"Buzz—"
The car engine let out a deafening roar.
Tires furiously rubbed against the ground, spewing thick white smoke.
The smell of burnt rubber, mixed with the lingering gunpowder from the gun barrels, constantly churned in the car, filling their noses and mouths.
Just as the gear stick was pushed into position—
A large, armored mechanical hand suddenly reached out from within the car, grabbing Shield Mountain's arm.
It pulled both Shield Mountain and Hammer Stone, whose magazine was already empty, into the car.
The next moment—
"Boom—"
The long-suppressed engine of the outwardly unremarkable news van finally broke free, letting out a Beast-like roar.
The entire car shot out like an arrow from a bow, "whoosh," its engine's roar exploding in the deep night.
The chassis scraped along the ground, and the swirling air current flung the dust behind it.
Samira and Green Bull, gripping the handholds inside the car, one on each side, completely ignored whether they might be thrown out of the vehicle.
They simply raised their guns with one hand, frantically pulling the triggers, strafing the vehicles close behind them.
It wasn't just Luca's group attacking.
The gangster thugs in the cars chasing them from behind were also raising their guns and returning fire.
However, these guys, whose quality varied, clearly had less destructive power in their high-speed shooting than in their foul-mouthed curses.
On the three closest pickup trucks, seven or eight people fired simultaneously.
The number of bullets that actually hit the news van's body was less than a handful.
Yet, even so, to prevent any teammates from being hit by stray bullets, Shield Mountain, still not fully upright in the car, shouted at Wrench, who was driving:
"Wrench, protective plates 1 and 2!"
Wrench, who was concentrating on driving, immediately switched to holding the steering wheel with one hand, and with the other, quickly pressed a button next to the dashboard twice.
The next moment, two dark metal plates extended simultaneously from the roof and chassis at the very rear of the car, shielding most of the cabin.
Only a few observation windows and firing ports with good visibility remained.
Just as these two protective plates were secured, two 'clang, clang' sounds of bullets hitting them immediately came from the outside.
At this, even Hammer Stone, who had experienced many battlefields, couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
There was no other way; he was the outermost person in the car at that moment. If the protective plates had risen even half a beat slower, those two bullets would most likely have hit him.
However, just as the enemy's two bullets struck—
One of the three pickup trucks closest to them from behind suddenly had a tire blow out.
The vehicle, already in motion, immediately swerved to the side, directly crashing into another pickup truck that was driving alongside it, forcing it off the main road.
Under the immense impact, the unprotected gangster thugs standing on the two pickup trucks were instantly flung out.
Judging by their tumbling 'into the water' posture, they clearly wouldn't survive.
However, as these two vehicles crashed and left the pursuit, even more pursuers immediately filled in from behind.
"Haha~ Wolf Spider, did you hit it? Nice one!"
Green Bull, knowing he hadn't shot at that tire, immediately laughed and praised Samira.
But Samira, whom he addressed, quickly shook her head.
However, she didn't need to speak; the voice in the earpiece had already provided the answer.
"It was me." Longbow's icy voice seemed to cool even the heated chase.
"That was the last shot. You're out of range. I'm pulling out!"
"Understood. Be careful when you withdraw," Shield Mountain, who had just gotten up, said.
Longbow, who had uncharacteristically spoken so many words, immediately hung up after Shield Mountain's confirmation. He then disassembled his firearm, Nikon tripod, director's chair, and other items one by one, carefully storing them in his 'cello case.'
In fact, if Longbow's preparations this time hadn't been specifically for concealed urban night sniping, but rather if he had been given a heavy sniper rifle like a Barrett or KSVK for vehicles, he could have done much more.
Of course, being able to shoot out a tire of a high-speed vehicle from 500 meters away, causing two pickup trucks to overturn, was enough to demonstrate Longbow's skill.
Looking at the constantly burning flames in the distance, Longbow's expression remained unchanged.
'Warriors must break through the siege with glory, and I will walk alone in the dark night!'
...Alright, leaving the solo withdrawing Longbow aside, let's return our attention to the news van.
Although Longbow's last shot took out two enemy vehicles, more pursuing cars still followed like a tide.
Shield Mountain, who had just finished reloading his magazine, stepped forward and patted Green Bull's shoulder, taking over his firing window, while shouting loudly to be heard over the continuous gunfire:
"Green Bull, go prepare the bombs! Hammer Stone! Don't change magazines! Load the belt directly!"
"Wrench, watch the intersection ahead! This is Hells Kitchen, someone could intercept us from the front at any moment!"
After roaring, Shield Mountain fired three more precise shots.
However, perhaps because several cars had previously been shot and overturned, the pursuers behind had learned their lesson and were mostly making evasive maneuvers, swerving and turning.
While this slowed down their pursuit, it also significantly reduced the hit probability for Shield Mountain and the others.
At this moment, Wrench, who was driving, noticed a convoy of jeeps speeding towards them in the distance and immediately roared:
"Turn! Hold on tight!"
After shouting, Wrench had no time to check if his teammates had heard him.
He floored the accelerator until they reached the corner intersection, then tapped the brakes repeatedly.
At the same time, he furiously spun the steering wheel with both hands.
The entire news van executed a wide arc at the intersection, successfully turning.
The car was now tilted at an angle of nearly 45 degrees, with the right-side wheels completely airborne, and only the two left tires still intensely rubbing against the ground.
Then, with a 'thud,' the news van's left side hit a lamppost by the roadside, before righting itself again.
With a 'clunk,' all four wheels were back on the ground, and then it sped forward with another push of the accelerator.
The few people inside were thrown around by the sudden rise and fall.
Fortunately, due to Wrench's timely warning, the worst-case scenario of an accidental discharge did not occur.
Inside the car, White, who had been clinging to the machine gun turret, noticed everyone swaying and about to fall.
He immediately reached out to support Luca and Green Bull, who was closest to him, and gently cautioned:
"Be careful, you might hurt yourselves like this~" (●—●)
As he spoke, White also extended his deflated hand and sprayed some wound spray on Green Bull, who had acquired some minor scrapes at some point.
However, while the news van's situation was a bit chaotic, it had now returned to a stable drive.
The pursuing cars behind were not so lucky.