January 24
Putting aside the author's self-reproach over recent padding and the slow pace of the main plot—
The moment she saw Huaxiu come in, panting for breath, Xiangzi wanted to question her at once. But before she could say anything, Huaxiu had already blurted it out.
"Xiangzi—the mountain road. Several vehicles came up from below. People are here."
Huaxiu was so anxious she did not even use her usual way of addressing Xiangzi. She had not even fully reached the bedside before getting the words out.
Her legs were burning, and every breath rasping in and out of her lungs hurt. But the situation was urgent, and all she could do was force out the explanation as fast as possible.
The moment Xiangzi took in the news, a shadow passed over her heart. Sure enough—her guess had been right.
Another accident. Another problem.
After something like this happened, no one outside had dared make a call on their own. Even Miranda, nominally the leader of the trio besides Takajo Xiangzi, could not handle it casually.
Whether to make contact or open fire was not something she could decide alone right now.
So the only option had been to send someone running back to ask Xiangzi what to do, while the others stayed in position.
What rotten timing.
In her current condition, Xiangzi was clearly not fit for combat. Ye Ling was injured too. Strictly speaking, the only combat-capable people they had at the moment were three:
Huaxiu. Miranda Clichens. Brent Hood.
Taoris was too young and physically weak, and could not handle firearms well. The Saito family had only just met them. They had shared life-and-death moments, yes, but they could not be counted on as the main force.
The situation was dangerous.
Xiangzi immediately asked Huaxiu about the state outside.
"Are Miranda and Brent confronting them already? How many usable weapons do we still have?"
"Not in contact yet. Miranda and Brent are watching them closely. The Type 89 rifles and the Type 20 still work, plus a few handguns, the hunting crossbow, and the shotgun. But we don't have much ammo left!"
"No ammo? That's a big problem. Here—take the keys. Tell them to bring out the armored vehicle. Let them deal with it however they want. If they have to kill every one of them to keep us safe, that's fine. Go—now!"
Xiangzi's tone was utterly decisive. The question of life and death came out of her mouth with almost frightening ease.
With ammunition short and Xiangzi unable to even get out of bed, this was the only real option.
Take the armored car.
It might be out of shells, but it was still a multi-ton war machine.
Huaxiu snatched up the keys Xiangzi had thrown her and bolted without looking back.
Watching Huaxiu rush downstairs, Xiangzi could feel the strange warmth from the capsule she had just swallowed spreading through her body.
Her heart hammered wildly. The wounds itched and pulsed, as though new flesh were writhing beneath the bandages.
Faster. Come on, faster, Xiangzi prayed.
Beside her, Ye Ling, who had overheard everything, looked completely lost.
Then she heard it—the hard, pounding rhythm in Xiangzi's chest. It was like war drums sounding before battle, and for a moment it felt as if they were calling her to the front as well.
"Xiang—" Ye Ling started to say something, then froze like a machine that had suddenly jammed.
"Hm? What is it?" Xiangzi turned to her.
The moment she saw Ye Ling's face, she guessed what the fox-girl wanted to say.
So Xiangzi spoke first, trying to calm her.
"Don't worry. With me and everyone else here, nothing will happen."
Ye Ling did not answer. She only nodded.
She wanted to fight too, but in her current state she would be more burden than help. She could barely get off the bed. All she could do was stay silent and avoid adding to everyone else's stress.
That, at least, would be some kind of support.
Meanwhile, Xiangzi opened the real-time map again.
This upgraded version was far sharper and more precise now, showing every disturbance within a four-square-kilometer radius.
Down the slope, almost three hundred meters away as the crow flew, several battered vehicles—stained with grime and dried blood—were crawling their way halfway up the mountain.
They were moving like snails.
At least the heavy snow blocking the mountain worked in their favor. Those post-apocalyptic scrapheap vehicles were struggling badly and could not keep going much farther.
If those people lacked long-range weapons, then as long as Brent got the armored vehicle into position in front of their defensive line, with the others fully armed and holding the high ground, the odds would tilt sharply in their favor.
After all, fighting downhill from above with cover and elevation was as close to a sure win as they could hope for.
Xiangzi suspected these people had been drawn in by yesterday's gunfire.
But that was only a guess.
She had to prepare for the worst.
If they really were here because of the gunshots, then the situation could shift very quickly.
"I just hope those people came with brains," she muttered.
If friends came, there would be wine.
If wolves came, there would be hunting rifles.
If they were here to seek shelter or negotiate a trade, that was fine. Even if they were just here to test the waters, that too could be dealt with—as long as nobody started shooting now, and as long as Xiangzi could recover enough in time.
Once she was back on her feet, anyone who dared cause trouble would die.
At that thought, Xiangzi suddenly remembered something and opened the system shop.
Even stuck in bed, she was not useless yet.
Outside, the tension had already thickened to its limit.
They were crouched on a slope, looking down over the only route up. Brent lay half-prone in the snow, holding a plain assault rifle.
Her precision sniper rifle had no ammunition left, so she had stripped the high-magnification optic off it and mounted it onto a Type 89.
Below, people were climbing out of the vehicles.
Through the scope, she could make out all kinds:
Old men in tattered clothes. Children. Women with sallow faces. But where were the healthy young men?
"This doesn't look like a gang of raiders," Taoris murmured.
"Don't say that," Miranda replied coldly. "Appearances are the easiest things to fake. Keep your finger ready to pull all the way through. We cannot let Xiangzi down."
"Yes. She's protected us again and again. This time, it's our turn to protect her."
"I will, Sis!"
Even little Taoris raised her handgun, her fingers locked around the polymer grip, sweat already forming in her palm.
They all knew the truth.
Since arriving here, they had been sheltered by Xiangzi at every turn. They were older than her, some of them by quite a bit, but beside that black-haired girl they felt like children under someone else's wing.
Whatever happened, they would not let Xiangzi return to the battlefield this time.
Not after the way she had nearly died.
As for the Saito family, nobody expected too much. Whatever help they offered would be welcome, but none of them could be counted on as the deciding force.
The people below had now climbed to within about a hundred meters.
Just then Huaxiu came sprinting back.
"What did Xiangzi say?" Miranda asked.
"The keys—to the armored car," Huaxiu gasped out.
"We don't have anyone who can drive that! I've only driven the jeep!"
Before Miranda could say more, Brent cut in at once, voice sharp with urgency.
"I can. I know how to drive wheeled armored vehicles. But they're already getting close. No time. We need to fire."
Since Xiangzi had given them full authority to act, hesitation was no longer an option.
Brent's rifle barked first, a shot cracking into the snow in front of the advancing group.
"Stop right there!" she shouted. "Don't come any closer!"
The warning shot worked instantly. The people below stumbled and froze in panic.
Then several men in much better condition than the rest shoved their way out from behind the crowd and shouted back, "We're from Fukushima Prefecture! We want to join you!"
That line alone set off alarm bells.
If they really meant to seek shelter, why approach like this without any signal, any parley, any visible good faith? Why come creeping up in silence as though sneaking into position?
And these people above had not exactly been hard to spot.
Brent kept watching through the scope.
The more she looked, the more wrong it felt.
The people in front were ragged refugees—old, weak, half-starved, many without proper winter clothes.
But the men hiding behind them were another matter. Their limbs were bulky beneath heavy clothing. They moved with the confidence of people who were armed and expecting violence.
This was not a normal survivor caravan. Not a family group. Not some desperate community migration.
It looked more like vagrants or bandits using refugees as a screen.
Brent wanted to open fire and scatter them right then, but Miranda held her back for a second more.
She raised her voice and shouted down, "How did you know we were here?"
One of the men answered at once.
"We were on the road nearby the day before yesterday and heard gunfire up here. We thought maybe soldiers were stationed here. Please—show mercy and save us!"
But even as he spoke, he kept shoving the weaker refugees aside and edging forward.
Miranda saw that and fired immediately.
The bullet tore past the side of his body.
"Don't move again!"
"Wait! Don't be nervous! I'm not—"
He did not finish.
His body jerked, his throat making a wet choking sound before he collapsed into the snow.
At the same instant, Brent snapped, "They're armed! Open fire!"
Her scope had caught the truth: several men behind the refugee crowd were fumbling inside their jackets.
Guns.
That was enough.
Gunfire exploded from both sides at once.
The front ranks of refugees broke into screaming chaos. Old people and children scattered in every direction. The men hidden among them—clearly armed, clearly ready—dived for cover behind a large rock, shrugging out of their disguises.
They had been wearing ragged outer layers over military gear. They had hidden themselves among the crowd and walked up behind human shields.
The trap had been real.
"Suppress them!" Miranda shouted as she fired too, the hesitation gone.
Brent's rifle spat shot after shot. Huaxiu hit the ground beside them. Taoris flattened herself into the snow. Everyone who could shoot was shooting now.
The refugees who tried to flee did not even all die to Brent's fire—some were cut down by the armed men behind them, who had clearly intended them as disposable cover.
The exchange of gunfire intensified instantly.
"Shoot back! You idiots!" one of the armed men barked. "There are only a few women up there! We've got automatics!"
Bullets snapped through the air.
Blood sprayed into the snow.
The men behind the rock began returning fire in earnest.
And just like that, the confrontation became a real firefight.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter222)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 190
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 215
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 200
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 61
Checking In in Demon Slayer 65
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
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