The old man's acting was superb. He vividly portrayed the helplessness and timidity of a lonely elder, running Wesley in circles. He told Wesley that he and Cross had arranged to meet on the train, then headed to the station the next day.
Wesley and Fire Fox hid in the shadows of the platform, watching the old man's every move. Wesley was at the peak of his confidence and firmly believed he could kill Cross.
Young people were all like that. After blowing away one or two mediocre opponents, they thought they were invincible!
Breathing in the fragrance of 36C's perfume beside him, Wesley's mind began to wander. He marveled at Fire Fox's boundless charm and decided that after killing Cross, he would start pursuing her.
While keeping an eye on the old man, Wesley struck up a conversation with Fire Fox. "Fire Fox, have you ever thought about living a different kind of life?"
Fire Fox remained perfectly still, maintaining her surveillance posture. "What do you mean?"
"Getting married and having children like an ordinary person. Driving your kids to school every morning before going to work. On your days off, putting on pretty clothes and going shopping with a few close friends. Or having a romantic time with your husband, enjoying a candlelit dinner to the sound of violin music in a Western restaurant..."
Fire Fox was silent for several seconds before replying coldly, "No. I've never thought about it. I hate that boring kind of life!"
Fire Fox was lying. No woman did not want a happy life, especially an assassin who walked the line between life and death. Worn out in body and mind, she desperately longed for a warm harbor where she could rest. No matter how charming Fire Fox was, she could not escape that yearning. But her miserable childhood had made her cling to the Brotherhood's creed. She lived to kill more people who harmed society, so that her own tragic childhood would not be repeated in another family.
That was why Fire Fox chose suicide in the original story after learning that Sloan had forged the Loom's code. Her faith had collapsed, and she had become the kind of person she despised most.
Fire Fox heard the signal of courtship in Wesley's words. She had a favorable impression of him as well, but between personal feelings and faith, she decisively abandoned her emotions. That was why she rejected Wesley so coldly.
Before his confession could even begin, the relationship had already ended. Wesley was deeply shaken. Both of them fell silent, preoccupied with their own thoughts, allowing the old man to take the chance to escape before either of them came to their senses.
By the time they reacted, it was already too late. The old man slipped into the crowd, displaying agility utterly at odds with his age. It was as though his feet had been greased; after a few turns, he vanished without a trace.
Wesley and Fire Fox ran wildly across the platform, hoping to find some trace of the old man. They both knew that once they lost this lead, finding Cross again would be difficult.
Just as they split up, Wesley spotted Cross waving at him at the very last moment before the train departed. His father's killer was right before his eyes. Without a second thought, Wesley charged into the carriage with bloodshot eyes.
The doors closed, and the train slowly pulled away from the platform, leaving Fire Fox standing there in confusion. She seemed to realize something, rushed out of the station, seized a sedan, and chased after the train along the tracks.
Fire Fox floored the accelerator. At that moment, she had only one thought: she absolutely could not let Cross and Wesley be alone together.
America's trains were slow, expensive, and time-consuming. Some routes were even slower than buses, lagging more than a century behind China in the same era. They were not cost-effective for travel at all.
For various reasons, Americans did not like taking trains unless they had no other choice. In this country, trains had gradually withdrawn from the ranks of regular transportation and begun shifting toward tourism, becoming slower and slower.
The train Fire Fox was pursuing was a sightseeing train that ran between states, meant for passengers to enjoy the natural scenery along the way. It spent most of its journey weaving through deep mountains and dense forests, so Fire Fox caught up to it with a single press of the accelerator.
The sedan matched the train's speed as it ran alongside it. Fire Fox watched Wesley and Cross grappling through the train window and drew her beloved customized M1911. Then she noticed something unusual in the rearview mirror and hurriedly pulled her arm back inside.
Bang!
After a gunshot rang out, the side mirror shattered. The roar of an engine rapidly drew closer. In the rearview mirror, Fire Fox saw a completely black Ford F-150. The distance between their vehicles steadily closed, and she could even see Russell raising his middle finger from the driver's seat.
Recognizing Russell as the killer who had taken out Big Slick, Fire Fox cursed inwardly and raised her gun to fire backward. But Russell gave her no chance. One shot shattered the rear window, forcing her to weave in an S-shaped path to protect herself.
Fire Fox's speed dropped, while the train entered a mountain tunnel. Looking at the mountain road blocked off ahead, she slammed her palm against the steering wheel, killing intent flashing in her eyes.
Boom!!
The Ford F-150 suddenly accelerated and rammed the sedan's rear, pushing it toward the mountain wall ahead. If it hit solidly, 36C would be turned straight into minced meat.
At the critical moment, Fire Fox slammed on the brakes and entered Bullet Time. She first twisted around and fired a shot, then unfastened her seat belt and leaped out of the driver's seat.
Sensing the incoming danger, Russell threw himself onto the passenger seat and stomped on the brakes to slow down. The bullet passed over his head and shattered the window on the other side. One second before crashing into the sedan, he successfully jumped out of the Ford Pickup as well.
After landing, Russell rolled across the ground several times and concealed himself in a patch of weeds.
"System, use 'Character Card: Smith.' Don't overwrite my appearance!"
Host equipped 'Character Card: Smith.' Countdown: 240 seconds. Timer started.
After equipping Character Card: Smith, Russell clearly sensed the change in his perception. Quick eyes and fast hands were not enough to describe it. His thoughts became active, and the surrounding terrain materialized in his mind as a three-dimensional overhead map. All sorts of tactics emerged one after another.
Very strong!
Although he only had four minutes, that was enough for an exchange between experts!
Bang! Bang!
Almost as if it were an instinctive muscle reaction, Russell's body followed its instincts and fired twice ahead before his eyes had even locked onto Fire Fox's position.
At the same instant his shots rang out, Fire Fox also fired two shots in rapid succession. In slow motion, the four bullets met in midair, and Fire Fox intercepted Russell's bullets with her own.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Russell had obtained plenty of information about Fire Fox from Cross, including data on her favored gun, comparisons of her various parameters, and Cross's assessment of her danger level. Fire Fox did not have Wesley's assassin bloodline, but she was undoubtedly a genius. Her Bullet Time ability was not much weaker than Big Slick's.
Russell had experienced Bullet Time and fought Big Slick before. Big Slick could enter Bullet Time three times in a short period, and Russell estimated that Fire Fox should be at roughly the same level.
It could not be any higher. Otherwise, Cross's priority target for sniping would have been Fire Fox rather than Big Slick!
Russell knew how terrifying Bullet Time was. He kept firing, firmly maintaining the initiative in his own hands. His One Hundred Percent Accuracy was enough to chill anyone to the bone. Fire Fox calculated the trajectories and knew she had no chance of dodging, so she could only intercept them with bullets.
The M1911's 11.43mm rounds were immensely powerful, but they held no advantage when colliding with 9mm rounds. After impact, both would simply fall rather than the 11.43mm bullet shattering the 9mm bullet first and then hitting Russell.
That was something that only happened in science fiction movies. This world still cared about objective facts!
Newton: #￥%~son of bit※※!@#￥&*...
Ahem. Newton had been removed from the group for excessively inflammatory language.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
After four shots, Fire Fox's magazine was empty. Her customized M1911 did not use a double-stack magazine, and even its extended magazine held fewer rounds than the M9 in Russell's hand. After running out of bullets first, she rolled into a depression amid the gravel.
Taking out the only extended magazine she had left at her waist, Fire Fox's gaze turned even colder. The situation was extremely unfavorable for her.
I summarized why my last book failed to reach 1,000 chapters, and I finally found the problem. Everyone else wrote 2,000 words per chapter, while I wrote 2,500...
(￣︶￣)
How had I only just figured out something so simple? I really was an innocent newbie—far too honest!
Before you continue