Chapter 015: Counterattack

Shock, panic, fear, helplessness... when Cyrus Greene faced the armed black man's robbery, he immediately discovered how weak he truly was. His grand ambitions instantly became laughable. What dreams of dominating the wasteland and ruling the world? Now just one bullet could end his life!

Looking at the black man's fierce, glinting eyes, Cyrus Greene realized he could not handle this passive situation. He had been born under the red flag, raised in the new society, a proper successor of the proletariat. From childhood to adulthood, he had never encountered any real criminals.

Even in past fights, Cyrus Greene's opponents were at most school delinquents - no one ever used knives, just bricks as weapons at most. Now, less than twenty-four hours in America, he had a gun pressed against the small of his back.

The surrounding pedestrians seemed unsurprised by this scene, at most stepping aside and hurrying past, with no one showing any intention of stepping up to help. Cyrus Greene's entire body froze; his mind went blank, completely losing the ability to act.

The black man had anticipated Cyrus Greene's reaction. He grinned maliciously as he put his hand on Cyrus's shoulder and squeezed, saying, "Relax, kid. I like your cooperative attitude."

An extremely humiliating feeling surged within him. Cyrus Greene's face flushed red, feelings of anger and resentment colliding in his mind.

"Cyrus Greene, open your eyes and see - this black man is mocking you, mocking your incompetence and cowardice."

"Cyrus Greene, are you still confident about making it in this world? You can't even handle a street thug - how do you expect to survive in the darker, more chaotic world after the Great Catastrophe?"

"Cyrus Greene, face reality! Even if you stockpile more supplies, it's useless. You simply don't fit into this world! No matter how hard you try, it'll only be the difference between dying sooner or later. This world simply isn't suitable for you."

The pressure of these negative emotions gave Cyrus Greene an urge to scream and struggle, but he felt trapped in a nightmare, his entire being seemingly frozen in a static state, unable to move an inch.

No... wait!

It's not that I can't move - the entire world has stopped!

Cyrus Greene found that the world before his eyes was like a paused movie; the originally colorful scene had turned black and white. And before his eyes, as if flashing on a screen, appeared a line of text: Your life is in danger. Your extreme resistance has activated the hidden transmigration gift package.

Random ability being distributed... Based on your current predicament, you have gained the "Exceptionally Agile" attribute. Gift package distribution is complete. This is the last benefit you will receive.

In front of Cyrus Greene appeared a stick figure representing him. The figure already had one attribute he had received earlier—"Exceptionally Gifted"—which referred to the body with enormous potential given to him by "God," possessing exceptional growth capacity and abnormal learning ability.

The explanation for "Exceptionally Agile" was: Always strike first in close combat, even when ambushed, you can gain one second of counterattack time. The enemy will be in a dazed state for one second.

One second - as long as Cyrus Greene counterattacked, he could gain one second, in just the blink of an eye!

As Cyrus Greene's mind moved, the previously frozen black-and-white world returned to normal. The surrounding scenery resumed its activity, but the armed black man before him had not yet recovered.

One second, just one second!

Cyrus Greene had already been looking back, staring at the face with its mixture of mockery and ferocity. Under extreme pressure, he instead erupted with immense courage.

Counterattack, counterattack, counterattack! Kill this robbing black man, kill him, make him regret provoking me with his life, make his soul weep in hell.

I must change, I must survive, I must adapt to this world! It's either life or die - only by bravely facing it can I overcome this crisis.

One second is very brief. Cyrus Greene made only two moves: first, he twisted his body to avoid the barrel of the black man's gun; then he reached to his belt and pulled out a spring knife.

It was a small spring knife that Cyrus Greene had in his pocket when he transmigrated. In Cyrus Greene's view, this knife was utterly basic. In this gun-filled world, apart from cutting fruit, it would serve no other purpose.

But Cyrus Greene was wrong; the spring knife did serve a purpose. After abandoning the big, clumsy Colt M1911A1, he had casually brought this small knife with him.

Now... pressing the spring lightly, with a whoosh, the sharp blade flicked out. Cyrus Greene turned and stabbed backward, the sharp blade easily penetrating the armed black man's chest. By then, the black man had reacted, but it was too late.

To the surrounding pedestrians, Cyrus Greene was just an unfortunate victim targeted by a robber. He had been so careless, going out alone and showing that he had cash - being robbed was quite normal.

However, just as the armed black man was about to search Cyrus Greene, his reaction caught everyone's attention. Those watching the robbery saw Cyrus Greene quickly turn around, evading the robber's gun with extremely nimble speed, while simultaneously pulling out a knife to counterattack.

One stab in, then pulled out - blood sprayed! A scene of an on-the-spot counterattack was unfolding.

From the black man's perspective, the prey that had already fallen into his hands suddenly became the hunter. He had been confidently expecting to get some money today, but this confidence led to his downfall.

In that momentary daze, the black man found that Cyrus Greene seemed to have disappeared. He didn't even see the other's movement before feeling a pain in his chest - the cold knife tip entering his chest. As the knife tip left, it was as if he were a punctured balloon, with strength rapidly leaving his body.

The black man knew he had been stabbed. He tried to redirect his gun to aim at Cyrus Greene again, but Cyrus's performance now was very different from before. The Asian young man easily blocked his gun hand, and then came another stab.

The second stab entered his lung. When the knife tip was pulled out, the black man felt a warm, fishy liquid rushing up from his trachea. He wanted to open his mouth to cough, but what came out was a large mouthful of blood.

Fuck... I'll kill this yellow-skinned monkey!

The burly-armed black man still wanted to finish off Cyrus Greene, but this thought could only remain in his mind. When Cyrus Greene's third stab entered his heart, he completely lost the ability to fight back.

In just those few seconds, Cyrus Greene transformed from a robbery victim into a killer. Looking at the 220+ pound armed black man lying on the ground, he felt as if he had been through a major battle. His entire body was drenched as if pulled from the water, sweating profusely, and he even felt somewhat powerless.

I've killed someone, I've killed someone!