Players, Please Board the Train-Chapter 73: Siege of the Holy Sword Society

The streetlights cast a yellowish glow on the road. It was already late at night, with only an occasional car or two passing by at high speed. No one walked the streets, not even stray cats or dogs could be seen.
Zhao Sheng moved along the tall buildings toward Guangde Shopping Mall while staying alert to his surroundings. He took two detours along the way before finally feeling secure, completely unaware that what had been tracking him was a balloon floating in the sky.
Guangde Shopping Mall had been built by the Young Master's family. As soon as he joined the Holy Sword Society, he offered his family's mall as a temporary base. The high foot traffic made Holy Sword Society members blend in unnoticed, and the occasional disappearance of one or two people wouldn't raise any suspicions.
He entered through a small door downstairs. The player opening the door looked surprised to see him. "You're alone?"
"Where's the Boss? I need to speak with him," Zhao Sheng said with a dark expression.
The Holy Sword Society only had about a dozen members total. With half gone, only seven or eight remained in the mall, all now gathered on the third floor.
"There were at least five or six of them, specifically targeting the Holy Sword Society. They might be from the Special Affairs Department," Zhao Sheng ed. "Boss, we can't just sit here waiting to be killed!"
"He's right!" someone else chimed in. "I've been sick of those Special Affairs Department bastards! They wave chicken feathers as command arrows, arresting red players everywhere. We should teach them a lesson, show them who's really powerful!"
"Only players can deal with players. Why should we evolved beings fear ordinary humans?"
"Why not mess with those guys? Special Affairs Department agents might be hard to catch, but they all have wives, children, parents. Kill a few families, make their department think twice before crossing us again!"
"If we're going to cause trouble, let's make it big. Killing a few ordinary people won't make waves. Ting City has so many high officials and wealthy magnates—just grab a couple and we'll have all the power and money we need!"
The group heatedly discussed their evil plans, practically itching to rush out and kill someone immediately. Zhao Sheng turned to Eagle, who was sitting there making phone calls. "Boss, I screwed up this time. I'm willing to atone by leading the charge!"
The phone kept ringing without answer, and Eagle's expression grew increasingly grim. He suddenly stood up and shouted, "How did you manage to escape? Cao Yan, Ma Yu—none of them are answering their phones!"
Zhao Sheng paused, caught off guard. "Those guys knocked me out and left me there. I escaped while Ma Yu was fighting them."
"Boss, it's not that I didn't want to help, but I was seriously injured. Staying would've just made things worse..."
Eagle interrupted him with a frown. "You idiot! If they were really targeting the Holy Sword Society, why wouldn't they finish you off first? Why give you a chance to escape?"
Zhao Sheng still didn't understand. "They could've used me as a hostage for exchange... But Boss, I was really careful coming back. No one followed me..."
Before he could finish speaking, the third-floor windows shattered one after another as several metal canisters flew in, landing on the floor and releasing thick smoke!
"Tear gas!" someone shouted, but immediately took a bullet to the leg and collapsed to the ground!
"Boss, what should we do?" Zhao Sheng instinctively turned to Eagle, only to discover the man was already fleeing faster than anyone else—all he saw was a retreating back disappearing down the stairwell!
The ambitious Player-Eaters who had been full of grand plans now felt like they'd been doused with cold water. Seeing Eagle run for himself, they no longer cared about anyone else—some jumped through windows while others scrambled for hiding spots.
Outside Guangde Shopping Mall, Special Affairs Department personnel had already surrounded the building. Fully equipped special operatives methodically advanced toward the mall.
The Player-Eaters who jumped from upstairs trying to fight their way out faced a hail of bullets first, followed by electro-nets and tranquilizer guns in succession. Two were captured immediately, while one particularly ferocious player tore through an electro-net with bare hands and broke through the encirclement, injuring several people through dragging and collisions.
"Soon it will be our world as players! You overestimating mortals are nothing but ants! With just one foot—"
Fifty meters away, Nie Xuan, responsible for perimeter surveillance, issued a command through his earpiece: "Terminate."
"Pfft!" A bullet from an unknown origin pierced through the Player-Eater's forehead. A spray of blood erupted as the body was swiftly dragged away by special operatives before it even hit the ground.
With the exterior cleared, special operatives and Special Affairs Department personnel entered the mall.
After several tear gas canisters were deployed, two people immediately emerged with raised hands, tears streaming down their faces. "Don't shoot! We're not Player-Eaters!"
The special operatives didn't let them approach, first restraining them with electro-nets before administering two large doses of tranquilizers. Only after they collapsed were they pulled from the mall using special drag poles kept several meters away.
Eight players were reduced to five in moments. Zhao Sheng and two others hiding on the second floor could only duck back down after witnessing this.
"What do we do? What do we do? The Special Affairs Department has us surrounded! How can we escape?" a thin young man wailed while pulling at his hair.
"Stop screaming! You'll bring them right to us!" Zhao Sheng hissed in a low voice.
"You have the nerve to criticize me! If you hadn't led them here, would we be in this mess?" The young man grabbed his collar. "I'm not a Player-Eater! Maybe if I hand you over, I can atone for my mistakes!"
Zhao Sheng punched him away. "You've got some nerve!"
"Stop arguing," a burly man coldly interrupted them. He tore apart a metal rack with bare hands into iron bars, handing one to each of them. "Only cowards turn their fists on their own. If the Special Affairs Department won't give us a way out, we don't need to hold back either."
"What are you planning?" the young man asked timidly.
"Taking others down with us!" The burly man gave a vicious grin, grabbed the railing, and leaped down from the second floor!
A Special Affairs agent had just reached the stairs when he heard noise above. Looking up, he saw a dark figure descending from above. Before he could make a sound, a hard object pierced through his mouth and emerged from his lower abdomen!
The agent's eyes bulged and mouth twisted as he instinctively grabbed the burly man's arm with both hands. But the burly man lifted him with one hand, the man hanging from the iron bar like a skewered kabob!
"Ugh... ugh..." Large amounts of blood mixed with foam poured from his mouth. The faint sounds alerted nearby special operatives. As one turned toward the noise, he suddenly saw a body flying toward him!
He instinctively dodged sideways, but in that moment of diverted attention, a figure silently appeared right in front of him!
The special operative startled, raising his gun only to have it knocked away. The next second, his throat was bitten through!
Blood splattered across the burly man's face. He wiped it off carelessly, pushed the corpse aside, and lunged toward his next target!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Gunshots echoed continuously through the mall. Nie Xuan heard the sniper's : "Captain Nie, there's someone moving too fast for me to hit."
"Team Three, your situation," he said into his earpiece.
"Captain Nie! There's a Player-Eater on the first floor slaughtering our people!" a Special Affairs agent ed frantically. "Four already dead!"
"Understood. Withdraw your team. I'll handle this one personally." Nie Xuan handed over command to his assistant and got out of the vehicle to enter the mall.