Probably because he was confident of victory, Slicked-back Hair wasn’t in a hurry to kill Russell, and instead began extracting information. As he spoke, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of a mark on the open ground—a black X drawn with charcoal.

“What the fcuk!”

A flash of terror flickered in Slicked-back Hair’s eyes. He quickly pulled back his raised foot, instantly realizing this was a long-range assassination set up for him. The sniper was using an astronomical telescope, and the ground mark was for targeting.

When a predator hunts its prey, it too can become prey for another predator!

Slicked-back Hair knew very well that the only one capable of this, and who would see him as prey, was Cross, the Brotherhood’s strongest assassin.

“Tell me what you know about Cross, and I promise I’ll let you go! I promise!” Slicked-back Hair took another step back, gritting his teeth and speaking in a low voice.

Who knows where Cross is… Wait, actually, I think I do know…

In Russell’s memory, there was a segment where the assassin Cross had spent years watching over his son, silently observing his son’s growth from the shadows. This included everything from his son’s birth to adulthood, from school to work, playing with his girlfriend, his son’s friends playing with their girlfriends, and so on—a whole series of daily life events.

However, Russell only knew there was a light rail nearby, but not the exact place name. Maybe he could find it by checking a map, or more directly, by finding Cross’s son.

But so what?

If he told him, would Slicked-back Hair really let him go?

Don’t be ridiculous. That’s not believable at all. It’s like Chang Wei claiming he doesn’t know martial arts, but as soon as you walk in, you see him fighting Lai Fu!

“System, equip ‘Character Card: Subway Police’!” Russell silently recited in his heart, just hoping that this pot-bellied middle-aged uncle really was a former Delta Force member.

If so, he might still have a sliver of hope!

[Host is equipping ‘Character Card: Subway Police’. Do you want to overwrite the character card skin?]

The system’s mechanical, icy voice sounded. Fortunately, this time there was no prompt saying it couldn’t be equipped, or else Russell would really be out of options.

“What does ‘overwrite skin’ mean?”

[When the host equips a specific character card, your appearance and physique will also be assimilated to that character’s look, until the card expires.] This time, the system wasn’t stingy and gave Russell a reply.

Russell thought about the middle-aged uncle’s dignified appearance—seemed like his hairline was worrying once the hat came off—so he refused directly: “No need to overwrite the skin. If I don’t say otherwise, default to not overwriting the skin in the future.”

[Host lacks sufficient permissions to perform this operation!]

Stupid system, ruining my youth!

Russell took a deep breath, not wanting to waste any more words with the lousy system: “Equip ‘Character Card: Subway Police’, don’t overwrite the skin.”

[Host is equipping ‘Character Card: Subway Police’. Countdown: 300 seconds. Timer starts.]

As the system finished speaking, Russell noticed changes in himself. He didn’t feel like he could punch a bull to death, and his strength, physique, and intelligence hadn’t changed, but his mind was suddenly filled with images related to firearms and special operations.

At this moment, give him a gun and he could do wonders with it!

“If I tell you, will you really let me go?”

As Russell spoke, he pulled out a flashbang and gently tugged out the pin.

A smile curled at Slicked-back Hair’s lips. “Of course. I have no reason to lie to you. Besides, you have no choice but to trust me, right?”

“All right, then I’ll come out now. Don’t point your gun at me—you’re too accurate.”

Russell loosened his fingers, letting the spring clip fall onto his leg. After silently counting to two, he suddenly flung the flashbang close to the ground.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Oh fcuk!”

Slicked-back Hair didn’t wait for Russell. When he saw the flashbang rolling across the ground, he cursed and immediately turned to dash into a corner to take cover. As he ran, he didn’t forget to fire his gun, sending two arcing bullets toward Russell.

Boom!

Russell timed it perfectly, not giving Slicked-back Hair much time to react. The explosion was accompanied by a brief flash of intense light. The deafening noise left Slicked-back Hair dizzy and deaf, and the flash left him temporarily blinded.

On the other side, Russell wasn’t much better off. As soon as he threw the flashbang, he dove to the ground. This move saved his life—he wasn’t killed on the spot by the curving bullets, but he was still affected by the shockwave of the flashbang’s explosion.

Both men fell to the ground at the same time, groaning in pain. After about two minutes, Russell was the first to get up. He had only been affected by the blast, so he recovered much faster than Slicked-back Hair.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Slicked-back Hair couldn’t stand. He propped himself up with one hand and scooted backward, firing his gun repeatedly with the other.

Russell pressed himself against a concrete pillar as bullets rattled against the wall beside him, sending up sprays of stone chips. Logically, Slicked-back Hair should have lost his sight and hearing by now, but he was still firing instinctively at Russell’s position.

That must be why he’s a top-tier killer!

“Ah—”

After the sound of a bullet hitting flesh, Russell’s voice—full of… cough, cough, Russell’s shrill scream—rang out.

“My leg… my leg! My 9.58-second 100-meter black-furred legs! I’ve been shot!!!”

Chapter 5: The Kylin Arm at 374 reps per minute