Where is Zhao? Where is the Death Squad hiding?

The entire police force of Tianbei City was mobilized at full strength. Even as the concert countdown began, they still had nothing.

Qin Fen watched the slowly rising full moon. This outcome wasn't entirely unexpected. If the Death Sign were that easy to find, the terrorists wouldn't be worth fifty thousand, nor would his Death Squad be worth fifty thousand.

“Deputy Chief Qin, no sign of the terrorist you mentioned has been found, OVER.”

Listening to the final report from the last armed police search team, Qin Fen casually placed the communicator back on his hip and stood outside the stadium, meticulously scanning the crowd for suspicious individuals.

Night had completely enveloped Tianbei City. The area in front of the stadium was bustling. Besides the large number of ticket holders, countless ticketless people were also crammed near the gates. The streets outside the stadium were completely filled.

The concert hadn't officially begun, yet inside the massive stadium, the roar of the audience had reached a pitch that threatened to shatter the very roof.

Lin Ling stood at the optimal sniping position, quickly opening the case provided by Qin Fen and assembling the components within.

The enormous weapon revealed its ferocious true nature: the XM10!

Once the heavy artillery king of the Federal Army, its fame far surpassed that of the Barrett M82A. With its monstrous twenty-five millimeter caliber, it fired bullets adapted from the thirty-millimeter high-explosive rounds used by the Apache attack helicopters' M78 chain guns.

Its massive bore could propel a 25-gram bullet, yielding a destructive force 35 times greater than the armor-piercing rounds used by the Barrett M82A. If specialized armor-piercing rounds were used, its power could easily penetrate light mechanized armor like the Jungle Ranger or City Defender. After Qin Fen’s personal modifications, it was capable of crippling and destroying even a medium mechanized armor unit if it struck a vital spot.

Even an Eleven-Star martial artist, despite cultivating the Golden Bell Shield, Iron Shirt, and the Thirteen Grand Protections, would have their body exploded by a single shot from this weapon.

Of course, Eleven-Star martial artists were not to be trifled with. Even with the formidable power of the XM10, it had to hit the target first. Otherwise, even the greatest destructive force was in vain.

Lin Ling scanned all other sniper points intermittently through the optical sight. The XM10, modified by Qin Fen, was now like a monster hiding in the shadows, its muzzle exhaling a chilling killing intent. She didn't worry in the least about enemies suddenly appearing behind her.

The Great Emperor Caesar, the Little Dragon King Yang Lie, and Kai Tian Brooks—three of the top elites of the younger generation—were ambushed behind Lin Ling, forming a strong and formidable special defense line. Anyone wanting to threaten Lin Ling would first have to pass these three.

Yu Qian, at sniper position number three, equally didn't need to worry about threats from the rear: Solomon, Du Peng, the explosive Chen Feiyu, and Morad from West Asia. The defense line formed by these four combined was no less formidable than the one at position number one.

Qin Fen returned backstage at the stadium concert via a special passage. The two girls, clad in gorgeous performance outfits, were delicately tuning their instruments, showing no sign of concern about an impending attack.

Xue Tian appeared from somewhere, standing smiling behind the two girls. “Your bodyguard has finally shown up. I really couldn't manage them both by myself.”

Qin Fen offered an apologetic smile and looked up toward the stadium's main command center. In terms of squad coordination, no recruit could surpass him. But when it came to overall strategic deployment, Xing Wuyi truly lived up to his reputation as the top talent among the recruits. The defense system, which Qin Fen thought was flawless, actually contained several fatal loopholes in Xing Wuyi's eyes. With the help of this friend who had traveled from afar, the stadium was practically impenetrable.

“This defense system…” Qin Fen’s expression was slightly puzzled. “Where else could the Death Sign attack from?”

“Who knows,” Xue Tian leaned against the makeup table. “Maybe it’s just like what Armed Police Captain Ke Xiaosong said—this Death Sign is using a feint tactic, sneaking off to assassinate the Mayor of Tianbei City.”

A feint? Qin Fen looked exhausted. Would this Death Sign really use the same tactic twice? If he truly intended to kill the Mayor, he would be kicking an aircraft carrier. Ke Xiaosong was waiting for him there.

Three cannon shots echoed in the sky, and fireworks burst in brilliant colors. Amidst the cheers of ten thousand people, the prelude to the first song slowly began. The two young girls exchanged glances, nodded firmly, grasped their guitars and bass as if they were weapons heading into battle, and strode onto the stage.

The first song of the concert was always the Flying Heart Girls Band’s breakthrough hit, Declaration of War Against Terrorists. A rock song sung by young girls that could ignite the passion and blood of anyone who heard it.

“Who is dismantling families with human bombs? Who is establishing that terrifying regime with bloody terror…”

As the familiar music swelled, Qin Fen’s pupils were fixed on the two girls immersed in rock music on stage. After many days apart, the music of these two girls was even more infectious. The surging music carried a resonance that pierced and shook the soul.

As the music gradually unfolded, Qin Fen surprisingly felt a surge of emotional impulse—a resonance evoked by the music of the two young girls.

At this moment, Qin Fen’s ears involuntarily twitched. The blood and qi within his body, which he had long struggled to control, suddenly felt as if a freezing agent had been applied, granting him a faint sense of mastery.

This is…

The blood within Qin Fen began to boil! It was the song sung with the souls of the two girls that produced this vibration. It was Resonance!

Qin Fen’s fists and kicks were filled with an unyielding martial intent. Were the two girls, in their delicate forms, touring every city in the Federation, risking being sniped by terrorists to hold one anti-terrorism concert after another, not also a form of unyielding strength?

This strength, transmitted through the music and sung from their souls, activated Qin Fen’s dormant blood! The high, clear voices of the girls were like the endless waves of the sea, ceaselessly propelling his quiescent blood. The two girls simultaneously let out a long cry towards the heavens, pushing the pitch to an unprecedented height. That high note seemed poised to pierce the protective layer of the soul, reaching its deepest core.

In that instant, the tens of thousands in the stadium were connected by this single high note! As everyone’s blood boiled, their auras merged into the same frequency, completely fusing together.

The combined might of tens of thousands of spirits! Even if any individual was insignificant, the moment they converged, they became the grand momentum of the world!

Qin Fen felt this immense momentum, and the blood rolling inside him seemed to explode like countless bombs, or like a volcano awakening simultaneously.

The rolling blood, countless points surging upward—his own martial aura of hardness also merged into that vast momentum. For a time, he entered an unprecedented special state.

That was not the transformation of blood and rebirth into the Innate realm. Blood is essence, and qi is spirit! Qin Fen’s aura fused into the vast, hot momentum, like a giant sponge absorbing the ferocity of everyone present.

Everyone possesses ferocity. Perhaps when facing a villain alone, one person’s ferocity may not erupt, but there is always a trigger point for that eruption.

When a woman faces a strong assailant, she might lack the power to resist, but the moment she protects her child! The ferocity she unleashes will be astonishing.

When a young man faces a thug, he might shrink back.

But when he stands behind his young brother, sister, elderly parents, he will become the most ferocious person on earth.

The music of the Flying Heart Girls Band could directly strike the deepest, most passionate core of the audience’s spirit. At this moment, their inherent ferocity was violently released!

Transformation! Spirit ascended!

Qin Fen’s mind rapidly flashed through countless past battles, as well as the journey to Qinghai: high mountains, vast rivers, dangerous peaks, and mirror-like lakes!

Everything converged rapidly. The momentum within Qin Fen soared, and soared, and soared! Xue Tian stared at Qin Fen in astonishment. What was happening? Qin Fen’s aura… this aura, integrated with his fist intent, its power…

“Qin Fen!”

A sharp command cut through the vibration in Qin Fen’s earpiece, instantly jarring him out of that special state.

Xing Wuyi roared with no small amount of irritation, “What are you doing? Can’t you hear me?”

“I hear you,” Qin Fen’s eyes regained their intelligent clarity. His ears twitched again, and he suddenly looked toward the outside of the stadium. This is…

“Death Sign isn't in the venue at all! His target wasn't those two girls; his target is the audience outside!” Xing Wuyi’s voice held a trace of annoyance. “Perhaps his ultimate goal is still the two girls inside the venue, but right now you must get outside. Twenty-three City Defenders are advancing at high speed! The drivers inside are enemies!”

City Defenders? Twenty-three units? Where did the Death Sign transport so many light mechanized armor units from? Qin Fen’s eyes widened in surprise. The City Defender was a special mechanized armor unit specially equipped for police duties within the city. In terms of actual combat capability, it might even be inferior to mechanized armor like the Jungle Ranger. Its single arm couldn't bear a load of even one ton, but its sheer size was imposing, standing at 3.65 meters tall!

Twenty City Defenders, armed with their firepower, could easily cause havoc in a densely populated area!

“Xue Tian, it’s up to you.”

Qin ফেন uttered these words and was already forty meters away, his urgency lending more power to his steps. The operating skills of these Death Squad mechanized armor pilots were absolutely comparable to those of special forces. The mechanized armor operated by the police force would be mere appetizers in their eyes! They could potentially be dismantled in the first exchange.

Outside the stadium, the police City Defenders rapidly converged. Under Xing Wuyi’s satellite surveillance, they quickly formed a defensive perimeter. An emergency evacuation alarm sounded from the loudspeakers.

The crowd gathered outside the stadium looked around curiously upon hearing the alarm, but no one immediately fled or hid.

As the alarm sounded, the roar of engines at high RPM echoed from deep within the streets. Twenty-three City Defenders with tracked undercarriages rapidly appeared in the sight of the crowd.

The moment they appeared, the City Defenders charging from the depths of the street opened fire! Although their mechanical arms couldn't handle the one-ton behemoths like the Thunder Cloud Storm, they could certainly support the weight of an M134 Vulcan cannon. These six-barreled Vulcan cannons, wrapped with long ammo belts, spun up to high speed, spewing chilling tongues of fire.

The armor of the City Defender wasn't thick! The penetration of the Vulcan cannon was more than enough to pierce these units, which were adapted from light armored vehicles.

The Death Squad members were all forged in the bloody crucible of gunfire; their reaction speed far surpassed that of these police officers who had never experienced actual combat. Even though Xing Wuyi shouted for them to open fire over the comms, the police’s execution fell far short of his demands.

“Damn it!”

Xing Wuyi slammed his fist against the command console. If these police officers had even a few months of training as mechanized armor operators, it would have been the Death Squad lying in a heap right now.

In the blink of an eye, several police City Defenders caught fire. The remaining officers finally began to fight back. What they held were not destructive weapons like the M134 Vulcan cannon. The City Defenders’ primary role was deterrence, not outright offensive engagement. They were armed only with the antique M2HB heavy machine gun. This weapon’s penetration power was limited, but its rate of fire was far inferior to the M134.

Swish…

The people hiding behind the police City Defenders were stunned. Were the drivers of these sudden City Defenders professional race car drivers? As the police opened fire, they executed unimaginable drifts and slides, not only dodging the police shots but also returning fire, knocking two police City Defenders backward in showers of sparks.

The crowd stared dumbfounded at the fierce engagement. They had even forgotten their fear. These police City Defenders, usually patrolling the city with an air of dominance, proved to be so fragile, as if made of mud and paper. In the blink of an eye, they were all taken down.

Xing Wuyi watched the screen, his eye twitching repeatedly. The strength of the police mechanized armor units was weaker than imagined. Their performance during daytime training was less than thirty percent of what they displayed in this fight. These officers, having never experienced real war, displayed lamentable capability under actual combat stress.

“Dear citizens of Tianbei,” a voice boomed, “We are the Holy War Organization, Blood Scimitar. Today, we come for the holy struggle for freedom…” The twenty-three City Defenders did not rush to fire immediately. They also did not stop their high-speed movement. While shouting provocations through their loudspeakers, they charged rapidly into the crowd.

Open fire? No, no! The Death Squad members knew very well that the true terror of an attack was not killing everyone with gunfire. It was driving the City Defenders to smash some people in the crowd, crushing others, and then shooting a few, leaving the remainder alive. Only this way could the influence of their terrorist act be truly spread.

At this moment, the stunned crowd finally reacted. They screamed and began pushing and shoving each other, scattering in all directions. Chaos erupted in the square.

The leading City Defenders were suddenly only a hundred meters from the crowd. At this distance, the Death Squad members could already sense the exhilaration of smashing people with their armor, the thrill of trampling flesh beneath them…

At that moment… a motorcycle spun through the air at high speed, soaring over the heads of the crowd. This unmanned drone motorcycle, due to its enormous mass, tore through the air, emitting a low growl like an ancient beast in its anger.

“What is that?”

The leading Death Squad member was stunned by this visually shocking, unidentified flying object. His nerves reacted a fraction too slowly. The flying motorcycle slammed violently into the cockpit area of a City Defender.

Boom!

The motorcycle exploded the instant it made contact. The massive explosion combined with the violent kinetic impact sent that City Defender, which had been charging like a wild horse, slowly staggering backward.

What was that?

The remaining twenty-two Death Squad members paused simultaneously. Qin Fen pushed the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill to its extreme, using a Dragon Form movement technique to flash through the crowd like lightning, instantly appearing before the second City Defender.

A human? The pilot of the City Defender finally realized what was happening. He rapidly swung the M134 cannon in his hand toward Qin Fen, the massive iron arm seeming like that of a great demon capable of destroying everything in the world.

“You think you can play with me using this big tin can? If it were military-grade armor, perhaps I could only retreat, but against this shoddy product…”

Qin Fen sneered, flooding his arms with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill. The bones in both arms cracked audibly, and the muscles swelled rapidly under the surge of blood. Black and blue veins crisscrossed over his arms, thick as elephant legs.

Today, Qin Fen was unencumbered by the cumbersome four-thousand-pound suit. He was fighting completely unburdened. The results of his daily training under the four-thousand-pound load were fully displayed at this moment.

The descending metal arm, Qin Fen supported it with a single hand! Before the sound of muscle colliding with metal could fully spread, Qin Fen’s five fingers clamped down fiercely! He seized the metal arm hard. His other hand shot out. Both arms twisted simultaneously, pulling and wrenching!

Crack! Zzzzz… Zzzzz…

The metal arm of the City Defender, which looked like that of a demon god, suddenly became more fragile than an infant’s in the face of Qin Fen’s elephantine arms. It was forcibly torn off by Qin Fen’s monstrous strength, spitting out sparks from the severed limb.

Everything happened too fast; the onlookers hadn't processed it. Qin Fen tossed aside the torn steel arm, grabbed a sedan car weighing 1.3 tons from the roadside with one hand, and swung it directly like a sledgehammer! He smashed it down onto the head of the disarmed mechanized armor.

Dong!

The car crumpled like a boomerang. Sparks erupted from the City Defender’s head like fireworks. Its legs buckled heavily before Qin Fen, as if a demon kneeling before the feet of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan.

Shock!

A young man less than two meters tall, like a berserk ancient demon ape, chose to confront a metal-cast City Defender head-on!

What was even more terrifying was that the young man actually won! Relying purely on his strength, he tore off the City Defender’s metal arm, grabbed a 1.3-ton sedan with one hand as easily as holding a kitten, and mercilessly smashed it onto the City Defender’s head, completely disabling it!

Mechanized armor! Even the shoddy product that was the City Defender was still metal-cast mechanized armor!

And just like that? Smashed to pieces by a police officer who suddenly appeared from nowhere?

There were indeed people who could dismantle mechanized armor like the City Defender, but the violent spectacle achieved here was not something everyone could accomplish.

Especially the feat against a Ten-Star level martial artist—perhaps no one in the world could do it!

It turned out that extreme violence, when taken to its limit, was also a form of authority!

The twenty-one Death Squad members, who had crawled out of piles of dead bodies, felt a heavy chill deep in their souls the moment they met Qin Fen’s eyes!

Although Qin Fen had failed to perfectly control his blood energy during the concert, his aura had gained new insights by merging with the surging vitality of tens of thousands of people, and it continued to surge upward!

The soaring momentum, combined with his extremely violent fighting style just now, caused the twenty-one terrorists who had crawled out of death pits to feel fear for the first time.

Death? That was not terrifying! What was terrifying was dying without achieving anything, failing to drag the opponent into hell with them. This was the deeply ingrained ideology of the terrorists. Qin Fen’s instantaneous, brutal strike made these iron-willed terrorists feel fear for the first time.

Driven by the instinct to eliminate fear, the M134 cannons of all twenty-one City Defenders raised their weapons. Qin Fen also grabbed an M134.

The guns roared! But this time, the first to fire was not the Death Squad; it was Qin Fen’s gun!

Playing with guns? The gap between the Death Squad and Qin Fen was as immense as the gap between the police and the Death Squad! In front of the Death Squad, the City Defenders operated by the police were mere appetizers.

And in front of Qin Fen, were the City Defenders operated by the Death Squad not also appetizers?

Flames spewed rapidly from the six barrels, drawing a perfect arc of red light across the air. The Death Squad’s guns simultaneously jammed.

At this moment, Qin Fen’s brain was a high-speed computer. His marksmanship reached an unprecedented height. He felt as if the entire world was under his grasp. The bullets spun out of the barrels at high speed, slamming directly into the motors of the enemy’s weapons.

The M13’s super-high rate of fire depended on the high speed of its motor.

However, the moment the motor was destroyed, the M134 became scrap metal.

Scrap metal? Before the Death Squad could react, Qin Fen’s gun fired again. The bullets did not target the protective armor of the City Defenders. Qin Fen did not have enough bullets to pierce the City Defenders entirely and eliminate the pilots.

This almost-depleted ammo belt was aimed at the City Defenders' tracks. There was a hidden connection point there. To ordinary people, shoddy products might still appear whole and flawless, but in Qin Fen’s eyes, they held fatal weaknesses.

The track severed—this mobile armor would become immobilized junk!

The marksmanship was godlike! The Death Squad operatives all felt their scalps prickle simultaneously. The M134 was being used with the precision of a semi-automatic rifle!

They regretted it. They regretted not opening fire directly into the crowd sooner. Perhaps then they could have instantly dealt with this humanoid monster—

Qin Fen granted them little time for regret. With a Dragon Soaring move, he charged toward the third City Guardian. He snatched up a micro-car with each hand. These two objects, each weighing less than a ton, felt as simple and effortless to wield in Qin Fen’s grasp as swinging a tennis racket.

One man gripping two compact cars, savagely beating the City Guardians one by one. The citizens, huddled at a distance, watched this display of brutal force. Their eye corners and lips twitched uncontrollably. Some even felt a flicker of sympathy for the terrorists. So pitiful! Over two dozen City Guardians, being thrashed by one man wielding two cars... The crowd suddenly recalled the movie King Kong from many years ago.

The giant ape that climbed the steel tower, roaring at—

The policeman shared a similar atmosphere of oppressive aura with that cinematic figure.

The terrorists of the Death Squad were left with nothing but despair. This policeman’s strength was too overwhelming. Even if they escaped the City Guardians, they were surely doomed! They had been too careless this time. So careless, in fact, that they hadn't even brought a single 'glorious bullet' with them.

"Oh God... Almighty [censored]... We fight for the Holy War. Now we are trapped. Please descend your divine power and annihilate this madman."

The Death Squad members crossed their arms over their chests, engaging in the most fervent prayer.

"Praying...?" A darkness enveloped the top of the skyscraper a kilometer away. A super optical scope peered through this limitless black curtain, observing every movement on the battlefield.

The man gently chewed something in his mouth, deliberately avoiding aiming at Qin Fen. He knew about this man from the files; he possessed extraordinary sniping skills and, naturally, an acute sense for anti-sniping detection.

The wind whipped around the skyscraper, causing the trench coat on the man’s body to billow gently. Embroidered on the flowing edge of the coat were two vivid scarlet characters: “Blood” and “Eight.”

Blood Eight! Another assassin from the Blood List!

Across the ocean in Hanzhou, Li Mingzheng slowly rotated the wine glass in his hand. The red wine cast ripples under the lights, crimson like blood.

Three months had passed. Li Mingzheng’s temples were already streaked with white. The grief of losing his son tormented him ceaselessly. He was like a coiled snake, patiently awaiting the arrival of the perfect opportunity.

When the 'Flying Heart Girls' band announced their concert in Beishi, Li Mingzheng knew his chance had come! An anti-terrorism concert would naturally attract terrorists, thus forcing Qin Fen to be distracted. This was the biggest vulnerability in his three-month plan—this one night!

It was also the most perfect night. On this night, Qin Fen would be fully occupied, and all responsibility would fall upon the terrorists. Li Mingzheng was highly satisfied with his arrangement. The Snake King had failed to gather any concrete evidence. Now, all he had to do was wait for the gunshot.

Li Mingzheng slightly adjusted the communicator clipped to his ear. This device was perfectly synchronized with the one carried by Blood List Eighth. He would hear the signal the moment the shot was fired.

Li Mingzheng subtly shifted his sitting posture. His eyes were fixed on Qin Fen displayed on the screen. The super optical scope also featured an image transmission function; he intended to watch Qin Fen die with his own eyes.

Li Mingzheng held absolutely no doubt about this opportunity. Although Blood List Eighth ranked only eighth on the Blood List, no one knew that was because he hadn't killed enough people, not because his assassination skills were lacking. If the Federation ranked its top ten snipers...

Li Mingzheng chuckled. The top sniper hiding in the Australian recruit camp would easily rank in the top three. This Blood List Eighth could just as easily place within the top ten of the Federation!

A sniper ranked in the Federation's top ten, a master at the true peak of shooting—could he possibly fail to kill Qin Fen? Li Mingzheng was not in a hurry. Blood List Eighth would definitely fire tonight. When the shot rang out...

Opportunity!

Blood List Eighth’s eyes suddenly shone with sharp brilliance, like two electrified searchlights piercing the night. His entire spirit and focus snapped instantly onto Qin Fen. His finger tightened on the trigger.

This was the best chance. Blood List Eighth had been waiting! Qin Fen, engaged in combat, was in a special state of mind. That kind of martial intuition made it difficult for him to feel external hostility.

The perfect moment was the instant Qin Fen subdued the last mechanized armor.

Blood List Eighth knew clearly that at the moment of victory, the body and mind would instinctively enter a special period of relaxation. All surrounding sensory inputs would become duller.

This was a psychological factor; almost no one could defy it. Blood List Eighth understood that while this period might be longer for some and shorter for others, as long as it existed, even for a fleeting moment, it was sufficient.

Blood List Eighth would never forget the time a Level Fourteen Stellar-grade expert, at the very moment of triumphantly killing his opponent, let his qi, body, and spirit enter that brief, instinctive relaxation phase, allowing Blood List Eighth to claim his life.

Even a Stellar-grade expert could be killed; why should a Ten-Star Martial Artist be any different? The moment Blood List Eighth pulled the trigger, his pupils already seemed to visualize the outcome: Qin Fen’s body exploding from the bullet impact! Fire!

Qin Fen watched the mobile armor before him slowly collapse. A sudden, violent jolt shook his chest. His heart hammered dozens of times a second. A single thought flashed through his mind: Sniper!

The thought materialized, and Qin Fen’s body was already moving. The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill, unleashed without hyper-acceleration, erupted with a force doubled by the pressure of life and death. The asphalt beneath his feet, impacted by the overwhelming force, spun and liquified, instantly turning into a pool of viscous black oil!

Bang! The high-speed spinning bullet, caught in the resultant vortex, flung the black oil into the air. The point where the bullet struck left a crater the size of a basin.

The gun! It possessed such terrifying power!

"How is that possible?"

Blood List Eighth gasped aloud in shock. Why was his target showing absolutely no instinctive relaxation? Which top-tier sniper had trained this man to utterly erase even that basic instinct?

Thump…

Blood List Eighth heard a dull thud from below him. He instinctively dropped his anti-sniping gear and executed a high sideways roll. The spot where he had been standing was instantly pierced by continuous streams of bullets.

M2BH! A name of an old gun flashed through Blood List Eighth’s mind. Although the firing rate of this heavy machine gun was outdated, its effective range reached six thousand meters! Blood List Eighth continued to roll rapidly, the bullets fired from a kilometer away seeming to have eyes as they chased him, constantly impacting the spots where he was evading.

What kind of monster was this? A self-mocking smile touched the corner of Blood List Eighth’s mouth, his eyes unable to conceal his shock. The weapon Qin Fen held lacked any optical sight. Even if a sniper ranked in the Federation’s top hundred held it, they might not achieve such accuracy.

Did this kid somehow reach the level of the Federation’s top ten snipers? Blood List Eighth found the notion absurd. Who taught this young man shooting psychology? If the distance hadn't been so vast, he would have already been riddled to death by the M2BH!

No more chances! Blood List Eighth assessed the situation without hesitation and turned to bolt toward the stairwell entrance. A single bullet intercepted his path—

Bang!

Blood List Eighth’s body was severed in two. He lay on the ground, staring in disbelief at his own corpse. The last thought that flashed through his mind was: How could this be?