Chapter 1519: Capturing Liao Wendong Alive

Hearing gunfire at such close range, the two melons clinging to Xia Qing's neck were frightened. Daigua stretched out a little black paw and unzipped Xia Qing's backpack, crawled inside with Ergua, then stretched out the little black paw again to zip it shut.

Xia Qing didn't stop the two melons, squeezed the trigger again, and kept blasting the impact point of the first bullet.

"Bang!"

"Clang!"

At such close range, two armor-piercing rounds had failed to penetrate the metal shelter inside the tree hollow — Xia Qing couldn't help but sigh:

A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. The hands of the once-mighty Hui City First Battle Squad really do hold plenty of good stuff!

Just as she was about to squeeze the trigger a third time, the phone in her pocket began to vibrate, with a voice prompt announcing an incoming call from an unknown number. Xia Qing acted as if she hadn't heard it and squeezed the trigger again.

The third bullet hit the same impact point as the first two, punched through the shelter into the interior, then struck the iron wall on the far side, and finally the sound of it dropping onto the floor inside the shelter was picked up by Xia Qing's keenly evolved hearing.

From those sounds, construction worker Xia Qing deduced the shape and material of the shelter inside the tree hollow: the walls and floor were all sheet iron. It was reasonable to assume the top was sheet iron too — this was a large iron box.

Huo Zhun, who had hurried back carrying three corpses, pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Sister Qing, should I kick the tree trunk down?"

The inside of this fifty- or sixty-meter-tall tree had certainly been hollowed out for the most part; a dual-system Evolver like Huo Zhun, with a powerful leaping kick, could definitely snap the trunk and expose the iron shack inside.

Xia Qing gave the order. "No need. The enemy may use poison. Fall back and take cover, prepare to capture. Queen, Broken-Waist, lead the wolf pack back two hundred meters."

Guarding against the enemy's poison was one thing; the tree that Fiery Flame had burned a hole through was Daigua's home, and the little hole at the top of the tree held all of Daigua's belongings.

Xia Qing had come this time to rescue Daigua, not to tear down its home — this tree had to be preserved for it.

The cost of the sniper rounds? Let the two melons in the backpack work off the debt.

Just as Xia Qing unhesitatingly shifted the muzzle and used a bullet to drill a second hole in the iron shack, someone inside called out through the hole. "Captain Yang, Miss Xia, shall we talk?"

Yang Jin pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Liao Wen, he's trying to stall for time until rescue arrives."

Huo Zhun replied, "Damn, this guy was faking his death."

Xia Qing replied, "Earlier an unknown number called me, and I guessed it might be him."

"Aow?" The lead wolf said nothing; Broken-Waist, with the walkie-talkie hanging from its neck, asked a question.

Xia Qing explained, "Queen, Broken-Waist, the person hiding in the tree hollow is the third leader of Hui City's Fiery Flame Squad. His name is Liao Wen. It was he who orchestrated yesterday's explosion at the human safe zone, trying to blow me up."

"Woo!" Broken-Waist growled low, and the lead wolf also bared its bone-white fangs. The wolves behind them, hearing their leader's growl, immediately spread into battle formation.

Xia Qing replied, "Right, the bad human in the tree hollow is my enemy and must be killed. But before killing him, I still need to find out where the other bad people Fiery Flame Squad has hidden are. You absolutely must not come over — fall back another hundred meters. His poison-gas grenades are extremely dangerous."

"Aow." Broken-Waist answered.

Telling the wolf pack to retreat, Xia Qing instead set down her backpack and began walking forward.

Broken-Waist, with its keen sense of smell and hearing, had failed to detect the human hidden in the tree hollow — this meant the iron shack inside had very likely completely cut off air circulation between inside and outside.

To ensure the success of the next step, Xia Qing had to breach the iron shack's protective layer.

Now the iron box had already been pierced by bullets, and judging from the sounds, Liao Wen inside wasn't staying in a glass cover completely sealed off from the outside world. Xia Qing could move.

Seeing Xia Qing walk forward, Yang Jin immediately understood her intention. He waved to signal Huo Zhun to retreat further back, while he himself stood in place to draw Liao Wen's attention. "Captain Liao? You ran fast enough. We can talk, but you have to show us your sincerity."

In Liao Wen's voice, tightening his grip on the poison-gas grenade, a smile crept in. "What does Captain Yang mean by 'sincerity'?"

Yang Jin's voice went from lazy to murderous in an instant. "Captain Liao asking that means he has no sincerity at all. Sister Qing, keep drilling holes with the bullets. Drill Mr. Liao full of holes like a sieve, then we can talk sincerity with Deng Yufeng."

Xia Qing, sniper rifle on her back, continued forward with light, careful steps.

Liao Wen cursed inwardly and hurriedly shouted, "Miss Xia, I have no intention of making an enemy of you. I've already contacted Blue Blood Alliance headquarters — the rescue helicopter will arrive any moment. If I die here, Miss Xia will never be able to stay in her territory and farm in peace. Captain Yang, my not having submitted the Green Dragon Squad's criminal evidence from recent years to the Hui City Squad Alliance headquarters is itself the greatest sin—"

"ROAR!!!"

Before Liao Wen could finish shouting, he suddenly heard the furious roar of a giant bear. His heart seemed seized by that terrifying howl; his breathing grew difficult, and his vision began to blur.

No, this is poisoning… By the time Liao Wen realized something was wrong and tried to press the self-destruct button, he no longer had the strength.

What kind of poison? So fast…

Hearing a thud from inside the iron shack, Xia Qing pressed the button. "Liao Wen has passed out. Brother Jin, Brother Huo, you two stay where you are and wait. Broken-Waist, pull Daigua and Ergua out of my backpack, take them and intercept Xiong Wang — don't let it come over to the tree hollow, in case it gets poisoned. Today's supplies will be divided up the moment we get back to the wolf pack's territory."

Finished speaking, Xia Qing raised her voice to call the melons in the backpack. "Daigua, Ergua, you go with Broken-Waist to intercept Xiong Wang."

Yang Jin understood what agent Xia Qing had used, and was the first to press the walkie-talkie button to reply. "Copy that. Sister Qing, stay safe."

"Copy that." Huo Zhun replied.

"Aow!"

Broken-Waist leapt to Xia Qing's backpack, skillfully unzipped it, and Daigua, carrying Ergua on its back, crawled out of the backpack and onto Broken-Waist's back.

Queen? Xiong Wang was coming — without Xia Qing saying a word, it would immediately lead the little wolves out of the bear group's territory.

The giant python that had surfaced from the water? After hearing the first sniper shot, it had retreated back beneath the surface.

Xia Qing, black blade in one hand and shield raised, walked to the base of the great tree, turned on her flashlight to illuminate the bark, and quickly found the cuts a human had made in the bark with a knife.

Those cut marks were very familiar to Xia Qing — the month before last, she and the former southern lead wolf, Old Four, had pried open a tree hollow with this same pattern of marks and pulled out eight supply crates.

Xia Qing quickly peeled back the bark that had been pierced by two bullets, and shone her flashlight on the iron shack door behind the bark — one and a half meters tall and thirty centimeters wide. After carefully examining the iron door's construction and keyhole, Xia Qing silently complained that Fiery Flame's locks were as backward as ever.

She turned off the flashlight and switched on her headlamp, pulled two thin iron wires from her pocket, quickly bent them a few times, inserted them into the keyhole to probe, took them out and bent them again, then pushed them back in, caught the spring, turned three times, and pushed inward — the iron door swung open a crack.

Seeing this scene, Yang Jin's heart leapt to his throat, and Huo Zhun's fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked. Both men wished they could rush over right then and swap Xia Qing out, since her close-combat ability wasn't high.

But they weren't the squad leader — they could only obey orders.

In terms of close combat, Xia Qing was indeed not as good as the two behind her, but in terms of clearing the battlefield, speed and skill, Xia Qing, who had long served as an unofficial logistics member, was first-rate.

Two minutes later, she burst out carrying two bags in one hand and Liao Wen in the other. "The big bag is supplies, the small bag is hazardous items, and the man is yours too. You two immediately take all the corpses and supplies and withdraw from the bear group's territory. I'll go intercept Xiong Wang."

Broken-Waist and the two melons had failed to intercept Xiong Wang — from the roars, they were getting closer and closer to this basin.