◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews.
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones. or 500 Collections
◇ You can read 90 chapter ahead on P@treon of which 10 are free Chapters. if you're interested: patreon.com/Heroicverse
------------------------------------------------
"Oh, so that's how it is..."
With Leonard's seemingly reasonable explanation, the look of doubt on Sheva Alomar's face immediately vanished.
Then, she pointed her gun at the male Majini who was lying on the ground, retching like a drowning person, and asked:
"What about him...? I just saw those two infected individuals force something into his mouth."
Perhaps wanting Sheva Alomar to see what a person infected with the Plaga Parasite looked like, Leonard did not immediately blow the infected individual's head off.
Instead, he allowed the other party to complete the entire process from parasitism to transformation.
After all, infected individuals parasitized by the Plaga Parasite, when not attacking humans, appeared no different from other normal people, aside from being slightly stiff.
If Sheva Alomar's perception wasn't changed early, and she didn't realize the terrifying nature and method of this parasite's parasitism, then she might very well become a hindrance in the upcoming mission.
Therefore, Leonard had no choice but to take the opportunity to give Sheva Alomar a 'lesson' before the official operation, as she was his guide for this mission.
"Hoo-ah... Er-ah..."
The male Majini, who had just been forced to ingest the Plaga Parasite, quickly completed the parasitism and transformation amidst painful struggles, then stood up straight from the ground, eyes bloodshot, and stared ferociously at Leonard and Sheva Alomar.
"Die, die for me, I'm going to kill you..."
The male Majini's mouth suddenly split into four petal-shaped, spiky small oral organs, and then, like a madman, it frantically charged in the direction of Leonard and Sheva Alomar.
However, no sooner had it made its move than Leonard and Sheva Alomar on the other side skillfully pulled their triggers.
Two bullets struck its head and thigh respectively, and the 'zombie,' instantly killed, swayed for a moment before crashing straight onto the ground.
"Phew, I didn't expect this parasite to complete its parasitism so quickly..."
Sheva Alomar secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then looked gratefully at Leonard beside her and reminded him:
"It looks like we'll have to speed up. The terrorists around here will soon discover us after hearing the gunshots."
Leonard said nothing, only nodded, and then the two quickly left the two-story building, continuing to head to the designated location as planned.
Along the way, the two encountered several waves of armed terrorists, almost all of whom were parasitized by the Plaga Parasite.
However, for a veteran like Leonard, these scattered enemies were nothing to fear.
So, after circling around, the two finally arrived near the target assembly square without incident.
However, as Leonard and Sheva Alomar prepared to advance further, they were suddenly drawn by the noisy shouts coming from the assembly square.
Looking through the glass, they saw hundreds of terrorists already gathered in front of the square.
They were raising their knives, guns, and clubs, cheering and roaring incessantly along with the 'agitator' on the stage who was holding a megaphone and giving a speech.
"Leonard, look, isn't that... isn't that Mr. Fisher, the man being held there, waiting for execution?"
Sheva Alomar pointed at the figure on the stage, forced to kneel at the edge by two strong men, and exclaimed in shock.
Leonard looked over upon hearing her words and confirmed that the person was indeed Leonard Fisher, the contact who had provided them with weapons a few hours earlier.
He just didn't know why, after leaving the butcher shop, the other party had been captured by the terrorists so quickly.
It seemed that the group of terrorists had already been targeting him, and now they intended to execute him here?
"We must save him!" Sheva Alomar said, her eyes red and her voice urgent.
"It's too late."
Leonard raised a hand and patted her shoulder, gently comforting her: "Besides, with just the two of us, we're not enough to deal with all the infected individuals in the square..."
"But... but we can't just stand by and watch him die!"
Sheva Alomar slowly lowered her head, her face filled with grief and indignation.
However, she knew very well in her heart that Leonard was right; facing the hundreds of infected individuals in the square, the two of them going out would be no different from actively seeking death.
At this moment, on the stage of the assembly square, Leonard Fisher, whose identity had already been exposed, struggled desperately while shouting loudly:
"I don't understand what you're talking about at all, you damned terrorists, sooner or later you'll all go to hell!"
"Kill this White devil."
As the 'agitator' holding the megaphone gave the order, an infected individual, over two meters tall, holding a huge axe, with his head covered by a coarse cloth mask, and his body pierced by countless iron nails, swung the huge axe in his hand and directly chopped off Leonard Fisher's head.
"Hoo-ha!!"
"Well killed..."
"Freedom, this is freedom..."
The terrorists in the square cheered incessantly, while the 'agitator' on the stage, as if sensing something, accurately pinpointed the location of Leonard and Sheva Alomar standing by the window, despite being dozens of meters away.
He immediately waved his hand and loudly commanded: "There are two Invaders over there, go, kill them!"
"Kill!"
Hundreds of bloodshot-eyed terrorists, like mad Beasts, charged towards the building where Leonard and Sheva Alomar were.
"Damn it, how did that guy spot us from dozens of meters away?"
Sheva Alomar couldn't believe her eyes. She and Leonard had been careful enough, and with buildings all around, it was impossible for an ordinary person to accurately detect their whereabouts from such a distance and in such a short time.
Unless, after being infected by the Plaga Parasite, their vision and hearing were both enhanced?
Wait a minute, among these infected individuals parasitized by the Plaga Parasite, there couldn't really be many such sensory-type special individuals, could there?
If that were the case, wouldn't Alpha Team, who had infiltrated earlier, have a high probability of already being exposed?
Sheva Alomar was suddenly startled by this absurd thought and immediately shook her head vigorously, muttering:
"Impossible, absolutely impossible, this should just be an isolated case... Otherwise, we should have already received news of Alpha Team being attacked, right?"
At this moment, Leonard's voice beside her suddenly shouted with some urgency: "Sheva, stop spacing out, we have to leave here immediately."
"Oh, okay."
Immediately, the two quickly left the house they were in and rushed along the designated route to the target warehouse, but along the way, they were ambushed by a large number of terrorists.
Just as Leonard and Sheva Alomar used the terrain to shake off some of the pursuers and were about to pass through this area, they were stopped by a large gate that appeared in front of them.
"Damn it, this cursed place even has isolation walls between each area?"
Leonard went forward and pushed, finding the gate locked. He immediately looked at Sheva Alomar with an annoyed expression, seemingly blaming her for not having clarified the terrain here beforehand.
But upon seeing the exhaustion on her face, he forcibly held back his words.
"Leonard, I'm sorry, this door was always open before, I didn't expect... it would be locked today."
Sheva Alomar clearly noticed the expression on Leonard's face. After explaining, she immediately began calling her comrades on the communicator.
"Kirk, we need urgent air support here. The residents in this area have experienced a large-scale riot. We are trapped by a large gate. Blow it up for us..."
Leonard and Sheva Alomar, relying on their incredibly rich combat experience, skillfully used the favorable terrain around them to repeatedly defuse and counter the terrorists' offensives, while also calling for air support on the communicator to break through the enemy's blockade.
"Received, Sheva, you two hold on, we'll be there right away."
The helicopter pilot named Kirk replied on the communicator. He was specifically responsible for air support and providing coordinate information in this operation.
"Did you hear that, Leonard? Air support will be here soon."
Sheva Alomar and Leonard fought and retreated. After Leonard accurately shot a terrorist in the distance who was holding a blood-stained crossbow and attempting a sneak attack, he looked at the 'Executioner' slowly approaching, dragging his huge axe, and said somewhat helplessly:
"I hope he's fast, otherwise we might really not be able to get away."
Boom boom boom—
The massive 'Executioner', dragging an axe taller than a man, steadily approached the alley where Leonard and Sheva Alomar were, surrounded by numerous terrorists.
With each step, the ground trembled slightly.
Bang bang bang—
Facing the overwhelmingly oppressive 'Executioner', even the battle-hardened Leonard couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
This wasn't because he was afraid, but because the terrain they were currently in was extremely unfavorable. Additionally, terrorists armed with cold weapons would occasionally dart out from the surrounding alleys and houses. In such harsh conditions, fighting the 'Executioner', Leonard wasn't very confident he could get through unscathed.
And this was still under the premise that the terrorists were all armed with relatively primitive cold weapons. Otherwise, if these people, like the government army guarding the city, each had an AK47, Leonard would probably turn around and run without a second thought.
After all, no matter how important the mission, or how precious the friendship, you first have to be alive, right?
After a moment of thought, Leonard turned to Sheva Alomar beside him and said, "Those cannon fodder around us are yours for now; I'll deal with that behemoth!"
"Okay."
Although Sheva Alomar was nervous, her movements were still orderly. With one hand, she continuously fired at the surrounding terrorists, and with the other, she pulled her shoulder strap, bringing the MP5 submachine gun, which was originally slung over her back, to her chest, ready to provide heavy suppressive fire for Leonard at any moment the situation was about to spiral out of control.
Bang bang bang—
Leonard pulled the trigger, scattering the terrorists surrounding the 'Executioner'. Then, he charged forward, actively closing the distance with the 'Executioner'. Utilizing the opponent's large size and slow reaction time as weaknesses, while moving rapidly, he pulled the HYDRA Shotgun from behind him, aimed the muzzle at the 'Executioner's' large head, which was covered by a burlap mask, and pulled the trigger at close range.
Bang bang bang—!!!
The three barrels of the HYDRA Shotgun almost simultaneously spewed three dazzling flames and let out an explosive roar. Three large-caliber slug rounds, made of soft lead, slightly hemispherical in shape, and hollow at the bottom, accurately struck the 'Executioner's' head in a flash of lightning.
Pfft—
Turbid black blood splattered. The 'Executioner's' left half of its head was largely shattered. Half of its skull, still attached by skin, dangled behind its head like a small hat blown off by the wind. The greater part of its left brain, churned by the three slug rounds, was directly exposed to the air.
The burlap mask on the 'Executioner's' head was also directly blown off by the powerful force of the impact, revealing the incomplete, hideous head beneath.
"Phew, thankfully it worked..."
Leonard breathed a long sigh of relief at the sight, then looked at the HYDRA Shotgun in his hand, shook his sore and swollen arm, and said with a wry smile:
"But the recoil of this gun, isn't it a bit too much?!"
But just then, an unprecedented sense of crisis suddenly struck from behind him, while Sheva Alomar across from him exclaimed with a slightly trembling voice, pointing behind Leonard:
"Leonard, look out... That guy isn't dead!!!"
"What?!"
Leonard's heart jumped. The conditioned reflex he had developed through years of combat played a crucial role at this moment.
Leonard's body's potential erupted explosively under extreme conditions, causing him to dive straight forward the instant he reacted.
Boom—!!!
Almost simultaneously, a huge axe slammed down on the spot where he had just been standing.
If Leonard had hesitated for even one more second, he would have been split in half by the 'Executioner'.
WTF???
Σ(⊙▽⊙"a???
When Leonard scrambled up from the ground, seeing the 'Executioner' behind him, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
The 'Executioner', whose left half of its head had just been shattered, had somehow grown a large gray-green pus sac on the damaged left side of its head, completely covering the damaged brain tissue inside.
A sickening stench emanated from the huge pus sac.
From time to time, greenish-black pus oozed from the edges of the pus sac.
It left no doubt as to how much disgusting pus would splatter out when that pus sac was burst.