Mission ⑨ · The Second of the Sword

Foreword:

Sleep is the cruelest Death God in the world; it steals half of our lives.

[Part 1: Duel of Generals]

The Beibu Gulf wharf was bustling with noise. Hasben's troops fought their way out of the Krum District and saw crimson rose-shaped flames exploding in the sky.

Those were machine gun fire, breaking the wings of the Flash Butterfly, and the blast marks left by the RPG-7 finishing blows.

Upon seeing the fully armed nameless warriors, the Snow Owl Mobilization Troops and Madness Butterfly gang members were immediately terrified, abandoning their equipment and fleeing into the city for their lives, not daring to look back even once.

At the same time, Bu Liuxing and Wen Bucai followed the Flash Butterfly back to the vicinity of the City Hall. They chased and killed along the way, and most of the apostles they encountered on the road had their limbs severed by two shots or shattered by a sword.

The motorcycle, like a rampaging warhorse, charged from the City Hall road to the cemetery, where a group of the Madness Butterfly Sect were holding a funeral.

Those were all junior officers of the Mercy Society, surrounding the dying Flash Butterfly, taking out a head from Flash Butterfly blood-red flesh—upon closer inspection, the Flash Butterfly's true form was the remains of Shi Cun Tuozhen's good brother, Shimura Junichiro.

At this moment, the Flash Butterfly was dead. It was first entangled by 3301, then exhausted, bombarded by bullets, and had half of its body shattered by the Dragon Slayer Greatsword. Finally, it flew here on its last breath, as if it had chosen its burial site, and collapsed in the cemetery's warehouse. The cultists carried it out, preparing to give it a dignified funeral.

"I want to introduce you!" the cult leader said solemnly, "This is our Heavenly Father, our Savior—Mr. Shimura Junichiro."

The two rows of people on either side of the funeral procession were all weeping uncontrollably, tears streaming down their faces. It was as if the skulls their leaders were holding up represented their fathers and mothers, the most important people in their lives.

Before the cult leader could say anything more...

A towering figure, as large as a mountain, hurried in from the cemetery entrance.

--That man was Bu Liuxing. He told Mr. Wen Bucai to get out of the car and walk, not to run over the tombstone with the wheels, and not to disturb the spirit of the dead with violence.

His steps were quick and steady. The tall man carried the blood-stained Dragon Slayer greatsword on his shoulder, and his tattered cloak rustled with the sharp blade, creating a clear, crisp sound.

Wen Bucai followed behind A Xing and, upon seeing this group of cult members, felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"This atmosphere is so sad," said the meteor.

The sound of weeping that comes from afar has a very strong emotional impact.

The cult leader knelt beside the grave, cradling Shimura Junichiro's head in his hands, while the six Mercy Society beside him bowed slightly, covering their faces and weeping.

Wen Bucai: "When a major cult member dies, a group of minor cult members mourn him and hold a funeral for him."

Bu Liuxing didn't say much; he gripped the hilt of the Dragon Slayer Sword tightly.

"Killing them all will stop the sadness."

With heavy, swift steps, several spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the layers of cemetery steps.

The whistling wind that arose when he raised his sword shattered all the mournful cries.

The sword wind carried a thick aura of blood, and the wind pressure stirred the blood, causing it to spray out like needles. Then, one could see the good neighbors in the upper cemetery, their tombstones marked with bright red marks.

When these disciples and followers of the Mercy Society fell into eternal sleep, half of their bodies had fallen to the ground.

Meteor put down the Dragon Slayer, took the Berloberg sword from his back, and smashed Junichiro's head with a single blow, completely eliminating any future threat.

Berloberg's flames flashed and disappeared, bursting into brilliant flames when they struck the Flash Butterfly's true form. After doing all this, 3301 followed the trail of Inspiration Pressure and arrived here.

When she saw that tall figure, there was a hint of disbelief in her eyes.

--Because Teacher San San wasn't quite sure it was a shooting star.

The boy seemed to have grown up. Like his older brother, he had a slightly furrowed brow, always looking worried, and his breath came out like arrows from his nose and mouth, like a fierce tiger.

Meteor immediately shouted, "Teacher San San!"

Upon hearing the familiar nickname, 3301 finally realized that this was the boy she had been dreaming about—there was no mistake!

Wen Bucai the opportune moment, without even saying goodbye, pulled the throttle, turned around on the spot, and sped away.

In the final moments when all the mythical units in the sky are being shot down one by one by modern firearms, the gunsmith is being put to the test.

Looking out from the beach, Kang Que Connor stands suspended in mid-air.

He did not choose to flee or launch a sneak attack, but instead appeared openly in the sky above the city illuminated by the King of Cinder.

He wanted to face the Nameless One head-on in a duel, a head-on knightly contest against the most skilled ambush warriors under Ming De. He wanted to kill the gunsmith in front of everyone during this contest.

This duel will be recorded so that the entire underworld can witness its outcome. It will either boost the morale of the Madness Butterfly Sect or result in their utter defeat.

His courage stemmed from the [Subversive· Heaven and Earth Turning] soul power enhanced by the elixir, the moment he regained his sanity from absolute despair. This powerful spiritual body, combined with his blood-bestowed body, could intercept a portion of the bullets.

Time was running out for him. If the canyon pass fell and the assault team from Guangling Zhixi broke through, the level of firepower he would face would change from M2 machine gun rounds to 105mm howitzers—a burden he could not bear. At that point, there would be no chance for negotiation.

The moment Kang Que Connor appeared on the northwest side of the beach, the Hunter King's aura involuntarily emanated from his body and manifested itself. The golden [Cat People - Leopard Print Hot Girl] crawled out from the back of the Cat Tree Lady, and it even resembled the Flash Butterfly.

Its entire body has the texture of metal and stone, and it has a complete human shape, but no mouth, nose and ears. Its surface is covered with hundreds of eye patterns like leopard fur, and it arches its body like a bristling fur, quickly searching for and capturing the spiritual pressure characteristics of Kang Que Johnny.

The Hunter King drew her gun and fired without hesitation; she would never waste words with her enemies.

The M2's fire, marked by bright red tracer rounds, immediately drew the attention of all the soldiers on the beach to Kang Que Connor.

A pale golden light burst forth from the ruins of the streets and buildings, and the human form of Cupid flapped its wings. Johnny grabbed the spirit's ankle and swooped down at lightning speed, avoiding the Hunter King's gunfire.

He weaved through the buildings, and when the gunfire became sparse, he immediately started shouting.

More than 400 meters away, everyone on the beach could hear Kang Que's voice. A violent surge of psionic energy spread outwards. The Hunter King noticed that the ammo box was almost empty, so he stopped wasting bullets.

Kang Que said, "Ming De! I want to fight!"

Upon hearing this, the Hunter King's expression became subtle, wondering what the culprit was thinking.

A duel between generals? What's that? It's so ancient!

In ancient times, the concept of "generals fighting" arose to enhance military prestige, boost morale, and avoid unnecessary casualties during battles between two armies.

This is the 21st century. The Nameless One's mission to wipe out the Mercy of Eros is a special operation where the few defeat the many. Now Johnny has no soldiers left and has to fight to the death. How could he possibly talk about the chivalrous code of ancient warfare with this scum at this time? It's already a favor that he doesn't call on a few VIPs of the golden generation in their prime to beat him to death.

"You dare to challenge me?" the Hunter King retorted immediately. She didn't want to cause any more trouble; dragging it out might lead to more unforeseen events.

Although the Flash Butterfly created by Kang Que Connor can be killed, it left a terrible Spirit Calamity in Eureka, causing many citizens to lose their lives. The surviving victims still need a large amount of White Lady's products and Universal Elixir to carry out the disinfection work.

Given the chance, the Hunter King will eliminate any threat completely and won't waste a single word on Kang Que.

That's what Kang Que Concord said.

"I want to duel the gunsmith! I want to fight him one-on-one! If you give me this chance, I will surrender without a fight, win or lose, and I will reveal the names of all those involved in the Immortals Alliance, all those who have cooperated with me, without exception, and tell you everything."

9527 was almost furious. "I don't believe you for a second!"

How could she possibly remain calm upon hearing that a madwoman from the Madness Butterfly Sect was going to have a life-or-death duel with her fiancé?

After finishing off the Flash Butterfly, she had only a few rockets left on the pickup truck. She aimed at the relative distance of four hundred meters, tightened the fuse, and fired into the direction of the psionic indicator.

Gunsmith and Xiao Qi attacked almost simultaneously, each wielding an RPG – Xue Ming, however, needed to remain calm and instructed Xiao Qi to save one last high-explosive round as a backup.

The exploding bullet shattered the buildings in the street. Kang Que Johnny emerged from the massive fireball, his face covered in blood. He was once again battered and bruised, tormented by the sunlight and heavy firepower. This was followed by a coordinated barrage of fire from seven rifles on the beach.

Jason Megan, Katusha, Wendy.

Hunter King, Jiang Xueming, Bai Ziqing.

Su Ling also seized a G36 and pulled the trigger at Cupid, who was flying freely in mid-air.

A dense hail of bullets pounded against the pale golden spirit, as if its gravitational direction had been instantly altered—thousands of bullets transformed into fiery meteors, violently rubbing against the air to become red-hot scraps of iron, either rising or falling, seemingly changing their gravitational direction in an instant.

Kang Que had more than twenty bullet holes in his body. From behind, he looked like he had been shot to pieces. His unreasonable blood-stained body made him hold on to his last breath. As soon as a little blood flowed from the holes in his back, it was immediately sucked back into his body.

He finally arrived at the Promised Land, within range of the nameless warriors.

He pulled out a 21-kilogram C4 bomb from his baggage, complete with an electric detonator and a detonation network. Both had been tested with a communication device. This explosive was powerful enough to destroy any life or spirit. Even a direct bullet hit would not detonate it prematurely.

"I challenge you to a duel, you spearsmith!"

[Part ② - The Will to Kill Has Been Made]

As this loud and powerful challenge reached people's ears—

-- Twenty-one kilograms of C4 explosives is more convincing than Kang Que Connor's Soul Force.

Xiao Qi muttered to herself.

"Master, can your Phoenix withstand such a large bomb?"

Su Ling: "Yes."

Xiao Qi: "Great! Great!"

Su Ling: "But people will die."

Xiao Qi: "Damn it!"

This is a scam involving psychic powers.

Kang Que Connor had witnessed the special abilities of several VIPs present, except for the Gunsmith.

--The Hunter King's psionic bias is [Reconnaissance].

--The Phoenix's psionic energy leans towards [Support].

--Jason Megan's psychic bias is [Exploration].

According to the data, these highly offensive psionicists are still 100% pure Homo sapiens with little survival ability.

Kang Que was already at his limit, and he could feel his life force flowing out of his body continuously. If he could not eat human flesh in the short term and return to the Demon Pool at Zero Platform, the Holy Blood and Immortal Pill would cause him to perish quickly. In just over ten minutes, he would be [returning to oneness].

He didn't know if the explosives could kill all seven psionicists at once; they had other companions hiding in the city, and he absolutely couldn't let this force converge.

But even if a knight were to lose a duel against a gunsmith, the electrical signals from those bombs, following the moment his heart stopped, would surely result in mutual destruction.

As long as the gunsmith agrees, as long as Ming De nods!

Going all in is a form of wisdom; he can win this high-stakes gamble!

Almost simultaneously--

--The Chaos Egg in the Hunter King's arms spoke to Jiang Xueming.

Boss: "I promise you!"

Jiang Xueming: "How are you going to fight?"

Before anyone else could speak, Hunter King and 9527's expressions changed drastically, and they were about to speak up to stop them.

BOSS: "It seems you've misjudged your own abilities a bit. As always, Johnny, you always like to gamble."

Jiang Xueming: "What weapons? Where will we fight?"

Kang Que Connor was overjoyed.

He didn't know whether Ming De was afraid or arrogant, but once the answer appeared, neither of these extreme emotions mattered anymore.

As long as we can kill the gunsmith, nip the extraordinary power of [Time Reversal] in the bud, and destroy the Nameless Man's soul, everything else will be easy to handle.

The Immortals Alliance is not afraid of powerful warriors, but the Nameless Gang led by the Gunsmith is terrifyingly efficient in killing—this man is not only a match for ten thousand men, but also an outstanding commander, an excellent teacher, and the future of the Nameless Gang.

Once the nameless warriors lose their gunsmith, within a decade or so, these warriors will be tested by time, worn down and aged beyond recognition, until they can no longer shoot accurately or run fast—that will be their death.

Time may kill the nameless, but it cannot kill the mastermind behind the Madness Butterfly Sect.

In the blink of an eye, the already tense negotiations took an unexpected turn—

--A golden arrow shot out from Cupid's arm, heading straight for Xue Ming's helmet!

[Fragrant Dream] shattered the arrow with a single punch. The sonic boom generated by the fist and the arrowhead made Xiao Qi cover her ears, and Teacher A Ling's hair stood on end.

Almost simultaneously, the Hunter King raised his gun and fired. The machine gun spat fire, piercing several new holes in the human target. Johnny aged rapidly—his face became wrinkled, as if his frail body was finally reaching its end, his face showing a weary and defeated look.

"Take this arrow! Take this arrow! Come to me!"

He untied the leather straps binding the explosive charge and placed his hand on the interlocking switch.

"Don't even think about running! You can't outrun the blast wave of the bomb! Take this arrow! Come with me! Come with me!"

The Hunter King gritted his teeth, staring intently at Kang Que.

--If this bomb were to detonate here, the shockwave from the blast center would spread outward at a speed exceeding 8,600 meters per second. No matter how powerful the soul force, it would be impossible to protect everyone's physical body.

A glass pit will appear on the beach, and then the sand, crystallized by the high temperature, will turn into thousands of sharp blades, cutting everyone into pieces.

Hunter King: "This guy's gone mad!"

Xiao Qi: "He wants my husband dead!"

Jason Megan: "He might not be able to kill the gunsmith. We might be able to use our spirits to dig a trench in an instant, and even if we use our bodies as shields to protect each other, we could save one or two lives."

Su Ling: "This kid is almost out of blood, he's just holding on. If we don't do what he wants, he might really take a few people down with him."

Before he could finish speaking, Cupid shot out the golden arrow again.

Xue Ming was struck and immediately floated up.

He calmly took out the logbook, handed the merit book to his lover, and hung upside down in mid-air, holding Xiao Qi's hand tightly.

"Employer!" Xiao Qi exclaimed in panic. The clumps of spirit energy that were about to transform into a cocoon had now turned back into tough spirit threads, which clung to her fiancé's arm and extended upwards.

She didn't know what to say, afraid of saying the wrong thing and distracting Xue Ming.

She watched as Xue Ming slowly ascended towards the dome, the line growing longer and longer, the pink spirit becoming increasingly slender. With the faint connection from the Steel Heart, the two grew further and further apart.

Xue Ming: "Keep an eye on my log."

Xiao Qi: "Me"

Xue Ming repeated, "Keep an eye on my log!"

When Kang Que Connor also flew into the air and headed towards the empty dome, it seemed that he had found an absolutely fair and empty arena for the duel.

Xiao Qi opened the diary and read it carefully.

--The answer is on the first page.

<Essential materials for high-altitude parachute jumping>

Without much hesitation, she followed the instructions in the log, looked around at the surrounding shops, and figured out Xue Ming's idea.

He never thought he would lose!

He never believed that this competition involved any life-or-death variables.

Jiang Xueming urged Xiao Qi to quickly prepare a safety net for parachute-free descent. After arriving in this city and learning about the [Heaven and Earth Turning] superpower, he had been vaguely worried about how to safely return to the ground if he were taken to a high altitude by this strange superpower. This was what Jiang Xueming was concerned about.

Xiao Qi was still worried. She kept asking her master and the Hunter King questions, as if trying to confirm her husband's safety.

"Aren't you going to do anything about it? The boss wants him to go on a duel! He's got so many bombs on him!"

Hunter King tilted his head, keeping pace with Teacher A Ling, both expressionless. "It's already demolished."

Teacher A Ling: "Yes, just now, the character '[Clear]' popped out of this kid's body."

Xiao Qi asked in surprise, "When!?"

Teacher A Ling described it.

"The instant that kid shot an arrow at your husband, the Hunter King retaliated with his gun, his bullets aimed at the electrical network of the C4 detonator."

The Hunter King patiently explained.

"The explosives on him were all designed for excavating mines and tunnels. I've seen them countless times, and I can see through the detonator's detonation logic at a glance—bomb disposal isn't as complicated as you think, especially with these kinds of industrial bombs."

Xiao Qi's surprise turned to joy, and she didn't know what to say, so she immediately grabbed Jason.

"So you knew in advance too? Turns out I was the only one worrying?"

Jason Megan hesitated for a moment.

Xiao Qi: "You knew that, didn't you?"

Jason Megan: "Let's hurry and find the materials for the safety net!"

Xiao Qi took Katusha's sniper rifle, immediately cocked it, and prepared to finish off Kang Que, ending the competition ahead of schedule.

The BOSS's voice emanated from the blood-red Chaos Egg.

"The Gunsmith is my trump card, and Kang Que Johnny is the enemy's trump card. This guy loves sensational live streams, financial innovation, forcing women into prostitution, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and all the new gadgets from the post-millennium era. He's so proud, so eager for my attention—put the camera on him! If Lawrence Madison's torture wasn't enough, if this 'killing the chicken to scare the monkey' ceremony wasn't done beautifully enough, I want the Madness Butterfly Sect members to watch this Red Flash Butterfly's writhing struggle on TV, in online live streams, and in newspapers, to see its pathetic and ugly state exposed. I want these scoundrels to get out of every website, to flee at the first sign of the Guangling Zhixi's march, and never dare to return! I want to destroy their very spirit!"