novelraw Chapter 49 : Taste My Bullet
Chapter 49 : Taste My Bullet
Chapter 49: Taste My Bullet
When Shi Yuan burst out of the exhaust vent, he finally breathed in the cold, unrestricted air outside once more.
When that icy, liberated wind brushed across his face—now deathly pale from exhaustion—he nearly wept with relief.
After escaping the base, he gulped down mouthfuls of fresh air, his entire body trembling from the overwhelming sense of narrowly surviving.
He had escaped.
He had finally escaped.
Then he turned back to glance at the steel behemoth sprawling behind the base, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.
Yet before he could savor any relief, a sharp buzzing sounded above his head.
Shi Yuan jerked his head upward and saw several micro-drones—shaped like metallic dragonflies—circling overhead. The blinking red lights on their bodies were like the eyes of death itself, locking firmly onto him.
“Damn it!”
Shi Yuan cursed under his breath. Ignoring the waves of weakness crashing through his mind, he activated his ability again and sprinted away, beginning another desperate escape through the towering buildings of the city.
……
Shi Yuan fled like a frightened beast, dashing madly through Haicheng’s cold steel jungle.
The excessive drain on his mental power made his head throb as though pierced by countless steel needles.
He did not know how long he had been running, nor where his feet had carried him.
When he finally stopped, completely spent, he realized he was standing on the rooftop of an old residential building.
He leaned against the wall, preparing to rest for a moment—to recover a sliver of mental strength before deciding where to go next.
The night wind was cold, making him shiver uncontrollably.
He gripped the rooftop railing, gasping for breath, greedily inhaling the air that carried the taste of freedom.
He lowered his head to look at the sea of city lights below, his eyes filled with confusion and helplessness.
He had escaped.
But where could he possibly run now?
“Traitor”, “murderer”…
These labels clung to him like shackles.
No one would believe him.
He had become everyone’s enemy.
“What should I do…”
Shi Yuan slumped helplessly into a corner, curling up as though the entire world had abandoned him.
However, he did not know that several drones in the sky had already locked onto his position through thermal imaging and energy-wave scans.
The clear, real-time feed was being transmitted simultaneously back to Bureau 869’s command center.
……
Transcendent Affairs Administration, Haicheng Command Center.
“The SkyNet system has locked on! Three ‘Hummingbird’ micro-drones are in pursuit!”
On the massive electronic screen, a glaring red dot remained fixed on the rooftop of a residential building.
The high-definition feed from the drones clearly displayed Shi Yuan’s disheveled, wretched figure.
“Target reacquired!”
“Requesting instructions!”
Chen Mo stared at the screen—at the figure curled up like a stray dog—his expression dark and heavy.
In his view, Shi Yuan’s escape had completely proven his guilt.
He must not be allowed to go free!
If they failed to eliminate him with decisive force, then the authority and order he and the officials had just established before the 【Radiance】 players would completely collapse.
His so-called national backing would become a joke.
Therefore, Shi Yuan had to die.
This was for the sake of avenging the fallen 【Sea Demon】 Hailan.
This was to give the remaining 【Radiance】 players an explanation.
And even more, to uphold the unshakable authority of the Transcendent Affairs Administration!
Chen Mo picked up the communicator and opened Li Wei’s private channel.
“【Gun God】, respond.”
“【Gun God】receiving.”
Li Wei’s calm, steady voice came through the communicator.
“The target is locked. I’ve synchronized the drones’ shared visual feed to your tactical display.”
Chen Mo paused for a beat. “I order you to eliminate the target immediately.”
“Repeat—eliminate the target.”
“【Gun God】received.”
……
Li Wei took a deep breath and ended the call.
Then he walked to the top of the tallest signal tower in the Bureau 869 base.
There, he knelt on one knee, his body steady as a boulder.
Slowly, he raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together, pointing from afar toward the abandoned building several kilometers away.
He put on the tactical visor, connecting to the drones’ shared view.
On the screen, Shi Yuan’s pale, exhausted face appeared clearly before his eyes.
As Li Wei stared at that face, the image that surfaced in his mind was Hailan collapsing into a pool of blood, disbelief frozen in her eyes.
He recalled the terrifying destruction caused by the uncontrolled transcendents in the Jiang City incident—footage Chen Mo had played in the meeting.
Anger, disappointment, and the duty of a police officer sworn to eradicate evil—those emotions twisted together, turning into the cold killing intent poised on his “trigger.”
“Eliminate the threat. Avenge my teammate.”
“You can’t run!”
“Taste my bullet!”
“Werewolf!”
Li Wei chanted silently in his heart.
Then he drew in a deep breath, gathering all his mental power, all his will, all his fury—condensing them into the tip of his finger.
His gaze locked onto Shi Yuan’s image, for once his target was caught in that line of sight, there would only ever be one ending—impact.
Then his finger twitched slightly.
A formless bullet—born purely of killing intent and will—shot forth.
……
On the rooftop, Shi Yuan finally recovered from his ragged gasping.
The mental exhaustion and physical weakness made his eyelids feel unbearably heavy.
He only wanted to sleep.
Perhaps if he slept, everything would be better tomorrow.
But at that moment, an abrupt surge of mortal dread clamped down on his heart!
The shadow of death washed over him like an icy tide!
“No!”
Shi Yuan’s pupils shrank sharply.
Instinctively, he tried to accelerate his personal time-flow again to dodge.
But his drained mental power could no longer support even a single temporal manipulation.
Then, without warning, a grotesque bloom of blood burst from his head.
His body jerked backward, his face frozen in shock and unwillingness.
Then the light in his eyes faded rapidly. His body swayed.
And like a broken rag doll, he slipped off the rooftop’s edge and fell.
As his consciousness plunged into eternal darkness, only one fragmented thought flickered through his mind.
“Why… is this… happening…”
That was the final thought he left in this world.
For him, the one who killed him—was it truly the real murderer who killed Hailan, or was it the bullet fired from kilometers away by a “teammate”?
Perhaps… both.
……
【Radiance】faction player【Time Walker】has died
【Current remaining players: 【Radiance】6, 【Shadow】4】
The next second, the cold, mechanical notification tone rang simultaneously in the minds of all surviving players.