244: Chapter 239 The Devil's Guardian

In a flash, he sorted out the stakes, a shiver running through his heart. Seeing that the opposition had already begun their move, there was no time left for him to deliberate.

With the enemy exposed and him hidden, and protected by a spatial barrier, no powerful physical weapon could harm him in the slightest. While he lacked actual combat experience, he could anticipate the enemy's moves. Relying solely on his Obvious Power cultivation, combined with the strengthening effects of Yuan Energy, Cao Xiao's physical attributes were already very close to the limits of a normal human. Whether it was physique, strength, speed, or agility, he was far superior to these special forces soldiers. Furthermore, with his preparedness against their surprise, a one-on-one instant kill was the only outcome. Even if he faced three or five people at once, it would just take a little more effort to deal with them all.

Before he could act, two figures vaulted into the hospital room through two separate windows. Ignoring the broken glass covering the floor, they released their ropes with fluid movements, rolled upon landing to dissipate the impact, and without even looking, charged straight toward the hospital bed.

But at that moment, a white blur flashed before their eyes. A massive fist, with the middle knuckle slightly protruding, swept across their vision in an instant. A crisp sound of bone fracturing accompanied the agonizing pain radiating from their temples.

As their consciousness began to fade like a receding tide, the two finally saw that sharp-featured face. On that masculine visage, however, was an irrepressible look of brutality.

The bone at their temples had caved in, and their eyeballs, squeezed by intense pressure, bulged outward, turning blood-red from congestion. Blood even seeped from the corners of their eyes. The delayed, excruciating pain twisted their entire faces before their nerves gave out, making them look as terrifying as demons from hell.

Watching this bloody scene he had created with his own hands, the sight only made Cao Xiao appear even more brutal.

He picked up the two silenced pistols the men had dropped on the floor, gripping one in his left hand and tucking the other into his waistband. He pulled a tactical straight knife from one of their calves and held it in his teeth. In a few steps, he grabbed the rope hanging outside the window and leaped out.

Wireless communications were suddenly cut off. The first assault team didn't respond, and logistics couldn't be reached either. Those waiting on the roof to provide support at any moment were suddenly thrown into chaos. It didn't take much thought to understand that an accident had occurred; they had likely fallen into a trap. The opponent had long since seen through this operation, and every single move they made was under surveillance. That was why, the moment they initiated the operation, the enemy had cut their communications, blinding them all and waiting to harvest them one by one in the net they had spread! The second team, disguised as medical staff, must have also fallen into the net by now. The operation was a complete failure!

The original plan for this operation was to take them by surprise, snatch the target in the fastest time possible before the opposition could react, and then take the target to a secret hideout to evade searches. After obtaining the intelligence, they would dispose of the target and use pre-arranged identities to disperse, disguise themselves, and withdraw across the border.

This operation had been meticulously planned, and the military competence of the personnel was one in ten thousand. Their coordination should have been flawless. Furthermore, the intelligence gathered in advance proved that while the opponent valued the target, they had not detected the operation at all and were completely unprepared. Even if some minor accidents occurred, they wouldn't affect the overall situation. The worst-case scenario was merely a failed kidnapping, the target's death, and a hasty, embarrassing withdrawal.

But now, it was as if they could see a heavy lead ball descending without warning onto the other side of the scales of victory, causing their own pathetic weights to fly into the air in an instant. If those intelligence gatherers hadn't been collectively bought off and betrayed them, then they all deserved to be put out to pasture. This thought appeared simultaneously in the minds of everyone participating in the operation.

After easily dealing with the imposters in the hallway, Cao Xiao's agile figure moved like a monkey climbing through a mountain ravine. With his right hand, he gripped the rope in a reverse hold and wrapped it around his arm. Without even aiming his left-handed pistol, he fired continuously, accurately locking onto the few bodies peering out over the rooftop. His legs kicked hard against the exterior wall for leverage, zig-zagging left and right to avoid the falling corpses. In a few leaps, his figure appeared outside the rooftop wall. Suddenly, he felt the rope in his hand go slack, and his body was about to plummet from dozens of meters in the air. Cao Xiao, however, was not the least bit flustered. He let go of the rope, grabbed the tactical straight knife he had been holding in his teeth, and with a forceful thrust, jammed the blade into a crack that had suddenly appeared in the wall, wedging it firmly. Before his body could drop even an inch, his arm strength exploded, and he forcefully swung his nearly two-hundred-pound body up onto the roof like a hollow flip.

The next moment, Cao Xiao straightened his posture, bypassing several gun barrels that hadn't had time to react during his ascent. After two soft gunshots, there were no living people left on the roof.

He picked up the G22 sniper rifle that had been propped against the outer wall, supporting it with just his arm strength. He adjusted the scope to its maximum 12x magnification. He didn't even need to search for targets; like a prophet, he casually adjusted the direction. Through the aperture, he could see a figure on a distant rooftop peering at him through binoculars, and he could even distinguish the terror etched on that face.

His finger gently squeezed the trigger, and the 7.62mm bullet fired from the heavy sniper rifle caused the target's head to explode like a watermelon smashed by a heavy hammer.

With fluid motions, he reloaded and shifted his shooting angle. Every target within the 1.1-kilometer effective range that didn't have obstacles capable of stopping the sniper rifle's penetrating power could not escape the domineering and unreasonable precision of his shots. The entire process lasted less than three minutes, with every action as precise as a precision machine, completed in one breath. The last few survivors were either cowering behind thick walls or were kilometers away outside the firing range. However, in the end, they didn't escape the nightmare Cao Xiao had created for them; they all died from "suicide"—crashing into walls, swallowing lead, slitting their own throats, or taking a free-fall dive. There was no need to even disguise the scene; the mission had failed, and to maintain secrecy, these elite soldiers had chosen to sacrifice themselves. There was absolutely no issue to be found.

He didn't need to worry about cleaning up the streets; he trusted that once the authorities reacted, they would handle it properly. As for how much panic the deaths of so many people would cause, that had nothing to do with him. After all, allowing the enemy to infiltrate the country with weapons on such a scale and cause such a huge disturbance was a failure of their duty in itself. If it weren't for his own capabilities, not to mention the consequences of letting them succeed, just the sheer embarrassment of having people sneak into his own home and slap him in the face would have been a huge loss of face.

He tossed away the weapons on his person and strolled down from the rooftop stairwell with unhurried steps.

The whole way down, there were families and patients fleeing in panic. Doctors and nurses were nowhere to be seen, and no one was maintaining order. Cries of alarm, shouting, and groans of pain were endless, a truly miserable sight.

Although this scene was caused by him, it wasn't entirely his responsibility. Cao Xiao would not feel uneasy because of it. The real death threat had already been eliminated by him. The people here would at most suffer some fright, and the authorities would naturally come to soothe them afterward. As for him, he would just provide some financial compensation to those patients, and that would be doing more than enough.

"Cao Xiao! You're awake! How did you come in from outside? Where did you go? What happened outside? Are you okay? Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable? Just lie down for now; I'll go call a doctor immediately!"