Chapter 166: Driving: Master, Firearms: Grandmaster, Gun-Fu: Grandmaster!

Chapter 166: Driving: Master, Firearms: Grandmaster, Gun-Fu: Grandmaster!

As the surrounding commuter traffic quickly transformed into a blur of left-behind silhouettes inside my rearview mirror, I spoke calmly into my encrypted microphone, requesting, "Lucy, can you put up marks on my GPS screen of all identified criminal locations while I drive? And please make my adversaries stand out more, thanks."

Lucy’s voice drifted back through the earpiece a second later, her rhythm fast and calculated, [Many of the convicts have active ankle monitors, and although a massive portion of them have already been cut, I have had Valentine cross-reference all localized network devices to pinpoint the exact locations of most of the escapees. Laura, however, is completely off the grid. The hacker from the Wizards of Oz has covered her trail incredibly well, but I did manage to find that both Chris Honda and Steven Woo are together, escaping in a white commercial van.]

I glanced sideways at the center console screen, watching a cluster of small red dots update in real time along my trajectory toward the pair of flashing red X marks, answering her, "Thank you, Lucy. And take care of the security footage covering my cleanup."

Suddenly, a massive delivery truck came barreling straight through the intersection I was actively speeding toward. I lowered the driver’s side window the exact moment my screen flashed an incoming red dot from the side street, barking over the engine roar, "Hinata, hold the wheel straight for a moment."

The exact moment her hand reached over from the passenger side to steady the steering wheel, I pulled my dual HK P30 handguns from their holsters and took precise aim at the approaching cabin as we flew past. The millisecond my eyes locked onto the black-and-white stripes of a prison uniform on the driver's torso, I pulled both triggers in unison.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

With a rapid double-tap from both firearms, I slotted the handguns back into their holsters and grabbed the steering wheel back from her grip. The truck, now piloted by a dead man, slammed headfirst into a concrete streetlight pole and crumpled into a twisted accordion of steel from the sheer force of its momentum.

Lucy was efficient enough to instantly erase the corresponding red dot from my navigation screen, verifying that I had cleanly eliminated the driver along with anyone else riding inside the cab.

I initiated a heavy power drift around the next street corner, flying right past a local police cruiser that completely ignored my reckless driving to sprint toward a more pressing tactical emergency down the block. The sheer scale of the chaos on the streets had the entire municipal law enforcement infrastructure mindlessly trying to round up rogue prisoners as fast as humanly possible, but the syndicates were fighting back with lethal force.

[Rick, on your path toward the freeway entrance, there is a localized group of ten convicts trying to pry open the main gates of the FF Firearms store to plunder weapons,] Lucy updated, magnifying a new sector of the map. [You might want to swing by there immediately, as no official police units are responding to the manager's emergency distress call.]

I adjusted my line of sight to trace the updated route on the dashboard, replying, "On it. Ah, hold on a second, I see one right now."

A man in a torn black-and-white prison uniform was aggressively dragging a wealthy-looking woman out of the driver's seat of her luxury sedan by her hair, prompting me to slide a handgun loose and take aim out the window without slowing down.

Bang!

Unhappily for the woman's psychological state, my heavy shot hit the exact center of the escapee's skull, spraying dark red and grey matter all over her face as the bullet tore through, ending the threat in a single, fluid drive-by execution.

I slammed the shifter into the next gear, reporting, "Got that one, and I am almost at the gun shop."

Upstairs in the elevated corporate office, the blonde store manager was worriedly peering down through the reinforced glass window as the group of ten convicts aggressively used crowbars to warp her front security gate. Gwen, who had personally taken care of my paperwork when I was first signing up for my professional bodyguard license, was manually loading a fresh magazine into her handgun, terrified that she would have to personally fight off the mob.

When the coordinated prison break first ignited, she had immediately evacuated all customers and civilian staff from the building, choosing to man the facility entirely by herself to protect the inventory. She had placed an emergency call to the police dispatcher roughly ten minutes ago, but the overwhelmed department had yet to send a single unit to her coordinates.

Suddenly, a high-performance red sports car came tearing into the parking lot like a literal demon, initiating a full one-hundred-and-eighty-degree bootlegger turn to slide to a complete stop right in front of the storefront. The sudden maneuver kicked up a massive cloud of thick tire smoke directly into the convicts' faces, completely blinding and choking the entire group.

Both of the Demon's doors swung open simultaneously as a man and a woman dressed in midnight-black tactical gear bounded out onto the concrete, both pulling matching katanas from their sheaths.

Four of the ten convicts managed to pull hidden handguns from their waistbands, opening fire on the two intruders in a panicked frenzy. Like a piece of visual magic, the two black-clad figures simply tilted their torsos and weaved through the trajectory of the incoming fire, moving with a fluid grace that made it look like they knew exactly where the gunmen were aiming before the triggers were even pulled.

The absolute millisecond the two swordsmen sliced into the perimeter of the mob, Gwen instantly recognized her Leader, identifying the exact black tactical outfit he had worn during his initial firearm qualification training. A relieved smile broke across her face as she realized she was completely safe, anchoring her eyes to the window to watch the lethal ballet of glinting steel effortlessly dismembering the fleeing convicts.

The foreign woman moving alongside her Leader reached smoothly into the folds of her shinobi outfit, unleashing a flurry of small metal throwing stars that embedded deep into the legs of the remaining runners, dropping them instantly to the pavement. She followed through without a single heartbeat of hesitation, taking their heads with clean, horizontal slashes.

The Leader and the stunning foreign operative wiped the blood from their blades in a synchronized motion, sheathing the cold steel before sliding back inside the red Demon. With a loud screech of smoking rubber, the vehicle launched out of the lot like a rocket.

Gwen let out a long breath, lowering her handgun as she stared at the empty space, muttering to herself, "I really should have taken the initiative to seduce him back when I had the chance, sigh. Well, it is fine, I am a bit low on his radar anyway. But who on earth was that woman?"

Because Hinata and I had purposely utilized our blades to conserve our ammunition, we made excellent time as we navigated the streets to intercept the two fleeing targets for our fated reunion.

[Rick, pull over at the next major intersection,] Lucy's voice warned through the earpiece. [There is a team of two escapees who just stolen a marked police cruiser, and they are currently positioned two blocks down. If you snipe them from your current location, you can completely ignore chasing them across the district. I will give you the exact cue when their vehicle passes the edge of the brick building corner.]

Hearing Lucy’s tactical assessment, I pulled the Demon tightly against the curb and reached into the back seat to pull out my heavy M107 fifty-caliber sniper rifle.

"I will be right back, Hinata. Watch the navigation screen for any changes in the cross directions," I directed, stepping out of the car.

With her silent nod of compliance, I sprinted to the sidewalk and utilized the hood of a parked sedan to brace the rifle's heavy integrated bipod. I dropped my cheek against the stock, peering through the high-powered optic to lock my crosshairs onto the distant intersection corner Lucy had designated.

[The driver's head is positioned exactly two inches over the top of the mailbox line, so here they come,] Lucy chanted, her voice shifting into a steady countdown. [In three... two... one... Now!]

BANG! BANG!

I unleashed a blind shot the exact microsecond the glint of the cruiser's front headlights cleared the brick facade, immediately tilting the barrel a fraction of an inch to the left to fire a follow-up round where the rear axle would transition.

The heavy anti-material rifle handled like an absolute extension of my own skeletal structure. Not only did my initial fifty-caliber round accurately obliterate the driver's head through the reinforced frame, but the kinetic energy cleanly passed through the cabin to remove his partner's head in the passenger seat as well.

Slam! Crush!

My secondary shot hit the exact point of impact I had envisioned, striking the rear tire to shred the wheel, which caused the out-of-control cruiser to slam sideways into another parked vehicle, crushing both frames in a spectacular explosion of glass and metal.

I quickly collapsed the bipod, folded the heavy stock of the rifle, and ran back to the open driver's door of the Demon, sliding inside and placing the hot barrel directly between Hinata's legs for her to hold.

Without asking a single question, she gripped the heavy sniper rifle firmly against her tactical gear, reporting, "No change on the tracking screen. I think they are going to head north using Highway 69. I believe that with your driving, you will easily manage to reach the highway bottleneck first. Let us go, Sensei, I have a blood obligation to fulfill."

Without any unneeded fanfare, I slammed the car into drive and launched us northwest toward the interstate ramp.

After systematically eliminating roughly eight more armed convicts who attempted to cross our path during the trip toward the interstate ramp, I heard

Lucy’s voice cut back into the comms channel.

[Your active Fire Birds units have just reported killing close to two-hundred fleeing convicts across the city districts, but we have unfortunately lost six members in the crossfire,] she detailed, her keyboard clicking rapidly in the background. [Jenifer is currently dealing with that logistical side of the operation for you. As for your main targets, the white van will reach the freeway entrance in roughly two minutes. They are moving west on 23rd Street at incredibly high speeds.]

I jammed the brakes, parking the Demon along the raised shoulder of the road, and once again hoisted the heavy sniper rifle from the cabin. Stepping onto the concrete overpass, I set up the rifle against the guardrail and locked my scope onto the distant stretch of 23rd Street, just as the distinct thrumming sound of a helicopter began echoing from above.

[Rick, change of plans, it seems they are not attempting to escape onto the freeway at all,] Lucy called out, her voice sharpening. [They are actively moving to meet that incoming helicopter for an extraction at the open-air parking garage located right near the main Lang Mall building.]

Looking skyward, I folded the bipod back against the barrel, braced the rifle against my shoulder, and blindly began to empty the weapon's ten-round magazine into the sky, targeting the thin structural weak point of the chopper—the tail rotor.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Easily seven of my ten high-velocity rounds chewed through the rear assembly of the aircraft, turning the Wizards of Oz extraction chopper into an absolute sieve of twisted metal and sending the vehicle into an uncontrollable tailspin.

BOOOOOM!

The helicopter exploded in a massive fireball against the concrete side of the parking structure, prompting me to slide a fresh ten-round magazine into the rifle before tracking back down to lock onto the incoming white van.

I could tell the occupants had absolutely no idea their aerial extraction was already dead, as they initiated a hard turn to enter the far end of the parking garage. I aligned my crosshairs directly with the front right tire and smoothly squeezed the trigger.

BANG!

Exactly as I had envisioned, the front right tire was instantly shredded by the heavy round, causing the high-speed van to trip over its own axle, initiate a full one-hundred-and-eighty-degree back-end flip, and land heavily on its crushed roof.

I turned back toward the open car door, calling out to my student, "Back in the car, Hinata. We are hunting."

Only a brief moment earlier, inside the speeding transport van, the tactical situation had seemed entirely under control for the fugitives.

The driver, completely geared up in a green military outfit featuring a prominent Oz logo embroidered directly over his heart, turned his head slightly toward the passengers to reassure the four armed men riding in the rear cargo bay.

"We are almost at our designated pickup point for our final escape out of Star City. Dr. Honda and Mr. Woo, please ensure you are fully ready to transfer your equipment immediately. From there, we will be flown straight to our primary oil-tanker base. It is securely anchored in international waters, meaning the Eurasian authorities cannot legally do a single thing to us out there."

Steven Woo, shifting uncomfortably on the metal bench seat directly next to the foul-smelling Chris Honda, narrowed his eyes as he asked, "Will we actually meet Laura at that location?"

"Yes, sir. We already successfully extracted her from her holding cell the exact moment the prison breakout ignited. The main helicopter has already dropped off that initial high-value group onto the deck of the ship, and it should be hovering above this sector in just a moment to retrieve us."

BOOOOOM!

The massive shockwave of a distant explosion suddenly rippled through the chassis, prompting Chris to grip the back of the front seat as he asked, "That sounded and felt like a direct missile strike or a heavy bomb impact! Who the hell is doing that? Is it your team's doing, or is the Southern Cross acting out of turn?"

The passenger-side soldier instantly keyed his tactical radio, a sharp beep echoing through the cab as he barked, "Tango, this is Bravo, what was that status update—"

POOF! SCREECH! CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER!

The front passenger tire slammed violently into an unseen obstruction at high velocity. The frantic, screeching sound of structural tire failure was the absolute last thing the occupants heard before the laws of gravity completely inverted, flipping their entire world upside down in a rapid overhead toss.

The overturned van skidded forward along the asphalt for several yards. Because none of the six occupants had bothered to wear their safety belts, they were thrown violently into a crumpled, tangled pile of limbs directly onto the roof of the vehicle. During the impact, Chris Honda's external colostomy bag was violently yanked from his torso, rupturing instantly as another heavy soldier crashed directly onto his midsection.

An overpowering stench of burnt rubber, scraping metal, human excrement, and urine instantly filled the enclosed cabin.

Blahrg!

The sheer revulsion triggered an immediate chain reaction, with more than one person instantly emptying the contents of their stomach onto the floorboards.

After a few awkward moments of groaning, the six men managed to kick open the doors and drag themselves out of the wreckage. They immediately spotted thick columns of dark black smoke billowing into the sky above the adjacent parking structure, but none of them paused to consider that their extraction helicopter had already been shot down. The mercenary leader pointed toward the building, ordering, "Everyone, quickly move to the top fourth floor! That is our primary extraction point, move!"

SCREEEEECH! SCREEEEECH!

Right on cue, every head snapped toward the street corner as a high-performance red sports car rounded the bend, initiating a violent drift at extreme speed. The mercenary leader barely had time to widen his eyes before the red Demon ran right through his path, leaving him time for one final exclamation.

"Ah! Fuck, Isekai!"

THUD!

The impact instantly crushed his lower body, launching his torso airborne over the hood of the red Demon. Funnily enough, he was left crumpled on the pavement still breathing, completely denied a clean Truck-kun reincarnation moment.

As Chris Honda dissolved into absolute panic, he bolted blindly toward the entrance of the parking garage alongside the three surviving soldiers. Steven Woo's survival instincts, however, screamed at him to run in the exact opposite direction, prompting him to abandon the group entirely and sprint toward the glass entrance of the adjacent shopping mall.

My poor Demon was going to have to go straight to the recycling yard after this run, given the massive cluster of bullet holes, the extensive structural body damage, and that mercenary's legs still jammed firmly inside my front intake grill. Both Hinata and I stepped out onto the asphalt. Her sharp eyes immediately tracked Steven's trajectory toward the mall doors, and she asked, "Sensei, may I?"

I met her gaze, checking her readiness as I countered, "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

"I must do this," she answered, her voice tight with unyielding determination. "Otherwise, my path toward the Grandmaster rank will be completely blocked, just like my mother's before me. Plus, he is an active enemy of my Sensei, and he must be dealt with permanently before he can cause further trouble."

I reached down to holster my firearms, drawing my primary weapon and handing her the Black Dragon Sword, replying, "Then use my sword. And I explicitly forbid you from dying, so go."

As I turned my attention back toward the mutilated man crying on the pavement, Hinata offered me a deep, respectful bow before sprinting like a shadow toward the mall entrance.

Walking up to the weeping mercenary, I took in the horrific smell of his ruined uniform and grinned down at him. I leveled the barrel of my handgun directly between his eyes, noting, "You must work for the Tin Man, because you really wish you had a brain."

Bang!

With a single pull of the trigger, his brains were splashed across the road surface. I turned on my heel and walked slowly toward the dark entrance of the parking garage, actively engaging my advanced stealth skills the exact moment I stepped past the concrete threshold.

Inside the shopping mall, Steven Woo sprinted headfirst into a sports apparel store, frantically tearing off his filth-covered garments and scattering them across the floor. He grabbed a random sports jersey from a display rack along with a heavy aluminum baseball bat.

The exact moment he bolted out back into the main corridor, he ran right into a solitary woman standing perfectly still in his path. His breath caught as he recognized the traditional Kyusho family sword he had longed to inherit throughout his entire childhood, realizing his half-sister was standing before him dressed like a lethal assassin.

"Sister Hinata!" he gasped, his expression shifting into a desperate grin. "It is great to see you again! Let's run out of here together. I have a secure safe house established in North City. You can finally leave your life of slavery under that Rick Lee."

"Hmm? So, you truly believe my current position has nothing to do with your historical lies?" she countered, her voice cold and hollow. "My current situation is entirely your fault. But I actually thank you for it. And my mother thanks you as well."

Steven looked completely perplexed by her calm demeanor, asking, "Why the fuck would you and your crazy mother be thankful to be Rick's dog bitch?"

Hearing his crude choice of words, Hinata found it slightly amusing how accurate her little brother's crude assessment actually was. Her fingers drifted down to touch the gold bracelet on her wrist, her thumb tracing the engraved word Precious as a small smile touched her lips.

"Yes, you are entirely right. I am Sensei's loyal dog now," she murmured softly. "But he happens to be our family's Black Dragon reincarnated. That is the exact reason you always lose to him in every single category. Even our father and mother have willingly bowed their heads to our god. But you will not live long enough to spread this secret."

"God?! Rick is a fucking God? Don't make me laugh!" Steven shouted, stepping back as he raised his weapon. "Your crazy bitch mother actually believes in those ancient traditions regarding our family's Dragon. Fuck you, both you and your mother are incredibly dumb bitches! Sigh, I guess I am going to have to kill you after all, huh?"

Steven reached behind his waist, pulling out a hidden nine-millimeter handgun and leveling the barrel directly at her heart.

Hinata didn't flinch, stating calmly, "With your head, my personal honor and the legacy of our family will be completely restored. And Rick will finally know exactly how loyal I am. So goodbye, trash."

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Shing... Click!

Steven pulled the trigger rapidly, unleashing a volley of rounds, but his sister's physical form seemed to blur into a shadow for a split second. An instant later, she was standing directly at his side, smoothly sheathing the family blade back into its scabbard. As the sudden sensation of cold steel registered against the skin of his neck, she whispered, "Being the bitch of a true Dragon is my absolute honor. So don't go mad, just go away."

While he stood there in total confusion, unable to process what had just occurred, she reached over and grabbed the top of his hair. She lifted his decapitated head away from his shoulders as cleanly as if he were a mythical Dullahan. Still clutching the hair of the severed head, she turned and walked back out toward the exit, leaving his headless torso to tip over heavily onto the polished floor.

Thud!

Inside the parking structure, I encountered absolutely no difficulty tracking down and systematically eliminating the three remaining soldiers. Moving through the concrete tiers with my gun-fu feeling just as fluid and natural as my martial arts styles, I realized I had officially crossed the final threshold into the Grandmaster tier. The sudden breakthrough notified me that, by default, my firearms proficiency had just officially joined the ranks of the top ten marksmen on the planet.

Currently, Chris Honda was lying flat on his back between two parked sedans, where he had desperately tried to crawl away to hide from my approach.

Bang!

I deliberately placed a third bullet directly into his remaining healthy kneecap, having already systematically placed one round into his large intestine and another into his first knee. While he wailed in absolute agony against the concrete, I stepped into his view, noting, "Out of all the men I have wanted to kill, you are actually sitting right at the absolute top of my list."

Bang!

I shot his left hand to pieces, shredding his knuckles before continuing, "I love Hana deeply, and you are nothing but a permanent stain on her past. I have so many beautiful daughters now, and the fact that scum like you is allowed to live and corrupt other men's daughters disgusts me to my absolute core."

Bang!

I systematically shaved away small pieces of his flesh with precise shots, keeping a steady conversation flowing over his screams.

"Thanks for breaking out of jail today, Chris, and making this a very happy occasion for my soul. I am going to find out exactly how many individual bullets the human body can take before it physically cannot function anymore."

Bang!

His body continuously drifted between passing out from the intense trauma and waking back up to the agonizing pain, but I mindlessly kept squeezing the trigger even long after his frame stopped moving entirely.

"Sensei, I am done here."

I turned my head toward the entrance to find Hinata standing there, holding the severed head of Steven Woo. The expression frozen on his face showed total shock and terror at the moment of his death, proving she had thoroughly tormented him before taking his life. I smiled at her, instantly visualizing a dog's tail wagging frantically for praise, asking her, "Thank you, Hinata. My heart feels a bit lighter after that. How about yours?"

"My heart is only full of absolute pride and honor, so long as I am allowed to serve you, Sensei," she replied smoothly.

"I think you and I have killed more than enough for a single day," I said, gesturing toward the exit. "Let us go home, Hinata."

She nodded, tossing the severed head directly onto the bloody pile of what was left of Chris Honda. Funnily enough, the head landed face-first right where his crotch used to be before my gunfire rearranged him.

I walked back out toward the street, with Hinata following closely in my shadow.

When the two of us finally slid back into the cabin of my car, I turned the key to start the engine, but the starter only sputtered; it seemed I had pushed my baby way too hard during the chase, and the engine was completely dead. Hinata, showcasing a rare moment of dark humor, smiled lightly as she pointed toward the dashboard, whispering, "It looks like you were not truly done killing until this exact moment, fufu."

Right on cue, Lucy’s voice crackled back through my earpiece, [Luke is already en route to pick you up from those coordinates, so enjoy petting your new dog for a bit, ufufu.]

I froze, a cold sweat breaking out on my neck. Fuck, did Lucy seriously explain to Hinata exactly what the inscription on that bracelet meant? When I turned my head to look at her, my student simply offered me a light, knowing smile.

Fuck me, now I have a hot, human-shaped dog on my hands.