Culkin spat a mouthful of saliva and blood on the ground. He had his back against the surface of the rock and held back the intense pain he felt from his left arm. He had a revolver in front of him and his right hand moved to insert one last bullet into the revolver’s cylinder.
There was also an automatic rifle beside him.
At the same time, Culkin was straining his ears to pick up what was going on beyond the rocks.
There were a few people surrounding him.
Normally, Culkin would have been able to deal with them with just a casual flick of his fingers.
At present however… this tiger that had fallen onto open land was being bullied by dogs [1]!
After falling into Chen Xiaolian’s trap, Culkin had to fight against the monster. He was forced to use every last skill and strength he had to finally escape the monster’s reach. Additionally, the price he paid was far too steep!
Looking at his injuries, Culkin estimated that he would only be able to use up to 20 % of his optimal strength.
His speed enhancement skill was in worse shape.
As for the spatial teleportation skill that he was so proud of, that too was temporarily unusable for now.
The monster had a spirit body. Even its skills were of the spirit type. Thus, the damage Culkin suffered was not limited to bodily harm. He could sense a dark power slowly corroding his spirit.
The deep gash across his chest and the heavy injury of his left calf were quite something. However, thanks to his usage of healing type medicinal substances, they were slowly on their way to recovery.
The biggest issue was his left hand. It had been cut off from the elbow down – this level of bodily damage was not something that can be solved with healing substances alone. Culkin would have to survive through this instance dungeon, then think of a way to restore his cut off limb.
Additionally, even though he had already taken healing substances, the rate of healing was slow. The damage he took was from a spirit entity and the power of darkness used by that spirit entity had a suppressing effect on the healing substance, leading to the slower rate of healing.
However, Culkin was pleased to find that an intense competition was set down after the instance dungeons merged.
He was also thankful that he had encountered this small group first.
It was not hard to surmise. Once this situation of killing each other began, the weak will be the first to die off! Those smart experts would certainly choose to pick on the weak first!
Encountering these weak chickens was quite a stroke of luck for him.
He had indeed suffered a great loss in terms of strength; however, if he could use this opportunity to kill off these fellows, he would be able to acquire a good number of points!
In this battle to accumulate points and rise up through the ranks, he must seize the initiative!
…
Culkin inserted the revolver on his waist and picked up the automatic rifle with his one hand. Then, he tilted his head and listened.
He could hear those fellows cursing from beyond the rock.
Culkin pursed his lips and sneered. Fools indeed!
He silently made his preparations. Pulling out a dagger, he used his mouth to bite it. Then, he pulled out a roll of rope. He tied the rope to the trigger of the automatic rifle and used some rocks to keep the rifle properly fixed on the ground.
After having done all those, Culkin exhaled and waited silently.
After waiting for two minutes, he felt some of his strength returning. He began moving!
Leaning forward, Culkin moved to the left side of the rock. Then, he pulled the rope that he was holding.
Bang!
The automatic rifle that was stuck on the right side of the rock began firing out!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Those bullets fired out and struck the rocks on the opposite side in a haphazard manner!
Culkin then rushed out from the left!
He let go of the rope and rushed forward quickly!
Although his left leg was terribly damaged, Culkin was someone who had enhanced his body before. Naturally, he was still in possession of a great deal of strength! His body rushed forward. Although he had let go of the rope, the automatic rifle was still firing away.
The fierce sound of gunfire was able to fool those fellows on the other side and they dared not risk peeking out!
In a matter of just a few seconds, Culkin had already covered a distance of tens of metres!
In the middle of the area was an open space. On the opposite side was a cluster of randomly placed rocks.
Culkin took advantage of that moment to rush into the cluster of rocks and he saw his target!
One of the fellows was hiding behind the rocks with his buttocks facing Culkin… the fellow’s head was looking in the other direction, where Culkin’s automatic rifle was shooting from.
Fool!
Culkin disdainfully appraised the fellow.
He rushed forward and his right hand retrieved the dagger in his mouth. When Culkin rushed forward, the fellow finally sensed something. However, before he could turn around to resist or cry out, Culkin’s dagger had already inserted itself into the fellow’s neck from the side.
Pu!
The fellow finally let out a shout. Hearing that, his two companions turned around!
One of them howled in fright and started shooting at Culkin.
Culkin grabbed the corpse of the fallen fellow and continued rushing forward.
Pu pu pu!
The bullets struck the corpse only to be blocked off by the protective suit on the corpse’s body.
At lightning fast speed, Culkin appeared before them!
Culkin’s knee shot toward the fellow’s lower abdomen area. The resulting pain caused him to bend over. At the same time, Culkin’s right hand snaked its way around the fellow’s head before twisting firmly!
Ka!
The fellow’s head tilted softly to the side!
Two down!
By then, the third fellow had quickly retreated!
Culkin sighed. He understood that he had picked up some easy kills. However, if he did not sacrifice a little, he would be unable to deal with this final one.
Seeing the other fellow pointing a gun at him, Culkin chose not to retreat. Instead, he charged forward!
Bang!
The bullet pierced its way through Culkin’s chest, eliciting a grunt from him. At the same time, he pulled out the revolver on his waist. Raising it, he opened fire!
Bang!
Headshot! The fellow’s skull burst open from the shot and he was unable to let out even a grunt before falling down the ground!
Adding the corpse in the open space in the middle of the area…
Four people down. 2,000 points!
Culkin exhaled. His body staggered and he knelt down on the ground. Putting down the revolver, he retrieved a [High] class Healing Beast Blood from the system and shoved it into this mouth.
After taking two deep breaths, Culkin could feel the healing medicinal substance taking effect. Warmth was spreading through the wound on his chest.
His life was preserved for now!
Culkin breathed a sigh of relief.
It was at that moment, when he raised his head, that he caught sight of a smiling face.
It belonged to a young man. Within his eyes were hints of commendation, triumph and… playfulness?
Culkin was shocked and he instinctively bent down to reach the revolver on the ground.
However, his chest wound affected his movements, slowing him by a notch.
Then, he saw a fist appear before his face… … then, darkness.
Bang!
Culkin was knocked unconscious.
Roddy looked at Culkin who had been knocked unconscious by him and breathed a sigh of relief.
He then lightly kicked him twice before leaning closer to look at him.
“He really does look like Qiu Yun.” Roddy whistled.
Soon, Nagase Komi jumped down from the other side. She glanced at Roddy and said, “Is it done?”
Roddy smiled and replied, “This fellow is really capable. If we weren’t enemies, I would really be unable to restrain myself from applauding him. Just now, the way he dealt with those fellows was very outstanding.”
Nagase Komi had an unimpressed look on her face as she regarded Culkin who was lying on the ground. “Are you not going to kill him?”
Roddy said coolly, “He must certainly be killed. However, that honour will go to Chen Xiaolian.”
“What a messy way of dealing with him. Are you not afraid that something unexpected might happen?” The bald girl smiled and continued, “In most stories, leaving these kinds of problematic fellows alive would only cause problems in the end.”
Roddy smiled. He bent over, grabbed Culkin’s right arm and twisted forcefully. A cracking sound could be heard and Culkin’s arm was left bending in an odd manner!
“This way, it should be safe, don’t you think? With both his hands unusable, I would really like to see how he could turn the tables on us.”
“Quite vicious,” said Nagase Komi who glanced at Roddy.
“I’m just collecting an old debt. He owes my bro an arm.” A glint of fury flashed across Roddy’s eyes.
Nagase Komi moved forward. Then, she abruptly bent down while pulling out a blade with her hand. The blade then pierced into Culkin’s right knee!
Culkin who was still unconscious suddenly roared out. The pain from the stab was so intense that he was forced awake! His eyes flipped open and he let out a miserable howl!
This stab from Nagase Komi had directly pierced through his knee!
After letting out the howl of pain, Culkin slumped into an unconscious state again.
Roddy’s face twitched as he looked at Nagase Komi and he said, “You are even more vicious than me!”
“This is just a safety measure. Even without both his hands, he could still use his legs to run away. Now, he only has that leg left. If he could still escape you with that leg, you might as well go kill yourself.”
After saying that, the bald girl cast a glance at Roddy and asked, “Are you not tempted? Killing him will give you 500 points. Besides… he had killed off four people just now. That means he has at least 2,000 points on him. According to the system rules, you can get one tenth of his points. That means, killing him would give you 700 points!”
Roddy shook his head and replied, “He belongs to Xiaolian.”
“Then what do we do now? Do we head into the town?” The bald girl looked at Roddy.
By then, Han Bi had also walked over.
Roddy thought about it before saying, “Naturally, let’s go. We’ll go in and check the terrain first.”
…
Since the dune buggy had been kept, the three of them chose to enter the little town by foot. Culkin was tied up using the Black Widow spider silk and Han Bi was tasked with carrying him.
The moment they stepped foot into the little town, they were all stunned by what they saw!
The wreckage of an aircraft. It had slammed headfirst into a house and half of its body was exposed outside the house. Looking at the highly science fictional design of the aircraft brought a chill down their spines.
“This… could someone have arrived here first and waged a battle here?” The bald girl asked with a frown on her face.
Roddy stared at the aircraft with a solemn expression and replied, “No… look at the damaged and broken parts… and these weeds. This thing had been left here for who knows how long. It is definitely not something recent!”
After saying that, Roddy ran forward and jumped up the wreckage. He reached out with his hand to touch the aircraft. Then, he frowned.
The manoeuvring system of the aircraft had been utterly destroyed. Even with his Mechanical Heart skill, it was impossible for Roddy to reactivate the aircraft’s controls.
Standing on the aircraft wreckage, Roddy looked forward and he suddenly shouted, “Let’s go forward and take a look! Hurry! There is something there!”
The three of them ran tens of metres through the street. There was a round shaped open area up front and the three of them subconsciously halted.
A tank!
Judging from its appearance, it seemed similar to the Thunderstorm Tank. However, its turret had been blown away from its main body. The main body of the tank had slammed into a house at the side while the turret lay over tens of metres away!
The surface of the steel plates was filled with traces of fire and smoke. There were also deep marks left on them.
Somewhere less than twenty steps away, Roddy caught sight of something that caused his eyes to shine – a mech!
“II-model Sentinel? The size is quite similar, but it doesn’t seem to be it,” said Roddy as he moved over.
The bottom parts of the mech’s legs had been cut off. Broken wires spilled out from the cut off part while some parts of the twisted metal were as sharp as knives.
Roddy carefully made his way up…
The cockpit door had been damaged. Naturally, the interior was empty. The control panels were a mess.
Roddy’s eyes lit up and he reached out with his hand to press down on the control panel…
A few seconds later, he found the main control function.
Nagase Komi and Han Bi who was standing beside the open area suddenly heard “ka ka ka” sounds.
Both the arms of the mech and its upper body that were originally lying lifelessly suddenly rose up vigorously!
Right after the left arm was raised, they noticed that the elbow part of the arm had been broken. It fell down to the ground and twitched for a moment while issuing crackling sounds. As for the right arm, it was still fairly intact. Although it was stuck within the wall, once it moved up, it caused the wall to fall down – thankfully, it was a wooden wall.
“Roddy! What did you do?” Nagase Komi retreated and aimed the muzzle of her gun at the mech.
Roddy who was on the mech smiled and turned around. When he released his hold on the main control function, the mech stopped moving and leaned back down on the wall debris once more.
Roddy turned around with a smile and said, “This mech still has some energy in it. It can still move a little. However… its legs are gone and it won’t be able to walk. Besides, I’ve just checked it just now. The weapons system is basically all gone. The amount of energy it has is also very little… eh? There is still one energy beam cannon. I wonder if the remaining energy is enough for it to be used.”
“What about it?”
“This is an energy beam cannon,” said Roddy whose eyes darted around. “If it can be launched, even one beam will be able to overturn a Thunderstorm Tank! Although this mech can no longer be moved, it could still act as an immobile turret here! Who knows? We might be able to deal a low blow to someone!”
“You’re actually thinking of such a thing?” Nagase Komi frowned and said, “What I am curious about is… where is this? Why would there be so many weapons and wreckage?”
As she spoke, she moved to one side and picked up a sword from the ground.
It was a flashy looking long sword. However, only half of its original body remained. The blade part was filled with cracks and rust.
“I keep getting a bad feeling about this place.” There was a contorted expression on Nagase Komi’s face and she said, “There are so many powerful weapons here… but all of them lay in ruins! Just who could possess such a power?!”
After saying that, she heard Roddy calling out from the mech.
“Come quick! I found something! It must be something similar to a video camera!”
…