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Chapter 6: Bullets Flying
The metal corridor that once trapped Jack had now twisted and deformed entirely. The impact of the space station landing must have been substantial, with many areas bearing signs of burns.
Various parts that had previously floated in the air were now scattered all over the ground, including those of the robots, all severely damaged and scattered about.
Rainwater dripped continuously from the cracks, gradually forming puddles on the ground.
Surviving the disaster, Jack, accompanied by his robotic companion, Tapai, moved through the wreckage of the space station. They intended to leave the place to avoid the approaching psychos.
However, their speed was evidently slow. A roaring sound echoed above Jack's head as an aircraft broke through the rain, heading their way.
The aircraft resembled an enlarged wheel-less sports car, covered in exaggerated graffiti. What shocked Jack more was the sight of a decaying corpse tied to the front end of the aircraft with its hands spread wide open.
Jack hadn't mistaken; it was indeed a corpse! Maggots were already emerging from the bullet holes on its face!
At this moment, Jack gained a whole new understanding of the Cyberpsychos Tapai had mentioned. Regardless, he absolutely did not want to encounter such individuals.
"Quick! Take cover!" Jack swiftly hid behind a pile of metal debris, taking Tapai with him.
As the aircraft carrying the corpse swiftly passed by, another seemingly rundown helicopter approached.
When the helicopter was about a dozen meters from the ground, the helicopter door suddenly swung open, and a man with a mohawk hairstyle, holding guns in both hands and covered in skull tattoos all over his body, leaped out directly.
In mid-air, he pulled the trigger, firing indiscriminately in all directions, laughing maniacally from his gold-toothed mouth. “Hahaha! Nunarjuaqtittinaqtillugu!”
As they drew nearer, Jack suddenly noticed that the man's legs and feet were distinctly silver—clearly cybernetic prosthetics.
With a dull thud, the mohawk man crashed heavily onto the ruins of the space station, followed by several similarly dressed individuals jumping out of a hovercar.
Conversations emerged from their direction, but Jack couldn't understand a word.
"What are they saying?" Jack asked Tapai in a low voice.
"Let's all connect to the local network and synchronize our positions. Release all the fucking drones! Something this big coming down, there's definitely something good inside! Move fast! There are others still heading this way. If we're too slow, they'll get here before we find anything."
Before Tapai could finish translating, a cannonball, trailed by thick smoke, suddenly shot up from somewhere, directly hitting the aircraft in the sky, turning it into a fireball.
"What the hell! They just jumped right into action without any warnings! They're really psychos!" Taking advantage of the explosion's noise as cover, Jack, with Tapai by his side, hurriedly moved away from the vicinity of the explosion.
The atmosphere within the space station wreckage grew tense. With each explosion, more and more people arrived, turning the entire ruins into a battlefield.
"Boom!" Another explosion sounded, and a massive fireball descended from above, nearly grazing the two's scalps.
Amidst the imminent danger, Jack's mind tensed, feeling bitter at his constant misfortune, encountering trouble at every turn.
"Tapai, are there any weapons nearby?" Jack asked. In this situation, being unarmed meant being at someone else's mercy.
After Tapai's screen flashed, it headed towards the wreckage on the left. "Yes, there's a security room over here."
After rummaging through the debris for a while, Tapai handed a grey metallic rifle to Jack.
"What's this?" Jack hefted the cold and weighty weapon in his hand.
"Model: SOR-11:3 Technical Assault Rifle, electric-powered."
"How do I use it?" Jack's breath quickened as he looked at the weapon in his hand.
"Hold it steady with both hands, brace it here, then aim at the enemy and pull the trigger. In this kind of close combat, there's no time to aim properly. Whoever shoots first gains the advantage. This rifle is best for beginners."
Jack mimicked a few actions. The weighty weapon in his hand eased his nerves slightly. Yet, even though he now possessed a weapon, he still hoped to avoid using it.
"Let's go. How long until we leave the perimeter of this space station?" Jack asked.
"According to my radar display and our current speed, approximately twenty minutes until we exit the outer limits."
Before Tapai could finish speaking, Jack felt a sudden heat in his left ear, followed by a sting.
"Enemy attack." The blue display screen of Tapai turned red in an instant as it quickly pulled the trigger and fired the weapon towards the direction of the trajectory.
"Ah fuck!" Jack covered his ears, leaning towards the nearby cover. When he lowered his hand again, his palm was stained red with blood.
A semicircular portion of his ear was missing from the upper left side of his ear. If it had deviated slightly more, his head would have been in serious trouble!
Clamping his teeth together, Jack cautiously peeked out from the cover towards the enemy who had just ambushed him.
These people hid behind cover, shooting towards Tapai. They appeared to be a gang of sorts, adorned with various kinds of tattoos on their faces and hands, swearing and cursing with words that Jack didn't understand.
The only consistent marking they shared was the inverted cross branded on their necks. What was more distinctive was that, like the individuals who previously jumped from the hovercar, these people had various degrees of cybernetic prosthetics integrated into their bodies.
Witnessing their bullets hitting Tapai, causing sparks to fly, Jack immediately raised his gun, resting it against an angled, fire-resistant metal plate, and swiftly retaliated toward them.
The initial recoil caused Jack's first few shots to go skyward. However, as Tapai mentioned earlier, this gun was indeed suitable for beginners. Before long, one of the adversaries took a bullet to the head, forcefully jerking backward.
In a situation like this, Jack couldn't care less about psychological pressure from killing for the first time. In this situation, it was either the opponents die or it was his own demise; he only wished he could kill a few more.
"Tapai!! Find cover!" Jack shouted towards the robot at his side.
Seeing that Jack was temporarily safe, Tapai, covered in dents from bullets, quickly retreated to Jack's side.
"Boom!" Accompanied by a deafening explosion, the two behind the cover were in a very sorry state.
"Their firepower is too strong, we're no match for them! Find an opportunity to retreat!" The chaotic environment forced Tapai to raise its voice.
"Of course I know that! But in this situation, how do we get out of here?!" Jack said while firing off a burst of shots. Holstering the gun and turning to escape right now was simply suicidal. However, continuing to hold out was not an option either.
Seeing that there were only two of them, their enemy had begun to encircle them.
As Jack, anxious and desperate, pondered what to do, intense gunfire erupted from the wreckage on the left.
Hearing the gunfire, Jack immediately had an idea. "Tapai! Let's retreat that way, let them fight amongst themselves! We'll take the chance to escape!"
"You sure that would work?"
"Didn’t you say that they're not all that bright, right? Now's the time to test if you were telling the truth! Besides, do you have a better plan right now?" After saying so, Jack began pulling the trigger while retreating backward.
After a brief few minutes, the gunshots behind him grew nearer. However, Jack could glimpse figures in the debris behind him with his peripheral vision, yet neither side had started firing at each other.
Both sides appeared to silently agree on minding their own businesses.
Tapai, somewhat battered, leaned towards Jack. “I said this wouldn't work. They're insane, but they're not dumb.”
Jack nodded in agreement. “Exactly, so we need a decoy right now to make them shoot each other.”
Finishing his words, Jack looked at Tapai nearby and patted it on the shoulder with a sense of appreciation.
“O_O”A new emoji promptly appeared on Tapai's display screen.
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