Pursuit (Part 2)

In the sky, a dense mass of black-clad figures continued to spread out, forming an ever-tightening net.

One flying car after another whizzed past, their searchlights weaving a web in the sky.

Reno and Stark were still running frantically inside the building. "I'm almost at the entrance, what's next?" Reno asked.

Clarice quickly replied, "There's a terrace outside, with a hovercraft. You better hurry; secret police are heading your way."

"I got it!" Reno accelerated his pace, seeing the door approaching. With a wave of his hand, the door flew open.

Reno dashed out of the door.

As Clarice had mentioned, it was indeed a terrace outside, and there was a hovercraft.

But upon reaching the craft, Reno kicked it angrily. "Damn it, this is a single-seater."

"What?" Clarice was bewildered. She could only provide vague information and hadn't expected to find a single-seater on the terrace.

"Reno, they're coming!" Nora shouted in his ear.

Reno looked around, made a tough decision, and pushed Stark onto the craft. "You go ahead and drive!" he commanded.

"Forget it, boss. I'm not leaving you behind," Stark refused.

"Shut up, this is an order!" Reno pushed Stark onto the craft and used his telekinesis to restrain him, starting the hovercraft. With a whoosh, the craft flew off.

"Don't come back!" he shouted after Stark.

Meanwhile, figures of black-clad men emerged in the distance.

"Back to the building!" Clarice screamed.

Reno turned and ran.

The men in the distance seemed to have spotted him.

"He's here!" the sharp cries rang out.

Beams of searchlights shot forth, illuminating Reno.

The alarm sounded instantly, and on Clarice's screen, countless red dots representing the black-clad men were converging.

"Oh God! They've found him," Clarice shrieked. "They're forming a blockade. Reno, you have to get out of that building now, or you won't make it!"

"I know, but where should I go?" Reno asked.

"I don't know, they're everywhere, no gaps left," Clarice sounded desperate.

At that moment, Nora suddenly said, "If there's no gap, create one. Keep going, Reno."

Reno hesitated for a moment but nodded nonetheless.

He ran wildly, changing direction this time, heading straight for the outer edge of the encirclement.

At the far end of the corridor, several black-clad men stood guard outside the glass window.

Reno sprinted down the corridor, and the black-clad men spotted him, shouting together:

"He's running towards me!"

"Prepare the net!"

Several black-clad men raised their guns at Reno simultaneously.

At the same time, Nora whispered, "Lock the target!"

"Don't kill, Nora!" Reno yelled. "They're just following orders!"

Nora hesitated for a moment before saying, "Switch magazines, stop laser fire, and launch shock rounds."

The voice-controlled magazine began to change automatically.

Bang!

With a loud roar, a bullet shot from afar, hitting the ground in front of a black-clad man, and smoke billowed up. The shockwave lifted everyone, and the blast hit the glass, creating a cacophony of cracks under the strain. Simultaneously, Reno activated the Ricklass II standard protective film, covering his entire body.

Clad in the protective film, Reno crashed through the window.

The window shattered, and Reno leaped out of the building.

A black-clad man, still dazed from the blast, stood up and aimed his gun at Reno again.

Reno kicked the gun away, turned, and ran a few steps forward, reaching a wall. He used both hands and feet to climb up the wall.

The black-clad men saw him and chased after him simultaneously.

As Reno climbed higher and higher, one black-clad man pulled out his gun and shot at Reno, firing a massive net towards him.

But just as the net was about to capture Reno, he suddenly let go, jumping towards another terrace. He narrowly escaped the net; the sharp hooks on the edge of the net grazed his shoulder, tearing through the protective film, drawing a drop of blood.

With a muffled groan, Reno landed on the terrace and ran forward without looking back.

Seeing Reno disappear on the higher terrace, several black-clad men stopped simultaneously. One of them took out a terminal and said, "Target has broken the blockade, escaping, heading north, towards Anton Street, requesting Falcon support."

"Falcon received!"

With that voice, more than ten flying cars zoomed past, chasing after Reno.

On the ground, at least four figures simultaneously removed their disguises, revealing their true identities as Sentinel robots, and began to run rapidly, pursuing from below.

"Reno, they're catching up to you," Clarice shouted.

Reno looked back and saw more than ten flying cars and Sentinels approaching rapidly.

Little Hu sat in one of the cars, his face twisted in a triumphant grin. "Let me see how you run now?"

Seeing this scene, Reno slowed down his pace, softly calling out, "Nora."

"I'm here. Are you still insisting not to kill?" Nora asked softly.

A hint of helplessness flashed in Reno's eyes.

He stopped.

Stopped on a rooftop, standing there motionless.

Several flying cars caught up, surrounding him.

A large group of black-clad men emerged from inside.

They all looked solemn, their guns aimed at Reno.

No shouting, no words, just a silent warning.

Watching the black-clad men, Reno sighed, "You know, Nora, sometimes having a choice is more painful than having none."

"I know," Nora said, "But you must face it, no retreat."

"Yeah, I must face it, no retreat." Reno faced the approaching crowd, looking at the small figure surrounded by the crowd.

He put his hands behind his back, a slight smile on his face.

He said, "You never knew what kind of person you were chasing, did you?"

The black-clad men were all momentarily stunned.

Little Hu laughed, "I've seen your abilities, Johnny Reno. If you think you can..."

Reno shook his head, "I'm not talking about that."

"What?" Little Hu was puzzled.

"I guess you've never witnessed real slaughter... Real slaughter," Reno said, "So you never knew what kind of person you were facing."

He said softly as his hands slowly emerged from behind.

This action sent a chill down Little Hu's spine. "Be careful!" he shouted loudly.

Two silver pistols appeared in Reno's hands.

Bang!

The roaring gunfire hit a black-clad man, sending him flying.

Reno fired both guns simultaneously, bullets leaving marks in the night, hitting the black-clad men and exploding blood blossoms.

"No!" A piercing scream rang out.

The black-clad men tried to resist but found themselves using non-lethal hunting rifles. Some rushed to switch their guns, but before they could raise them, bullets from afar rained down on them.

Then came a beam of light, hitting a black-clad man's leg, causing him to fall into a pool of blood, screaming madly.

One beam after another shot at the black-clad men, hitting them in non-lethal areas, but enough to paralyze their combat capabilities.

"We have snipers!" the black-clad men exclaimed.

They wanted to fight back, but a large cloud of smoke suddenly engulfed their vision.

Reno moved through the smoke as if unaffected, because he didn't need to see to shoot; he only needed to hear.

He traversed through the smoke, firing his guns, swiftly evading, his dual guns firing rhythmically. His gaze remained firm and unwavering, seemingly impervious to any disturbance.

In contrast, the black-clad men's attacks appeared feeble.

Though they had undergone training, they had never felt this sense of entering hell in an instant.

The sudden onslaught disoriented them, leaving only a few with the knowledge to resist.

But even their resistance seemed futile.

Reno paid no heed to their attempts to resist. Bullets, beams, electromagnetic waves—all these attacks grazed his body, yet Reno continued to move, seemingly oblivious to the onslaught, constantly firing his guns.

He was like a demon, traversing through the jungle of bullets and blasts, impervious to harm, untouched even by a single graze.

Little Hu lay on the ground, clutching his head, screaming frantically.

All their wisdom, stratagem, and cunning dissolved in this moment, replaced only by immense fear and deep despair at the looming death.

For a long while, the gunfire ceased.

The smoke gradually cleared.

Little Hu raised his head, witnessing the devastation. All the cars were shattered, all the black-clad men were down.

They weren't dead, but each one was severely injured, missing limbs, broken legs, bullet wounds in their abdomens, lying in pools of blood, wailing and shrieking, their eyes filled with terror.

They didn't understand why this happened.

They never knew what kind of person they were chasing.

They were a group of warriors who had returned from the true battlefield.

They were a group of seasoned elite soldiers!

When they were prepared to fight, they were invincible, unstoppable!

"Oh, God!" Little Hu wept bitterly.

In the lingering smoke, Reno walked amidst the bloodstains.

Like a demon emerging from hell!

His military boots gleamed under the blood-red light, stepping out the grim reaper's grimness.

He stood in front of Little Hu, looking at him, watching him cry.

His gun aimed at him, but eventually, he lowered it.

"Here's a piece of advice, release all the people aboard the Abrodi, or this scene will repeat itself," he said. "And I can't guarantee there won't be casualties next time."

Little Hu cried out in anguish.

The wail of the alarm resounded once again.

More secret police were rushing towards them.

"Hey, boss," Stark's voice came from behind.

This guy finally came back.

He had switched to a two-seater hovercraft.

"Too bad I missed it," Stark said regretfully, looking at the carnage.

Reno shook his head, "Shooting at humans? There's no need for regret. Our weapons shouldn't be used against humans."

He holstered his guns and walked towards Stark.

Watching Reno's departing figure, Little Hu screamed in agony, "I won't let you go, Reno, I swear!!!"

...

The commotion continued for most of the night.

Although unaware of the specific situation outside, Russell Hill knew two things.

One: Reno had escaped.

Two: People were injured, severely so, and some of them might not be saved even by medical pods.

What a dreadful night, Russell Hill thought.

Withdrawn his gaze from the window, seeing that it was already early morning, Russell Hill sighed, picking up his hat and coat from his seat, heading outside the building.

After today's incident, the order for his dismissal should come soon, right?

But Russell Hill didn't care. He was just doing his duty, doing what he had to do. Regardless of the future, he could face it with equanimity.

Stepping out of the building, Russell Hill waved his hand.

A taxi stopped in front of him.

Russell Hill got in, absentmindedly opening a newspaper. "355 Roland Avenue," he said casually.

"Sure, sir," the driver replied.

Russell Hill glanced up from the newspaper. "Have we met before? I feel like I've heard your voice somewhere," he said.

"Indeed, sir," the driver replied.

Russell Hill's hand froze.

He slowly raised his head, facing the familiar face of Reno.