The scythe reaps life faster and more ruthlessly. The distorted light concealed everything on the outside, and the blood that spurted out was blocked by an air wall.
In just a few seconds, when the distorted light returned to normal, only one silhouette remained in the old bell tower. The thick blood poured out of the door and spread down the stairs.
Ryan stepped through the blood, leaving a trail of bloody footprints. He glanced at the screens placed nearby. The first showed the girl pushing a cart, and the second was an electronic map with a moving red dot.
This fool, while watching out earlier, your companion stuffed a tracker in your bag.
Seeing that Pardofelis was unaware, Ryan chuckled in both amusement and frustration. He let the Honkai energy spill out and carefully sensed his surroundings.
Three groups were on the rooftops, four groups in the alley, and some were even moving quickly in the sewers—this was an elaborate trap.
This was expected. The easiest way to understand my monstrous intentions was to capture Pardofelis.
However, such coordinated movements involved more than one gang.
"Is there someone coordinating in the middle? They should have greeted the big shots of Sundown Alley by now, it's already the second day."
Ryan gently bent his knees and silently leapt out, drawing an arc through the air, his eyes locked on a few people on the rooftop.
It was a sniper squad, quite skilled. Even while Ryan was mid-air, they seemed to sense something, turning their heads in unison.
"What is that thing?"
A person flying through the air would make anyone freeze for a moment, but the astonishment lasted only an instant. The snipers quickly rolled over and aimed at the sky, pulling their triggers.
Swish—
The brain had already sent the command to the finger, but just as the bullet was about to be fired, a black shadow flashed through the air, and one sniper's right arm was severed along with half his rifle. The observer looked in shock, finally seeing where the attack had come from.
The moonlight cast the shadow of the person from the sky, and it was as though the shadow had a life of its own. It severed the arm of one companion, decapitated another, then elegantly wrapped itself around its own neck.
Tap.
Ryan landed on the rooftop and watched as the observer's eyes bulged out, the neck crushed by an invisible grip. He twirled his scythe into a dazzling dance, then pulled it behind him.
Two.
Still without a sound, his body shot forward like a black arrow, crossing hundreds of meters in an instant, landing in another alley.
This was clearly another gang, trying to intercept Pardofelis from the side. Before they could even enter the alley, they saw a figure standing at the entrance.
He crouched down, raising his black scythe high. Without a word, he hurled it toward them.
The scythe turned into a massive spinning disc, sweeping through the alley with a whirling sound before circling back in the air and returning to Ryan outstretched hand.
Ten.
Ryan glanced at the "sculptures" in the alley—gang members holding their guns, or reaching for their walkie-talkies, but all frozen like they had been pressed on pause. Only when the man, holding the blood-soaked scythe, disappeared into the alley did they start moving again.
Pfft—
Blood appeared on their necks or chests, blooming into eight blood-red flowers, the splattering blood staining the walls on both sides.
Silent, efficient, and swift, Ryan was like the center of a moving storm.
Within a one-kilometer radius around her, Ryan steps never slowed, his scythe reaping lives one after another. Even the smell of blood was carefully blown away into the distance.
Tonight, Sundown Alley was especially quiet, only the ghostly figure of one person hunting through it. The big shots began to realize something was wrong when one by one, their subordinates couldn't be reached.
"No need to track anymore. Move immediately, capture that woman!"
"Fall back now, it's a trap!"
No matter the order, by the time it was delivered, it was already too late.
Tap.
Ryan landed on the hood of a speeding car. The small-time boss in the front passenger seat had just received the boss's orders, and in the blink of an eye, he saw a "woman" land in front of him, raising her pitch-black scythe.
Even though he specialized in the flour business and was used to shootouts, he couldn't react in time. The scythe flashed once.
Boom!!
The car, its roof removed, crashed into a wall and exploded into a fireball, lighting up the sandy road. The following vehicles were startled, but when they looked up, they saw someone standing in the middle of the road.
"Crash into her!"
"Stop the car, kill her!"
The roar of engines mixed with the screeching of brakes as the lead pickup truck, going over 100 miles per hour, charged at her. But just three meters in front of her, it suddenly soared into the air with a crash.
The truck's front collapsed, parts flying everywhere, the airbags deployed, and the people inside were instantly turned into pulp. The vehicle was flipping in the air when a pale hand slapped it back down to the ground.
Whoosh—Boom!
Like a catapult, the pickup truck flew back at over 200 miles per hour, crushing the few people hastily exiting the car into another bloody fireball.
Tap-tap-tap...
The gunfire finally rang out, breaking the eerie silence of Sundown Alley tonight. The truck at the end of the convoy cracked open, and a five-meter-high jet-black battle mech powered on.
"GAX-01 Combat Mech?" Ryan saw it too. Even though it was an outdated model, such heavy equipment should not be appearing in Sundown Alley.
Pardo, you're making things more interesting.
He ignored the incoming bullets, gracefully turning, as if dancing a waltz under the moonlight. With a single wave of his scythe, the air screamed, cracks shot toward the ground, cutting through the bullets and tearing through firewalls before slicing through both the humans and vehicles with equal precision.
Boom, boom, boom!
Cars exploded one after another, while the heavily armored pilot in the mech widened his eyes, quickly scanning several screens.
"Where did she go?!"
As he opened the weapon safety, two miniature missile launchers on his shoulders lost their targets. The only thing the surveillance cameras captured was the fleeting shadow of a lone figure.
The white-haired woman, the key target.
"Fire cover mode, launch everything!"
The thumb moved toward the red button, and with a shrill metallic tearing sound, the pilot suddenly realized he couldn't do anything as the 50-centimeter-thick alloy steel plate was torn open.
The white-haired woman poked half her body through the hole, her nearly perfect face just inches away, gently pressing down his right hand, her crimson eyes devoid of any emotion.
"I'm curious, where did you get this combat mech?"
...
Pardofelis turned her head and saw the sky turned red from the flames, the dense gunfire, and the explosions.
This is more like it. It was too quiet before, which made me uneasy.
Quiet is actually rare on Sundown Alley. Those big shots can only sleep at night after fighting. How could they suddenly behave like good kids?
"Such good luck. From the sound of it, they're fighting at Muddy Street. No one will notice me now."
Pardo took a few breaths, staring at the grain in the cart, wondering how she would get it to the warehouse. It was too heavy to carry, and if she left it outside, she feared it would be stolen and blamed on the nursing home.
I guess I'll just take it inside.
The girl sneaked around the nursing home, feeling that the sharp-topped, small-courtyard building looked like a haunted house in the night.
As one of the mysterious, unreliable places in Sundown Alley, she instinctively felt a bit uneasy. Seeing no one around, she skillfully unlocked the door and gently pulled it open.
I'll just drop it at the door and run!
Pardo made up her mind, sneaking in and covering the cart with a plastic sheet. Then she quickly turned and ran, but her raised right leg froze in midair.
A man stood in the shadow of the door. He wore a white T-shirt and gray jeans, looking like an ordinary passerby. His face was covered with a mask, hiding most of his features. Though his face couldn't be seen, it wasn't terrifying.
But just one glance made Pardofelis freeze, her hair standing on end, unable to move a muscle.
It was a sense of predator suppression, stronger than anything she'd felt from Ryan, as though one wrong move and her head would turn into a smashed watermelon.
"The nursing home doesn't have anything worth stealing," the man said, leaning against the wall, his voice not harsh.
Is this good luck or bad luck?
Pardo didn't know what to think. Coming to the nursing home felt like the sign of incredible luck, but now encountering this unsettling presence seemed like bad luck.
"Uh, I'm here to deliver something, not steal anything. It's just rice and pickled meat," the girl answered honestly, but after a long silence, she grew anxious, feeling uneasy in the presence of this strange person.
The gunfire and explosions in the distance had completely died down. The orphanage was eerily quiet, and just as Pardofelis was about to bolt—
"You're telling the truth. Those few extra boxes in the warehouse last month, you brought those too, didn't you?"
"You knew?"
"Hmph, you think I'm blind or stupid?"
"No, no." Pardo quickly shook her head, licking her lips. "So, I'm doing a good deed. Will you let me go? If you don't want it, I'll take it away right now."
"Just leave it. Otherwise, that fussy woman will complain about the food again. But why are you doing this?"
The man's pale green eyes behind the mask were sharp, and Pardo didn't dare to meet his gaze. She thought for a moment, scratching her head.
"Maybe I think it has some meaning?"
"Meaning? What is that?"
"Uh, I can't really explain, but I just feel happy when I do it."
"Like killing and fighting?"
Does this have anything to do with each other?
Pardo felt like she was encountering a crazy person in the middle of the night, and a very terrifying crazy person at that. She forced herself to nod.
"I didn't study much, but I think meaning is something different for everyone."
She anxiously stared at him, not knowing if this answer would be satisfactory. The man fell silent again.
Until Pardofelis couldn't stand it any longer, the man finally waved his hand gently.
"Go."
"Okay."
Pardo had been waiting for this moment. Like the wind, she dashed out of the orphanage, wishing she had two more legs.
The man kept his eyes on her retreating figure until she disappeared. Then he looked at the black smoke in the distance, sniffing the air.
"Strange, there's a familiar smell."