Chapter 23: Chekhov’s Gun
Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Chekhov’s Gun
THUD!
The figure in the yellow hazmat suit finally collapsed.
The revolver in Park Hong’s hand dissipated into a wisp of black smoke. He staggered, his face etched with exhaustion.
That shot had taken a great deal out of him.
Dragging his heavy feet, he approached the body, preparing to bend down and search it.
But his outstretched hand stopped in midair.
Park Hong froze.
"What is this..."
Reflected in his crimson, vertical pupils was a glint of azure blue.
On the back of the young man who had fallen face-down, the hazmat suit had been pierced by the pitch-black bullet... but underneath, there was a layer of gleaming blue crystal that had firmly caught the projectile.
The black bullet was still spinning furiously, but it couldn’t drill any deeper, having only managed to create a spiderweb of cracks.
"This guy isn’t dead?!"
Park Hong caught the faint scent of blueberries, and a chill ran down his spine. His sharp intuition, honed by a long life on the razor’s edge, was now screaming a warning.
He instinctively tried to dodge backward.
But a hand was faster!
WHAP!
The prone young man shot out a hand and seized his ankle. A grip like cast iron clamped down, and with a powerful yank—
BANG!
Park Hong was sent sprawling.
The figure in the hazmat suit flipped over and pinned him to the ground again.
For a fleeting moment, their eyes met through the glass visor.
Park Hong’s eyes widened.
What a face he saw!
The young, handsome face was ghastly pale, and blood was streaming from his mouth and nose. Yet despite it all, those black eyes remained shockingly calm and composed.
’He was waiting for me to get closer...’
’I...’
’...was the prey?!’
Park Hong couldn’t believe it. That he, a member of the Ghost Grid, a high-risk fugitive with blood on his hands, could one day become the prey!
"HRRGH!!" he roared, his face contorting.
The power of a desperate struggle erupted from his body as black smoke billowed around him.
But this time, the young man on top of him was unmoved. They rolled across the ground, but his opponent clung to him like a yellow anaconda, refusing to let go.
Wang Xi was thrown behind Park Hong. He seized the opportunity, locking his legs around the man’s waist. He wrapped one arm around his opponent’s neck, elbow tight against his chin, and grabbed his own wrist with his other hand, forming a secure lock.
Then he yanked upward with all his might!
A rear-naked choke!
The disdain in Park Hong’s crimson, vertical pupils was gone, replaced by panic.
He knew all too well how helpless he was in a choke like this!
But when Park Hong tried to draw his dagger to fight back, a wave of weakness washed over him... The "Sure Hit gun" from before had consumed too much of his strength.
"Ugh... ghh...!!"
His entire face turned purple, and his eyes rolled back in his head.
His kicking, struggling legs slowed, growing weaker and weaker, until they finally stopped moving altogether.
Wang Xi felt his opponent go limp, but he didn’t let his guard down for a second.
Not until the prompt from Kaos popped up—
「Target eliminated!」
「Capture Park Hong’s abilities?」
’Yes!’
Wang Xi finally let out a silent sigh of relief.
At the same time, he released his grip.
He shoved Park Hong’s body off, and it rolled to the side.
A green light flashed from the corpse and immediately shot into the space between Wang Xi’s eyebrows.
「"Park Hong" Card has been added to the Independent Card Pool.」
Wang Xi ignored the prompt.
Panting heavily, he climbed up from the ground. He opened his clenched fist, revealing an azure-bordered Universal Card resting in his palm.
—「Holy Covenant Prayer Stone」
This was the Artifact Card Chu Nai had given him to save his life.
If the rear-naked choke had failed, he would have used this trump card without hesitation.
Fortunately...
...he had won.
Wang Xi put away the Holy Covenant Prayer Stone, then, ignoring the intense pain wracking his body, he began to search Park Hong’s corpse.
To get rich and not show it off is like wearing fine silks in the dark.
To kill a man and not loot his body is a blade swung in vain.
Soon, Wang Xi had pulled out several Universal Cards. A few seconds later, several more Cards materialized on their own from the body’s surface, hovering in midair!
It seemed that with the "host’s" death, his permanent Cards had automatically detached from his body and reverted to their Card forms.
It was the first time Wang Xi had ever seen such a thing.
Surprise flashed in his eyes.
He quickly took inventory.
Two「Solomon Military Laser Pistol Type V (Equipment Card)」, White Three Stars Quality.
Four「Solomon Universal Gun Battery (Equipment Card)」, White One Star Quality.
One「Shadow-Following Form (Skill Card)」, Green Two Stars Quality.
One「Listen to Heartbeat (Skill Card)」, Green Two Stars Quality.
And several other Skill Cards like「Cat Walk」,「Hold Breath」,「Dagger Mastery」, and「Cookin Assassination Skill」, all of which were Universal Cards ranging from White One Star to Three Stars.
Wang Xi’s eyes were practically swimming.
There was one more Universal Card, pitch-black all over as if it could devour light itself, that especially caught his attention—
「Chekhov’s Gun (Unknown Card)」
「Quality: Black One Star (Unique / Uncategorizable / Upgradable)」
「A great writer once proposed a narrative principle: If a gun appears in the first act, then in the story that follows, it must be fired... Now, under the influence of some power, this gun has been made manifest, and it too must hit its target to complete its mission.」
「Upon use, you will hold it, and your shot will be guaranteed to hit its target. Each use will consume a massive amount of Energy (including but not limited to stamina, and the shot’s power is affected by the amount and strength of the Energy used).」
’Chekhov’s Gun?’
’Unique?’
’An uncategorizable black Unknown Card?!’
Wang Xi was shocked.
He didn’t know what kind of Card this was, but he knew one thing: it was absolutely insane!
Just now, "Black Mamba" had drawn this very gun and fired that "guaranteed hit," which had almost killed Wang Xi.
Because his opponent had only used stamina for the shot, the pitch-black bullet, once deflected by the crowbar, was no longer strong enough to pierce the double protection of his hazmat suit and Sugar Coating. Otherwise, the final outcome would have been uncertain!
’This Card gets stronger as its user gets stronger!’
Wang Xi realized this immediately.
A fervent gleam appeared in his eyes.
The stronger the foe, the stronger he’d be—a natural-born battle maniac.
With a pull and a tug, a walker of miracles.
"Gimme that!"
Wang Xi deftly pocketed the 「Chekhov’s Gun」 before turning his attention to the other Cards.
It was then that he suddenly calmed down.
’No!’
’I can’t take these!’
The flames of greed in his heart were slowly extinguished by reason.
Unlike the 「Chekhov’s Gun」, which was definitely "Black Mamba’s" hidden trump card that no one knew about, the other Cards were probably too hot to handle...
’I called the cops, so the Security Bureau will probably be here soon. "Black Mamba" is a high-risk wanted fugitive; it’s impossible for him to have zero Cards on him. If I take all of these, I’ll be admitting guilt without even being asked.’
A hundred thoughts raced through Wang Xi’s mind.
He was the victim here. Killing a wanted criminal in self-defense wasn’t a crime; he might even be rewarded for it.
But if he got too greedy, it would backfire.
Innocence would become guilt!
WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO—
Just then, the shrill sound of police sirens echoed from the distance.
Wang Xi fought back his greed. His gaze swept over the dazzling array of Cards, and he finally gritted his teeth.
’Can’t take them doesn’t mean I can’t take *any* of them...’
Wang Xi drew out one「Solomon Military Laser Pistol Type V」and also took two「Solomon Universal Gun Battery」Cards.
He didn’t touch anything else.
He chose these two types of Cards because there were more than one of each. "Black Mamba" must have kept them as spares, just in case.
This now gave Wang Xi a loophole to exploit.
This way, it would be less likely to arouse suspicion.
After stowing the Cards, he felt the strength rapidly draining from his body, and he wilted like a deflating ball.
THUD!
Wang Xi collapsed to the ground.
「A short while later.」
Through his blurry vision, he saw three or four blue hover-cruisers enter the abandoned factory. A group of uniformed officers, fully armed, secured the perimeter with their Laser Pistols drawn.
Several officers quickly reached Wang Xi’s position.
"Target located!"
"We have a survivor! Wearing a yellow hazmat suit from Cupid Housekeeping! Visual confirmation of external injuries to the leg and chest!"
"Team medic, provide immediate aid!"
Wang Xi heard a man’s voice shouting, followed by the sound of urgent footsteps.
He felt his body being lifted and his hazmat suit being pulled open. Then came a sharp sting in his arm, as if he’d been given two injections.
A cool sensation spread through him, and the heavy exhaustion began to fade.
When he opened his eyes again, the blurry world snapped back into focus.
He found himself surrounded by three or four medical personnel in white uniforms who were giving him emergency treatment for his wounds.
Not far away, "Black Mamba" Park Hong’s body lay quietly on the ground, cordoned off and watched by several officers. A tall figure in a high-collared trench coat was crouched over the corpse, examining it while placing the Cards into a sealed evidence bag.
Watching the figure from behind, Wang Xi felt a sense of familiarity.
Soon, the person stood up, turned, and walked toward him.
She was a mature, sophisticated woman with voluminous purple waves of hair and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on her high-bridged nose.
Behind the lenses were a pair of calm, amber eyes, which were now looking at Wang Xi with a scrutinizing gaze.
’It’s the woman who got in the car with Chu Nai this morning...’
Wang Xi instantly realized where the sense of familiarity came from.
"Can you talk?" the purple-haired woman asked coolly.
Wang Xi nodded and replied in a hoarse voice, "I can."
"I am Inspector Yu Zizi, Chief Inspector of the Valley City Public Security Bureau," the woman said with a nod, introducing herself. "Could you briefly answer a few questions for me?"
"I can."
"You’re the one who called it in?"
"Yes."
"Very good." The woman nodded. "After pulling your data, I can see you’re an intern for Cupid Housekeeping, a Mr. Wang Xi."
"I’d like to know why you were here, and how you came to encounter the high-risk wanted fugitive ’Black Mamba’ Park Hong..."
Wang Xi took a deep breath and calmly recounted the sequence of events: from returning to the company for overtime, to being assigned a delivery, and finally to his vehicle’s navigation system malfunctioning and leading him here, where he was attacked by "Black Mamba."
After listening, Inspector Yu’s elegant brows furrowed slightly.
She studied Wang Xi carefully and said softly, "Do you have any evidence or witnesses?"
She had only asked as a matter of course, her mind still puzzling over how an ordinary intern Cleaner had managed to kill a high-risk wanted fugitive in self-defense.
But to her surprise, Wang Xi nodded.
"I do!"
Then, under Yu Zizi’s slightly surprised gaze, Wang Xi took out his phone, did something on it, and handed it over.
"This recording is the evidence."
Yu Zizi took the phone and listened intently.
The more she listened, the deeper her gaze became.
Before the recording had even finished, she gestured to someone beside her and said coolly:
"Notify the Dawn District Security Bureau branch. Immediately arrest Lin Zhifeng, the Deputy Head of the Cupid Housekeeping Cleaning Department!"