Chapter 8: Even if a crafty rabbit has three burrows, it will be caught by the hunters.

Culver and his men had escaped.

They had stayed at the Ruins Site for ages.

Any sane person would consider what to do in case they were discovered in the ruins. Consequently, they would start planning an escape route.

And that's exactly what Culver and his men were doing now, quickly retreating through the escape route they had prepared in advance.

As for this route.

Kerr Cowell knew it by heart.

Of course, Culver definitely wouldn't let him know about these plans, after all, he was not a trusted member of Culver's crew. He had joined halfway and often disagreed with Culver.

But...all things fear the determined.

As long as there's a will, there's no secret that can be kept completely hidden.

Including that so-called extremely hidden getaway route.

Kerr Cowell and Scar Dog stood still, looking at the half-person high pipe laid on the ground next to the shipping container, without speaking.

This pipe was also part of the garbage.

However, it belonged to the construction waste that the Ruins Site could not dispose of immediately. They typically discarded these large pieces of waste on the eastern side of the site.

They probably destroyed them wholly during a set time frame.

And Culver and his men took advantage of the night to arrange the disorderly pipes strewn in the eastern part of the ruins site, all in a series leading outside.

This was to be used just in case somebody from the Ruins Site happened to patrol their area, a place people rarely visited.

That way, they could make use of this pipe and quickly escape from the ruins site.

Of course.

Culver and his associates were not foolish enough to connect all pipe openings in sequence, which would have been simply too foolish.

Especially in the eyes of a daytime crane operator.

Like a regular reptile appearing out of nowhere on a chaotic oil painting; it's extremely eye-catching.

Therefore, these separate pipe sections were not connected in sequence.

Rather, there was a gap of several meters between every two connected pipes.

And Culver had sent people to arrange these gaps early on.

Sometimes it was a half-length shipping container, other times it was a route under the garbage pile, or surrounding by piles of random garbage.

In short...they did everything possible to reduce the chances of being discovered during the open sections.

Also, they didn't just lay down one set of pipes.

But seven or eight.

These seven or eight sets of pipes were scattered irregularly across the eastern part of the ruins site. For example, after coming out of one pipe, there were two pipes ahead, allowing for a choice.

One could say, Culver had mastered the art of the elusive hare.

Under such circumstances, unless the Ruins Site made a targeted arrest, they weren't likely to capture Culver and his crew.

...

However.

Even the craftiest hare was likely to be caught by the hunter.

As Kerr Cowell's seemingly random flashlight gestures took place, Culver and his people obediently followed their predestined route running towards the edge of the Ruins Site.

The flashlight beam was weak, but sufficient enough for Culver and his men to see clearly.

And Kerr Cowell always ensured his flashlight beam was directed downwards to minimize the chances of being noticed.

...

"Damn it!"

Just as Culver crawled out of a pipe, and before he had a chance to decide which one of the two pipes ahead to enter, he saw the beam of a flashlight shining over from the east.

After cursing under his breath, he quickly crawled into the western pipe without any hesitation.

The security at the Ruins Site tonight seemed to have gone crazy, patrolling everywhere.

Usually, the guards should be playing cards in the guard room on the western side at night.

What on earth had gotten into them tonight.

...

"We're here."

Kerr Cowell stopped walking, standing next to a pipe and watching as a dozen or so men kept crawling out from the pipe ahead.

This was already at the edge of the Ruins Site.

A few more steps forward and they would be in the wilderness.

Desolate and uninhabited.

The gun turret they had buried in a pit was hiding not far ahead of Culver and his gang.

He looked back at the Ruins Site, ensuring there were no movements behind him before setting his eyes on Culver and his gang. They could be seen frantically fleeing into the night.

Not many steps left.

The group had completely entered the firing range of the turret.

Just then—

Culver, who was running in the middle, rounded back subconsciously to see if the security guards were after them.

But when he spun around to find Kerr Cowell standing beside the pipeline, a look of disbelief flashed in his eyes, he involuntary swore, "Damn, are the law enforcers from City 18 useless?"

"How could they let these two escape?!"

Then, with almost no hesitation, his face hardened. Leaving his men behind, he ran swiftly in a different direction, much faster than the average individual.

It was apparent that Kerr Cowell had lured them out.

Undoubtedly, there must be a trap set by Kerr somewhere up ahead, although he was clueless about what that might be.

But based on his understanding of Kerr, if he had survived and managed to track him down, there was one certainty - only one of them could live.

At that moment, Kerr raised his eyebrows without hesitation and pressed a small silver button in his hand.

"Click click!!"

A soft metallic sound echoed from the earth pit not far from Culver and his gang.

Very quickly.

A turret, dusty and somewhat silvery, emerged.

A page filled with futuristic, semi-transparent data was displayed above the turret.

'Self-controlled Rotating Turret of Steel Sword, activated.'

'Intruder detected.'

'Commencing indiscriminate fire.'

The terrifying turret emitted its signature roar the moment Culver started to run sideways.

"Whizz whizz whizz!!!"

Accompanied by mildly piercing explosive sounds, pure white light bullets, as small as chicks,

one after another, formed a line, strafing towards the group still running forward.

Just like a sickle cutting wheat.

The individuals running at the front couldn't react in time. They fell soundlessly on the ground, their blood slowly seeping out, pooling on the ground.

By the time the people at the back reacted, preparing to fire back in a fit of rage, it was too late.

This was a turret, not a machine gun.

The fist-sized light bullets don't just pierce or wound, they shatter bodies, spraying blood into the air.

It wasn't even one minute.

Just ten seconds or so.

The fight was over.

The noise could potentially attract the security guards from the west of the Ruins Site to investigate. This needed to be wrapped up quickly.

Kerr Cowell and Scar Dog exchanged glances and rushed to the pile of corpses.

Without hesitation, they shot each corpse in the head, one by one.

To prevent any surprise attacks from the "dead".

Culver, who had run some distance away, was now lying on the ground. As Kerr approached him for the kill.

Culver, clinging onto life, was in a dreadful state. Thick bubbles of blood gurgled up his throat, filling his eyes with a potent desire to live. He stared at Kerr Cowell, full of regret.

"I'm...sorry..."

"Mercy...show me mercy...let...me..."

Kerr lifted his hand cannon, emotionlessly aiming it at Culver, clinging onto life and lying on the ground. He pulled the trigger.

"Bang."

Blood splattered onto his clothes.

He looked at the wilderness, his brows knitted. He didn't say anything. He walked back towards Scar Dog, ready to finish off the rest quickly.

From start to finish, he hardly said a word.