth, and the others all looked at Lu Zheng and Lin Wan expectantly.
“What else can we do? Fight our way out. Once we’re clear, everyone goes their own way. You lot head to the Eagle Empire embassy, we’ll go to the Chinese embassy.”
Lin Wan racked the bolt on her rifle, fully prepared.
“We could call the police and hold position here,” Catherine said timidly. “There are too many outside. I heard this is Old John’s private villa with over a hundred armed security guards.”
Lu Zheng nodded. “You’re right. That’s why, on our way in, besides normal firearms, we also saw plenty of grenades, explosives, and RPGs.”
As he spoke, he showed them the grenades hanging from his tactical vest.
“See, we held back from using grenades earlier so we wouldn’t hit you. Guess whether they’ll show the same restraint?”
Before he finished speaking, Elizabeth had already stepped forward, picked up an HK416, and tossed an MP5 to Catherine.
James and George had no choice but to grab a gun each and scrounge a few spare magazines for basic self-defence.
“Be careful when you shoot. Don’t wave the muzzles around. If you accidentally shoot us in the back, I doubt you’ll make it out on your own,” Lin Wan said with a sidelong glance.
James and the others jumped in fright and immediately pointed their weapons down.
“Accident, accident. We’ve at least hunted in Africa and fired guns before,” James hurriedly explained.
Lin Wan nodded. “Exactly why I’m letting you pick them up. Otherwise I wouldn’t.”
“Here they come!”
Lu Zheng said suddenly. He and Lin Wan each took two grenades, pulled the pins, and held them.
Three seconds later, under the increasingly shocked gazes of James and the others, they finally tossed the grenades out the door.
Boom! Boom!
All four grenades detonated in mid-air. Screams echoed from outside.
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan darted out, one left, one right, guns never silent.
The next moment the enemy returned fire, not just with bullets but with explosions.
Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat!
Boom! Boom!
“Fuck!”
“No way, they shot the grenades out of the air?”
“Aaah!”
It was literally a storm of bullets and shrapnel.
The four who had only ever hunted in Africa had never experienced anything like this. To them it was already full-scale warfare.
Inside the torture chamber, the four huddled together trembling, not daring to step outside.
Only after a full minute, when the sound of chaotic footsteps faded into the distance, did Lu Zheng poke his head back in. “They’re gone. Follow!”
“Oh, right!”
James and the others clutched their guns tightly and hurried out.
…
Lu Zheng on the left, Lin Wan on the right, the two led the charge forward.
The armed men who had retreated now tried to snipe from outside, but it was useless. After another six or seven died, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan actually fought their way right out of the dungeon.
When the six emerged from the dungeon, using cover and pushing toward the villa’s perimeter, someone entered the dungeon behind them and…
News of Old John’s death spread. The next instant the entire villa descended into chaos.
Some wanted to flee, believing the organisation was finished and ready to find new bosses.
Others wanted to grab whatever valuables they could and vanish.
Of course, some still wanted revenge for Old John, hoping to gain enough clout in the coming power struggle.
And in open ground, heavy weapons had more room to shine.
“RPG!” George screamed.
Lin Wan casually raised her rifle and fired a short burst. Two bloody holes appeared in the chest of the distant gunman.
He toppled backward, finger reflexively pulling the trigger. A rocket streaked out trailing flame, heading straight for them.
Fortunately it flew wide, passing more than ten metres away before slamming into a flowerbed behind them.
Boom!
The flowerbed exploded, debris flying everywhere.
Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat!
More gunfire. Three more gunmen clutched their chests and fell.
Lin Wan and Lu Zheng never paused, never stopped shooting. Anyone who poked their head out did not live.
Two more men set up RPGs farther back, but both were killed before they could fire. The remaining guards lost all will to fight, utterly horrified.
Some threw grenades blindly. Two were detonated in mid-air. Two more were thrown too early; Lu Zheng and Lin Wan caught them and hurled them right back, blowing up their own side.
“Fuck! They’re not human!”
“SWAT! SWAT! The boss is dead, fuck!”
They killed as they advanced.
From windows, rooftops, behind cover, until more than thirty men had been sent to meet their maker by Lu Zheng and Lin Wan alone, the enemy finally broke.
“Aaaah!”
“No more! No more! They’re devils, they can’t be killed!”
“God-tier shooters!”
“What the hell! Help! Are they those ‘rams’ from Chinese novels?”
“Run! Get out of here! They’re top-tier soldier kings!”
Those unwilling to die for Old John had long since looted the main villa and slipped out the back.
Those who wanted to stay loyal had already been sent by Lu Zheng and Lin Wan to join Old John in the afterlife.
The rest scattered like birds and beasts. No one blocked the path anymore.
Though the danger was clearly over, they kept up the act. Lu Zheng and Lin Wan remained vigilant, leading James and the others in a final push to an open-air car park beside the main gate.
When the six appeared, the few people still preparing to drive away either scattered or sped off in panic, leaving the car park empty.
By now there was no need for Lu Zheng and Lin Wan to pretend any longer. James, Elizabeth, and the others knew the gunmen had been terrified into submission.
How could they not be?
Show your head and die. Grenades useless. Over thirty men dead, yet not a scratch on the enemy?
No one wanted to fight that.
This was reality, not a movie, and the boss was already dead!
So by the time the six reached the middle of the grounds, nearing the gate, gunfire in the villa had almost completely stopped. Only occasional sporadic shots rang out from the main building, private grudges or arguments over loot, no one knew.
In the now-empty car park stood several sedans, SUVs, MPVs, and two minibuses.
Lu Zheng glanced at the crowd still hiding at a safe distance, walked to an MPV that had been started but abandoned, and got in.
The driver who had just started it had jumped into another SUV and fled the moment he saw them coming, deliberately or not leaving this one behind.
“Good luck. Get in!”
Catherine, George, Elizabeth, and James climbed aboard one by one. Lu Zheng and Lin Wan took the front passenger and driver seats.
Start the engine. Drive away!
