Could this guy be that damned Terminator?” A terrifying thought flashed through Quest’s mind, yet he instantly shook it off. Terminators, those ruthlessly mechanical monsters, possessed no human emotion; how could one have momentarily lost focus over a woman being shot point-blank earlier?

With that realization, a grim smile spread across Quest’s face. He tossed aside the empty police-issue pistol in his hand, executed a flawless tactical roll backward for five or six meters, and then wheeled into a hallway.

Where he had been standing moments before, a smoking grenade now lay on the floor.

Fang Senyan’s pupils contracted instantly. The only reason he hadn't feared Quest’s attack was the special effect of his innate ability, "Tenacity." After all, Quest had only used a police pistol against him. Such weapons prioritized threat over lethality during design and manufacturing. Furthermore, Quest’s bending effect would cause the bullet’s trajectory to deflect, reducing kinetic energy.

But that absolutely did not mean Fang Senyan could act with impunity. The higher the incoming damage from the enemy, the more useless his innate ability became. It could be deduced that the instantaneous damage of a grenade surpassed even a close-range shotgun blast. Therefore, facing this predicament, he dared not push forward; he could only retreat. Retreat was his only option!

With a deafening boom and a flash of fire, the choking odor of gunpowder smoke hung heavy in the air. The ground was blasted into debris. Logically, Fang Senyan should have charged out immediately to pursue Quest, but a full five minutes passed before Fang Senyan emerged. However, a door panel, now detached, stood before him, offering him full concealment behind it.

As expected, three more precise shots came, aimed at Fang Senyan’s eyes and groin. Regrettably, the thick door panel blocked them all completely. Quest seemed to panic for a moment, turning to flee down the adjacent corridor. Fang Senyan pursued without hesitation.

Judging by the layout of this hallway, this area was likely similar to VIP booths. Of course, in a place like the Carnival Nightclub, they wouldn't be strictly sticking to singing business. These small rooms were sometimes provided for underground drug dealers to inspect goods, and sometimes for wealthy patrons to indulge in narcotics. The owner skimmed vast, lucrative profits from these transactions.

This hallway was a single passage, only about fifteen meters deep, lined on both sides with eight rooms of varying sizes, all lavishly decorated. Fang Senyan remained utterly cautious, searching the rooms one by one, from left to right. In such a cramped, confined space, Quest, who excelled at ranged combat, was at a significant disadvantage. Fang Senyan had gained a huge edge by forcing him into this environment.

Yet, just as he began searching the third room, the moment Fang Senyan pushed the door open, a chilling sensation washed over his entire body! Clearly, his intuition had activated. Then he heard a slight clatter as something landed on the carpet behind the door.

If Fang Senyan had been an extremely experienced special forces soldier, he would have instantly reacted to what had happened. Clearly, Quest had set up a crude booby-trap behind the door! But at this moment, Fang Senyan’s inexperience caused him to miss the optimal moment to dodge!

Another massive boom echoed, and Fang Senyan felt as if someone had shoved the door panel he was holding heavily. He lost his balance and was blown backward. He felt agonizing pain in his thigh; evidently, the areas not covered by the panel had been struck by shrapnel, resulting in a non-trivial injury.

At that very moment, the door at the end of the hallway sprang open. Quest was crouched in a standard tactical stance, and a cold, sinister light flickered in his slender, triangular eyes. Although he could only move one arm, the arm holding the gun and aiming was rock-steady, not trembling in the slightest.

Even more terrifyingly, the firearm Quest was wielding was none other than that devastatingly powerful .500 Magnum revolver! He had seized the opportunity while Fang Senyan was at his weakest, tossed aside by the booby trap, and emerged silently, striking at the enemy’s vital point like a venomous viper!

Smoke filled the air, completely obscuring Fang Senyan’s vision, but he felt an invisible, immense pressure bearing down on his right eye, making it almost impossible to breathe. He now understood his intuition was at work, warning him that his right eye was about to suffer a terrible assault. He immediately used his legs to push off the ground, leaping backward violently, simultaneously straining to turn his head and raise his right arm to block in front of him.

A dull thud sounded—not loud, but possessing an indescribable penetration, as if the listener’s very mood and internal organs were vibrating with the sound. In that instant, Fang Senyan’s right arm went numb, immediately followed by a sensation as if his forehead had been struck hard by something incredibly solid. His vision went black, and he completely lost his center of gravity, flying backward.

"You have been struck in the head by a .50 inch Magnum round! Causing (127-25) points of damage!"

"The damage to your head exceeds 1/3 of your maximum health! You will experience certain functional impairment!"

"You will suffer an additional 45 points of bleed damage over the next thirty seconds. This damage is not of the direct physical type, so the Tenacity ability will not take effect."

Although the .500’s maximum attack power was only 95 points, factoring in Quest's own agility/passive ability bonus, the damage reached a staggering 127 points. The power of a police firearm was only comparable to hitting someone on the head with a wine bottle, which is why Fang Senyan could push through hard after protecting his head as a vital spot!

Despite the blinding headache, the extreme grogginess, the darkness before his eyes, and the ringing in his ears, Fang Senyan instinctively rolled violently the moment he crashed onto the ground. His hands fumbled, pushing open a slightly ajar door of a nearby booth, and he dove inside for cover. He took several deep breaths, forcing back the spots dancing in his vision, and reached up to touch his head, immediately sucking in a sharp breath of cold air.

That savagely fired bullet had traveled horizontally, striking Fang Senyan on the forehead. However, due to the angle, it deflected upward obliquely after hitting his skull. Even so, a large, palm-sized section of scalp had been brutally peeled from the top of Fang Senyan’s head, the bloody wound extending to the back of his skull! Large patches of stark white bone were exposed! Cracks were clearly visible on the skull bone at the impact point!

It was believed that if he hadn't possessed superhumanly high vitality and his innate ability hadn't negated some of the damage, this single shot would have either blown off half his skullcap or, due to the terrifying instantaneous impact force, caused severe traumatic brain injury!

Blood erupted joyously, instantly staining half of Fang Senyan’s face crimson, making him look terrifyingly savage. Agonizing pain stabbed through the darkness. A trickle of blood seeped from Fang Senyan’s eye corners, nostrils, and ear canals. He squeezed his eyes shut, shrinking back against the wall, gasping for air a few times. Enduring the almost shattering pain in his head, he immediately dragged a sofa from within the room to place in front of him.

This way, even if Quest used that bizarre bending ability again, the threat to him would be greatly reduced. This was because the penetration power of even a .50 inch Magnum round would decay after deflecting off a hard object like a wall, and if it then passed through a thick sofa, the killing power would drop to a level Fang Senyan could withstand.

A stalemate ensued. Fang Senyan certainly didn't dare move out, but Quest also dared not approach the booth door—the agonizing pain radiating from his broken nose and arm served as a harsh warning about the consequences of close combat. Just then, shouts and curses echoed from outside. It sounded like another group of gangsters had come down to investigate. However, after a few rapid gunshots, silence returned; clearly, Quest had switched to another weapon, and his terrifyingly accurate marksmanship had claimed a few more lives.

Seizing this rare opportunity, Fang Senyan, breathing heavily, dragged every movable object in the room—like the television and coffee table—around himself, creating a makeshift barricade, giving the impression that he intended to turtle up inside and never emerge. But after only a few minutes, he suddenly caught a faint scent of burning in his nostrils, followed by intermittent light crackling sounds, causing him to exclaim involuntarily:

"Fire?"

At that moment, a cold and venomous voice drifted from across the way:

"Not a fire. Malicious arson. I started the fire."

The only one capable of speaking such words was Quest, whose marksmanship was supernatural. His voice sounded as if it were being squeezed through his teeth.

"I have you trapped in this dead end. You have only two choices now: either be burned alive, or run out and be shot dead like a dog. Which do you choose? This is the second basement level; only a groundhog could possibly escape. Are you still waiting for someone to save you?"

Facing the enemy's taunts, Fang Senyan remained silent, giving off a stubborn, rock-like impression, treating Quest's psychological warfare as nothing more than nonsense. However, this hallway was decorated with very luxurious, highly flammable materials. Once Quest ignited them with a single spark, the flames quickly shot up, instantly engulfing the entire hallway and spreading with a fierce momentum threatening to consume everything.

.....................

How will the cornered Fang Senyan counterattack? With brains or with muscle? Dare you bet with me that little Fang won't move a finger, only saying two sentences to drive the enemy away? Vote if you trust me! More excitement below! (To be continued. For the latest chapters, please visit: .)

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