The Third Rebirth (REBIRTH)
Ling Chen distributed the weapons and instructed, "Use them sparingly because we don't have much ammo left. Once it's gone, we'll have to block bullets with our fists."
Jian Lan, clutching her prized heavy sniper rifle, approached him, "Chen Ge, just give me a few bullets, I'll go and camp in the attic!"
Ling Chen tossed her a magazine of bullets, "Don't shoot as soon as you see someone, wait for the command."
Jian Lan saluted smartly with two fingers pressed against her temple, "Yes, sir!" After saying that, she hoisted her heavy sniper rifle and ran upstairs.
Jiang Cancan was testing the feel of his gun while lamenting, "I'm really envious of the rich! The salary from the Second Division is so meager, Chen Ge, where on earth did you get so many limited editions?"
He shook the barrel of his gun in his hand while excitedly saying, "This is the 'Desert Scorpion' from North Africa! I heard only five were made! I never thought Can Ye would get to touch a Desert Scorpion in his lifetime!"
Then, he nudged Jiang Mu with his elbow, "Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu, quickly take a photo of me with the Desert Scorpion!"
Ling Chen, already in a bad mood, was irritated by his chatter and said coldly, "Keep blabbering, and I won't give you any bullets."
Jiang Cancan immediately made a pained face as he quickly covered his mouth with his hand to indicate that he wouldn't make a sound.
At this moment, the voice of the Smart Butler emerged again, "I'm so happy that the young master has brought friends home."
Jiang Cancan couldn't help but part his fingers slightly and speak in a muffled voice, "Did Chen Ge never bring friends home before?"
"No," the Smart Butler sighed very humanly, "He's too fierce and always getting into fights. When he was little, I was always worried he wouldn't make any friends and would just play alone with mud."
Jiang Cancan imagined the scene of his Chen Ge playing alone with mud and couldn't stop laughing. Before long, he was actually chatting with the Smart Butler.
Ling Chen remained silent, having completely given up.
He seriously reflected that he himself wasn't a chatterbox, yet everyone around him seemed to love to talk.
What kind of messed-up rhythm was this!
Then, the Smart Butler suddenly said, "Young master, those seven people are approaching while they're talking, and they've noticed the armored vehicle parked at the door."
Ling Chen ordered, "Identify their lip movements."
"Lip reading successful."
Three seconds later, the Smart Butler began to speak in a flat, unemotional tone, "There's an armored vehicle parked here, so someone arrived before us. Are you sure only you knew about this place and didn't tell anyone else? If you lied, I'll shoot you dead. Yes, I also found out by chance, the teacher does live here, I really only told you guys."
Ling Chen frowned slightly, "Teacher?"
Jiang Mu: "Could it be a student of Professor Ling or Professor Bai?"
Ling Chen didn't speak.
The Smart Butler reminded again, "Detected, enemies are 100 meters away."
Ling Chen called out, "They're afraid of an ambush, so they definitely won't dare to come in. Let's go out."
Jiang Cancan, holding his gun, was excited, "Face-to-face gunfight? Let's go, Can Ye loves this!"
So, when Jackal, pointing his gun at Jiang Ganzhou, stood on the lawn in front of the gate observing the surroundings, the tightly closed gate suddenly opened from the inside.
Jackal had brought five people, while there were only three on the other side. But he wasn't sure if there was an ambush inside the house, so he could only raise his gun in defense and did not dare to make any rash moves.
At that moment, Jiang Ganzhou suddenly raised his voice, "I am Professor Bai's student!" As soon as he finished speaking, he was struck heavily on the back of his head with a gun butt, followed by a dull pain and then dizziness.
Jackal had a scar running from the bridge of his nose to the corner of his mouth, always carrying a twisted malice when he looked at people. He hit Jiang Ganzhou and whispered viciously, "Stay quiet, don't speak."
On the other side, Jiang Cancan was quietly asking Ling Chen, "Chen Ge, those people over there don't seem like they're from Holy Judgement."
Jiang Mu chimed in, "They're a mercenary group called 'Fjord' that were newly established, on the blacklist and with each member having at least twenty innocent civilian lives on their hands. The one with the scar on his face in the front is their leader, code-named Jackal."
Ling Chen listened and stepped onto the stairs with his expression lazy and a smile hanging at the corner of his mouth, like a lion that had just feasted on flesh and was now basking in the sun. "What, trying to steal business?"
Jackal eyed Ling Chen warily, "Who are you?"
"What business is it of yours who we are?" Ling Chen's eyes turned sharp, and once the smile faded, he looked like someone who had braved gunfire and rain, with his aura of menace making it hard to look directly at him. "Get lost!"
Jackal searched his mind for this figure but found no match. However, he knew he had clearly encountered someone trying to steal his business.
The Holy Judgement had issued a task searching everywhere for Bai Hengyun and Ling Dingnan. He was lucky to have stumbled upon Bai Hengyun's student.
To save his life, the student had sold a piece of information, claiming to know Bai Hengyun's private residence, and he had immediately brought his men here.
Unexpectedly, someone had arrived first. Or perhaps Jiang Ganzhou was bait, and he had fallen into this group's trap.
After a moment of thought, he raised his voice, "How about a collaboration?"
Ling Chen didn't budge an inch and he was too lazy to waste words, still with that one word, "Get lost."
Jackal had a fiery temper, and his men weren't ones to take losses lightly. They had been cautious of Ling Chen before, but now that they're provoked, they all aimed their guns at the three on the stairs with their fingers on the triggers.
Ling Chen lowered his eyelids and changed his tone, "What kind of collaboration? Tell me."
Jackal didn't order his men to lower their guns and spoke slowly, "First, tell me your background?"
Ling Chen used the identity Jiang Cancan had casually made up earlier, "Sharp Blade."
Jackal had been observing Ling Chen and his group, and the more he looked, the more alarmed he became, his voice slowing down even more, "Holy Judgement has issued a bounty to capture two people. Let's collaborate, and once we catch them, we'll split the bounty by headcount, how about that?"
Having gotten the information he wanted, Ling Chen didn't feel like talking anymore— ‘He wasn't Little Fuzzball, why would he have the patience to chat with you?’
He casually tossed the milk candy he was holding in his hand and said indifferently, "Oh, not interested."
As soon as he finished speaking, no one could clearly see his hand move, but the gun, equipped with a silencer, only made the sound of a bullet piercing through the air.
In the blink of an eye, the bullet precisely hit the center of the forehead of one of Jackal's men.
Ling Chen even blew on the gun barrel with a flourish, "Sorry, my hand slipped."
Jackal's face darkened, but he knew he might not be able to escape unscathed, so he said in a deep voice, "What do you want?"
Ling Chen put one hand in his pocket and pointed the gun barrel towards Jiang Ganzhou, "Leave this person here, and you can either get lost or die."
Jackal glanced at Jiang Ganzhou, who was cowering to the side, and gritted his teeth—he had indeed fallen into a trap.
The two sides clashed directly, but the disparity in strength was significant. Without the peculiar bullet deviation rate of D Zone, Ling Chen and his two companions were hitting their targets with every shot.
Jiang Mu was hiding behind the armored vehicle and reloading his magazine. He glanced outside and said, "They only have two people left, but Jackal doesn't seem panicked at all. He must have reinforcements.”.
At that moment, a message alert came through the team's communication channel.
Jian Lan: Chen Ge, when are you finally going to let me take action? My hands are itching!
Ling Chen: Oh, I forgot about you.
Jian Lan: …
On the other side, Jackal was hiding behind cover and trying to contact his men.
They had come with a total of eighteen people, and twelve were stationed on the outskirts, and not yet arrived. But strangely, even though his men were nearly wiped out, he couldn't get in touch with the ones left behind.
Ling Chen noticed the movement on the other side and casually popped a milk candy into his mouth. "His men can't provide support." he said, then stepped out from behind the armored vehicle.
Jackal didn't know what was going wrong, but without a response, the odds of two against three weren't in his favor. So, he pulled Jiang Ganzhou from his remaining subordinate and said, "I'll return this person to you, and you let us go."
Ling Chen thought for three seconds, then said, "Deal. Hand him over."
"Alright." Jackal replied before tugging on Jiang Ganzhou's handcuff chain and pushing him a couple of steps toward Ling Chen.
Jiang Ganzhou's legs were trembling so badly that he moved very slowly. Just then, Jackal quickly raised his gun, intending to use Jiang Ganzhou as a shield to attack Ling Chen.
Jian Lan was lying prone in the attic with her crosshairs steadily aimed at Jackal. Seeing him raise his gun, she was about to pull the trigger when suddenly, something entered her field of vision. In the next second, the barrel of Jackal's gun was cleanly severed in two—a long blade had sliced through it, and the tip of the blade embedded itself into the ground with a loud "thud".
Immediately after, a figure in a black jacket swiftly emerged while gripping the hilt of the blade with their right hand. The tip of the blade pointed directly at Jackal's neck as the person coldly stated, "You want to kill him? I won't allow it."
The bandaged right hand was steady with the blade tip unwavering, but the small wooden rabbit hanging from the scabbard swayed back and forth, catching the eye.
Jian Lan was momentarily stunned before muttering to herself, "Holy crap, how did the violent little cutie get out here? Wait, I've been lying in this attic for so long, and I didn't even get a chance to show off my shooting skills!"
Ye Xiao turned his head to look at Ling Chen, making sure he was unharmed, then asked, "Captain, should we kill him?" He added, "He left twelve reinforcements outside, but I've already taken care of them."
The latter part of his sentence had a slight upward inflection—a tone that sought praise and reward.
Ling Chen simply stood there while silently watching him with his eyes deep and unreadable.
Ye Xiao was puzzled. "Captain?"
As soon as he spoke, Ling Chen moved.
He tossed the gun in his hand to Jiang Cancan, strode over to Ye Xiao, and stared into his eyes. Then, he quickly made a gesture toward the attic.
In the blink of an eye, two bullets were fired in succession. One embedded itself into Jackal's temple, and the other took out Jackal's subordinate.
Ye Xiao was momentarily stunned before instinctively glancing toward the attic, guessing that Jian Lan must be there.
"Put the blade away."
"Okay." Ye Xiao obediently sheathed the blade. The next second, he suddenly found himself lifted off the ground. Ye Xiao couldn't help but let out a low cry, "Captain!"
He was actually carried directly into Ling Chen's arms in a princess carry!
Ye Xiao was stunned and instinctively struggled, "Captain, I'm not injured..."
Ling Chen's lips curled up, feeling extremely happy—only by holding the person in his arms did it feel real.
He lowered his head and nuzzled Ye Xiao's hair with his chin, "Be good, let me hold you. The Captain thought he'd never see you again."
Hearing this, Ye Xiao stopped moving. He raised his arms and wrapped them around Ling Chen's neck before murmuring, "I... I also thought I'd never see the Captain again." As he finished speaking, his eyes turned slightly red, looking pitiful.
Damn, this is really going to kill me.
Ling Chen carried him and kicked open his front door before asking the Smart Butler, "Do we have any milk candy at home?"
The Smart Butler's voice rang out, "Of course, it's placed on the third shelf of the second cabinet on the right side of the storage room on the first floor. However, little master, your current health is at risk. Your heart rate is too fast, your blood pressure is elevated, and your hormone levels are excessive. Your current state is very dangerous, and I am extremely concerned. I suggest—"
"Shut up." Ling Chen walked into the storage room, interrupting the Smart Butler. He adjusted his hold on Ye Xiao, cradling him like a child with one hand supporting his bottom. With the other hand, he opened the storage cabinet and pulled out a glass jar filled with colorful candies.
Putting Ye Xiao down, Ling Chen shoved the glass jar into his arms, coaxing, "Alright, it's all for our Little Fuzzball now."
Ye Xiao took it, his eyes lighting up, and stammered, "It's... it's all mine?"
Ling Chen nodded with his gaze soft, "Yes, it's all yours."
Ye Xiao opened the candy jar, reached in, and took out one candy. After hesitating, he took another one. Then, he closed the lid and handed the jar back to Ling Chen.
Ling Chen raised an eyebrow, "Don't like it?"
Ye Xiao smiled at Ling Chen, "I like it a lot! But you said before that eating too much sugar can cause cavities and make you gain weight. So, the Captain should keep the candies and Sweet Milk to distribute them daily, and give extra rewards for good behavior."
He practically repeated Ling Chen's words verbatim.
Ling Chen took the candy jar as his heart melted. He ruffled Ye Xiao's hair, "Tsk, our Little clingy thing, why are you so well-behaved?" He lowered his head to carefully unwrap the candy, and fed it to Ye Xiao, his voice low and gentle, "Is it good?"
Ye Xiao's eyes curved slightly as he popped both candies into his mouth while mumbling, "It's delicious!"
Sunlight streamed in through the window, making even the floating dust seem warm. Seeing Ye Xiao's satisfied expression, Ling Chen also relaxed against the wall. He thought to himself, You're back again. This time, I might not be able to bring myself to let you go.
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