Chapter 201.1: Victory and Defeat Part 1

It was a dark, windy night, with clouds stretching for thousands of miles. Flames blazed like a festival bonfire, and the air bloomed with the scent of white phosphorus and ash.

On such a fine night, with such beautiful scenery and festive cheer, Jiang Xuan suddenly felt wonderfully at ease, as if New Year had come early. A large number of enemies, any one of them being capable of killing him a dozen times over if he slipped up, were standing right in front of him, yet his mood was so wonderful he felt like he could take flight, and his body felt impossibly light.

He felt like he had become that grinning young man from a certain game, looking down at the perfect hand. Hmm. Ancient Scimitar, Wine, Iron Chain... and one Strike card[1]...

And so, unable to hold back any longer, he threw his head back and shouted, “Now this is what I’m talking about!”

Jiang Xuan laughed wildly. The heavy machine gun in his hands spun faster and faster, bursting with a terrifying blaze of light powerful enough to pierce holes through the entire ruined battlefield.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—

Mercury flooded the enemies, fired from the instantly overheated rotary chamber at a rate of thirteen hundred rounds per minute. Countless specks of silver light joined into a line, and as that silver line swept outward, it spread into a broad, seamless arc, very much like a scythe, before evaporating.

The lizard-like Chosen One let out a miserable shriek. His scales, thick enough to withstand point-blank shotgun fire, cracked and warped under the impact of the silver light in less than a second.

Much of his flesh and blood flew everywhere, rising into the sky along with sprays of blood. His arm, as thick as a massive tree, looked as if it had been shoved into an invisible meat grinder. In an instant, white bone was exposed, and even that bone burst into jagged splinters beneath the relentless barrage and impact.

Wracked with pain, the Vortex Chosen One threw back his head with a scream. From his mouth, hot flames spilled out.

Jiang Xuan stepped forward and stomped down with his left foot. An iron wall rose from the ground, blocking the raging stream of fire and splitting it apart.

The deadly part was that there was actually a firing slit left open right in the center, aimed directly at the lizard man. A torrent of silver light punched through the opening, straight into that fire-spewing maw. The stream of flames buckled and shook, suddenly laced with blood.

In just a few short seconds, under that insane burst of concentrated fire, the giant lizard’s flame breath was completely extinguished. Even if it hadn’t been, it no longer mattered. His entire mouth, including his jaw and even his upper body, had already been turned into a pulp by the machine gun. If not for the vitality that Vortex-types prided themselves on, he would have probably been cut in half on the spot.

Under that savage barrage, the enemies scattered in terror, reeling from the shock. Even Jiang Xuan’s teammates ducked on instinct, afraid his aim would drift and send them to an early grave.

When the lizard finally came to a halt and tried to flee, no longer caring about securing any kills, he suddenly realized that his feet were deeply rooted to the ground. At some point, a pool of writhing mercury had spread up from the soil, winding around its limbs, and a strange, crystalline gleam quickly spread across it.

Hardening: Iron Essence!

A blessing originally used for defense had now, through the flow of mercury, transformed into shackles tough enough to plunge the enemy into complete despair. No matter how much he struggled, even when he tried to tear off his own limbs, he still couldn’t break free.

The ever-shifting mercury clung stubbornly to his body like taffy, even burrowing into his flesh and coiling around his bones. It extended into countless fine strands, sinking into the earth and spreading in every direction. In just a few seconds, more than half of the mutated giant lizard’s body was enveloped in mercury. He was like an insect half-trapped in amber, powerless to escape.

“Save me! Save me!” he lifted his head in terror, trying to call for help, only to see that his teammates were all running away, each one faster than the one before them.

High above, crimson gales and soaring shadows were still clashing violently with the Burning Star Manifestation. No one even glanced down at him. In the end, even the blazing light from the sky was swallowed by shadow.

In the brief silence that followed, the giant lizard stiffly turned his head. A steel giant appeared before him, grinning widely. Jiang Xuan raised the red-hot machine gun in his hands, its long shadow falling across the giant lizard’s face.

That mutated face twitched uncontrollably. Tears welled up in its remaining eye.

“C-Can... can I... sur—”

Jiang Xuan only smiled and raised a finger, wagging it gently. Shh. Don’t talk.

Ignoring the giant lizard’s frantic struggles, he brutally jammed the red-hot gun barrel into his huge mouth. As Jiang Xuan laughed maniacally, the gun began spinning once more.

Feel it with your heart!

With the giant lizard’s final, agonized shriek, the muffled gunfire grew louder as blood sprayed all over. From the chunks of torn flesh, that savage firepower made itself known once more.

The storm began anew, but now, Jiang Xuan felt that he was the incarnation of the storm itself. He was death. He was destruction. He was the fucking god of firepower! He could go wherever the hell he wanted!

Laughing uncontrollably, he swung the heavy machine gun around and charged through the ruins, as free as a hound chasing rabbits. By relying on the tremendous mass and arm strength granted by his transformation, he withstood that terrifying recoil with no issue. As his shouts shook the ruins, the torrent of fire bursting from his waist swept across the battlefield.

One ammo belt after another was mindlessly fed into the chamber. He no longer needed Ji Jue to help him replace them as he easily learned how to do it himself. Never before had he felt such exhilarating satisfaction from firing until everything exploded!

Or perhaps, to be precise, this was the joy of having money. This heavy machine gun had been reassembled from parts Ji Jue had “borrowed” from Layla, therefore avoiding a markup dozens of times over. But even including that markup, in terms of sale price, it still couldn’t compare to a single box of ammunition.

Without the three-piece set of Pacifier, Flawless Craft, and Fluid Alchemy to mass-process the mercury and grant it enhanced properties, each alchemical bullet with improved armor-piercing and destructive power sold for four thousand Fedra apiece, and that was assuming one bought in bulk to get the discount.

An ammo belt held two hundred and fifty rounds, so it cost exactly one million Fedra in total. In terms of labor hours, that was enough to keep any apprentice in a workshop grinding through a 24/7 death march for two straight months. By the end, they would never want to see anything shaped like a bullet for the rest of their lives.

As for a craftsman? No worthy craftsman would ever waste their time on this kind of boring, repetitive work. Even an organization as wealthy and overbearing as the military, when faced with the problem of insufficient destructive power, would only crudely increase the explosive yield. They would never consider equipping their frontline cannon fodder with such extravagant gear.

A million Fedra a minute? Was this some kind of joke only Imperials could afford to laugh at? With that much money, why not throw in a little extra and get a cruise missile instead, then blow the other side sky-high? Failing that, they could at least buy some mugs and send a batch of local sheep to the Central Lands base, so everyone could have something decent to eat.

But none of that had anything to do with Jiang Xuan. The military had plenty to think about, and the craftsmen had their own concerns too. But as a fighter, all he had to do was raise the machine gun and blast apart every single thing in front of him that could still fucking move.

Once he got the hang of it, Jiang Xuan stood atop the shattered bones of the giant lizards and poured fire across the entire battlefield from above. Relying on the absurd durability of the Ruins, he ignored every bullet and attack coming at him from afar, unleashing thundering gunfire in every direction in a massacre.

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!

Unfortunately, moments this wonderful always ended far too soon. It felt as if only a short while had passed before that beautiful, continuous roar came to an abrupt stop. In its place came a hollow series of clicks.

Jiang Xuan reached behind him, but his hand found nothing. He was completely out of ammo.

The smile froze on his face. Bullets? Where were the bullets?

When he finally looked back, he saw that the ground was littered with empty boxes and broken strips of ammunition belts. Lou Feng was crouched under the iron wall like a turtle hiding in its shell.

The wonderful dream came to an end. Every last bullet had been fired.

Holding the red-hot machine gun in his hands, Jiang Xuan let out a regretful sigh, waves of grief washing through him. Once he had grown used to such a fulfilling sensation, there was simply no going back to how things had been before.

By the time he came to his senses, he was already estimating the balance in his account and wondering how he could put this down as an expense claim later. He had no idea whether that brat Ji Jue could issue invoices.

Every hair on his body stood on end. His eyes widened as he glanced behind him again, and only then did he realize what was wrong.

Why the hell was Lou Feng the only one there?!

1. It’s referring to the game《三国杀》San Guo Sha. The card combo Ancient Scimitar + Wine + Iron Chain + Strike is a very recognizable San Guo Sha setup for a huge burst-damage play. “A bright, cheerful young man” points to 界徐盛, nicknamed 大宝 Dabao, who became a meme in the San Guo Sha community because he can suddenly delete opponents with explosive damage. ☜