"Fuck me!"

Red threw his hands into the air and darted toward the ground. He grabbed the rifle from the dead man beside him, then snatched another one before turning to Charm and tossing it over.

Charm caught it midair, nearly freezing as he instinctively hugged it to his chest.

"Damn it," Red muttered, scrunching his nose. "This still isn’t enough, is it?"

"Loot their weapons," Old Fool ordered, though everyone was already doing exactly that, rushing toward the men Red and Gin had taken down.

But even after stripping the fallen soldiers of every rifle, pistol, and magazine they could find, the reality became painfully obvious.

It wasn’t enough.

"Fuck," Charm breathed, staring at the rifle in his hands.

His fingers trembled around the cold steel. It had been years since he’d last held a gun, and if he was being honest, he didn’t even know whether he could still shoot as well as he once did.

His thoughts shattered when the rumble of approaching vehicles grew louder.

"Everyone!" Red roared, his voice booming across the yard. "Does anyone know where the armory is?!"

Every eye turned toward him as adrenaline surged through the crowd.

"Seize it first!" Red shouted, the vein on the side of his neck bulging. "Take everyone down on the way!"

"Yeah!!" the men roared back.

Despite their lack of weapons, the thunderous cries tearing from their throats reignited something inside them.

"GET MOVING!" Red swung his arm forward. "NOW!"

The prisoners immediately sprinted in the direction someone pointed out.

Red, however, walked the opposite way, calmly cocking his rifle.

Beside him, Gin checked the ammunition in his magazine. Satisfied, he slammed it back into place and looked at Red.

"Red, we should go with them."

"No," Red kept his eyes fixed on the direction of the approaching vehicles. "You go with them. I’ll hold these guys off."

Gin studied him for a brief moment. Then, without another word, he sprinted after the others.

"Everyone!" Gin shouted as he caught up with the group. "Those armed men are spreading out! We’re taking the armory, so make sure you know how to shoot!"

The group pressed forward, supporting the wounded as they ran while those still capable spread around them to guard the formation.

Charm glanced back at Gin.

"Hey!" he called before looking over his shoulder toward Red. "Is he going to be okay?!"

Gin looked back as well, noticing Old Fool and the others wearing the same worried expression.

A faint smile tugged at his lips before he faced forward again.

"Didn’t you hear our boss?" Gin said with a quiet chuckle. "He’s the right-hand man."

"Our captain."

The words had barely left his mouth when every instinct in his body screamed.

Gin planted his foot and stopped instantly.

In one smooth motion, he spun around, raised his rifle—

BANG! BANG!

The shots echoed across the compound.

Charm and several others halted in confusion before following Gin’s line of sight.

A soldier dangled halfway out of a shattered second-floor window before his lifeless body toppled to the ground.

"At... at that distance?" Charm blurted, tightening his grip on his rifle.

Everyone stared at Gin with wide eyes.

Gin didn’t even spare the body another glance.

"What are you all standing around for?!" he roared. "Move!"

"Y-Yes!"

Charm and the others immediately broke into another sprint.

But neither he, Old Fool, nor anyone else who had witnessed the shot could calm the pounding in their chests.

It wasn’t just adrenaline anymore.

Hope had begun to spread among them. Everything they had seen so far told them the same thing.

They might actually have a chance tonight.

After all, Gin wasn’t even the captain.

If someone below the captain was already this terrifying, then just how strong were the boss’s right and left hands?

The thought spread through the group like wildfire.

Despite the desperate situation, smiles found their way onto exhausted faces.

It wasn’t the time to smile.

But the fire burning inside them had grown so fierce that reason itself seemed ready to give way.

The group pushed forward while Gin and the armed prisoners picked off every threat that appeared. Then the roar of engines came from behind them.

"Shit—" Gin stopped and turned, expecting whoever had managed to get past Red.

Instead, his eyes narrowed as the military truck was racing straight toward them.

It wasn’t empty, as a body suddenly tumbled off the back.

Gin froze, and almost everyone else did too.

"To the armory—" someone began shouting before noticing the entire group had stopped.

They all looked at Gin.

"Hey... why did you stop?" Charm asked before following Gin’s gaze.

The military truck barreled straight toward them, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that swallowed its entire frame.

Several men raised their rifles.

"Hold your fire!" Gin barked without taking his eyes off the vehicle.

His eyes narrowed even further. "That fast..."

Before he could finish, the truck slammed on the brakes, skidding sideways until it nearly spun to a stop in front of them.

A violent storm of dust erupted, forcing everyone to shield their eyes and cough. Then, before the dust had even settled, a familiar voice cut through it.

Red.

"Get the injured in here!" he shouted.

The prisoners slowly lowered their arms, squinting through the haze. As the dust thinned, they finally saw Red sitting behind the wheel.

Blood covered his clothes.

The moment they recognized him, the entire group stood frozen in disbelief.

That was fast.

They had been running at full speed, yet Red had still caught up despite staying behind to face the reinforcements alone.

Now he had returned with a military truck, several extra rifles piled onto the passenger seat, and a vehicle they could finally use to their advantage.

"Get them in!" Red barked impatiently. "NOW!"

Everyone snapped out of their daze.

"Go! Move!"

The wounded were immediately lifted into the truck.

But before they could finish loading everyone, another sound drifted across the battlefield.

Everyone froze once more.

At first, the sound was faint. Enough for them to recognize it was music. It was just loud enough to hear beneath the fading echoes of gunfire.

Then it grew louder... and closer.

One by one, everyone turned toward the source. Their eyes landed on a small wooden warehouse, roughly a hundred meters to their left.

"What the hell is tha—"

Before anyone could finish, an explosive crash thundered through the compound.

Something burst straight through the building’s closed entrance from the inside, reducing the front wall to flying debris.