Reboot the Galaxy

Chapter 5 Hunt

Di Yan immediately determined the trajectory of the bullet, turned around, raised his gun, and aimed at the source, only to see a figure walking towards him.

Xavier didn't warn him that this was the enemy, but he remembered seeing friendly forces infiltrate the area earlier, and this was probably one of them.

"Did you do this under orders?" Di Yan wanted to confirm.

The man shrugged: "No, it's just that I like doing it."

He was a Westerner in his forties with a thin face and long, greasy hair. As he walked past Di Yan, a strong smell of smoke and body odor wafted from him.

"How did you get here?" Di Yan suddenly became alert. "You're disobeying Xavier's orders."

The man stopped, turned around, opened his arms, and scoffed, "Come on, I'm a human! Why should a human listen to a machine?"

He surveyed the campus, now a battlefield in the darkness, and twirled his finger in the air a few times: "Based on my years of battlefield experience, this building is the target of our operation. There must be something inside. I came here beforehand to take a look."

"You're putting your teammates in danger."

"Come on, we're all adults, everyone can protect themselves."

The man patted the gun, turned and strolled towards the building entrance. "Even if I hadn't run into you, I would have come here on my own." As he spoke, he had already entered the building.

Di Yan remained where he was, intending to wait for Xavier's instructions.

"Keep up with Quilt."

He vaguely sensed that Xavier's voice was a little cold, but he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

That man was probably Quilt. He straightened the gun in his arms, climbed over the steps, and followed him.

"Young man, what's your name?" Quilt strolled down the dark corridor, occasionally pushing open a door and peeking inside.

"Di Yan," he replied warily, the pungent smell emanating from the other man hitting his brain directly.

"I'm Quilt, a former U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and then a veteran of the African theater." Quilt tilted his head, glancing at Di Yan out of the corner of his eye. "You seem quite young. What's your background?"

"The special forces of the Greater China region also served as mercenaries in Africa for two years."

"Hehe, then we might have met before."

I think not.

Quilter suddenly raised his gun, aimed it at the distant stairwell, and pulled the trigger. A muffled groan followed, and the insurgent who had just come downstairs instantly died from his gunshot wound.

Di Yan didn't hear Xavier's instructions; it seems this is something Quilt needs to handle.

"Hahaha." Quilt holstered his gun, radiating the triumphant air of a young boy after a victory. "Which regiment did you serve in before?"

"The Jackal Legion," Di Yan replied casually.

"The Jackals... that group has been gone for over two years!" Quilt suddenly stopped, turned around, and his eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

Di Yan shrugged: "I meant 'had worked as a mercenary,' not now."

"And now?" Quilt's eyes were deep, as if he were interrogating someone.

"I retired a long time ago. When the Jackals disbanded, I went home." Actually, he was lying. The Jackals were a force that his own army had wiped out, and he was unwilling to reveal his secrets.

Quilt stared at the young man for a moment, then suddenly laughed, turned around, and slung his gun over his shoulder: "Let's go, kid, let's go complete the mission together."

"What task did Xavier give you?"

"We've found the hostage," Quilt said, enunciating each word clearly and in a melodious tone. "And you?"

"I'll cover you."

Quilt scoffed again: "Cover me? Oh, well then, you'd better do your job covering me."

The two went up to the second floor and rarely encountered any rebels along the way. In addition, Xavier had warned them in advance that anyone who dared to show their face would be shot dead by Quilt.

The American veteran opened the doors on both sides one by one, but when he pushed one door, he found that it was locked from the inside.

He shook the doorknob hard, making a loud noise, and screams came from inside the house from the women; it sounded like there were quite a few people inside.

Suddenly, rebels started shouting from inside the door, and Quilt instinctively ducked to the side of the door.

bang bang bang...

Inside the house, the rebels opened fire indiscriminately at the door, riddling the door with holes.

Quilt pulled out a flashbang grenade: "Kid, let's set off some firecrackers!"

Di Yan's heart tightened; Quilt seemed completely unconcerned that there were still hostages inside the house.

The flashbang was thrown in, and the active metal powder exploded, instantly producing a brightness a hundred times that of sunlight.

The loud explosion pierced through the walls, making Di Yan's head spin.

Quilt rushed into the house using a flashbang grenade and fired a burst of shots at the insurgents.

Di Yan also went inside and found three corpses, as well as seven or eight women who had been knocked unconscious. Several of them were disheveled, clearly having been subjected to inhumane treatment beforehand.

"No." Quilt walked out of the house.

"Aren't these hostages?"

"Not the one we're looking for."

Quilt continued walking down the corridor, killing several more rebels who popped their heads out at the sound.

Di Yan followed closely behind, gripping his rifle tightly, and found things becoming increasingly strange.

Throughout the journey, Xavier kept giving Querter orders, while his own orders were limited to "keep up with Querter," after which there was only silence in his earpiece.

If Xavier were playing chess, what move would he be making now?

"Ha, kid, I told you, I didn't need you to cover for me!" Quilt proudly raised his gun, circling around to show Di Yan the corpses he had shot down.

Di Yan smiled and asked, "What kind of hostage are we looking for?"

"Four men."

The rifle clicked back into Quilt's hand. He looked intently at Di Yan. "Didn't Xavier tell you?"

Di Yan shook his head slightly.

Quilt's face darkened, and he turned around to continue walking forward: "Then you'll be my little shadow."

Full of hope, he pushed open the last door on the second floor, only to find the room empty. Quelt leaned against the door in disappointment: "Ah, looks like I'll have to go up to the third floor."

The gunfire outside gradually subsided, and the number of insurgents was decreasing.

At this moment, Quilt's expression suddenly froze, then he immediately took a step forward: "Follow me, kid, we're going to 316."

Di Yan raised an eyebrow and followed, noticing something very counterintuitive.

Given Xavier's past behavior, if there were hostages, he should have revealed their exact location immediately. Why did he wait until the two had explored each floor before revealing the truth?

All signs were unusual, and Di Yan stared intently at Quilt's back as he fell into deep thought.

"316, 316..." Quilt muttered to himself, checking the signs on the doors one by one with the light from the lamp on his shoulder.

Di Yan followed closely behind, his leather shoes making a crisp, powerful sound on the stone pavement, his equipment jingling, and a dagger at his waist rattling against its buckle like a copper bell.

"Ha! It's here!"

Quilt grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and stuck his head inside. According to Xavier, there would be four male hostages inside.

"Huh?" Quilt was faced with an empty room.

Before Di Yan stood Quilt's back, reeking of smoke and body odor.

Xavier's voice came through the earpiece: "Kill Quilter."

Di Yan raised his gun, and Quilt noticed the sound behind him and glanced back.

The trigger was pulled, but Quilt suddenly lunged forward, his rapidly descending body dodging the shot. The bullet grazed his scalp and embedded itself in the steel podium, like the mournful tolling of a death knell.

"You bastard!"

Quilt cursed and opened fire with his gun. He then kicked off the wooden door, sliding a long distance on the ground before disappearing behind the wall.

Di Yan immediately dodged to the other side of the wall, pulled out a grenade, and was about to throw it in.

Clang clang clang...

Something rolled out of the door, and he knew at a glance that it was a flash bomb.

But the grenade in his hand had already been pulled, so he could only throw it haphazardly into the house, then immediately turn around, lie down, close his eyes, and cover his ears.

A loud bang, accompanied by a white light piercing through his eyelids, made his ears ring and almost made him lose consciousness.

In a dizzying moment, an explosion occurred in the wall beside him—it was a grenade he had thrown in. The massive shockwave shook the floorboards he was lying on, making his already muddled head even more disoriented.

A deep voice came, and in Di Yan's blurry vision, the door in front was kicked open, and Quilt fled out in a disheveled state, leaving wisps of smoke behind him.

Because of his temporary deafness, all the sounds Di Yan heard were as if they were underwater.

"Cough cough cough...you brat..." Quilt roared angrily. His gun had been damaged in the explosion, so he had no choice but to draw his dagger and stab at Di Yan.

Everything before his eyes was blurry. Relying on his sense of danger, he barely dodged Quilt's stab. He stood up, staggered back, and was about to raise his gun to fire when Quilt, who had rushed over, kicked him away. He felt a pain in his hand, and the gun flew far away and hit the wall.

Quilt launched five or six consecutive attacks, which Di Yan narrowly dodged. The final strike was aimed directly at the chest, but Di Yan grabbed the wrist with both hands, and the two began to wrestle.

He was not as strong as Quilt and soon found himself unable to hold on, so he kicked Quilt in the stomach, separating the two by several meters.

Di Yan drew his dagger and stared intently at the man before him. Under the influence of adrenaline, his senses had largely returned.

Quilt swung his knife again, and the two engaged in a fierce battle.

The two former soldiers had different fighting styles. Quilt used the knife-wielding techniques of the U.S. Marine Corps, while Di Yan used a short-sword technique with characteristics of the Chinese Military Region.

The daggers clashed repeatedly in the air, the cold, loud impacts vibrating in our ears.

Quilt crawled under him, and Di Yan slashed his shoulder, which gave Quilt an opening to slash Di Yan's thigh.

Fortunately, no arteries were damaged. As the pain struck, Di Yan's mind became even sharper.

Quilt's shoulder, where he was holding the knife, was slashed, making it difficult for him to move. He switched the dagger to his left hand, panting, and tilted his head: "Interesting."

Di Yan got into position and provocatively beckoned with his finger.

Quilt charged in like a chariot, unleashing three swift and deadly slashes.

Di Yan dodged all of them and slashed at the opponent's torso, but the sturdy tactical armor blocked the attack.

With this, attacking the torso with cold weapons is pointless; the only options are to target the limbs and head.

Quilt attacked again, and Di Yan blocked and dodged, gradually retreating to the wall.

He deftly dodged Quilt's slash, and using the acceleration from pushing off the wall, he quickly got behind his opponent, grabbed him around the waist, and executed a standard takedown.

Quilt was hit on the back of the head and was momentarily disoriented.

Di Yan seized the opportunity to flip forward, grab the other man's knife-wielding hand, and use his body and legs to lock him down, disarming him with an armbar.

Quilt was groaning under his legs, trying to prop himself up with his elbows, but Di Yan decisively twisted his wrist, used his waist and abdomen to break Quilt's arm.

A scream rang out, and Quilt's left arm suddenly went limp.

Di Yan stood up and launched a powerful punch at Quilt, who was clutching his arm and retreating in a disheveled state. He landed punch after punch on Quilt's cheek, and the blood he spat out drew a glaring arc on the snow-white wall.

Quilt was seeing stars after being punched several times, unaware that his opponent had come up behind him and quickly placed a rear-naked choke on his neck.

The two sat on the ground together, with Di Yan gripping Quilter's neck tightly and putting all his strength into the rear-naked choke.

Quilt flailed his right hand wildly, but it did nothing to change the situation.

Once a rear naked choke is applied, it is extremely difficult to break. Moreover, Quilt is now almost out of his mind. The pain from his broken arm, coupled with the heavy punches he received earlier, has completely deprived him of the ability to remain calm.

The smell of smoke, body odor, and blood rushed into Di Yan's nostrils, and he could feel that the other person's greasy hair was faintly emitting a foul odor.

In the dark stairwell, Quilt's movements became smaller and smaller, and his hoarse voice gradually faded away.

Di Yan held the naked choke for a full two minutes until he lost all strength and then let go, lying on the ground panting heavily.

Quilter's head hit the ground; he was already dead.

"Di Yan, you need to come to 303 to rescue the hostages."

Xavier's voice came through, sounding as if it were shrouded in a thick blanket.

"What...?"

"Go to 303 to rescue the hostages. Given that you killed Quilt, I can't let anyone else do this job for you; they'll find out you killed him."

Struggling to his feet, Di Yan gasped for breath, glanced at the lifeless Quilt, then clutched his injured leg and slowly walked toward the other side of the building.

He started searching from 301 and quickly found 303.

The wooden door was locked. Di Yan snorted coldly, took two steps back, and kicked it.

The door creaked, and with another kick, the door frame loosened slightly. With the final kick, the door was forcefully kicked open, sending large pieces of wood flying.

He stepped into the room and found four unconscious black men lying on the floor. Each of them looked badly injured, with blood dripping from their mouths and their hands and feet bound.

"Hey, wake up!" Di Yan slapped each of them in the face and cut the straps on their hands and feet with a knife.

……

Inside the J-45, a dozen or so people were gathered in the bright white hall, surrounded by irregular black patterns that clung to them like vines.

The injured team members received medical treatment and are resting in their respective dormitories.

"Take off your weapons and equipment and put them in here." Lieutenant Li stood in front and pointed to a large metal basket next to him.

Everyone took off their clothes and lined up to throw them in; the large basket was filled in no time.

"I am very dissatisfied with your task today."

With her hands on her hips, her eyes fierce, and her voice high-pitched and shrill, she said, "Before the mission began, I said I wouldn't allow any casualties, but people still died. This makes me start to doubt your professionalism."

The group exchanged glances, not daring to raise their voices in discussion.

Di Yan hid in the crowd, his cold gaze sweeping over the people around him.

If he wasn't mistaken, there must be someone who felt resentful about Quilt's death. He quickly found his target.

After Li Guangyu announced Quilt's death, two people in the distance whispered to everyone, while others remained completely indifferent:

One was a white man with his arms crossed over his chest and his molars clenched tightly together; the other had bronze skin and stood to the side and slightly behind the white man, glancing at Li Guangyu and then at the man in front of him.