Delta: Who are you saying has suffered a loss of strength?

When flames burst from the second-floor window, Qiu Ying was lying prone on the hillside south of the small substation, her eyes pressed against the lens of a sniper scope.

She chose a good spot; the slope of the hillside could serve as cover, and it also kept her body close to the ground so she wouldn't slip down.

A clump of low shrubs blocked the reflection from her lens, and from this angle, the windows on the second floor of the large substation were very clear in her scope.

Her hand rested on the sniper rifle's grip, her index finger lightly touching the trigger. She had maintained this posture without moving since Han Che and the others went inside.

She couldn't see anything when the smoke was thick; all she could see through her glasses was a hazy white. She could only tell from the occasional gunshots that the fighting was still going on.

She tried adjusting the focus several times, but the fog was too thick; the outlines of people would flicker and disappear, and she couldn't tell whether they were friend or foe.

Just as things had calmed down, the fire burst out of the window.

Through the scope, Qiu Ying saw the glass of the second-floor window suddenly light up, and then the orange flame expanded and surged out of the window.

Qiu Ying squinted at the bright light of the flame. She looked away from the scope for a moment and blinked to relieve the burning sensation on her retina.

When she brought the lens closer, the windows had turned into holes spewing flames, with thick smoke billowing out from the gaps above them.

"What's going on over there?" Mule's voice came from the side. He was crouching behind Qiu Ying, holding a rifle and guarding the direction of the substation.

But he was clearly startled when that ball of fire came out, and he turned to look at the window.

Qiu Ying didn't answer him. She pressed her eye back onto the scope and scanned the windows on the second floor with the lens. The fire was still shooting out, but the burned window frames had turned black and deformed.

She still couldn't see what was inside the house. The flames were too bright, and everything in that light was just a blurry silhouette, indistinguishable from people or objects.

Xiao Bai bit her lower lip, her eyes fixed on the direction of the large substation, her face full of worry.

"Why is the situation getting more and more complicated?" she thought to herself. "Two major clubs with 12 top players plus two experts like Han Che and Qi Yuzhe, and they still can't handle Said?"

Qiu Ying shifted her gaze from the scope and glanced at Xiao Bai's direction.

She didn't need to guess to know what Xiaobai was thinking; the anxiety on Xiaobai's face was impossible to hide.

"Go take the mule and check the situation. I'm fine here."

"No need!" Xiaobai refused outright despite her anxious expression. "If they can't handle it, I'll only make things worse if I go. Han Che has already made all the arrangements, so I'll just stay here and keep watch."

Qiu Ying didn't try to persuade her anymore. She turned her attention back to the scope.

The fire was slightly smaller than before, and the flames shooting out of the window were shorter, while thick smoke was still billowing out.

……

Han Che gave Qi Yuzhe a hard shove, and the two of them got up from the ground.

Smoke billowed from Qi Yuzhe's back. He shook his head, clearing his burnt hair from his eyes, then glanced towards the stairwell. "Let's get back! We can't stay here any longer!"

Han Che nodded, and the two bent down and quickly moved towards the stairwell.

When the two of them ran to the stairwell, they saw Li Hao and Jiang Chi there, with two other people lying next to them: Captain Ma and the fat team member.

It turned out that Li Hao and Jiang Chi had pulled them out of the water. They knew each other before, so it wasn't surprising that they had rescued Qi Yuzhe.

Li Hao was bending over, dragging Captain Ma's arm down the stairs with it on his shoulder, while Jiang Chi was dragging the fat team member's other arm. The two of them were working up a sweat.

Captain Ma's leg, which Han Che had broken, dragged on the ground. Every time it was pulled, he gasped in pain, but he no longer had the strength to shout. His face was ashen, as if he were dehydrated.

Qi Yuzhe glanced at them and, seeing that the two men had no weapons, ignored them.

Qi Yuzhe released Han Che and let him sit against the wall, then immediately bandaged Han Che's wound.

The two were very close when the first aid kit was being administered, and Qi Yuzhe secretly and slowly looked up at Han Che.

Han Che blinked deeply, conveying a message to Qi Yuzhe. Their eyes met, and Qi Yuzhe understood Han Che's meaning almost instantly.

"This is troublesome..." Qi Yuzhe frowned and thought to himself.

At this moment, Li Hao stepped forward and asked, "Brother Han, how are you? What happened? Why did it explode?"

Han Che shook his head, offering no further explanation, "I'm fine, but now there's trouble."

His voice was low, but his tone was heavy.

Even Han Che said that, and Li Hao's expression immediately became even more tense. "Then what do we do?"

Han Che said, "We can't fight anymore."

He turned to look downstairs, and thankfully the path leading from the lobby to the outside was clear, with no flames or obstructions.

"The situation is urgent, arrange for evacuation immediately."

Li Hao's heart tightened, but he quickly nodded. This place was full of wounded; it was indeed unsuitable to stay any longer. He turned to Jiang Chi and said, "Withdraw! Evacuate immediately!"

"Evacuate?" A deep, hoarse voice came from deep within the second floor. "Weren't you going to kill me? Weren't you going to get information from me?"

Han Che and Qi Yuzhe exchanged a glance. If they didn't have any information, they would be in even worse shape. So the two of them immediately raised their guns and peeked out from behind their cover at the stairwell to observe.

Said's injuries seemed to have fully healed, and he rose up in an almost gravity-defying posture.

"Now look what's happened. You've killed all my compatriots. What? I'm the only one left. You're not fighting anymore? Now you want to retreat?"

Alarm bells rang in Han Che's mind; the intense killing intent emanating from Said was something he had never felt before.

This feeling of unease made his hair stand on end.

"Run! Get up and run!" the driver yelled at Li Hao and the others.

He had barely uttered his words when a low, cold laugh echoed from above the stairwell, "Too late!!"

Saeed grinned maliciously, but the expected hail of bullets did not materialize.

Han Che thought that a hail of bullets would pour down from the stairwell at any moment, and he was fully prepared to dodge.

But no gunshots were fired.

Under Han Che's shocked gaze, Said easily removed the fuel tank from the spray gun soldier's back.

"Does this thing look familiar, Han Che?" Said sneered at Han Che.

"Let's play one more time!"

He crushed the fuel canister with his bare hands, and the fuel spilled out, sticking to his entire body, but he wasn't afraid at all.

Then his crossbow bolt appeared out of thin air in his hand.

"This fire was specially prepared for you, catch it!"

Whoohoo!

The burning crossbow bolt pierced the ground, and the second floor instantly burst into flames again.

Flames clung to Said's entire body along with the fuel, but he seemed completely unconcerned.

The flames, like a cloak, were draped over his body.