Strange World

Suren was bound to a chair, with both palms nailed down by daggers. He looked completely unable to move.

Yet no one noticed that his earlier struggles in pain had loosened the ropes around his arms, leaving enough of a gap for him to pull his hands free. He tried flexing his arm slightly. His muscles felt remarkably strong, and he was pleasantly surprised. Huh, has this body been systematically trained? The original owner's physical foundation is absurdly good. There are calluses on his index finger and the web between his thumb and forefinger. He must have had extensive firearms training too. No wonder this gun feels inexplicably familiar.

At that moment, the impatient Rooster-Head Man slapped Suren hard across the face again and roared, "Kid, if you don't talk, do you believe I'll kill you right now?!"

The two were standing very close. The man clearly didn't consider his wounded prey a threat and was completely unguarded.

Blood trickled from the corner of Suren's mouth, but there wasn't a trace of fear in his heart.

The gun was close enough, the dagger was sharp enough, and his physical condition could support violent movement. The conditions were sufficient!

Kill me?

He sneered inwardly.

In that instant, Suren's expression hardened, and he made a crazed move that left everyone baffled!

Without the slightest hesitation, he yanked back his right hand.

The next moment, a scalp-crawling tearing sound rang out.

The dagger pinning his right hand had pierced precisely through the gap between the palm bones of his little and ring fingers. With that pull, the sharp blade sliced straight through the flesh between the bones, and blood sprayed out like an arrow.

"???"

The Rooster-Head Man beside him was stunned by the sight.

Seeing the blood splatter across his pant leg, his eyes flew wide open. He seemed too shocked to process what had happened.

But his eyes understood it clearly: to get free of the dagger, this kid had actually torn through his own palm?

The Rooster-Head Man immediately sensed danger and inwardly cried out in alarm!

But it was already too late.

Suren grinned savagely, utterly ignoring the stabbing pain in his palm. Though the wound was horrifying, his thumb, index finger, and middle finger could still exert strength. Once one hand was free, he wasn't about to give his enemy any chance to react.

He thrust out his freed hand and, with lightning speed, snatched the Silver Revolver from the holster at the Rooster-Head Man's waist. A familiar feeling welled up inside him.

Then, without hesitation, he aimed at the man's chest and pulled the trigger.

Hearing the crisp click of the hammer striking the primer, Suren realized that revolvers in this world used the exact same firing mechanism as those in his previous life.

He'd bet right!

The simpler the firearm, the simpler its firing mechanism.

Bang!

Bang!

Two thunderous gunshots rang out one after the other, shaking the entire room.

The bullets tore through Rooster-Head Man's chest, then burst from his back with two fist-sized bloody holes. He died instantly.

Warm blood sprayed across Suren's face, making him look even more ferocious.

The Silver Revolver's power exceeded Suren's expectations somewhat, and he used the immense recoil to fall backward.

Hearing the shots, the Smoky-Eyed Bald Strongman across from him was also stunned for a moment by the sudden turn of events.

That kid he'd been able to handle so casually actually had such a savage side?

Looking at the two bloody holes blasted through his companion's back, the Baldhead finally realized that the prey caught in the hunter's trap had suddenly turned into a bloodthirsty wolf.

"Damn it!"

The Baldhead cursed inwardly, but his reaction wasn't slow.

When he saw Suren's gun swing toward him again, he instinctively raised the Steam Mechanical Arm on his right arm, aimed its barrel forward, and pulled the trigger.

With a deafening boom, the entire study trembled.

No blazing gunpowder flame burst from the muzzle. Instead, it fired a "High-Pressure Air Bullet."

Suren, falling backward not far away, seemed to have anticipated the attack long ago. He cleverly used the force of his fall to twist his angle, narrowly avoiding the cannon's deadly aim.

The sound of something cutting through the air vanished in an instant. The High-Pressure Air Bullet rapidly punched through one corner of the chair, then cracked through the floor, leaving behind a bowl-sized black hole in the wooden boards before disappearing.

Though he had avoided the direct hit, the airflow from the High-Pressure Air Bullet still grazed his body. It shattered a chair leg and ground the ropes, along with a chunk of flesh from Suren's leg, into pulp.

It felt as though countless sharp wind blades had shredded him, leaving the wound with a scorching, burning pain.

The instant the chair hit the floor, he moved again.

Less than half a minute had passed since Suren woke up and decided to act. Though it looked rushed, he had actually considered everything thoroughly.

Before making his move, Suren had noticed the Baldhead's unconscious little movements of his Mechanical Arm. The rough bearings and gear-driven joints of the Steam Mechanical Arm were not particularly agile. Its aiming response time would be much slower than human neural reflexes.

Moreover, Suren could predict that after he killed the Rooster-Head Man, the strongman would immediately retaliate under the threat of the gun. That meant the barrel's trajectory would inevitably be aimed at the chair's original position. Since he had predicted it, there was a good chance he could dodge it.

And if the Baldhead spent too much time aiming precisely, that would give Suren enough time to fire another shot.

Who lived and who died was still Fifty-Fifty.

There were risks, but it was worth the gamble.

This was his only chance to escape.

That was also the most important reason why Suren had decisively erupted and killed them just now, even at the cost of maiming his own hand.

He knew which mattered more: his life or his hand!

His thoughts raced, but in reality, only an instant had passed.

The blast of air punched through the floor, but the anticipated shell explosion never came.

Suren's expression sharpened.

Now!

He instantly adjusted his curled-up defensive posture. As he hit the ground, he raised the Silver Revolver again and decisively pulled the trigger at the Baldhead.

Bang!

The familiar gunshot rang out, as though the very air had frozen.

The bullet shot through the hall, leaving a long trail through the air as it flew precisely toward the Baldhead's eye.

The faint blue muzzle flash illuminated a terrified face. The Baldhead had no time to do anything before the bullet flew toward his right eye socket.

"Got him!"

Suren licked his lips, seemingly quite satisfied with the shot.

Unlike when he had killed the Rooster-Head Man at close range, when he had the chance to fire twice, the powerful recoil from this shot jerked the muzzle sharply upward. Even if he fired again, it would be impossible to hit the Baldhead's head.

Besides, the recoil had torn open the wound in his palm again. The pain made his finger flexors twitch, and he nearly lost his grip on the gun.

But it was enough.

Suren was certain that his shot would hit one hundred percent. It would be enough to blow that man's head apart.

But—

He never imagined that an accident would occur with this seemingly certain shot.

"How is that possible?!"

Suren's pupils constricted as he stared at the scene before him in disbelief.

The bullet had been aimed at the Bald Strongman's eye socket. His reaction in a crisis wasn't weak either. The instant the muzzle flashed, he instinctively tried his utmost to dodge.

He tilted his head slightly, and the bullet struck the center of his brow.

Under normal circumstances, with the power of such a large-caliber revolver, any hit to the head, no matter where, should have burst it apart like a watermelon.

Yet, before his eyes... it hadn't!

Suren froze as he watched the bizarre scene unfold.

He had watched the bullet hit the Baldhead squarely in the forehead—then embed itself in his skull?

"What is going on? How can his skull be this hard?!"

In that instant, Suren immediately realized that he had probably arrived in a Strange World beyond anything he had imagined.

Steam Mechanical Arms, humans who didn't die even after being shot in the head.

After a brief moment of shock, Suren's gaze became clear again.

And at that moment, the Baldhead across from him, whose head had taken a bullet yet was almost completely unharmed, glared back at him with vicious eyes.