Chapter 48: Trampling on Human Life

"Wang Xuyan?!"

Wang Chao and Ma Han cried out in simultaneous astonishment.

Ma Han reacted more quickly, grasping the situation instantly.

"Wang Xuyan, you really sold us out! Are you even human?!"

Upon hearing these words, Wang Xuyan instinctively shrank her neck.

However, realizing almost immediately that she had switched to a powerful backer, she stopped hiding altogether and stepped forward with an arrogant, swaggering gait.

"You scrawny monkey, don't put it so harshly!"

"Brother Jin is only here to ask a few questions. Who could have blamed anyone when that bitch Xu Xiao refused to cooperate?"

"She only has herself to blame!"

Assisted by Wang Chao, Xu Xiao struggled to her feet, her complexion as pale as paper.

She had been shot in the abdomen, and her dress was soaked and dyed crimson with fresh blood.

"They are looking for Lu Li..." Xu Xiao managed to tell Wang Chao through labored breaths.

The latter looked frantic. "Then tell them that! Lu Li isn't with us; tell them to look somewhere else..."

Zhao Jin shoved Wang Xuyan aside, stepping forward slowly.

"I am well aware that Lu Li isn't here, but Xu Xiao has Lu Li's contact information."

"Therefore, she needs to help me summon Lu Li."

"You expect us to help just because you say so?" a student shouted from the crowd.

"You showed up and injured our monitor without a word, and now you want our help? There is no such logic in this world!"

Zhao Jin tilted his head slightly, casting his gaze toward the crowd.

The moment his eyes locked onto that student, a bullet whistled through the air and struck him squarely between the eyebrows!

Dead.

Simply because he stepped forward and uttered a single sentence.

The crowd instantly erupted into panic, scrambling frantically to scatter and flee in all directions.

However, Zhao Jin's men would never allow such a thing to happen.

Over a dozen masked men dressed in tactical gear had already surrounded the crowd. Anyone attempting to escape was promptly knocked violently to the ground.

Producing a golden pocket watch, Zhao Jin said indifferently:

"My demand is simple: you just need to help me bring Lu Li here."

"My patience is very limited. As long as Lu Li does not appear, I will kill one person every thirty seconds."

At these words, Ma Han thrust his arms apart, conjuring a glowing bow of fire:

"Do you really take us for pushovers?!"

Wang Chao also picked himself up from the ground, the skin all over his body hardening into armor-like scales:

"Stop slaughtering innocent people!"

Glancing at the two figures blocking his path, Zhao Jin chuckled, completely unfazed.

Time slipped quickly away in the heavy silence.

The thirty seconds passed in a flash. A gunshot rang out, claiming another random life.

"Bastard!" Consumed by rage and past the point of caring about the consequences, Ma Han loosened his fingertips. A fiery arrow shot forward, aiming straight for Zhao Jin's face!

Just as it was about to hit, Zhao Jin neither dodged nor evaded; instead, his smile only grew wider.

*Boom!*

The fiery arrow detonated right in front of Zhao Jin, instantly billowing into a massive ball of fire.

"Did... did it work?"

Not just Ma Han, but every trapped survivor felt a surge of hope in their hearts.

It seemed this man called Zhao Jin was merely putting on a bluff.

Yet, the very next second, their hearts plummeted to the abyss!

The fiery arrow had indeed inflicted damage on Zhao Jin, blasting away almost all the skin on his face.

In some places, bare, white bone was even exposed!

Yet, those wounds were healing at a terrifying speed!

In less than three seconds, Zhao Jin's gloomy, smiling face had reformed. The look in his eyes was as cold as a midwinter frost, chilling enough that none dared meet his gaze.

"Time's up. Time for another."

A gunshot rang out, and another person collapsed to the ground.

Zhao Jin had not even paid attention to Ma Han's attack, as if it were nothing more than the bite of an insect in his eyes.

"I said, stop!"

Roaring with fury, Wang Chao charged directly at Zhao Jin.

The latter still did not dodge, simply raising his leg with blinding speed and kicking Wang Chao squarely in the throat!

"Overestimating your own strength!"

Ignoring Wang Chao, who was coughing violently on the ground, Zhao Jin lifted his gaze to the crowd:

"Anyone else wish to test their worth?"

No one answered.

Low, stifled sobs began to ripple through the silent air.

Zhao Jin walked over to Xu Xiao, grabbed a handful of the girl's hair, and hoisted her up from the ground:

"Call Lu Li here right now, or I will keep killing until not a single person is left!"

Weeping gradually filled the crowd.

"Monitor, why don't you just do as he says..."

"That's right, hurry up and call Lu Li, or he's really going to kill us all!"

"It was Lu Li who provoked these enemies, why should we pay the price!"

"Contact Lu Li already! Is his single life really more important than all of ours combined?!"

"Sob, sob... Lu Li, you coward, come out now, I don't want to die..."

Watching the fragile, crumbling crowd, Zhao Jin smiled even more brightly.

"Crying? That counts against the timer, too!"

Gunshots echoed recklessly, claiming one life after another.

At that very moment, a system announcement echoed simultaneously across the data panels of every player present:

[Congratulations to player Lu Li for becoming the world's first player to slay a Lord-tier creature. Reward: First-Kill Chest × 1!]

"Lu Li?!"

Zhao Jin seemed deeply provoked by this announcement, raising his hand and striking Xu Xiao hard across the face.

Perhaps feeling that this was still not enough to vent his hatred, he dragged the girl toward the residential area's gates.

"It seems mere killing is not enough to motivate you."

"To ensure Lu Li appears as soon as possible, I must arrange some special services for you."

Throwing Xu Xiao onto the concrete pavement, Zhao Jin barked at his subordinates:

"Two of you, hold this little girl down. The rest of you, line up and take turns 'pampering' her!"

"Let's see how long you can hold out!"

Xu Xiao was on the verge of a total breakdown.

The violent wave of emotions left her temporarily speechless. Pinned to the ground, she could only shed tears and shake her head futilely.

Zhao Jin's subordinates moved swiftly, and within moments, a middle-aged man with a leering, vulgar expression approached.

He clawed savagely at the girl's clothes.

With every tear of fabric, jeering laughter erupted around them.

Seeing that Xu Xiao's clothes were about to be completely stripped away, Ma Han made his move once more!

He rapidly drew his fire bow, loosing three arrows in succession.

Two struck Zhao Jin, while the third hit the salacious pervert in the act of assault.

Seeing the attack land, Ma Han lunged forward, intending to snatch Xu Xiao back from their clutches.

Yet before he could take a single step, a dark shadow suddenly burst forth, sinking its teeth viciously into Ma Han's calf!

"Aah!"

Screaming in agony, Ma Han crashed to the ground.

Two more dark shadows followed closely behind, clamping onto his hands on either side.

As the onlookers finally made out the shapes of the shadows, the sickening sound of breaking bones echoed from Ma Han's arms!

They were three grotesque hounds with bloodshot eyes and black fur!

A faint dark miasma swirled around each hound. Though small in stature, they exuded an aura of extreme and vicious ferocity.

"Zhao Jin-san, that wretched skinny fellow keeps attacking you, and it makes me feel quite displeased!"

A short-haired woman with heavy smoky eye makeup and an alluring, seductive voice stepped out slowly, resting her foot heavily on Ma Han's head.

"Shall I let my babies eat him piece by piece?"

The woman spoke with a strange accent, sounding nothing like a native of Huaxia.

Wiping the blood from his face, Zhao Jin replied indifferently, "Chiken-chan, those attacks pose no threat to me whatsoever. But if you wish to play, by all means."

"Understood!" the short-haired woman, Chiken, nodded, manipulating the hounds to tear into Ma Han.

Yet before her command could be issued, all three grotesque hounds abruptly whipped their heads around, staring intently toward a certain direction.

It was as if something hidden within the darkness was drawing their attention...