Chapter 2: Bizarre World
Su Lun was bound to a chair, his palms pierced by daggers, rendering him apparently immobile. However, unnoticed by the others due to his previous struggle, the ropes binding his arms had loosened, giving him just enough room to withdraw his hands. Testing his mobility, he felt a surprising swell of muscle strength, an unexpected windfall: “Hmm, was the original owner trained? This body’s foundation is incredibly solid. The calluses on the index finger and the base of the thumb suggest extensive firearms training, no wonder these guns feel so familiar.”
Impatience getting the better of him, the c**katoo-haired man slapped Su Lun’s face hard and barked, “Kid, if you don’t talk now, believe me, I’ll kill you right here!”
They were very close, and the abductor seemed to completely disregard his injured prey as a threat, totally off guard.
Blood seeped from the corner of Su Lun’s mouth, but his heart was free of fear.
The musket was close enough; the dagger was sharp enough; his physical condition was robust enough to support sudden, intense movement. All conditions were met!
Kill me?
A cold chuckle echoed in his mind.
In an unfathomable act of desperation, Su Lun showed no hesitation as he jerked his right hand back. A chilling ripping sound ensued as the blade, which happened to pierce between the bones of his little finger and ring finger, tore through the flesh, sending an arc of blood spraying forward.
“???”
This action dumbfounded the onlooker with the c**katoo haircut. He watched his trousers get splattered with blood, his eyes widening in shock, still unable to process what had just happened.
Did this kid just rip through his own palm to free himself from the dagger’s grip?
The c**katoo-headed man immediately sensed danger, his mind screaming trouble!
But it was already too late.
With a sinister grin, Su Lun paid no mind to the searing pain in his hands. Despite the gruesome wounds, his thumb, index, and middle fingers could still exert force. With one hand free, he wouldn’t give his enemies a chance to react.
Swift as lightning, he reached forward and snatched the c**katoo man’s silver revolver from its holster. A sense of familiarity rose within him. Without hesitation, Su Lun aimed the gun at his chest and pulled the trigger.
As the “click” of the hammer striking the bullet’s primer resonated, Su Lun recognized that the firing mechanism of these revolvers was no different from those in his previous world.
He had bet correctly! The simpler the firearm, the simpler its action.
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
Two thunderous shots reverberated through the room.
Bullets tore through the front of the c**katoo head, “thump, thump,” exiting the back in two fist-sized holes, ending his life instantly.
Warm blood sprayed across Su Lun’s face, adding a ghastly ferocity to his visage.
The silver revolver’s power was unexpectedly fierce, and Su Lun used the recoil to help throw himself backwards.
The other thug, the smoky-eyed bald brute, was equally startled by the sudden turn of events.
The prey they thought they could easily crush had revealed a brutal side. Witnessing the two large holes in his accomplice’s back from the bullets, the bald man realized too late that the hunted had become a bloodthirsty wolf.
“Damn it!”
He cursed within as he sprang to reaction.
As Su Lun’s gun pointed at him once more, he instinctively lifted his steam-driven mechanical arm, aiming its barrel forward and pulling the trigger.
A massive “boom” shook the entire study.
Instead of a flash from gunpowder, it was a “high-pressure air shot” that blasted from the cannon.
Su Lun, as if a step ahead, had already twisted to avoid the deadly trajectory of the shot. The sound of the bullet slicing air flew by, the high-pressure round piercing through the corner of the chair, “crack!” burrowing into the floor, leaving a bowl-sized hole before vanishing.
Although he dodged the direct hit, the projectile’s airflow still grazed him, shattering the chair leg, and the resulting friction shredded the ropes and a patch of flesh from Su Lun’s leg.
Like countless sharp blades, the wounds burned fiercely.
As the chair hit the ground, he moved.
Su Lun’s decision to act took less than half a minute from waking to execute. Though it seemed hasty, it was a calculated risk.
Before the fight, Su Lun had noticed the bald man’s mechanical arm, with its crude bearings and gear transmissions, was not very agile; its aiming response time was much slower than that of human reflexes.
Moreover, Su Lun anticipated that after killing the c**katoo head, the bald bruiser would instinctively strike back immediately. The cannon’s aim would surely follow the trajectory towards the chair’s initial position. Predicting this, the chance of evasion was not small.
And if the bald man took too much time to aim accurately, then Su Lun would have enough time to fire again.
Life or death, it was a fifty-fifty chance.
So there was risk, but it was worth the gamble.
This was his only chance to escape.
This was also why Su Lun was determined to violently fight back, despite the risk of maiming his own palm.
Life versus hand; he knew the stakes.
His thoughts raced, yet in reality, it was but an instant.
The jet pierced the floor, but the anticipated explosive impact of the shell did not come.
Su Lun’s expression hardened.
Now!
In an instant, he readjusted from a defensive crouch to a firing position, raising the silver revolver once more, brazenly aiming at the bald thug and pulling the trigger again.
“Bang!”
With a familiar report, the air itself seemed to solidify.
The bullet blazed a long trajectory through the air before aiming precisely at the bald man’s eye.
The blue glow from the muzzle illuminated a face filled with terror; the bald thug had no time to react before the bullet reached his right eye socket.
“It’s done!”
Su Lun licked his lips, seemingly satisfied with his shot.
Unlike the previous close-range double shot that killed the c**katoo head, the massive recoil from this shot sent the gun’s muzzle significantly upward, rendering a second shot aimless.
Furthermore, the recoil tore at the wound on his palm, causing his grip to tremble perilously close to dropping the gun.
But it was enough.
Su Lun was certain his shot was on target, enough to blow the man’s head off.
However…
What he never anticipated was the unexpected anomaly of this seemingly fail-safe shot.
“How is that possible?!”
Su Lun’s pupils contracted in disbelief, unable to comprehend what unfurled before him.
The bullet was aimed at the bald brute’s eye socket, but with a twitch of his head, the man’s crisis reflexes were not weak; as the muzzle flashed, he instinctively dodged.
Tilting his head slightly, the bullet struck his forehead.
Under normal circ*mstances, such large-caliber firepower would have shattered the skull like a watermelon, no matter the point of impact.
But in front of him… nothing happened!
Watching the bewildering scene unfold, Su Lun was stunned.
He saw with his own eyes the bullet hitting the bald man’s forehead, embedding into the skull?
“What’s going on? How can his skull be so hard?!”
In that moment, Su Lun realized he must have entered a world beyond his wildest imaginings.
A world of steam-powered mechanical arms, humans who survive headshots unscathed…
After a moment of shock, Su Lun’s gaze cleared again.
And at that moment, the bald thug, who had taken a bullet to the head and yet remained almost unharmed, glared back at him with venomous eyes.
