Chapter 378.1: The War Has Already Started

As the light from their bonfire disappeared, the forest returned to its original calm and darkness.

Vito, who had his belly on the ground, shifted the scope away from his face as a trace of astonishment flashed in his eyes.

Was I discovered?!

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he retrieved his sniper rifle. Lightly touching his ear with his index finger, he whispered softly into his earpiece, “Walid, Xiu, be careful. Our opponents are awakeners who seem to have advanced their senses of hearing and sight. They have already entered a state of alert.”

2 responses came the next moment.

“Understood.”

“Got it.”

After his reminder, Vito didn’t hesitate. He drew the signal flare on his waist and fired into the air. As a trail of red smoke rose into the air, it looked like a lit lantern rising into the dark skies.

There was a patrol squad that was sent out by the Army 5 kilometers away and they should quickly head over to support their squad after seeing his signal.

The next moment, Walid, the muscular brute’s voice rang in his earpiece. “Is there really a need to call for reinforcements? It’s just 3 little girls and a half crippled employee... At worst, there are 2 stupid bears...”

According to him, his captain was being too cautious. He had to admit that the 29th assault team’s failure required some caution, but there was no need to scare themselves. Those who were killed was a bunch of newbie soldiers who had barely served for 2 years. Be it their experience or skills, they couldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as their small squad.

Even though he heard Walid’s mockery, Vito replied simply, “We need to be careful.”

It didn’t matter if their opponents were old geezers, children, or women. As long as their opponents were still breathing, Vito would never let his guard down.

After a short pause, he continued, “Right. I only saw 2 of them. There seems to be something wrong with the intelligence we received about there being 3 of them.”

A sinister chuckle and the grinding of teeth came through his headset soon after. “Perfect. Xiu and I will take 1 each!”

Finally, Xiu, who had barely spoken since the start, snapped in irritation, “Enough with your bullshit. Let’s finish the mission and get back.”

Cracking his knuckles, Walid grunted, “Alright!”

...

As the forest returned to its darkness, their eyes quickly adapted to the dark. Sesame Paste, who was squatting behind a tree prepared for battle as she focused all her attention to hear anything that might come by. The whistling of the wind rang softly in her ears.

Her awakening at LV10 didn’t bestow her too big a boost on her physical abilities other than her sense of hearing. Within a 100 meter radius, there was nothing that could escape her ears.

As time ticked by second by second, the other side didn’t launch their offensive immediately.

Just as she thought they would be stuck in a deadlock, a loud blast came from behind her as a streak of red tore through the skies.

As the faint light illuminated the forest, Sisi’s expression changed as she stared at the signal flare that had been fired.

At almost the same time, a loud cry tore through the peace of the forest. Along with heavy footsteps, a massive figure came barreling through the greenery.

With a body that was 2.5 meters tall and built like a bull, a person charged through the forest at unbelievable speeds. In just several breaths of time, he arrived at their campsite.

Sesame Paste pulled the trigger without hesitation, emptying dozens of bullets from her magazine at once. A dense net of bullets covered the forest but failed to stop his charge.

“What the hell? That’s not possible!” Sesame Paste yelled in fright but that didn’t stop her from changing her magazine.

As her gunshots paused during her reload, Sisi who had been watching everything with her calm gaze finally watched as the brute entered her attack range.

Her magnetic bullets that had been storing energy the whole time flew at the charging brute and her eyes widened in shock the next moment.

He simply swung his left arm to stop them all without slowing down in the slightest.

This guy... Is he a mutant human?!

“HAHA! It’s useless!” Walid roared with laughter as he threw his hatchet with his right hand.

It traveled a dozen or so meters in the blink of an eye and just as it was about to hit Sisi, a loud roar filled the air. A white paw blocked the hatchet before Roshan charged at the brute.

Seeing the charing bear, Walid didn’t lose his composure. In fact, he ran straight at her and started fighting the white bear in close combat.

“So you’re the talking bear?” Walid spoke as he attacked.

Looking at the pair of murky green pupils staring at her, Roshan felt a wave of panic rushing through her. However, she forced herself to remain calm as she released a loud roar.

Shutting his mouth, Walid pushed himself to the limit as the veins on his arms bulged. As they pushed against each other, he managed to shove her half a step back.

Feeling the pressure, Roshan yelled in fright, “Guys... He’s really strong! Stop watching and come help me!”

“You’re too close! I can’t get a proper lock on him... Right, why did you run at him in the first place?!” Sesame Paste didn’t know whether to laugh of cry as she didn’t dare to pull the trigger.

After all... Roshan’s body was too massive and if she opened fire, she was afraid she would turn her friend into a giant bear-sieve.

“I... I... I don’t know?! I rushed at him because it seemed like the right thing to do!” Roshan cried out softly as she felt even more pressure from the monster pushing against her.

She saw her friend in trouble, and she simply rushed at the enemy to protect her friend... She didn’t expect her opponent to be so damn strong! In the past, all their enemies were sent flying the moment she swung at them. She didn’t think she could meet someone who had the strength to fight back.

Is he even human?

Sisi’s voice rang in their ears the next moment. “Sesame Paste, run to the east with Luo Hua. Just get as far away as possible. If you really can’t escape, hide him somewhere and run. At the very least, you need to bring the card back.”

Sesame Paste froze for a second. “But...”

“Just do it.” Sisi didn’t bother explaining and she quickly drew her knife to help Roshan. However, someone... Or rather, some bear, was faster than her.

Seeing Roshan in danger, Teddy, who had almost lost all his wild instincts from his recent travels, finally let out a loud roar.

Seeing another mutant bear charging at him, Walid finally showed a trace of panic.

“Xiu, what the fuck are you waiting for?!” He roared in anger.

A calm response soon rang in his earpiece. “I didn’t want to ruin your fun...”

As the response came, a cold light flashed through the forest along with a sharp whistle.

With an arrow stabbing straight into its back, Teddy let out an enraged cry. However, it ensured the pain to head straight at Walid who was tangled in battle with Roshan.

Xiu, who was holding the crossbow, revealed a trace of shock.

There was poison on the arrowhead that could even put down an elephant. How could it not work on a mere bear?

Just as he was about to shoot another arrow, gunshots came from the forest as bullets pelted on his exposed location.

“Fuck!” Leaping to the ground to take cover, Xiu threw away his crossbow and grabbed the assault rifle hanging on his chest.

Just as he was about to return fire, a sharp light slashing at him caused him to give up on his plans and deal with the knife flying straight at him.

As he blocked the flying knife with his rifle, some sparks were produced before he finally redirected the weapon.

He didn’t even have time to rejoice as the young lady before him charged at him knives in both her hands. She held them in reverse grips and slashed at very vital part of his body.

Taken aback, he quickly took several steps back in retreat. Unfortunately, Sisi wouldn’t give him enough time to find his tempo. She continued to slash at him without mercy. Pulling closer once again, the dagger in her right hand stabbed straight for his neck.

Just as it was about to find its target, a gunshot rang through the woods.

As the bullet slammed straight into her abdomen, Sisi grunted heavily as her body fell back. She slammed into the tree nearby.

The strong impact caused her to nearly lose connection.

Sniper!

Learning of the enemy’s approximate location, she quickly let go of her dagger in her left hand. She tossed the smoke grenade that had been hanging on her vest to prevent the sniper from picking off her teammates.

However... The second and third shot still rang through the air. The bullets didn’t seem to be meant for her, but her heart still sank.

Sesame Paste, who was escaping with Luo Hua, filled her mind. However... She didn’t have the free time to think about other people now. Shaking her head to clear her mind, Sisi tossed the knife in her right hand at the person approaching.

Unfortunately... Tilting his head to the side, Xiu dodged the knife before aiming his rifle at her.

“You’re strong, but you’re still too inexperienced.”

“Surrender. Becoming my captive is much better than falling into Walid’s hands.” Xiu tilted his chin to the brute who was fightnin Roshan and continued, “I never seen anyone who lived past a week after he captured them.”

The mutant bear could be seen lying on the ground nearby as it succumbed to the poison.

Sisi didn’t reply. Instead, she stared straight into his eyes.

“Hehe... Looks like you don’t know the situation you’re in yet.” Xiu revealed a sinister smile. “Guess I’ll just help you out here.”

As he took a step forward, 3 dull blasts rang behind him. Before he could think of what was happening, 3 more blasts rang through the air. Heat waves mixed with the evening breeze swept through the forest.

Xiu was briefly stunned, his face a mixture of surprise and confusion.

What happened?!

Sisi was equally baffled.

However, those explosions seemed to come from the same direction as the sniper who shot at her.

The next moment, a familiar voice came from the smoke.

"Die!"

A figure, swift as lightning, broke through the smoke. She rushed into the battlefield at the same time a rain of bullets arrived.

Xiu’s pupils dilated in shock when he saw the girl charging at him with an assault rifle. But at such close range, even if he saw her, he had no time to react.

Bullets rained down like a storm, and he burst into a cloud of blood. Before he could even scream, the fierce firepower ended him.

"Sisi, are you alright?" Tail burst through the smoke, rushing to Sisi leaning against the tree.

"I'm fine, you arrived just in time! Good job!" Sisi squeezed out a smile on her pale face before giving Tail a thumbs up.

However, Tail didn't pick up the conversation, instead startled by Sisi's blood-soaked clothes. "HEY! How are you so badly hurt?!"

Her bulletproof vest had already been penetrated and the blood soaked her outfit completely red.

Yet Sisi didn't care, given the game's pain-blocking mechanism and that any injuries could be patched up with a bandage after the battle.

"It’s just a minor issue. The damage didn't reach the bone. I'm a constitution type and my injury should heal by tomorrow. Alright, stop wasting time. Go help Roro...”

"Xiu!"