Hayden held Garret Cross hostage, slowly backing down the stairs to the main floor.
Garret’s thugs stalked them closely.
They moved like a pack of starving hyenas, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The throngs of dancing youths were completely immersed in the deafening music.
They had no idea a lethal standoff was happening right next to them.
Blinding strobe lights swept across the club, leaving blurry afterimages on Hayden’s retinas.
Suddenly, the DJ dropped the bass.
The crowd surged violently forward, slamming hard into Hayden.
He stumbled.
In that split second, Garret slipped from his grip like a greased pig.
“Hack him to pieces!” Garret roared, scrambling madly toward the exit.
Hayden quickly raised his gun.
The thrashing sea of bodies completely blocked his line of sight.
Over a dozen gleaming machetes converged on him simultaneously.
The situation had spiraled out of control.
Adrenaline flooded Hayden’s veins.
He narrowed his eyes and snapped his muzzle toward the closest glowing red box on his HUD.
Bang!
The gunshot sounded like a muffled snare drum over the deafening electronic music.
A bullet punched straight through a thug’s throat.
Blood erupted like a geyser, splattering across the faces of the oblivious dancers.
The thug dropped his blade.
He clutched his bleeding neck, his eyes bulging in terror before he crumpled to his knees.
Another gangster charged from Hayden’s blind spot, swinging a machete directly at his spine.
The Auto-Aim took over.
Hayden’s right arm whipped around with inhuman speed.
Bang!
The sharp crack synced perfectly with the heavy beat.
The bullet entered the thug’s eye socket, scrambling his brain.
The dancers wiped the warm liquid from their faces.
They finally realized it was not sweat.
Terrified screams pierced the air.
The crowd scattered in absolute panic.
The frantic shrieks mixed with the blaring nightclub music, plunging the venue into total chaos.
Hayden stood perfectly still in the center of the dance floor.
His expression was cold and unyielding.
Relying entirely on his Wallhacks, he watched the swarm of red bounding boxes closing in.
He simply raised his hand and fired.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
A volley of rounds tore through the air.
Guided by the lethal combination of Auto-Aim and ESP, every single bullet found its mark.
Four more thugs dropped dead instantly.
The remaining gang members lost their nerve.
They hesitated in sheer terror, unwilling to take another step forward.
Hayden did not wait for them.
He walked straight into their ranks.
The relentless strobe of muzzle flashes illuminated his face, making him look like a bloodthirsty demon.
Clang!
A terrified thug dropped his weapon and ran for his life.
It triggered a chain reaction.
The rest of the gang immediately broke and fled.
The moment they abandoned their hostile intent, the red bounding boxes surrounding them faded to a neutral white and vanished from Hayden’s vision.
Hayden grabbed Diana by the hand and charged out of the nightclub.
Traffic outside had ground to a halt.
The hysterical crowd pouring out of the venue had completely blocked the streets.
Hayden’s pupils shrank.
At both ends of the block, two large groups of men in black suits were rapidly closing in.
Judging by their attire, it was the exact same Azure Syndicate hit squad that had ambushed him earlier.
“Go!
They are only here for me.
Hide at home for the next few days and do not come out!” Hayden shoved Diana away, signaling her to run.
Diana clung to his sleeve, crying uncontrollably.
“Let’s go together!
The cops will be here any second!” “The cops are useless against these people!” Hayden roared, locking eyes with her.
Through her tears, Diana gave him one last desperate look.
Then, she turned and melted into the fleeing crowd.
Hayden ejected his empty magazine.
Reaching behind his back, he pulled a fully loaded clip from his spatial inventory and slammed it into the grip.
“I need to get some better gear,” he muttered with a self-deprecating chuckle.
“A handgun is not going to cut it.” The encirclement of men in black rapidly tightened.
They were close enough that Hayden could hear the mechanical clacks of slides racking back.
Hayden crouched behind a parked car, preparing to fire.
The screech of heavy tires interrupted him.
A black Mercedes-Benz G-Class violently braked right behind the hit squad.
A middle-aged man in a sharp silver suit stepped out.
A jagged scar ran down his face.
Garret Cross stood right beside him, obsequiously offering the scarred man a lit cigar.
Hayden narrowed his eyes.
This was likely Gideon’s older brother.
He activated his System scanner.
[Assassin Rank]: K6 [Marksmanship]: B-Tier [CQC]: A-Tier [Physique]: A+ Tier [Tactics]: B-Tier [Specialization]: Sequence 37 – Fortitude (A-Tier).
Drastically reduces physical damage and pain from bullet wounds.
Hayden frowned.
Another K6-level heavy hitter.
“Hayden Brooks,” the scarred man sneered, the muscles in his jaw twitching.
“You actually managed to kill my brother.
Impressive.
But did you ever consider the consequences?” “Resistance is entirely useless.
I am going to make you watch the people you love die.
Then, I am going to feed you to the dogs alive!” At his command, several cylindrical canisters arced over the parked cars, clattering onto the asphalt directly around Hayden.
Hiss.
Thick, pale green smoke instantly billowed outward, enveloping Hayden’s position.
Hayden’s chest tightened violently.
His vision blurred.
Paralyzing gas.
They came prepared.
His heart pounded against his ribs.
A terrifying numbness crept into his right arm.
He could barely grip his pistol.
Through the green haze, his Wallhacks still highlighted the approaching hitmen.
They were using the smoke as cover.
Despite knowing exactly where they were, Hayden could not raise his weapon.
His hand was trembling uncontrollably.
The neurotoxin was shutting down his motor functions.
It was only a matter of seconds before he lost consciousness.
A thug wearing a tactical gas mask loomed out of the fog.
He raised a heavy steel baton, aiming directly for the back of Hayden’s skull.
Boom!
A thunderous gunshot echoed from a distant rooftop.
The thug’s head exploded like a watermelon.
Blood splattered directly across Hayden’s face.
Before Hayden could even process what had happened, a second shot rang out.
The scarred man in the silver suit dropped with lightning speed.
The high-caliber round punched through the roof of the G-Class, shattered the window, and cleanly grazed his ear.
The man in silver did not panic.
He sneered, crushing his cigar under his heel.
With a sharp hand signal, his men threw open the trunks of their SUVs.
They pulled out assault rifles and immediately directed suppressive fire toward the rooftop.
Simultaneously, a squad of hitmen charged the building.
Boom!
A third shot clapped like thunder.
The bullet pierced the rear windshield of the Mercedes and struck Garret Cross right in the shoulder.
Blood sprayed across the pavement.
Garret’s severed arm flew through the air, rolling several feet away.
“Ahhh!” Garret let out a weak, agonizing scream.
The Azure Syndicate unleashed a deafening barrage of automatic gunfire.
The sniper rifle fell silent.
It did not fire again.
The paralyzing gas was taking full effect.
Hayden had the absolute will to kill every man on this street, but his body betrayed him.
Auto-Aim was a god-tier ability, but a pistol lacked the sheer firepower needed to wipe out an entire platoon of heavily armed men before the gas incapacitated him.
He checked the headless corpse beside him, hoping to steal the gas mask.
Unfortunately, the high-caliber sniper round had completely shattered the mask’s respirator.
The world spun violently.
Hayden’s legs gave out, and everything faded to pitch black.