037 Tianshan Xintai Luo

Mu Sheng was furious.

He was beyond livid.

Last night, when Mu Sheng saw a pack of "Longing" fall from Mo Bai's pocket, and saw how carefully Mo Bai hid it, refusing to let anyone touch it, he suddenly understood everything. His good buddy, burdened by the pressure of supporting his younger sister, had fallen prey to criminals and, in a moment of weakness, had started using drugs!

One simply does not touch that stuff. It actually rots your brain!

Mu Sheng had heard of the drug "Longing" and knew it wasn't easy to quit. Bringing it up would only damage their friendship. That blockhead Mo Bai must have known it was trash, which was why he was so careful not to let Mu Sheng get involved. He was truly a saint—it made Mu Sheng want to cry.

With no other choice, Mu Sheng had to take matters into his own hands and cut off the source of the "Longing."

Thus, the diligent Master Mu spent an entire night investigating, taking out a few people, silencing a few mouths, and running through over a dozen streets. In the end, he found absolutely nothing, wasted thousands of yuan worth of ammunition, and finally decided he might as well just go sell his soul.

After paying a small price to a certain individual, Mu Sheng obtained information on a target: Cao Chen.

Cao Chen was ranked 17,369th in the International Assassin Alliance "Black Dove." His bloodline was "Nightmare Puppet," a second-stage "Metamorphosis" type. It was a sinister ability that allowed him to use physical gestures to plant suggestions in others, manipulating their minds until they became his puppets. His equipment was the lowest-tier "Feast of Chaos," a support item with no offensive capability—hardly worth worrying about.

In several clear assassination records, Cao Chen would stealthily approach his target, plant a suggestion without them realizing it, and then leave the scene to complete the kill remotely. However, because he used it so often, the intelligence had become common knowledge; his ability was easily countered. His ranking plummeted, his income dwindled, he couldn't even afford to eat, and retirement was looking impossible...

Ahem, but I digress. In short, once he had Cao Chen's information, Mu Sheng began his search and finally tracked him down that morning.

Only to find him stalking Mo Bai.

And Mu Sheng was busy stalking the person stalking Mo Bai.

Mathematically speaking, he was effectively stalking Mo Bai.

Mu Sheng: "..."

According to the Second Law of Stalking: when you gaze into someone's backside, your own is also being gazed upon.

Cao Chen hadn't noticed Mu Sheng stalking him; he was too focused on following Mo Bai. Just as he prepared to make his move, Mu Sheng launched an attack on his backside.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The crisp, sharp sound of gunfire erupted like rain. Wearing a Taro mask, Mu Sheng slung his sniper rifle over his back, drew two submachine guns that looked suspiciously like CS/LS7s, and unleashed a barrage of fire at Cao Chen, who was hiding behind cover.

His hands were steady as a rock.

Sparks flew as bullets struck, creating a deafening, rhythmic clatter in the hallway. Cao Chen scrambled between pillars, head tucked, desperately dodging the incoming lead.

Though he didn't know why Mo Bai was getting close to Cao Chen, it would be troublesome if that bastard planted a suggestion on him. Mu Sheng had no choice but to strike first.

The average Dongxia citizen might never see a real firearm in their entire life, let alone witness a shooting. Mo Bai should have been terrified and run away by now, right?

Thinking this, Mu Sheng glanced back, and his expression turned blank.

Mo Bai hadn't run. He was standing right there, staring straight at Mu Sheng.

"No, why the hell are you just standing there like an idiot???"

This was a gun—a real gun! One shot could blow your brains out and splatter them all over the floor. Did you think you were some kind of tough guy who could tank a bullet?

"Run, you moron! And why are you staring at the top of my head?"

Mo Bai, meanwhile: "..."

A million alpacas seemed to be stampeding through his heart. Mu Sheng had indeed changed his clothes and put on a Taro mask, but... but...

Mo Bai checked the "ingredients" hovering above him, and he nearly exploded.

What kind of home-visiting artifact is this? (Hands on hips)

Surely there couldn't be two people with such an identical, complex set of stats in such a short amount of time? Mo Bai was dumbfounded. Last time he saw the "Fast Shooter" stat, he hadn't realized the severity of the situation and assumed it just meant he was fast at shooting.

Turns out, you really are fast at shooting???

The shock this gave Mo Bai was no less than finding out a billionaire was moonlighting as Batman every night to uphold justice. Was this really his lazy, otaku best friend Mu Sheng, who had no car, no house, and spent every Valentine's Day playing galgames in his room?

Mo Bai, who had been planning to use a Maltesers candy to blow up Cao Chen, awkwardly lowered his hand. He watched Mu Sheng fire madly at Cao Chen, the gun barrels smoking. Seeing Mu Sheng wave at him to run, Mo Bai blinked and shouted, "Mu Sheng?"

Mu Sheng's body jolted, his eyes filled with disbelief.

*Holy crap, you can recognize me even with a Taro Ultraman mask on???*

*How the hell did you figure that out?*

Terrified, Mu Sheng quickly covered his face with his gun, adopting a thick, classic old Beijing eunuch accent: "I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"

"Who is Mu Sheng? I don't know him! I am the New Taro of Tianshan, you've got the wrong person!"

"Run! I'm about to kill someone, and if I lose control, I won't spare you either!"

Despite his words, Mu Sheng's gun never pointed at Mo Bai.

"Oh, that's a fancy little toy you've got there."

Not only did Mo Bai not retreat, but he also pushed his luck, approaching Mu Sheng like Dio approaching Jotaro. "If you're the New Taro of Tianshan, then I'm the Elder Gaja of North City."

"Stop! Monster, I can tell at a glance you aren't human! Reveal your true form!"

"I'm really not, I swear!"

Mu Sheng was so anxious his Taro mask shifted, revealing half of his slightly wretched-looking face. "Don't come over here!!!"

"I'm really going to shoot you dead!!!"

Mo Bai: "..."

You kid don't even realize you've stopped doing the voice, do you?

"Fine then." Mo Bai looked regretful. "I'll go."

Watching Mo Bai back away, Mu Sheng finally let out a sigh of relief. The bastard was finally willing to leave, and now he could really show off his skills. But just then, Mo Bai casually added:

"By the way, remember to pay back that five thousand yuan I lent you today. Otherwise, I'll have Mo Mo look at you with the same expression she uses for trash for the next three months."

Mu Sheng: "!"

To be looked at by the adorable Mo Mo as if he were trash for three months? Anything but that!

Without thinking, he reflexively shouted: "Don't do that, old Mo, give me a few more days... wait, no!"

Mo Bai: "..."

Mu Sheng: "..."

The atmosphere between the two became suddenly awkward.

"I knew it was you, you blockhead."

"Ha, haha..." Realizing he couldn't keep up the act, Mu Sheng pulled off his Taro mask, revealing his familiar, dopey face. "Well, what a coincidence, old Mo."

"You came here to shoot guns too?"

"Shoot my ass. I'm a righteous gentleman."

Mo Bai rolled his dead fish eyes: "...So, what exactly have you been doing for the last few months?"

"How did you go from a corporate-slave college student to a corporate-slave gunslinger?"

"Sigh." Mu Sheng sighed. "It's a long story."

"Also," he squinted, "why are we both corporate slaves?"

Not far away, Cao Chen peeked out from behind a pillar, staring at the chatting Mo Bai and Mu Sheng with utter shock. He recognized the model of those guns—they were new products recently released by a workshop specializing in firearms, not something just anyone could get their hands on. They were known for completely suppressing muzzle noise, which was why they could fire so freely in a place like Dongxia.

And that unhesitating shooting and suppression technique... that skill was almost on par with the veterans from the border wars who grew up eating lead.

*Are you hacking, kid?*

*Damn it, where did this monster come from? He just wanted to finish this job and retire! Why is everything so complicated?*

Cao Chen gritted his teeth. He knew that with Mu Sheng present, it was impossible to take Mo Bai back alive. He had no choice but to retreat. A Star-Alignment stage Transcendent might not care about bullets, but he was only a Metamorphosis stage; modern firearms could easily mow him down.

As it happened, the two were busy chatting—the perfect time to escape.

Cao Chen aimed for a window above, planning to kick off the wall and vault out, but the moment he took a step, a sudden, piercing sense of impending death roared in his heart, warning him:

*DON'T MOVE FORWARD!!!*

Cao Chen: "!"

He slammed on the brakes and lunged backward. A bullet tore through the air, grazing the skin on his forehead before embedding itself into the reinforced concrete, leaving a crater.

Cold sweat mixed with blood slowly traced a clown-like pattern down the assassin's face.

"Tch, lucky you're fast, kid."

Mu Sheng, who had been chatting with Mo Bai, didn't even look at Cao Chen. He simply relied on his intuition, raised his gun, and leveled it straight at Cao Chen's head. "And another thing."

"Who the hell did you think you were running from?"