The ceiling lamp dimmed and brought the entire space into pitch-black darkness. It was a complete visual limitation.
Xia Lei’s body made contact with the cold hard ground and at that split second, he pushed his palms against it to roll his body over to the side.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
A few stray bullets hit the spot where he had fallen, generating sparks of flames against the concrete floor.
Xia Lei stomped his foot hard, sliding a few metres away to stop beside a pillar. With a coordinate exertion of his waist and limb, he stealthily rolled behind it.
Bang bang bang…
The field agents continued to fire, relying on the light at the end of their barrels. It was barely sufficient to make out their surroundings. They had to rely on continuous shooting to maintain illumination. All of the CIA field agents underground were armed with pistols. At most, they would only be able to fire ten bullets. With the current firing speed of modern pistols, to clear their cartridge would only require seconds. However, that was an issue. Who in their right mind would want to exhaust their cartridge in such an environment?
The first round of bullets came to a halt after a moment. The visibility it brought was immediately robbed away by the darkness. No one knew where Xia Lei was hiding, it was as if the man had disappeared into thin air.
Suddenly, the left wall lifted upwards without warning. Four extensively armed CIA agents rushed out of the secret tunnel with tactical torches mounted on their assault rifle. Their emergence chased away the tense darkness of the environment.
“Kill him! Make sure you kill him!” Yang Shan roared in unfiltered anger. The stark difference between him and the agents around was that Yang Shan was armed with a revolver. The handheld gun was long and had a large calibre. It didn’t take much to understand that this was a powerful revolver. A revolver was a popular choice among those who were well-versed with guns.
The four CIA combatants pointed their rifles at different directions, producing four clear rays of light that scanned through potential hiding spots in their vicinity.
A shadow mass was found beside a cement pillar. Other than the pillar’s shadow, there was also…
“He’s hiding behind the pillar! “ Sperry abruptly pointed at the spot. “Fire!”
Bang bang bang…
Bullet after bullet rained down like hellfire. Fiery hot bullets blasted the concrete pillar mercilessly, sending sparks and pieces of cement fragments around.
“Hahaha!” Yang Shan laughed menacingly. “Xia Lei! You can try to escape but you’re not going anywhere! Come on, run!”
Judging from the current situation, Xia Lei was deprived of any possible escape route. As soon as he emerges from behind the pillar, he would become the target of tens of guns. A bullet shower was inevitable!
“Surround him!” Sperry directed the field agents to move.
A twist of events occurred. Without warning, the four combatants slumped against the ground, losing their grips on their assault rifle. The tactical torch shone closely against the floor, immediately weakening illumination by at least two-thirds.
“What the hell?” There was now a hint of horror to Sperry’s tone. “Stand up, bastards! Stand up!”
No response came from the four fallen combatants. If there were to be any, it would merely be pre-death convulsions.
While everyone else was taken aback by the scene, Xia Lei’s voice suddenly came from behind the pillar. “Oh, I forgot to tell you this. That glass vial earlier contains the poison Hattori Mei provided me. It is transmittable by air and I’m sure that you’ve inhaled a great deal of it at this point.”
As soon as his voice fell, one of the field agents clawed at his throat. His desperate actions made it seem as if he wished to squeeze something out of his windpipe. Unfortunately, all his efforts were futile. One second later, he fell stiffly onto the hard ground.
Another field agent held his breath and dashed for the secret tunnel. His initial spot was comparatively further from where Xia Lei broke the glass vial, hence he had managed to maintain decent health levels and agility.
However, as he was about to take the route, a hand reached out from behind that particular cement pillar with a black Viper pistol in his grip.
Bang!
A shot was fired.
The escaping agent lost control over his movements as a ping pong sized indent was created on the back of his skull.
Xia Lei retracted his arm. He had held off firing bullets earlier because the man had essentially no chance of firing. One gunshot was enough to betray his hiding spot. Thankfully, that was no longer an issue. After the fall of the four combatants, the risk level was greatly reduced. Xia Lei was now able to fire at anyone he wishes!
Crash!
Another field agent slumped over, convulsed and died.
Sperry and Yang Shan dodged to another corner that was the furthest away from their evacuation tunnel. There was also a cement pillar at their corner which could shield Xia Lei’s bullets. Other than that, there was also a ventilator that would help blow away the toxic gas.
Noticing that their leader and Sperry had gone into hiding, the last remaining field agents quickly ran for that corner.
Bang! Bang!
Another two bullets were fired.
There was no need for Xia Lei to stick his body out for better aim. All he had to do was reach an arm out from behind the pillar and fire two shots.
The lagging two field agents succumbed for the ground.
Two smoking holes the size of ping-pong balls were produced on the back of their heads, both in the same location that brought them similar deaths. Xia Lei’s killing approach was an art of its own. His aim was terrifyingly artistic!
‘Xia Lei checked the time. One minute and thirty seconds had passed since the promised time for operation commencement. Based on Bureau 101’s efficiency and speed, Tang Yuyan had most probably gained full control over the bar and occupied the back area at this given moment.
Xia Lei wasn’t worried that Tang Yuyan and the Bureau 101 agents would barge into this place at this moment because there was only a slim chance that the woman would notice that the crusty ashtray atop the shelf was actually a trigger for an elevator. This was ideal. If they were to enter the battle now, their main enemy would not be the CIA agents but the lethal gas itself!
The two surviving field agents finally made it to a safe corner. But before they could even resume position behind a pillar, their bodies gave out. At that instance, it was as if their bones were forcefully fractured and that their joints were chopped.
The two field agents twitched pitifully and went completely still.
Now, Yang Shan and Sperry were the last remaining ones of the CIA’s Jingdu informant base.
Xia Lei’s left eye penetrated through the side of the concrete pillar and locked itself on the other corner of the room. His Viper pistol was aimed and still, maintaining its position to shoot. Once any body part of Sperry or Yang Shan was visible, Xia Lei would give it a bullet.
“Mister Yang, let us talk.” Xia Lei screamed, “How long have you worked for the CIA?”
“Go to hell!” Yang Shan abruptly showed his upper body and right arm from behind the pillar, three bullets were produced from his revolver.
The three bullets flew from Xia Lei ferociously. The three spots Yang Shan had aimed for were centred on Xia Lei’s voice!
Regardless of his marksmanship or deduction of the target, Yang Shan had displayed extraordinary mastery. The fact that he was appointed the leader of the informant base was a good indication of his competency.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
The bullets from the revolver collided with the pillar shielding Xia Lei. The corresponding points would be his left eye, right eye and jaw. If Xia Lei did not have a pillar in front of him, there was no doubt that his skull would’ve already been decorated with three bullets!
Despite that, not a single blink was garnered from Xia Lei. The man did not even flinch. It was at that very moment Yang Shan fired three shots that Xia Lei pushed his right index finger against his trigger.
Bang!
The Viper pistol spat a bullet and the hot bullet lodged itself deep inside Yang Shan’s right wrist.
“Argh!” Yang Shan screamed in agony, frantically retracting his injured right arm.
Comparing their shooting speeds was like comparing a human to a cheetah! This was a skewed competition. They were at completely different levels!
“Sirs, why not we settle on an exchange.” Xia Lei showed himself, leaving his hiding spot. Yang Shan had lost his weapon and combat abilities. The only opponent left was Sperry, but this no longer posed much threat to Xia Lei.
“Exchange? What kind of a deal do you want?” Sperry’s voice wavered slightly, his fear unmasked.
Xia Lei slowly approached the corner, right hand constantly at the same level as his chest in a position to shoot. “What I want is simple. Tell me where Hattori Mei is and how she contacts you. Also, I need to know if the FA Organization was involved with the assassination of my family. Are they also in Jingdu? Along with their contact details. If you give me what I want, I’ll spare your lives.”
“Shut up! Do you think we’re stupid?” Sperry roared, “Even if you got the information you need, you’ll still kill us!”
Xia Lei chortled. “You’re giving up so soon? Why not give it a go? Why are you so sure that I wouldn’t spare you? To me, you’re just a civil servant to the American government. There’s no bad blood between us.”
“Shut up! Fuck you!” Sperry hissed.
Xia Lei raised an arm and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A gunshot was sounded and the ventilator ceased all activity.
Xia Lei hummed. “Oh dear, I think I broke the ventilator. Sorry, it was an accident, definitely a misfire. You should leave this place soon or the toxic gases will reach you. I’m sure you’ve seen what it does to you after inhalation…”
“Fuck! Fuck!” Sperry rushed out from behind the pillar and began to fire at Xia Lei.