Chapter 96: Chapter 85: Free-for-all, Killing Enemies
"Enemy attack!!"
An enraged roar echoed through the night sky, instantly shattering the silence of Black Water Town.
A piercing whistle sounded at the same time, jolting people from their sleep.
WHOOSH!
His expression grim, Lu Chao was the first to react, rushing out of the barracks with Chen Xiao.
Out of caution, they hadn’t taken off their body armor.
Out in the open, he could see many others who had clearly been startled awake by the shout, hastily rushing from their quarters.
Even Yang Wangtao and the others guarding the convoy nearby looked up, their expressions hardening as they gazed toward the rooftop of a building in town.
Two members of the Mechanical Violence Team in black combat uniforms were standing on the rooftop. They wore night-vision goggles and stood on the left and right, guarding the farther periphery with their guns at the ready.
The shout from before had come from one of them.
The convoy’s commander was about to ask, but it happened too quickly.
BANG!!
A gunshot, exceptionally piercing, rang out.
One of the Mechanical Violence Team members on the roof collapsed instantly. A burst of static buzzed over the shared comms channel.
"This—!"
Chen Xiao’s face was full of shocked disbelief, and Yang Wangtao and the others also looked grave.
’The members of the Mechanical Violence Team are all well-trained combatants. To go down in one shot?’
"Sniper!"
An angry voice came over the comms channel. The other lookout was seen hastily dropping to the ground while simultaneously trying to give aid to the shot team member.
The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard. Lu Chao even subconsciously suspected the people of Black Water Town were causing trouble.
But then, suddenly—
WHIIINE!!
A piercing whine suddenly filled the air.
A streak of fire appeared in mid-air, exceptionally bright.
It traveled from far to near, trailing flames as it smashed down toward the convoy like a meteor.
"It’s a grenade!"
A shocked and angry shout rang out; an experienced member of the City Defense Department had identified it.
Lu Chao’s eyes flew wide open, and a sudden chill inexplicably rose in his heart.
In the next instant—
BOOM!!
As he dodged, a deafening sound exploded.
The ground shook, and the dark world was abruptly illuminated.
Lu Chao rolled several times on the ground before looking up.
He saw two of the convoy’s SUVs explode, burning as they were thrown into the air, their entire frames swallowed by flames.
The patrolman closest to the blast was hit by shrapnel. He was curled up on the ground, wailing in agony. Despite his body armor, his face was a bloody mess, and his entire left arm was gone, torn off at the shoulder.
The scene was seared into Lu Chao’s eyes. The other members of the supply escort team who had taken cover also had ugly expressions, a mix of shock and fury.
And then—
VROOOM!!
The sound of engines suddenly roared to life, like the howl of an approaching beast.
Blinding, powerful searchlights beamed from the entrance of Black Water Town. An armored car leading the charge had clearly been modified; its heavy cannon was still smoking lightly, as if it had fired the earlier grenade.
On top of it, someone was manning a mounted heavy machine gun. Behind it, jeeps and pickup trucks appeared one after another, all packed with armed men.
In that instant, all of Black Water Town was thrown into chaos. Panicked noises erupted from the ruined buildings. In many of the gathering points, people cowered by their windows, trembling and covering their mouths, too afraid to make a sound.
A warlord’s army had entered the town at some unknown time, completely undetected. In the distance, at the roadblock by the entrance to the concrete path, bodies lay strewn everywhere, their deaths horrific.
Seeing this from afar, Lu Chao’s pupils contracted. The other patrolmen and Mechanical Violence Team members scattered around the area felt their hair stand on end, a chill running down their spines.
The Wilderness Warlord had launched a surprise attack on them!
"Everyone, initiate the emergency protocol!"
Suddenly, the City Defense Department commander accompanying the convoy snapped back to his senses. He roared in anger, crouched in a concrete corner of the barracks, raised his automatic rifle, and pulled the trigger.
Lu Chao and the others, who had been momentarily stunned, felt as if they had found their backbone. They instantly recovered and began to fight back.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!!
In an instant, gunfire erupted from all sides.
The Mechanical Violence Team lookouts on the rooftop opened fire one after another. The others scattered around the open area also used their weapons and started shooting.
Meanwhile, others charged back toward the supply convoy, their faces filled with rage and killing intent. They started the armored vehicle’s engine, turned it around, and transformed it into a steel shield to protect everyone.
The battle instantly intensified. The continuous crack of gunfire echoed as muzzles flashed, tearing through the night.
Lu Chao leaped up and rolled, finding cover behind a low wall nearby.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
A string of bullets whizzed past.
Near where he had just been, a line of bullet holes appeared on the flat ground, kicking up clouds of brownish-gray dust.
’That was close.’
Secretly alarmed, Lu Chao crouched behind the wall, narrowing his eyes to look down the road that led straight into Black Water Town.
The road stretched out in a straight line, and the buildings on both sides were unnaturally silent. Countless people were likely huddled in corners, trembling in fear, with only the constant echo of gunfire remaining.
The patrol team’s counterattack wasn’t ineffective. The heavy machine gun on the Mechanical Violence Team’s armored vehicle spat flames repeatedly, suppressing the enemy’s fire for a time.
And yet, despite this.
The warlord’s army continued to advance slowly. The modified armored car at the front must have been fitted with some special module, as it was withstanding the heavy machine gun fire and continuing to press forward.
What’s more, its cannon recoiled as it fired another grenade.
BOOM!
A tearing flash of fire ripped through the air, hurtling toward them.
Lu Chao’s eyes widened in alarm. In that brief moment, illuminated by the shell’s fiery trail, he saw someone in a pickup truck at the rear of the warlord’s column shouldering a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, apparently having just finished reloading.
"Get clear!"
