"Whoosh!" Time seemed to freeze as a bullet spun through the air.
Wilder narrowed his eyes. The bullet's trajectory was clearly projected in his eyes and mind. He shifted his body slightly to the left, and the bullet whizzed past.
"Bang!" A bullet hole appeared on the wall behind him.
This is…!
The men blocking his path flinched, their expressions shifting to wary apprehension. They were ready to respond to any attack.
"Nyehehehe… I told you, I mean no harm. However… if I don't see Ivankov within ten minutes, I think I'll change my mind." Wilder said, a sinister smile spreading across his face, his eyes flashing with a dangerous light. The men felt a chill run down their spines at the sight.
They exchanged glances, hesitating for a moment. The leader gestured to a burly man beside him. The man nodded in understanding and turned to leave.
The leader turned back to Wilder, his expression grave. "I've sent someone to inform Ivankov-sama. Until then, please stay here."
"Huh?" Wilder's expression became comical, his eyebrows drooping outward, a strange expression that was both angry and amused.
"Nyehehehe… I think you've misunderstood something. You are not the reason I'm stopping!"
The instant he finished speaking, Wilder moved with ethereal swiftness, appearing beside the leader. Without warning, his right hand seized the man's throat, lifting him and pinning him against the wall, a cold smile playing on his lips.
The entire sequence happened in the blink of an eye. No one reacted in time. Only when the leader began to struggle did the others snap out of their shock, their eyes widening at the sight of Wilder, who had somehow appeared in their midst, holding their leader.
"Click-click-click!" Eight guns were swiftly raised, aimed at Wilder, who stood within their encirclement. Each man's face was covered in nervous sweat, their eyes filled with intense focus.
"Let go of the Captain!"
"Oh?" A low voice rumbled. Wilder turned his head, glancing at the speaker. That single glance sent a chill down the man's spine, as if he'd been plunged into freezing water. He froze, a tingling numbness spreading from his tailbone to the top of his head.
"Bang!" Wilder raised his hand, and a gunshot rang out. The speaker's eyes widened, then glazed over, and he collapsed backward.
Smoke curled from the barrel of the finely crafted pistol. Wilder maintained his original posture, his left hand holding the leader's throat, his right hand raised behind him, his slender fingers resting on the trigger. Beneath the muzzle lay a fresh corpse.
A shadow obscured his eyes. Wilder looked up, meeting the gaze of the leader he held. He grinned, revealing a sinister smile. "Becoming friends with Ivankov isn't really that important, nyehehehe… Really, not. at. all."
"Ugh… ugh…" The leader struggled, his face turning purple, terror flickering in his eyes.
"Nyehehehe… As you said, I'll stop here."
He flexed his hand, the bones in the leader's neck snapping with a sickening crack. The leader's head lolled limply.
When he turned back, his smile was even wider. He looked down at the seven men surrounding him, who were nervously backing away, yet trying to maintain a facade of composure.
"Are those guns just for show? Nyehehehe…"
Wilder's height, at this moment, completely dwarfed the remaining men. He looked down at them, his mouth stretching into an exaggerated grin, revealing rows of sharp, white teeth.
"You… you bastard! Die!" The man closest to Wilder, unable to bear the humiliation any longer, roared and pulled the trigger.
"Splurt!" Like a small stone tossed into a lake, causing ripples and a small splash, a small blossom of swamp erupted from Wilder's chest. The bullet had passed right through him.
"This is…!" The men took a few steps back, their faces filled with horror and shock.
"Tell me, where is Ivankov? I'll go find him myself, nyehehehe…" Wilder chuckled, his eyes narrowing. The bullet inside him was expelled by the highly compressed swamp, propelled along its original trajectory!
"Pthw!" There was no gunshot, only the sound of a blossoming flower of blood. The man who had just fired coughed up a mouthful of blood, his pupils dilating, his mouth agape. The force of the bullet lifted him off his feet, and he slammed back-first onto the ground, motionless.
"Aaaah!" The remaining six men went completely berserk, firing their guns wildly. Six bullets shot from the barrels, aimed at Wilder.
"Bang-bang-bang…!" The six bullets pierced Wilder's body, but quickly, they were ejected along their original paths.
"Thud!" He grabbed another man, pinning him against the wall. Wilder looked up at him, a dangerous glint in his eyes, his low voice and unrestrained laughter creating a chilling atmosphere. "Tell me, where is Ivankov?"
"I don't know…" Crack!
"Tell me, where is Ivankov?" He casually tossed aside the corpse and grabbed another man.
"I don't know."
"Nyehehehe… Very good…" Wilder released him, turning to another man. He grabbed him and asked, "Where is Ivankov?"
"I… I don't know…" Crack!
"Where is Ivankov?"
"I… I don't know!"
"Very good."
"Where is Ivankov?" Soon, Wilder returned to the first man he'd spared. The cycle began anew. Only three men remained alive, the ones who had survived the previous round of questioning.
"I… I don't…" Crack!
"Nyehehehe… What about you? Where is Ivankov?" He tossed aside the corpse in his hand, flinging it like a cannonball against the wall, splattering blood. He grabbed the second man, his smile unchanged.
"I… I…" The second man clenched his teeth, but remained silent.
"I… I know!" A trembling, hoarse shout came from the side. Wilder's hand froze. He turned his head, his smile widening.
"You bastard! What do you think you're doing!?" The man held by Wilder cursed at his remaining companion. At the same time, a chill ran down his spine. He looked up, meeting Wilder's dangerous gaze.
Crack…
"Then… tell me, where is Ivankov?" Releasing his grip, Wilder strolled over to the last man, crouching down and looking at him with a beaming smile.
"The banquet hall… They're in the banquet hall! Keep going straight from here, keep going, and eventually you'll hear music. Follow the music, and you'll find the banquet hall."
"Thank you." Wilder offered a sincere smile, extending his hand and forming it into the shape of a gun. "Bang!" he said, and a swamp bullet erupted from his fingertip, piercing the man's heart.
"I'm too late, Okama King… Ivankov."
Wilder stood up, his gaze fixed on the figures approaching from the passageway, his unrestrained grin spreading across his face.
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