The stand off

Chapter 26

(Unedited)

…

I quickly enter the ruined apartment and directly went to the room where those three girls were supposed to be hiding. However, as soon as I arrive at that place, I saw no one side the room.

I look at the floor and found some traces of footsteps and those are footsteps from boots. I could tell that some people have been inside the room and have turned it upside down. It seems that there was a trace of someone going wild and breaking everything inside the room.

My heart skipped a beat as I did not want those three women to suffer from the hands of those soldiers. I tried to listen to my surroundings but it seems that those people have left this place.

"I have to rescue those three…" I muttered as I quickly ran in the direction of those footsteps.

As soon as I take a few steps out of the room, I heard the sound from a radio.

'Hello!... It seems that you have come for your companions… Hehe…' a man's deep voice coming from the radio echoed through the room.

It seems that they can see me. I tried using my senses but I was still unable to find them. I quickly hid behind the wall and tried peeking from the broken window.

'Hehe… I want you to hear something…' the man said then the radio was cut off.

'Humph… Umph!!!... Umph!...' then I could hear muffled sounds which seem to come from a woman.

The panic in that tone and the helplessness made my heart feel hurt. My mind reeled back to the day when I lost my childhood friend and the woman that I love.

I suddenly feel like my breathing is becoming harder, and my body began trembling. I could feel my body slowly giving away and then I found myself kneeling on the ground as I panted and my forehead and back is filled with cold sweat.

…

Meanwhile, on top of the building, a perfect sniping spot, a tall and muscular man is looking below the apartment building with a grin on his face.

The commander of the army has a serious expression on his face while he looks at his binocular and looking directly at the figure inside the room.

"Sir, should I shoot that bastard?" the soldier behind a large-caliber sniper rifle asked.

"We should wait for a while, I want that man to panic…" the commander said as he looks behind him.

Standing behind him is a tall woman deck in military uniform with a radio near her mouth. A slight smile is on her face as she waited for her commander's command. She has been impersonating as a hostage to catch their target off-guard.

When they arrive inside that room, the occupants in there have already left, and from the traces, they found inside that room, those people who are with their target are women, and there are three of them.

Instead of hunting for those three, they decided to lay an ambush and then kill the powerful guy first before they hunt those weak women.

And so their plan is already in place, and two of them already have the room in their scope.

'Sir, I have that guy in my thermal vision…' suddenly from the radio, someone said.

This made the rest of the soldiers around the commander showed smiles on their faces.

"Commence attack! Fire at will!" the commander said in their intercom.

Bang! Bang!

Two sniper rifle gunshots echoed through the air as its large-caliber bullet broke through the window and flew towards Xin Wie's head and chest.

Then this was followed by an RPG and a missile launcher shooting simultaneously sending a rocket and two missiles flying inside the room.

Ka-boom!!!

The room exploded thoroughly and was destroyed as everything was engulfed in blazing fire.

"Confirm visual on the target…" the commander radioed as the group waited for confirmation.

They waited and waited, but no one answered.

After a few minutes, the commander has already lost his patience and radioed.

"Confirm the kill!" he shouted on the radio.

What greeted him is just static.

This made everyone in the area turned silent. They seem to have felt that something is wrong.

But before they can react, they suddenly heard some gunshots.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They turned their gaze towards the direction of the gunshot. It came from one of the snipers, that one was positioned near the western corner of the target window.

In that place, there are two people, the sniper and the one who shot the RPG.

After a while, silence envelops their surroundings.

Kzzt!...

The radio static made everyone jump in horror as it broke through the silence which has already made everyone feel edgy.

'Kzzt!... Your men… are dead… You… are… next…' a cold voice echoed through the room coming from the radio.

The commander frown upon hearing that voice which seems to come from the depths of hell and made everyone inside the room feel the hair in their bodies stand on end.

"Damn it! That guy is still alive? How? How was he able to survive that?!?"

"This is getting troublesome..."

The rest of the soldiers inside the room said with panic clearly written all over their faces.

"That voice… it seems to belong to a teenager…" the commander suddenly said.

Although the situation they are in is very dire, the commander is still able to assess their opponent. And just from that tone and voice alone, he has already determined what kind of enemy they are currently facing.

The commander seems unfazed as he picks up the radio.

"Young man… are you going to sacrifice the lives of your companions? If you do not show yourself unarmed in ten seconds, I will kill one of your friends…" the commander said with a sneer on his face.

The commander of the group has joined them due to the request of the Lin family. They have gotten a word that a powerful being has entered H city, and they send him to handle this matter. Though he is not one of the top brass in the private army of the Hallowed Leaf Syndicate, he has his experience in real war behind his back.

He has fought many battles and has experienced many tragic moments, and he has survived them all.

And right now, his opponent is just a teenager. Powerful, but still a young teenager who is prone to his impulse and would always commit mistakes.

As a veteran soldier, he knew that one of the weaknesses of these youngsters is those people they call friends, especially women. Heck almost everyone has this kind of weakness no matter how powerful they are. Except for some of those old people who can regain their calm judgment in this kind of situation, he knew that the kid would fall in his hand with this trick.

And so he began his countdown…

"Ten… Nine… Eight…"

"Five…"

"Four…"

"Three…"

"Two…"

As he counted to this part, he suddenly saw a shadow moving on the streets below.

Seeing that shadow he stops counting. Then he noticed the shadow flickering as if it was a ghost. As the shadow flickers, he noticed that one soldier after another slowly appears on the street as if they are being gathered in a pile.

Upon seeing this scene, the rest of the people inside that room turned to their binoculars or scopes to see what is really happening below them.

They all discover that those soldiers are still alive and were just rendered unconscious.

"Sir… those are our men… What… what should we do?" the only woman in the group asked with worry in her eyes.

However, the commander and the captain who is standing near the window just watched the scene below. The two knew that the lives of those soldiers below are now in their hands. One wrong choice and those people would surely die.

After around ten soldiers were gathered in the middle of the street within the darkness, the static sound of the radio woke everyone from their stupor.

'Here are ten soldiers… I will now count to ten… and each second, a soldier would die.' The cold tone coming from the radio once again sent chills running down the spine of the people in the room.

'Let's start!'

Everyone inside the room turned quiet. The woman was worried and could not hold on anymore as she suddenly broke the silence, by talking to her headset.

"Wait!" she shouted.

As her voice echoed, nothing happened.

"We…"

"Sergeant… I advise you to stand down…" the commander said in a cold voice while glaring at the woman.

"Commander… those are our men… I can't let them die just like that…" she said with hesitation in her eyes.

"They are soldiers! They are willing to die in battle! Don't mock their resolve and bravery!" shouted the commander.

"Because of what you did, we have lost our edge in this negotiation." The commander said while glaring at the woman.

Kzzt…

'An old fool…' the voice from the radio echoed.

Everyone was stunned upon hearing that tone, and then suddenly they were all shocked upon seeing what happened next.

No one knew where their enemy is and no one could find his shadow after sending their soldiers in the middle of the road. But upon hearing that cold voice and the mocking tone from it, they knew that the enemy already found them.