Chapter 490: 490

Chapter 490: Full Lock Down

The veteran hunters instantly understood what Nie Chenglong meant.

If it were a capture mission, they would have to prioritize safety and make sure to avoid collateral damage. Under many situations, they would have to hold back for fear of hurting innocents, so their actions would be limited.

They had previously set up a glass maze in the command center and ran through simulations repeatedly because they did not want to hurt innocents.

But now, the capture mission had been changed to a real battle.

This meant that they were given the privilege of using unlimited firepower. They could now kill their enemies without regard for the cost. They had to achieve successes with any means necessary.

Even if it meant that the lair would go up in flames, that would be fine.

Nie Chenglong would endorse their actions in the name of the vice director of the abnormal beast research department, even if it meant that he would be known as a butcher and executioner.

It was brutal, but it was war.

Nie Chenglong continued, “Right now, the entire city is in a state of emergency. Even the lair has to mobilize all its citizens.

“The gangs in the lair are usually wary of external forces moving in, but now, they’ve also heard the news about the monster invasion, and they know that the lair might end up as an important tactical target of the monster civilization. They’re very anxious and are willing to work with us.

“Captain Zhou, I will connect the terminals of the people in charge of the gangs to our tactical data link network. You can send them orders directly, including Golden Tooth Lair’s second-in-command, Red Brows Sun Lun. All the powerful fighters in the lair will work unconditionally with your hunting squad.”

At some point in time, Nie Chenglong had upgraded Zhou Chong’s capture squad to a hunting squad.

Fortunately, they had always been hunters.

This sort of simple, crude mission that allowed them to fight at full force without caring about anything else suited their tastes more.

Aside from Saber Jin Wanhao, they had never heard about any super first-class elites who had reached Deity Realm among the gangs in the lair.

After all, Deity Realm superhumans could do whatever they wanted wherever they went. There was no need for them to stay in a messy place like the lair.

But there were still a few superhumans who relied on the resources from the black market and the deviant methods from the illegal labs to reach Heaven Realm. They were the backbones of their gangs.

As the people who obtained vested interest from the underground rules in the lair and were their protectors, they would definitely not watch as the abnormal beasts wreaked havoc on their turf and destroyed their homes.

With the full support from the gangs, the squad no longer had a shortage of manpower. The hunting squad led by Zhou Chong could now focus on its role of a sharp weapon.

This was a rare piece of good news.

Zhou Chong, Meng Chao, and the veteran hunters sighed in relief.

“Also…” Nie Chenglong hesitated for a moment. “Be careful. If you notice that the target is too strong and might threaten your safety, do not hesitate. Retreat immediately. We will carry out Plan B if that’s the case.”

“Plan B?” Zhou Chong was slightly stunned.

“Lock down Golden Tooth Lair,” Nie Chenglong said. “With the manpower that we can mobilize from the research department and the secret police, it’s impossible for us to enter Golden Tooth Lair and completely control the situation, not when it has nearly one million people in it.

“But if it’s just to set up a defense line around Golden Tooth Lair and prevent the monsters inside from escaping, we can do it. Of course, this is something we’ll do only if we have no other choice. If it’s possible, we still wish that you can obtain victory!”

Zhou Chong and Meng Chao looked at each other and could detect what Nie Chenglong was implying.

Golden Tooth Lair was as complicated as a maze, and plenty of large-scale destructive weapons, illegal gene medicine, wanted criminals, and lost people were hidden in it. It could turn into the most brutal slaughterhouse at any moment, so even if they threw a few ten thousand soldiers inside, it would still be difficult for them to completely control the situation.

Once Golden Tooth Lair became chaotic, the only possible solution would be to lock down the exterior and slowly send soldiers inside to solve the problem after the battles at the perimeter were over.

But if they locked down Golden Tooth Lair, what would happen to the citizens inside?

Meng Chao forced himself to cast aside that thought.

Then, under Zhou Chong’s command, he stuffed a tracker and locating chip into a backpack that was full of raw materials.

Then, based on the instructions in the email sent by the Supernatural Entity Vortex, they handed the backpack to a rollerblader who knew nothing and sent him to the entrance of Leprosy Village.

At that moment, a few gang members who were armed to the teeth and had fierce expressions arrived at the entrance of the building after receiving orders from Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong.

Gangs were just a term used by the people after it became popular a long time ago.

In truth, they were legal clubs registered in related departments, like the Ping Pong Club, Gym Club, Martial Arts Research Club, and so on.

These clubs’ members were naturally all good citizens who obeyed the law. Their love for Dragon City and human civilization was no different from that of the citizens outside.

Meng Chao could see the fearless spirit of “I will kill whoever dares to infringe on my interests, no matter if they’re Gods of Heaven or Apocalyptic Beasts” in their resolute gazes and determined expressions.

So, he happily handed Big Brother Knife for them to handle.

He also asked them to remind Chen Hao every five minutes that he was to work together with them in the operation, because it was the only way for him to live.

As for how they were to “remind” him… It put Chen Hao in so much pain that he screamed for his parents, and even the ruthless gang members sucked in sharp breaths when they saw it.

Once they were certain that Chen Hao would not dare to say anything stupid or do anything stupid, Meng Chao, Zhou Chong, and the veteran hunters quickly snuck toward Leprosy Village from different directions.

On their way, the command center renewed their mission.

It had officially changed from a capture mission to a control, lock down and kill mission.

It also stated that the abnormal beast’s goal might be to use the Deification Capsules to deal major damage to Golden Tooth Lair, which would cause chaos and attract human attention, restrain Dragon City’s precious fighting power and high-end fighting force.This would then support the monster civilization’s offense in Dragon City’s perimeter.

And aside from an unknown number of Deification Capsules that could temporarily turn normal people into superhumans, the enemy had also gathered a lot of wanted criminals and lost people lurking in the lair.

These superhumans were the trash and losers among superhumans. It was highly likely that they would be tempted by the abnormal beast and willingly join the monster civilization’s side.

To the hunter squad, capturing or killing the mastermind was naturally the best outcome.

If they could not do that, they would go for the second best and destroy the pharmacy creating the Deification Capsules.

The large quantities of raw materials that the robbers had stolen over the two days would already have been transferred to the pharmacy, so it could craft millions of Deification Capsules at any moment to create more than ten thousand people with awakened supernatural abilities. The newly-made monsters, who had no rationality or humanity, would make the situation in the lair go completely out of control, and order would be destroyed.

“This is the newest mission. Do whatever it takes to locate and destroy the Deification Capsule pharmacy, understand?” Zhou Chong hissed into the communication channel.

“Understood!”

“No problem!”

“This sort of mission is the one that suits my taste!”

Very soon, the veteran hunters seeped into the depths of the lair and approached Leprosy Village. They found the highest vantage points based on the 3D map.

Meng Chao and Zhou Chong climbed on a residential building not far away from Leprosy Village. It was tilted to the side, and the roof was filled with all sorts of things.

From there, they could monitor the only path leading into Leprosy Village—the bridge over the rotten drain.

They could also turn their heads around and see quite a number of regions and streets in the lair.

Meng Chao gathered spirit energy into his eyes, and circles of light appeared around his pupils. He continuously adjusted his focus and paid attention to the different fields of vision from the other veteran hunters. Like that, he could see the village from all 360 degrees.

The regions around Leprosy Village were still calm, as if news about the monster invasion had yet to reach the place.

But the places separated by buildings and away from Leprosy Village were already restless.

Quite a number of burly men with bulky bodies under hooded cloaks showed up in more than ten streets. Their bodies were built, and their expressions filled with murderous intent. They quietly drew closer to Leprosy Village and cut off all the possible paths that could lead to the outside world.

They were all gang members.

Many of the burly men were pushing heavy machine guns and even anti-monster artillery with wheels underneath to places that were one street away from Leprosy Village.

Some of them pulled off their hoods and carried rocket launchers, type 89 grenade dischargers, M79 grenade launchers, and whatnot. They were all standard weapons.

“What are they doing?” Meng Chao was amazed by the amount of weapons they brought.

“Providing us with reinforcements!” Zhou Chong said matter-of-factly.

“Reinforcements? Is there a need for them to go so over the top?” Meng Chao said. “Why do I feel like these guys are so filled with murderous intent that they’re going to level the entire Leprosy Village without caring about anything else?”

“If we can ascertain that the Deification Capsule pharmacy is hidden in Leprosy Village, they will,” Zhou Chong said. “Once the Deification Capsule, zombie viruses, Blood Flower spores, and whatnot spill out of Leprosy Village, the gangs will be the first ones affected, so they’re even more eager to take care of this than we are.”

Meng Chao had so many things to say that he did not know what he wanted to say anymore.

Zhou Chong could see his hesitation, and he frowned a little before he said, “What? Are you worried that our operation will hurt the innocents? That’s unlike you when you were interrogating Chen Hao? Get rid of that useless kindness. This is a war. The slightest hesitation will bring about your own death, your comrades’ deaths, and even ten times to one hundred times the deaths of other innocents.

“I know that most of the villagers in Leprosy Village are innocent, but aren’t the millions of Dragon Citizens innocent too?

“Besides, if we don’t destroy the Deification Capsule pharmacy as soon as possible and kill the mastermind, they might cause irreparable damage and chaos to the city.

“At that time, the villagers in Leprosy Village will be at the center of the chaos and they won’t survive either way!”

Meng Chao sucked in a deep breath.

He remembered the fire that killed more than one hundred thousand citizens in Golden Tooth Lair.

He knew that Zhou Chong was right.

The wound-covered, blood-soaked soul that returned from the apocalypse placed a spike-covered armor on Meng Chao’s brain, and his eyes became clear and sharp once more.