Su Mo dragged the barely alive white sniper toward them, and the remaining enemies fled in panic, ignoring the furious curses from Black Dragon blaring through their earpieces.
Ye Qingyi naturally wouldn’t let them escape. She chased them down, knocking them out one by one.
The hallway fell silent. A few trembling guests cautiously cracked open their doors to see what had happened, only to collapse in terror at the bloody scene—some even fainted on the spot.
“Let me check your injuries.” Su Mo’s delicate brows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with worry.
“The bronze armor absorbed most of the damage. It’s not a big deal.”
Despite her words, the moment Su Mo touched her, she hissed in pain, gritting her teeth.
“This is my fault. I didn’t expect them to have such powerful firearms. I put you in danger.” His chest tightened with guilt.
“Don’t say that. Nobody could’ve predicted this. Besides, for people like us, getting hurt is just part of the job—nothing to make a fuss about.” Ye Qingyi forced a grin through the pain. “What about you? I saw you got shot too.”
“I’m fine. Just some minor wounds.”
They quickly treated their injuries, stopping the bleeding for now.
“Strange. We contacted the Star City North Star Division. Why haven’t they arrived yet?” Su Mo and Ye Qingyi crouched in a corner, staying out of the opposing sniper’s line of sight.
“Maybe they ran into an ambush?”
“Possibly.”
Just then, the elevator doors slid open, and a thin, middle-aged man stepped out.
“Winged Fire Serpent?”
“Moon Crow?” The man glanced at Ye Qingyi, mistaking her for Moon Crow, until Su Mo produced his identity jade token.
After verifying each other’s identities, Winged Fire Serpent shot a look at Ye Qingyi.
“You were the one who came to find me earlier, right?”
“Right. I went in his place.”
Winged Fire Serpent said nothing more. Instead, he scanned the area before pulling them into the elevator.
“Where’s the backup?”
Su Mo tried to pry information from him, but Winged Fire Serpent shook his head. “They’re probably not coming.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.” He pulled up a chat log and showed it to Su Mo. “Just minutes ago, I got word that the Star City North Star Division’s commander has been colluding with the Hundred Immortals Sect and foreign forces, secretly supporting the Black Dragon Cult. This was all a setup.”
Su Mo’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected the betrayal to come from within North Star itself.
Meaning, their original plan had been compromised from the start.
“Guess we’re moving to Plan C.”
“Exactly.” Winged Fire Serpent nodded. “They’ve already cut off communications here. No messages can get in or out. They’re trying to wipe us out completely.”
Su Mo smirked coldly. “Now I understand why a traitorous ally is far more dangerous than an outright enemy.”
The elevator suddenly halted mid-descent. The three of them fell silent, eyes locked on the doors.
When they opened, Huo Jingshu stood outside.
“Jingshu? What are you doing here?”
“Qingyi! I knew you’d be here!” Huo Jingshu slipped into the elevator, and the four of them descended together.
“Did Commander Yang send you?”
“Yeah. Sun Yuchen and Young Marshal are here too. We couldn’t reach you, but when we heard gunfire, we rushed over. They’re still fighting the Hundred Immortals Sect on the first floor.” Now a member of the Special Operations Unit, her codename was “Metal.”
As the elevator reached the first floor, the sounds of battle grew clearer.
The doors opened—and a wave of flames instantly engulfed seven or eight enemies, sending them howling in agony.
“Qingyi!” Sun Yuchen called out excitedly as they regrouped.
“Where’s Young Marshal?”
“Huh? He was just here…” Sun Yuchen scratched his head before spotting him surrounded by enemies.
“Four Flames, you traitor! Running off like that—I’m still stuck here!”
Huo Jingshu immediately charged in to help, her spear whirling like an impenetrable storm. She seemed determined not to miss any chance to train…
But crowd control was Sun Yuchen’s specialty. Taking a deep breath, he unleashed a relentless stream of fire from his mouth like a flamethrower, sending enemies leaping in pain.
Su Mo couldn’t help but wonder when he’d master his Yin Fire to this level. With that kind of power, he could dominate group fights effortlessly.
After clearing the first floor, they moved outside—only to run straight into Black Dragon and his top enforcers.
Even though he now knew Ye Qingyu had been an imposter, the sight of Su Mo still made his arm throb.
(Then again, his arm was already in pain…)
“Didn’t expect more of you to show up. Perfect—I can wipe you all out at once and earn a bigger reward.” Black Dragon grinned, unfazed that their numbers had doubled from three to six.
Winged Fire Serpent snorted. “Don’t celebrate too soon.”
Black Dragon sneered, waving his hand. Six men stepped forward.
Their aura? All C-rank.
All six were white foreigners. Though their power was undeniably C-rank, something felt… off.
Su Mo couldn’t pinpoint what, but the unease lingered.
“One C-rank, five D-ranks, and two injured. Let’s see how you handle my six peak-condition C-ranks.”
The rest of the Black Dragon Cult encircled them, cutting off escape.
“If a fight breaks out, watch for ambushes,” Su Mo whispered.
But then, someone rushed to Black Dragon’s side, shouting that their headquarters was under attack.
Black Dragon’s face twisted in fury. “Who?!”
“Unknown. Just two or three people, all C-rank and masked.”
“Damn it! This is—augh!” His rage made his arm hurt even worse. “What’s the damage?”
“They didn’t kill anyone, just looted everything valuable. Only a few injuries, but… all the useful supplies are gone.”
Black Dragon’s chest heaved—before he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Boss!” His underlings rushed to support him. Seizing the moment, Su Mo’s group bolted.
The six white C-ranks didn’t wait for orders. They gave chase immediately.
The gap in strength was clear—they were quickly caught.
The battle erupted.
As the only C-rank on their side, Winged Fire Serpent took on two white fighters at once, holding his own.
Mid-fight, he noticed something odd: these men had C-rank physical abilities but no actual techniques or legacy skills.
In other words, he could unleash his strongest attacks—while they could only throw basic punches.
Why hold back, then?
Crush them!
Among the other five, Huo Jingshu and Young Marshal teamed up against one enemy, fighting evenly.
Sun Yuchen barely held his own against another C-rank with his flames. Though he took a beating, his opponent wasn’t faring much better, cursing loudly between strikes.
Sun Yuchen fired back with his own creative insults.
The fight’s tone grew… bizarre.
As for Su Mo and Ye Qingyi?
No one noticed at first, but Su Mo was actually fighting two C-ranks alone with his “Tetanus Blade”—and not losing.
Ye Qingyi, with no opening to assist, could only go help Sun Yuchen instead…