A Pair of N

The walls were uneven, a deep gray, and the floor was laid with black planks. Firearms and weapons of all sorts were piled haphazardly against the walls. In the very center stood a massive fighting ring, with boxing gear stacked together and punching bags lined up in a row.

Suspended directly above the entire space was a transparent glass room.

At that moment, Xie Xu stood there, looking down from on high.

The two locked eyes across the distance, and he raised a hand, making a gesture.

Before Tu Ran could figure out what the gesture meant, a crowd of people was already lunging at her.

Tu Ran: "?"

So that gesture was an order for these people?

Tu Ran didn't have time to think it over. She swung her backpack strap straight at the two men leading the charge. One of them quickly ducked to dodge the blow, but the other wasn't so lucky—he took it square in the face and staggered backward.

The one who dodged didn't stay lucky for long. Tu Ran hooked her other strap around his neck, yanked him close, and used him as a pivot to leap up, kicking four or five approaching men flying in quick succession.

Then she jumped behind him, grabbed the back of his collar, and hurled him into the others who were closing in.

A whole swath of them went down in one go.

The entire space echoed with cries of pain. The place was so empty that the reverberations stretched on endlessly, making it sound even more miserable.

Since these people were all fighting hand-to-hand without any weapons, Tu Ran matched them and didn't draw her gun or knife.

Tu Ran hadn't expected to fight a gang in the morning and then get into another brawl that afternoon, though these opponents were clearly stronger than Zhou Ming's group from earlier.

That morning's fight she could handle without breaking a sweat, but this one wasn't so easy.

She was focused on dealing with the three men in front of her when a fist swung at her from behind. She heard the whistle of the punch, but with the three in front tying her down, she had nowhere to dodge, and the blow landed solidly on her shoulder.

She let out a muffled grunt, her balance wavering as she stumbled forward a few steps. Seizing the opening, the man in front immediately threw a punch that caught her square on the cheek.

Tu Ran's vision went dark for a moment. She felt like her teeth were about to be knocked out, and the taste of blood filled her mouth.

She spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, wiped the blood from the corner of her lips, and swept her gaze in a circle, glaring fiercely at the ring of people surrounding her.

With a lightning-fast kick, she slammed into the waist of the man who had attacked her from behind.

The force was immense. The man flew off in a C-shape, crashing into a pile of guns against the wall.

Tu Ran immediately changed direction, delivering another kick, this time a side kick to the neck of another man. His eyes rolled back, his head lolled to the side, and he collapsed to his knees, unconscious.

People watching at the edge of the battlefield immediately dragged his body away.

She switched tactics. Her strengths were her speed and small, agile frame—in pure physical strength, she was no match for this group.

No longer clashing head-on, Tu Ran ran fluidly back and forth across the underground space, splitting the group apart, then picking them off one by one.

Another kick—Tu Ran caught a man square on the chin as he charged at her.

She heard the crack of bone.

Then came the man's scream.

He was pulled off the battlefield for treatment.

Another kick followed, and someone got hit in a place they really shouldn't have.

A wave of guilt washed over Tu Ran for a split second. As he was dragged off the field, she bowed apologetically and said, "Sorry about that—I didn't mean it."

The man's eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

Tu Ran realized her leg strength was formidable, so she made full use of it—whenever she could kick, she refused to use her fists.