"Who goes there?! Stop! We'll open fire if you come any closer!"
Chairman Wu stood at the bow, shouting warnings at the rapidly approaching assault boat through the pouring rain.
His voice carried across the water to the occupants of the assault boat.
The towering brute on board crossed his arms, unmoving, his lips curling into a vicious grin:
"Idiots."
"Bang!"
A sudden explosion of orange flame erupted beside him.
Thud!
Chairman Wu's body jerked violently as a bright red flower of blood bloomed on his chest. His face still frozen in shock, he staggered backward and collapsed heavily onto the wet deck.
"Chairman!"
"Shit, they've got guns!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The gunfire became a relentless drumbeat of death.
The attackers on the assault boat were clearly prepared, pulling out firearms of various sizes and opening fire without hesitation at the people on the ships.
Bullets tore through the rain.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Wood splintered, metal hulls rang like bells, and glass windows shattered instantly.
"Ahh!"
Screams erupted everywhere.
A dozen slower-reacting survivors were instantly struck by the hail of bullets, collapsing lifelessly.
Under the cover of gunfire, the distance between them rapidly closed to within 50 meters.
"How do they have guns?!"
On a nearby catamaran, Vice Chairman Zhao, hiding behind a thick mast, growled through gritted teeth to the equally horrified Awakened beside him,
"Find cover! Keep your heads down!"
"Brother Zhao, what do we do?!" A young Awakened's voice trembled as he watched comrades fall on the deck, his eyes reddening.
Before Vice Chairman Zhao could answer,
Chairman Wu's pained roar came from nearby: "Don't let them take the ships! Stop them!"
"Listen to Chairman Wu!" Vice Chairman Zhao shouted gravely, "Take cover and wait for them to get closer, then take them down!"
He picked up a wrench, peeked out, and with bulging arm muscles, hurled it with all his might at a rapidly approaching assault boat.
Whoosh!
The wrench flew with deadly precision toward the invaders.
But they reacted swiftly, dodging aside as the wrench struck the inflatable assault boat's deck with a hissing puncture sound.
The damaged boat didn't deter the attackers, who only grew more ferocious, firing wildly at Vice Chairman Zhao's hiding spot.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Bullets sparked off the mast and hull, forcing Vice Chairman Zhao to duck back down.
"Damn bastards! Better not let me get close!" He punched the deck in frustration.
"Hmm?" In his suite, Han Ning suddenly paused, setting down the Jade Potato in his hand.
Snowflake, guarding Xu Ming at the temporary mooring area, had just sent a series of urgent psychic warnings about the harbor situation.
"What's wrong, Snowflake?"
He immediately focused, sharing Snowflake's vision to assess the situation at the port.
Through the soul link, he clearly "saw" dozens of blurred figures rapidly approaching beyond the boat docking area.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The sounds of gunfire reached his ears.
"Guns? Where did these people come from?" Han Ning's expression instantly turned grave.
It was worth noting that the country he came from before crossing over had strict gun control laws for all citizens.
Yet these people actually had firearms!
While everyone else was still relying on mutations and cold weapons, suddenly a group with firearms appeared. How was this fair?
Watching the Awakened at Azure Cloud Resort caught off guard by the guns, Han Ning inexplicably recalled a popular internet meme.
"There's some trouble at the boat docking area. Professor Ye, stay in your room for now, lock the door, and don't come out no matter what happens."
Han Ning made a quick decision and instructed Professor Ye.
Then his gaze swept over Su Mingke: "You're coming with me."
"What?" Su Mingke was stunned and instinctively asked, "Didn't you want me to protect Professor Ye?"
Without wasting words, Han Ning grabbed her hand and pulled her outside.
His reason for taking Su Mingke was simple.
Better safe than sorry.
Leaving her alone in the rear was risky—as an Awakened, she might take the opportunity to kidnap Professor Ye or Xu Yinyin and escape, which would be disastrous.
Keeping her by his side made her easier to control.
He had already confirmed that Professor Ye was genuinely knowledgeable and had planned to let Su Mingke return later.
But an emergency had arisen.
"Yinyin, stay in your room. Don't open the door for anyone, understand?"
As they passed Xu Yinyin's room, he told her to lock the door and emphasized his instructions.
"Mm, Yinyin understands!" The little girl peeked out from behind the door.
"Even if Grandpa Ye comes looking for you, don't open the door," he whispered into her ear and winked.
"Mm-hmm!" Xu Yinyin nodded vigorously.
After giving his instructions, Han Ning wrapped an arm around Su Mingke's waist and leaped from the resort hotel's balcony.
"Snowflake, what should we do now? Any instructions from the boss?"
On the Wind Chaser sailboat, Xu Ming and Yu Na hid cautiously behind the boat's railing, watching the battle nearby. Yu Na's face was pale as she asked.
"Roar!"
Snowflake bit Xu Ming's pant leg and gently tugged toward the resort.
"The boss wants us to retreat first?"
"Roar! Roar!"
Snowflake nodded, imitating its owner's mannerisms.
"Then let's hurry."
Xu Ming and Yu Na exchanged glances and quickly followed Snowflake, jumping off the sailboat from a blind spot and swimming toward shallower waters.
"It's a Wind Chaser sailboat—one of the rich folks' favorite private yachts. Let's take that boat!"
However, among the invaders were those who recognized boats.
They identified this high-performance Wind Chaser sailboat.
In an instant, four people swam over together.
Two of them were even holding automatic rifles.
"What was that?"
Someone in the group noticed the sound of water movement nearby and immediately raised their gun, aiming in the direction of Xu Ming's swimming.
Snowflake, guarding Xu Ming, sensed an inexplicable threat, its eyes flashing with ferocity.
Silently, it opened its mouth, gathering a sphere of Tricolor Light.
"Whoosh!"
Before the armed invader could react, a beam of light pierced through his head, silencing him instantly.
"They're Awakened, kill them!"
The remaining three men shuddered. One raised his gun, ready to fire bullets.
The other two propelled themselves through the water, rapidly closing the distance.
"Who are you looking for?"
The next instant, a deep male voice suddenly whispered beside their ears.
"?!"
They turned their heads in unison.
What greeted them were three rapidly enlarging Vines.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Vines pierced through their foreheads and exited through the backs of their skulls, splattering droplets of blood.
Thud...
The light of life faded from their eyes.
"Boss?" "Han Ning!" "Growl~"