The special operatives and special forces personnel quickly withdrew from the shopping mall. Nie Xuan looked at the casualties and the number of people reported, couldn’t help but frown, and walked through the main entrance with a grim expression.

The mall had no main lighting, but some emergency lights were still on, their faint glow barely illuminating people. The burly man was crouching over a special forces member, tearing at him with his teeth. He looked up at Nie Xuan and sneered, “What a pretentious act, wearing a suit in this sweltering heat! Really fucking annoying!”

Nie Xuan took off his jacket, unbuttoned his shirt collar, and rolled up his sleeves before saying, “What a coincidence, I find you annoying too. Enough talk, let’s do this.”

The burly man stood up, pushed off with his feet, and shot forward like a cannonball. As he charged, he swung both arms, lifting two long benches and hurling them at Nie Xuan!

“Justice’s Steel Pipe.” A white steel pipe the length of an arm appeared in Nie Xuan’s hand. He casually swung it left and right, effortlessly batting away the benches. Facing the burly man who followed behind the benches hoping to catch him off guard, Nie Xuan raised the pipe and charged forward!

Both sides accelerated, making this strike seem unavoidable. However, the burly man changed direction at a strange angle just as they were almost face-to-face, flying backward toward the left rear!

Nie Xuan glanced behind him. “An item?”

The burly man retreated to a store entrance, proudly touched the black rope at his waist, then launched another attack by kicking off the wall!

Nie Xuan swung his pipe calmly to counter, but gradually, his expression turned grim.

He had learned professional combat techniques in the military since childhood. In terms of fighting skill, three burly men couldn’t match him. But every time he was about to succeed, the other would use the elastic rope to evade, repeatedly testing his patience and draining his stamina.

Moreover, his elastic rope seemed able to attach to anything – door handles, chandeliers, counters. You couldn’t see when it was attached, only when it activated to pull him away would its form become visible.

“Die!” Seeing him distracted, the burly man launched a frog-like pounce from the side, mouth open to reveal yellow teeth, trying to tear open his throat like he had done to the special forces member!

“Unyielding Nail.” Nie Xuan, who had been standing still, suddenly turned and reached out toward him!

The burly man immediately tried to retreat, but his body abruptly froze mid-air, as if being pulled back and forth by something, left suspended in emptiness.

“What did you do?” The burly man struggled. The elastic rope behind him was pulling, and though Nie Xuan was right in front of him, he had only raised his hand without actually touching him!

Nie Xuan’s expression remained cold and stern. Without engaging in conversation, he brought his index and middle fingers together and swiped them across the man’s throat. Blood gushed out violently!

The burly man clutched his throat in shock, then reached out to grab the person before him, only to have his arm broken by a swing of the steel pipe!

The elastic rope lost its effect. As the burly man fell to the ground, Nie Xuan stood beside him, watching as he bled profusely and gradually stopped breathing.

Only after the man was completely dead did he step away from the spreading blood, bend down to pick up a translucent nail from the corpse’s shoulder, and reattach it to his own index finger. Then he turned toward a certain direction on the second floor. “Will you come out yourselves, or shall I bring your corpses out?”

“Clang!” An iron bar hit the tile floor. A young man quickly showed himself, frantically raising his hands. “I surrender! Don’t kill me!”

Zhao Sheng followed behind him.

“Come in and arrest them.” Nie Xuan spoke into his earpiece, then asked the young man, “How many people total are here?”

“E-eight, plus our Boss, nine people total.” The young man said.

Nie Xuan nodded, had someone lead them out for identification, then brought people to carry out his colleagues from the mall. Afterward, he systematically checked all the mall’s rooms. Unexpectedly, they found several players chained with iron locks in a first-floor employee break room.

“All are white players.” The special operatives checked their identification numbers.

“Take them all back.” Nie Xuan said, then asked: “Have the Holy Sword Society members been verified?”

“Cross-checked,” the assistant reported through the earpiece. “Aside from the nine members who left two hours ago, the remaining eight all match up. The one you just killed only found the Holy Sword Society tonight. There’s an official warrant for him – the perpetrator of the mass family murders across six households in the neighboring city.”

“However, the Holy Sword Society’s boss, one nicknamed Eagle, isn’t among these people.”

“Did anyone break through?” Nie Xuan paused to ask.

“No.” The assistant said: “He might have special items. I just asked around – although joining the Holy Sword Society requires handing over items or potions, actually the powerful items all come from Eagle. He distributes them to other players.”

Nie Xuan surveyed the mall interior. If Eagle had escaped using items, there was naturally nothing he could do. But he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the man was still hiding somewhere in the mall.

“Have someone cut off the mall’s water, electricity, and gas. Everyone with guns, except the snipers, come inside.”

Subsequently, over forty special forces personnel and special operatives divided into two groups to remove any potentially dangerous items from the mall. They raised their guns and opened fire on everything inside the mall – storefront counters, displays, clothing, even signs and ceilings. In no time, the massive shopping mall, from first to third floor, was riddled with bullet holes, dust and debris flying everywhere!

On a residential building near the mall, Xu Huo watched the smoking mall through binoculars, a slight smile touching his lips. “A ruthless character.”

What that female player said earlier was true – the Holy Sword Society’s base was indeed at Guangde Shopping Mall. That player called Eagle probably did have some stealth ability. With such a convenient ability, he likely wouldn’t risk escaping. Hiding nearby in the mall and waiting out the danger would be his first choice.

But he probably didn’t expect the Special Affairs Department to operate so brutally, directly dismantling the entire mall.

After waiting another half hour, he saw Nie Xuan leading his people to withdraw, though no extra people emerged.

Barricade tape was set up around the mall. After leaving a few people behind, the convoy departed.

Xu Huo noticed the snipers in the adjacent building hadn’t withdrawn. He retrieved the Floating Balloon, then waited patiently.

Not until 3 AM did movement finally occur in the mall – a potted plant’s branches shook slightly.

“Bang!” A bullet shot a hole in the wall behind the plant. Immediately afterward, several figures swiftly moved through the darkness toward the mall.

Needless to say, these were players arranged by Nie Xuan.

Putting down his binoculars, Xu Huo grabbed his piano wire and went downstairs, chasing in the direction Eagle had fled.

Meanwhile, Eagle, who had taken two bullets, was struggling to evade pursuit by the Special Affairs Department’s players.

His wounds weren’t fatal, but he’d lost considerable blood, leaving a trail behind him. Therefore, even though he periodically concealed his tracks, he couldn’t completely shake off those players.

Sensing those people getting closer, Eagle gritted his teeth. A golden pipe appeared in his hand. He put some white powder into it, blew into the pipe, and thick smoke came pouring out in a rush, instantly covering several nearby blocks in the blink of an eye. Standing outside the billowing smoke, he lowered his voice and said, “Counterfeit Golden Pipe, its brief lifespan lasts only one hour.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the smoke underwent a change. It stopped churning and billowing, instead solidifying like fog throughout the area, eliminating all sound.

Only then did Eagle relax. Pressing on his abdomen, he moved away from the smoke-covered area. Just as he emerged onto another street, someone suddenly greeted him from above:

“Hey!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep