Chapter 685: Subway Battle (2) |
From Liu Xing's perspective, Zhang Jingxu and the others were definitely more reliable than these NPCs.
Unfortunately, this was a solo module.
Liu Xing checked his equipment and then told Roman, the leader of his squad, "Roman, we're ready to move out."
Roman nodded and checked his watch, saying, "Time's almost up. Let's start moving according to the plan we discussed earlier."
To avoid untrained police officers from firing recklessly and hitting their teammates, the military proposed a relatively reliable formation - police officers would stand at the front, while soldiers would cover the rear.
Although this proposal was met with opposition from many police officers, the high-ranking officials from the police and military departments eventually decided to proceed with this formation, as they knew what kind of enemy they were up against. They were worried that the police officers, who were psychologically less prepared than the soldiers, might lose their nerve and start firing wildly when they saw the Ghouls.
The single-file formation was rejected due to the lack of rear cover.
After forming up, Liu Xing and the others entered the dark subway tunnel.
Although the London subway tunnels had lighting facilities, they were not very bright, so Liu Xing and the others had to use the flashlights on their guns to illuminate their way.
"Look, there's a big hole over here!" a police officer suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone turned to look and saw a large hole on the wall of the tunnel, big enough for an adult to pass through.
Roman immediately walked over to examine the hole closely.
After a moment, Roman furrowed his brow and said, "This hole was probably dug out a few hours ago. The cut surface is still fresh, which means the suspects are likely nearby."
Everyone became more vigilant.
"But what's strange is that there are no footprints from the suspects around here. Did they not enter the subway tunnel through this hole?" Roman wondered.
When Liu Xing heard Roman say this, he knew that Roman was unaware of the Ghouls' existence, so Roman was subconsciously using human behavior to infer the Ghouls' actions.
At this time, Jill, who was standing next to Liu Xing, whispered, "Chris, look at the top of the hole."
Liu Xing took a closer look and saw a series of hand and footprints leading from the top of the hole to the ceiling of the tunnel.
It seemed that the Ghouls were not taking the usual route, instead climbing directly to the top of the tunnel to move around.
However, this was not good news, as humans were creatures that walked on the ground, and in general, they would look down to see the road ahead, not up at the sky.
So, from a certain perspective, the top of one's head could be considered a blind spot for humans, which was often exploited in horror movies and games.
As a horror game, Cthulhu RPG Game naturally couldn't avoid this trope.
Thinking of this, Liu Xing couldn't help but look up.
There was nothing.
Just then, a sound of something falling from above was heard.
Liu Xing knew that the Ghouls could drop down from the ceiling at any moment.
At this time, others also discovered the marks left by the Ghouls on the top of the hole.
For a moment, everyone was in an uproar, as they, like Roman, thought they were just chasing a group of thugs.
Seeing this, Liu Xing knew it was time for him to take action.
Before coming here, Allen had gathered all the special police officers from the London Police Department for a meeting, emphasizing that Liu Xing and the others should "educate" their teammates about the possibility of encountering Ghouls, so they could be mentally prepared and not be driven mad by the Ghouls.
So, Liu Xing clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and then said seriously, "Everyone, I have to tell you something serious. I hope you can take it seriously. The subway serial killers we're chasing today are not ordinary humans, but five Ghouls that you previously thought were just fictional creatures. Yes, they're the same Ghouls you've seen in novels and movies."
As soon as Liu Xing said this, everyone was shocked.
"Chris, are you sure you're not joking? You can't undermine morale at a time like this," Roman said, furrowing his brow.
Liu Xing sighed and shook his head, saying, "I'm serious. We're about to face the legendary Ghouls. Otherwise, the London police wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to invite Roman and his team to provide support, and a squad of twenty gunners wouldn't have been assembled just to deal with a few small-time thugs. Most importantly, you should know how the victims died."
Roman's brow furrowed, knowing that Liu Xing wouldn't joke at a time like this, but the news about the Ghouls was too shocking for him to accept immediately.
To help everyone accept reality quickly, Liu Xing switched the walkie-talkie to the designated channel and said, "Commissioner Allen, this is the seventeenth squad. We've found a hole in the subway tunnel that was definitely dug out by the Ghouls recently."
Allen responded quickly, saying, "I know. I'll arrange for support to be sent to you. Remember to keep the communication channels open and report any situation to me immediately. Also, I know some brothers may still be struggling to accept the reality, but I assure you, as the head of the London Police Department, that Ghouls do exist, and Colonel Bayer can also testify to this."
The Colonel Bayer mentioned by Allen was the military representative for this operation.
"No mistake, Commissioner Allen's words are not empty, you may face enemies that are indeed Ghouls, but because this information is not suitable for too many people to know, we didn't announce the truth to everyone from the start. I believe you are all heroes, dealing with those Ghouls is no difficulty at all, and even if you don't encounter them today, we will still reward you. If you can kill those Ghouls, I guarantee you can be promoted three levels within a year... Of course, if you choose to flee now, your future path will be narrow." Baiel said calmly.
Baiel's words of intimidation and temptation finally calmed everyone down.
"Alright, everyone, please prepare yourselves mentally. Those Ghouls may be agile, but they can only fight close-range, so as long as you discover them in the first instance, you can directly shoot them without any effort," Allen said before ending the call.
After a few minutes, Liu Xing saw that Roman and the others had prepared themselves mentally, so he spoke up, "Roman, captain, shall we continue moving forward?"
Roman nodded, then shook his head with a bitter smile, "I think it's better for Chris to be the captain, since he knows more about those Ghouls than all of us combined. I'll be his deputy instead."
Liu Xing didn't refuse, thinking that being the captain would be great, and if he couldn't fight, he could just order a retreat.
So Liu Xing nodded and said, "Alright, everyone, listen to me. First, prepare yourselves, those Ghouls are quite ugly, so you may have some adverse reactions when you see them for the first time. There's a possibility you'll be startled and accidentally fire your gun, so please set your guns to safety mode to avoid harming your teammates. Second, when you see a Ghoul, try not to leave your position, and directly open fire after removing the safety. Those in the front row, remember to crouch down immediately to provide a shooting angle for those behind you."
"Lastly, when we move forward, I and Roman will be responsible for observing the situation above us, while the rest of you only need to focus on what's in front of you. If anyone discovers anything, shout it out, even if it's a false alarm. Those Ghouls are quite fierce in close combat, so we need to maintain a distance advantage and turn it into a firepower advantage to avoid unnecessary casualties. Does everyone understand?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
So Liu Xing led the team forward, but this time, their speed was directly reduced by half, as everyone was worried that Ghouls might suddenly appear, especially in areas with faulty lighting.
"No wonder they arranged us in this formation. If the police officers were in the back row, they might accidentally shoot the front row," Roman suddenly said.
Liu Xing could hear the anxiety in Roman's tone.
This was normal, as ordinary people usually have two reactions when hearing about mythical creatures for the first time: either they think it's no big deal or they're extremely worried about the creature's power.
Roman was the latter.
To stabilize the team's morale, Liu Xing smiled and said, "Roman, you don't need to worry too much. Ghouls are like the lowest-level monsters in novels and movies, so we should be able to handle them."
Roman knew this was just to comfort him, so he forced a smile and nodded.
Seeing this, Liu Xing couldn't help but worry, as Roman was the most important output point in his team. If Roman lost too many sanity points when seeing the Ghouls, they would be in trouble.
Just then, Liu Xing suddenly heard intense gunfire from a distance!
"That direction should be the captain and Leon!" Jill blurted out.
Indeed, it was.
"Let's move quickly, some teams have already engaged with the Ghouls, but maintain your formation and be cautious of Ghoul ambushes!" Liu Xing shouted.
Then, Liu Xing led his team forward at a rapid pace.
Fortunately, the subway was a straight road, so Liu Xing didn't need to worry about getting lost.
On the way, Liu Xing didn't forget to use the walkie-talkie to inform Allen of their situation, as Wesker's team might not have had a chance to report their situation due to the sudden Ghoul attack.
Allen's response was simple: they would send support immediately.
According to the intensity of the gunfire, Liu Xing knew that Wesker's team was still holding out, and the Ghouls were being kept at bay without close combat.
However, Liu Xing knew that Wesker's team wouldn't last long, as they were a makeshift team with poor coordination, making it easy for them to lose firepower control and allowing the Ghouls to get close.
It would be a massacre, and Liu Xing was certain that Wesker's team would collapse.
But with Liu Xing's knowledge of the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, if he led his team to support Wesker at full speed, they would definitely be ambushed by some Ghouls, resulting in heavy losses.
So Liu Xing intentionally controlled his team's speed to ensure they could discover the Ghouls in the first instance.
Liu Xing judged the distance by sound, and when he was sure they were about 164 feet away from the battlefield, he said, "Everyone, remove the safety, and those in the front row, crouch down and attack when you see a Ghoul!"
"Understood," everyone replied in unison.
Because they knew that the fate of the team ahead, who were fighting the Ghouls, depended on their performance.
But just then, Liu Xing noticed that the gunfire had suddenly decreased, indicating that the worst had happened.
Indeed, it had.
Five seconds later, the gunfire turned into intermittent screams.
At this point, Roman and the others didn't wait for Liu Xing's orders and accelerated their pace.
Soon, Liu Xing's team saw Wesker's team engaged in close combat with the Ghouls.
Although they were worried about accidentally harming Wesker's team, not opening fire now would mean certain death for Wesker's team, who were being attacked by the Ghouls. So Liu Xing decisively opened fire.
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