Chapter 1 The Hit!

Hit!

In "Hawkeye's" vision, the Yangtze River water and mist swirled into a storm. Although the visibility was blurred, a splash of blood could be seen in the distance, within the river mist, indicating that the red-silver bullet had hit its target.

But Qi Lu didn't show any joy.

He didn't feel the ease of killing the target; instead, a sense of unease was spreading.

A red-silver bullet hitting the target shouldn't have caused such a large blood mist... Once a strong logic material penetrates the human body, the power of an extraordinary being would directly lose control. A truly effective shot should be silent and without such a commotion.

The young man should have been like a crushed beetle.

Dying silently.

But now, that clearly wasn't the case.

What exactly happened with this shot?

Qi Lu concentrated all his mental power, forcibly condensing his Hawkeye vision to further magnify the blurred scene in the distance.

Until he saw the clear picture of the distant ice floe—

The trajectory of the red-silver bullet and the faintly dissipated blood aura were slowly dispersed by the wind.

A richer, more intense crimson color was burning in the river mist... From a distance, it looked like a blood mist, but it was actually a plume of blazing fire mist, spreading, overflowing, and ultimately suspended at the center of the young man's brow.

The moment he zoomed in with Hawkeye to the maximum magnification, Qi Lu's heart made a "thump."

A spike-like force, from that wisp of fire mist, assaulted him with unparalleled force, as if it were a mental blade capable of being transmitted through the gaze.

Just a direct look, and it pierced the heart.

"...Ugh!"

Qi Lu's already overdrawn mental strength was damaged once again at this moment. His consciousness became uncontrollably紊乱(wenluan - disordered), and with a muffled groan, fresh blood flowed from the corner of his lips...

This young man was a mental-type extraordinary being, and his ability was extremely special, seemingly capable of transmission through eye contact.

In a sense, "Hawkeye" helped the Blazing Fire expand its lethality.

But it was precisely this eye contact that convinced Qi Lu that this young man's strength was not high. If it had been a mental-type expert of the same level as himself, the outcome would have been decided in that one glance.

Very good... He had figured out the details.

He swallowed the metallic taste in his throat, suppressed the discomfort in his heart, and bravely set up his large sniper rifle again.

This time, he loaded it not with red-silver bullets.

But with purple-silver.

...

...

The moment Chu Ling spoke, Gu Shen realized the danger.

His Blazing Fire was faster than Chu Ling's warning.

Following the inner warning, he turned his head, and the next moment, a streak of blood-red shot across the Yangtze River, grazing his forehead. The red-silver bullet broke the flesh but didn't cause any substantial damage, only drawing a smear of blood.

But the Blazing Fire howled out.

The bullet made of strong logic material had an extremely lethal killing power against extraordinary beings because the extremely powerful "order" within it would suppress the disorderly power of the extraordinary being itself.

But something amazing happened to Gu Shen.

The wound on his forehead, due to the bullet's extremely high speed at the moment of contact, caused the blood drawn to appear as small, ejected blood beads, which then exploded on their own, turning into a continuous, spreading misty crystal.

Just a very small amount of blood exploded into a very fluffy blood-colored mist.

"This is the normal reaction of red-silver material to an extraordinary being's blood."

Chu Ling said softly, "This kind of bullet, which is extremely poisonous to ordinary extraordinary beings, has a very limited effect on you."

Blazing Fire spread, enveloping Gu Shen's blood.

The blood stained with red-silver encountered an even stronger "order," and at this moment, it re-gathered, no longer expanding, but being absorbed into the fire mist.

"Your power is not 'disorderly,' but 'orderly'... and the red-silver's order is not as strong as yours."

Chu Ling said, "Of course... this only means that the corrosive effect of strong logic materials on you is limited. If you were hit directly by the bullet, it would be another matter."

Is that so... Gu Shen touched his wound, and there was surprisingly no pain.

Incredible.

His Blazing Fire ability was, to some extent, re-establishing the order of matter. The red-silver bullet, which was also trying to establish order, could not reverse the Blazing Fire at all. Instead, its own order would be removed by his Blazing Fire.

From this, it could be inferred that the corrosive effect of strong logic material bullets on him would be very small... Then what needed to be considered was the penetrating killing power of a direct hit.

"So, I just need to dodge the bullet..."

Gu Shen looked into the distance and took a deep breath.

Blazing Fire lingered at the center of his brow, his mental power released outward, like a wall.

Qi Lu's file showed that his ability was "Hawkeye," making him almost a natural-born elite sniper. Hawkeye possessed excellent dynamic vision, and unless one's speed was as fast as Song Ci, it would be difficult to avoid his line of sight.

Gu Shen hardly moved his position.

He knew very well... that his speed was far from enough to escape the pursuit of "Hawkeye." Relying on dodging to make Qi Lu's shot miss was almost impossible.

Moving or not moving made no difference.

"The moment Hawkeye locks onto me, I can launch a mental spike at him... even hypnotize him." Gu Shen murmured softly, "It's just a pity that my mental strength is not enough, and these are just harassment tactics."

Earlier, when Qi Lu condensed his Hawkeye, Gu Shen had already launched a mental spike once.

It was just that the difference in strength between the two sides was somewhat vast.

This attack was blocked. Although it was a burden for Qi Lu, it was still bearable.

"But... to make the bullet deviate, harassment is enough."

"Next time, when Hawkeye locks on again, I will gather all my mental strength to launch an attack. Victory or defeat will be decided in an instant."

Gu Shen knew that this should be the only opportunity he could grasp to avoid the sniper shot.

In the previous决战 (jue zhan – final battle) with Song Ci, Qi Lu should have activated Hawkeye more than once. His mental strength was on the verge of losing control. How many more shots could he fire?

As long as Qi Lu's Hawkeye showed a deviation, in the face of the Yangtze River's harsh environment... Another missed shot, and his mentality would be completely different from before.

"Come on."

Gu Shen challenged his spirit, energy, and mind, gathering all his attention.

He was waiting for Hawkeye's second gaze.

...

...

When the first red-silver bullet pierced through the river surface, smashing water droplets all the way, and drawing a long scarlet bloodline,

Song Ci and Chen Mo were in the midst of a fierce battle.

The sound of the gunshot was very faint... but for extraordinary beings of their level, even the slightest movement could not escape their perception. Chen Mo's expression remained unchanged, and he proactively grabbed Song Ci's wrists, causing the situation to fall into a struggle of strength.

"Bastard! Firing sneak shots..."

Song Ci's pupils contracted. If there were no restrictions, he would have been able to catch the bullet. But the action of pinching the bullet could not be performed at all, and he was pulled into this long struggle by Chen Mo. He could only watch helplessly as the bullet swept across the Yangtze River.

Fortunately.

Gu Shen's abilities were somewhat special.

So the bullet had not harmed him after all.

His expression was gloomy as he stared at Qi Lu in the distance.

"Are you worried about that kid?" Chen Mo said softly, "Or think about how to deal with me."

The crow said in a low voice, "Tonight, is the battle between you and me..."

"I have no interest in fighting you. My only goal... is him."

Chen Mo looked at Gu Shen. The crimson firelight that appeared in the distance made him narrow his eyes involuntarily.

Chen Mo refocused his gaze on Song Ci and said lightly, "As for whether he lives or dies, it's not important."

These words were only said to the crow.

He could see that the crow cared about the life and death of this young man.

In fact, he also cared... This young man had successfully infiltrated the Nanwan Building tonight and escaped.

He had to find out the truth behind this matter.

If possible, Chen Mo didn't want to directly kill Gu Shen.

"Qi Lu's 'Hawkeye' can guarantee a 100% hit rate, and the next bullet loaded into the sniper rifle will be a purple-silver bullet." Chen Mo reminded, "The only one who can stop this bullet is you."

"What do you want to say?" Veins bulged on the crow's forehead.

"I want to say... the time left for you is running out."

Chen Mo slowly opened his mouth, "Really, it's running out."

The moment the words fell.

Chen Mo glanced slightly backward. This glance seemed to slow down the flow of time in the entire world.

On the other side of the Yangtze River, Qi Lu, who was standing still with his gun, the stance as solemn as a stone statue, experienced a moment of tremor. The muscles on his face were somewhat ferocious and痉挛(jingluan - spasming). In fact, it was caused by the recoil of the sniper rifle at the moment of firing.

The firelight of the purple-silver bullet fully bloomed in the slowed-down flow of time. It was like a blooming 彼岸花 (Bi An Hua - flower that blooms in the afterlife), eerie and deadly.

All of Song Ci's attention was on that bullet. In the world where the flow of time was slowed down, his blurred figure barely returned to normal. At the moment of turning his head, a surprised look flowed from the depths of his eyes.

He stared at Chen Mo in disbelief.

The only person not affected by the flow of time was Chen Mo.

Chen Mo instantly broke free from the stalemate of strength.

Kneeling, bowing, stepping on water.

The entire movement was incredibly smooth. In the slowed-down world, his speed was even faster than the purple-silver bullet. The entire Yangtze River fell into a strange silence.

An invisible domain bloomed.

This domain came from Chen Mo. A terrifying silver light bloomed at the center of his brow. Time walked slowly, but he was unaffected. There was no record of Chen Mo's ability in the True Sincerity Society's files at all.

Because he rarely had an opponent worthy of him opening this domain.

In this duel, his goal had always been clear: not to defeat the crow, but to take Gu Shen away. So he had always been waiting for an opportunity... an opportunity where the crow could not take care of both ends.

The purple-silver bullet, and himself.

Now, the time had come.

When the domain was withdrawn, only zero point five seconds had passed in the real world.

Perhaps, one second.

When the domain disappeared—

Chen Mo was already standing in front of Gu Shen.

He didn't make a move.

He just stood quietly in place.

The second gunshot from the distance had not sounded either.

The entire Yangtze River was silent, soundless, as if all sounds were suppressed.

Sweat oozed from Chen Mo's forehead.

He didn't make any movements... because he felt...

Someone was standing behind him.