A glimmer of hope flashed through Gu Ji's mind.
In large public spaces like malls and airports, central air conditioning and ventilation systems are usually installed in the integrated ceilings for cooling and ventilation. Maybe he could try to escape through the exhaust duct...
"Let's do it!"
Time was tight.
He hooked the tactical headset onto the back of his neck, slipped his pistol into his pocket, and quickly searched the body of the assailant.
It was his first time shooting and killing someone, but the cold-blooded and brutal methods of the opponent left Gu Ji with no guilt. Instead, he felt a sense of satisfaction in eradicating evil. Moreover, this was a game world, and he had seen many crime scene cases, so he didn't feel much physiological discomfort.
Besides the hard-to-remove bulletproof vest and belt, he took everything, including a knife, magazines, and hand grenades. As he stood up, he picked up the Type 56-2 assault rifle from the pool of blood, wiped off the blood, pointed the muzzle downward, skillfully slid the bolt back, checked the chamber, and glanced at the quick view hole behind the magazine. The 30-round magazine had about half left, which was enough.
Clatter.
He placed the Type 56-2 on the desk, pushing it together with everything else under the exhaust vent on the ceiling. Perhaps the exertion on his waist pulled at his wound, causing Gu Ji to break into a cold sweat on his forehead and nose, and the muscles in his cheeks trembled with pain.
But compared to surviving, the pain was no longer important.
"The physical attributes of this game character are set based on my real-life body."
From the moment he exerted force in battle, Gu Ji realized that the strength and stamina of this body were no different from reality, and using it felt completely natural.
Stepping on the table, he pried open the plastic exhaust vent with a knife.
He stuck his neck in and grinned. A dark, broad, rectangular iron duct blew slightly musty wind that swept over his ponytail.
Without saying a word, Gu Ji first threw the Type 56-2 inside, pressed down on both sides of the exhaust vent with his hands, coordinating the effort of his triceps and latissimus dorsi, gritting his teeth as he crawled inside.
"Phew ha..."
The intense pain made his breathing rapid and chaotic. He lay in the duct, observing forward and backward, recalling the airport building environment he had just seen at the door.
To the left was the exterior wall, generally welded with steel bars—a dead end. To the right led into the airport, where he might find a hidden room or escape through the exhaust fan!
So, Gu Ji decisively adjusted his posture and crawled quickly to the right.
About less than thirty seconds later.
The tactical headset suddenly transmitted a roar, followed by another person mumbling something, then silence, turning into a "zzz" noise.
"Clever," Gu Ji's eyes flashed coldly as he tossed aside the headset and crawled with all his might. He knew the assailants saw the body and discovered he had taken the tactical headset, so they switched to a backup channel.
"Thud! Thud!"
Almost simultaneously as he desperately moved, a loud noise suddenly came from the duct behind him, and the interval of the noise was getting faster and closer, faintly mixed with heavy breathing sounds!
No need to think—it must be the assailants following the blood trail through the duct!
And at an extremely fast speed!
Without turning his head, Gu Ji held the gun with his right hand, moved forward by alternately using his arms and the insides of his knees, with his right leg and left arm, left leg and right arm working quickly together.
With intense movement, the treated wound on his waist was torn open again, with blood soaking the bandage.
But he still didn't pause for a second, letting the pain stimulate his nerves.
Under "slow means death" pressure, Gu Ji even grew a crazed frenzy, with all his muscles twitching uncontrollably. The veins on his neck bulged, his eyes were filled with ferocity, like a dying stubborn wolf struggling desperately!
In an instant.
A cross-junction appeared in the passage ahead.
Gu Ji shivered, and his eyes regained a hint of clarity. The next moment, he decisively took the right fork, pulling out the Type 82-2 grenade he had obtained.
Yes, he was going to blow up the exhaust duct.
Not to mention the military physical quality of these assailants, just with the gunshot wound on his waist, he was destined not to crawl away easily.
Only by blowing up the duct could he temporarily block the assailants' pursuit.
If lucky, maybe he could take one down.
Like the Type 56 rifle, the Type 82-2 grenade is also produced by Xia Kingdom, with the export version called Type 86, favored in the Middle East and Africa due to its simple structure, low price, and high reliability.
He never trained with this in police school, but it didn't stop him from learning through military journals.
The Type 82-2 grenade has a killing radius greater than 6 meters and an effective safety radius less than 30 meters, quite powerful. So Gu Ji had to first find a corner of the exhaust duct, enter a different ceiling area using the misaligned steel framework and plasterboard as cover, and throw it.
Otherwise, throwing it in a straight passage would be like being in a gun barrel, easily hurting himself.
Pull the pin, release the striker.
With a fierce fling towards the passage he just crawled out of, Gu Ji turned and ran.
"Clang... clang clang..."
The grenade bounced and clanged inside the iron duct several times with a delay of about three seconds.
"Boom——!"
A deafening explosion echoed through the duct, even though Gu Ji was covering both ears hiding in another exhaust duct, he was still startled, and his ears were ringing with a "buzz buzz buzz."
He shook his head from side to side, scratched his ear canal lightly, and felt slightly relieved.
Looking back, the cross-joint of the iron duct behind him was completely twisted by the blast wave, even reflecting a bit of light, seemingly even punching through the ceiling.
No wonder special police seldom equip grenades in city operations; they're too powerful and easily cause civilian casualties.
Putting aside distractions, Gu Ji continued crawling forward.
The deeper he crawled into the passage, the dimmer the surrounding light became. Fortunately, this Korean character had a smart wristwatch on their left wrist.
He skillfully turned on the flashlight, and with the reflected light making observation noticeably easier.
This wasn't exactly Gu Ji learning Korean on his own suddenly, but rather this Volut watch was the same model he wore in reality, the latest 5th generation.
Unlike traditional smartwatches from phone manufacturers, it was much more professional in its functions.
Besides standard features like blood oxygen, heart rate, ECG, and atrial fibrillation, it could also measure blood pressure and even cool the skin, all with professional medical certification. After all, Volut is a specialized life medical technology company, where Gu Ji's dad worked, so he got to enjoy a lot of good stuff for free.
After crawling through two more cross-ventilation passages, he could no longer hear gunfire, instead replaced by the sound of "whirring" exhaust fans.
Just as he pondered which duct was closer to the exhaust fan, a previous game system notification sound suddenly popped into his mind:
[Objective: Survive for 20 minutes completed!]
[Choose your reward.]
[Strength Increase (Small)]or[First Aid Injection (×1)]