Bloody Night

"Oh, right, ma'am, what should I call you?"

"Li Linna."

Everyone ran after Zhuang Xiaolin, but they were quite surprised by Li Linna's speed. Zhuang Xiaolin had never received any formal training; he could only run so fast because he had gained some death energy.

Glaz and Machine Gun Guy might even have been faster than him, but Li Linna's speed was in no way inferior to Zhuang Xiaolin's.

"It's right up ahead, gentlemen." Li Linna stopped at a secluded street corner and pointed ahead.

"Alright, wait here for a moment. We'll be back soon." Zhuang Xiaolin replied, then slowly headed inside with Machine Gun Guy and Glaz.

"There's a high point on the right. Glaz, get over there first."

"Understood."

"This position is perfect for fire suppression. Tachanka, lie in wait here."

"Heh heh, of course."

After issuing his orders, Zhuang Xiaolin calmly walked forward.

Machine Gun Guy watched Zhuang Xiaolin's back but did not stop him. Compared to that Lungmen policewoman, these gang-like thugs were clearly beneath notice. Trying to kill a commander with the Eye of Death and Death's Revolver was practically a fantasy.

"Gentlemen! I heard you kidnapped a poor young lady." Zhuang Xiaolin shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing throughout the West Slums.

"Oh, and who are you? Here to rescue her? Did you bring the ransom?" A man dressed somewhat like a mafia member stood across the street, with two wolf ears growing from his head.

"Oh, I think we should sit down and have a talk." Zhuang Xiaolin surveyed his surroundings and began using the negotiating tactics he was best at.

"As long as you brought the ransom, you can talk however you like." The man across the street sneered.

"Of course." Zhuang Xiaolin took out a stack of Lungmen Dollars from his pocket. "Naturally, I brought it all. Can I see the girl now?"

"No problem, sir." The mafia-like man nodded, turned, and headed down one of the streets.

Zhuang Xiaolin sighed in relief. The stack of Lungmen Dollars he had just produced had all been created with the Illusion Field. He had not expected them to look so convincing.

Without hesitation, Zhuang Xiaolin followed behind him.

Before long, Zhuang Xiaolin sensed increasing hostility in the surrounding area.

Those people probably thought Zhuang Xiaolin was easy prey, another pitiful fool walking straight into the lion's den. But they had no idea that a terrifying monster was entering the heart of their territory right beneath their noses.

"Shamir, the girl's people have arrived." The mafia member in front of Zhuang Xiaolin called toward a slightly larger courtyard.

Many mafia members lurked in the darkness nearby, watching with contempt.

"Commander, there are fifty-three ranged attackers armed with crossbows to your left and right," Glaz's voice came through the earpiece.

"I've reached a relatively open area, around seventy meters behind you. If necessary, I can provide fire suppression at any time." Machine Gun Guy's voice followed right after Glaz's report.

"Very good. We'll see the results soon enough." Zhuang Xiaolin spoke into the communicator, making it sound as though he were simply commenting on the negotiations.

"Of course, sir. Bring the girl over!" The gang member called Shamir shouted. Soon, three mafia members holding blades brought out a little girl whose hands had been tightly bound behind her back.

Lin Xuan looked at Zhuang Xiaolin with frightened, pleading eyes.

"You know the rules. Money in one hand, the 'goods' in the other." Shamir spoke without the slightest awareness of the danger approaching.

Zhuang Xiaolin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then his pupils abruptly changed color, turning into the crimson gaze of the Grim Reaper.

Time flowed at a bizarre speed in Zhuang Xiaolin's eyes.

As Death's Revolver was drawn, crimson vines suddenly crawled across the body of the Volcano Pistol-shaped revolver.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang—!

Crimson energy bullets shot from the barrel, leaving dazzling trails beneath the night sky.

Then came the sound of flesh being pierced.

"You... you actually... Kill her, quick... Aaaah!" Nearly all of his subordinates fell at the same time. Panicked, Shamir tried to use the crossbow in his hand to kill A-Lin, who had just been brought out.

But suddenly, a faint gunshot rang out from afar. Shamir's hand holding the crossbow was instantly pierced through, leaving a massive wound. His howl tore through the night sky. A bloody battle had become unavoidable.

This went against Zhuang Xiaolin's original ideals, but if he wanted to stand against this land that devoured people, he first needed enough capital.

And the primitive accumulation of capital was bloody.

The ladder people climbed to reach greater heights was bloody as well.

"Come on, Lin Xuan. Let's get out of this hellhole. Tachanka, open fire!" Zhuang Xiaolin untied Lin Xuan, then gave Machine Gun Guy the order to fire.

"Roger!" Machine Gun Guy answered excitedly. Then fierce gunfire erupted from the other end of the street. The mafia members who had been hiding, originally preparing to ambush Zhuang Xiaolin, immediately panicked as shot after shot rang out from across the street.

The instant the gunfire began, nearly six members were killed by bullets that tore through them.

Clusters of crimson energy drifted toward Zhuang Xiaolin. To outsiders, it merely seemed as though the wind around him had grown stronger. If someone truly powerful had been there, they might have noticed something strange.

"Left side, Commander." Glaz spoke and fired three more shots in succession, each one hitting a mafia member squarely in the head.

Zhuang Xiaolin calmly walked toward the left. Whenever he encountered mafia members trying to return fire, Death's Revolver flashed in his hand, firing several shots in an instant and riddling them with bullets.

The Eye of Death's experience kept accumulating. With every kill Zhuang Xiaolin made, its experience continued to rise. Tal'darim Power had only required living beings to die on the battlefield to grant him energy, but the Eye of Death and Death's Revolver were different. Those two required Zhuang Xiaolin to kill enemies personally.

Using Death's Revolver in tandem with the Eye of Death, Zhuang Xiaolin never missed. Within a minute, he had wiped out all the mafia members hiding on the left. On the right, Machine Gun Guy provided fire suppression while Glaz assisted.

Now it was time to finish things. Zhuang Xiaolin's pupils deepened once more, and in the blink of an eye, Death's Revolver fired seven shots. Every bullet struck a mafia member in the chest.

Then crimson waves of energy burst outward from the bodies of those mafia members, blasting away their companions who had still been resisting Machine Gun Guy. Some were even killed on the spot.

After that volley, the battle was essentially over. As the battle ended, the system displayed two consecutive level-up notifications. After absorbing that crimson energy, Zhuang Xiaolin increasingly felt his physical abilities growing stronger. For some reason, he did not feel much resistance toward killing. Perhaps it was the indifference from his previous life, or perhaps something else.

Ever since leaving that black-hearted factory amid the ice and snow, Zhuang Xiaolin had gradually broken free from certain restraints from his previous life. Perhaps that was the way to survive in this world.

[Death's Revolver Level LV 3 (6000/9500)]

[Eye of Death Level LV 3 (6000/9500)]

For some unknown reason, Death's Revolver and the Eye of Death did not display their rarity grades. Zhuang Xiaolin guessed it might be because they had been synthesized, but that would require more examples to confirm.

Blood spread across the dilapidated ground, and several large holes had been blasted into the scattered civilian homes nearby.

"Good work, guys. But I think we should leave as soon as possible." Zhuang Xiaolin met up with Machine Gun Guy, who had finished tending to his weapon outside, while Glaz emerged from his distant ambush position to join them.

The roar of vehicles came from afar, and there seemed to be quite a few of them. The dense gunfire in the West Slums had clearly drawn a great deal of attention.

"Things really are unpredictable. Looks like there'll be plenty more of this in the future." Zhuang Xiaolin sighed.

With Lin Xuan in tow, Zhuang Xiaolin met up with Li Linna, who had been waiting for a long time on the outskirts of the West District.

When she saw her younger sister return safely, Li Linna could not help but burst into tears and rushed forward to embrace Lin Xuan.

"This is your reward." After a while, Li Linna seemed to remember something and handed Zhuang Xiaolin one hundred thousand Lungmen Dollars from her bag.

"Alright, I'll take it. You should leave this place as soon as possible too. I'm sure it won't be long before they trace this back to you. You'd better find somewhere else to live." Zhuang Xiaolin turned to look at the vast territory of the West District and more or less understood what was going on. Out of goodwill, he gave Li Linna a warning.

"Alright, we'll leave right away." Li Linna said, quickly leading Lin Xuan away.

Zhuang Xiaolin shook his head helplessly and slowly walked back to their base with Machine Gun Guy and Glaz.

In the shadows behind them, a masked figure with orange-red hair and a trench coat flashed past and vanished.