"What’s going on? Why are the Star Wish Guild members still here?"
"I’m not sure, but this isn’t looking good for us. They have more people."
"So what? We have to slaughter them today!"
Fakam roared, his face contorted with rage.
Having his mission snatched away in front of everyone was already a huge blow to his pride. Letting them escape now would be an utter humiliation.
Hearing Fakam’s furious roar, Gefens rallied his men and shouted.
"Kill them! Leave no survivors!"
"Yes!"
The numerous Star God Guild players roared in unison.
Seeing this, Luoxue and her group gave the order without hesitation.
"Kill!"
BANG! BANG!
Both sides opened fire frantically.
A dense hail of bullets rained down on the opposing side.
PING! PING!
Sparks flew and blood splattered.
"Aargh!"
...
One by one, players from both sides were gunned down, collapsing to the ground, unwilling to accept their fate.
"For the great Star God!"
With bloodshot eyes, Star God Guild players carrying massive shields charged toward Long Ming’s group.
"Quick, take down those charging bastards!"
Fu Fuqing’s expression flickered, and he pulled the trigger!
BANG! BANG!
Aargh!
A Star God Guild player carrying a metal shield was shot in the calf and immediately collapsed.
BOOM!
The fallen player instantly detonated.
Long Ming shot Fu Fuqing a sidelong glance. ’This guy’s pretty skilled!’
At that moment, Jiang Heng and the others also began firing controlled bursts at the suicide attackers.
Aargh!
One after another, the suicide attackers were taken down.
Still, several Star God Guild players managed to rush through. They detonated the explosives on their bodies, sending a group of Star Wish Guild players flying.
The firefight between the two sides grew fiercer, with screams rising and falling continuously.
But not a single Star God Guild player flinched, continuing their relentless assault.
Some Star God Guild players even took out shoddy Genetic Potions and injected themselves on the spot.
AARGH!
Hair sprouted all over the bodies of the players who had injected the Genetic Potions, their muscles swelling as they transformed into half-wolf, half-human monsters. They ferociously dodged bullets and charged, pouncing on Star Wish Guild players and snapping their necks.
Seeing this, Luoxue immediately gave an order.
"Focus fire and take them down!"
Long Ming and the others immediately turned their guns on these mutated players and fired.
BANG! BANG!
Bullets tore into their bodies, sending flesh and blood flying.
"Aargh!"
They let out agonized howls, but they endured the pain and continued to charge toward Long Ming and the others.
Long Ming calmly aimed for the head, killing the players charging at him with precise headshots.
Some of the Star Wish Guild players weren’t so lucky, however, and were pounced upon and bitten to death.
The Star Wish Guild found themselves being pushed back, steadily losing ground.
"It’s no use, we can’t beat them!"
Jing Chuan was starting to panic.
They had engaged in a direct firefight, over two hundred of them against the enemy’s hundred-plus. As a result, their side was now down to around fifty people, while the enemy still had over thirty.
"Hmph. Everyone, throw your grenades, no matter the cost!"
Luoxue gave the command coldly.
"Yes!"
Shen Hu and the others pulled out their grenades and hurled them with all their might.
BOOM!
One by one, the Star God Guild players were blown to pieces.
When Farina saw that the situation was turning against them, she quickly said to Fakam,
"Sir, we have to stop! If we keep this up, we’re all going to die here."
"So what?"
Fakam roared, his eyes bloodshot.
"Sir, our deaths and the heavy losses don’t matter. But if the enemy posts a video of your death online and uses it to slander your glorious name, the price will be far too high."
Farina quickly tried to persuade him.
It was obvious they were outmatched. If they continued to drag this out, there was a ninety percent chance they would be wiped out.
Hearing Farina’s words, Fakam’s face twisted in anger.
In all his years, he had never been so humiliated.
But reason won out over his anger, and he gave the order.
"Retreat!"
"Yes!"
Hearing this, Gefens and the others let out a small sigh of relief, laying down cover fire as they retreated.
"They’re breaking!"
Jiang Heng shouted excitedly, seeing Fakam and his men fall back.
"Don’t give chase. We’re almost out of time. Everyone, pull out now! Grab whatever you can on the way."
Luoxue shouted to stop Jiang Heng and the others, issuing her orders!
"Alright."
Jiang Heng and the others replied with resignation.
And so, the group began snatching up backpacks as they ran for the stairs, rummaging through them on the move.
...
「A short time later.」
Luoxue led her group out of the north stairwell and back to where their truck was parked.
The team members who had stayed behind rushed forward anxiously.
"President, you’re finally back."
"Yes. Start the truck. Everyone, get in."
Luoxue said immediately to Long Ming and the others.
Everyone scrambled onto the truck.
The truck started up quickly and drove away with everyone on board.
「Half an hour later.」
The truck drove out of the base city.
Watching the Observatory Base City recede into the distance, Xiaoqi and the others finally relaxed their tense hearts and said with joy,
"We’re finally safe."
"Hmph. You all feel great, don’t you? But do you know how many people from the guild died for you? How many weapons and pieces of equipment were lost?"
Fu Fuqing looked at Long Ming and his group, his expression dark.
They had originally been about to pull out, but when Luoxue noticed that the Star God Guild members were taking too long to come down, she led them to sneak back up.
They had assumed they were going up to rescue some high-ranking survivor from the All Stars Guild, but it turned out to be members of their own Rat Group.
Hearing Fu Fuqing’s words, Xiaoqi and the others lowered their heads in shame.
At that moment, Luoxue cut Fu Fuqing off coldly.
"That’s enough. That’s not how we measure gains and losses. If it were, what would be the point of forming a guild in the first place?"
Hearing Luoxue’s words, Fu Fuqing was momentarily at a loss for words.
He desperately wanted to argue with Luoxue, but he held his tongue. The guild’s founding principle was indeed mutual assistance, but in his eyes, these members of the Rat Group were beneath his notice.
That was why he was so furious when he discovered the people they had saved were Long Ming’s group.
Seeing this, Long Ming took the initiative and spoke to Luoxue.
"My apologies, President. We caused the guild such heavy losses. How about we turn over half of our earnings from this run to the guild?"
"That’s not necessary! This guild was founded on solidarity and mutual aid. If we see our own people being hunted and just stand by weighing the pros and cons, unwilling to lend a hand, then there’s no point in the guild’s existence. Of course, I’m not just saying this to you; I’m saying it to everyone here."
Luoxue’s calm gaze swept over everyone present.
"The President is wise!"
Shen Hu and the others were also touched. After all, no one wanted to be treated as a disposable pawn one day.
Seeing that Luoxue wouldn’t take a cut, Long Ming took out some documents and handed them to her, asking,
"President Luoxue, we found a lot of data this time. See if any of this is useful to the guild."
Luoxue took the documents, glanced at them, and replied to Long Ming,
"This is all astronomical data. It’s quite valuable. Unfortunately, it’s not very useful for the guild. These aren’t the things the guild is lacking right now."
"Understood."
After hearing her reply, Long Ming put the files away.
...