Night Battle

Qin Ran's narrowed eyes were filled with intense killing intent.

He had no qualms about completely eliminating enemies who showed killing intent toward him.

Previously, Sheriff John had taken the initiative, forcing Qin Ran to give up.

But now?

Qin Ran did not think he would encounter such trouble again.

"What a surprising coincidence!"

Qin Ran smiled as he looked at the young police officer before him.

"I assume Karl and the others won't mind my help!"

"Can you tell me where the fight is taking place?"

Qin Ran asked directly.

"Near the train station. Once you get there, you'll know where it is by following the gunfire!"

"But be careful. They have not only guns, but explosives too!"

Having already witnessed Qin Ran's skills, Karl did not refuse his help. Still, out of goodwill, he warned Qin Ran before hurrying off to catch up with Sheriff John.

[Side Mission Discovered: Shuberk's Madness!]

[Side Mission: One misjudgment on your part has driven Shuberk into a corner, but he will never surrender without a fight! You have chosen to stand with the police, so you must head to the train station as soon as possible!]

The side mission was unexpected.

But to Qin Ran, it was good news.

He had another reason he absolutely had to act.

With the case containing [Viper-M1] on his back, Qin Ran quickly left the police station and vanished into the Night Veil.

The train station was destined to be exceptionally lively today.

A corpse had been discovered that morning.

At noon, the murderer had been arrested, and a pickpocket ring had been uncovered along the way.

Then, at night, another gunfight began.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hearing the intense gunfire, everyone living nearby did their best to hide beneath their beds, concealing themselves as thoroughly as possible.

Yet that hiding did nothing to reassure them.

One look at them trembling in their hiding places made that clear.

Boom!

Another thunderous explosion rang out, and the civilians all shuddered.

Even the police fighting Shuberk had their hands tremble around their guns.

"Damn it! Where did they get firearms and explosives?"

Deputy Sheriff Lestrade pressed his back against a sturdy wall, Reloading his gun as he growled under his breath.

None of the surrounding officers could answer Lestrade's question.

That only made Lestrade even angrier.

And he chose the best way to vent it: the deputy sheriff sprang out from behind the wall he was using for cover, and his musket erupted with fire.

Bang!

"Argh!"

After the shot, a scream came from the rooftop across the street, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

"Teach those bastard scum a lesson!"

Lestrade shouted.

The deputy sheriff's successful shot greatly boosted the surrounding officers' morale, and they all raised their guns from behind cover and fired.

Unfortunately, the results were far from impressive.

A Volley from over a dozen guns did nothing more than graze one of Shuberk's men on the arm. There were no other casualties at all.

"Damn it, aim properly! Are you all blind?"

Faced with that result, Lestrade roared again.

His seemingly thin but actually sturdy body produced a roar that nearly drowned out the gunfire that followed.

Bang!

"Argh!"

With a scream, one of Shuberk's men fell from behind a chimney on the opposite rooftop.

"Nice shot! Who was that?"

Lestrade, who had just been roaring, immediately broke into a smile and turned to look at his subordinates.

He did not mind having a skilled shooter in his unit.

But the officers before him all wore bewildered expressions.

Bang!

At that moment, another shot rang out.

It was followed by another scream and the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground.

"Deputy Sheriff, over there!"

A sharp-eyed officer spotted a figure slowly emerging from the Night Veil.

"Qin Ran?"

Lestrade froze when he recognized Qin Ran.

"Karl told me you needed help here!"

Qin Ran greeted the deputy sheriff with a smile.

Just as Karl had said, once Qin Ran approached the train station, he immediately found the location of the firefight by following the gunshots and explosions.

It was on a street not far from the station.

Shuberk's side held a considerable advantage.

Not only had they occupied a sturdy, detached two-story building as a defensive position, but the building's height also gave these underworld thugs a tremendous advantage.

By moonlight, they could easily see the exposed police officers.

Meanwhile, the police were hiding behind buildings on the other side of the street. Every time they fired, they exposed themselves to the enemy's line of fire.

Qin Ran had already seen four or five injured officers.

To avoid getting hurt themselves, the remaining officers awkwardly stretched their gun-holding arms out from cover to shoot. The results of that Shooting were obvious.

If Shuberk's men had not been even worse shots, the police would have long since been pinned down and unable to raise their heads.

Of course, that was not the most important thing!

The most important thing was that Shuberk's side actually had explosives.

They were not the loose, powdery explosives people usually imagined.

They were homemade explosives wrapped in tough cowhide paper and mixed with glass shards and iron pellets, like weakened hand grenades!

Qin Ran had personally witnessed the power of those homemade explosives.

The wooden door and frame of a shop facing the street had both been blasted into the air.

Faced with that kind of power, Qin Ran knew that if he were within the blast radius, he would not escape unscathed. He would be seriously injured, or even killed outright.

Moreover, the enemy seemed to possess a large supply of homemade explosives.

They showed no intention of conserving them, tossing one out every so often and making the police, who were on the offensive, increasingly miserable.

Seeing that, Qin Ran became even more cautious.

He did not approach the building Shuberk occupied directly. A wide street lay between them, and six or seven men stood on the enemy rooftop, looking down from above. Unless Qin Ran could truly turn invisible, he had no way to use Stealth to get across.

That was why Qin Ran appeared before the deputy sheriff.

He needed to work with him to break the deadlock.

Although his simple memories of this identity told him that the deputy sheriff before him had a distant relationship with him, perhaps even some hostility, there was no doubting the man's position as deputy sheriff. He possessed a police officer's integrity.

Faced with Qin Ran's sudden appearance, Lestrade instinctively said—

"We don't need amateurs here..."

Bang! Bang!

Before the deputy sheriff could finish speaking, the [M1905] and [Viper-M1] in Qin Ran's left and right hands fired almost simultaneously. Two screams came from the rooftop across the street, followed by two heavy impacts.

Even across the street, the vision granted by E+ Perception allowed Qin Ran to clearly see every movement Shuberk's men made on the rooftop.

Combined with his proficient [Gunpowder Weapons. Light Firearms] skill—

It would not be an exaggeration to say Qin Ran never missed.

If not for the mismatch in era reducing the power of firearms and grenades by 50%, increasing pistol Reload time by one second, and increasing sniper rifle Reload time by thirty seconds, Qin Ran was confident he could wipe out every one of Shuberk's men on that rooftop within ten seconds—this was also why he had chosen to cooperate with them.

Even so, Lestrade's eyes widened in astonishment.

Lestrade was a fairly good marksman—one of the important reasons he had become deputy sheriff and been assigned to arrest Shuberk.

Therefore, Lestrade clearly understood the difficulty of Qin Ran's earlier shots.

Holding a gun in each hand, one of them even being a cavalry musket, and hitting targets almost simultaneously with both shots—such Shooting was beyond him.

Even the finest sharpshooters in the military would probably find it difficult to accomplish.

Although he was dissatisfied with Qin Ran, Lestrade had no choice but to admit that Qin Ran's marksmanship was excellent—far better than his own.

But that did not mean Lestrade would treat an "amateur" like Qin Ran kindly.

Stubbornly, Lestrade had always believed that the appearance of detectives like Qin Ran was an insult to the police.

"Hmph!"

The deputy sheriff snorted.

Then, he quickly Reloaded his ammunition and prepared to charge out once more.

However, before Lestrade could spring out, Qin Ran grabbed him and rolled across the ground with him.

Boom!

The explosion made Lestrade's expression change.

Clearly, he knew exactly what would have happened if Qin Ran had not pulled him away.

Instinctively, Lestrade wanted to thank Qin Ran.

But his stubborn pride made the words difficult to say.

While the deputy sheriff was still hesitating, Shuberk's men began their counterattack.

Faced with the sudden string of casualties, Shuberk's men were not frightened.

Instead, they retreated into the two-story building and struck back from safer positions with even fiercer methods.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

One homemade explosive after another had its fuse lit, then spun through the night sky after being thrown from the rooftop like scattered flowers.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A chain of explosions once again echoed through the night sky.

The police, as the attacking side, scrambled to Dodge once more.

Meanwhile, Shuberk's men, who had just retreated indoors, appeared on the rooftop again and fired downward amid the chaos.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Amid the rapid gunfire—

One officer was careless and was shot, falling to the ground.

"Take cover!"

The deputy sheriff shouted loudly. Seeing his fallen subordinate, he instinctively prepared to rush out and save him.

But someone was faster than him.

Qin Ran!