(Kuchiba Hiro spoke hesitantly, his voice tinged with a hint of testing: "Can you... understand what I'm saying?"
Silence spread through the air. He focused his senses, but the special ability that allowed him to communicate with animals yielded no response—this thing before him was dead. Although it could move, it lacked any breath of life.
He reached out to examine the weapon closely. Some parts felt cold and hard, like metal; yet others were soft but resilient, more like skin stretched over bone, and even gave off a faint, flesh-like elastic texture.
A chill suddenly shot up his spine. Although he couldn't be certain of its exact origin, he could roughly guess what this material was. Was this a weapon made from the corpse of a Transcendent?
A sense of discomfort pricked his skin like fine needles, but at the same time, a strong sense of curiosity was piqued: what kind of craftsmanship could forge a physical body into such a lethal weapon? What was fundamentally different about a Transcendent's body compared to an ordinary person's?
Based on his rudimentary knowledge of firearms, Kuchiba Hiro knew that all guns shared a common principle: as long as you don't pull the trigger while pointing it at yourself, there probably won't be any accidents.
He fumbled for a moment and pressed a device on the top of the gun that looked like a safety. In the next instant, the entire gun actually came to life before his eyes—no, it "distorted." Like a flesh-and-blood Transformer endowed with life, it squirmed and reorganized in a bizarre and unsettling way, finally shrinking and deforming into a briefcase.
Kuchiba Hiro was stunned, with only one thought left in his mind: Is this really a Transformer?!
In an instant, wild imaginings flooded his mind: Cybertron, the war between Autobots and Decepticons, scenes from sci-fi blockbusters flashed one after another. He even subconsciously began to look forward to it—would Bumblebee be nearby? He really wanted one too.
However, these delusions came and went quickly. He immediately snapped back to reality..
He crouched down and fiddled with the briefcase again. His fingertips found a button on the handle, and with a light press, the case distorted and deformed once more, quickly reverting to its sniper rifle form.
So that was it. Having the functions of both camouflage and storage was quite practical.
"No. 4, No. 4, pay attention! The target signal has appeared. The target is about to step out of the safe zone. Prepare for action."
The Captain's urgent command suddenly came through the corpse's earpiece.
Kuchiba Hiro's heart tightened, and his mind raced — here was his chance. He quickly took off the earpiece, recalled the timbre and tone of No. 4's voice just now, cleared his throat, and cautiously mimicked a response: "Copy that."
The other party didn't seem to suspect anything and continued to instruct: "Don't be in a hurry to act after spotting the target. It'll be more advantageous to drive them to a less populated area before moving in."
"Understood," Kuchiba Hiro responded again.
He had managed to fool the communication for now, and he let out a soft sigh of relief, but his nerves remained tense. How many people did the other side have? With the code name "No. 4," there should be at least four people. He glanced down at the bustling commercial district below the building; identifying hidden enemies among such a dense crowd using animals would be extremely difficult.
While quickly thinking of a strategy, his hands didn't stop, moving unconsciously over the gun's body. Suddenly, his fingertips touched a certain activation switch. In an instant, on the surface of the flesh-composed gun, vein-like patterns began to squirm, and the entire gun seemed to be awakened. The eye on the scope, which had been blinking occasionally, now opened wide, a faint light glowing in its pupil.
Kuchiba Hiro was amazed and tentatively brought his eye close to the scope. To his surprise, the lens acted like a living thing, creating suction; the observation port instantly transformed into a slippery suction cup, firmly attaching itself to his eyeball!
"Ah!" He cried out in fright, violently throwing the gun aside and retreating quickly. The gun then returned to its original state.
He hurriedly felt his eye—thankfully, he wasn't blind. But that slimy sensation lingered, causing a wave of intense physical discomfort.
Just then, the Captain's urgent inquiry came through the communicator: "No. 4? What's going on? What's the situation on your end?"
Kuchiba Hiro panicked for a moment, not knowing how to respond. He gritted his teeth, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his face, and leaned down to pick up the sniper rifle again, assuming a combat stance. When that slippery observation port approached his eye once more, he endured the discomfort and did not dodge.
The moment it attached, his vision and the gun's field of view were suddenly connected. Through the eye on the scope, he saw a completely different scene—buildings became semi-transparent, and the crowd blurred into shadows, yet their facial features remained discernible. Six points of light were clearly visible, like lighthouses in the dark of night.
He immediately understood the gun's ability. His gaze quickly swept over those light points: five were lurking in the shadows, clearly No. 4's accomplices; while another, much brighter light point, was moving with the crowd toward the hotel.
It was two different groups. Those lying in wait were the squad members, while that lone light point might be a hunter who had wandered in, or just a passerby?
"No. 4, answer! What happened? Please reply! No. 2, go check the situation; something might have happened to No. 4!"
The Captain's voice grew increasingly urgent.
Kuchiba Hiro gritted his teeth and raised the sniper rifle, determined to face them head-on. However, at that moment, Misaka Mikoto acted within the crowd—her ability activated, and all electrical systems in the area collapsed at her command. Lights went out, phones failed, and every device relying on electricity fell silent as the entire block was instantly swallowed by darkness.
This sudden turn of events caused all actions to halt. Through the sniper scope, Kuchiba Hiro clearly saw the energy fluctuations radiating from the girl; he no longer viewed her as a mere passerby.
He keenly recognized the school uniform she was wearing—it was identical to the one worn by the Level 6 Ability User he had killed yesterday.
She was here for revenge.)
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