Lucky

The three members of the biker gang got off their motorcycles. They carried shotguns with terrifying close-range firepower, weapons that even second-tier defensive Apocalypse Warriors wouldn't dare take head-on. They cautiously formed a semicircle and approached the general store where Xia Leng was hiding.

Though they had the firepower advantage, their enemy was still a Baptized One. They had to be careful.

Their palms were slick with sweat. They wished their hands could move as fast as their eyes, so they could pull the trigger the instant they spotted the enemy and turn him into a pincushion.

Xia Leng leaned against a corner wall, hidden in a blind spot beyond their view. He aimed the dark muzzle at the road ahead. The moment an enemy appeared, he could kill one before they had a chance to react!

The three burly men outside were exceptionally cautious. They took nearly several minutes to cover the ten-meter stretch, dragging their feet the whole way.

But that only put them under more pressure, since they were out in the open beneath the blazing sun.

One member, who still hadn't taken off his sunglasses, seemed a little dizzy from the heat. He failed to notice a raised chunk of concrete underfoot and tripped over it with his right foot.

"Damn!"

He blurted out a curse before his balance gave way. He stumbled, then pitched headlong toward the ground!

He also tumbled into the general store's line of sight!

As the unlucky biker fell, he happened to spot Xia Leng beside the store's corner, raising a dark gun muzzle and aiming in his direction...

Bang!!!

A thunderous gunshot echoed across the town!

The instant the man entered his field of vision, Xia Leng had pulled the trigger on instinct!

Raising the gun, taking aim, predicting the bullet's path—all the calculations were completed in a split second!

Before the man hit the ground, a rapidly spinning bullet had burrowed straight into the center of his forehead!

The whole thing had taken less than half a second!

The two remaining bikers stared at the corpse in confusion. Their companion had only tripped and fallen, so how had his head ended up with a hole in it?

"Shit!! That bastard's got a gun too!!"

Once they realized what had happened, they immediately ducked behind the neighboring wall.

One of the bikers raised his powerful shotgun and fired through the wall at the source of the gunshot!

Boom!!

The wall, already rotted and crumbling from damp, shattered under the close-range blast. A huge hole was blown through it!

Fortunately, Xia Leng had moved immediately after firing his first shot, so he wasn't hit.

But from the other side, Xia Leng raised his pistol again through the hole the blast had made and aimed at the second biker's head. Looking at the man's livid face, he pulled the trigger without hesitation!

Click~

However, the Peace Gun truly lived up to its name. Perhaps it had developed a conscience after killing its first victim, because when Xia Leng pulled the trigger a second time, it misfired...

Xia Leng and the biker stared at each other in surprise, then both realized what had happened.

The biker, nearly scared out of his wits, immediately raised his shotgun and pulled the trigger!

But Xia Leng moved even faster. He hurled the misfiring pistol at the man's arm with all his strength. He knew that no matter how fast he was, he couldn't outrun a bullet.

Bang!

Caught off guard when the pistol struck his elbow, the biker's gun barrel jerked upward. His shot blasted through the rotten ceiling, leaving a huge hole. Dust rained from the roof, filling the entire shop with smoke so thick that visibility fell below a meter!

"Boss!! That bastard's out of weapons! I've got him trapped inside!"

Hearing this, the other biker, who had been called the boss outside, charged in as well. Together, they aimed their guns at the layers of smoke ahead.

Xia Leng crouched in a corner of the store, using the smoke to conceal himself.

He was unarmed now, but he had no intention of running.

The smoke blocked his vision completely too, but his keen hearing let him judge the enemy's approximate position.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Perhaps the lack of visibility, combined with the knowledge that a Baptized One was hiding somewhere out of sight, made the two bikers feel too much pressure. They simply started blasting away at random!

Each shotgun blast spread hundreds of steel pellets over a wide area. They also had plenty of shells strapped to their waists, so they decided to keep firing blindly and hope for the best. They had enough ammunition to shoot up the entire store anyway!

Just then, Xia Leng realized that the shotgun blasts were getting closer. He knew he couldn't wait any longer.

He immediately drew the military dagger he'd taken from the camp leader and hurled it toward the source of the gunfire, using sound to pinpoint his target!

Whoosh~

His arm's powerful burst of strength sent the dagger flying at incredible speed, straight toward the biker who had survived thanks to Xia Leng's pistol misfiring!

The dagger was about to pierce his neck and claim his life—

Suddenly, a plank in the ceiling came loose and fell, landing right between the biker and the dagger. Once again, it blocked the blade for him...

"Shit! That guy's throwing daggers at me!! He's over there!!"

Startled again—and unbelievably lucky—the biker swung his gun toward the dagger's point of origin and fired!

Bang!!

This time, Xia Leng couldn't dodge in time. The exploding steel pellets struck his thigh, and a wave of intense pain shot through his leg!

As Xia Leng endured the pain without crying out, he couldn't help feeling speechless at the man's ability to escape death twice.

First, his weapon had misfired. Then something had blocked the dagger for him. Could the man secretly be a lucky-type Mystic Scholar?

Without even realizing it himself...

Fortunately, the other man's aim wasn't very good either. Only a few steel pellets had lodged in Xia Leng's leg, leaving him just barely able to move.

"Damn it!! He's probably out of ammo. Charge in and kill him!"

The boss tightened his grip on his weapon and sent his subordinate ahead of him. Together, they charged toward the corner the dagger had flown from.

Hearing their approaching footsteps, Xia Leng immediately braced himself against a nearby display window and hauled himself upright.

At last, when they entered each other's line of sight, both sides attacked almost at the same time!

The two bikers raised their shotguns and fired at Xia Leng!

Xia Leng smashed the display window, grabbed a piece of broken glass, and flung it at them!

Boom!!

Squelch!

The shotgun blasts sent a torrent of steel pellets tearing into Xia Leng's body. The force threw him backward, slamming him hard against the wall!

The piece of glass Xia Leng had thrown spun through the air at high speed and sliced across the boss's throat. Thick blood gushed from his neck as he fell to the ground, twitching and feeling his life rapidly ebb away.

Now only the biker who had escaped death three times through sheer luck was still standing in the room. He stared in shock as his boss's pupils slowly clouded over, until he too was completely dead.