Chapter 49: In His Past Life, He Must Have Been Someone Who Came with the Wind…

“Alright, alright, gentlemen, calm down, calm down. Shouting won’t help—there’s no one outside, and even if there were, they couldn’t hear you… Shut the fuck up!”

Captain Antonio barely held onto the handrail by the elevator side, restraining himself from smashing into someone.

He took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure as if he were giving a speech.

But it fell apart in the next second.

Inside the sealed elevator, the noise was deafening, a chaotic pandemonium.

Some shouted for their mothers, some prayed to gods, some soiled their pants, and others clung together, kissing desperately.

Antonio cleared his throat. “Ahem, ahem!”

The Adventure Group captain, who had originally wanted to get out alive, found himself squeezed into a corner amid the sardine-like crush in the elevator. He felt like giving up on life.

Better to die than this.

He thought numbly.

…No, no, he had to get out alive. He still had a whole group to lead.

The final payment from the last client hadn’t arrived yet, and the deposit for the next commission had just been paid… He couldn’t die here and let that money go to waste!

Since normal talking couldn’t get through to these Sand Bandits, he needed a way they’d accept.

He snatched a gun that had been tossed into the corner and fired at the elevator ceiling.

Bang! One of the elevator lights shattered.

Not that it mattered—it wasn’t lit anyway.

The gunshot’s shock value worked perfectly. All the Sand Bandits froze, staring straight at him.

Facing this leaderless group of Sand Bandits, Antonio had no confidence.

But if he gave them a leader amid their panic…

He flashed a smile, half-lowering his eyelids. The Shock Ring around his neck peeked subtly from under his collar.

The gun barrel pointed upward, still smoking.

“I have a way to get us out of here, gentlemen.”

He said politely, his voice cool. “You won’t die. You’ll see tomorrow’s sun.”

“Those who want to follow me, turn around after I count to three: three, two…”

“One!”

Xie Jianxun jumped down from the Mechanical Puppet’s back.

When One had slid through the obstacles earlier, one hand had steadied him while the other pressed against the ground. He had clearly seen the palm friction violently against the floor—probably badly damaged!

He grabbed One’s hand and flipped it over, nearly gasping.

Sure enough, the entire palm was charred black.

The thinner-skinned areas were severely damaged, even exposing the working parts inside.

The person involved acted like it was nothing, casually flexing it. “No problem.”

Xie Jianxun confirmed again. “Really okay?”

One said mildly, “Believe me.”

Xie Jianxun thought to himself, next time something like this happened, he definitely wouldn’t let One catch him in it.

As he pondered, the Mechanical Puppet suddenly pinched his waist.

He looked up in confusion and was lifted over its head. One gestured for him to grab the edge of the second-layer deck, helping him climb up.

Unsure what was happening, Xie Jianxun followed obediently. “What’s this for?”

One tossed him the long-handled gun. “I suspect the giant’s weakness is fragile spots like the eyes, but my knife can’t perform precise operations. You’ll have to help me.”

Xie Jianxun gripped the gun tightly. He lay on the upper interlayer, looking down at the Mechanical Puppet gazing up at him.

The human hooked the corner of his lips. “This much faith in my aim? What if I hit you?”

One knocked on its own chest, closed its eyes, and bowed its head. It smiled and said, “Then fire away at this spot.”

Xie Jianxun paused.

Amid a loud crashing sound, the giant staggered in, finally reaching the empty beast-fighting arena they had chosen in advance.

He—or rather, it—had lost all human reason.

Whether called by name or anything else, it no longer reacted like a human, reduced to a dazed, muddled state.

The slender figure stood in the center of the arena. The giant lumbered over clumsily. Upon seeing him, it seemed to reignite with fury. It threw its head back and roared, leaping up and stomping craters into the half-layer deck, permanent deformations!

Xie Jianxun knelt on the interlayer deck, running his hand over the gun barrel, quickly familiarizing himself with its structure and parts.

Finally, he pulled back the safety, his fingers trembling slightly.

Earlier, when One had looked up at him, its blue eyes had glowed faintly.

Through those artificially made eyes, he could clearly see the soul beneath the Mechanical Puppet’s bionic shell.

At that moment, he had opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.

Now, the Mechanical Puppet had left to confront the mutated Giant Jack.

Xie Jianxun silently flipped open the sight cover and aimed at Giant Jack’s eye.

Aim here, the Mechanical Puppet had said.

Found it.

Giant Jack didn’t move fast, but each step hammered the floor with earth-shaking force, making the entire deck vibrate.

Xie Jianxun was jolted so hard he could barely hold on; the view in the sight blurred into a mess.

He tried firing a few times, but the shaking threw the barrel way off. With little shooting experience, Xie Jianxun had no know-how to adjust.

He pulled away from the sight, anxious. This won’t work.

Besides, the giant’s body was huge but its head small; a slight turn, and the eye was blocked.

He wasn’t some sharpshooter. No genius could hit such a tiny target without training.

The Mechanical Puppet must have seen him through rose-tinted glasses, thinking him omnipotent.

Anxious, Xie Jianxun climbed to his feet, unsure what to do.

Suddenly, he noticed a protruding interlayer on the opposite side.

From that angle, he might easily aim at Giant Jack’s occiput!

The back of the head might not be as fragile as the eyes, but they were close, and the target much larger—plenty big enough to blast through the giant’s skull defenses.

No time like the present.

He slung the gun over his back, freeing his hands, and half-ran, half-crawled across the badly damaged deck interlayer to his chosen firing spot.

He slowly lay down, locking eyes with the Mechanical Puppet below.

One turned sideways, drawing the Long Knife on Giant Jack. Flames rose, igniting the air.

…

The elevator ceiling was blasted open. The Sand Bandits climbed out one atop another, struggling to escape the sealed box.

The human ladder wobbled, as if the sardines escaping the can would tumble back in and become fish stew any second.

But once the elevator opened, above was the pitch-black shaft.

Now they hesitated—no one wanted to go first without the boss’s orders. Self-preservation came first.

The ladder collapsed with a clatter.

The Sand Bandits glanced up, then back at Antonio in the corner.

“You, go first.”

One Sand Bandit barked at Antonio.

Antonio didn’t budge.

He pointed to the Shock Ring on his neck, signaling he was just a pitiful captive who wouldn’t dare go ahead of the Sand Bandit lords.

The Sand Bandits exchanged sly looks.

They had guns; the hostage didn’t. Let him go first— what could he do?

They shoved him roughly, voices gruff.

“You first.”

“What are you standing around for? Go on, got it?”

Antonio raised a brow. “You really letting me go first?”

“Go when we say go—enough yapping!”

Fine, fine, no pushing—he’d go. Antonio feigned reluctance and climbed through the hole in the elevator ceiling.

Soon, he reached the maintenance scaffold and ladder beside the shaft and began climbing up slowly.

Seeing him escape smoothly, the Sand Bandits below surged up, scrambling out of the sardine can.

Antonio reached the nearest exit layer and was about to pry open the cover when it vibrated violently.

Something on the other side was pounding the ground hard!

His heart skipped. He froze, and the Sand Bandits caught up.

Someone grabbed his ankle, laughing maliciously. “Hey, why’d you stop? Plotting how to ditch us?”

“Forget it! Climb!”

Free from the elevator that could drop them anytime, the Sand Bandits were in high spirits, joking around. “Look at how scared you were earlier.”

“Climbing a ladder—who can’t do that? You underestimate me?”

“Wonder how the boss is doing up there. He’ll figure out how to save us. You guys contact the boss?”

From the bottom came complaints. “Light Brain has no signal—”

“Ow, calls won’t go through.”

Antonio turned slightly, frowning.

He seemed to hear a roar—giving him a strong sense of foreboding.

“My advice: everyone stay put. Something’s happened up there.”

But no one heeded him.

These Sand Bandits were used to rowdy freedom. Only their boss could make them obey; anyone else faced an uphill battle.

Hang dangling on this ladder?

No way!

The Sand Bandits scrambled up hand over hand. Passing Antonio, one sneered maliciously, “If you don’t wanna live, roll down then.”

He shoved Antonio suddenly!

The Adventure Group captain slipped, barely catching a metal handrail with his arm, dangling in midair.

The Sand Bandits laughed heartily. “Stay put like a good boy—we’re outta here!”

With that, they yanked open the cover and crawled out through the passage.

The exit light grew brighter; they straightened up and bolted madly!

The maintenance room exit was ahead. They twisted the door open joyfully—only for violent tremors and a massive fist to appear, snatching the lead Sand Bandit who couldn’t brake in time!

All the Sand Bandits froze.

They saw a giant demolishing the deck, smashing everything around into ruins.

And a young man wielding a flaming Long Knife, its afterimages like wings on his back, making him look as light as a butterfly.

But why… did that giant have their boss Jack’s face?

They gaped.

One Sand Bandit hesitated and shouted, “B-Boss? Boss, how’d you turn into this?!”

The Mechanical Puppet and the giant’s gazes snapped over simultaneously.

One’s knife twisted mid-swing, changing direction, while the giant shifted, clutching the tiny human in its hand.

…It looked hungry.

It seemed about to stuff that person’s head into its mouth!

Xie Jianxun lay on the ground, fully focused on aiming at the giant’s occiput.

The world narrowed to that tiny sight, all distractions gone.

He stopped worrying about returning to the city safely or those translucent eyes. Knowing his aim sucked, he just sighted longer, waiting for the perfect moment.

His heartbeat slowed, awaiting the vibrations to settle.

It might be just an instant.

Tired of tangling with One, the giant ignored it and switched to a new target—a human who had popped out from somewhere, now gripped in its hand.

The other Sand Bandits below scattered in panic, scrambling to flee.

“Help—!”

“Boss, Boss is eating people!!!”

Terror broke them; they fled rolling and crawling.

Two braver ones stayed, peppering Giant Jack’s thigh with bullets, trying to snap it out of it with pain.

They shot and yelled, “Boss! Snap out of it—this is our brother… How’d you become like this? Have you seen Nir? Wasn’t he always by your side?”

Hearing the familiar name, the giant actually paused.

…Nir?

From Mase Village, Nir.

Mase had once been a tiny village by the oasis—too small to call a city.

It had trees, water—not abundant, but livable.

Nir was the first to follow him.

He said he had no skills, was skinny and ugly, no girl would have him.

Better to follow a promising boss than struggle alone.

That’s what he said with a fawning smile, and he stuck around for years.

When had they robbed their first caravan? Long ago, forgotten—they were used to it now.

In his memory, Mase was still that little village.

In his memory, Nir was still that obsequious, scrawny, hunched figure.

Memories blurred.

The giant lowered its head, looking at the person in its grip.

The Sand Bandits thought there was hope—until the next moment, when the giant shoved his head into its mouth.

Xie Jianxun pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew out, blasting a small hole in the back of Giant Jack’s head.

A Sand Bandit dropped from the giant’s palm as half of its occiput exploded, spraying a large amount of blood.

One agilely leaped backward, dodging the blood flow, and glanced upward—a look that roughly meant something like “You could at least warn me before firing.”

Xie Jianxun guiltily lowered the scope.

However, Giant Jack was not completely dead yet.

It shook even more violently, its massive arm and fist nearly occupying the entire space. But it had lost even more of its sanity. When one Sand Bandit ran past it, the giant grabbed him with one palm and casually flung him flying into the ruins.

Xie Jianxun almost heard the sound of that man spitting blood.

Moreover, the giant was especially sensitive to the direction from which it had been shot, like a dying counterattack. After spinning around once, it directly locked onto the interlayer where Xie Jianxun was positioned!

Xie Jianxun: “…”

He locked eyes with Giant Jack and immediately thought, We’re done for.

How could someone whose occiput had been blown off still not be dead!

Did that mean he could only shoot its eyes now…? No, this wasn’t even a person anymore. Losing an eye wouldn’t make much difference, would it?

Xie Jianxun braced his arms against the ground and kicked hard, leaping into the air from his spot—

The next second, the giant leaped over, smashing its fist through the interlayer where Xie Jianxun had just been lying.

The tiny human on top of its head was like a bird with wings, hovering in midair for a moment.

Then, free fall!

Wind whistled past Xie Jianxun’s ears as a strong sense of weightlessness hit him. He clung tightly to the gun barrel, and in the scope, Giant Jack’s eye appeared for just an instant—he captured it.

Bang—

The shot hit Giant Jack’s lower jaw, sending its entire body reeling backward. It crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust!

Xie Jianxun was also jolted backward, his hands going numb.

He accelerated his fall, landing perfectly into someone’s arms. The Mechanical Puppet had jumped to the top of the ruins and effortlessly caught him.

Its arms shook slightly from the impact but firmly held him steady.

Xie Jianxun opened his eyes, revealing a pair of distinctive golden pupils.

A star fallen from the sky.

One said in surprise, “How did you manage to fire in midair?”

Xie Jianxun hugged his gun, perfectly content to be carried bridal-style.

He shook out his hands and pondered, “I was aiming for the eye. Even if the fall changed the trajectory, it was still along the face—might even hit the throat.”

Xie Jianxun said innocently, “Hitting it is a win, missing isn’t a loss. Just give it a try, right?”

The giant’s pained roar still echoed in his ears.

It couldn’t climb back up anymore. The first shot had damaged its motor nerves, and the second had torn apart its entire face.

One’s Long Knife had left plenty of gashes on its body.

It was covered in wounds, and only faint glimpses of familiar clothing fragments could be seen through the gaps in its skin.

It reminded one that it had once been human, even the village chief of an oasis settlement.

Facing such a grotesque monster, wounded and bleeding, Xie Jianxun found he wasn’t afraid at all. His mood was surprisingly calm.

Perhaps…

In his past life, he had been a free adventurer who came with the wind and rain, battling countless monsters?

He crossed his legs, raised the gun to his eye again, and took aim.

Bang.