Chapter 68: You Freaking Cheater
Mask squatted on the rooftop of the abandoned hospital, balancing on her toes, her posture resembling a lazy wildcat.
Watching the cold gleam of the Dragon-Slaying Flash in Su Xiao's hand, Mask frowned, clearly sensing that Su Xiao was not someone to be trifled with.
"Seems like it won't be that easy."
Mask's metal claws extended from her fingertips as she flexed her fingers.
"How about... you hand over that gun, and we pretend we never met?"
"..."
Su Xiao remained silent, simply staring up at Mask.
"Don't look at me with such a terrifying gaze. If I shout now, how many lone wolves do you think it'll attract?"
"..."
Su Xiao stayed silent.
"#!"
The expression beneath Mask's helmet grew impatient.
"Hey! Are you mute?"
"..."
"Tch, opponents are getting smarter these days."
Mask tapped her claw tips against her arm, deactivating some function of her soft metal armor.
Forced Inductive Hypnosis (Equipment Ability): "Through speech and special wavelengths, guide the enemy. If successful interaction occurs with the target, the success rate of Forced Inductive Hypnosis increases to over 55%."
...
As it turned out, Su Xiao's habit of never wasting words with enemies was a good one. If he had exchanged more than five sentences with Mask, he would have been affected by the "Forced Inductive Hypnosis" ability. While this ability wouldn't render him combat-incapable, it would drastically reduce his perception and neural reflex speed.
Mask leaped from the rooftop, descending from over twenty meters high to land on a worn-out wooden crate. The crate remained undamaged, as if Mask had landed on it like a feather.
The moment Mask touched the crate, she lunged forward, charging at Su Xiao at incredible speed. However, Su Xiao's Instinct ability immediately sensed her movement trajectory.
Just as Su Xiao was about to swing his blade forward, Mask suddenly accelerated mid-air. As she did, layers of air burst around her with a loud bang.
Bang!
A claw mark grazed past Su Xiao's face, splattering a few drops of blood.
Mask landed on all fours, her long tail flicking as she touched down in a posture reminiscent of a feline. Before landing, she had already twisted her body to face Su Xiao.
"Melee type."
Mask glanced down at her lower abdomen, where a slash mark appeared. As her soft metal outer armor rippled, the mark vanished.
Drip, drip.
A bloodstain appeared on Su Xiao's cheek, crimson blood dripping down.
The moment Mask landed, D·Darkness appeared in Su Xiao's left hand. Seeing the dark muzzle of D·Darkness, Mask felt a chill run down her spine—getting hit by that thing was no joke.
Puff, puff, puff, puff...
Bullet casings ejected from D·Darkness's chamber as Su Xiao fired five shots at Mask.
With a crash, Mask smashed through a nearby wall, charging into an abandoned hospital.
Su Xiao dashed to the breach in a few steps, catching a flash of a dark figure ahead.
Puff, puff, puff...
A few more shots, followed by faint cries of pain. From the breach into the hospital interior, a trail of blood marked the path.
Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash. The enemy was fast and a melee fighter; maintaining mid-range combat would be more advantageous for him.
While reloading a fresh magazine, Su Xiao pulled a pair of yellow-lensed polarized glasses from his storage space.
[TcdrSLY-Tactical Detection Device (Dark Purple · Single-Use Item).]
Don't underestimate these glasses. Though single-use, they could penetrate buildings, shallow soil layers, and came with infrared sensing, thermal sensing, and sonar detection.
After putting on the "TcdrSLY-Tactical Detection Device," Su Xiao lightly tapped the temple of the glasses.
Buzz~
A shockwave spread out.
[Building group planning in progress...]
[Planning complete.]
[Template assembly analysis in progress...]
[Analysis complete.]
[Constructing virtual framework building group, range: 200 meters.]
[Construction in progress... 10%, 20%, 30%...]
[Construction complete. Virtual framework building group formed. Load-bearing wall transparency: 70%, framework wall transparency: 80%, partition wall transparency: 95%.]
[Infrared sensing activated. Thermal sensing activated. Motion sensing activated. Sonar sensing not activated (this ability is suitable for underwater use).]
...
The scene before Su Xiao's eyes transformed dramatically. The originally gray-black walls became transparent, like a virtual template. The more transparent the wall, the thinner it was, while load-bearing walls appeared darker in color.
Within Su Xiao's field of vision, the building appeared hazy, but the trail of blood on the floor stood out vividly. These bloodstains emitted an orange-red glow that gradually faded, indicating the blood was slowly cooling.
Inside a long-abandoned operating room, Mask sat slumped against a corner wall, one hand pressed to her lower abdomen. She had been hit three times: once in the abdomen, once in the thigh, and once in the lower back.
As a legendary-grade firearm, D·Darkness made those three hits no joke for Mask. The shots to the abdomen and lower back were manageable—her outer armor blocked over 70% of the bullet's kinetic energy. But the leg shot was serious. After blocking the first two shots, her outer armor entered a charging phase, allowing the third bullet to pierce through her calf.
Grimacing in pain, Mask felt exasperated. She had been in melee combat, habitually pulling back to charge distance—she wasn't the type to sustain prolonged close-quarters fighting.
Yet the moment she created distance, the enemy pulled out a high-quality pistol and fired several shots at her.
If it were an ordinary firearm, Mask wouldn't have cared. Her outer armor had ballistic trajectory sensing, allowing her to predict bullet landing points in advance and reinforce defense at those spots.
Unfortunately, D·Darkness's bullets carried two effects: silence and perception shielding. Mask couldn't predict the bullet trajectories at all, which gave her a major headache.
After engaging Su Xiao in melee, Mask realized his close-combat skills were no joke. In fact, this guy was originally a melee fighter; the gun was just a secondary weapon.
"Some 'melee fighter' you are. Men are all liars..."
No sooner had Mask spoken than a crisp sound came from behind her. A bullet silently flew toward the back of her neck.
Her soft metal outer armor rippled, thickening noticeably—a defensive form that sacrificed speed.
With a crackling sound, the soft metal splattered like liquid, and a bullet lodged in the back of Mask's neck.
Though it blocked the bullet, the kinetic energy remained, sending Mask tumbling forward.
Crack, crack, crack...
Concrete fragments flew from the wall as Mask, sprawled on the ground, took a few more hits. After rolling a few times, she sat up, glancing around in confusion. The sudden barrage of bullets had left her dazed.
The soft metal rippled, and bullet heads fell to the floor.
A bullet pierced through the concrete wall, heading straight for Mask's forehead.
The bullet struck her forehead, and her head buzzed. She sat down on the spot.
Reaching up to dig the bullet out of her forehead, Mask shook her head and patted her ears. She couldn't hear anything anymore.
Mask had taken many hits, but the one to her head was the worst. That said, Mask's survivability was indeed impressive. If any other fourth-rank contractor had taken that many shots from D·Darkness, they would have been dead on the spot.
PS: (Four chapters today.)