Scorching flames surged across the Waiting Hall. Agonized screams and crazed laughter echoed through the burning wind, while the sweet smell of popcorn mingled with the stench of incompletely burned fat.
"Run! This is a scripted death!" Cripple shouted from the first floor, heedless of the risk of drawing the enemy's attention. "Don't be stupid! Split up and meet outside!"
Xia Lun did not answer. The hellish scene reflected in his dark eyes. The instant Cripple shouted, he activated Heightened Focus. Time seemed to stand still. A terrified pregnant woman, gun-wielding maniacs, a burning SUV, Cripple's wide eyes, and black dust drifting through the air all froze like images on film.
His pupils widened slightly. The faint sensation of oxygen deprivation brought a rush of exhilaration, while the trace of blood in his nose and the screams in his ears stirred a primal urge to kill.
His focus sharpened further. The laughing gunmen seemed to separate from the rest of the world. He could clearly see the faint flare of their nostrils, every tremor of their charred skin, and the feral confusion in their eyes.
In less than half a heartbeat, a torrent of information flooded his mind. His subconscious sorted it all and devised the most efficient way to kill them.
Click.
His thumb pulled back the cold Hammer. With a flick of his wrist, he swung the muzzle toward an enemy laughing atop a vehicle.
Too bad it isn't noon, Xia Lun thought.
Bang!
Click, bang!
The second bullet followed almost the instant the first shot sounded. A heavy round spun through one man's skull like a grinding wheel, then kept going straight into the eye socket of the man behind him!
Bone fragments and brain matter sprayed through the air. Blood-tinged muzzle flashes lit Cripple's and Buzz-Cut