Chapter 256: Do You Really Have to Be This Badass?

Xiao Yu shifted his gaze away from the remaining five women and stepped past them, as well as the lifeless body on the floor.

Suddenly, one of the women bent down. She tried to grab the gun that had fallen from her companion’s hand.

She was instantly riddled with bullets. Blood sprayed as her body turned into a human sieve. The special forces and national security agents had arrived.

Without looking back, Xiao Yu continued through the room and opened another door.

Inside was a massive space—much larger than expected. The room spanned at least a thousand square meters, filled with a training ground, various equipment, rows of steel-frame beds, lathes, barrels of chemical materials… and a group of people huddled in the corner like scared quails.

Xiao Yu’s eyes locked on a man in the group. He held a bomb and smiled at him.

The man was in his forties, gaunt with rough, sunbaked skin, and completely bald. His sharp gaze made it clear he’d seen his share of bloodshed. The bomb in his arms was huge, easily capable of wiping out everything within a hundred-meter radius.

“I’m baffled. How did you manage to find this place?” the man asked quietly, his voice calm as he stared at Xiao Yu.

“There’s always a trail. No case is unsolvable,” Xiao Yu replied, his tone just as steady.

“Police?” 

The man’s eyebrows twitched in disbelief. He struggled to accept the reality.

It wasn’t that he looked down on the police—well, maybe he did a little. In his mind, police were just regular people, not worthy of being his opponents. His enemies should’ve been soldiers, powerful figures, or maybe even entire governments.

But police? That didn’t add up.

“Just surrender,” Xiao Yu said coldly. “You’re going to die anyway. Why drag innocent people down with you?”

The man chuckled. 

“That’s a new way to convince someone. But if I’m going down, why not take a few more with me? If I can’t have it good, neither can they.”

“Sounds like you think you’re making sense,” Xiao Yu said, locking eyes with him. “But who do you think you are to spout that crap to me?”

“This is my turf,” the man replied, smirking as he met Xiao Yu’s gaze. “So, do you think I’m not qualified?”

Xiao Yu laughed. “You? Really?”

“That’s right,” the man nodded confidently. “Me.”

Bang! A gunshot echoed.

The man’s smirk froze, eyes widening in shock as he slowly crumpled to the ground.

“I hate guys like you. All talk, no skill,” Xiao Yu muttered, lowering his gun and glancing at the dying man. “Holding a dud bomb and trying to scare me? You think I’m your dad or something?”

Yep, the bomb couldn’t even detonate.

Thanks to his Bomb Disposal Expert ability, Xiao Yu had spent a full minute checking the device in the man’s arms. He’d quickly confirmed it wasn’t capable of going off. So, this guy was just bluffing with a useless bomb… against him?

The man’s eyes widened further in disbelief before his life slipped away, a look of frustration etched on his face.

Xiao Yu barely glanced at the body, his expression like someone who had just stepped in dog poop on the street. 

“Tch…” he muttered, walking away with a look of disgust.

Xiao Yu slowly walked over to the man’s body, his eyes scanning the group huddled in the corner, too terrified to make a sound. There were twelve of them—eight women and four men. From their expressions, they all looked like victims, much like Shu Yuzhen back then—lured here and forced into training by these terrorists. Without rescue, they’d eventually become just like their captors.

His gaze swept over each face until it locked onto one—a woman in her forties, still quite attractive. A middle-aged beauty. Her face was full of panic, her eyes flickering with fear, trying to appear as pitiful as possible.

Bang!

Xiao Yu’s foot slammed down on the woman’s face, pinning her to the ground.

Bang! Bang!

Two gunshots echoed, shattering her wrists. He grabbed her by the neck. He dragged her out of the crowd and tossed her to the floor. The woman trembled violently, her body twisting in pain, but there was no scream. The pitiful look on her face faded, replaced by a venomous glare. 

Her eyes burned with hatred as she snarled, “Impossible! How did you figure it out?”

“Because of the smell.”

Xiao Yu’s voice was cold. The scent lingering on her was unmistakable—lobster, escargot, sweet-and-sour pork, and Peking pork.

Would someone locked up and trained by terrorists smell like that?

In a place like this, who would have the luxury of eating gourmet food like lobster and escargot? Even among the terrorists, not just anyone would get that kind of treatment. Clearly, this woman wasn’t just any ordinary prisoner—she held a much higher status among them.

“You want to guess?” Xiao Yu asked coldly, staring down at the woman.

‘Maybe I’ll tell you in the next life. If you’re lucky enough to get one.’

Two more gunshots rang out. Xiao Yu instantly shot dead two men who leaped up from the group. Another man made a run for it.

Boom!

The skylight above shattered, and a massive hole the size of a soccer ball appeared in the man’s chest—courtesy of a sniper rifle.

The last man, terrified, immediately dropped to the floor, trembling and wetting himself in fear.

Xiao Yu smirked. 

‘Even terrorists are afraid of death, huh?’

Outside the factory, a group of armed police, special forces, and national security agents led a procession of captives out of the building. Xiao Yu, Wang Dong, and the special forces captain sat on the ground, each puffing on a cigarette, smoke swirling around them.

They had wiped out an entire terrorist stronghold.

There was still plenty of work to do, but that was a job for national security. Xiao Yu had other concerns.

“I got the intel I was after,” Xiao Yu said, blowing a smoke ring.

“Yeah,” Wang Dong nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette. 

He knew exactly what Xiao Yu was after.

Whoever was behind these terrorists—the mastermind who orchestrated the S City bank robbery to distract the police, killed two officers, and stole the counterfeit money plates—was still out there.

Taking down the terrorists was just a side gig. 

Xiao Yu’s real job? Solving the case.

“Who the hell are you, really?” The special forces captain flicked his cigarette butt away, eyeing Xiao Yu. “Ordinary people can’t pull off long-range sniping like that.”

That much was obvious. Not even all special forces soldiers could do it, so a regular person? No way.

‘Ugh, is this still going on?’ Xiao Yu couldn’t even be bothered to answer.

“Just drop it,” Wang Dong said tiredly. “Six first-class merit awards, top-level honors… He’s got way too many secrets, but he’s not standing against the country. Plus, he’s got both the police and the national security bigwigs backing him. Just treat him like he’s some kind of freak. And damn, he’s probably going to bag another first-class award after this.”

The special forces captain glanced at Xiao Yu, who was casually smoking with a smirk on his face. His expression shifted, and his brain practically short-circuited with questions.

A freak? Protected by big shots?

Damn, could he be any more badass?

Xiao Yu, looking all calm and collected, was actually cursing Wang Dong out in his mind.

‘Seriously, dude? You’re just going to spill all my secrets like that, right in front of me?’

The trust between people? Yeah, that’s gone now.