Chapter 5: Black Gold, Section 9

Madman!
That thought suddenly flashed through Karei’s mind.
The black-haired man’s voice was icy, his words insane—but to Karei at that moment, it was by no means the behavior of a madman.
Because he saw those eyes—bright eyes, like the stars in the sky, with flames raging within their pupils.
He had planned this all along… Karei immediately concluded.
He was right, for the next moment, the black-haired man’s words struck like the coldest waves of ice and snow from hell, piercing deep into Karei’s soul.
“There is a distance of 132 meters between us, Mr. Karei. Your guards are the most common retired models on the market—Worm models. Their standard response time for mental commands is 0.25 seconds. Adding in the delay of movement and the time required for mechanical operations, it should take them 2.15 seconds to completely block off the space in front of you.”
The icy voice echoed across the empty square, radiating endless murderous intent. Beneath those windless black hair, his bright eyes were like sharp blades.
“So… and what?” Karei asked in a low voice, swallowing hard.
“A normal person couldn’t possibly cover 130 meters in 2.15 seconds, Mr. Karei. But for a well-trained warrior, with the right sacrifice and some auxiliary equipment, such an seemingly impossible task isn’t entirely hopeless.” The black-haired man raised an eyebrow, a hint of mockery appearing on his otherwise expressionless face.
“Although you’ve been very careful, you still didn’t expect that such auxiliary equipment isn’t as rare in Berin’s market as you thought, right? Care to take a gamble? Let’s see if your time to issue an attack order is enough to save your life.”
Karei’s head spun suddenly, his pupils contracting as an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
“You have Thunder Devourer with you? That speed booster that requires sacrificing 20% of one’s blood?”
To be honest, though he had anticipated some crazy move from the other party, Karei still hadn’t expected the black-haired man to have obtained Thunder Devourer.

It was a personal auxiliary device that could significantly increase the user’s speed of movement, compact in size and easy to use. It was an accidental product of the Mage Technology Research Center on the planet Xek. It was quite popular for a time. Generally, it could boost an ordinary human’s speed by 40% to over 80%, and for well-trained warriors, the effect was even more pronounced, allowing them to move as swiftly as the wind.

However, this special auxiliary device required the user’s blood as an energy source, at an extremely high cost. Based on the degree of enhancement, even the smallest increase demanded 20% of the user’s total blood volume. For greater enhancements, it could even drain the user’s entire blood supply. There was once a warrior who, due to excessive enhancement, turned into a mummy before even reaching his destination.

What was most unacceptable was that the degree of enhancement provided by this device could not be adjusted at all—it was entirely determined by the user’s own physical capabilities. In other words, those who used this device had no control over their own lives. Such a situation was undoubtedly the worst and most terrifying. That’s why, to this day, aside from some lawless merchants, even Berin rarely sees such equipment.

After all, selling goods requires buyers, right? No one would want equipment that could kill them at any moment.

“It’s not Thunder Swallow.”

Kare, who had been nervous, finally received an answer from the black-haired man, which relieved him greatly. It was good that it wasn’t Thunder Swallow—that meant the other party still cared about his life. So, there might still be a way out. But before he could catch his breath, the black-haired man’s next words plunged him straight into the depths of hell.

“I’m carrying Lightning Swift, an enhanced version of Thunder Swallow. It increases speed by over 200%, and it doubles the blood consumption of the user,” the black-haired man said calmly. He pulled open his shirt, revealing a small circular object on his waist emitting a faint red light. Thin, almost invisible threads were deeply embedded in his body, guiding streams of bright red plasma.

“It’s a magitech crystal accessory, the latest model that can bypass metal detectors. Mr. Kare, you don’t need to blame your guards anymore.”

“You!! You’re a madman!!” Witnessing such madness, Kare could no longer contain his fear and shouted angrily.

Good heavens, does that young man with black hair really know what he’s doing? By using such a device, even if he can indeed catch himself, the price will definitely be his life. There’s no way out. In an instant, Karei’s composed demeanor vanished, revealing his true nature as a black-market dealer.
A great opportunity!!
“Go!” A sudden low shout rang out. At the same time, the black-haired man turned into an indistinct black shadow. Behind him, Blood-Pupil, who had been waiting for a long time, pressed the controller in his hand, then swiftly pulled open his clothes to draw a large-caliber, shiny silver gun. With loud bangs, he fired powerful bullets at the still-stunned mechs around him.
He truly admired the foresight of the black-haired man. This large-caliber pistol, made entirely ofsilver steel, was the only weapon in Berlin’s black market that could bypass metal detectors. It had been dismissed by him before because of its insufficient sustained firepower. If not for the black-haired man’s insistence, he would likely be fighting bare-handed now.
As the large-caliber pistol fired, the two nearest magic mechs trembled simultaneously, with barely noticeable shakes, causing their weapons to deviate from their original targets.
Indeed, no matter how large a pistol’s caliber is, it’s nothing more than a tickle to those massive magic mechs. But Blood-Pupil was an experienced assassin who knew mechs inside and out. With several shots, he hit the same spot on the mechs’ ankle joints—just a small gap unprotected by armor.
Mechs are precision machines, and in those unprotected joint gaps, even a small bullet can cause unexpected damage. While it couldn’t completely disable them, slowing them down by even one hundredth of a second was definitely possible.
Of course, this applied only to these outdated magic mechs. Modern mechs had special protections for these areas, making individual weapons almost ineffective against them.
“Bang!!”
With a muffled sound, as Blood-Pupil fired, the black-haired man rushed like lightning in front of Karei!!