His face was a mask of killing intent as he looked down from above.

"Die!"

BANG!!

The gunshot echoed, rattling eardrums.

Lu Chao’s pupils contracted as he dodged to the side, taking cover behind a piece of machinery.

THWAP!

A shallow hole was blasted into the grimy concrete floor. Dust and debris flew everywhere, spattering against the tarp covering the adjacent machine and making it rustle.

Lu Chao pressed his back against the machine, concealing himself in the shadows.

Holding his breath, he could almost hear his own heartbeat.

But at the same time, he heard several other sounds.

The fight at the back of the factory was still going on. It was undoubtedly Yang Wangtao doing his best to pin down Qiu Shan, and the commotion was just as loud as their own.

From the back-left of the second-floor platform came the rustling of hostages cowering in fear, along with panicked whimpers and sobs.

But that wasn’t what he was focused on.

Because he also heard faint footsteps on the second-floor platform.

The next instant, a sudden instinct hit him. He leaped to the side, ducking to evade.

BANG!

A bullet struck the spot where he had just been, piercing the tarp and apparently shattering some kind of glass component within the machinery.

Lu Chao’s feet moved in a blur as he broke into a sprint.

In his peripheral vision, he could see the young sniper using the terrain to his advantage. He had already circled around to the right side of the platform, pulled the bolt again, and was firing at him.

BANG!

The bullet grazed his shoulder and hit the ground.

Lu Chao used the faint ambient light to make out the silhouettes of the machinery on the floor, using them for cover.

CLICK!

BANG!

Another heavy gunshot rang out, followed by the sound of the bolt being worked.

Lu Chao pushed all five of his senses to their limit and dove forward, landing among a messy pile of iron barrels, chains, and other junk in the factory’s right corner.

BANG!

Immediately, another shot rang out. It was as if his opponent could always pinpoint his location.

The bullet hit an iron barrel in front of him, piercing the metal and kicking up a spark.

Then, with a THUD, the sniper round buried itself in the ground. Lu Chao, who should have been hiding behind the barrel, had vanished.

"Hm?"

The young sniper on the steel platform on the right side frowned. He lifted his head slightly from the scope, sensing something was wrong.

Before he could react, he heard a faint rustling from the ground not far from the wall.

"Still trying to hide?"

With a cold smile, he swung his rifle over and abruptly pulled the trigger.

BANG!!

The muzzle flash illuminated everything around him for a brief moment.

But soon, upon realizing he had only hit an old rolling plastic barrel, the young sniper’s expression changed.

He instinctively retreated, pulling back to create distance.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!!

PING PING PING!

Three steel nails flew through the air, striking the spot where he had just stood.

A chill ran down his spine. He hastily swiveled his rifle toward the source of the whistling sound.

He saw that Lu Chao had somehow appeared on the control panel of a large piece of machinery. Using it as a springboard, Lu Chao leaped up and grabbed an iron pipe on the outside of the steel platform.

The young sniper’s eyes narrowed. He retreated again, simultaneously tilting his rifle down, intending to aim and kill.

But to his surprise, his body froze. He found that he had backed himself against the right wall at some point. There was no more room to retreat.

In that exact instant, Lu Chao’s left arm grabbed a steel ring on the frame, veins bulging, and he used the momentum to flip himself up.

As he did, his right sleeve twitched again, shooting out the last two steel nails.

SWOOSH SWOOSH!

The sound of them tearing through the air was like bullets, incredibly fast.

The young sniper’s pupils contracted. He instantly erupted with Martial Arts Power and executed a Secret Technique.

He dropped to his left knee, lowering his body and almost perfectly dodging the deadly nails.

Immediately after, he pushed off with his right leg, and his entire body seemed to shift sideways. He sidestepped toward the back wall, as if sliding on an invisible force, instantly creating two meters of distance.

"It’s over!"

CLICK!

The bolt clicked shut. The young sniper raised his muzzle slightly, a savage grin on his face as he watched the young man—who had just landed—through his scope. Victory was in his grasp.

"Too bad..."

Lu Chao sighed silently as his feet touched the ground, seemingly trapped in a fatal predicament.

For a brief moment, everything seemed to be set in stone.

The young sniper’s eyes were filled with killing intent. He took final aim at Lu Chao’s neck, about to pull the trigger.

But then, in that very instant...

HUM!

Lu Chao’s body shuddered, and his heart suddenly began to pound audibly.

BANG!!

In an instant, the shot rang out!

A tongue of flame licked a distant concrete wall, kicking up a cloud of gray dust.

Lu Chao’s figure had vanished from its original spot and reappeared to the young sniper’s right.

The two were less than a foot apart.

It was as if he had teleported, or perhaps unleashed some immense power to gain a temporary, transcendent speed, crossing several meters in a flash.

His face stiffened. The young sniper stared fixedly at the empty spot where his shot had missed.

A pair of shallow footprints seemed to have appeared on the steel plate, or perhaps it was just a trick of his eyes.

"How is that possible..."

CRACK!

The murmur died on his lips as his head was violently twisted and snapped.

Then, with a THUD, the sniper rifle, no longer supported, crashed to the floor. His head, twisted at an angle, stared with wide eyes that still held a look of horrified disbelief.

"What a waste..."

Looking at the corpse, Lu Chao slowly retracted his hands.

His heart was pounding like a war drum, the blood in his veins flowing twice as fast, and his skin was abnormally hot.

It was as if an invisible furnace had been lit inside him. Wisps of sweat-vapor streamed from his pores, dissipating like steam.

He had planned to save "Adrenaline" for the end, to go all-out against Qiu Shan, or perhaps against the Rebels who might come to rescue them later.

He never thought he’d be forced to use it early.

’Three seconds.’

A number flashed through his mind as Lu Chao slowly turned his head.

He had activated his talent three seconds early, entering the Frenzy State.

By his calculations, he still had two minutes and twenty-seven seconds of his limit left.

Immediately, his gaze swept past the steel platform toward the area by the factory’s back wall.

BAM! BAM! The sounds rang out intermittently, like the thunder of fists and palms. The battle between Yang Wangtao and Qiu Shan was clearly still raging.

After entering the Frenzy State, his thoughts became exceptionally clear. His efficiency in receiving and processing external information far surpassed his previous state. Even in the dim environment, he could locate targets by sound faster than an ordinary person.

In a flash, his pupils darted left and right like the most precise detection instruments, capturing every movement until they finally locked onto a corner near the wall in that area.

A burly, bear-like figure’s trench coat was shredded, revealing two silver mechanical prosthetic arms and the black combat suit worn underneath.

With a resounding crash, Yang Wangtao dodged his Fist Seal, and it slammed heavily into a piece of machinery. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

CLANG!

The piece of machinery, weighing over a ton, shuddered violently and shifted half an inch.

A cloud of dust exploded outwards in a circle, scattering in all directions.

The power his opponent was unleashing seemed to be returning to its peak, nearing the edge of the Elite Level.

’Found you.’

His gaze fixed, Lu Chao hesitated no longer.

Since "Adrenaline" was already active, he had to end this quickly, take the man down, and claim the credit with his own hands.

BOOM!

He stomped the ground and shot forward in a low dive.

The entire factory floor trembled from the force, as if a humanoid beast was rampaging, charging recklessly forward.

Faintly, as if sensing something, the patrol officers outside the factory who had been pinned down exchanged glances, realizing the suppressive gunfire had completely stopped.

Confusion, bewilderment, curiosity...

Finally, led by Yu Yong, they all charged forward, rushing toward the factory’s main entrance.

「At the same time.」

In an underground tunnel running just beneath the factory floor, a passage only seven or eight meters high.

Ruan Hui and his men walked briskly, their expressions wary. The piercing beams of their flashlights tore through the darkness, illuminating a corner ahead where the hidden passage turned upward.

Their gazes swept over the concrete walls and the filthy trickle of water.

After confirming there were no threats, the group started moving again, preparing to launch their final infiltration and assault.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, he frowned.

The Elite Level Captain Wang placed a hand on Qian Hu’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

Qian Hu was confused and was about to ask what was wrong.

But before he could speak...

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!!

An unusually muffled sound, faint and unclear, drifted down to them.

It sounded like the frenzied footsteps of an unstoppable charge, or perhaps the booming echoes of consecutive punches.

Ruan Hui’s expression tensed. He looked up at the tunnel’s ceiling.

A little dust rustled down from between the crisscrossing cobwebs, as if some wild beast were venting its rage above.

"What is..."

He frowned in confusion, and Captain Wang, Qian Hu, and the others wore similar expressions.

’Could someone else have managed to force their way into the factory?’