Thick soot came rolling upstairs, bringing along a pungent chemical scent with it. Xia Lei accidentally inhaled a puff, prompting him to cough vehemently.

“Boss! What’s going on?!” Tsukino Kyoko’s voice rang through the micro-receptor in his ear. Her voice filled with concern and anxiety.

Xia Lei grabbed his collar. He was going to reply but only then noticed that it was broken. It might have been crushed when the black-robe man pressed him against the ground or the explosion that just happened destroyed it. All he knew was that he could no longer reply and instruct the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members.

“Boss? Reply!” Anjum Khan’s voice cracked with anxiety.

“Fucking hell!” Enraged, Xia Lei tossed the crushed transmitter harshly on the ground. He then quickly picked himself up and dove straight into the smoke-filled stairway.

This would be the best time to retreat, but as soon as his mind thought of Ning Jing, he decided to go against his rationale. There was still some hope in his heart that Ning Jing might have survived the explosion. The possibility was slim but Xia Lei wasn’t willing to just give up. If Xia Lei was the one on that cold hard metal bed, Ning Jing would’ve done the same.

The thirtieth floor was veiled with thick smoke, noxious gasses filling every corner of the confined space.

Xia Lei’s vision pierced through the particulate obstacle. He saw the lift door open and close at the end of the corridor. At the same time, someone appeared at the entrance to the stairway.

“Go get the gas masks! Quick!” A yell echoed among the stairs.

What followed after was a series of rushed descending footsteps.

Xia Lei had already gotten used to the toxic gas. It took some time but his body had adapted to the circumstance. His ridiculously powerful immune system had started to do their job. With that, Xia Lei could walk around freely in the cloud of toxic gases while the others couldn’t.

This was a great opportunity.

Xia Lei barged into the laboratory.

The doors to the lab were thoroughly destroyed. The floor was filled with pieces of metal, glass shards, destroyed electronics and human flesh!

Pieces of bloody flesh, bones and even organs were scattered about on the floor. The bomb had disappeared and what was left was only its wares and debris. The gigantic glass container was gone too, leaving behind several pools of blood-red fluid and glass shards everywhere. Gu Kewen’s body was nowhere to be seen. The Caucasian and Asian female corpses were gone too! They might have been part of the scattered flesh but the lab employees were in the mix too. The whole laboratory looked like living hell.

Xia Lei’s gaze fell on where Ning Jing was last seen at, the surgical bed had fallen due to the impact. Suddenly, something white came to sight. Was that... her ass?

He didn’t dare to use his vision on the bed, dreading the revelation of what was left of Ning Jing.

He couldn’t even muster up his guts to imagine it!

After a moment of hesitation, he braced himself to walk over. Extending his arm, he moved the bed away.

One glance was enough to soothe him. The white stuff he saw was indeed her bare ass. Thankfully, she was not only left with just a mere behind. Her form was gathered together in a fetal position with every inch of her body drenched in blood.

This was a miracle! She was the only complete being in this whole laboratory. Other than her, there was no other soul spared.

Xia Lei turned her around and soon felt his heart shatter into pieces. Lying in the puddle of blood, Ning Jing’s body was not missing a single part but her face was bloody and barely recognisable.

“Ning Jing? Ning Jing! Wake up!” Xia Lei shook her shoulders frantically.

“Cough... “ A cough abruptly rolled out of Ning Jing’s throat. Then, she started to gape for air.

She was alive!

Xia Lei didn’t dare to stay longer. He quickly picked up Ning Jing and dashed towards the door.

Footsteps could be heard from the corridor, someone was talking.

“How did this place explode?” Someone questioned in Japanese among the smoke.

“I have no idea but I do hope that bastard is still in the lab. I’d love to blast him into dust.” Someone else replied.

“There’s no guarantee. The Indian could only verify that the sum was paid by the bastard. Yeah, through that archaeologist named Ning Jing or something. No matter how you look at it, this incident definitely has something to do with him.” Someone else mentioned.

“Be careful, the lab is just ahead. Toxic gases are everywhere.”

They were getting closer.

The Hattori clan had arrived at the most unfortunate time!

“Fuck!” Xia Lei screamed internally. He took a deep breath and rushed out of the exit. He then frantically made his way to the balcony of the building.

The smog may hide one’s presence but it definitely did nothing to mask the footsteps. With Ning Jing in his arms and a glass-filled corridor, his footsteps echoed loudly along the corridor. It was noisy enough to wake a sleeping person, let alone the vigilant Hattori men.

“I hear someone in front of us!” Someone exclaimed.

“Who are you? Hold it!” Another yelled.

“Moron! If you continue to run, I’ll shoot you!” Someone cocked their gun.

Without further hesitation and before anyone could confirm his identity, Xia Lei made it into the stairways at the other end of the corridor.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone fired in the thick cloud of smoke, a few bullets hit the walls of the stairway.

“Get them!” Someone yelled.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Another wave of bullets was fired followed by thundering footsteps.

Xia Lei was already out of the stairway. He paused after getting through the security door to shut it close with his leg.

Ning Jing heaved as her respiratory system tried its best to rid itself of the noxious gas. She needed immediate medical attention!

Xia Lei had no time to think. He quickly ran over to the edge of the roof to peer below. He could only pray that Tsukino Kyoko had made it up again after noticing he wasn’t replying.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rain of bullets began again onto the metal security door. The impact made deafening sounds with holes forming on the sturdy door.

Boom! Someone fired their shotgun.

The lock was sent flying away from the impact, another soon kicked the barricade open.

As soon the man with the shotgun emerged from the door, a bullet was fired from Xia Lei’s direction straight into his skull before he even had a chance to stabilize his stance.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With one arm around Ning Jing, Xia Lei used the other to fire his pistol in the direction of the stairway. His bullets effectively halting the emergence of his enemy.

“That’s Xia Lei!” A man screamed in excitement. “Capture him!”

“He only has a pistol! Go, go, go!” Another roared.

Xia Lei got increasingly nervous. They were right. He did only have a pistol with him. It was not nearly enough to deal with the whole lot of them. To make things worse, Ning Jing was in dire need of medical attention. Every second wasted could be life-threatening to her. Xia Lei was largely disappointed as his hope didn’t come to fruition. Tsukino Kyoko didn’t make another climb. Perhaps she had already retreated out of the small lane they came from and was about to make a direct attack with the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team through the main entrance. However, there was no time left for him to wait for their rescue.

Another sniper dashed through the security door.

Xia Lei pulled the trigger. Another bullet flew straight to his brain, blowing his unfortunate skull apart. His sharpshooting abilities were still terrifyingly precise.

Right after he shot the shooter and was about to adjust himself, a submachine gun was extended out from the gap of the metal door.

Xia Lei threw himself harshly to the ground, prompting Ning Jing to be thrown heavily onto the tough cement floor.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

A bullet scraped Xia Lei’s back.

“Go!” Someone roared.

Two shooters came out from behind the security door. They ran while they continued to fire their bullets towards Xia Lei. The two were using hyper-fast submachine guns. The continuous stream of bullets had Xia Lei effectively pinned down. Within that one second of him being suppressed by their firearms, another two shooters emerged again.

The new addition had better precision than the special forces.

It was obvious that they were the elite fighters of the Hattori clan!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two glimmering objects came flying from behind Xia Lei.

It was two shurikens.

The cold metal sheen zipped across the balcony. One flew away while the other hit its target. The last shooter who stepped out of the door had the shuriken stabbed into his chest. In turn, the fallen man triggered his gun in the process, its bullet missing Xia Lei. It had hit his comrade’s back instead. Though the unlucky bastard had managed to avoid the shuriken, he was not spared from accidental fire courtesy of his comrade.

Coming face-to-face with a powerful god-like opponent was not as fearsome as having an incompetent comrade. This seemed to be applicable too in the gunning world.

With that, Xia Lei’s threat was greatly reduced. Taking advantage of the other’s confusion, he quickly made two continuous shots, which took out the last remaining opponents.

As soon as Xia Lei turned around, he was greeted by the sight of Tsukino Kyoko. The broken rope was still around her waist.

“What happened?” Tsukino Kyoko still had her eyes on the broken security door, but no one was coming out of it anymore.

“I’ll explain after we leave this place.” Xia Lei felt his left eye twitched a little. He continued, “There’s still one hiding behind the door. Back up is about to arrive. Quick, connect that rope, we’ve got no time to waste.”

As Tsukino Kyoko took the rope he passed, she said, “Don’t worry, our team is already in their respective positions.” She pointed to a building located diagonally from their location. “Anjum Khan and Sa’im had already found a snipping spot there. Alessio and E’er Demutu will attack from the front of the building. We can actually head back to take out all of the Hattori clan here.”

Two snipers in another building and two combatants downstairs. At the very top had him and Tsukino Kyoko. They could ambush them from all three angles. This was undoubtedly a great opportunity to take out the Hattori clan. However, Xia Lei found himself unable to make such a decision with a dying Ning Jing in his arms.