Volume 4, Chapter 45 – The Shadow Surfaces【2】

She had gone into the sea in the very proper sense: swimming. Carrying a waterproof pouch on her back, she swam swiftly toward Sven’s private yacht.

If Aila had not been unable to swim, Anran would not have left her here to play with sand.

In short, after hearing Anran tell her not to run around, Aila obediently stationed herself on the sand.

Plant melons and you get melons. Plant beans and you get beans.

First, plant a melon.

“What are you hiding down there?” a loud shout suddenly rang out.

Immediately after, two burly men with guns strode aggressively toward Orange-Juice-Flavored Candy.

Orange-Juice-Flavored Candy’s expression instantly darkened.

Her mood had only just improved quite a bit because she had gotten a gun from Anran, yet now an NPC had come to provoke her again.

How disgusting.

“Talk! What’s that bulge in your pants?”

Thick Eyebrows took the lead, his gun muzzle pointed at Orange Juice’s chest.

“If you don’t tell us, I’ll personally help you take off your pants,” the other man said.

Orange Juice instantly flew into a rage.

This was too much bullying.

She was about to explode from anger.

If she did not want to sell her chastity herself, no one else could take it away.

These NPCs were simply courting death.

Today, this hot-tempered big sis was not making money anymore. She was going to end you damn ghosts!

So Orange Juice swiftly pulled something out of her swollen trouser pocket.

What had been hidden in her pocket was not a big xx, but a handgun, something even harder and more terrifying.

“Oh cra…”

Before the second syllable of “crap” could come out, Thick Eyebrows, who was standing at the front, was shot three times and fell to the ground, unable to get back up.

Orange Juice picked up the rifle that had fallen to the ground, raised it, and fired at the burly man behind him.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

Orange Juice moved very quickly, but the burly man behind him did not react slowly either. The moment Thick Eyebrows was shot, he had already raised his gun.

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After one round of mutual fire, both of them collapsed at the same time.

“You just wait,” Orange Juice said harshly, then rolled back to the respawn point.

The gunfight that happened here instantly set off the entire scene.

Several people with guns immediately ran over.

“An Outsider did it!”

“Could the one who assassinated Executive Sven be this Outsider?”

“Hurry and search her stall.”

Two people immediately stepped forward to search Orange Juice’s stall.

“If an Outsider did it, then this matter is going to be troublesome.” The person leading the search now had a headache.

These Outsiders who had suddenly appeared on No. 1886 all acted entirely based on interest. If the sniping had really been planned by an Outsider, it would be very troublesome to retaliate.

“Captain, we didn’t find…”

“Bang!”

A gunshot suddenly rang out, and a large splash of blood landed on the face of Qin Xin’an, the captain who was listening to the report.

His slightly thoughtful face seemed to have been hit by a spell, freezing outright.

A living person, a subordinate who had been reporting to him only a few seconds ago, had been shot in the head.

The corpse leaned forward, both hands pressing on his shoulders, then fell.

His gaze landed on the shooter.

An Outsider with a gloomy expression.

“I finally managed to come out and get some rest, and I still run into this crap. You think the people of our Heaven-Blasting Gang are pushovers?”

The Outsider cursed as he fired a few more shots. After emptying the magazine, he directly charged at an Aldington family guard not far away.

“Charge! Everyone, follow Brother Long’s footsteps! Kill these damn scallop NPCs!”

“Bang, bang, bang!”

The peaceful beach was instantly enveloped by dense, interweaving gunfire. Aila, who was still planting her watermelon, stared blankly at the scene before her, completely unable to understand what exactly was going on.

Why had the Outsiders and these fierce-looking guys suddenly started fighting for no reason?

Orange-Juice-Flavored Candy, who had just run back from the respawn point, was also dumbfounded.

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Holy crap, what happened?

Why had the peaceful beach suddenly turned into a bloody Asura field?

After the initial chaos, Aldington’s guards finally steadied their footing. Meanwhile, the Heaven-Blasting Gang players who had come for vacation had not brought many weapons. Once they ran out of bullets, they fell one after another like wheat being cut down.

In the end, not one was spared.

But Aldington’s guards had also suffered heavy losses. The encirclement they had just woven together had been torn open, and there was basically no one left to be seen on the beach. Only Aila and Butler No. 1 were still sitting beside the watermelon.

Qin Xin’an looked at the chaotic beach, his entire body trembling.

He had messed it up.

He had somehow messed it up completely. Not only had the people all run away, but half of his subordinates had died too.

No matter who the culprit behind the sniping of Sven Aldington was, it would now be very difficult to find them.

He had no way to explain this to the people of the Aldington family.

What awaited him was very likely punishment from the family’s penal court.

Qin Xin’an’s calves went weak.

Rustle, rustle…

The sound behind him finally restored a little of his calm. He suddenly turned his head, but he saw no one. It seemed as though there was nothing anywhere…

No, wait. Hm? What about the guns that had fallen on the ground?

A moment ago, there had clearly been three rifles and one handgun on the ground. Now all of them were gone.

Fuck!

Why would a gun thief show up here at a time like this?

Damn it!

Who knew what was going on?

The subordinates being stared at by his round, bulging eyes until they broke out in sweat also felt very miserable. Fuck, who knew what kind of madness the captain had suddenly fallen into?

…

The local forum of No. 1886 grew lively again.

One was a video from the sightseeing section. The poster claimed to be an intern editor from the magazine Monday Sunshine.

All right, that fairly well-known beautiful-girl magazine.

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Occasionally, some stunning photoshoots appeared there too.

But why had they posted a robot video this time?

Were they planning to open up a new section for people with special preferences?

That was until two fair, tender, and delicious-looking girls suddenly flashed across the screen.

[Wow!!!]

[This robot is so white. No, this robot is so long. Ah, what I actually wanted to say is that this robot is so slender.]

[When I think about how huge this world is, there must be countless cute girls like this. Doesn’t that mean every player can get matched with one super-cute girl? Just thinking about it is exciting. Nosebleed, nosebleed.]

[Stop dreaming. Even if there are more girls, single dogs will still be single dogs, while certain people will shamelessly open harems.]

[Stop saying it, stop saying it. Why can’t you people just properly discuss cute girls?]

[Huh, why does this robot look so familiar?]

[Isn’t this the robot that appeared outside Yaxi City?]

[Which one?]

[The one that belongs to the wicked woman Anran! Damn, looking at it this way, aren’t those two Anran and Aila?]

[Wicked, my ass. Call her goddess!]

[I’m excited. It’s actually Anran in a swimsuit!]

[This wicked woman is practically the public enemy of players!]

[Gentlemen, I like Aila. From a government-army-side player on the Yaxi City battlefield.]

[Where is this?]

[South Island No. 1 Beach.]

[Oh~ Brothers, let’s go. South Island No. 1 Beach. 1.5 million Bilu!]

[What, what? This is Anran?]

The other post was in the general discussion section: [Big News: Peaceful Beach Instantly Turns into a Sea of Blood, Conflict Between Players and NPCs!]

Content: A bloody conflict between players and NPCs? Even in a game, we should not advocate this kind of improper violent behavior. Today, let us talk here about human nature, and about the harm games do to people…

A video was attached as well.

[Professor, please move aside a little. If you’re that awesome, go solve the problem of the exploding population. Everyone is playing games now. Do you not know how much the social crime rate has fallen?]

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[Don’t bother with this milk-tea. I just want to ask, is this South Island No. 1 Beach?]

[Looks like it.]

[Holy crap, isn’t that Aila sitting on the sand?]

[So cute.]

[Your sister, letting such a cute loli see such a bloody scene. Are those bastards even human?]

[Where’s Anran? Wasn’t Anran still there in the video just now?]

[Could she have been killed by those players after the bounty?]

[なに?]

[What?]

…

“Splash!”

Anran suddenly emerged from the sea.

Her powerful physical attributes made her swimming speed extremely fast. She could even catch fish directly in the water.

Not far ahead was the stern of the private yacht. Sven had just suffered a gunshot, and now no one dared stand outside the cabin at all, which conveniently made things easier for Anran.

She took an ejection grappling hook from her bag. It accurately struck the railing, and very soon, she climbed up along the edge.

Speaking of this grappling hook, she had synthesized it using the blueprint for a pressure ejector and related knowledge about grappling hooks.

It had cost her 2,600 EXP.

Her smooth, fair little bare feet stepped onto the deck. Water droplets strung together and flowed down along Anran’s hair tips and body.

Anran pushed her swimming goggles up onto her head, put down her backpack, and quickly took out a pile of parts.

After assembling the double-barreled spray gun, Anran fastened her handgun and mechanical switchblade to the two sides of her backpack. Then, carrying the backpack, she walked toward the cabin.

She had no intention of infiltrating quietly. Instead, she planned to go full Musou.

Aside from Sven Aldington, there were a total of twenty-seven people on the ship. According to the person who had issued the mission, none of them were especially strong.

The Morningstar diplomatic officer who had met with Sven was on the ship.

Now that these people were too frightened to dock, they had lost their last possible chance to escape.