Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back." Mike sighed. "With such a big incident, there will definitely be a curfew soon. For safety's sake, let's stay home for now. Let's not go out and join the fun at this time."

"Okay, I understand." Holly nodded obediently.

I went into the kitchen.

……

"Ah, Grandpa." A light voice drifted from the kitchen, tinged with a hint of reproach, "I knew it... you forgot to drink the tomato soup again, didn't you? Honestly, I prepared it especially for you."

"is it?"

Mike wasn't very confident in his memory. He couldn't remember whether he had drunk it or not, so he just smiled and scratched his head. "Grandpa is old, he might have forgotten."

"it does not matter."

Holly brought out the bowl of cold tomato soup and gave him a lovely, endearing smile. "Grandpa, drink the soup and then go to sleep."

"..."

Mike smiled and took the soup bowl from her hand.

A beam of bright moonlight shone through the window and fell upon her smile.

----

……

"boom------!!!"

A sudden, loud noise.

Zhang Fulin descended vertically, abandoning his lightness skill. Relying on his terrifying physique, he directly pierced through the roof and the second-floor floor, landing with an incredibly hard landing. Instantly, bricks, tiles, and wood chips flew out, and dust billowed everywhere.

Mike was startled. In the middle of the night, in his own home, he experienced a "Zhang-style charge," and it was hard not to be frightened.

"Snapped--!!"

The sound of a sharp weapon cutting through the air came swiftly, and with a flash of cold light, the Meridian Mandarin Duck Axe he threw knocked the bowl and plate out of Mike's hand.

"?!"

This action prompted Mike to instinctively draw his revolver, preparing to retaliate.

But when he saw that somewhat familiar face in the smoke, he was immediately stunned.

"……Who are you……"

"ah----!!!"

The next instant, Holly's scream interrupted his thoughts. She seemed terrified by the sudden intruder, huddled against the corner, screaming incessantly. In contrast, Zhang Fulin's expression was murderous, his other halberd, raised in one hand, also aimed at Holly, who was cowering in the corner.

"What are you doing?!" Mike's blood pressure spiked. He pulled out his revolver, pointed it at Zhang Fulin, and roared, "Don't move, or I'll kill you!"

……

Zhang Fulin was truly at a loss for words. Time was of the essence, and the language barrier made it impossible for him to explain the variables involved.

He could only shout to express his meaning in the simplest language.

"NO, MikE!"

“NO————!!!!”

----

Mike was stunned by the desperate shouts.

That second felt like an eternity.

……

"call……"

After taking a deep breath, Mike slowly moved the muzzle of his gun, aiming it at Holly, who was huddled in the corner.

"Grandpa?" Holly's eyes welled up with tears. "What...what are you going to do? I'm your granddaughter!"

“I know,” Mike said, his voice heavy as if filled with lead, his voice filled with deep sorrow. “But I believe in them.”

----

For an instant.

Holly's expression changed from surprise to coldness. "As expected, all of you are mentally unstable."

She instantly pulled the revolver from her heel, pressed the hammer, and aimed it at Mike.

"……Eh?"

This scene momentarily stunned Mike. Since stepping down, he hadn't touched a gun for three whole years. The experienced and skilled sharpshooter he once was was long gone.

Tonight, all that's in this room is a frail old man.

"laugh--!!"

Zhang Fulin's zither, the Mandarin Duck Axe, pierced Holly's neck first.

Blood surged.

"Well……"

Before she fell, her finger was still on the trigger.

"boom!"

Gunshots.

Mike groaned, clutching his chest where he had been shot, and collapsed heavily to the floor with a thud.

Chapter 968: Troops muster ——————！！！！！

"Forget about the disinfectant, there's no time for that now. Quickly get number 5 in there, his vital signs are about to disappear!"

"We're running out of bandages! Dr. Dixon told me to come get some, but where are the nurses? Where are they all?!"

"Patient No. 32 urgently needs a blood transfusion, and the plasma reserves are..."

"Given the current sanitary conditions, is amputation really possible? There's no other way; the success rate is probably less than 50%..."

"Excuse me, excuse me! A new patient is coming in!!"

……

Baiju City Hospital has never been so overworked as it is tonight.

The sudden loss of control of the track racing car turned what should have been a joyous celebration into a nightmare, a terrible accident.

Busloads of patients were being brought in, and the hospital beds were nearly overflowing, but the number of injured people seemed endless. Even several clinics in White Torch City were mobilized to accept the injured, but their limited resources meant they could only provide basic first aid and nothing more.

Separated by a wall.

Zhang Renfeng listened to the wails, cries, and screams of the people, sitting there silently, his face somewhat numb, without uttering a word.

That expensive suit, which he found too restrictive, had long been taken off and thrown away somewhere. At this moment, he was covered in mud and water, his face was filthy, and he looked disheveled and unkempt. It was hard to imagine that such a person could be associated with words like power and status.

The moment he learned of the accident, he didn't waste any more time arguing with Samuel; instead, he rushed to the scene and began organizing the rescue.

With his strength, he could easily move some of the debris and rubble that would normally require machinery. Within his capabilities, Zhang Renfeng indeed rescued more people.

But all they did was "rescue" them.

He was not a god after all, and could not stop Death from taking away the lives he had dug out of the ruins a second time.

Then, the news that Mike had been shot caused him to completely lose his composure.

According to those who witnessed the incident, Zhang Renfeng was so shocked by the news that he could barely stand and needed to hold onto something to stay upright.

Then, it was a non-stop rush to the hospital... The problem was, the hospital was already receiving far too many injured patients. The truly experienced attending physicians were already overwhelmed with surgeries, and adjusting the schedule took a long time.

Zhang Renfeng and Xiaolang tried to buy him some time using Luo Mo's internal energy.

But his pulse already showed signs of "shrimp swimming," a sign that the pulse was about to disappear—a seventy-year-old man could die instantly from a fall in the morning. Not to mention being shot and losing too much blood; even if the shot didn't hit a vital spot, the result would be the same.

When Mike was finally taken into the operating room, the world seemed to suddenly fall silent.

Zhang Renfeng sat in front of the operating room, silent, his eyes bloodshot and unable to close.

Evelyn and the wolf were both by his side, but no one offered him any comfort. Everything proceeded silently in absolute quiet.

Not only them, but almost all of the original members of the Red Center Gang who were able to attend were present. Nevertheless, the atmosphere remained heavy.

Time slips away, second by second, through our fingers.

----

A familiar figure appeared at the end of the corridor.

"...How is the situation?" The atmosphere was too heavy, so Igor had no choice but to ask a question he already knew the answer to, as a way of starting the conversation.

"The surgery is already underway." Seeing Zhang Renfeng remain silent, Evelyn spoke up for him. "God bless, I hope everything will be alright."

"Don't worry, who is Old Mike? He's a legendary member of the Jack Gang. He's been through thick and thin. How could he be in trouble?" Igor didn't know if these words would comfort Zhang Renfeng, but he just said them instinctively.

"I'm here to tell you that we've obtained some preliminary findings regarding tonight's events. If... you don't want to hear them now..."

“It’s alright.” Zhang Renfeng’s voice was a little hoarse. “Go ahead and speak, it won’t make a difference.”

As soon as he said that, everyone's eyes turned to him.

……

Igor took a deep breath.

"The identities of the attackers have been confirmed; they are all military personnel. It seems to be some kind of 'special operations team.' They were transferred to Samuel's command by the 'Sisswehr family' in the north to participate in this assassination operation. If the assassination is successful, each of them will receive a substantial sum of money."

"The Sishui family is the newest rising family under the Northern Capital Alliance. They also seem to be one of the younger generation, and their attitude towards us has always been very hostile."

"The race car driver who launched the suicide attack... We can't find any information about him; his identity verification is mostly fake. However, given the sophisticated information erasure technology, we can also deduce that he was most likely a member of the Illuminati. Only that organization could do something like this, leaving us without even the slightest clue."

"As for the man who attacked Old Mike, he has been killed by Fu Lin. He had the ability to disguise himself and shrink his body. After removing his disguise, it was found that he used to be a waiter at Elizabeth's clothing store. No one knows his name, but regular customers often call him 'Hodor'."

“He can disguise himself as many people and he also knows how to shrink his body. We speculate that he must have been one of the ‘Old Man’s’ adopted sons.”

"That's about it..."

"As for organizing rescue and crowd control, Gordon is still in charge, and this work is still ongoing."

……

"Mm." Zhang Renfeng's expression didn't change; he simply nodded. "I understand. Thank you for your hard work."

Now that things have come to this, Igor couldn't say anything, and could only sigh softly.

Perhaps, at this moment, these things are no longer so important.

He sat down with Zhang Renfeng and the others, waiting for the legendary gunslinger's story to come to an end.

----

……

Time, like mold spots on a wall, becomes blurred and indistinct.

After an unknown amount of time, the operating room door slowly opened, and the attending physician walked out with heavy steps.

His expression was a mixture of regret and fear; anyone in the crowd could easily make him fall apart from a sneeze.

“Mr. Zhang… I’m so sorry, we…” His tongue was tied in knots, “we… have done our best.”

……

The real Holly had been squatting there for most of the night. Upon hearing this, she seemed to finally feel relieved and burst into tears.

……

"Did he leave any message?" Zhang Renfeng asked.

"...No, Mr. Zhang...no..."

The doctor sighed and said cautiously, "When Mr. Mike was brought in, he had already lost too much blood and was unconscious. I... I don't know what you did to him that saved his life... but he was also very weak on the operating table, and it took too long just to remove the bullet."

“We injected him with some medication, but ultimately…”

He still hasn't woken up.

……