Chapter 105: Chapter 105: Captive
Just as they charged up to the second floor,
Jing Chuan and his companion popped out from the stairwell between the second and third floors, spraying Zheng Shi’s group with fierce gunfire.
Caught between enemies in front and behind, Zheng Shi’s group lost another three men in an instant.
"Bastards! Fire!"
Zheng Shi furiously sprayed bullets at Jing Chuan and his companion.
BANG! BANG!
AHH~
Unable to dodge in time, Tao Wang was hit and collapsed to the ground.
Jing Chuan quickly ran back up to the third floor.
"They’re on their last legs! Charge!"
Seeing Tao Wang taken out, Zheng Shi excitedly led his remaining men in a charge up the stairs.
But when they reached the third floor, they were dumbfounded.
Cloud Fish and the other members of the Rat Group were waiting, nervously aiming their automatic pistols at them.
BANG! BANG!~
Bullets flew one after another.
AHH~
In an instant, four players were riddled with holes.
Zheng Shi and He Mo scrambled back downstairs in terror.
Unfortunately, as soon as they reached the second floor, they ran right into Luoxue and Long Ming.
The two had their guns trained on them.
"Don’t shoot! We surrender."
Zheng Shi and He Mo immediately threw down their guns and begged for mercy.
Long Ming stepped forward and kicked their discarded firearms away, then spoke.
"On the ground. Hands on your heads."
"Okay!"
Zheng Shi and He Mo quickly complied.
Just then, Jing Chuan and the others came down from the third floor, surrounding Zheng Shi and He Mo completely.
Luoxue looked at the two men and began her interrogation in a cold voice.
"Speak. How many more of you are there?"
"Tch. You think I’d sell out my brothers?"
Zheng Shi snorted.
"Strip them."
Luoxue said indifferently to Jing Chuan and the others.
"Hey, hey! A warrior can be killed but not humiliated! You bitch, how can you be so vicious?"
Zheng Shi cursed angrily.
Jing Chuan and the others stepped forward without hesitation and stripped Zheng Shi and He Mo of their clothes in a few swift motions.
"So cold... but it’s no use. I won’t talk even if I freeze to death."
Standing there in his underwear with his arms crossed, Zheng Shi replied defiantly.
"Fine. Record a video of them. We’ll post it on the forums later."
Luoxue said coolly.
At these words, Long Ming and the others couldn’t help but gasp. The damage wasn’t high, but the insult was extreme.
"Stop! I’ll talk, alright?"
Hearing Luoxue’s threat, Zheng Shi’s face turned pale, and he decisively gave in.
"Talk. But you’d better not try anything clever."
Luoxue said, looking at the two men.
"We have twenty more people outside."
Zheng Shi confessed, dejected like a defeated rooster.
After hearing the number, Long Ming thought for a moment before speaking.
"That’s manageable. We can take them."
Twenty people was a lot, but their strength and equipment were no match for the three major guilds.
If those twenty people were elites from the three major guilds, they wouldn’t be thinking about how to take them on, but how to escape.
A glint appeared in Luoxue’s eyes. She then said to Zheng Shi and He Mo,
"Withdraw your men. We have no intention of making enemies of you rogue players. Besides, our Star Wish Guild has no grudge against you."
"That’s hilarious. You big guilds clear out dungeons all day long, forcing us to the brink, and now you’re pretending you have no grudge against us. Don’t you think that’s hypocritical?"
Zheng Shi said irritably.
"I know the conflict between rogue players and guilds runs deep, but the other guilds are the ones clearing out dungeons. I have never ordered Star Wish Guild to do such a thing."
Luoxue said calmly to Zheng Shi.
Hearing this, Long Ming coughed and whispered to Luoxue,
"Our guild clears dungeons, too."
When Luoxue heard Long Ming, she couldn’t help but shoot him a glare. ’Isn’t he undermining me?’
She really hadn’t given that order, but it was obvious that the members below would resort to certain tactics to meet their quotas.
"See? Your own man admitted it. You can’t say I’m just making things up."
Zheng Shi said, quickly pointing at Long Ming.
Luoxue shot a cold glance back at Zheng Shi.
Zheng Shi immediately felt a chill run down his spine and shut his mouth.
Luoxue looked at Zheng Shi and said,
"I’ve said it already. Believe it or not, we came into this dungeon to gather supplies, not to target you rogue players. I advise you to back off now. Take your men and go gather supplies; that way you can still salvage some of your losses. Otherwise, you’ll end up with nothing."
"You’re really willing to let us go?"
Zheng Shi looked at Luoxue, finding it hard to believe.
"Luoxue, you can’t let them go."
Jing Chuan said with a dark expression.
Luoxue raised her hand, cutting Jing Chuan off, and said indifferently, "Give them back their clothes and guns."
"Yes."
Hearing the order, Tang Yue and the others handed the clothes and firearms back to Zheng Shi and He Mo.
After taking their clothes and guns, the two men quickly got dressed, then asked weakly,
"So... we can go?"
"Mm."
SIGH~
The two turned and left with mixed feelings.
Watching them leave, Jing Chuan turned to Luoxue and said,
"Luoxue, why did you let them go? What if they bring the rest of their men back to attack us?"
"Jing Chuan, if they really do come back and attack us, I will deal with them."
"Then why go through all this trouble for nothing? Wouldn’t it be better to just kill them and eliminate the threat for good?"
"We eliminate this threat, but what about the next one? And the one after that? You can strike first, but that doesn’t mean they won’t strike back. Besides, the rogue players aren’t the ones at fault here; they’re victims too. The major guilds are relentlessly squeezing their space to survive, leaving them nothing. Naturally, they have no choice but to fight back. What we need to do is avoid unnecessary trouble as much as possible. Otherwise, our losses will only grow."
"The problem is, even if you do this, it’s useless, isn’t it? It won’t change the current situation."
"I don’t care what others do. I’ll do what I believe is right."
Luoxue replied in a cold voice.
After listening, Long Ming found himself strongly agreeing.
In fact, he had joined Star Wish Guild back then because he couldn’t make it on his own.
Otherwise, running dungeons as a rogue player was so much more comfortable and relaxed.
And the reason he was able to join Star Wish Guild so smoothly was, in large part, thanks to Luoxue looking out for him.
Otherwise, he might not have even been able to get into the Rat Group.
After all, all members of the Rat Group were screened. You either had to have a certain level of skill or have connections.
The only other way to join the guild smoothly was to apply while already well-equipped.
But rogue players who wanted to join a guild could almost never get in.
"Alright, enough of that. Rat Group, collect the loot."
Luoxue issued the command to Tang Yue and the others.
Tang Yue and the others immediately fanned out to collect the dropped backpacks and weapons from the scene.
Long Ming also put away his weapon and went to help gather the dropped loot.
Just then, a padded cotton jacket was tossed to him.
Long Ming instinctively reached out and caught it, then looked up in surprise.
He saw Luoxue looking at him. She said nonchalantly,
"If you’re cold, put on more layers. Don’t try to be a hero."
"Thanks."
Long Ming awkwardly put the jacket on.
Luoxue didn’t say anything more. She turned, walked to the window, and gazed outside.
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