Chapter 23: Merciless Bullets
The two-winged bird was about the size of a palm, flying at extreme speed as it dove straight toward the carriage below.
"Not good, Didara made his move."
Zi Mo swallowed hard. Earlier, when he saw Su Xiao wearing the Dawn Organization uniform, his heart had nearly stopped. Just how strong did a contractor have to be to join the Dawn Organization and team up with Didara?
The two-winged bird shot toward the carriage at high speed. Zi Mo, ignoring Su Xiao's sniper threat, leaped far into the distance. Two other contractors followed his lead, though they were slightly slower.
Boom!
Flames erupted skyward. The carriage was blasted into scattered wooden debris, and the ground itself was cratered by the explosion.
Zi Mo scrambled into a ditch, covered in dirt. When he turned his head, he saw a horrifying sight.
The horse-faced man had also tried to jump away before the carriage exploded, but because he was a bit late, the blast sent him flying high into the air.
Midair, the horse-faced man clenched his teeth tightly. Being blown up was far from a pleasant experience.
But an even worse experience was coming. As the horse-faced man flew through the air, Su Xiao predicted his landing trajectory and speed, then pulled the trigger.
Bang.
The Spider Empress rifle recoiled, Su Xiao's body leaning back slightly as smoke spewed from the barrel. The bullet left the muzzle, whistling toward the horse-faced man.
Su Xiao had used the Spider Empress across several derivative worlds. Practice was the best teacher, so he had gained some insight into sniping.
This shot was accurate. Though it didn't hit the horse-faced man's head, it struck his neck precisely.
With a crack, blood sprayed. The horse-faced man's neck was severed, and his head flew into the ditch where Zi Mo was hiding.
Of the three contractors, one had his neck broken by Su Xiao, one was killed by Didara's explosion, and one was hiding in the ditch.
The total group—guards, daimyo, daimyo's family, and contractors—numbered eleven. In an instant, only one remained alive: Zi Mo, trembling in the ditch.
With Su Xiao's long-range sniping and Didara's clay bomb coordination, these people had no chance to resist. They only managed to fire a few symbolic shots with automatic rifles, and Zi Mo released a few spell skills.
These attacks couldn't even touch Su Xiao's clothes, let alone harm him. One kilometer equaled 2,000 meters. At that distance, aside from a few professions and snipers, no one had such a long attack range.
Bang. Bang.
Su Xiao fired two shots at the distant ditch, but no kill notification appeared.
Mud splattered. Inside the ditch, Zi Mo's lips trembled, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
Zi Mo had been smooth sailing in Reincarnation Paradise. In his first derivative world, he encountered members of a large adventure group who recognized his mage talent and recruited him.
[ Rare Talent: Ethereal Fantasy: You have innate affinity with five elements. After learning abilities related to the five elemental systems, their power increases by 20%. ]
Talent abilities had grades. While rare talents weren't top-tier, they were still extremely uncommon, especially one like this, tailor-made for a mage.
When the adventure group leader learned of Zi Mo's talent, he made an exception to promote him to a seed member, tilted some group resources his way, and placed him in a well-established team.
From first rank to second rank, Zi Mo had it easy. The older female mages and healers in the team doted on this handsome young boy, and he had a bright future ahead—success was only a matter of time.
Three days ago, Zi Mo received an invitation from a fellow adventure group member to earn some extra income.
Now, before he could see that extra income, Zi Mo faced a brutal enemy.
One merciless bullet after another fell. Without a main tank's protection, Zi Mo felt the cruelty and bloodshed of Reincarnation Paradise.
The enemy showed no mercy because of his seed member status. The once-illustrious name of the adventure group was useless now.
"What do I do, what do I do?"
Zi Mo took a few deep breaths, wiped the tears from his face, and suddenly thought of using the "Derivative World Contact Platform" to communicate with the enemy. Maybe the adventure group's name could save his life.
Derivative World Contact Platform:
Zi Mo (Blood Gate Adventurers Member): "Friend up there with Didara, stop. I surrender."
Zi Mo tentatively posted a message on the Derivative World Contact Platform.
Drunkard (Blood Gate Adventurers Member): "Zi Mo, what's wrong?"
Poison Witch (Blood Gate Adventurers Member): "Idiot, Zi Mo must be under attack. Isn't he with the leader?"
Scorpion Ghost Marquis (Blood Gate Adventurers Member): "Zi Mo, where are you? Give us the address immediately."
A flood of messages appeared on the Derivative World Contact Platform. Members of two other large adventure groups also noticed the commotion, watching with amusement. This kind of thing was common.
They had heard of Blood Gate's genius mage Zi Mo, a five-element mage.
Seeing his teammates' inquiries, Zi Mo, who had been in despair, was overjoyed. If the distance weren't so great, he would have used the adventure group channel to call for help.
Zi Mo (Blood Gate Adventurers Member): "I'm in the River Country. I don't know the exact location. You can only pinpoint my coordinates within the River Country. The enemy is a sniper with ultra-long-range kill capability, a Dawn Organization member, and is currently besieging me with Didara."
This was Zi Mo's last chance to speak on the Derivative World Contact Platform. After this message, his teammates fell silent.
The distance was too great, and the Dawn Organization made them wary. A contractor who could join the Dawn Organization was no weakling.
Gulu (Sixth Seat of the Traveling Group): "Brat, you had fun blasting me earlier, didn't you? Here's a 'Farewell Song' for you. Stan won't bother with you unless he's brain-dead. Going against the Dawn Organization is suicide."
Inside the Land of Fire, Gulu, hiding in a tree hollow, wiped the blood from her face. She had been hunted relentlessly by the Blood Gate Adventurers. Now that their seed member was about to die, she naturally taunted him, hoping to stir up internal conflict in the Blood Gate Adventurers. The message was clear: "See? Your leader won't save you."
Seeing Gulu's words, Zi Mo felt a surge of despair. Just then, a sharp pain shot through his calf, followed by numbness.
Bang.
Blood splattered, mud flew high, and a bullet the size of a pinky finger pierced Zi Mo's calf, shattering the bone.
"Is this guy playing dead?"
Didara looked curiously at Zi Mo, who was rolling around in the ditch. The guy had been lying motionless a moment ago.
"Not sure."
Su Xiao didn't even glance at the Derivative World Contact Platform. He was in the middle of a fight—when would he have time for that?
"Keep flying to the side."
"No problem."
Didara controlled the giant bird in the sky while Su Xiao crouched, rifle aimed.
Zi Mo's leg was broken, and he was drenched in cold sweat from the pain. The feeling of despair and helplessness returned.
He pulled out his staff and, not caring whether he could hit Su Xiao, unleashed several powerful spells in Su Xiao's direction while activating two elemental shields.
The shields were of little use now, and the elemental glow would expose his position, but Zi Mo couldn't care anymore. His nerves were about to snap.
"Bastard! Come down and fight!"
A roar echoed from below. Su Xiao showed no reaction, calmly pulling the trigger.
Bang.
The enemy below rolled a few times. The magical shield only showed cracks, not shattering completely.
Bang, bang, bang.
Su Xiao fired three more shots. The enemy's shield still didn't break. Su Xiao didn't mind—he just needed to keep pulling the trigger.
The kinetic energy of the bullets sent Zi Mo tumbling across the ground. After taking five shots, his shield shattered.
Su Xiao pulled the trigger again. Blood sprayed, and the contractor below was shot in the head. The mission conflicted, and since they had already engaged, he had to eliminate the threat completely.
Didara lowered the giant bird to check if the enemies were all dead, while Su Xiao searched for treasure chests or Scarlet Cards below.
Just as the bird descended to about ten meters, a low shout rang out.
"Art of the Wild Lion's Mane!"