Chapter 7 - Well, It's Actually... Delicious!

"Bang!!"

Wisps of gunpowder smoke curled upwards.

The crisp gunshot echoed between the tall buildings (now collapsed) and narrow alleys (now ruined).

Lu Xing was a Honkai Beast who believed in solid, hard work. To intuitively understand the power of the M4A1 automatic rifle, he naturally had to make an opening on himself first.

He didn't have many bullets, so he simply experimented three times.

Again, there was good news and bad news.

The good news was that the rifle bullets weren't ordinary; the specially made warheads could indeed inflict damage on Honkai Beasts. The bad news was that the accuracy required by this gun was beyond Lu Xing's current capabilities.

As mentioned before.

A Ranger-class's wings could extend according to its will, as long as it didn't exceed the maximum detached length of one-third of its wingspan.

And Lu Xing's wings.

Even at their narrowest point, they were over five centimeters wide, making it impossible to pull the trigger.

So, he fashioned a small mechanism.

Simply put, he found a piece of rebar, sharpened it into a chopstick with his wingtip, and then inserted it into a gap in his wing to act as a finger to pull the trigger.

Just like that.

A firing mechanism usable by a Honkai Beast was complete.

The problem was, pulling the trigger this way made it completely impossible to maintain accuracy—the force on the "chopstick" was uneven, and the gun body couldn't be stabilized without the support of a flexible torso.

Forget about hitting where he aimed.

To even constrain the bullet's impact zone to within a 10-meter radius (at a 50-meter target distance) was already a blessing from the heavens.

The first of the three bullets had missed just like that.

As for the power.

After shooting himself twice, Lu Xing deeply felt the difference.

First was the bullet that hit his wing.

At almost point-blank range, with the bullet's kinetic energy completely undiminished, the rifle bullet successfully breached the shell protection on his wing—even if it only left a deep indentation rather than a clean penetration, such a result was gratifying enough.

And when Lu Xing aimed the muzzle at a weak point, namely the connecting gap between his three body segments, the bullet disappeared into his body almost instantly.

Very painful!

Not as devastating as being hit by [Dash] or [Spinning Slash].

But the rifle bullet lodged inside his body successfully disrupted Lu Xing's Honkai energy circulation.

Even though this effect lasted less than 10 seconds—the bullet was completely eroded by Honkai energy not long after entering his body—useful was useful. At least the Ranger-class's movements would be hindered to some extent.

The best outcome would be if the opponent couldn't use skills for a short time... as long as he could hit it.

After discovering the method was effective.

Lu Xing began to put serious effort into the M4A1.

Apart from searching everywhere for denser Honkai energy, he spent all his time trying to find ways to more effectively improve his shooting accuracy.

Finally.

On the morning three days later...

————

Everything was ready.

Just don't let the east wind blow.

It would be best if there were no other winds either.

Less than 20 meters from that familiar plaza, Lu Xing set up the M4A1 he had long prepared—a few relatively sturdy building materials (not so fragile they'd crumble at a touch) were processed by him into a "shooting platform" for the automatic rifle.

The gun body was completely immobile; its firing trajectory was rigidly fixed.

These three days.

To maximize accuracy, Lu Xing had wasted two more bullets—although the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast had increased in size and strength, it still hadn't deviated from its original patrol route.

In other words.

If he timed it right and aligned the trajectory, the bullet would definitely not miss.

After the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast moved to the "opposite" side of his test firing point, Lu Xing would open fire for the experiment—a test shot wouldn't be considered an attack. Lu Xing, not actively provoking it, wouldn't be accosted by the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast asking if his melons were ripe, even if he flew over to check the results.

He raised the specially made French military flag.

Right, the purpose of this thing wasn't surrender, but to sense the wind direction and force—a relatively intact piece of linen cloth he had painstakingly found was tied by Lu Xing to a piece of rebar less than two meters high, serving as an important measuring instrument.

Lu Xing couldn't even read parameters.

Let alone such a simple tool that only veterans could interpret... even if the distance between them was only a few dozen meters.

So, this thing could only be used to "judge"—if there was wind, wait for the next round; if there was no wind, then fire immediately!

By the way.

Another prerequisite for the plan's execution was that the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast's flight path was excessively smooth, not jerky and wobbly like Lu Xing's—if Honkai Beasts had flight exams, this fellow would definitely be a test-taking expert.

The flag fluttered gently.

Lu Xing was in no hurry at all.

He wasn't originally such a patient person, but anyone who had been blown up three times in a row would have their temperament calmed down.

Whether the relationship between hunter and prey was reversed depended on who could calm down.

One round, two rounds...

The red morning sun now hung high overhead.

At the moment when the scorching sunlight compressed shadows to their smallest, the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast, in an autumn where all wind had ceased, finally walked onto that straight "line"—

"Bang!!"

————

There was no time to let the bullet fly for a while.

The moment the hammer struck the primer in the chamber, Lu Xing was already prepared to charge.

Honkai energy at full throttle.

Two-thirds of his power was concentrated at the tips of his wings, providing considerable acceleration for "jet propulsion"; the remaining one-third was gathered at the very edges of his wings to enhance their strength and sharpness.

A bright yellow shell casing was ejected from the chamber.

While the flying "it" was still emitting wisps of green smoke and spinning towards the ground, Lu Xing had already transformed into a streak of light, closely following it, and ruthlessly crashed towards the unprepared Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast not far away.

"Bang!!"

The precisely calculated data did not disappoint Lu Xing's expectations.

The bullet, with an initial velocity of Mach 3, cut straight into the upper body connection point of the Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast at a -13 degree angle!

Amidst a pleasant collision sound.

The bullet instantly disappeared into the opponent's body along the seam.

The Hyper Hasty Honkai Beast was, after all, a whole major level above Lu Xing. A bullet that could "silence" himself for 10 seconds would probably have its effect halved on it... or even less.

Lu Xing was very clear about this.

So, he didn't observe the result of this shot but immediately charged forward.

"Jet propulsion"...

No, after dual enhancements in acceleration and agility, Lu Xing unleashed this skill-that-wasn't-a-skill, which he called "Vortex Jet."

He had actually wanted to call it "Gatsuga" or "Battle Tornado," or even the nostalgic "Cyclone Magnum Tornado" if those didn't work—but considering he was neither a doggy nor a Digimon, and certainly not a rarely seen 4WD mini car.

So, he just picked a temporary name that sounded decent enough.

As for the reason for this name, it was because of Lu Xing's charging posture—through several days of special training, building upon the foundation of flexibly turning during "jet propulsion," he had come up with a new trick using his own body.