Chapter 68: Python Captured
Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Python Captured
Python was extremely cautious. He didn’t let his guard down just because the Mutated Brown Bear appeared to be completely defenseless.
He kept his gun raised, approaching the Mutated Brown Bear’s corpse one step at a time. His eyes scanned the surroundings vigilantly, wary of any other surprises.
Bena and Zhou Mei remained hidden behind a half-collapsed building, not making a single rash move.
They waited patiently, like skilled hunters waiting for their prey to walk into a trap. Python reached the Mutated Brown Bear’s corpse and examined it carefully, confirming that it was truly dead.
Only then did he let out a sigh of relief, a smug smile spreading across his face.
Taking down a Mutated Brown Bear single-handedly was a feat worth bragging about.
With a feat like this, getting a promotion back at base would be easy.
Just as Python was lost in his pleasant daydream, a dark figure silently closed in on him.
The figure’s movements were incredibly light, making virtually no sound.
It wasn’t until the figure was less than three meters away that Python suddenly sensed danger.
"Who’s there!"
Python spun around, aiming the pipe rifle in his hands behind him.
He was fast, but the figure behind him was even faster.
Two dark blurs flashed past. Python felt a sudden chill on his wrist, and the pipe rifle fell from his grasp, clattering to the ground.
Alarm shot through Python. The sensation on his wrist was all too familiar—the cold sting of a blade slicing through skin.
He knew instantly that he’d been ambushed.
The next moment, a powerful roundhouse kick whipped toward his neck.
Python tried to dodge, but the thought had barely formed before a sharp pain shot through his neck. Then, his vision went black, and he passed out completely.
Looking at the collapsed Python, Zhou Mei breathed a sigh of relief as the fine fur covering her body began to recede.
The one who had just attacked Python was none other than Zhou Mei in her beast-like state.
Her agility score of 11 allowed her to move silently and at incredible speed.
With the element of surprise on her side, an ordinary gunman like Python stood no chance against such a swift assault.
Seeing Zhou Mei’s successful ambush, Bena and the three bionoids emerged from the ruins.
Bena strode over to Python’s side and quickly checked his condition.
After confirming that Python was merely unconscious from the heavy blow and his life wasn’t in danger, he signaled for Number 1 and Number 3 to tie him up.
"Good work, Zhou Mei."
Bena acknowledged her performance, then turned to look at the unconscious Python, a sharp glint in his eyes.
"We need to get some information out of him."
This wasn’t the first time this group had appeared near the shelter. He needed to find out more about them.
They didn’t linger. They grabbed Python and hauled him into the nearest abandoned villa.
Bena posted the three bionoids as lookouts.
He and Zhou Mei, meanwhile, began to interrogate Python.
Bena didn’t have time to wait for him to wake up on his own. He slapped him twice across the face.
Python came to, groggy and disoriented. He found himself tied to a dilapidated chair.
Bena and Zhou Mei sat before him, their expressions grim.
He instinctively struggled against his bonds, but his hands were tied fast, completely immobilized.
"What’s your name? What group are you with? Why are you here?"
Bena asked, getting straight to the point.
Python pressed his lips together. His head was still fuzzy, but he understood his predicament.
This was his first time being taken captive, but he knew how these things went.
He’d seen plenty of captives before.
He knew that the moment he gave up information about his group, his days in the Black Wind Gang were numbered, regardless of whether his captors kept their word.
The Black Wind Gang was notoriously cruel to traitors, and he didn’t dare imagine the consequences.
Besides, even if he did tell them what they wanted, they probably wouldn’t let him go anyway.
Seeing Python with his eyes shut, resigned to his fate, Bena and Zhou Mei exchanged a glance.
Bena knew Python’s silence stemmed from fear of his own group and uncertainty about his future.
He needed to break through Python’s mental defenses and make him understand that cooperation was his only way out.
"Python, I know what you’re afraid of, but you don’t have a choice right now."
Bena’s tone was perfectly calm. "We’re not the kind of people who kill for no reason, but you know as well as I do that we have ways of making you talk."
"The way you turned and ran earlier shows you’re not exactly brimming with loyalty to your group. You’re no hard-ass."
As he spoke, he drew the dagger from his belt and lightly scraped its sharp edge against the skin of Python’s arm.
Feeling the cold steel against his arm, the hairs on Python’s skin stood on end.
With Bena having played the bad cop, Zhou Mei immediately stepped in as the good cop.
"Tell us what you know about your group, and we’ll guarantee your safety. We’ll even let you go."
"We have no personal quarrel with you. All we need is information about your group."
"Tell us everything you know, and we can let you walk away."
Python’s eyelids twitched. His resolve was beginning to crumble.
As someone who had been indifferent when a companion was killed by a traitor and had turned tail at the first sign of danger, his willpower was never going to be that strong.
Between Bena and Zhou Mei’s tag-team approach, Python’s mental defenses completely crumbled.
"If I tell you... you’ll really let me go?"
Bena gave a solemn nod.
"We’re happy to let you leave, but only if you tell us everything you know."
Python’s eyes darted around. After a long moment of hesitation, he finally began to speak.
"We’re... We’re from the Black Wind Robbery Group."
The moment Python finished speaking, a sharp glint flashed in Zhou Mei’s eyes.
The Black Wind Robbery Group. She’d heard the name before, back when she was a caravan guard.
They were supposedly a small raiding group of about forty people who primarily targeted small caravans of a dozen or so.
Of course, besides robbing caravans, small-time raiding groups like this also moonlighted by hunting mutated creatures, extorting small settlements, and dabbling in human trafficking or the organ trade.
Small raiding groups of a few dozen members were a dime a dozen in the wasteland.
Zhou Mei quickly relayed what she knew to Bena.
Hearing it was just a small, forty-person raiding group, Bena relaxed slightly.
Last time, after killing the mutated gray wolves, they had followed their trail to another battle site.
There, they had found six mangled corpses wearing clothes almost identical to Python’s.
Clearly, those six had also been members of the Black Wind Raiding Group.