Sniper Headshot

Once they arrived outside the Mike Family's grand estate, after a round of checks, they entered smoothly. The estate was packed with big shots, and a low-level leader like Carlos barely ranked. Besides the Mafia's internal higher-ups and underlings, there were also other notable figures from Iron Island.

Following procedure, he led his men to mournfully present flowers and incense to Boss Mike, then hung around the estate for a while chatting with acquaintances. As Carlos expected, Cani was released without any major trouble. Finally, Carlos took his men and left.

Back at his small base, Carlos let his underlings do as they pleased while he stayed in the backyard to start training.

The backyard was filled with various training equipment Carlos had bought with his salary. Since joining the Mafia, he'd spent most of his income on gear and training-related medicine.

Carlos's training was divided into routine training and specialized training.

Routine training included weightlifting, running, sit-ups, push-ups, frog jumps, pull-ups, and the like.

Specialized training focused on four martial arts: Eagle Claw Technique, Golden Bell Shield, Twelve Road Tan Leg, and Bone Shrinking Skill.

He'd picked up Bone Shrinking Skill out of boredom before, while Eagle Claw Technique, Golden Bell Shield, and Twelve Road Tan Leg were his main focus.

Ranked by difficulty, Twelve Road Tan Leg was the easiest, Eagle Claw Technique came next, and Golden Bell Shield was the hardest.

Mastering any one of these martial arts to its peak took a massive amount of time. In his past life, Chou Xiao Chi was considered a martial arts prodigy, yet it still took him over ten years to bring Twelve Road Tan Leg and Golden Bell Shield to great completion.

Only Eagle Claw Technique—he'd not only perfected it but surpassed his teacher. In their small circle, he'd earned the title Eagle Claw King, a man of some renown!

Fortunately, having been reborn with his past life's experience, it only took him a little over four years to recover to his former peak. What excited him most was that, even reaching that level, he hadn't hit any bottlenecks!

He didn't know where the limits of his martial arts lay in this world—whether they'd stagnate at some point from being out of place, or keep advancing without end...

But no matter what, he could reach martial realms his past life never touched. He just didn't know how deep those realms went.

Even if they weren't deep, it didn't matter—he already had a solution. The Devil Fruit he'd eaten was his insurance!

For several days straight, aside from the tasks he'd given his men, Carlos declined all visits and social engagements, holed up in his small base, utterly immersed in training...

Between training sessions, Carlos eagerly studied how to perfectly integrate his Dojutsu—the Sharingan and Byakugan—into his combat system.

The Byakugan in particular, Carlos felt, paired exceptionally well with his Eagle Claw Technique!

Eagle Claw Technique already had functions like touch-and-read pulse, bone-splitting tendon-severing, and acupoint-sealing breath-stopping. With the Byakugan's ability, he could skip the touch-and-read pulse step entirely. Bone-splitting and tendon-severing, acupoint-sealing and breath-stopping became effortless—every move aimed at vital points or key acupoints, each strike lethal, if not fatal then crippling!

By extension, Twelve Road Tan Leg's offensive power would become sharper too. The problem that had always plagued Golden Bell Shield practitioners—the air gate—could be studied more thoroughly, and maybe even solved?

After several days of high-intensity training, Carlos could feel his physical fitness had noticeably improved. But ultimately, the time was too short; the gains weren't huge.

Though Carlos was deeply absorbed in training, he wasn't completely oblivious to the outside world. He ordered his trusted subordinate Noah to keep gathering intel on the specifics of the clan leader succession struggle.

Within the Mafia, the boss's position had no primogeniture system—it was always the strong who ruled, strength that spoke!

Carlton, the only non-Direct Lineage leader, was first pushed out by Mike Moxie's eldest son, third son, and nephew working together. It was the Mike Family's consensus—the boss's seat could never go to an outsider...

Though Carlton was squeezed out by the three's tacit cooperation, he became the very person they all vied to win over!

For the three to rise, support from three fronts was most crucial.

First, internal family support—retired elders and such. Second, support from the John Family, since the Mike Family was an affiliate of the John Family, one of the five major Mafia families of the West Sea. Third, the support of Carlton, the only non-Direct Lineage leader. Whoever got Carlton's backing would effectively control half the Mike Family's strength.

For the clan leader position, the three each pulled out all the stops, using every trick in the book. Some moves even made Carlos silently applaud. But they were still fairly restrained, no fighting yet, conflicts kept within controllable bounds.

How could that do? Without bloodshed, how would the positions open up—one carrot, one hole?

After a few days, Carlos figured their tempers should be about ripe. Just give them a big jolt, and for the boss's seat and their own safety, they'd inevitably start tearing each other apart!

Night fell, dark and windy. Carlos slung a rifle over his back and quietly slipped out of his small base. Wearing sunglasses, he activated his Byakugan, avoided people, and made his way to the foot of the mountain where the Mike Family estate stood.

Using his Byakugan's ability, Carlos found a high, concealed sniping position. He set up a finely crafted sniper rifle, aimed it at the only road leading to the estate, and waited for prey to step into the trap.

Carlos was there to shoot one of the Mike Family's three Direct Lineage leaders. No fixed target—any one of the three would do.

This was the jolt he'd prepared. Kill one leader, and at such a critical time, suspicion, hostility, and tension were bound to erupt...

The Mike Family's stronghold was the estate on the mountain. Usually, the family head stayed there year-round. The other leaders had their own offices and residences in East City, but at this special juncture, to win internal family support, all three leaders came back every day, as far as he knew.

Now it was just a matter of who'd be the unlucky one to run into him...

Time ticked by. Carlos lay still in the grass, quiet and patient, like a venomous snake—motionless until the moment to strike, then deadly.

Half an hour later, headlights appeared. Carlos swept his gaze over—super-long-range vision, built-in telescope, night vision. He spotted three black cars driving at a moderate pace, the vintage sedan type.

Carlos adjusted his aim. His gaze pierced through the lights, through the car doors, and quickly found his target among the three vehicles: Mike Moxie's eldest son, Mike Henry.

A slight curve tugged at Carlos's lips. This was the best candidate of the three. Mike Henry, as the eldest son, had more prestige and power than the third son, Mike Kellen, or the nephew, Mike Klin. With him dead, the struggle was far more likely to spiral out of control!

His marksmanship when he first arrived in this world was atrocious. But after joining the Mafia, since Golden Bell Shield couldn't stop bullets and his speed couldn't dodge them, and he lacked ranged attacks, he'd put serious work into his shooting!

Why had Noah become his trusted subordinate?

One reason was that Noah had once coached him on marksmanship. Now, combined with his Devil Fruit's effects, he counted as a sharpshooter!

He took off his sunglasses, closed his eyes, then opened them. A strange thing happened: Carlos's two Byakugan transformed—his left eye remained a Byakugan, while his right eye became a Sharingan, and a two-tomoe Sharingan at that. The abilities of both eyes activated together, the gun barrel slowly tracking the middle car's movement...

These past few days, though he'd spent less time on the Eye of the Devil fruit, he'd still studied it. Using both Byakugan and Sharingan together was the result.

Bang!

When the car carrying Mike Henry entered sniper range, Carlos decisively pulled the trigger. A flash of fire at the muzzle, and a powerful lead bullet tore through the air...

Mike Henry sat in the luxurious back seat, holding a glass of red wine, quietly pondering how to win over the John Family's leader... Suddenly, the car window shattered. A lead bullet drilled with pinpoint accuracy into Henry's temple. Blood splattered everywhere—spraying across the window, the seat, the back of the front seat. Henry's body slumped heavily. The convoy instantly fell into chaos...

In the distance, Carlos could clearly see Henry's head blown open. He smiled faintly, shouldered his sniper rifle, and swiftly slipped away.