Act 10: Bullet

Foreword:

I don't care about death, as long as someone can pick up my gun and keep fighting.

--Che Guevara

"Mr. Luka, what are you researching?" the secretary asked curiously.

Luka picked up the two documents, leaned against the window, and replied with a relaxed and content expression, "Hmm. A very interesting phenomenon of collective hallucination."

Snowflakes began to fall outside the window of the Hunter's Guild's meeting room office, landing on the ancient and solemn statue of the Gun God. Who would have thought that just half a month ago, demons and evil spirits had built a demon pool in this sacred ancient site of the meeting room?

After Luka had his men clean up the mess, he began investigating Zhang Congfeng's background. This old warrior was a famous general who fought against the Madness Butterfly Sect before the Expeditionary Era. He had seen Saint Josh's actions in the town and was very worried. This magic, which specializes in attacking the mind, was difficult to solve with weapons.

He was no longer young; his once thick, golden hair was gradually turning white and thinning. Waking up on a cold winter morning, he could feel his life force slowly draining away. All his energy was devoted to taking care of the younger members of the hunting party, and his mental energy was exhausted by the pioneering missions. His muscles were no longer as reliable as they had been in his prime, and he could only rely on his rich experience to survive in the wilderness.

At this very moment, a truly extraordinary psionicist—or perhaps not even a psionicist—arrived in Saladin Town.

Zhang Congfeng never revealed any psychic abilities. This priest seemed to have used some "folk methods," relying solely on preaching and exorcism to defeat the demon Saint Josh Joris?

Luka doesn't believe in coincidences; in the underworld, luck is a very precious thing.

--An extremely ingenious destiny allows each gear to couple smoothly, and events to link one after another, ultimately achieving an unexpected result. Only the divine power of Ming De can accomplish this.

Most people spend their lives in mediocrity, in a daze, controlled by enormous external forces, and some even spend their entire lives revolving around hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

Few people possess the character to change their destiny; it is the habits that character brings that shape outstanding abilities, and these abilities are the key factors that ultimately determine the course of one's fate.

So after returning to the meeting place, Commander Luka thoroughly searched the Hunter's Guild's archives, running back and forth between the outpost and the office, investigating Zhang Congfeng extensively.

"The recent reports about Spinach Heights are like a collective unconscious hallucination."

Luka spoke to his secretary, Index.

"Once upon a time in the mortal world, in Fatima, there were three shepherd boys who said—they were incarnations of the Holy Mother Maria."

"A miracle occurs on the 13th of every month, and so on the 13th of this month, tens of thousands of people in Fatima experienced hallucinations simultaneously."

"The sun moved erratically across the sky, beginning to dance strangely, leaping between the clouds, sometimes rushing by like a giant shooting star, sometimes gracefully and slowly circling irregular circles."

"Zhang Congfeng went to Spinach Heights with the transport team, and the result was that twenty-nine people were able to write thirteen different types of mission reports, which was truly unbelievable."

"However, in the end, everyone seemed to have a good impression of the priest, especially a pair of sisters in the transport team. These two female workers praised the priest's demeanor and appearance more than once in the briefing. They said, 'He is a good brother with an elegant temperament and handsome appearance.'"

"Could Zhang Congfeng be a wicked monk?"

Commander Luka rested his chin on his hand, utterly puzzled.

"What strange demon possessed him? A hundred times more powerful than Saint Josh Joris? That's why he was able to recover from his out-of-body state and return to the human world through the nine Netherworld?"

Ms. Index pushed up her glasses and leaned closer to Luka: "Commander, you're always overthinking things. There was an interrogator before, and I remember you were always targeting him, which eventually made him leave."

The interrogator was referring to Havana —but the secretary couldn't remember how Havana left Saladin, so her brain automatically filled in that memory.

"Before?" Luka was even more confused. "How long ago? I remember Saladin had been relatively calm for the past two years, so the position of interrogator became vacant."

"Maybe I remembered wrong." Index stuck out her tongue and tried to act cute to get away with it.

Just then, Jiang Xueming and Oscar pushed open the door and entered.

Neither of them had the habit of knocking, which was Xue Ming's problem.

--According to the tradition of VIPs coming to the Transport Department, they just walk in directly, say what they need to say, and leave if they don't.

This immediately brought back many familiar scenes and memories for Mr. Luka, especially the time he spent working with the gunsmith. In the temporary command post in District 18, the gunsmith would come and go quickly, wearing his Flash Butterfly Armor. He would come in, explain the battle plan, take the battle reports from various districts and towns from his desk, grab a new FOB, and before he could even have a sip of tea, he would immediately set off for the front line.

However, the priest looked much older, and his demeanor was not as sharp as the gunsmith's. His height and build didn't match either, so Luka finally gave up his last hope—to gloat over the confessions of the war gang criminals. These criminals had talked nonsense during the interrogation process, saying that they had seen the gunsmith's ghost.

"Mr. Luka!" Oscar, full of energy, immediately began his incessant chatter to ingratiate himself. "Hi! I wanted to visit you a few days ago, but I've been stuck in Spinach Heights and can't get out. Just thinking about that place makes my heart sink. Seeing you, the old general from the Transportation Department, in my contacts, I immediately..."

Luka interrupted, "You speak English, I don't understand Chinese."

"Ouch!" Oscar entered the air-conditioned room, and his intelligence visibly declined. "Look at my dog brain, this, this, this..."

Luka: "Let the young priest speak for himself. He's here to ask about the runestone at the 30,000-mile outpost, isn't he?"

To be honest, Xue Ming was quite nervous.

--During the expedition, Mr. Luka was a famous general under Keshua. He was not only a commander, but also a person in charge of personnel transfers in the battle group and logistics management. When he was at his lowest point, he even went Madness Butterfly Sect. He was a very shrewd and intelligent person.

The nameless man traveled to various places to fight, relying not only on his courage to venture into dangerous places, but also on the support of local war groups and military police. Without suitable strongholds and intelligence support, a few dozen or a few hundred people could not have completed this journey.

Mr. Luka was a renowned figure in the underground warband, and Xue Ming greatly admired this veteran, having absorbed—or rather, learned a great deal—of combat experience from him. This included understanding the geography, urban structure, enemy activity range, and local customs of District 18 to formulate battle plans.

Luka and the gunsmith shared a consensus on combat: the outcome of battles was not determined by weapons, equipment, or geography and waterways; the deciding factor was solely the human element, and the fighting spirit of the people was the key to war.

This allowed the two to maintain close contact throughout the month-and-a-half-long expedition to District 18. It could be said that, apart from David Victor, Luka was Xue Ming's closest and most trusted teacher.

After the battle with the Madness Butterfly Sect came to an end, Luka had the idea of retiring to the sidelines. He went to Saladin to live in seclusion, no longer participating in the affairs of the regional governing council, and staying away from the noisy court.

Until the news of the gunsmith's death arrived, Luka had been studying the topic of "collective unconscious illusions." This veteran was highly skilled in wargaming, and he simply couldn't understand how the gunsmith had lost to Pellegrini Tuan on the intercity express train under the protection of Ming De, on the vehicle transporting criminals—rather than believing the fact, he thought it was better to consider whether it was a strange illusion.

This dealt a devastating blow to Mr. Luka's faith. To him, the gunsmith was both a student and a beloved nephew. When he visited the gunsmith's shrine six months earlier, almost a third of Luka's hair had turned white.

After the gunsmith's death, new fighting gangs and small-scale cult activities began to emerge in various regions. Some bandit leaders even boasted that their martial arts skills were better than the gunsmith's—which made Mr. Luka both angry and amused, as if everyone had Lu Bu's courage after Lu Bu's death.

Enough of this digression, let's get back to Luka and the priest.

"You want the runestone?"

Jiang Xueming: "Yes."

Luka: "To treat little Benni's illness?"

These words made Xue Ming wary.

--It seems Mr. Luka had already investigated his background beforehand.

"That's right."

Luka: "I can't hand all the artifacts over to you."

As he said this, the old general asked his secretary.

"How many runestones are left in the archive? Just this batch newly unearthed from the 30,000-mile outpost."

Index held the document in one hand and her phone in the other, double-checking the information. "There are sixteen pieces."

Luka: "The relatively complete one?"

Index: "Only two pieces."

Near the outpost lies an ancient fairy village, from which the stone tablet originated. During their expedition into the mountains, the hunting party encountered numerous ferocious monsters. These artifacts were obtained at the cost of the brothers' injuries, and even if they yielded no monetary value, they could not be handed over to outsiders.

"Zhang Congfeng," Luka addressed him by his first name. "According to the customs of the Red Stone People, spoils brought back from the Elf Holy Land cannot be given to outsiders for nothing—you must exchange them for something of equal value."

Jiang Xueming knew things weren't that simple. "Hmm."

Luka continued, "I came here four years ago to reform the hunting party, reorganizing its affairs using the management methods of the assault team. Mr. Oscar and I worked together on these tasks, and people gradually came to accept me—and of course, I believe you, Father, are also slowly adapting to life here."

This statement is both quite subtle and quite clear.

--Saint Josh Joris is dead. Saladin needs a new psychiatrist, or a highly skilled exorcist.

In various frontline outposts and in remote wilderness areas, VIP exploration missions often last for years or even decades. Many highly capable individuals spend their entire lives in this way, without having time to indulge in pleasure.

"So I was thinking, if possible," Luka winked at Zhang Congfeng, "Would you like to settle down here? Find a girl to share your life with, and the doors to the archives will always be open to you."

Xue Ming immediately replied, "Saladin is here on a house call this time—I also have my main job at the Nine Realms Station."

"May I ask what kind of work you do?" Luka immediately pressed.

Xue Ming: "Ever since the gunsmith died, the cabinet and the personnel department have written me a letter because I look a lot like the gunsmith, and the mistress of the Nameless family needs psychological counseling; her Madness Index is just too high—so I took a sinecure job at the Nameless family."

No matter what, Luka can't compete with an unknown player for the player's signature.

So the old general gave up the idea and could only shake his head helplessly.

His gaze was ambiguous as he stared at Jiang Xueming's face for a long time.

"--It really does look like it."

Jiang Xueming chuckled, "The nameless mistress once said the same thing, but I also warned the patients that psychotherapy is about helping them find the courage to live on. I can't replace the gunsmith."

Oscar perked up and laughed, "Luka, kid! I think so too!"

The title "Little Luka" is indeed correct. Including his wolf form and the process of transforming into a human, he has lived for over two hundred years. According to seniority, Ah Jun is giving Luka some face.

"Well then," Mr. Luka said, gesturing for Index to leave, "Bring a stone tablet, and make sure it's sealed tightly."

Then the veteran whispered to Wolf Brother.

"Oscar, if it's convenient, could you please wait a moment in the lobby of the meeting place? I need to speak with this priest alone."

Oscar didn't think much of it and immediately left the hunting party commander's office.

Once everyone was alone, Jiang Xueming relaxed. Old Mr. Luka first took out a set of medals from under the table. They were the Dionysus Medals awarded during the District 18 Expedition, a total of twenty-eight medals. In this battle, Luka had a perfect attendance record, and together with the Nameless One, he wiped out twenty-eight large and small war Religious order.

From the box of medals, the old man picked out two bullets, both of which were misfires. They were bullets left over from a shooting contest with a gunsmith at the shooting range, and they had special commemorative significance.

Jiang Xueming asked curiously, "Old sir?"

Luka didn't reply. He continued working, pulling a gun from under the table. He loaded the bullet into the magazine, pulled the slide back to chamber the round—he wanted to dispel the superstition in his mind, to see clearly whether the gunsmith in his heart was truly dead or not.

He moved the gun towards the "priest," then widened his eyes, carefully observing Zhang Congfeng's every change in expression, the frequency of his breathing, the rise and fall of his chest, and the changes in his eyes.

He was quite certain that the gunsmith, with his lousy brain, couldn't possibly remember those two duds; people easily reveal their true colors when faced with the threat of death.

Jiang Xueming truly couldn't remember. Who could recall such a small incident from years ago? Besides, over the long years, he had fired countless bullets, many of them good, some bad, some jammed.

He was extremely nervous, not knowing what had gotten into Professor Luka, who suddenly pointed a gun at the guest. Given his combat experience, even with the protection of Fragrant Dream, a gun muzzle was still a very sensitive object—it was impossible to say that wearing a bulletproof vest made one immune to a deadly weapon.

He couldn't control this instinct. Before, when A Jie held a gun to his head, Xue Ming also couldn't control his spiritual pressure and murderous intent. This is a warrior's most basic survival skill. When faced with the threat of death, this conditioned reflex of calling upon spirits has saved him countless times.

No matter how elaborate the disguise, it cannot become a stumbling block to death and defeat.

--When faced with Jody's soul-powered attack, Xue Ming did not hesitate to use her full strength. Because if she continued to pretend, more people would die.

As Mr. Luka gripped his gun, he assumed an aggressive stance. His eyes were practically bloodshot, his body radiating intense heat, his blood circulation suddenly accelerating, and his furious expression suggested he was fully prepared to shoot and kill the person in front of him immediately.

The moment the hammer struck the primer, a pair of bright, tiger-like eyes appeared in Xue Ming's pupils.

"I thought it wasn't you." Luka breathed a sigh of relief, his expression returning to normal. "It really was you."

Jiang Xueming let down her guard, feeling a sense of helpless exhaustion.

"Professor Luka, is it really that serious?"

Just as he thought, the camouflage Mr. Plark made for him shouldn't fool Mr. Luka's eyes, and similarly, it wouldn't fool Red Sister either.

The longer you spend with a gunsmith, the easier it is to see through their disguise—on the contrary, the Madness Butterfly Sect cannot discern the gunsmith's true identity. Most of those who have met them once have entered the Merit Forest, and they will never meet again in this life or the next. Upon first encounter, the gunsmith's identity can only be determined by the characteristics of their psychic energy during the battle phase.

Luka suddenly got angry again--

"--Do you know how heartbroken I am!"

He raised his gun and fired at Xue Ming again, but the bullet failed to fire, the hammer did not reset, and his finger did not click.

"You fucking pay for my hair!"

"You little bastard! You owe me at least five years of my youth!"

"You"

Xue Ming grabbed Luka's wrist and saw the old, bearded general suddenly stare blankly, tears welling up in his eyes.

Luka said, "I miss you so much. It's like... like it was all just a dream, and when I woke up, you were dead."

Xue Ming: "The BOSS has assigned me a mission, and this mission is of utmost importance."

Luka: "That doesn't mean you have to die. You can become seriously ill and unable to get out of bed, you can become a vegetable."

Xue Ming: "My wife is a carnivore and doesn't like vegetarian food."

Luka: "Hahaha, where did you learn those British corny jokes?"

Xue Ming: "I don't care about death, as long as someone can pick up my gun and continue fighting."

"Should I have done this?" Luka finally realized he seemed to have messed up. "Should I contact Victor? I'm so glad I'm erasing this part of my memory, Gunsmith."

"I should have thought of that sooner. Who would care about Berloberg so much? When I found them, I hadn't even called the Arcane Library yet. I had just told the boss about it when you showed up here."

"I'm getting old, my mind isn't working as fast anymore, oh no, oh no!"

Jiang Xueming slowly sat down.

" --Saladin is a good place, Professor Luka. I'm actually very happy to see you retiring here."

Luka: "Hmm"

Jiang Xueming: "Tell me about the settlement."

Luka: "If you want to set off now, I have a plan to get you to the vicinity of the outpost, but you'll have to walk the rest of the way on your own—the monsters during the closed season are exceptionally ferocious, and ordinary people like us can't handle them."

Just then, Index knocked on the door and came in, placing a relatively intact runestone tablet on the table before immediately leaving.

As Xue Ming picked up the runestone, he felt an unusually familiar surge of psionic energy. This was indeed the medium of the Berloberg elf. A faint, ethereal voice echoed in his mind; it was Berloberg speaking.

[Long time no see, friend.]

After holding back for a long time, Xue Ming finally started to speak.

"Friend? You didn't say that when you were in Maquire's arms!"

"How many years have we known each other? You tell me, come on, let's count."

"How come he became so talkative when he was in someone else's hands? He can actually start talking?"

"They don't say a word to me, they either give me the middle finger or draw hearts! Can't you have some professional ethics? Stop sexually harassing your owner, okay?"

[Okay, Master, (^_-)]