Chapter 187: Dark Boundless Realm 42
In the Midnight District, West Street.
By the time Kui Xin arrived here, night had already fallen. The street was lit up, with lights of various colors illuminating shop signs written in different languages flickering along the roadway.
Most of the storefronts had metal facades pieced together with rivets, a simple light hanging above being considered decorous. In rainy weather, the metal easily rusted, leaving behind rows of reddish-brown stains that looked filthy and worn.
“West Street is the mechanical parts recycling wholesale area,” He Kangshi whispered. “Further out, there’s a large scrap yard, piled high with Garbage Mountain. People go there to scavenge for old parts, refurbish them, and then those parts flow back into the market. If you sift through here, you might just find some treasure.”
“Is that small gang in charge here?” Kui Xin asked.
“Yes,” He Kangshi confirmed. “It’s highly profitable. The better parts enter the market at new part prices, allowing for huge profits. That gang controls several shops that buy and sell mechanical parts.”
Kui Xin’s electronic eye scanned the entire street, precisely locking onto the few shops mentioned by He Kangshi. Those shops were connected in a row and were very easy to recognize, situated right in the middle of the street.
“Are there any rules for gang fights around here?” Kui Xin inquired.
“There are no real rules. If one side is completely wiped out, the territory and assets controlled by their men will be taken over by the other side. If both sides suffer heavy losses, a third party may emerge to benefit from the chaos. Such things happen all the time here; it’s dangerous, but the rules are simple,” He Kangshi explained. “Whoever has the bigger fist can defend their assets and claim power. Small gangs rely on large ones, while large gangs have ambiguous interests with the high-ranking individuals in the Poleward District…”
Kui Xin asked, “Which large gang does this small one rely on?”
“Valeri from the Freelancers’ Garage. His brother is involved in smuggling mechanical prosthetics…”
Kui Xin recalled, “You mentioned before that his brother rules the Midnight District and seems to have ties with powerful figures in the Poleward District.”
“That’s right. However, compared to Valeri’s gang, this gang before us is not even worth noticing. They won’t care if this gang disappears, as long as we pay our protection fees on time, they won’t bother us. After all, such things happen all the time; gangs disappear weekly, and new ones rise up.”
“Alright then, let’s go,” Kui Xin said, stepping forward. However, she halted suddenly. “Oh, by the way, how’s your management ability? Do you have any experience?”
“I… um…” He Kangshi began. “My grandma runs a small convenience store, and I often helped out at the cash register when I was in elementary school. Does that count as management experience?”
Kui Xin thought for a moment and replied, “I suppose it barely qualifies…”
Noticing that Kui Xin’s steps were steady, He Kangshi felt his own tension ease a bit. He touched the weapon at his waist and adjusted the bulletproof vest beneath his clothing, silently bolstering his courage.
He straightened his back and followed behind Kui Xin, adopting an imposing demeanor.
The dirty glass revealed a store filled with various metal parts, from large mechanical prosthetics shaped like limbs to tiny screws. The shelves on both sides of the shop were crammed full, giving a precarious feeling as if they might topple at any moment. The bright incandescent lights illuminated the metallic items, which reflected a silvery sheen that was almost blinding.
As Kui Xin arrived at the entrance of the mechanical parts shop, she paused for two seconds without moving.
He Kangshi, keenly aware of his role as a subordinate, hurriedly stepped forward, lifting his leg to kick the door in. He mentally rehearsed in his mind which kicking motion would be the most powerful and impressive.
Kui Xin looked at He Kangshi, confused by his sudden eagerness, and extended her arm to push him aside, as if finding him a nuisance.
He Kangshi was equally perplexed, thinking she wanted to kick the door herself, so he stepped aside with understanding.
But Kui Xin did not kick the door; instead, under He Kangshi’s tense gaze, she extended her hand… and politely pressed the doorbell.
“Ding-dong… ding-dong…”
In the sudden, crisp sound of the electronic doorbell, He Kangshi was stunned.
He thought to himself, sister, we’re here for a fight, why are you being so polite at the door?
The store owner came to answer. Through the dust-laden glass door, He Kangshi instantly recognized him as one of the people who had accidentally killed his friend that night… He immediately became tense, his right hand stealthily moving towards his waist where his gun was.
The shop owner opened the door, revealing a mouthful of gold-plated teeth, warmly greeting Kui Xin, “Are you here to…”
His voice cut off abruptly as Kui Xin raised her suppressor-equipped gun and pressed it against his quivering beer belly.
“Whoosh—”
The bullet fired, exploding a bloodhole in his abdomen.
He collapsed to the ground with a crash, convulsing, his shirt turning crimson with blood. Kui Xin stepped inside, letting the barrel droop as she put another bullet into the head of the shop owner, who hadn’t had time to scream.
Sounds of movement came from the second floor; a store clerk was coming down after hearing what sounded like something falling to the ground below.
However, upon reaching the bottom, he abruptly collided with Kui Xin, who was walking inside.
Kui Xin’s steps were calm as her right hand lifted the gun, firing several shots in quick succession—”Pop, pop, pop.” The clerk’s limbs suddenly sprouted four blood holes, and he let out a scream akin to a slaughtered pig before collapsing.
Kui Xin nodded at He Kangshi. “Close the door.”
He Kangshi snapped out of his daze, instinctively pulling the store’s door closed, isolating the screams from inside. Once the door was secured, he finally registered that both of his hands were trembling, his right hand still poised in a grip on the gun.
But before he even had the chance to draw his weapon, the two individuals in the store had been eliminated.
It had only taken a fleeting moment! The speed was almost unbelievable.
He Kangshi forcibly turned his brain to calm himself, taking several deep breaths and hoarsely saying to Kui Xin, “The store has surveillance…”
“Already disabled by my personal device,” Kui Xin said casually.
This sister truly came to kill; she was well-prepared and wouldn’t let any target escape. There wasn’t a single unnecessary action throughout, and she even calmly ensured a final shot was fired into a downed enemy. He Kangshi stared at the corpse of the shop owner on the ground, then glanced at the still-screaming clerk.
Kui Xin approached the reception desk and rummaged around, quickly finding a communicator. She effortlessly cracked its encryption lock, opened the contact list, dialed a noted number, and then tossed the activated communicator to the clerk.
“Speak up,” Kui Xin ordered, casually pulling over a swivel chair to sit in. “Call for your boss to come save you.”
There weren’t many people in the store, and the actual owner wasn’t present, nor were any of the core members of the small gang, so they could only call for help.
The clerk “cooperatively” began to wail, “Help, boss! Enemies are here! Save me!”
He had no choice but to comply; he genuinely needed someone to rescue him, he wanted to survive.
“How many are there?” a chaotic voice came through the communicator, a deep voice asked.
“Two! Armed!” The clerk finished his statement just as the communicator abruptly disconnected.
The gang leader cursed, “Damn it, just two? Let’s go, brothers, grab your weapons!”
“They can at least bring ten or more people…” He Kangshi felt nervous again.
Kui Xin raised an eyebrow, “Only ten?”
He Kangshi was also taken aback. “Isn’t that a lot? There are only a few large gangs in the Midnight District.”
Just a dozen ordinary people, thought Kui Xin. With her Hypnotic Sound, she could easily take them all down. She didn’t want to expose her ability in front of He Kangshi, but she could also handle them with the gun. According to the Investigation Bureau’s records, she could perform six rapid-fire shots in one second, all effective hits. Given her gun with ample ammunition, she could take out everyone in three seconds.
Tonight, she just happened to bring a modified portable gun with a high bullet capacity, capable of holding twenty-four rounds.
The moans from the floor reminded He Kangshi, and he looked down at the clerk lying in a pool of blood.
“Is he of any use anymore?” He Kangshi asked.
“Not anymore,” Kui Xin replied, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at him.
He Kangshi stared at the person on the ground for a long time, his grip on the gun tightening, his lips pressed together.
Finally, he drew the gun and aimed it at the person’s forehead, pulling the trigger.
Blood spattered, and the person died.
He Kangshi stepped back as if he had lost strength, sweat pouring down his scarred face, his legs trembling like strings of a pipa, but his grip on the gun remained steady.
“You’ve surprised me a bit,” Kui Xin said. “How did you make your decision?”
“I thought it over in the seven days I had at home,” He Kangshi wiped the sweat from his forehead and leaned against a metal shelf, gasping for air and speaking earnestly, “I feel that I can’t be too shameless. I can’t let others charge into battle for me, can’t let others get blood on their hands while I cower behind, acting all ‘innocent and pure’. I’ve known for a long time that I couldn’t avoid getting to this point. If I had the Maotoufu sister avenge me, killing for me while I did nothing, what would I become? My dad said, you can be unkind, but you can’t be too hypocritical… Ugh, my dad is really a great philosopher!”
Kui Xin commented, “Not bad, you have awareness.”
“Maotoufu sister, I think you… are quite skilled,” He Kangshi admitted. “Sorry, I know I shouldn’t ask, but I just…”
“Pushed to grow, that’s all. Every player goes through this; there’s no need to explain,” Kui Xin remarked. “We’re all a combination of misfortune and fortune.”
He Kangshi nodded, his expression complicated, and he didn’t press further.
Before long, the roar of motorbikes echoed from the street.
More than one bike was racing towards them; judging by the sound, there were at least five or six.
The screeching brakes jarred the eardrums as the motorbike tires skidded across the ground, leaving long black streaks behind. On the first two bikes to stop sat two individuals, both holding submachine guns! They didn’t get off but raised their guns to sweep into the shop as soon as their bikes stopped, seemingly intent on wiping everyone out, leaving no survivors, including their captured companion.
He Kangshi hadn’t anticipated such a fierce attack right off the bat. Shocked, he instantly dropped to the ground, wanting to call out to Kui Xin to do the same, but a dark shadow emerged from the store’s shadows, the Shadow Double swiftly expanding into a thin black curtain that intercepted all the incoming bullets.
The black curtain resembled jelly, with the bullets losing momentum as they entered before dropping harmlessly to the ground with a clinking sound.
Kui Xin raised her gun and poked it through the black curtain, creating a small circular hole for shooting.
She squeezed the trigger, and the bullets erupted, instantly exploding two bloody flowers on the heads of the biker duo.
Kui Xin got up from the swivel chair and walked towards the shop entrance.
The Shadow Double morphed into a humanoid form, its arms transforming into sharp, jet-black spikes.
About a dozen gang members holding standard weapons attempted to rush into the store. Yet, each time they peeked up, bullets flew towards them. After two or three successive exchanges, the gang members no longer dared to expose themselves. When Kui Xin stepped to the shop door, she realized some small-time thugs had already mounted their bikes and were fleeing in the distance.
As another attempted to escape, Kui Xin shot twice, interrupting his legs, and asked amiably, “Who’s your boss? Has he arrived?”
The gang member, down with broken legs, lay on the ground, tears streaming down his face. “The two who used the submachine guns first!”
Kui Xin responded, “Oh.”
The Shadow Double sunk into the ground and swiftly cut the gang member’s throat.
