Chapter 14: Bare-Handed
On the bell tower, Su Xiao crouched low, the Duke of Annihilation mounted on a hydraulic stabilization device. At a distance of nearly 3 kilometers, even a 0.1-millimeter error in aiming could cause the bullet's landing point to deviate by over half a meter.
Although the Duke of Annihilation had a locking function, for Fourth Rank contractors, the moment they were locked onto, they would sense the crisis. With a locking time of a full ten seconds, it wasn't impossible for the Blood Gate members to cover the 3-kilometer distance. In other words, Su Xiao could only rely on his personal skill to snipe.
Click, click...
Su Xiao was adjusting the "adaptive multi-power scope." The scope had now been adjusted to 50x magnification, making the target 3 kilometers away seem almost within arm's reach.
It was now seven in the evening, and pedestrians on the street were rapidly decreasing. Inside a café in the Central Street area, three men and one woman were leaning in a booth, discussing something. Across the street in a restaurant, several other men and women were talking in low voices.
The Blood Gate members appeared scattered throughout Central Street, but they had actually sealed off the area. Whether the contractors in the café or the restaurant, they were all bait. If these people were attacked, Central Street would be instantly locked down, not even a fly would be able to escape.
Inside the café, as the three men and one woman were talking, Bubu Wang, who had blended into the environment, activated the coordinates on its body and turned on surveillance equipment to provide Su Xiao with footage from inside the restaurant.
On the bell tower, Su Xiao first locked onto Bubu Wang's coordinates, then used the restaurant's terrain and Bubu Wang as a reference to determine the positions and distances of the four contractors.
Two melee fighters, one ranged, and one control-type. It was clear this team only intended to trap the enemy for a short time, buying time for the main force.
With a *click*, Su Xiao pulled the bolt of the Duke of Annihilation. The lightning-type ammunition was ejected, and a regular round was loaded.
Currently, the Duke of Annihilation had 73 rounds left, of which only 9 were elemental rounds: 4 lightning-type, 3 fire-type, 1 dark-type, and 1 earth-type.
A single regular round for the Duke of Annihilation cost 1000 Paradise Coins, so Su Xiao didn't stockpile too many. It was only because he hadn't used the Duke of Annihilation much in the Crow Continent that he had 73 bullets saved up.
Su Xiao brought his head close to the scope. A red crosshair appeared before his eyes. With his breathing and heartbeat, the crosshair fluctuated wildly.
Taking a deep breath, Su Xiao made the final adjustment to his aim. His finger rested on the trigger. As his breathing slowed, the crosshair gradually steadied.
Through the scope, Su Xiao saw a man in a suit holding a coffee cup. He was highly likely the team's control-type or perception-type contractor. So, he was the first target. If he sniped a melee fighter at this distance, unless he used a lightning-type round, he couldn't guarantee a one-shot kill.
The man in the suit in the scope set down his coffee cup and said something to the woman beside him. According to Bubu Wang's observation, after each sip of coffee, the man would take at least 1 to 2 minutes before picking up the cup again. During this time, the probability of him moving his upper body was very low.
Su Xiao slowly squeezed the trigger. A thunderous *BOOM* rang out as the bullet left the barrel. The immense recoil of the Duke of Annihilation caused the bell tower to crack, and a shockwave spread outward in midair, centered on the tower.
At a distance of three kilometers, the man in the suit inside the city-center café couldn't hear the gunshot at all. From the expression between his brows, he seemed to be trying to hook up with the female contractor beside him, but she wasn't interested. Death was approaching him at this moment.
The bullet spun through the air, leaving a spiral of wind in its wake, hurtling at hypersonic speed toward the man's head. The female contractor was right beside him, so even if the shot missed the man, it might hit her.
The man in the suit, who was flirting with the female contractor, suddenly changed expression drastically. He instinctively lunged forward, but it was too late.
With a *shatter*, the café's floor-to-ceiling window broke. The bullet pierced through the glass shards and struck the man behind his ear.
*POW!*
Blood and bone fragments splattered, creating a large mist of blood. The two melee contractors across from him felt a warmth on their faces and instinctively closed their eyes.
Compared to the man whose head had been blown off by the shot, the female contractor beside him was even more unlucky. She was sent flying sideways, a large spray of blood erupting from her chest.
After this shot, the restaurant was dead silent for 0.5 seconds. The eyes of the two melee contractors widened, and they almost simultaneously leaned back. The booth behind them tipped over, forming a makeshift shield for them.
On the bell tower, Su Xiao quickly stowed the Duke of Annihilation. The Realm Severing Thread shot out, wrapping around the stone railing in front of him. He leaped from the bell tower, and upon landing, disappeared into the night with a few quick bounds.
15 seconds later, a figure suddenly appeared at the base of the bell tower. This figure moved like a gecko, quickly climbing to the top.
*BOOM!*
An explosion erupted from inside the bell tower. The gecko-like figure leaped high, using the blast's shockwave to descend slowly.
"Damn it!"
The gecko-like figure was a man with glasses. He stomped the ground, causing large cracks to spread around him.
Inside the café on Central Street, Stan looked at the two corpses before him, a look of surprise in his eyes.
"At least 3 kilometers? And a night snipe at that."
As Stan spoke, he glanced at the two melee contractors covered in blood. They were standing in a line with their heads down, as if wanting to say something, but afraid of Stan, they didn't dare.
"A cheap trick."
Stan ignored the two corpses on the ground. Just then, he suddenly turned sideways. The fabric over his chest tore with a *ripping* sound as a palm-sized metal plate shot out.
*CLANG!*
The bullet and the metal plate collided. A shockwave spread outward, shattering all the windows within a radius of several dozen meters and covering the walls with dense cracks.
Stan stood in place, enveloped in black-gold energy. His right hand was raised in a fist in front of him, the black-gold energy on his hand slowly drifting upward, distorting the surrounding air.
Stan opened his hand. Electricity crackled as a deformed bullet fell from his palm, clinking as it bounced on the ground.
"He's locked onto our position."
Stan casually shook his hand, dispersing the electricity. The old smoker beside him swallowed hard with a *gulp*. If that shot had been aimed at him, he definitely wouldn't have been able to withstand it.
Several patterned spiders crawled out from Nailuo's collar. These spiders moved incredibly fast, turning into streaks of afterimages that vanished from everyone's sight.
"Don't just stand there. Southeast direction, go!"
The old smoker roared, leading his men in the direction the bullet had come from.
Watching his subordinates run off, Stan slowly clasped his hands behind his back. His right hand was trembling, and fine cracks had appeared on his palm.
"Feels good, doesn't it?"
Nailuo gave a wicked grin. Stan glanced at her but said nothing. Earlier, Stan had appeared calm and composed, but that wasn't the case.
A lightning-type bullet, amplified by the Demon Mark's branch ability "Demon Gaze (Active)," was not an easy shot to withstand.
.10 Additional Ability
Demon Gaze (Active): When making a ranged attack, demonic power can be infused into bullets, arrows, or other weapons for a single ranged strike. This attack will add 80% of the final damage value as True Damage (e.g., if the bullet's final damage to the enemy is 100 points, Demon Gaze (Active) will add 80 points of True Damage).
Tip: Each use of Demon Gaze (Active) consumes 1 Soul Crystal (Small). Soul Crystal (Small) can be converted into the demonic power needed to cover the weapon.
Tip: Demon Gaze (Active) has a cooldown of 72 hours.
...
At this moment, Stan's right hand was completely numb. Blood dripped from his fingertips. A stifling sensation came from his chest, but he couldn't show a hint of it. The leader of the Blood Gate... could not be defeated.