The cold, harsh night wind swept into the town entrance. Ragged civilians huddled in the shadows of ruined walls, every dust-streaked face drawn tight as their terrified gazes remained fixed on the distant docks, where firelight and smoke rose.
Whenever a burst of gunfire crackled like popping beans, the crowd shrank back uncontrollably.
At the docks, gun smoke hung thick and heavy like a filthy shroud.
More than two hundred men in black suits stood in dense formation, their Flintlocks spitting brief tongues of flame.
Lead bullets tore through the air with sharp shrieks, pouring down like a rainstorm upon the lone figure ahead—a bald youth.
The bullets struck his bare skin, bursting into dull impacts and tiny sparks, churning the smoke into an even murkier haze.
The youth moved.
Like a steel beast enraged, he charged out of the smoke through the torrent of bullets. His arms abruptly transformed as he rushed forward, becoming two enormous, chillingly bright blades.
A flash of cold light. Several men in black at the front did not even have time to scream before they fell limply like wheat stalks cut by a scythe, spraying warm mists of blood.
With one foot planted on a still-twitching corpse, the youth angled his bladed arms toward the dark mass of people ahead. His voice pierced through the gunfire and screams.
"Get out of here."
Intimidated by his ferocious advance, the men in black instinctively took half a step back.
The crowd parted to either side like a black tide, opening a path. A burly man with knotted muscles, clad only in a black tank top, slowly emerged from the rear.
A savage old scar ran across his face. His eyes were like poisoned blades, fixed firmly on the youth.
"Daz Bones! You've been blocking me for nearly a month! How long are you going to keep this up?!"
Bones seemed not to hear him and repeated his cold declaration.
"I'll say it again, Gotti. Take your men and get out."
The veins on Gotti's forehead bulged, nearly bursting through his skin. He suddenly stepped forward, and the stone slab beneath his feet groaned under the strain.
"You're a killer who takes money to do jobs too! You got the exact same mission as me! Protecting these targets? Did a sea beast chew your brain up?!"
Daz Bones remained silent. Only his cold eyes pierced the drifting smoke, locked firmly onto Gotti's face without the slightest warmth or wavering.
Gotti laughed in fury, his smile twisting like that of a demon.
"Fine, fine, fine. Since you insist on being stubborn, I want to see how many bullets that iron hide of yours can take! Boys! Fire! Empty every last round! Blast him into scrap metal!"
The order was like lighting the final powder keg. Madness flared in the surviving men in black's eyes as they desperately squeezed their triggers. The roar of the Flintlocks instantly reached its peak, their muzzle flashes joining into a dazzling curtain of light as a metal storm of lead bullets swallowed Daz Bones completely once more.
Daz Bones let out a low roar, crossing his bladed arms before him as he charged again into the locust-like hail of bullets.
Every flash of his blades came with spraying blood and piercing screams. Men in black fell one after another, and the hard ground of the docks was stained dark red, thick blood nearly flooding over their ankles.
Above the battlefield, two figures hovered in midair in defiance of all reason.
"Lucci, what do you think of this kid?"
The silver-haired figure spoke in an almost lazy tone.
Beside him, Lucci hovered in the air with precise Geppo. The corner of his stone-carved, expressionless face twitched almost imperceptibly.
Kid? You're not even that old yourself. What gives you the nerve to call someone else a kid?
But in the end, he merely lowered his gaze and answered in a flat, emotionless voice.
"An absolute fool. A killer protecting mission targets? There's nothing more foolish than that."
"Mm... he really is a fool."
The silver-haired youth nodded solemnly. The splashing bloody light below reflected in his pupils, yet an unreadable curve formed at the corner of his mouth.
He paused, then said seriously,
"Still, I rather like this kind of fool. Get ready. When the moment is right, step in and save him."
This time, Lucci did not answer. He merely watched the battlefield below with an inscrutable look.
Below, the corner of Gotti's eye twitched violently. His elite subordinates were falling like grass before a scythe, yet that steel monster was still closing in step by step.
If this continued, forget the mission—he would lose everything he had. A surge of rage rushed straight to his head, burning away his last trace of hesitation and reluctance.
He abruptly turned around and snatched a grotesque-looking Twin-Barreled Heavy Machine Gun, its barrels terrifyingly thick, from the trembling hands of a trusted subordinate behind him.
The cold touch of metal reached his hands, but Gotti's eyes contained only crimson. This precious thing had barrels worn nearly to their limit; every use might be its last.
He had originally planned to use the generous reward from this mission to buy an even more powerful, newer monster capable of spitting even more terrifying flames.
But now... none of that mattered.
"You stubborn bastard, go to hell and repent with these worthless civilians!"
His powerful arms clamped tightly around the heavy weapon, trembling violently from the excessive strain. His thick fingers pulled the trigger hard with the madness of wanting to destroy everything.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The muzzle instantly erupted with a terrifying tongue of flame nearly half a meter long. Special pointed bullets, carrying momentum capable of tearing through anything, formed an incomparably violent metal torrent that instantly submerged the small area where Daz Bones stood.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang—!
The dense impacts, enough to make one's teeth ache, merged into a piercing continuous shriek. Daz Bones crossed his arms over his head and chest. Under the sustained assault of ultra-high-speed, high-energy rounds, his steel-hard skin groaned under the strain for the first time.
Fine cracks rapidly spread across his arms and chest like a spiderweb. The enormous impacts drove his feet firmly into the ground, but he still slid backward helplessly, his boots carving two deep furrows into the hard stone slabs soaked in blood.
The vicious gleam in Gotti's eyes surged, like a shark scenting blood. His finger squeezed the trigger to its limit, and the barrels turned glowing red at a visible rate, the surrounding air warping from the heat.
Splat!
A strange, sharp sound rang out. At last, one bullet tore through the steel barrier covered in cracks and buried itself deep in the flesh near Daz Bones's shoulder blade, blood spraying out instantly.
"Urgh!"
For the first time, agonizing pain broke through Daz Bones's iron will, escaping as a muffled groan he could not suppress. Once his steel defense had been torn open, collapse followed close behind.
Splat! Splat-splat-splat—!
More blossoms of blood burst across his hardened body. The powerful impacts were like invisible sledgehammers smashing brutally into his internal organs.
His vision went black in waves. His knees buckled, and he crashed heavily onto one knee in the sticky pool of blood, splashing dark red liquid everywhere.
"It's over, fool!"
Watching that wavering steel body, Gotti bared a grin of utmost savagery. He held the trigger down to the very end, intending to pour every remaining bullet in the chamber—along with all his fury and pent-up resentment—into that hateful bald head.
The scorching barrels gave off a dying hum, glowing red like branding irons. The lethal metal storm roared forth again, about to tear the kneeling figure apart completely.
TO BE CONTINUED