Chapter 948 Counterattack
“By the way, is this thing really useful?” Hamazura Shiage fiddled with the strange little device in his hand, a look of doubt on his face.
This was a specialized piece of equipment Takitsubo Rikou had brought specifically for this operation—a conical object shaped like a small trumpet, brightly colored, and capable of extending and retracting to a certain extent. At first glance, it looked like a toy; however, according to the accompanying instructions, the official name of this small device was a “directional sound wave emitter.”
As the name suggested, it was a device used to transmit sound over long distances.
—It was said that through this device, my soft whispers just now could be clearly transmitted to Kinohata Saiai’s ear… He wasn't sure how reliable it was.
“It couldn’t have missed, could it?” Hamazura Shiage was filled with doubt and couldn't help but mutter.
To be honest, he wasn't confident in his aiming skills.
This “directional sound wave emitter” had no aiming mechanism whatsoever, relying entirely on the user’s manual aiming, with accuracy entirely dependent on the user’s own quality, no wonder it was evaluated as a “toy.”
Because he was worried the sound wave would go astray and be heard by the enemies next to Kinohata Saiai, Hamazura Shiage didn’t dare to speak loudly or say too much.
He simply said, “The children at the orphanage are safe, you don’t need to worry about them anymore.”
According to Takitsubo Rikou’s explanation, Kinohata Saiai’s esper ability could, to a certain extent, function as “air manipulation.” Therefore, she was more likely than others to detect subtle vibrations in the air, and thus able to pick up their message.
“Did she not hear it?” Because he hadn’t heard any movement for a long time, Hamazura Shiage couldn’t help but become suspicious again, “Should I say it again?”
According to their plan, the reason Kinohata Saiai was easily held hostage by a few ordinary people was because she was concerned about the safety of the hostages.
Without this concern, with her Level 4 strength, she could easily beat these outwardly impressive enemies.
However, for some reason, Kinohata Saiai did not counterattack as expected.
“Wait,” Takitsubo Rikou reached out and pulled him, “Kihara’s ability is activating…”
At this moment, only the two of them were hiding behind the corner of the wall.
Takitsubo Rikou had no direct combat ability, and while Hamazura Shiage was good at fighting, the enemies around Kinohata Saiai were a full five adult men!
And it seemed that they all had handguns hidden under their clothes. Hamazura Shiage, who was good at street fighting, really had no confidence in taking on five gunmen alone.
Rushing out rashly might even become a burden, so the best option was to wait for Kinohata Saiai to counterattack herself!
—This is ridiculous. In the end, all I can do is run away and hide in a corner to watch others fight?
Deeply aware of his own incompetence, Hamazura Shiage couldn’t help but complain in his heart.
Just then, a quarrel-like commotion came from a distance.
“It’s started!” Takitsubo Rikou said softly.
Ignoring the risk of exposure, Hamazura Shiage quickly poked his head out and looked towards Kinohata Saiai.
Boom!
He was then startled back a step by a terrible explosion.
Objectively speaking, the power of the explosion was actually not great. There was almost no visible flame, and the sound and shockwave were not strong, even inferior to the homemade gunpowder guns of the Armed Unskilled Group.
With Hamazura Shiage’s perspective as a “veteran delinquent,” he would never be startled by such a small commotion—unless the explosion involved someone he knew.
“Kinohata Saiai!” Ignoring everything else, Hamazura Shiage rushed out from his hiding place around the corner and lunged towards her.
As the smoke from the explosion gradually dispersed, Hamazura Shiage couldn’t help but avert his gaze, unable to look at the girl’s miserable state at that moment.
Only…
In his excitement, a subtle sense of incongruity vaguely surfaced in Hamazura Shiage’s consciousness.
—Right, the enemies! What are the enemies doing?
He knew that when he rushed out, Hamazura Shiage had already mentally prepared himself to face bullets from the enemies.
He was jogging in small steps, keeping his body low, ready to roll on the ground at any moment to dodge bullets.
However, the expected gunshots never rang out.
Hamazura Shiage felt as if he was about to reach the enemies in the corridor, yet he had encountered no obstacles whatsoever.
It was only then, perhaps realizing a certain possibility, that Hamazura Shiage’s mood finally relaxed a little.
His vision, which had narrowed due to high tension, finally returned to its usual expansiveness, taking in the entire scene before him.
In the middle of the path, there had originally been five people: the girl and four kidnappers, but now only Kinohata Saiai remained standing there.
The four kidnappers were all lying on the ground… lying in pools of blood, their lives unknown…
No, according to Hamazura Shiage’s understanding of these girls, these kidnappers should all be dead.
“What… what happened?” Hamazura Shiage slowly stopped, cautiously pausing at the edge of the blood pool.
“Cough, cough…” Kinohata Saiai was about to speak, but couldn’t help but press her chest and cough violently, “It’s… cough, it really hurts so much!”
As if to vent her anger, Kinohata Saiai bent down, grabbed a man’s body, and threw it away.
The adult male’s body, weighing almost a hundred kilograms, was like a sandbag in her hands, easily thrown a great distance.
Bang!
At the end of the road, thirty meters away, a man who was trying to fire a gun was hit head-on by the “flying object” thrown earlier—that was the “fifth kidnapper” Hamazura Shiage had noticed much earlier, hiding at the very back, tracking and monitoring the others.
Amidst a crisp sound of bones shattering, the latter screamed and fell, but at the last moment, he reflexively pulled the trigger. The bullet went astray, ricocheting several times between the ground and the wall, and finally flew straight towards Hamazura Shiage!
Hamazura Shiage was just an ordinary boy. Although he noticed the bullet flying towards his face, there was no way he could take any evasive action in time.
A life review even began to appear before Hamazura Shiage’s eyes—his short yet pale and uninteresting life, slowly unfolding like a scroll, causing endless sighs.
—My life… isn’t there absolutely nothing worth remembering?
Suddenly, a small hand reached out and blocked the incoming bullet.
“Idiot, cough, cough,” Kinohata Saiai opened her palm, and a deformed bullet lay in her palm, “Don’t zone out on the battlefield!”
“Ah, thank you!” Hamazura Shiage finally came to his senses and quickly said, “Thanks to you, you saved my life!”
“Here, take this as a souvenir.” Kinohata Saiai tossed the bullet in her hand to Hamazura Shiage, then raised her voice and asked, “Are all of you here?”
Takitsubo Rikou then calmly walked over: “No, only Hamazura and I.”
“I see…” Kinohata Saiai immediately realized, “No wonder you were just shouting at me from a distance.”
“Yes,” Takitsubo Rikou nodded, “If Mugino and Frenda were here, they would definitely have taken the initiative to attack.”
“Hey, this isn’t the time for that, hurry up and call an ambulance!” Hamazura Shiage said somewhat flustered.
“Ambulance? No need,” Kinohata Saiai wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and looked coldly at the corpses at her feet, “I didn’t hold back—just notify the cleaners to deal with it.”
