“Well, well. Looks like some out-of-towner wants to play hero.”
The shotgunner walked over to Finn and looked him up and down with a mocking grin.
Finn’s bicycle stood off to the side. He was unarmed and carried no visible equipment, standing alone in the open with no apparent way to fight back.
The other two gunmen closed in as well. Their hulking bodies formed a wall, their weapons trained on Finn from a safe distance. One pull of the trigger, and they could turn him into a sieve.
“I’m a man of peace. I don’t like violence.” Finn pointed at Jimmy, his voice calm. “But if you don’t give him back his things, you’ll regret it.”
“Regret it? Hahahaha! Hahahahaha!”
A burst of harsh, grating laughter rang out. The three gunmen howled, bending over with laughter.
Even so, their weapons never wavered from Finn, and they kept their distance. Even if he suddenly rushed one of them, the others would still have plenty of time to open fire.
They looked like bandits, but their tactical discipline was solid.
“Oh, I already regret it.”
The shotgunner gripped his weapon in both hands and aimed it at Finn’s head, sneering.
“I regret coming all the way out to the Old State Highway to check for smugglers. You’re so damn funny, out-of-towner, I might laugh myself to death! Hahahaha!”
“I get it,” said the burly man with the submachine gun, raising his right fist in a mock fighting stance. “He can catch bullets with his bare hands.”
The three of them erupted into laughter again.
The only one who did not laugh was the blonde girl, Olivia. Her gun kept shifting toward Finn, then away again. She seemed deeply conflicted.
“Kid, serious question.” The shotgunner suddenly stopped laughing and adopted a solemn expression. “Where the hell did a comedian like you come from?”
“None of your business,” Finn replied.
“Oh, perfect. The greenhouses could use two more bodies as fertilizer.”
The moment the shotgunner finished speaking, he pulled the trigger. The other two opened fire at the same time, muzzle flashes bursting from their weapons.
Gunfire cracked like a string of firecrackers, but the scene the gunmen expected—Finn and Jimmy being torn apart and dropping to the ground—never happened.
Finn stood motionless in the hail of bullets.
Every round struck what seemed to be an invisible steel wall, bursting into bright yellow sparks. Not a single bullet entered the space around Finn and Jimmy. A shield of Profound Energy stopped every round.
“A mutant! Tier Four Vanguard!”
“Impossible! No mutant is this strong!”
“Switch to armor-piercing rounds!”
The three gunmen shouted at once, stunned. They fell back immediately.
Finn smirked.
A fully loaded Desert Eagle appeared in his hand, its safety off and a round already chambered.
Finn raised the pistol and fired. The bullet blew off the top of the shotgunner’s skull, spraying brain matter behind him.
Finn turned and fired again.
The man with the assault rifle jerked to a halt as the bullet punched through his head, leaving a bloody hole on either side. He died instantly.
The final gunman roared and charged instead of retreating. He threw away his submachine gun, drew a gleaming dagger from his waist, dropped low, rolled forward, and lunged at Finn like a pouncing tiger.
The muscles in his legs suddenly swelled to twice their size. He kicked off the ground with explosive force and shot forward.
His right hand flashed out with the dagger, the blade slicing toward Finn’s throat from a vicious angle.
“A real mutant? Close-quarters combat?” Finn let the Profound Energy shield fall and swung the Desert Eagle toward the charging man. “Fine. I’ll play with you.”
The mutant twisted aside before Finn could fire. At the same time, he redirected his attack, the razor-sharp dagger cutting through the air toward Finn’s stomach.
Certain the blade would sink into Finn’s stomach, the gunman felt a surge of triumph—then his body locked up.
Finn had clamped a hand around his forearm with crushing force. No matter how hard the gunman struggled, he could not break free.
Finn gave a light squeeze.
Bones cracked and shattered.
The gunman screamed. Finn had crushed his forearm, and the dagger slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.
The mutant reacted without hesitation. Ignoring the agony in his ruined arm, he stepped in and drove a vicious knee straight at Finn’s groin.
Pain exploded through his knee.
The gunman’s face twisted in agony. It was like driving his knee into solid granite. His kneecap nearly shattered from the impact.
Finn snorted and returned the favor with a knee of his own.
“AAARGH!”
The mutant’s shriek tore across the wasteland, so sharp it seemed to pierce the gray clouds overhead.
The blow crushed both his balls and shattered his pelvis and tailbone as well.
Finn released him and watched as the mutant collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from beneath him.
His entire lower body was soaked red. His face had gone slack and crooked, tears and mucus streaming down it as broken, unconscious whimpers escaped his throat.
Seeing him in that much pain, Finn genuinely couldn’t stand it anymore.
So he raised the Desert Eagle in his hand and fired once—bang. The bullet smashed the man’s skull apart, ending the inhuman torture.
After the gunshot, silence fell over the scene.
Olivia was still standing there, but her legs had begun to tremble. Everything had happened so quickly that she had not even processed it yet.
She had expected the two guys to be torn apart by gunfire. Instead, in the blink of an eye, all three of her companions were dead.
“Bro, you’re a beast! That was badass!”
Jimmy stood off to the side, clapping furiously and heaping praise on Finn.
He finally understood his role in this mission. All he had to do was cheer Finn on, stay close to his powerful new ally, and make sure he did not get in the way.
Finn glanced at Jimmy, mildly surprised.
An ordinary person would have wet themselves after witnessing all that gunfire, blood, and flying brain matter. Yet aside from crouching down and covering his head, Jimmy had not panicked or lost control.
“Let’s go.”
Finn stepped over one of the bodies, stored his bicycle in his storage space, and headed toward Black Mountain.
Jimmy grabbed his backpack from the ground and hurried after him.
“Stop!”
Olivia’s shout came from behind them.
Finn glanced back and saw the blonde girl’s legs trembling. Even so, she still gripped her pistol tightly, its barrel aimed at him.
Finn ignored her and kept walking.
He was certain Olivia would not dare pull the trigger. He also judged that killing three members of the Refuge Security Force would bring no serious consequences.
The gunmen had worn crude, mismatched uniforms. Even their body armor came in different designs, and none of them carried standard-issue weapons. Some of the gun barrels were even rusted.
It was obvious that Black Mountain’s official military force was weak. The so-called Refuge Security Force might be nothing more than a gang of armed thugs.
“What’s your name?” Olivia called after him again.
“Finn.”
Without looking back, Finn continued deeper into Black Mountain.
His true objective was the World Nucleus.