Chapter 307: Chapter 8: A Man’s Pain (4th update, bonus for monthly pass)
"It seems Carl didn’t die unjustly, I should get serious too."
The Cowboy Hat Man stopped retreating and put his fingers to his mouth, blowing a loud whistle.
In the distance, an eagle’s cry echoed as a white-headed eagle swooped down from the sky and landed on the Cowboy Hat Man’s shoulder.
This eagle flared its wings and shook its body, and several clean white feathers fell, emitting a gentle white light before gradually blending into the air.
The feathers merged with the air, and the Cowboy Hat Man’s figure suddenly vanished into thin air.
Su Xiao looked around; the sense of danger remained. This wasn’t spatial ability—the Cowboy Hat Man had gone invisible.
Closing his eyes to sense the surroundings, he found nothing unusual. Even focusing on sound didn’t reveal any footsteps.
Su Xiao suddenly burst forth, rushing to the Cowboy Hat Man’s previous location and slashed with his blade.
The slash cut through empty air as expected—the Cowboy Hat Man had indeed turned invisible, a terrifyingly stealthy opponent.
Su Xiao immediately narrowed his perception range, shrinking it to just five meters, where his perception was the sharpest. Even if a bullet came, there’d be some buffer time.
Upon narrowing his perception, Su Xiao noticed something amiss—a patch of blood had suddenly appeared on the ground, and he could confirm there definitely hadn’t been any blood there before.
Scanning his surroundings again, Su Xiao noticed another anomaly—the bloodstains the Cowboy Hat Man left earlier had all disappeared.
This situation couldn’t be explained by invisibility. A person could go invisible, but blood already on the ground couldn’t disappear like that.
It wasn’t invisibility. The Cowboy Hat Man might have been blocking his perception. At this point, Su Xiao could no longer sense the Cowboy Hat Man’s presence through vision, hearing, or perception.
To Su Xiao now, the Cowboy Hat Man didn’t exist, so he couldn’t find where he was—this was the eagle’s ability.
However, this ability had flaws. By reducing his perception range, Su Xiao significantly increased its intensity. If the Cowboy Hat Man approached within five meters, he could detect him.
Just as Su Xiao was about to search for the Cowboy Hat Man, the sound of something slicing through the air came from behind, and he immediately turned his head.
Swish~, a bullet whizzed past Su Xiao’s cheek, even snapping a few strands of his hair.
Su Xiao’s expression was grim. This bullet had appeared just five meters away, entirely absent outside his perception circle.
The bullet also turned ’invisible’, only revealing itself upon entering the perception circle.
The battle temporarily fell into a stalemate; this fight was leaving Su Xiao quite perturbed. He felt as if the opponent wasn’t trying to explode his Scarlet Card or avenge Carl but merely sought a confrontation without any personal vendetta. No wonder everyone else feared the Phantom Troupe so much.
Su Xiao gained new insights into the Troupe members. Carl might have been one of the more ordinary ones among them.
The battle continued. Su Xiao wasn’t an easy target—since the enemy had come to him, the best way to handle it was to decapitate them.
The Cowboy Hat Man ceased firing, seemingly realizing Su Xiao could dodge his shots, and was concentrating on accumulating power for some skill.
Su Xiao, meanwhile, quickly maneuvered around the open area, using his perception circle to seek the Cowboy Hat Man, with the bloodstains serving as the best guides.
Thud, a blood blossom erupted from Su Xiao’s back—he had taken a shot.
Su Xiao moved his shoulder and grimaced from the pain, but as long as it wasn’t a headshot, his high Life Value could withstand several shots, and Bubute Ni’s aura continuously healed him.
Su Xiao wasn’t worried about Bubute Ni’s safety; for some reason...
Suddenly, Su Xiao had a thought. Since the enemy disappeared from his perception, could Bubute Ni still detect him?
He quickly ran to Bubute Ni’s side, and Bubute Ni immediately emerged from an old ship, positioning itself in front of Su Xiao.
"Bubu, can you see the enemy?"
Su Xiao’s question visibly puzzled Bubu Wang, making him feel helpless. In its view, its owner was inexplicably running circles with the enemy, oblivious to them, occasionally taking a hit.
Splat, a blood flower burst from Bubute Ni’s rear, prompting a woeful howl from Bubu Wang—the Cowboy Hat Man intended to take down the dog.
Seeing this, Su Xiao could now confirm Bubute Ni was able to see the enemy.
"Bubu, hide behind me."
The intention was clear—have Bubute Ni take cover behind him to avoid gunfire, which served two purposes: ensuring Bubute Ni’s safety and, if Bubute Ni was hiding from enemy attacks behind him, it indicated the enemy was directly opposite to Bubu.
Bubute Ni hid by Su Xiao’s side, and Su Xiao suddenly exploded into motion, charging in the opposite direction.
After taking several urgent steps, an arm wielding a gun came into his perception, finally catching the opponent.
But at that moment, the Cowboy Hat Man’s arm vanished, his figure disappearing again, and Su Xiao halted. Bubute Ni quickly ran back behind him.
Su Xiao quietly exchanged a few words with Bubute Ni, showing it something, to which Bubu Wang barked twice.
Su Xiao began wandering aimlessly in the open space, indifferent even if he occasionally took a hit.
The Cowboy Hat Man was puzzled, unsure of Su Xiao’s intentions, but he faintly sensed a conspiracy.
"Flat Feathers, how long can the soul misdirection last?"
The white-headed eagle on the Cowboy Hat Man’s shoulder cooed twice, and he nodded, implying his proficiency in Beast Language was quite high.
Splat, another blood burst erupted on Su Xiao, pushing his Life Value to a dangerously low point. No longer targeting his head as he could evade it, the enemy aimed for the trunk, which was considerably larger and easier to hit than the head, resulting in occasional hits Su Xiao simply didn’t bother dodging.
As Su Xiao took two more shots, Bubu Wang barked loudly behind him.
Su Xiao’s heart leaped with joy—it was time for revenge after taking so many bullets.
"Explode," Su Xiao muttered softly.
Boom! Several flashes of fire soared into the sky, the explosive shockwaves spreading outward as Su Xiao detonated seven Alchemy Bombs, each planted strategically.
Using his left hand, the red protective arm on it absorbed some of the explosion’s impact.
This detonation was precisely what he and Bubute Ni had planned together.
Out of the thirty-one Alchemy Bombs in his storage space, Su Xiao took out more than ten, masking these chewing gum-like bombs with his own blood, dropping one to the ground each time he got shot.
When the Cowboy Hat Man approached these bombs, Bubute Ni would bark loudly.
Just as Bubute Ni barked, Su Xiao decisively detonated the Alchemy Bombs.
The explosion’s flames receded in an instant, revealing the Cowboy Hat Man’s body falling in mid-air, barely shielded by a battered shield, with one arm blown off.
Detecting the Cowboy Hat Man’s descending trajectory, Su Xiao’s face darkened. The enemy was falling into the waterways, leading to a deep, unfathomable ocean, and once submerged in the abandoned structures beneath the City of Seven Seas, Su Xiao couldn’t possibly find him.
The Cowboy Hat Man’s falling direction wasn’t by chance; the white-headed eagle was flapping its wings to steer him.
Su Xiao couldn’t just let this slide—he had endured too many bullets.
Wrapping the Boundary Line around Dragon Slash’s hilt, Su Xiao adjusted his grip, spread his legs apart, and flexed his arm muscles.
Inhaling deeply, Su Xiao hurled Dragon Slash with all his might.
Swish~, Dragon Slash whistled through the air, and the Cowboy Hat Man, hanging mid-air, couldn’t believe his luck.
A pained groan echoed as Dragon Slash pierced directly through the Cowboy Hat Man’s abdomen, perilously close to his... manhood, before he loudly splashed into the ocean, uttering something Su Xiao barely caught: ’My bladder!’
Su Xiao tightened the Boundary Line, yanking sideways as it pulled taut, inflicting further damage on the Cowboy Hat Man.
Retrieving Dragon Slash with the Boundary Line, Su Xiao hoisted it from the water, revealing a growing red stain on the ocean surface.
In the sea, the Cowboy Hat Man was in agonizing pain, the Blue Steel Shadow energy invading his urinary system, greatly frustrated that his Mana Value inexplicably plunged, aborting his Big Move.
PS: (Wishing everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.)