It was a photograph of a village.
If the Laird Airport massacre was akin to hell;
Then the scene depicted in this photograph is even more horrifying than hell itself: numerous mud houses destroyed by explosions, the remaining standing structures riddled with holes, walls stained a blood-red black, corpses littered all around, flesh mangled, limbs torn;
In the next shot, amidst the ruins, an injured person is trapped underneath, groaning in agony;
In yet another shot, several young children are seen fleeing, only to be mercilessly gunned down by machine guns, their spilled blood suspended in the air like glaringly evil flowers.
The Leica camera, adept at capturing cultural scenes, imbues the image with tension, deeply piercing Gu Ji's soul.
He knows all too well the brutal intensity of war.
But the battlefield shown in these photos transcends the limits of ordinary imagination.
The instigators of this bloody scene are not humans, or rather, humans did not directly commit the acts, but rather three robotic dogs, combat mechanical dogs equipped with light machine guns and grenade launchers!
Due to his longtime interest in firearms, Gu Ji often reads up on military weapons, especially emerging high-tech weaponry.
This type of combat mechanical dog had appeared at world weapon expos quite some time ago, typically used for transport, mine clearance, and reconnaissance tasks, yet no robotic dog has been deployed in actual combat till now.
The primary barriers are technological limitations and the potential for misuse by terrorists, as natural interference or electronic warfare can disrupt their operations, even allowing control to be seized, reversing their targets, posing grave dangers and complicating tracking and investigation.
It's surprising that these devices are used on the battlefield after all.
The villagers evidently became sacrificial victims of the experimental might of these armed mechanical dogs.
In a few of the photos, Gu Ji spotted several suit-wearing white men, likely weapons traders selling the mechanical dogs, alongside bald tattooed thugs with red-patterned scarves, some military-uniformed soldiers, and a masked bandit leader: Cohen!
Though some photos are quite blurry, likely due to the urgent situation and missed focus at the scene.
From subsequent images of battlefield debris, injured civilians, and military marches, it implies that the role of "Jiang Songyuan" he assumes is likely a war photographer or journalist, which explains the man bun and artistic aura.
Until now.
He finally comprehends the real reason this group of thugs attacked the airport: kill all witnesses!
During Jiang Songyuan's outdoor shoot, he inadvertently captured images of the Luoao Rebel Army and arms dealers massacring civilians; once discovered, he quickly fled to the capital's airport, intending to leave by plane, only to be detained at the airport entrance for extortion by a greedy security officer.
The female supervisor's repeated emphasis on "arrival," confused Gu Ji's judgment.
Leading him to consistently believe "he" had just alighted from a plane, ready to leave the airport, unexpectedly the exact opposite.
No wonder the thugs targeted the second floor of the airport; reflecting back, during his first encounter in the ventilation duct, the foreigners trapped at the boarding gate were mostly of yellow skin.
And during his first death, being in the dimly lit duct, the thugs shot in indistinctness, quite reasonably.
"Even Sam, so close, couldn't verify my identity, indicating their blurry capture of 'me,' coupled with my random identity deception..."
Gu Ji briefly self-analyzed, finally untangling the background story and primary plotline of this game level.
All because of a single "photograph," indiscriminately slaughtering an entire international airport, this bunch of scum is truly inhuman.
"Hey, hey, hey! Are you even listening to me?"
Having been ignored for too long, the balding police officer's fury finally surfaces, as he tries to seize Gu Ji's shoulder.
Unexpectedly, Gu Ji swiftly evades backward, his right hand swiftly grips the opponent's wrist in a tiger claw-like manner, pulling back while swiveling, pressing down with his elbow, and concurrently launching his right foot's tip explosively to jab onto the bald police's left knee pit.
The latter crumples forward under the force, subdued onto the ground.
Police Grappling Technique: Retroflection Wrist Hold!
"Ah—! Pain, pain, pain... You dare attack an officer!! Help, someone help! Officer under attack!"
The balding police cries out in pain.
Meanwhile, the remaining three security staff are left wide-eyed, dumbfounded.
Primarily because Gu Ji's sequence of police-signature movements is so clean and efficient, they're mistakenly left believing: Gu Ji is the cop, while Baldy is the criminal.
"Hey! Let go already!"
Perhaps alerted by the plea, a security guard outside immediately draws a black police baton, pointing it at Gu Ji and yelling, "Hurry! Officer under attack!"
Even Gu Ji hadn't anticipated this.
Two consecutive life-and-death crises stretched his nerves to the limit, his reaction purely instinctive, possibly augmented by imprinted power, exerting slightly excessive strength.
Just as the federal police from the ground floor's security office begin converging towards the office.
A piercing squeal of tire friction resonates.
Uh oh!
Gu Ji's expression alters dramatically, realizing he spent too much time fiddling with the Korean camera, missing the chance to tackle Sam and win over Angeli and Felsen, the officers.
Bam—!
Rat-tat-tat!
...
Gunfire and screams erupt as scheduled.
Exploiting the balding officer's stunned moment, Gu Ji's left hand deftly snatches the black PM pistol from his waist, inspects the magazine, racks the slide, flicks off the safety, and adopts a two-handed aiming posture.
Pressure-induced chaos seizes the curly-haired security youth again, bolting from the office in madness.
Perhaps triggered by storyline butterfly effects, this time, he does not retreat back, directly executed in the hall.
"Quick…fall back!"
The balding officer cries out in fear, swiftly reaching for his waist, finding nothing but emptiness, "My gun…"
At the office's entrance, Gu Ji, back against the wall, exploits the angle to cautiously observe outside.
The thugs' firepower is ferocious, their movements rapid.
Within half a minute, half of the first floor's crowd is slaughtered.
Critically, each thug occupies a designated shooting position, sweeping from the door, while maintaining someone to guard the rear, eliminating ambush chances.
"That Cohen, quite the tactical expert."
As Gu Ji squints, a burst of three rounds sweeps towards him, rat-tat-tat, shattering doorframe splinters.
Instinctively squeezing his eyes shut, he retreats behind the wall.
Outside.
Frantic footfalls rapidly advance, the female supervisor recoiling onto the floor in fright, her legs convulsing, and a pungent stench of urine wafts forth.
Whoosh!
A dark shadow is tossed inside, colliding onto the tiles with metallic clinks, Gu Ji, eyes widened, immediately twists, leaping out the door, boom—!
...
...
"Dun, dun, dun~ Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon..."
"Reported by the Ethiopian Media Management Bureau..."
"There is a new development in the Amu Tribe tragedy..."
"Hoo! Ha..." Gu Ji jolts awake, breathing heavily, battling the splitting headache, swiftly raising his wrist to set a 1-minute-15-second countdown timer.
"Sir, sir? Please cooperate, open your back..."
Before the female supervisor finishes, Gu Ji's right hand swiftly opens the black backpack on the desk, while his left hand whips out a phone, simultaneously activating the phone camera and Leica Q2 album, click, click, snapping two photos, pocketing the phone, and retrieving the camera's memory card.
Throughout he remains silent, performing a swift sequence of actions, leaving the office's occupants stunned.
"Well then, since you voluntarily brought out the camera, I must warn you, carrying professional cameras into Ethiopia is..."
Wham! Gu Ji abruptly tosses the camera onto the desk, fleeing the office.
His eyes gleam coldly, catching a sliver of red.
He strides to the wall, bam, smashes his fist onto a red square.
Instantly!
"Zero, zero, zero, zero..."
The airport fire alarm blares violently, the chaotic crowd freezing on the spot as though paralyzed.
Only then does Gu Ji's game system's alert commence:
[Crisis event initiated!]
[Select your starting reward.]
[Fork (×1)] or [Power Boost (small)]