“Life…”
‘I want to experience freedom and unrestraint too!’
Swallowing the latter half of her words, Gu Lian shook her head. Upon hearing her, Lei Zi stepped on the gas, reached out, and twisted the rearview mirror a few times to adjust its position. Gu Lian’s slightly helpless face appeared in the mirror.
“So, what equipment do you need?”
Lei Zi’s words snapped Gu Lian back to reality. After a few seconds of silence, she glanced at the Desert Eagle hanging from her thigh holster, then touched the Folding Knife hidden on her wrist and the empty grenade pouch in her card holder.
“I need special ammunition, explosive grenades for cover, and… a sharp enough blade.”
After she said this, Lei Zi nodded, murmured “Got it,” and left it at that.
Gu Lian found this perfectly normal and felt a bit more anticipation.
She remembered the special ammunition vividly—especially that one Hunter who dual-wielded guns, the one who looked so flashy. His bullets were all special ammo, particularly that last round. Even now, thinking about it gave her chills. That bullet had come within a hair’s breadth of killing her; luckily, she had been the more skilled one.
Setting special ammo aside for the moment, she also needed explosive grenades for blasting and a melee weapon for close combat. If an enemy got close, she could use a grenade to create an opportunity, then counter with the blade.
“Alright then.”
Lei Zi stepped on the gas and drove forward.
As time passed, the scenery outside the window grew more beautiful. After driving through a forest on the outskirts, the car stopped in front of a grove. Gu Lian pushed open the door and got out. Lei Zi pulled the key from the ignition and followed her, heading straight into the woods.
Gu Lian quickly caught up. After cutting across most of the forest, a building half-sunken into the ground came into view. The roof was covered in a thick layer of soil and dense vegetation, with only about a meter of it exposed. Unless someone came close, it was impossible to spot any human construction here.
“I’m sorry, but since you’re not an internal member, please wear this blindfold before entering.”
Lei Zi stood at the entrance, took out a blindfold from his pocket, and bowed deeply to Gu Lian. His expression suggested he was afraid she might punch him.
“…”
Gu Lian took the blindfold and put it on without hesitation.
“Lead the way.”
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
Lei Zi breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, crouched down, and pressed his arm flat against the building.
[Authenticating…]
[Authentication complete. Code name: Lei Zi. Welcome back.]
A series of prompts appeared on the building’s glass surface. The ground in front of him trembled, soil began to sink, and the earth split open on both sides, revealing a metal staircase leading deep underground.
Lei Zi guided Gu Lian by lightly touching her arm, careful not to provoke the formidable woman beside him.
When they reached their destination, Lei Zi removed Gu Lian’s blindfold. She saw the place: an entire room made of dark metal panels, about a hundred square meters in size. Inside, a woman with dead-fish eyes was leaning against the wall, a cigarette dangling from her mouth.
“Blade, special ammo, and explosive charges, right?”
The dead-fish-eyed woman stubbed out her cigarette, flicked the butt into a trash can with her index finger, and walked over to a metal wall.
She waved her hand to slide open a metal panel, revealing a code-entry machine. Her fingers flew across the keypad in a series of taps.
The metal wall beside the machine began to rotate. From within, a row of cold weapons emerged—straight swords, katanas, greatswords, eagle claws, jungle knives, and other edged weapons.
“Take your pick. They’re not top-tier, but they’re made from Special Graphite Gold and can effectively damage Weiyi.”
The dead-fish-eyed woman pulled another cigarette from behind her ear, took out a lighter, and tried several times to light it.
Click, click, click~
Just as she was getting impatient, a metal lighter arced through the air. When it dropped in front of her, she raised a hand to catch it, then looked over at Gu Lian, who was already examining the weapons.
The corner of her mouth curled up slightly. She lit her cigarette with the metal lighter, took a satisfying drag, and blew out a smoke ring.
“Looks like she’s easy to get along with.”
“…”
Beside her, Lei Zi’s eye twitched uncontrollably. He had no idea what made this woman think Gu Lian was easygoing.
Ignoring the two exchanging glances, Gu Lian walked up to the weapon rack and searched through the assortment. The melee weapons were diverse. Quickly, she fixed her gaze on a long, blood-red blade.
The sword was about 1.1 meters in total length, with a 90-centimeter blade. The straight edge was adorned with lightning-like patterns, exuding a sharp, cutting aura.
Gu Lian lifted the sword from its stand, gripped it firmly, and sliced three times in the air.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The blade light connected in a single arc as she swung, the blood-red metal glinting coldly under the fluorescent lights. As the sword passed, three dull thuds sounded, as if the air itself had been split.
“This one.”
She stopped the flourish, weighed the long blade in her hand, and nodded in satisfaction. Whether in sharpness or feel, this sword was incomparable to the Folding Knife.
But if she had to say, the Folding Knife was more of a surprise weapon—effective only in specific situations. Outside of those, its damage was quite limited.
“This sword is called Cherry Blossom Snow. It’s excellent in all aspects.”
Click~
The dead-fish-eyed woman smiled, exhaled smoke, pressed her hand against the code-entry machine, and pushed forward. At about a meter off the ground, a metal drawer sliding out took up half the wall.
Inside, rows of bullets nestled in custom magazines, arranged neatly on black velvet padding—specially treated cotton to preserve the ammo.
“There are many types of special bullets, but right now we only have Thunderbolt Rounds, Explosive Rounds, and Wind Scar Rounds.”
The dead-fish-eyed woman took six magazines from the metal drawer and secured them in a magazine pouch designed to be worn on the thigh.
“Use them sparingly. Each magazine holds only fifteen rounds. For an upgraded Desert Eagle, that’s not much, but it’s the limit.”
She tossed the thigh pouch to Gu Lian, who caught it with one hand and strapped it onto her right thigh—her left thigh already bearing the Desert Eagle.
“Hand over your card pouch.”
“…”
Gu Lian unbuckled the card pouch from her outer belt. The dead-fish-eyed woman took it, walked into a metal room, and after a short while emerged with the pouch now filled with Magnetic Grenades and a wooden scabbard.
Lei Zi stepped forward, took the pouch and scabbard from the woman, and handed them to Gu Lian.
“That should cover the standard equipment. You’re not short on gear, right?”
“Mm.”
Gu Lian reattached the full Magnetic Grenade pouch to her back, then slid the long blade into the scabbard with a firm push.
This sword felt amazing—even better than the feel of Yi Yi’s face. The weight was just right in her hand, light yet substantial when swung. The grip design was clever: despite being a hard material, it felt soft and supple in her palm. Truly a weapon fit for a Hunter.
With this sword in hand, her combat power would increase significantly. After the mission, there was no way she was returning it. Consider it a small interest.
“Time to go. Next stop: the mission site.”
Lei Zi sighed, as if worried about something. After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke up. “The captain said if you want to back out now, it’s not too late. The stuff he gave you, he won’t take back.”
“Would he really be that generous?”
Gu Lian turned back, her eyes blazing as she stared at Lei Zi. “I don’t believe Eclipse and the Agency are some kind of charity. Enough nonsense.”