Blood gushed out of Ayesha’s mouth as the impact felt like a truck had slammed into her head on. Her tiny body was thrown into the air and smashed against the concrete wall. If it wasn't for the kinetic skeleton, she would've been dead already.

Blood dripped down through the corner of her lips. While enduring the sharp pain in her chest, Ayesha didn’t dare to hesitate and rolled away from the window.

Almost instantly, another bullet arrived and struck where she was previously. The shattered concrete debris scratched her face, and the 12.76 mm bullet left a giant crater on the ground.

After escaping from the area directly observable through the window, she then let out a sigh of relief and ripped off her jacket with teeth clenched.

Even with the genetic vaccine, bullets still treated everyone equally.

While the assault rifle of the modern world was inferior compared to those from the apocalypse, the power of a sniper rifle was not to be underestimated. From the damage done to the ground alone, the enemy must be using an anti-armor sniper rifle—the Barrett M82!

Though the bullet was deflected, it still caved in the polyethylene bullet-proof vest. The massive kinetic energy from the shot had knocked the wind out of her.

Xia Shiyu, completely oblivious to what had just happened, remained terrified and lied there without moving.

"Ayesha.."

"Don’t move, stay down!" Seeing Xia Shiyu wanting to come help, Ayesha immediately stopped her.

The caved-in part happened to be pressing against her ribcage, substantially interfering with her ability to breath.

She swallowed the blood back down, gritted her teeth, and removed the polyethylene plate in front of her chest.

Since it was one-time protection anyways, there was no point in leaving it in front of her chest after being shattered.

Taking a deep breath, she calmly took out a smoke grenade and threw it near the window.

Fearing that Xia Shiyu would stand up, Ayesha said, "Stay put. Try to stick to the floor if you have difficulty breathing."

"Mhmm."

Xia Shiyu tightly pressed against the ground with the smoke hiding her terrified—but gorgeous—face.

Forcing her body to move, Ayesha picked up the assault rifle and helmet belonging to Caitlin and returned to the window.

Using a lighter, she heated up the helmet and then used the assault rifle to raise the helmet, slowly moving it to the window opening.

Bang!

With the "head" barely exposed, the helmet was blown away.

[ Thermal vision? ]

Ayesha’s eyebrows twisted together and looked at the door.

The enemy must have headed to the sniping location she was previously at; therefore, the door must also be in the range of the sniper. Without the ability to move, they were completely suppressed inside this room.

It was her first time encountering a situation like this in real life.

[ What to do.. ]

Inhaling deeply, Ayesha clenched tightly onto the Ghost sniper rifle in her hands.

She started to feel hazy from the acute chest pain. It was only through sheer willpower that she hadn't fallen unconscious yet.

Her body temperature began to lower, and her consciousness also slowed.

Suddenly, a faint light flashed on the EP.

Ayesha, noticing the abnormality on the EP, hesitated for a moment before opening it up.

[ Hidden genetic code? Eliminate body heat? ]

[ Could it really do that? ]

[ .. Whatever, I have to take the gamble. ]

She took another deep breath as she felt her body heat decreasing to the extreme and her heart speed slowing down tremendously. Ayesha, with the sniper rifle, knelt at the window.

Seeing that a bullet didn’t arrive, she had a smile on her face.

Inside the smoke, without the help of thermal vision, the enemy couldn't see her.

She activated the thermal vision on the scope and locked on to the bright spot a thousand yards away.

"Goodbye."

Ayesha pressed the trigger, and blood splattered in the scope.

"Finished.." she muttered to herself.

At the same time, her tightly tensed consciousness reached its limit.

As the smoke began to fade, the sniper rifle rolled out of her hands, and she dropped to the ground.

"Ayesha!"

She faintly heard someone calling her name, but she couldn’t hear anything after.

[ Tired .]

[ I really want to sleep.. ]

..

Dagger struggled to get up from the ground after waking up from unconsciousness.

"Fu*k, this guy didn’t go easy on me."

He touched his pocket; the pistol and phone were all there.

"It’s going to be really problematic now."

Dagger rubbed his bruised face as he sat down on the bench nearby. It was completely dark already. After lying on the concrete ground for so long, Jiang Chen must have been long gone.

He took out the phone and dialed Jiang Chen.

"The number you are calling is either out of service or has been shut down.."

"Should I say it is expected?" Dagger let out a sigh as he hung up the phone.

At the same time, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"It’s me, Miao Jun," replied a feeble voice from the other side of the phone.

"Little Jun?! Where are you now?!" Dagger was shocked.

Although the tone sounded confounded, it was indeed Miao Jun’s voice. Dagger originally didn’t have any hope, but Miao Jun did manage to escape from the CIB! If he saw the face of that agent, it would definitely be a turning point in this stalemate!

On the other hand, while he didn’t say anything, he was indeed worried about the safety of this immature student.

"I’m in the rural area.."

"Wait there! Tell me the address, I’ll be right there."

After confirming the location, Dagger rushed into the car and raced to the rural area.

While en route, Dagger reported to headquarter about losing Jiang Chen and of Miao Jun escaping.

To the news of Jiang Chen defying the order, his superior, General Liu, was only silent and not angry. He then ordered Dagger to immediately rescue Miao Jun, who had escaped from the CIB. As for Jiang Chen, he had already sent other people to handle it.

When the communication ended, he reached to where Miao Jun described.

With the car parked on the road, Dagger took his pistol and rushed into the alley.

Not long after, he saw Miao Jun covering his stomach while leaning against a wall.

Miao Jun was covered in blood, with bruises all over his face.

Seeing this scene, Dagger instantly became furious and he quickly rushed to the side of Miao Jun, putting an arm around his shoulders.

Dagger started cursing when he saw that his student was tortured by the CIB.

"Fu*k, don’t let me catch them—"

But he couldn’t finish the sentence, his voice froze halfway.

Slowly, he looked down.

"Why.."

"No reason."

The blood on Miao Jun was fake, and the feeble voice was also feigned.

However, the blood flowing out of Dagger was real.

"Because of money?"

Dagger stared at the blade in his stomach, bitterness was the only impression left on his face.

The pistol slid down from his hand, and Miao Jun kicked it away.

Perhaps Miao Jun was embarrassed to answer such a question; he didn’t say anything as he made another stab at Dagger's stomach.

"If you wanted to be rich, why did you become a soldier.."

More blood flowed out, interrupting Dagger’s harsh words.

In the unknown alley, the seasoned veteran stopped breathing.

After killing the "master" he had spent half a month with, Miao Jun took a deep breath and suppressed the guilt in his mind. He took the phone and car key from Dagger's body and walked to the Sonata.

One million USD, he could not make that much in his life.

Just like what Zhang Youjie had said: since he was already planning on retiring, what difference does timing make?