The System

Chapter 9: The System

As the grenade hurtled toward him, Kestrel swiftly raised his hand and shot it mid-air, causing it to explode.

"Motherfucker!" TPAL mimicked the local greeting with venom.

But soon, a barrage of bullets forced them to seek cover. There were at least a dozen of them.

At that moment, PAUL, with a smug grin, remarked, "How's it going, bro? My prosthetics are top-notch, huh? Fully equipped, self-sold, and comes with auto-aiming support!"

He quickly glanced at the screen, "For my friends watching in the live chat, click the link below to purchase, and use the code PAUL to get a 5% discount!!"

"We're about to die, and you're still trying to sell shit!? Turn off the livestream! It's because of this damn livestream that they found us!" Kestrel, now realizing the madness of these people, cursed under his breath.

Just then, Kestrel noticed something terrifying—the crowd in the distance had no bald heads, only people with hair!

In an instant, he felt a tingling sensation down his spine, and the image of his abdomen being pierced by a blade flashed through his mind.

Some lessons, once learned through pain, are never forgotten. Without hesitation, Kestrel leaped forward, narrowly avoiding an attack from behind.

He turned and fired without a second thought, but the shell did not detonate immediately; it flew toward the dark clouds above as the bald figure had vanished again.

It seemed like a temporary escape, but Kestrel knew it was an illusion. The enemy had already surrounded them, cutting off all escape routes!

This was different from before—this time, the bald man had specifically come with reinforcements to deal with them, and there was no one else to cause chaos in the vicinity.

"Damn it! Is it really so hard to survive!?" Kestrel grimaced, feeling the pain from his injuries intensifying.

"Shit! Let's take them down!" Kestrel gritted his teeth and leapt out of cover, firing directly at an enemy not far away.

With a roar, the bullet tore through the air, ripping apart the man's neck in a spray of blood.

Before he could even catch his breath, a shadowy figure darted toward him at an incredible speed. Kestrel fired again, blasting the figure into oblivion.

Next, a blade laced with electrical arcs shot from Kestrel's forearm, meeting an identical blade in mid-air, the collision sparking a shower of sparks.

Unexpectedly, in the deadlock, the enemy's finger suddenly twitched, and a bullet shot out, striking Kestrel.

Yet Kestrel didn't flinch, lifting his left hand and immediately engaging in a fierce shootout with the bald man.

Bullets flew, blood splattered, and eventually, the bald man, unwilling to exchange fire with Kestrel, retreated quickly into the rain.

"Hahaha! Impressive! Where did you come from?" PAUL exclaimed.

Covered in blood, Kestrel reached into his pocket and injected the last of his painkillers and stimulants into his body. The pain vanished instantly, and he felt his mind sharpen.

"Are you alright?" TPAL, still shooting, extended a translucent sensor line from his finger and began stitching Kestrel's wounds.

Feeling lightheaded, Kestrel spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground. "He's invisible. Do you have a way to detect him?"

"My visual hardware has thermal imaging, but I need your authorization!"

"Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"Can you blame me? The damn developers put in all these restrictions. The AI's first rule is that unless the user's life is in danger, it can't proactively ask for permission."

"Isn't this a life-threatening situation? I authorize you to activate thermal imaging!"

As soon as Kestrel spoke, TPAL's display frame turned red. "Left, 8 o'clock!"

Just as Kestrel raised his gun to fire, he froze. "Can you see him now?"

"I can."

Kestrel clenched his metal fist. "Good. We won't reveal this ability just yet. It's too wasteful. Let's use this opportunity to ambush that bald bastard!"

Kestrel, TPAL, and PAUL continued to use cover while firing at the approaching enemies. Despite TPAL detecting the invisible bald man, Kestrel remained silent.

"Careful... he's coming." TPAL's faint voice reached Kestrel's ears, sending a jolt of adrenaline through his body.

The next moment, the blade reappeared near Kestrel's waist. He spun around quickly and fired, the bullets tearing into the bald man's body, shredding through his synthetic skin and exposing the dark metal beneath.

The bald man clearly hadn't expected this, and he began to retreat, but TPAL was already blocking his path.

Facing the man who had nearly killed him, Kestrel felt a burning desire for revenge.

"Die, you bastard!!"

Surrounded on both sides, the bald man's camouflage quickly faltered as chunks of his synthetic skin peeled away.

Just as the bald man was on the verge of defeat, his face twisted in a furious snarl. "You think this is all I can do? Eat shit, you moron! Take my EMP!!"

With a flash of blue light in his eyes, a palm-sized drone shot from his abdomen and hovered ten meters in the air.

A powerful electromagnetic pulse erupted from the drone, instantly disabling all electronic devices within a 50-meter radius.

PAUL and the bald man's subordinates collapsed, their cybernetic limbs convulsing uncontrollably, and smoke began to pour from the ports in their heads.

The damage from the EMP was catastrophic. Even TPAL, the ancient robot, immediately powered down, convulsing in place.

The bald man, with a triumphant grin, watched as his enemies were rendered helpless. Though everyone had believed his camouflage was military-grade, the truth was that his secret weapon—the EMP drone—was the real military-level tool. With this trick, he had taken down countless opponents.

Most metallic prosthetics and nervous systems were no match for the EMP, and the only thing left were helpless lambs awaiting slaughter.

But then, with a sickening sound, the smile on his face froze. Looking down, he saw a blade protruding from his chest.

Kestrel yanked the knife out and drove it back into the bald man's face with a savage force. "Fuck! I don't have a system!!"