"What the fuck is going on? Where are the rest? Why aren't they answering?" Derek roared, veins bulging in his neck.
He'd been riding high minutes ago. The plan was airtight — trap one of the Cartel's Hounds and mount her head on his wall. When Isabella slipped away, he'd even laughed, thinking it'd be fun to hunt her through the junkyard like a rat in a maze.
He had heard a few reports from his subordinates about some of his men dying, but he ignored them, thinking it was an expected loss. The hound was cornered but still had her fangs and claws.
But only when he repeatedly heard the news of more and more of his subordinates dying, did he know something was wrong. So, in a hurry, he called all but those who guarded the gate to find out what was going on. But despite waiting for many minutes, only four returned.
The four looked timid before the angry Derek. Their faces were covered with panic.
The four looked at each other. The three looked at the fourth one, who was the most timid, and gestured to him with their eyes to reply to Derek. The fourth guy had a pleading look in his eyes, but in the end, he was forced to answer.
"Cap-captain. They are all dead—James, Mike, Luke, Xander, Caleb, and the others with them. We saw with our eyes," the biker stammered, sweat rolling down his head.
"Useless!" Derek snapped, eyes blazing. "So many men, and you can't handle two people? Pathetic!"
'No way those idiots died to just two people—no fucking way.` Derek was cursing under his breath at his worthless subordinates. He was in denial about how just two people systematically decimated the entire group he brought with him.
Then they heard the engines, and they all grew tense. Their hands hovered near their weapons, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.
Fortunately, those who came were their comrades. Their tense nerves calmed down as two more bikers stopped in front of them.
Their faces were serious, fear mingling. One of them said, "Captain, they killed Jack and Flint's teams who were guarding the gate."
"The jammer's down. Gate controls are busted. The gate is now open and can't be closed," the second biker said.
The mood turned somber at once when the bikers heard that. They understood what it meant by the destruction of the jammer and gate controls. The cartel was already alerted and was on its way.
"We are leaving. It will take them time to come here; we will be gone by then," Derek said with extreme unwillingness.
He'd promised his boss Isabella's head, but now he was forced to run away with his tail between his legs. He would become the laughing stock of the entire gang. The thought burned worse than a bullet.
But just as they were about to leave, they once again heard an engine sound.
They grew tense again, but at the same time, they hoped it might be more of their comrades who had survived and were coming back to regroup.
But even as the sound neared them, they still couldn't see anyone, only that it was coming from the other side of the metal stack.
"Hey Derek, did you give up so soon that you are running away like a coward?"
A mocking voice came from above. They saw Kevin with a loudspeaker and Isabella directly above. The bike was in midair after a stunt jump from the left stack, and they were falling toward the right vehicle stack.
"You should change your name from Iron Serpents to Rusty Worms," Kevin continued trash-talking through the loudspeaker. But before any of the bikers could retaliate, Isabella opened fire on them. The bullets hit three, and they died on the spot.
All of that happened in a period of a few seconds.
The bike reached the other side, and the remaining biker could only watch them go with a mixture of fear, humiliation, and anger.
"Find them," Derek roared with impotent rage. "I want them to regret being born!"
— Kevin —
That was fun.
I threw the loudspeaker away and continued driving. After driving for a few minutes, I stopped, hiding behind a car stack.
I had decided to hunt Derek, but it was no easy feat. His bike was bulletproof. His helmet and jacket protected his upper body.
The only place we could try was the lower body, which I assumed wasn't protected with bulletproof clothing. Of course, it wasn't so easy to just aim and shoot his legs. The bike's armored leg guards covered his legs. The entire front of his legs was protected.
"If I give you the opportunity, can you shoot at the back of his legs?" I asked, looking at Isabella in the rear-view mirror.
Isabella cocked her eyebrow, hearing that, then nodded as she understood why I was asking her that. The back of Derek's legs was the only exposed part she could shoot.
"What did I tell you before, rookie?" Isabella asked with an easy smile. "You drive. I shoot."
I laughed. "Aye aye, captain."
We drove around, searching for traces of the bikers who were still alive. After a few random turns, we found Derek in front of us.
"Go to hell, Isabella!" Derek barked the moment he saw us.
Derek started his minigun, but since it took a moment to begin firing, we had a tiny window to get away from it.
I immediately turned up the gear and revved the accelerator. The bike immediately picked up speed, rocketing down the street.
Before the minigun could start spewing bullets, we passed by Derek. I immediately slowed down. At that moment, Isabella turned around and shot the back of Derek's exposed right leg.
The moment the minigun started shooting, Derek screamed in pain, but didn't fall off. Even as he sat on his bike, the injury to his right leg kept him from using the rear brake pedal.
Despite the pain, Derek wanted to turn the bike around and shoot at us, shredding us into pieces. But with the injured leg and the extra weight of the minigun on the bike, it was difficult for him to turn quickly.
I took advantage of that and immediately sped and left Derek in the dust.
There was no need to finish the fight then and there. We had injured his leg, which was a considerable progress. But even with the injured right leg, he was still dangerous.
"You damned slut!" Derek yelled in rage as we took a turn and disappeared from his view.
Our next target was the three remaining bikers. Once they were dealt with, we could deal with Derek with a piece of mind knowing there would be no minions to interrupt in the final boss fight.
Unfortunately, before we could find our target, our target found us.
A biker appeared behind us and immediately started shooting. I drove haphazardly in an S-shape to dodge the bullets.
But it looked like our good luck was over. Before Isabella could shoot down the biker behind us, two more bikers appeared in front of us. It became even harder to bodge bullets from both front and behind. A few stray bullets even hit the bike, but fortunately, they didn't hit us, especially not the gas tank.
"I will take the left, you will take the right," I said while trying hard not to get us shot. The bikes were getting closer, making it harder to dodge.
Without giving Isabella a chance to understand what I meant by that, I pulled the front brake hard.
The front wheel jammed shut immediately, but the rear wheel did not. The bike was lifted from behind in a stoppie. With the front wheel as the pivot, the bike rotated counterclockwise.
The moment the bike rotated roughly ninety degrees, I faced left. With one hand on the handle, I pulled out my Uzi with my left and emptied the entire magazine on the biker.
The moment I left, Isabella, who had understood what I meant by my earlier words, faced right. She drew her pistol and aimed it at the two bikers. Two bullets, and the two bikers were down.
Vigilante (23/100) (+1)
Sharpshooter (3/100) (+1)
Those notifications were enough proof that I killed the biker I shot.
Now, only Derek remained alive.
We drove around for a few minutes but couldn't find him.
I suddenly thought of something and drove immediately towards the exit. My hunch was correct. I saw Derek passing by the gate.
It seemed he discovered that the rest of his remaining subordinates were already cold and decided to bail out.
I increased the speed and followed behind. In a minute, we caught up to him.
"Isabella, tell your dog to stop," Derek shouted in panic when he saw us getting near him. "It will not be suitable for either of our gangs if we kill each other for no reason. We can't afford a gang war."
But all he got was a mocking smirk from us.
"Isabella, don't be so vindictive. Yes, we ambushed you, but you have already killed all my men. That should be enough compensation," Derek continued hurriedly. His voice was getting tenser with each word. "I will not hold you responsible for their deaths. So, how about we call a truce?"
"Hey, Kevin?" Instead of answering Derek, Isabella called me out. She asked with a mock curious expression, "What did you call them earlier?"
I played along and said, "Oh, that? I called them rusty worms."
"Right? I guess that name suits them better. Cuz, they don't live up to the name of Iron Serpents," Isabella said and started laughing. I joined in the laughter.
"You? YOU??" Derek was so pissed he couldn't even form a perfect sentence.
In that moment when Derek lost his focus due to rage, Isabella shot his left leg from behind twice. One pierced the back of his knee, and the other his ankle.
"Aaah," Derek screamed and fell off the bike. He was lying on the road, howling in pain, but we didn't go near him to finish the job.
"You filthy swines," Derek bellowed in rage and pain and took out his gun. That was what we were waiting for, because we knew he still had a gun that he used to shoot Eduardo earlier.
But the moment he pulled out his gun, Isabella immediately shot his hand, and the gun fell to the side. Derek howled again, clutching his bleeding palm.
We got off the bike and came near Derek. Isabella took off his helmet. His face was covered with rage, pain, humiliation, and fear.
Just as Isabella was about to shoot him in the head, I interrupted her, "Stop."
Isabella didn't shoot and instead looked at me curiously. The playful expression on my face on looking at Derek lying like a half-dead dog turned serious.
"Let me kill him," I said with a no-nonsense tone.
Isabella frowned, hearing that. She neither agreed nor denied. "Why?" She asked.
I narrowed my eyes, and Isabella immediately showed a wary expression seeing that.
Is she thinking that I will take her credit?
"If you are worried about me taking your credit?" I started. "Then don't. I have no interest in that."
I took a deep breath. "He made me feel some emotions that I didn't want to feel. So, now I gotta return the favor to him."
Isabella still didn't answer. With each second, I felt my irritation rising.
"Fine," Isabella finally said.
I took out my pistol and put it to Derek's forehead. "Any last words?"
"No, no, no. Wait, wait, wait," Derek said in panic. "You don't have to do this. I can see you are a talented person, especially in your bike driving skills. You will definitely fit in with us. Let me go, and I promise I will personally request the boss to give you a high position. You can get both money and bitches. Hell, if you help me, you can even take Isabella as—"
His words were stopped midway as I pulled the trigger, and the bullet pierced his head.
"He talked too much," I said, putting back the gun.
"Nice shot," Isabella commented with a slight grin. Then she did the unexpected.
Isabelle leaned and kissed me on the lips. But the kiss was too short.
"A reward for your earlier performance," Isabella said with a smile.
Seriously? I save her life, and she gives me a charity kiss.
My hand found her waist; a quick pull brought her against me. She gasped, eyes wide, and I silenced her with a fierce kiss.
The whole time of the kiss, Isabella continued struggling in my arms. But at the same time, it didn't look like she was actively avoiding the kiss. Finally, I had had enough of her squirming and released her lips.
"You think one kiss gives you the right to touch me? Let go, or you'll be lying next to Derek," Isabella threatened with rage in her voice.
My patience was thinning, and her words pushed it to the breaking point.
"Stay still." My tone was calm, but it cut through her anger like a blade. I looked down at her without a hint of emotion.
The moment I spoke, a shiver ran through Isabella's body before her tension melted away, and her body went limp. I drew her in again, and this time, she didn't resist. The kiss deepened, her defiance gone—she moved with me, matching my rhythm.
When I finally let her go, her face was flushed and her breathing uneven. The severity in my expression faded into a smirk. She harrumphed and turned away, refusing to meet my eyes.
Well, look at that. So that's what she likes—cold, ruthless, commanding.
After our makeout session, Isabella left to call Reina and explain what had happened, and I used the time to check a bunch of notifications.
I got two notifications right after I killed Derek.
Killed an important individual at least one minor grade above. Assassin mission activated.
Title: Assassin
Description: Assassinate important people at least one minor grade above
Objective 1: Assassinate 5 people
Reward: Perception (F3), Agility (F3)
Objective 2: Assassinate 12 people
Reward: Passive Skill: Danger Sense, Active Skill: Hunter's Mark
Objective 3: Assassinate 25 people
Reward: Perception (E1), Agility (E1)
Important people? As the top lieutenant of the Iron Serpent MC, which was one of the owners of Newark's underworld, he should be significant enough. And with his F3 grade, killing him satisfied the mission's unlock condition.
It had fewer numbers to kill than the Vigilante or Sharpshooter missions, and it doubled rewards. At first glance, it might look like this mission was too easy with abundant rewards, but it was not the case.
While the Vigilante mission had the requirement to kill serious criminals, and the Sharpshooter mission required killing with a firearm, this mission had two requirements. One was to kill an important person, and that person must be at least one minor grade above me. Just like how at F2, I killed the F3 Derek.
The main difficulty would be finding individuals who met both requirements. Each target must matter: politicians in power, prominent businessmen, scientists, actors, high-ranking military officers, criminals in key positions within major gangs, and many more.
But how many would be above me in grade? And as I would get stronger, it would be harder and harder to find anyone who matched the requirements,
I checked the second notification.
Mission: Betrayal's Price (Completed)
Description: The cartel finally found out the rat who sold the details of their cigar shipment to their rival, Iron Serpent MC. Accompany Isabella to take down the traitor.
Reward: $200, More missions from Reina
Hidden Objective 1: Isabella survives the ambush. (Completed)
Reward: $10000
Hidden Objective 2: Kill Derek, Iron Serpent MC lieutenant. (Completed)
Reward: $20000, Gunkata Martial Arts Manual (Equilibrium)
Finally, a decent payout.
And that manual? Now we're talking. Time to learn how to shoot with style.
Lastly, I check the last notification. I got this one right after my strength stat reached F3. The notification was too long, so I had ignored it at that time.
Requirements satisfied: Peak Human Threshold (F3) achieved in three physical stats.
The streets remember only those who bleed for their throne.
Commence your graduation trial — prove whether you are predator or prey.
Main Mission Unlocked: Trial by Blood
Trial by Blood
Primary Objectives: Survive for 48 hours in Hell's Kitchen and complete the following objectives:
1. Eliminate three gang outposts (safe houses). Each must be from a different gang.
2. Kill at least thirty gang members, at least from three different gangs, and at least 10 per gang.
3. Annihilate one gang.
Rewards:
1. System Upgrade: Territory Management Module
2. X-Gene Awakening
Bonus Objective: Complete the mission without using firearms.
Bonus Reward: Soryu Style Inheritance Stone (Akaza, Demon Slayer)
Failure Consequence: The mission and all its rewards will be permanently locked and inaccessible.
Note:
1. Once accepted, the mission must be completed within the designated timeframe.
2. Stats will be capped at F3 during the mission time.
3. All physical skills will be capped at the Expert level during the mission time.
4. All mystical and superhuman skills will be sealed during the mission.
5. The objectives must be completed without external assistance.
I have an X-Gene?!
Somewhere in a secret hideout:
Three people were sitting across a table, two on one side and one on the other.
The two who were sitting together were a man and a woman.
The man was dressed in a tight blue bodysuit with jagged purple patterns. The hands and feet of his suit were of a similar purple, contrasting against the lighter blue of the rest. The mask covered his entire head, leaving only his white eye lenses visible. The suit's glossy surface gave him a slick, almost wet look.
The woman, on the other hand, didn't cover her face. She was dressed in a white, high slit halter dress with snake patterns. The outfit exposed her legs and the side of her hips. Her arms and lower legs were covered in white wrappings, with green, high heels adorning her feet and coiled snake armlets adorning her arms. She had straight black hair with blunt bangs. Her expression was calm but slightly seductive.
On the other hand, the man sitting in front of them was wearing a black, sleeveless biker jacket with snake tattoos on his arms. He had messy blonde hair with a thick mustache. His explosive muscles were visible in his exposed arms, thick veins running down them.
"Eel, Asp, I told you that the mission will be a success. I sent Derek for the job, and he is one of my best men. We will hear the news of his success any minute now," the biker said with a relaxed smile.
"Iron Serpent, it will be suitable for you if you don't mess up this time. The leader is already displeased with you after your previous failure, despite the funds and resources we provided to you to buy those cops in your competitor's backyard," the man in the blue suit said.
"But Eel, you can't blame me for that. I didn't even know how that bitch found out about our plans. If we had proceeded with it, we could have captured at least 30% of her businesses and crippled another 30%," Iron Serpent explained.
Of course, Iron Serpent didn't know all of his plans went up in smoke because the new precinct captain, whom he got appointed to the precinct nearest to Reina's base of operations after bribing plenty of higher officials, terminated an old and useless janitor. The janitor not only lost his stable job but also the cartel support because he lost his worth as their informer.
That bitter janitor, to have his revenge against the new captain, whom he had already found out was corrupt, spent all his waking moments of his life collecting every piece of evidence against him. Using his decades-long contacts as the precinct janitor, he amassed enough evidence after months of hard work to either regain his position in the cartel or sell it to the highest bidder, earning enough money to retire to an island.
"What's the use of explaining yourself now?" Asp said with a mocking smirk. "You do realize that you are still just a temporary member of the Serpent Society, right? And with your current actions, your chances of becoming a permanent member are only decreasing."
"Asp, don't tell me what I already know," Iron Serpent said with a straight face. "The leader is supporting me to take over Newark's underworld, and I will live up to the leader's expectations."
Before Iron Serpent could say anything more, they heard knocking sounds from the door.
Iron Serpent showed an expected expression. "Come in," he said, already anticipating the good news.
The biker who entered the room suddenly felt weak under the combined gazes of the three people. Moreover, with the news he was about to deliver, he felt even weaker in his legs, as each step felt heavy like he was walking in a quagmire.
"Boss," the biker said hesitantly, his throat moving as he gulped nervously.
"Has Derek killed Isabella?" Iron Serpent asked in anticipation.
The biker stayed silent, with his head down. He didn't know how to break the news to his boss.
"Speak!" Iron Serpent barked, slamming his fist on the table.
On the other side of the table, Asp and Eel exchanged a glance; both had already sensed the answer.
"Did he fail?" Eel asked sternly.
"What the fuck are you saying, Eel? There is no way Derek can fail to kill a single person with so many men and equipment," Iron Serpent roared. He turned back to the biker, and this time his voice dropped to a threatening low. "Say, what happened?"
The biker knew he couldn't stall anyone; his face was already covered in cold sweat. He said in a trembling voice, "B-boss, D-Derek is dead. All of them. Everyone who went with him… they're gone."
Hearing this news, the room froze. Not just the Iron Serpent; even the Eel and the Asp were shocked.
"Did Isabella bring the cartel members with her, or did the gang take advantage of the fight?" Asp asked with a frown, her eyes narrowed.
The biker was now even more nervous. "N-no, ma'am. There was only one other man. Just… just one, with Isabella."
"Bullshit," Iron Serpent roared. "Isabella is capable but not capable enough to fight a small army on her own while locked in a cage."
After he paused, he thought of something and asked, "What about Isabella? After fighting them, she should be dead too. Even if she is not, she shouldn't be far from it. We can send more men to finish the job."
Now, the biker wished nothing more than to just disappear from the room. But his wish was to remain unfulfilled, and he had no choice but to continue the report. "Our men saw her leaving with the other cartel member unharmed on one of our bikes. Even if they are injured, it isn't by much, as seen from their relaxed expressions."
The report ended with a gunshot. The biker died before he hit the ground.
Smoke curled from Iron Serpent's pistol. His breathing was heavy, his face pale.
"How…" he muttered, staring at the blood pooling on the floor. "How's that possible?"
Eel and Asp said nothing; they only showed him disdainful looks. They didn't believe that just two people could kill so many gangsters. Isabella should have had backup with her, and the ambush might have been evolved into a gang fight. Derek and his subordinates' skills were so poor that they all died.
Contrary to their expressions, Iron Serpent felt fear. Fear of the leader's wrath.