Translator: AnubisTL
"Indeed," Chen Jiang nodded, pulling a hand cannon from his chest—the one that had been his longest companion.
"What do you think of this gun?"
"This one?" The arena master's eyes flickered with confusion, unsure of the question's intent, but he instinctively offered a compliment: "Not bad."
"Not bad, huh?" Chen Jiang nodded again, then, right in front of the arena master, he expertly loaded the hand cannon, turned sideways, and pressed the muzzle against the arena master's forehead.
"Good enough."
He pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The entire sequence flowed seamlessly, without the slightest pause.
As the gunshot echoed, the arena master's head exploded like a balloon filled with crimson pulp, bursting instantly.
Dead!
Even in his final moments, the arena master hadn't grasped that Chen Jiang would suddenly open fire.
One moment they were chatting, the next a gunshot rang out, and a life was extinguished.
Simultaneously, a notification chimed in Chen Jiang's ear:
[Ding! Congratulations on successfully eliminating a mechanical race player.]
[Since the human and mechanical races are at war, you have been awarded one Merit Point.]
[The human player Merit Point leaderboard and Merit Point exclusive shop have been unlocked.]
As the hand cannon in Chen Jiang's hand boomed, the six security guards who had just straightened up ten paces away instantly paled.
Trouble!
Almost instinctively, they chambered rounds in their weapons, whirled around, and prepared to fire at Chen Jiang and Scar Dog, who stood behind them.
But it was too late.
In a battlefield where the first to shoot usually wins, a hasty reaction could never match the speed of Scar Dog, who had already raised his shotgun behind them.
Though the guards moved swiftly, Scar Dog was faster.
His shotgun roared almost simultaneously with Chen Jiang's hand cannon.
Charging toward the guards with a ferocious grin, Scar Dog raised his shotgun and repeatedly pulled the trigger.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The muffled blasts echoed across the mechanical bodies of the armed security guards.
Chen Jiang wasted no time either.
The moment he downed the arena master, he dropped the hand cannon, gripped his rifle with both hands, braced the stock against his shoulder, aimed at the guards, and began a rhythmic burst fire.
In the game of Go, there's a famous theory: the first player to move is guaranteed to win.
Similarly...
The security guards offered no meaningful resistance before collapsing into pools of blood.
The entire exchange lasted only a few seconds.
The two sides operated on entirely different mental planes.
Chen Jiang's group had planned to kill on sight, seizing the initiative with full knowledge of the situation.
The guards, completely unaware of what was happening, instinctively turned to confront the gunfire, but it was already too late.
One side was driven by a will to kill, the other by a desperate desire to survive.
Having lost the element of surprise, the guards were doomed from the start.
After the bodies lay still in the blood, Scar Dog licked his slightly dry lips, hefted his shotgun, and strode to within a few feet of the corpses. He fired several shots into their heads, ensuring they were beyond any possible recovery.
Only then did he approach Chen Jiang.
He dared not get too close for the final shots. Ever since spotting the glorious bullet on the walkie-talkie, he'd grown wary of any last-ditch suicide tactics the guards might employ.
Meanwhile, Chen Jiang had already finished off the arena master lying in the blood.
At that moment, an alarm began blaring from the arena master's wrist device.
The alarm blared, slightly grating but utterly meaningless—just a siren.
"Brother Jiang, it looks like the enforcers from City 18 will be here soon," Scar Dog said, shrugging and idly twirling his shotgun before speaking.
"Hmm," Chen Jiang nodded, showing little surprise.
The wasteland arena was connected to the Law Enforcement Bureau's alarm system, allowing for manual activation. It also automatically triggered upon the arena master's death.
Chen Jiang could have used his methods to subdue the arena master and others, preventing the automatic alarm. But that would have been too troublesome, even life-threatening in the wilderness, where survival was paramount.
Besides, he couldn't directly attack City 18—he simply lacked the strength. Luring out their forces first and eliminating some would make clearing out the mechanical race's small city much easier.
"Alright," Chen Jiang glanced at the mountain of semi-scrapped items before him, his eyes gleaming with excitement. A smile tugged at his lips. "Time to get to work."
"Let's prepare a grand surprise for those enforcers who are on their way."
This stockpile of semi-scrapped items was enough to upgrade his turret to a terrifying level.
Scar Dog rolled up his sleeves, grinned, and strode toward the mountain of scrap.
What's the hardest murder case to solve?
It wasn't a locked-room mystery or a high-IQ murder case.
It was a random killing.
No motive, no animosity, no connection between the victim and the killer—just a desolate wilderness with no surveillance.
Pass by, kill, and leave.
The case became an unsolvable cold case.
This principle applied equally to the wilderness.
The best way to kill someone was to point a gun at their head without showing any hostility and pull the trigger.
The gunshot rang out, and the person died.
This was a lesson they had learned through multiple near-death experiences in the wilderness.
Just like putting an elephant in a refrigerator—it only takes three steps.
Killing someone also only takes three steps:
Raise the gun, aim, pull the trigger.
Any additional steps were not only cumbersome but also risked putting oneself in danger, leading to unforeseen consequences.
And in the wilderness...
Unforeseen consequences often meant death.
At that moment, Chen Jiang and his companion were working like assembly line workers, using semi-scrapped items to enhance their turret.
Their first priority was increasing the ammunition capacity.
The turret's current capacity of 5,000 rounds was sufficient for small-scale engagements, but inadequate for larger battles.
They had already enhanced the Steel Sword Autonomous Turret's ammunition capacity to +4, bringing it to 5,000 rounds.
Their next step was naturally to continue enhancing it.
[Ding! Consumed seven one-star items.]
[Upgraded the ammunition capacity of the two-star item Steel Sword Autonomous Rotating Turret to +5.]
[Ammunition capacity increased from 5,000 rounds to 6,000 rounds.]
[...]
[Ding! Consumed twelve one-star items.]
[Upgraded the ammunition capacity of the two-star item Steel Sword Autonomous Rotating Turret to +10.]
[Ammunition capacity increased from 10,000 rounds to 11,000 rounds.]
[Ding! The ammunition capacity of the Steel Sword Autonomous Rotating Turret has been enhanced to +10!]
[Enhanced Set Skill triggered!]
[When all enhanceable options of the Steel Sword Autonomous Rotating Turret have been enhanced to +10,]
[you will obtain the Exclusive Enhanced Set Skill!]
(End of the Chapter)
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