At the gang leader's command, the goons stationed at both alley exits began their assault.
Their targets? Just one adult man and one underage teen.
Meanwhile, they had over forty armed members, more than ten vehicles, and dozens of guns…
With that kind of firepower, even a top-tier Afterlife merc squad would've struggled.
They were practically sitting on the enemy's face—how could they possibly lose?
The only downside was the alley's narrowness—barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. No matter how many they had, they'd still have to file in one by one.
And that gave Lin Mo and Kitagawa a narrow window of opportunity.
Kitagawa's face was grim. The auditory enhancer in his ear picked up approaching footsteps from both ends of the alley.
A dense rhythm—like hunters closing in on their prey, eyes gleaming with bloodlust.
Cornered and outgunned, even the fiercest lion would fall to a firing squad.
"Lin-kun! Lend me that sniper rifle—now!" Kitagawa barked suddenly.
Lin Mo blinked, already rummaging through his gear pouch. Hearing the urgency, he handed over the Cat Demon tech sniper rifle without a second thought.
Kitagawa snatched it up, quickly adjusting its settings and fine-tuning the parameters.
"Shit… not enough time," he muttered.
Trapped behind makeshift cover, enemies at both ends, guns undoubtedly raised and ready—Kitagawa didn't even need to peek to know what awaited them.
Firing his Copper Viper assault rifle now would be suicide. Sure, he might take out a couple of them—but the rest would shred him in seconds.
Only the Cat Demon could change the tide.
That electromagnetic beast could punch straight through cover—walls, armor, you name it. He could stay hidden and still land kills.
But the problem? It required careful calibration. One to two minutes minimum. No setup meant the shot might be too weak—or worse, rupture the chamber.
Still, it was their best shot.
Then—just as Kitagawa began to despair—he heard the sharp click of a grenade pin.
He looked up in shock.
Lin Mo, calm as ever, had pulled out a white-painted grenade from his pouch and lobbed it to the side of the alley.
"Flashbangs!" Kitagawa's eyes widened. "Take cover!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Twin thunderclaps split the alley. The narrow passage was suddenly lit up like day.
Screams echoed down both ends. The gang had been completely blindsided.
Lin Mo brushed off nonexistent dust and glanced at Kitagawa—specifically, the rifle in his hands.
"You know how to use that thing?"
"…I-I know the basics," Kitagawa muttered, still stunned.
"Cool. It's yours now," Lin Mo replied, as casually as if he were giving away an old umbrella. "Make it count."
Before Kitagawa could respond, Lin Mo pulled out two more grenades—blood red, ominous.
Kitagawa's jaw dropped. "Laser-Cutter Fragmentation Grenades?!"
Military-grade tech. Once airborne, they hover mid-air using internal fuel, then blast 21 beams of cutting lasers in all directions—like a floating death hedgehog.
The 3–4 meter kill zone was absolute. Unless you were built like a tank, stepping into it was instant death.
"These things aren't cheap," Lin Mo remarked. "Let's hope they're worth every eddie."
Without hesitation, he tossed one out.
Kitagawa could only gape in disbelief. He even forgot to calibrate the sniper rifle.
He felt like some backwoods bumpkin watching Lin Mo casually pull out high-grade military gear like it was candy.
Lin-kun… are you Doraemon from the 22nd century or something?
When he first saw that gear pouch, Kitagawa figured it held a few medkits and spare mags.
But now?
Meds, tactical grenades, firearms, ammo…
The whole damn armory.
And this was Lin Mo's first job.
Which meant... he'd prepped all of this in advance—for just one mission.
...
The gang wasn't prepared for this.
They thought they'd cornered some half-assed mercs.
Instead, they got flashbanged, scorched, shredded, and thrown into utter chaos.
Laser scorch marks now crisscrossed the alley walls. Grenade impacts had cratered the entrances. Magnesium residue from the flashbangs still glowed in the air.
The two alley mouths were now virtual death zones.
"Where the hell is our sniper?! Bring out that tech rifle and snipe those bastards already!" one of the gang lieutenants yelled.
"Forget it," someone else spat. "Artya's dead. He was supposed to take out the original targets—then those two freaks showed up and ruined everything."
The gang leader's face turned stormy. He stared at the alley, fists clenched, watching his people bleed out.
"Listen up! Fire in waves—kill on sight! If they throw another grenade, I want them turned into paste!"
With the order given, the gang opened fire with zero restraint.
Bullets tore through the alley like a hurricane.
Lin Mo didn't dare throw another grenade.
The suppressing fire was too heavy—even if he threw one, it'd get blown mid-air.
Instead, he placed his katana across his lap and sat in silence.
Like a monk under a tree, serene in the eye of the storm.
Gunfire thundered for over a minute before finally ceasing.
Shells littered the ground. Smoke hung heavy in the air.
"Anyone in there tries anything again, and we'll turn you into fucking mulch!" someone yelled from outside.
A clear warning.
Try another stunt, and it's game over.
"They still want us alive," Lin Mo said softly, almost amused.
"They've got orders—alive or no pay," Kitagawa muttered, picking up the Cat Demon again.
If Lin Mo couldn't strike back—then he would.
"You gonna fight back?" Lin Mo asked casually.
"Beats waiting to die," Kitagawa growled.
Lin Mo gave a calm, almost lazy smile.
"Relax. We're not dying here. That rifle's only got four rounds, and we didn't find a spare mag. Let's not waste the ammo."
Kitagawa opened his mouth to argue—but froze.
He met Lin Mo's eyes.
They were calm, almost gentle.
But beneath that surface was a glacial coldness.
"These people are already dead," Lin Mo said flatly. "Don't waste bullets on corpses."
.
.
.
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