Almost without thinking, Brian Carter darted forward, and the Sifeng Sword lashed across Grace Miller's wrist. With tremendous force, the gun was knocked flying in an instant. Grace Miller tried to scream, but Brian Carter followed up with a karate chop to her neck, knocking her out cold.

  "Troublesome..." Brian Carter muttered, picking up the laser pistol. Although it was fingerprint-locked, it was still a ranged weapon, after all.

  "Brother, are you going to kill Mom?" Thirteen-year-old Jenny asked curiously. Jenny had been hiding behind Grace Miller, and had seen Brian Carter take Grace Miller down with her own eyes, which gave her quite a scare. But she had completely inherited Uncle Brian Carter's thick-skinned nerves; instead of panicking, she was actually a bit curious.

  "No. I'm just playing a game with Auntie." Brian Carter hoisted Grace Miller over his shoulder and grabbed Jenny's hand, heading outside.

  Jenny pouted disdainfully, "Yeah, right, who are you trying to fool? I know you hate Mom the most."

  Brian Carter said sternly, "Don't talk nonsense, or I'll take you out too."

  Jenny looked at Brian Carter pitifully and said, "Brother, I've always been so nice to you. I even save half my chocolate for you. And I introduced pretty classmates to be your girlfriends—did you forget?"

  Brian Carter's face darkened at this brat. "Don't talk about that. There's something important now, you need to listen..." Brian Carter lectured earnestly.

  Although Grace Miller was still fairly slim, she weighed over a hundred pounds. Carrying an adult like this was no easy task for Brian Carter. He hurried down the stairs in one go; the street outside was already deserted.

  Brian Carter immediately spotted the dead woman, and his gaze hardened. The monsters underground were increasing, and his time was running out.

  Holding Jenny's hand, he hurried toward the shelter. When the shelters were first built, three were constructed in total, considering emergencies. The closest to Zone C was in the basement of a huge commercial center in Zone D.

  Just as they left Zone C, a group of people came running toward them. Behind them, more than a dozen green goblins were chasing after them, squealing and shrieking excitedly.

  "Damn, what rotten luck..." Brian Carter muttered gloomily as he moved forward to meet them.

  While everyone else was fleeing in panic, Brian Carter, carrying a woman and holding a girl's hand, was heading straight into danger. Even in this chaos, he drew quite a bit of attention.

  "Is this guy crazy?" That was the first reaction of many.

Chapter 3: Moving Against the Flow

  The stampeding crowd surged past Brian Carter like a tide.

  Moving against the flow, Brian Carter's steps were steady and his gaze resolute. Even Jenny, who he was holding by the hand, looked only curious, showing no sign of fear.

  The green goblins weren't stupid. Seeing Brian Carter moving against the flow, the ones in front actually slowed down a bit. Brian Carter smiled slightly and stuffed the laser gun into Grace Miller's dangling hand.

  Fingerprint activation was a bit troublesome, but with Grace Miller right there, it wasn't hard to get the gun working. Brian Carter used Grace Miller's hand to raise the gun and fired at the oncoming green goblins.

  "Laser gun" was just a nickname; its real name was the high electromagnetic pulse gun. It didn't use physical bullets, but rather laser projectiles compressed by high electromagnetic pulses.

  This type of gun had excellent penetration—within a hundred meters, it could shoot through a centimeter of ordinary steel plate. But it was tricky to operate; you couldn't just raise it and pull the trigger.

  But after gaining over a hundred years of future memories, Brian Carter could handle any standard weapon in the Galactic Alliance with ease.

  Even though he was using Grace Miller's hand, it didn't affect Brian Carter's accuracy at all.

  "Zzz zzz zzz..." The laser gun hummed softly as Brian Carter fired dozens of shots in quick succession. Brilliant blue laser bolts streaked through the air, leaving dazzling blue trails.

  On the other side, the four leading green goblins had their heads blown apart. Disgusting green blood splattered everywhere.

  The remaining green goblins were shocked. Realizing things had gone wrong, they all tried to dodge in various ways. They were small and much more agile than ordinary people. Especially when a group of them jumped and darted around together, it was dizzying to watch.

  But Brian Carter remained calm, and every shot he fired blew off a green goblin's head.

  "Zzz zzz zzz..."

  The brilliant blue electric light crisscrossed in the air, forming a deadly curtain of light.

  Jenny watched with shining eyes from the side. If the situation weren't so tense, she would have wanted to try it herself. To her, it looked like a simple shooting game—she didn't even have to move her body, so what was so hard about it?

  Among the fleeing crowd, some people realized something was off. Turning back, they saw the scene. A few were dumbfounded—Brian Carter, firing the gun, looked like a god of marksmanship. As adults, they had all used laser guns before. Just now, two of them had even tried to fight back with guns.

  But these green goblins were too agile, too fast, and too small. Their leaping and darting made it impossible to lock onto a target. Although the laser guns had auto-targeting programs, only battle-hardened veterans could operate them skillfully.

  Most importantly, in such a tense moment, who could stay calm enough to shoot? After missing a few shots, they'd already lost their nerve.

  "Zzz..." The muzzle of the laser gun dimmed—the energy was depleted and it could no longer fire. There were still two green goblins left on the other side.