Chapter 10: The Holy-Blooded

Chapter10: The Holy-Blooded

At that moment, on the ground.

After confirming that the mother organism had been completely paralyzed, temporarily losing its offensive capability, the four members of the squad turned their attention entirely to the man on the rooftop.

Chen Jian's 191 was already aimed at the man's direction; one drone climbed to maintain surveillance, while the other approached the man, trying to discern his intentions.

He Shuo operated the drone, swaying it left and right as a friendly gesture.

But obviously, the man did not understand the meaning of that gesture.

He merely gazed curiously at the drone's direction, seemingly trying to figure out how this thing worked.

Given that the drone lacked long-range communication ability, Chen Jian below could only shout loudly:

"Who are you? We mean no harm!"

He was not unaware that humans on this post-apocalyptic wasteland could pose a threat to the squad—the refugees belonging to Du Hu had already given him a lesson.

But he also knew clearly that the squad absolutely could not abandon contact with other survivors just because of one danger.

Doing so would only result in the entire squad losing any chance of receiving aid, eventually suffocating slowly in isolation.

Therefore, contact and probing were necessary.

If an emergency arose, He Shuo's 12.7mm caliber sniper rifle in his hand would teach him a lesson.

What the mother organism could withstand, the little humanoid monster could not!

With that thought, Chen Jian continued shouting:

"Can you hear my voice? We are not enemies!"

The man on the rooftop still showed no reaction; at that moment, through the image transmitted back by the drone, Chen Jian noticed the walkie-talkie in his hand.

This made him more convinced of the man's value and more determined to make contact.

Having a walkie-talkie, knowing how to use it, and possibly even maintaining and repairing it meant that this man, and the group behind him, still retained a fairly intact human civilization—utterly different from that refugee squad earlier.

However, the man seemed not to give Chen Jian any face.

He glanced downward, then tucked the walkie-talkie into his chest.

Next, he pulled something from his waist.

"Gun! Gun!"

Chen Jian shouted loudly; almost instantly, He Shuo had already pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

At that moment, the straight-line distance between He Shuo and the man was no more than 200 meters.

A flight speed of 900 meters per second meant that in less than 0.3 seconds, the bullet would hit the man.

It was nearly impossible for anyone to dodge this bullet.

Yet the man managed to do so.

In that fleeting 0.3 seconds, he twisted his body sideways with astonishing speed, raised his gun‑holding right hand, aimed at the drone in the air, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

The distinctive gunshot rang out; the drone flying in the air, relying on its survival‑enhancement function, recognized the man's weapon and autonomously initiated an evasive maneuver, narrowly avoiding the bullet.

At the same time, the large‑caliber bullet fired by He Shuo just managed to pass under the man's armpit.

"Damn! He could even dodge that?"

He Shuo stared wide‑eyed, while Chen Jian had already aimed at the man's still‑unstable body and fired a short burst.

It missed.

After tilting sideways, the man quickly righted himself; Chen Jian's lead had just missed his body.

If the first time was luck, the same luck could not possibly happen twice.

Chen Jian instantly realized the man's uniqueness.

Such reaction speed, such physical prowess—perhaps he was one of those spoken of as the Saint‑Blooded?

Without time to think further, Chen Jian quickly gave the order:

"The enemy has shown hostility—take him down!"

"Drone, increase flight altitude and follow, relaying position information in real time."

"Each of the four take a direction, surround the target building!"

"Understood!"

The squad moved swiftly, and the target changed instantly.

The poor mother organism still lay on the ground, struggling, like a dehydrated fish.

A few minutes earlier, it had been the strongest creature in this area, the top of the food chain. A few minutes later, it had become something those "ants" overlooked—if the mother organism could feel, it might even regret it.

After all, it was the first to start the fight!

But now, the four‑person squad had completely regarded it as a non‑threatening secondary target; as they moved forward, they didn't even spare it a glance.

Their eyes were fixed only on the man atop the highrise.

Chen Jian gripped his 191 tightly, locking onto the street ahead.

He was unsure whether the man was alone or had teammates.

But regardless, as long as the drone had not issued a new heat‑source warning, they would not halt their advance.

The squad's steps were quick; in less than half a minute they had already encircled the building.

Chen Jian had thought the upcoming assault on the building would be the main event, but he never imagined

that the man would leap from the rooftop.

Then, in the drone's view, he went "bang" and landed on another rooftop tens of meters away, with a drop of at least six meters.

And he emerged unscathed.

"Damn! Is he even human?"

Chen Jian stared, stunned, then continued issuing orders:

"Keep tracking, drone maintain surveillance."

"Do not lose sight; if we lose it, we'll never find him again!"

"Understood! Already switched to intelligent tracking mode!"

Data flowed between the six combat units and six smart terminals, making the tracking swift and efficient.

The man continued leaping across the rooftop; each jump left Chen Jian astonished.

——

But unfortunately, the practical effect of such actions was pitifully small.

Without aerial vision, perhaps after the first or second leap, the four‑person squad would have already lost him.

But no matter how fast you jump, can you outrun a drone?

The two drones, shadowing him like a second skin, clung to the man, even anticipating the direction of his leaps.

The four‑person team on the ground didn’t even need to expend energy running after him; they merely had to stay mobile, and they could reach the most advantageous interception point by the shortest, fastest route.

After several jumps, the man finally realized this was not an escape route.

He turned and darted into the stairwell, hoping to shield himself from the drones’ aerial view.

But he didn’t know that this drone carried a micro‑Doppler radar detection system, whose purpose, aside from real‑time terrain modeling, was primarily to...

...detect targets lurking around corners.

It was essentially a close‑quarters battle behemoth, and indoors was its true battlefield!

Consequently, the man discovered with horror that the ghost‑like drone persistently tailed him, keeping exactly one corner’s distance behind.

He could not attack the drone, but it was obvious that the enemy could see him!

For the first time, the man felt fear; after scrambling down several flights of stairs, he panicked and leapt out through a shattered window, landing on the ground.

Thus, he was once again exposed to the gaze of another drone maintaining high‑altitude surveillance, and to the crossfire of the four‑person squad.

“Fire!”

“Stop!”

Chen Jian and the man’s voices rang out almost simultaneously, though Chen Jian didn’t even need to speak—the muzzles of the four guns already flared with fire.

“Bang!”

“Bang‑bang‑bang!”

“Rat‑tat‑tat—”

The man’s body twisted in an uncanny posture and lunged forward, dodging the absolutely lethal large‑caliber round and a few short bursts from Chen Jian and Shen Yue, but he could not evade the high‑rate‑of‑fire QCQ171.

Flesh exploded, and the man cried out in pain as he collapsed to the ground.

Chen Jian still wanted to finish him off, but the man spoke again:

“Stop!”

“I mean no hostility!”

Chen Jian raised his hand calmly and ordered:

“Stay alert, aim for vital points.”

Then he shouted toward the man:

“Whether you’re hostile isn’t for you to decide.”

“Prove it to me!”

(End of chapter)