Chapter 112: Lucy Shen Is Still In Trouble!

Chapter 112: Lucy Shen Is Still In Trouble!

When I came to the location with the cut-fence, I pulled out my collapsible telescope to survey the security perimeter. Zooming into the small area I can view through the glass lens, I had noticed some freshly upturned ground right where the chain-link fence was cut.

I then pulled out both of my Assassin's Affection's and loaded them with Exotic .410 shotgun shells. My left gun will have a Macho-gaucho that fires 2 balls connected by a thin but sturdy chain designed to ensnare a target. My right gun is loaded with a Zombie killer that fires a combination of buckshot, bird-shot, and a heavy solid slug.

Why am I loading these Exotic Shells into my weapons right now? Because my deep knowledge of traps from Thief Basic instantly tells me something is wrong with the ground there.

So the trip-line chain shot is to clear any hidden wires if any are crossing the gap, while the spread of the Zombie Killer is to make sure to kill any ambushes if they actually went through the trouble to bury themselves right in that exact spot. And if my Thief skill did not help me recognize the trap, simple common sense dictates I should always go over the fucking fence, rather than walking straight through the invited unguarded hole they left for me, right?

I double check all of my tactical gear, readying the Concussion-Stun-Grenade at my chest rig. Then I hold both of my heavy Taurus Judge Revolvers tightly in my hands and secure the loose flaps of my long-coat.

As I near the fence line, the hidden sniper perched up on the mountain should easily be able to see me from one of his three scouted spots. Since I do not know where he's camped right now, I need to assume he is watching from all three spots simultaneously. I also have not heard a word back from Mei stating that she killed the sniper yet, so absolute caution must be played here.

I use my skill in Cat Burglar to move evasively through the woods, jumping and weaving in a jagged pattern while using the massive tree trunks as a constant visual shield. The agility boost makes me feel like a ninja, giving me the mobility of an elite parkour runner!

As I rush at full speed through the thick woods, I can almost see an imaginary line guiding my path for the optimal route to avoid the sniper's line of sight. I easily leap over the fallen rotting branches, low-lying shrubs, and tangled undergrowth.

I need to get around 30 to 40 feet away before I pull my trigger's due to losing power and accuracy in the specialty rounds at longer ranges. But because there is a literal bomb waiting for me at the gap, I will say fuck it and just start firing from about 60 feet away and then dive safely behind a tree when all ten shots are fired!

As I neared my mark on the perimeter, I saw it. Due to the path being on my west side and the bright afternoon sun sitting directly behind me, I saw the glint of the sniper's scope catching the light on the ridge. Then I quickly pulled the triggers of my dual revolvers!

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang, KABOOM!

Thankfully I decided to dive away ahead of time from the bomb they set in the dirt. The heavy concussive blast rippled through the clearing, and I quickly took off my coat and threw it over a small tree-branch as a decoy before crawling up a nearby fir tree to hide myself using the rising dust and smoke.

By this time, the heavy debris began to settle over the grass, and from the other-side of the now bent fence-line, I heard the radio hiss as B barked out,

[C, I don't think he is a dead brother! He was blazing his six' and probably blew the Claymore, so go look!] while searching the smoke.

The radio crackled instantly as C shouted back with a furious, unhinged laugh, [Crap, is he a Cockroach?! Fuck, I will kick him in his Cock for wasting my Claymore! Hey get out here, Cunt!] while kicking at the dust.

The speaker rattled again as B groaned in pure exasperation, [Motherfucker, shut your crazy mouth up before you get us shot, fuck I hate you .] while trying to maintain some tactical order.

Thunk, roll, roll, roll! BANG! Yeah, that other guy was completely right to be worried! Thanks to all their loud jabbering and shouting back and forth, I knew exactly where to throw my stun-grenade!

The tactical canister detonated with a blinding flash, causing B to violently clamp his hands over his ears and shriek, "Fuck, my ears! Shit, closed my eyes, but I can't hear shit!" as he stumbled blindly across the clearing.

C blinked rapidly through the white glare, screaming back through the heavy ringing in his ears, "B. I cannot hear what you said! My eyes are blurry, and I can't hear shit! Oh, I see his body there!" as his vision locked onto the dark shape of my empty coat hanging on the branch.

Pulling out his massive combat-survival knife with a metallic hiss, C cautiously approached my hanging coat to plunge the blade into the decoy.

While propped securely up in the thick branches of the fir tree, I leveled my two HK P30's straight down at his skull and pulled the triggers three times each on the man called C.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!

Amazingly that crazy looking idiot managed to twist his torso to the side at the last split second and avoided my direct volley of shots. This is because I cannot utilize the full physical movements of my Gun-Fu talent while squeezed inside a tight tree layout.

So he was able to perceive the immediate danger and avoided a direct hit, but I successfully grazed his left thigh on his dive to the side. I did not know at the time that the round only hit a spare magazine strapped to his tactical gun belt.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang! The massive man known as B instantly opened fire with his own handgun toward the leaves, forcing me to leap and tumble from the high tree and dive for cover in some thick bushes below.

C yanked the metal pin from an explosive canister with his teeth, laughing wildly as he shouted, "B! Did you get that Crap-wastage?! Oh, let me throw a grenade, he-he! Choke on this Captain!" before launching the weapon into the air.

Just as he was throwing his pinless-grenade, I spun-around my tree trunk and began to shoot rapidly at the now going airborne grenade!

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang! Remarkably a couple of my accurate shots hit the flying grenade mid-air, halting its forward throw entirely!

Thankfully he threw it in a high arc and not like a straight fast-ball!

I tumbled as I shot, yelling out, "C! Catch!" as I dove behind a solid rock outcrop just as the heavy grenade fell a few feet from C's own feet!

B's eyes widened in total panic as he scrambled backward and dived behind a nearby tree trunk, screaming out, "Move fucker!" to escape the blast.

KABOOM! Just as C had turned and lay flat on the ground to limit his body's exposure to the grenade's flying shrapnel, the massive explosion was heard ripping through the dirt.

C writhing in the leaves as the blast tore into him, roaring out in agony, "AAAAARGH! Cock n' Balls! It hurts B!" while clutching his limbs.

I could barely see through the heavy haze, but it looks like he has some shredded facial skin on his right side, and his right-leg is completely bloody.

Seems he was wearing a heavy bullet-proof-vest and his torso is not as bad. But his right-arm is left in tattered ribbons, due to him raising it to block his head from the fragmentation. This guy certainly knows how to survive a direct kill method that would end most people!

Thump Thump Thump! Bash! And using his friend's bloody sacrifice of a diversion, the man known as B, completely abandoned shooting at me and charged straight through the smoke to tackle me while I was still assessing the situation. Sadly to block the two heavy combat knives he plunged at my chest, I had to drop my handguns into the dirt to parry his wrists, as he bull-rushed me hard into a tree.

I did not have my slash resistant coat on my back or I would have tried blocking his knives with my sleeves, but getting cut deeply by a mercenary isn't worth the risk. He Grins with a wild, bloodshot look in his eyes, his hot breath hitting my face as he snarls, "SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER!" while trying to weigh me down.

This guy B, reminds me exactly of that Batman villain, Bane! He is a steroid-nasty looking tanned-skinned brute who does not shave or probably bathe but once a week, if that! His breath stinks like rotting garbage and I honestly feel like his bite would give me rabies or some crazy disease!

This guy is way stronger than my current build and has two knives, so I only have high skill and technique to keep me from losing this grapple.

B had violently driven his knee upward toward my groin while our hands were locked in a straining grapple against the bark. I use my own knee to deflect the impact, using the tree behind me as leverage, so B cant move my balance without being able to move the entire tree. He squints knowing this layout and hesitates on kneeing more to avoid exposing his one vulnerable supporting leg.

These guys may act and look like clowns on their radios, but their Master level of fighting is no joke, and this guy here is one of the tougher customers next to Laura Long. So I do not underestimate his movements for a second.

Yes, I have the mind of a Grandmaster, but, my physical body has only trained for about 6 months in this world, and I am at most higher end of Master with my current body taken into account. I have the knowledge, but my body is like an adult in a baby's body, it just does not do what you need it to do instantly.

B forces his forearms out to the sides, our arms still entangled, a dark grin stretching his jaw as he snaps his head forward to deliver a sudden headbutt.

I can't dodge him because of the solid tree behind my head, and turning my head will get my temple knocked out. So, I block with my own headbutt that will suck for both of us, but it is the least bad option available.

Thud! Thud! Smack! Just as our foreheads collided with a heavy crack, I countered with a quick heel-kick to his right-knee hitting squarely, but he did not buckle, however his eyes revealed instant pain.

B smiles through the hurt, dropping his two combat knives into the dirt to try to grab my arms tightly. I can tell, he plans to drag me from the tree, my biggest advantage for leverage. He is a highly skilled wrestler, and not the show kind, but the grapple for pain military kind.

Then as B had just pulled away a bit to try and pull me into the open, we were both taken completely by surprise!

Thunk, roll, roll, roll! Both my and B's head snapped down to see the armed grenade that C had crawled over and tossed behind B's Back area, and he gave the two of us a creepy bloody smile through his torn face.

C wheezed out, coughing up blood as he choked out the words, "B! See, I Completed the Contract, so hold him, brouhaha!" while grinning through the gore.

I don't have extensive knowledge of grenades, but what I have seen in movies and TV tells me we are out of time. So while B was distracted with the literal suicide act of his partner, I swept the injured leg of B's and forced his massive body down on top of the grenade!

While B's massive body was crashing heavily through the air, I instantly channeled my Acrobatics Master talent to twist my frame, diving hard against the damp earth and laying completely flat in the tall grass. I had paid very close attention to how that crazy bastard C had limited his exposure to the shrapnel during the previous blast after all, and I wasn't about to let his practical survival lesson go to waste.

The heavy explosion was heavily muffled by the sheer density of B's frame pinning it to the dirt, the blast quieted by the fact that he had fallen directly backwards right on top of the canister. B's limp body violently jerked upward several inches from the concussive force, a red mist spraying from his lips as he spit out a huge mouthful of blood onto the grass.

It seems even a military grade bulletproof vest is not enough to absorb a direct point-blank detonation, and I felt a wave of relief that I hadn't made the mistake of jumping directly on top of his body to hold him down. My eyes widened as I scrambled up, watching that absolute unhinged bastard C drag his bloody torso forward, using his left arm to pull out yet another fragmentation grenade from his webbing to throw straight at my head.

Just as C snarled and used his remaining teeth to yank the metal pin out of the canister, his entire skull violently exploded in a shower of bone and gray matter.

The deafening crack echoed off the ridge, followed by the rolling thunder of my high-powered sniper rifle as it fired across the mountain battlefield, the sound waves bouncing through the pine trees.

Then, exactly four seconds after that metal pin had been pulled from the lever, the armed grenade slipped from his dead fingers and detonated, completely pulverizing C's torso in a massive spray of nasty gore that painted the surrounding leaves.

I quickly ran through the settling smoke to recover my two handguns that I had been forced to drop during the grapple, finding them remarkably fine and undamaged due to the soft patch of moss where they had landed. The secure earpiece tucked inside my collar suddenly crackled to life, and the calm, steady voice of Mei echoed directly into my ear.

[Rick, D is dead, and your Guardian Angel is here. Go save Lucy.]

I rapidly ejected my spent magazines, slapping fresh loads into the grips with a sharp click before answering her. "Thanks Mei, you are the best partner I could hope for, let's keep living, cavalry is on the way!"

Shucking my scuffed long coat back over my shoulders and checking the chambers, I turned on my heel and bolted down the dirt pass toward the flagpole where A was holding Lucy hostage.

Back at the open memorial field, Lucy and A had been standing near the concrete plaza for the last several minutes, listening to the distant ring of rapid gunfire and multiple heavy explosions in utter confusion. A's jaw tightened as he repeatedly pressed the talk button on his tactical shoulder radio, his voice rising in irritation.

"Beep! D, report?! What the fuck is going on over there, a war-zone is happening?"

The radio speaker responded with nothing but a wall of empty static, prompting A to furiously switch channels.

"Beep! B or C, copy?!"

The quiet woods remained completely silent until a sharp, window-rattling boom echoed from the upper cliffs, the distinct acoustics of the valley making the high-caliber sniper shot sound significantly louder than D's handmade hunting rifle.

Lucy stood perfectly still against the iron flagpole, her fingers subtly working behind her back to pick the locks of her steel handcuffs using a custom tension tool she had kept hidden inside her jacket sleeve. Within moments, the mechanisms clicked open, but she kept her hands wrapped tightly around the pipe to make it look like she was still securely locked to the structure.

Her worried blue eyes scanned the edge of the forest, her heart instantly unclenching in profound relief as the low chatter of Mei and Rick filtered through the micro-earpiece hidden deep inside her ear canal. Mei had covertly slipped her the communications device before they left the hotel just in case she ended up within operational range of the conflict.

She had briefly considered drawing her hidden sleeve blade to plunge it into A's neck while his back was turned, but she deliberately chose to wait to see if Rick was in actual danger before revealing her trump cards. An elite spy should never expose her hidden capabilities without an absolute tactical necessity, and she couldn't guarantee an instant lethal win over a veteran mercenary who already had a chambered firearm leveled in her direction.

Lucy possessed an exceptionally advanced level of Wing Chun Kung-Fu, a high-tier combat capability she had successfully managed to hide from my scanners using her advanced Acting talent, knowing that if she deployed it now, her secrets would be totally exposed. While her firearms proficiency was kept at a basic military standard, her operational skills in deep espionage were remarkably advanced, far surpassing my own baseline, though her single greatest strength remained her absolute Mastery of Computers.

The dense brush at the edge of the clearing parted, and Lucy watched as I slowly walked out of the dark forest shadows, my face completely expressionless as I locked eyes with her.

Catching the familiar glint in my gaze, Lucy felt a deep sense of familiarity wash over her, seeing the exact same cold, calculated focus that defined her father, her brother, and now her nephew within the Li family tree.

She relaxed her posture against the pole, waiting patiently for the young man with no visible emotions to step forward and reap the soul of the arrogant mercenary standing before them. A strange flush of embarrassment hit her chest as she noticed her physical body's intense reaction to my presence, but she recognized that it was the passive aura of the Yellow Emperor taking effect, a magnetic draw that seamlessly influenced the men and women around him.

It wasn't a product of magical energy or some supernatural superpower, but rather the sheer, unyielding confidence that an experienced reincarnator naturally exuded—the complete lack of fear regarding mortality, the advanced knowledge of another world, and the soaring ambitions that mortal men could never hope to comprehend. This was the raw Dragon's aura that commanded others to follow, fight, or fall in love with him.

Lucy offered me a soft, knowing smile as our eyes crossed for a brief second. The moment I stepped fully into the sunlit clearing with my twin pistols resting casually at my sides, my focus locked onto the man named A, who was standing roughly ten feet away from her frame, a positioning that would allow him to easily pull her in as a human shield or execute her if I made a single wrong movement.

I raised my right barrel slightly, keeping my voice low and conversational as I called out to him. "Mr A, I have come as you asked, so can you kindly let her leave safely?"

A stared back at me speechlessly for a long moment, his thumb frantically tapping his shoulder mic as he whispered frantically into the channel. "Beep! D, take the shot when you have a good one, sigh, this kid killed both B and C, I think."

Receiving no response, the mercenary leader slowly lowered his hand, pointing his automatic pistol directly at my chest as he asked, "Did you kill my two men?"

He kept the iron sights aligned with my torso, but we were standing too far apart for either of us to guarantee an accurate handgun kill shot over this distance, allowing me to honestly answer his query without breaking my stance.

"Believe me or not Mr A, I did not kill them, they both got caught in grenade explosions, I am innocent this time!" I replied, a slight smirk playing on my lips.

A's expression darkened, and he abruptly pivoted his stance, pressing the cold muzzle of his suppressed weapon directly against Lucy's temple as he snarled across the grass. "Do you happen to have a cigar on you, kid? Nah, didn't think you would, I have had a bad day here, and I need some calming. Oh and I think I will kill your woman here for killing my men."

I shook my head at his blatant posturing, my grip tightening on the textured panels of my firearms as I issued a flat warning. "I am going to shoot you from here, and save Lucy by killing you slowly, dare me?"

The moment I raised my arm to point the handgun toward his silhouette, I took absolute care to align the sights away from Lucy's positioning, deliberately pulling the trigger to shatter his focus. A knew the physics of a standard pistol meant I couldn't hit a precise target from this distance, his lips curling into a mocking sneer as his finger began to compress his own trigger, but his movements were instantly cut short.

The sharp crack of my revolver was immediately overtaken by the booming thunder of the Barrett rifle hidden on the ridge, the massive fifty-caliber slug tearing through the air. A blinked stupidly as he watched his entire right hand and the pistol it was holding instantly vanish into a red spray, leaving nothing but a ragged, smoking stump at his forearm as his brain struggled to process the supersonic speed of the heavy sniper round.

Before he could even raise his head to realize he had been thoroughly betrayed by his own marksman's position, my twin handguns were already spitting a continuous wall of fire across the clearing, the bullets punching into his flesh.

The rapid succession of twelve consecutive impacts tore through the air as I charged across the grass, methodically unloading half of my remaining magazines directly into his shoulders, his knees, and his lower abdominal area to completely shatter his skeletal structure so he couldn't move a muscle, ensuring he would bleed out in agony... slowly!

Lucy watched the mercenary collapse into the dirt, her fingers quickly locking the steel handcuffs back around the flagpole to mirror her original captive position, looking perfectly ready to be rescued. Was it completely shameless of her to fake being helpless? Yes, absolutely, but every woman carries a secret desire to be saved by the person they care about, and letting me feel like a triumphant hero brought a genuine sense of happiness to her heart. Lucy's way of expressing her love was undeniably twisted, but it was still love nonetheless.

I stepped over the pooling blood on the concrete, using the toe of my boot to kick the groaning body of A onto his back so I could look him directly in his failing eyes.

"You are probably wondering why I am not just killing you and letting your suffering end, right?" I asked, my voice dropping into a cold whisper.

He could only blink his eyelids in weak confirmation, his throat convulsing as thick crimson began to fill his lungs, preventing him from forming any actual words.

"Because it is a gift to stay alive a bit longer. There is only nothingness for you, so relish in suffering a bit longer. You can feel alive and flashback all the things you did or did not do. Go on and pass, at least you are not alone for your last moment, goodbye Mr A!" I muttered, turning my back on him as his chest stilled.

I walked over to the flagpole, slipping a set of lock picks from my tactical vest as I offered Lucy a bright smile, working the keyholes to drop the chains onto the concrete. "Sorry you had to see me like this. Are you alright? Are you hurt? And here you are out."

Lucy stepped out of the constraints, her arms immediately reaching out to hug me before her eyes caught the shredded, dirt-caked state of my formal clothing, her expression shifting to intense worry as she asked, "Rick, are you hurt?!"

"Other than my clothing getting dirty and scuffed, I only got a sore-forehead from a headbutt." I replied, rubbing the faint bruise near my hairline.

Lucy didn't care about the dirt, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck to pull me into a fierce, breathless hug that was completely typical for a woman who had just survived a life-threatening ordeal. I just smiled and patted her back gently, letting her hold onto me before asking her one more time to be absolutely sure. "I have my medical bag with me, do you need anything, hurt anywhere?"

Lucy simply shook her head against my shoulder, her grip tightening around my waist as she whispered back, "I was not harmed at all, just worried for you, Rick."

I slowly pulled back, taking her hand in mine to guide her down the mountain path away from the bodies. "Come with me, you are safe now, let's go back."

High up on the rocky mountain ridge, Mei finished packing the heavy components of the anti-material sniper rifle back into its secure case. Glancing through her spotting scope at the clearing below, she caught sight of Lucy clinging tightly to my chest, causing her to smile dryly and roll her eyes at her partner's cheap, theatrical attempt to secure some extra attention from me.