"We mean you no harm."
Texas stepped forward to stand beside Han Fei and explained, "Our arrival here was purely an accident.
"Also, you really don't need to try drawing your weapon. My boss can be a little reckless sometimes, but overall, he's a good person. I don't want you pointing a weapon at him."
"Exactly."
Han Fei said with a perfectly straight face, "We mean no harm. We're just new here."
"But you're carrying a gun."
Lemuen stared at the M250 on Han Fei's back. "I don't believe you have a firearms permit. The Notarial Office has never issued one to another race."
"This gun isn't like your Laterano guns. They may look somewhat alike, but their inner workings are completely different."
As he spoke, Han Fei took the M250 off his back and held it in both hands.
To prove he was telling the truth, Han Fei didn't mind letting Lemuen try handling his M250.
Just then, however, he caught a flash of red light nearby out of the corner of his eye.
"Huh?"
That familiar red light instantly brought some unpleasant memories rushing back.
—"I never expected you to understand Hafk!"
"Get down!"
He grabbed Texas by the wrist, and they both dove to the ground.
Texas's long hair swept through the air in a silvery-gray arc. Before its ends could touch the ground, a sniper round tore through the air toward them.
Bang!
A loud gunshot rang out. The bullet punched into the granite paving, spraying chunks of concrete like buckshot. Several fragments scraped past Han Fei's tactical helmet, screeching against his face shield.
On a distant vantage point, the glare from a sniper scope stood out like a light bulb, even in broad daylight.
Han Fei raised his head slightly and looked at the hole in the paving ahead of him. A suspicion began to form in his mind—that shot had only been a warning.
"It isn't safe here."
Texas moved fast, springing up and pressing herself against a wall. She gripped her sword hilts with both hands, her gaze fixed on Lemuen.
"Boss, your orders?"
No sooner had she spoken than she noticed Han Fei had already donned that thick, heavy blast-resistant gear. His familiar massive shield was already in his hands.
"Cellinia, hold on."
Holding the massive shield and watching the direction of the scope's glare, Han Fei said, "Let's not escalate this."
He remained calm. This was Laterano, and he didn't think escalating the conflict would work in his favor.
Forget the Gun Knights—even that sniper who seemed to be Grandma could give Han Fei a very bad time.
Surely nobody actually thought Grandma was weak!
With both hands occupied by his shield, Han Fei simply opened his inventory and dragged his M250 onto the ground. He said to Lemuen, "Why don't you try handling it yourself? Mine isn't one of your Laterano guns."
Image: "Now he's really a soldier," location: "Images/1749320712-100438631-113449366.jpg"
P.S. Going all-out on offense is a mistake. While I'm asking, does anyone have a 23,000-cost loadout for Top Secret?
Chapter 72: Lemuen
Lemuen hesitated for a moment before picking up Han Fei's M250.
The instant her finger settled on the trigger, Lemuen could clearly sense, as a Sankta, that Han Fei had been telling the truth. This gun really wasn't made in Laterano.
Laterano's firearms were extremely complex integrated Arts Unit systems, with Originium circuits inscribed inside them. Precisely because of that, only Sankta, with the Law's assistance, could fire them through a series of intricate, delicate operations.
The M250 in Han Fei's hands clearly had nothing of the sort.
Although it looked like a long gun, it was so simple that it seemed all she needed to do to fire it was pull the trigger.
"This really isn't one of our firearms."
Lemuen returned the gun to Han Fei and said, "Fine, you're not carrying a firearm illegally. But how did you get in?"
"Someone screwed us over."
Han Fei shrugged helplessly. "We were supposed to land outside the city, but someone screwed us over and sent us straight inside."
Texas turned her head to glance at Han Fei. She knew it was a lie, but at that moment, a lie was indeed more useful than the truth.
The explanation sounded rather far-fetched, but the Laterano Guard still hadn't raised an alarm. Combined with Han Fei's repeated shows of goodwill, that persuaded the young Lemuen to lower her guard a little. She moved her hand away from her Guardian Gun and said:
"I'll take your word for it this once, then. Don't cause trouble in Laterano. The Notarial Office and the Laterano Guard aren't to be trifled with."
With that, Lemuen glanced at the M250 and warned him, "I wouldn't recommend strolling around Laterano's streets with a gun on your back. It'll cause you quite a bit of trouble."
"I get what you mean," Han Fei said.
Guns were regulated in Laterano. A Sankta could walk around carrying one without issue—they had permits.
But someone of another race carrying a gun through Laterano's streets was, without exaggeration, about the same as openly parading around with a gun on the streets of China.
Still, understanding that didn't mean Han Fei had any way to put his M250 away. He was carrying a purple backpack with twenty-five slots, evenly arranged in a standard 5×5 layout.
The bad news was that the M250 took up a 2×6 space.
He had no choice but to carry it.
"All right, I'm not going to keep watching you. I've got school."
Lemuen took a bite of the apple pie in her hand, its delicious flavor instantly making her eyes curve into crescents. She turned and waved repeatedly at the nearby vantage point, shouting, "Sis, come down here for a second!"
Han Fei squinted up at the vantage point, seriously doubting whether the sniper up there could hear her from so far away.
Judging by the result, though, the scope's glare disappeared. Apparently, the sniper had either heard or seen what was happening.
Before long, a pink-haired girl walked over and said, "Xiao Le."
The moment Han Fei saw her, his expression turned peculiar. Since when did Grandma ditch the M700 for an AWM? Seriously, what was going on?!
At that moment, Han Fei was profoundly grateful the last shot had only been a warning rather than the start of an actual fight.
His tier-four gear couldn't take a shot from an AWM. Forget tier-four gear—even Liu Tao would go down!
Lemuen grinned at her older sister and said, "Sis, can you deal with these two? I'm going to be late for school."
"Not going to be. You already are."
Her older sister tapped Lemuen on the forehead and urged her, "Go on. Don't waste any more time."
"See you after school, Sis~"
The younger Lemuen ran off with light steps, leaving her older sister, Han Fei, and Texas staring at one another.
Fortunately, the silence didn't linger. The older Lemuen spoke first, introducing herself. "Hello, uninvited guests. I'm Lemuen, a member of the Laterano Guard."
"Hello, Lemuen. I'm Han Fei. As you can see, I'm a scavenger, with the occasional mercenary job on the side." Han Fei extended a hand and introduced Texas for her. "This is my companion, Texas."
Texas watched Lemuen expressionlessly, showing no intention of speaking. That wasn't entirely down to her personality; the earlier shot had something to do with it, too.
Whether that shot had been a warning or not, firing was firing. Texas couldn't act as though nothing had happened.
Han Fei, on the other hand, was quite optimistic. In Delta Force, enemies who had been fighting to the death one second might cooperate the next over a shared objective.
Yes, that objective was taking out the bridge-camping bastards.
Besides, that shot hadn't even been aimed at him, only at the ground in front of him.
"Under Laterano law, I have the authority to place you both under temporary supervision."
Lemuen's voice was as calm as a sheet of ice, her gaze sweeping over Han Fei and Texas. "This is a necessary measure. Until we can be certain you won't disrupt Laterano's order, I will accompany you both. Also..."
Lemuen looked at the M250 on Han Fei's back. "As for this gun, the Notarial Office needs to verify its origin. If it isn't a Laterano creation, it will naturally be returned to its owner."
Han Fei had no particular objection to Lemuen's strictly professional attitude. It was just that making a trip to the Notarial Office sounded like a real hassle.
"Can't we skip that?"
He wasn't worried about Laterano confiscating his M250. As long as it wasn't a gun made in Laterano, the Notarial Office wouldn't pursue the matter and would return it after the inspection.
There was even a record of this in Arknights.
"No," Lemuen said expressionlessly.
A second later, she added, "This is a necessary measure. Unless you want the Tribunal coming after you every other day while you're walking around Laterano, you'd best listen to me."
"Uh..."
Just hearing that description was enough for Han Fei to sense trouble. He didn't want Laterano's public officials constantly coming after him. That would really interfere with his looting, fighting, and extracting!
Thinking of extraction, however, Han Fei instinctively opened his map and glanced at the details.
The map was still completely black, and the extraction options were exactly the same as Space City's: activate a switch or abandon his backpack.
In theory, there should also have been an Ascension option, but Han Fei couldn't see where its mission was—this damned map didn't show mission locations at all.
Seeing Han Fei remain silent, Lemuen assumed he still hadn't changed his mind. Her delicate brows drew together slightly as she asked, "Are you still unwilling to go?"
"No, it's fine."
Han Fei closed the map. He had only just landed and hadn't looted a thing yet. It was a little too early to think about extracting. Even if this was Laterano, he was definitely going to make a looting run before leaving!
"Lead the way."
"Follow me."
Lemuen turned to lead them onward. "Please stay close and don't do anything unnecessary."
Han Fei picked up his massive shield and followed Lemuen.
Texas walked slowly up beside Han Fei and asked in a lowered voice, "Boss, are you sure you want to stay here?"
"What else would we do?"
Han Fei blinked. He only had five days in total. Where could he go?
Besides, when he'd opened the map earlier, he had already marked the extraction points. Whether he abandoned his backpack or activated a switch, the extraction points were all inside this city.
If he ran too far outside and couldn't get back to activate the switch in time, that would be a joke.
Han Fei didn't want to abandon his backpack. He hadn't brought a large chest rig, so his carrying capacity depended on that backpack.
Chapter 73: Loot a Manhole Cover First
As Lemuen led Han Fei through Laterano's streets, he looked at the pink-haired girl's back with just one thought in his mind.
—I wanted it.
That wasn't because Han Fei was sexually frustrated. It was because that gun was an AWM—who wouldn't want one?!
This wasn't some bare gun pulled out of a weapon crate. It was an AWM with ammunition, one that could actually fire!
It was no exaggeration to say that owning one would vastly improve his chances of a successful haul in Space City.
This thing was far more useful than an M700 or M14 loaded with red ammo!
With a red-ammo M700 or M14, he still needed to trade shots with people and risk getting killed in return.
But one AWM shot to the chest was an instant kill!
If the enemy was weakened after having already been downed once, even a hit to the abdomen would kill them instantly.
If this hadn't been Laterano, and the person in front of him hadn't been Exusiai's sister, Han Fei would definitely have tried knifing Grandma.
Perhaps Han Fei's stare was too intense, because Lemuen couldn't help turning to look at him.
Their eyes met, and only then did Lemuen realize that Han Fei hadn't been staring at her, but at the Guardian Gun on her back.
"Are you interested in it?"
"I am."
With their eyes meeting, Han Fei stopped hiding it and admitted openly, "Your gun looks pretty good."
Lemuen glanced back at her Guardian Gun, her expression softening as she said, "Of course. It's my Guardian Gun.
"But I can't let you touch it. I hope you understand."
"I get it."
As he spoke, Han Fei turned to look at Texas and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Relax. Don't keep looking so tense."
Before you continue