Chapter 17

"Cough, cough... cough, cough..."

As Qin Ran pulled out the rag that was blocking the other person's mouth, a series of coughs followed. However, the lady in front of him... or more accurately, the young girl with a youthful face, remembered Qin Ran's words and kept her voice low even while coughing, her eyes fixed on Qin Ran.

The meaning was clear.

She hoped Qin Ran would untie her.

"Wait a moment, can you introduce yourself? Preferably in detail!"

Qin Ran did not immediately untie her but asked instead.

He needed to make a further judgment on whether she would cause him trouble. Although she had behaved well just now, Qin Ran hoped that this good behavior would continue.

After all, unlike Coleen, with whom he had already established a relationship of trust, this was just a stranger!

Even if she appeared as a victim, tied to 'Vulture's bed.

But this was not a reason for Qin Ran to let his guard down.

"Magi, a trainee nurse at St. Joanna Hospital... I was hiding in the tunnel of the Hales Street subway station with everyone else before—there's a secret passage in the tunnel that connects to an abandoned air-raid shelter! I was captured by them when I came out to look for food!"

The girl hesitated slightly before introducing herself, her somewhat timid voice explaining why she was here.

However, there was still something that caught Qin Ran's attention.

"How did you find the secret passage?"

Qin Ran asked.

"My father was a worker who maintained the subway station, so I knew about it!"

The girl's expression turned somber when she mentioned her father.

This somberness, in this war-torn city, represented another life lost.

The deceased in times of war had long lost the peace of the past.

People had also lost the solemnity they once had when facing the dead.

Even the closest of people could only feel somber.

Because everyone was so powerless.

"Sorry! But I still want to ask, how many people were there with you?"

Qin Ran's manners made him apologize, but his caution made him continue to ask.

"I was the last one to leave—although it was very safe there, it lacked food and water. At first, everyone had supplies, but when they ran out, people started to leave! I was too timid to leave, so I stayed until I couldn't hold on any longer, and then I came out! But as soon as I left the subway station, I was captured by them!"

Magi lowered her head as she spoke, partly due to her naturally timid personality and partly due to the shame of her helplessness when facing 'Vulture's gang.

"This isn't something to be ashamed of. They are notorious armed thugs in the area, and ordinary people are no match for them!"

Qin Ran said words of comfort, but this only made Magi feel more ashamed.

Because she had personally witnessed how Qin Ran easily took down the thug leader who had terrified her so much.

"Alright, we don't have much time. After finding the key items, we need to leave immediately!"

Qin Ran cut the ropes binding Magi's hands with a dagger. As Magi used her hands to untie the ropes on her feet, Qin Ran began to search 'Vulture's room.

However, even while searching, Qin Ran kept part of his attention on Magi.

So far, Qin Ran still could not fully trust Magi.

Although he found no contradictions in her words, without the shared experiences of life and death with Coleen, Qin Ran could not feel comfortable enough to trust her completely.

Therefore, Qin Ran only untied the ropes on her hands.

Otherwise, with the sharpness of the dagger, cutting two more ropes would be no problem.

Qin Ran did not care whether Magi noticed his vigilance and caution. In the next moment, he pulled open the drawer of the bedside table closest to him.

Inside the drawer were a few items: a pistol, two magazines, and two grenades.

The pistol was still the familiar [M1905], and the magazines were naturally compatible.

The key was the grenades!

[Name: U-Ⅱ]

[Type: Grenade]

[Quality: Common]

[Attack Power: Strong]

[Attribute: +30% damage against unarmored targets]

[Special Effect: None]

[Can be taken out of the instance: Yes]

[Note: Known as a defensive grenade, so the thrower must remember to protect themselves.]

Looking at the description of the grenade, especially the attribute, a thought suddenly popped into Qin Ran's mind.

In the next moment, Qin Ran quickly picked up the two grenades and put them in his coat pocket.

He also put away the gun and magazines.

Then, after checking and confirming that there were no valuable items left in the bedside table, Qin Ran walked around the bed to the two large wardrobes against the wall.

At this time, Magi was still struggling with the ropes on her ankles.

Qin Ran directly pulled open the door of the wardrobe on the left.

It wasn't that Qin Ran was not cautious, but he didn't believe 'Vulture' would set traps in his own room. The person he had killed with one blow clearly lacked the knowledge and vigilance to do so.

Creak!

With a slightly harsh sound, the door of the wardrobe on the left was fully opened by Qin Ran.

Canned goods, bottled water, firearms, and ammunition were piled up densely inside, like a supermarket display.

Qin Ran glanced over and saw that there were at least thirty cans, and the bottled water was in boxes.

Among the seven ordinary [M1905] pistols, there was another [M12] assault rifle, and the yellow-orange bullets were stored in a large box, layer upon layer.

"Tsk!"

Seeing this, even though Qin Ran was prepared, he still smacked his lips.

After all, if he took all this food and water out, it would be enough for him to safely complete the remaining mission time, and more than enough.

Picking up the [M12], Qin Ran slung it over his shoulder and moved to the other wardrobe, pulling open its two doors as before.

Compared to the previous wardrobe, this one was much neater.

Apart from the still numerous cans and bottled water, there was only a backpack.

Without hesitation, Qin Ran picked up the backpack.

The considerable weight made him switch from one hand to both hands.

To open the backpack smoothly, Qin Ran had to lift his left leg, using his thigh as a support and his knee to prop up the wardrobe door.

The zipper was pulled open.

The dazzling reflection made Qin Ran squint his eyes.

Golden jewelry, studded with various gems, was haphazardly stuffed into the backpack.

Even though he was prepared, when Qin Ran really saw the entire bag of jewelry, especially thinking about its value, his breath still caught.

However, the game information that immediately appeared made Qin Ran quickly snap back to reality.

[Name: Priceless Jewelry]

[Type: Jewelry]

[Quality: Mixed (multiple items, cannot be precisely identified)]

[Attribute: None]

[Special Effect: None]

[Can be taken out of the instance: No]

[Note: You can choose to hand it over to the major or do something else!]

"Can't be taken out?"

Qin Ran felt a deep regret when he saw this prompt.

Just looking at the name, one could tell that these jewels were extremely valuable.

If they could be taken out of the instance, Qin Ran would not mind abandoning his subsequent plans and finding a safe place to spend the rest of the time.

Because, according to the name, this bag of jewelry might be enough to help him achieve his goal of entering the underground game.

But unfortunately, the game designers clearly wouldn't let people exploit such loopholes.

If this bag of jewelry could really be taken out of the instance, then the place Qin Ran had to break into would not be an underground warehouse occupied by thugs, but a military base equipped with the latest advanced equipment!

As for the 'Vulture' who was easily taken down by Qin Ran?

At the very least, he would be a versatile combat expert, or even a so-called martial artist!

All gains come with corresponding difficulties!

This is the rule of the game!

Unless... you find a bug or activate a cheat!

But as a rookie in the underground game, Qin Ran naturally couldn't find bugs in the game.

Cheats were not even worth thinking about.

Rezipping the backpack, Qin Ran turned to look at Magi.

At this point, Magi had already untied the ropes on her legs, but she was just sitting on the bed, showing no unusual behavior, even when she saw the ample food, water, and firearms.

Whether it was genuine or just an act, this earned Qin Ran a bit of goodwill.

The former indicated the other's innocence, while the latter showed that the other knew how to make choices.

Both were beneficial to Qin Ran.

Even if the latter was slightly more troublesome, as long as Qin Ran demonstrated his strength, the other would understand what could and could not be touched.

"I'm going to deal with the trouble outside! I'll be back soon!"

Qin Ran said and walked out of the room.

As he said, he intended to deal with the remaining armed thugs.

This was not part of Qin Ran's original plan.

But after obtaining the two grenades, everything changed.

Qin Ran walked to the diesel generator, with the room where the armed thugs gathered right next to him. The noise inside was still loud, and they had not noticed anything unusual.

Qin Ran raised his hand and turned off the diesel generator.

Instantly, the entire corridor plunged into darkness.

"Damn! That damn machine is broken again!"

"Go check it out quickly, or 'Vulture' will be furious!"

"We should find more generators!"

The room on the side was silent for a moment, then a series of curses and complaints followed.

Then, a series of stumbling footsteps sounded.

The darkness caused them considerable trouble.

Next, the door of the room was opened by an armed thug.

The moment the door opened, Qin Ran, who had been standing in the darkness, moved. He suddenly lifted his left leg and kicked forward, his foot stomping hard on the stomach of the thug who opened the door.

The thug, completely unprepared, let out a scream and rolled back into the room.

At the same time, Qin Ran pulled the pin of a grenade and threw it into the room.

"What's happening?"

"What's going on?"

Boom!

The armed thugs, who had no idea what was happening, panicked, but after the explosion, everything returned to silence.