Chapter 148: Little Big Brother, Play With Me
Jiang Province, East Suburb, an old car factory.
By now, the battle had been raging for half an hour, and both sides had suffered heavy casualties.
The men Blake brought with him had taken over forty percent casualties, with several more wounded.
However, the Tiger Teeth and Wolf Fang squads had suffered an even greater casualty rate in comparison. Even with Zhou Fan constantly maneuvering to support them, less than fifty percent were still able to fight. Including the wounded who were temporarily out of commission, only sixty percent of their members remained.
It wasn't just them. On another front, Bai Zhi and He Yi, fighting two-on-one, were also covered in wounds. Bai Zhi in particular had sustained severe injuries to her left abdomen and right arm. Compounded by her pre-existing injuries that hadn't fully healed, she was now just piling new wounds on top of old. If not for her worry that He Yi would be unable to hold on his own if she retreated, she would have collapsed long ago.
He Yi was faring slightly better. Relying on his speed, which far surpassed that of an ordinary expert, and the incredibly sharp longsword in his hand, he had only a single wound on his back—one so deep the bone was visible.
Sean's expression was vicious. His eyes blazed with killing intent as he watched Bai Zhi, who kept circling him, waiting for a chance to launch a sneak attack. It was this stupid woman who had, just moments ago, taken a stab to her right arm just to forcefully sever two fingers from his left hand.
"Give it up, Nether King. They can't hold on much longer. And you... you must be at your limit too, right?" Blake's fists were like a torrential, inescapable storm. For over half an hour, from the very beginning, he had kept Zhou Fan completely suppressed. Although he had only managed to leave one wound on Zhou Fan's left shoulder, he himself was completely unscathed.
Zhou Fan frowned. 'I haven't drawn the Li Hen Sword yet. Based on my understanding of Ye Fei, that guy would never make things so simple as to only send these two teams.'
'Both the Extreme Shadow's team and Blake's team are powerful enough, especially Blake's, which is absurdly strong. If I hadn't unexpectedly obtained Chu Qianqian's Li Hen Sword, I probably would have died here!'
'After all, just Blake alone is more than I can handle. And this is me after my strength has recovered and even improved significantly!'
'But Ye Fei always adds an extra layer of insurance when he does things. Just like the assassination attempt a year ago—he didn't need that many experts, but he still brought in more than a dozen top-tier masters just to ensure I had no chance of escape!'
Having experienced what happened a year ago, Zhou Fan was convinced that Ye Fei would be even more cautious, and even more insane, this time.
'So, given Ye Fei's personality, there must be others hidden nearby, waiting for an opportunity to land a killing blow on me!'
However, looking at his allies, nearly all of whom were at a disadvantage, Zhou Fan knew that if he delayed any longer, they would all be wiped out.
'There's no other choice. I have to risk it all!'
At this thought, Zhou Fan stopped defending. He thrust his dagger out violently and began trading blows with Blake.
"This... is this your trump card? Are you trying to take me down with you? Nether King, your reputation is overblown!" Blake was momentarily stunned, but his hands didn't slow in the slightest as he also chose to meet Zhou Fan head-on.
"You don't really think you've got this in the bag, do you?" Zhou Fan pushed his speed to its absolute limit, instantly changing his attack pattern the moment an offensive was blocked. "Tell me, who else did that bastard Ye Fei hire besides you?"
"You think too highly of yourself. Do we really need so many people just to kill you?" Blake retorted. "If I weren't worried about running into that madman from Dragon Fang in Huaxia, I could have killed you all by myself!" Despite his words, Blake still glanced around out of the corner of his eye. Based on the research he'd done on both Ye Fei and Zhou Fan before accepting the mission, it seemed entirely possible that Ye Fei had secretly hired others.
After another exchange of blows, both Zhou Fan and Blake were left with a new wound deep enough to expose bone. Then, just as they were about to charge at each other again, both men froze in their tracks. Their eyes, wide with shocked disbelief, turned to a wrecked car on their left—a heap of scrap so mangled its model was unrecognizable.
Somehow, a little girl had appeared on top of the car. A little girl with two pigtails, wearing a little red dress, with small, bare feet.
She looked to be about six or seven years old.
For anyone present—not just experts like Zhou Fan and Blake, but even an ordinary member of Wolf Fang—seeing a little girl wouldn't normally be a cause for concern.
But at this very moment, with the battle reaching a fever pitch, with both sides having suffered grievous casualties, and with the ground littered with blood and corpses—for a little girl to suddenly appear in such a desolate, deserted place—how could the two of them not be utterly shocked?
"Big brother, come play with me!"
As if sensing their gazes, the little girl suddenly stretched out her arms, just like a normal child asking a grown-up for a hug, and spoke.