Chapter 18 Anchor Hand

Enemies could appear from any direction, so Suren didn't dare to let his guard down.

Suddenly, his ear twitched, and he heard some movement.

Like lightning, he swiftly turned and fired several more shots towards the window.

But these shots hit metal, flashing for a few brief moments.

In that instant of firing, he watched as a figure's "arm" suddenly shot out, grabbed the roof beam, and pulled his entire body up, landing steadily on the fourth floor.

"Retractable iron claw? 'Anchor Hand' Parker, the captain of the Knights District?"

Suren instantly recognized the newcomer's identity when he saw the iconic steam-powered retractable iron claw.

Seeing this person, he was not surprised, but relieved.

Without any courtesy, he immediately launched a probing attack on the figure. However, no matter where the dozen or so bullets hit, there was only a burst of sparks.

Seeing this, Suren muttered to himself, "Tsk, tsk... Just as the legends say, it's hard for a musket to hurt this guy."

.......

After all, he was a captain, and Parker's reaction to the gunfire was extremely fast.

He immediately pinpointed Suren's location in the smoke. With a "click," an iron claw shot out.

Suren was prepared, anticipated the angle of attack, and easily dodged it.

Mechanical prosthetics had strong defense, but their lack of agility was an obvious shortcoming.

The mechanical grappling hook had a distinct sound of steam charging and releasing. Although this time was short, it was difficult for non-professionals to notice and avoid. But for Suren, with his superior hearing and nerve reaction speed, it posed no threat at all.

This was why he didn't even consider removing his implant when facing the same tier of professional.

This hunk of metal was no threat to him!

......

With a "clang," the mechanical iron claw missed its target and tore off a large chunk of cement from the supporting pillar.

Suren was secretly amazed. If that thing grabbed someone, their bones would probably be crushed.

At this moment, thanks to Parker's distraction, nearly twenty Steam Party gang members surged up the stairs.

Those guys didn't know where they got a super-powered blower and blasted the smoke on the fourth floor. Because the dilapidated building was drafty on all sides, the smoke dissipated quickly after this blast.

"Heh..."

Suren raised an eyebrow, finding these mechanical tinkerers quite interesting, actually carrying a blower with them.

Moreover, after only a moment of blowing, Parker exposed Suren's approximate location and shouted, "Seven o'clock, focus fire!"

Hearing this gave Suren time to react.

He calmly took out a bulletproof shield and hid behind a stone pillar, enduring a barrage of bullets.

Seeing that the stone pillar was about to be broken, he wasn't flustered and calmly counted down in his mind: "3, 2, 1..."

The enemies had all come up and reached their predetermined positions. Suddenly, three weird dolls fell from the floor, landing right in the middle of the crowd.

Their cackling laughter seemed to press a pause button on the gunfire in the building.

In an instant, the only sound in the huge floor was that creepy laughter.

Mechanical armor could stop bullets, but it couldn't stop the mental wails!

The [Howling Doll] was almost always effective against non-professionals.

Moreover, it was now an advanced version of the weird doll.

Suren took action again, wielding dual guns.

Although the Steam Party gang members had mechanical parts on their bodies to varying degrees, and had bulletproof helmets and vests, the chance of being hit was relatively low.

But in Suren's eyes, as long as it wasn't full-coverage armor like "Anchor Hand" Parker, there was no difference.

If eyes were exposed, he'd shoot the eyes; if necks were exposed, he'd shoot the necks; if knees were exposed, he'd shoot the knees... As long as there was an exposed area, he would hit it with one shot, accurately.

Suren's eyes were filled with indifference as his dual guns spat fire, mercilessly reaping the lives of these gunmen.

Blood bloomed like fireworks before his eyes.

During the intervals of firing, he could still spare attention to dodge "Anchor Hand" Parker's iron claw.

In just a few breaths, nearly twenty people fell into a pool of blood.

Even if one shot failed to kill, as they fell, bullets would pour in through the gaps in their vests and helmets, delivering accurate finishing blows.

.......

The "Anchor Hand" Parker in the distance was completely stunned by what he saw.

His subordinates were dying one after another, but he could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything.

He realized that the guy with the dual guns had no intention of paying attention to him, completely ignoring the iron claw, mercilessly reaping lives like the Grim Reaper.

Parker was dumbfounded.

He had expected that there would be a "firearm expert" in this dilapidated building, but this guy...

Facing an entire organized squad, not only didn't escape, but dared to ambush them?

Every move was calm and unhurried, never showing any panic from beginning to end. He calmly killed people in the chaos, each shot accurately hitting vital points, so calm that he was almost inhuman.

Was this guy a monster...

This guy wasn't afraid at all when facing a team of them?

Also, what the hell was that terrifying, laughing doll?!

Reality didn't give Parker much time to think. Just as he was shocked, he suddenly watched the monster with dual guns kill all his subordinates, and then turned his gaze over.

Parker secretly thought it was bad and wanted to control the mechanical arm to grab that guy. But, in the instant the micro-steam boiler was still building pressure, he watched the man across from him raise his gun and aim at his head.

A musket?

Even alchemical bullets couldn't break his mask.

But at this moment, Parker looked at that expressionless face and suddenly wasn't so confident.

It shouldn't... break it, right?

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

It sounded like two shots, but he only saw a flash of fire.

Two armor-piercing bullets were connected end-to-end, hitting the same spot almost simultaneously.

In the last moment of his life, Parker watched cracks appear on his mask, and then the bullets poured into his eye sockets, plunging him into eternal darkness.

.......

Suren looked at the hunk of metal falling in front of him and muttered, "My current [Arcane Art - Stacked Shot] proficiency is still a bit勉强 (mianqiang, barely adequate) for hitting agile professionals. But it's perfect for hitting clumsy targets like this."

If another Tier 1 professional came, they might really not be able to do anything to this Parker.

Unfortunately... he met Suren.

Suren showed no emotion on his face after killing a professional of the same tier.

Without delay, he walked over and swallowed the gray mist floating on the corpse.

[Acquired 'Parker Cecil's Memory Fragments *3']

[You obtained some information: 'The delivery date next Friday is coming again. Damn it, the orphans and vagrants in the district have already been caught. This time it's barely enough. Where am I going to get so many people next time...']

[You acquired some 'Intermediate Mechanical Knowledge'...]

[You comprehended some 'Mechanical Prosthetic Modification Technology', Mechanical Manufacturing Proficiency +77]

[You mastered the blueprint [Parker's Mechanical Elastic Telescopic Arm Blueprint]...]

[Spirit +0.11]

"Oh... I actually extracted a complete mechanical blueprint directly? Hehe, the Steam Party guys really have a lot of mechanical knowledge."

Suren had expected to extract mechanical experience from the corpse, but it was the first time he had extracted a mechanical blueprint from a corpse.

But he also heard that this Parker was a well-known inventor in the Steam Party, specializing in the design and modification of mechanical prosthetics. His steam claw was a prosthetic he designed himself, so it made sense that he had the blueprint in his head.

As for the extracted piece of information, it was nonsensical, and Suren didn't care.

After wiping out the squad, he didn't delay and started harvesting souls and picking up the spoils from the corpses on the ground.

.......

On the other hand.

Because Suren had to deal with the group of people who broke into the dilapidated building, without sniper suppression, the Green Street gang led by Kai had fallen into a desperate situation downstairs.

Just as Parker led his men to attack the dilapidated building, the enemies across the alley also began to charge.

Kai's team was being beaten back, and only seven or eight of the forty or fifty people were still intact.

There were more and more enemies, and gunshots were coming from all directions.

Kai knew that there was no point in holding on, and shouted, "Brothers, retreat! Hold on a little longer, our reinforcements should be here soon!"

"Captain, what about you?"

"You go first!"

Kai glanced at the dilapidated building not far away, and hesitation flashed in his eyes and disappeared, and he made a decision instantly.

His best choice now was to slip into the alley and avoid the main force of the enemy. With his speed, it would be difficult for the enemy to catch up without professionals.

But listening to the gunfire coming from the dilapidated building, he knew that Suren was in trouble.

The gunfire hadn't stopped yet, which meant that the person hadn't died yet.

Biting his teeth, he rushed over again.

"You guys go first, find a place to fight a street battle, I'm going to save Suren!"

Listening to the intensity of the gunfire in the building, Kai knew that there were at least twenty or thirty enemies.

He rushed in with an almost certain death mindset, but before he could reach the second floor, he heard the gunfire suddenly stop.

Kai suddenly felt a chill in his heart and thought that Suren was probably in mortal danger.

But he didn't retreat. A fierce light flashed in his eyes, and he quietly groped up, intending to assassinate a few enemies.

Then, on the stairs from the third floor to the fourth floor, he found a few corpses.

Taking a few more steps, he felt more and more that something was wrong.

Because he didn't hear anyone moving...

The fourth floor was dead silent.

Huh... why isn't there anyone?

Kai quietly poked his head out, wanting to observe the situation on the fourth floor, when he suddenly saw a gun pointed at his head.

Just as he was about to dodge, he suddenly froze there and exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Suren?"

How could Kai have imagined that the one who survived was Suren, all alone!

.......

Suren had heard the footsteps a long time ago.

He thought it was the enemy, but unexpectedly it was Kai.

Seeing Kai's stunned expression, he put away the musket and continued to collect his spoils, asking calmly, "Captain, why are you here?"

"I... I came..."

At this moment, Kai somehow felt like he couldn't speak properly.

He walked up to the fourth floor, and then saw the corpses all over the floor. He swallowed the word "save" that was on the tip of his tongue.

What... what did I see?

Kai was stunned for a full two seconds before he came back to his senses, trying to make his mind believe the scene he was seeing.

There were a total of thirty-four corpses on the third-floor staircase and the fourth floor.

Were these people all dead?

Looking closely, there were no extra wounds on the corpses. Almost all of them were killed with one shot.

Obviously, this was done by the same person.

And looking at the window, wasn't the corpse with the iron hook mechanical arm "Anchor Hand" Parker, the captain of the Knights District?

Seeing this, Kai looked at the man who was concentrating on cleaning up the battlefield and was completely confused.

He... he single-handedly wiped out an entire Steam Party squad?

Including a veteran Steam Party professional?

Before he could think too much, Suren looked up, smiled, and urged, "Captain, what are you doing standing there? Hurry up and help clean up the battlefield. Otherwise, some cadres will come looking for trouble with us soon..."