Chapter 122: Close Quarters? Close My Foot! (Two-in-One)

"Rat-tat-tat!"

"Stop wasting your ammo. You won't hit them."

Zhou Shu reached out and pressed down on the barrel of the soldier's rifle. The soldier was anxious. "But, Team Leader Zhou..."

"Enough. My battle plan isn't over yet. Just don't move around and ruin it."

Hearing this, the soldiers immediately stopped. A plan? They had all seen Zhou Shu "instantly kill" four enemies just moments ago; if this was part of that same plan, their chances of survival had increased significantly. It was even possible they might achieve the "total annihilation" goal Zhou Shu had mentioned earlier. With this in mind, they became even more obedient than they had been at the start of the mission.

In truth, Zhou Shu didn't have a plan. He simply didn't want these four soldiers to die protecting him. He had hidden his true abilities to give the enemy a "surprise"—to kill them, not to send his teammates to their deaths.

As he had said, their bullets were indeed failing to hit Kuri Kaori and Wu Xinghe. As powerhouses in the late third stage, nearing the fourth, they were too fast for standard soldiers to track. Four men with four rifles were no threat; even a larger squad wouldn't have been. Unless they were using large-caliber, high-load tungsten-core rounds, standard ammunition would do little more than graze them.

Seeing the soldiers stop, Kuri Kaori assumed Zhou Shu had given up, believing everything was under her control. She felt like playing with her food.

"Mr. Zhou," she said with a smile, "if you kill your four subordinates, I can let bygones be bygones and give you another chance. How about it?"

She hadn't even wiped the blood off her face. She was usually quite pretty, but her current smile looked hideous, so Zhou Shu gave her absolutely no face. Of course, he hadn't given her any before, either.

"Heh."

With a chuckle, Zhou Shu signaled his stance. He set his empty sniper rifle aside and drew his military dagger. This clear intention to engage in close-quarters combat stunned both the enemies and his four teammates.

The soldiers were a bit more composed, knowing Zhou Shu was a Demon Slayer. Though his professional designation was "Sniper," and he required their protection, that was only for when he was occupied with his scope and unable to monitor his surroundings. Their orders were to protect Zhou Shu and retreat if danger arose, but the briefings never suggested Zhou Shu’s physical abilities were "poor." In their eyes, as an esper and a Demon Slayer, he had to be stronger than them—how else could he handle a heavy sniper rifle so fluidly, with almost no recoil?

Compared to the "layman" soldiers, Kuri Kaori and Wu Xinghe were true experts, and they had intelligence sources... or rather, they did, until they glanced at the bodies on the ground. But that didn't matter; the source was useless now anyway.

In their estimation, as a Demon Slayer who had joined the Demon Suppression Bureau less than two months ago, Zhou Shu was at best a C-rank esper, nowhere near their A-rank level. They assumed he was merely putting on a brave front, doing what any Great Qin soldier would do: fight to the death.

This convinced Kuri Kaori that there was no way to make him surrender, so she decided to kill him herself. As she prepared to strike, Wu Xinghe suddenly blocked her path, smiling with his weathered face. "Miss Kaori, let me handle this. I'll make sure he dies in agony."

Kuri Kaori glanced at him and let him proceed. The operation had been a disaster, and she needed to see what these "teammates" were really made of.

Seeing her consent, Wu Xinghe grew spirited. He wasn't in a hurry to kill Zhou Shu, nor did he use his superior speed and agility to close the distance instantly. Instead, he walked over slowly.

"Zhou Shu, is it? It's a shame you chose the wrong path. No one can refuse Miss Kaori's kindness, so I'm afraid I have to kill you."

"Heh, stop acting like a master, you old simp. Look at your Miss Kaori—does she even care about you? She can't be bothered because you're too ugly. If I had your face, I'd have walked into a wall and died long ago." Zhou Shu gripped his dagger, trash-talking.

"You..."

Zhou Shu’s words hit a nerve. Wu Xinghe had always been ugly, leading to a life of rejection by women, which had twisted into an abnormal obsession. Even now, as a powerful A-rank esper, he hadn't shed that insecurity; it had only worsened. Compared to the handsome Zhou Shu, his ugliness was magnified, and he was enraged.

"Heh, you're young, but your tongue is sharp. I'll make sure you’re a hideous corpse!"

Dropping the master act, Wu Xinghe pushed off the ground and flashed toward Zhou Shu. His movement was so fast that the four soldiers behind Zhou Shu couldn't react. By the time they instinctively went to raise their rifles, Wu Xinghe was already at Zhou Shu's side; firing now would hit their own teammate.

True to his word, Wu Xinghe transformed mid-leap into a grey-skinned monster, his claws swiping directly at Zhou Shu’s face. He wanted to shred him into a monster before killing him. He had completely miscalculated Zhou Shu’s strength, thinking he was just a C-rank rookie with stats barely over 100, whereas he, an A-rank powerhouse, had all stats over 300.

He held back, wanting to torture Zhou Shu before letting him see his own ruined face in a reflection.

But Zhou Shu was no longer a rookie. Wu Xinghe’s strength and agility were around 3.2 and 3.4, and Zhou Shu’s own stats were nearing 3.0. Furthermore, Zhou Shu was defending, not attacking. Having absorbed the essence energy from the four monsters he had killed earlier, he had grown stronger, and his absorption method had improved—he no longer needed physical contact.

He hadn't maxed out his stats yet, but he didn't need to. He wanted to test himself against an evil esper of this caliber. He remained wary, however; his danger-sensing system was still pinging. There was something more to this old man. What if he was a psychic powerhouse? He could try to "blow some wind" to mess with the old man's head, but the old man might just crush him with his own power.

As the claws swiped, Zhou Shu thrust his dagger toward Wu Xinghe’s arm. The force behind it was immense, creating a shrill whistle through the air. Wu Xinghe realized his mistake—this was not the speed or power of the man in his intelligence report.

*I've been played!*

A veteran A-rank, Wu Xinghe twisted in mid-air, retracting his claws and flashing to the side. But Zhou Shu was ready; he drew a second dagger with his free hand and slashed. Caught off guard by the second blade, Wu Xinghe took a deep cut to his forearm.

Before Zhou Shu could capitalize, Wu Xinghe ignored the pain and grabbed his arm. A sharp, burning pain surged through Zhou Shu, and white smoke began to rise from where the monster's claws touched his skin.

"Toxic!"

Wu Xinghe opened his mouth and spat a cloud of vapor directly at Zhou Shu’s face. Thanks to his warning system, Zhou Shu dodged, though he still felt a burning sensation and a wave of dizziness.

*Little Hunt, max out all stats!*

In an emergency, he pushed his stats to the limit, his Constitution skyrocketing to 3.39. He had only inhaled a trace of the poison, so it was enough. With his strength now exceeding Wu Xinghe’s, he ripped his arm free from the monster's grasp and drove his other dagger toward Wu Xinghe’s head.

Wu Xinghe, stunned by the sudden surge of strength, barely managed to drop to a crouch and retreat.

In one exchange, Zhou Shu had two smoking, bloody handprints on his arm, and Wu Xinghe had a dagger embedded in his own.

"Damn it! The intel was wrong! This kid is at least A-rank! Let's take him together!" Wu Xinghe shouted, retreating to Kuri Kaori’s side.

Kuri Kaori’s face turned grim. "Agreed!"

As they rushed him again, Zhou Shu realized he was a fool for even attempting close-quarters combat.

*Extract Elite Power Exoskeleton Sniper Rifle!*

A monstrous, oversized sniper rifle materialized in his hands. Kuri Kaori and Wu Xinghe froze in confusion.

*Where did that come from? And why is it so big?*

Then, they saw two flashes of fire at the muzzle.

In that moment, it felt as if they, too, had entered "bullet time." They watched two massive rounds hurtling toward them, aimed squarely at their foreheads.

Then, everything went black. They barely heard the two shots before they knew nothing more. They would never understand where Zhou Shu had hidden that rifle.