A carriage bearing a double-headed eagle emblem, the standard Sun Keepers carriage, was parked at the entrance of the Alchemy Building.
The lock on the door had been broken, and the door was ajar.
Zhou Ning closed his umbrella and stood on the steps, listening intently; the sounds of a struggle, 'bang, bang, bang,' came from the upper floors of the Alchemy Building.
This was definitely the place.
Zhou Ning didn't hesitate, closed his umbrella, and pushed the door open.
The sounds of fighting, 'bang, bang, bang,' grew more intense. Just as Zhou Ning was about to go up the stairs, he suddenly heard a loud 'crunch' and 'clang.' Amidst the sound of breaking wood, a figure crashed through the stair railing and fell down. He barely maintained his balance, rolled, and knelt precisely in front of Zhou Ning, as if performing a kowtow. Immediately afterward, he vigilantly drew his gun and pointed it at Zhou Ning:
"Who's there?"
Through the dim light, Zhou Ning immediately recognized the familiar deerstalker hat and the familiar Li Tie. This figure was Sherlock. Zhou Ning cooperatively raised his hands and smiled, saying:
"Should I say 'no need for formalities' or'should I surrender first?'"
Sherlock also recognized Zhou Ning at this moment. If there were a negative emotion system, one would surely see a '+1000 Negative Emotion' prompt appear above Sherlock's head. He rolled his eyes, about to speak, when his expression suddenly changed, and he shouted, "Get out of the way!"
"Bang!"
A muffled thud suddenly came from beside his ear. From the empty staircase on the second floor, a transparent air bullet suddenly shot out, emitting a sharp hum.
Zhou Ning retreated rapidly. With a 'thump,' a deep hole immediately appeared in the ground.
"What's going on?"
Zhou Ning was still wondering when more air bullets had already shot out from the staircase above. Their traces were completely invisible, and he could only rely on hearing and instinct to dodge.
A rapid whooshing sound came from not far ahead. Zhou Ning instinctively lunged to the left, then moved evasively, sprinting wildly to the left, like a ghost swaying in the dark night.
Dirt splattered on the ground, and a series of bullet holes appeared.
"There's an invisible person upstairs, he's the culprit in this case. We underestimated him too much this time; he killed two people."
A hint of remorse appeared on Sherlock's face, but he didn't stop. As he spoke, he fired two shots towards the staircase entrance.
With two 'bang, bang' gunshots, wood splinters flew from the stair railing, and two parallel bullet holes appeared. It was unknown if they hit anything, and the entire Alchemy Building fell silent again.
Terribly silent.
"An invisibility ability user?"
Zhou Ning's expression became solemn. In the "Apocalypse" game, there were indeed super-ability users. Super-abilities were either activated by super-ability potions or other strange inheritances. Some abilities were indeed very difficult to deal with.
But isn't the invisibility ability a bit too overpowered?
It was at this moment that an extremely strong premonition of danger surged forth. A chill suddenly ran down his back, and Zhou Ning's face changed. He instinctively leaned backward.
A ripple spread through the air, and a transparent air bullet suddenly appeared from behind Zhou Ning and shot towards him. It carried Zhou Ning's semi-tall top hat, which fell to the ground, with a clear circular bullet hole in the middle of the hat.
Clearly, if his reaction had been any slower, Zhou Ning's head might have turned into a pile of rotten watermelon.
On the other side, Sherlock reacted quite quickly. Taking advantage of the moment, he immediately scattered a handful of gray powder onto the empty space behind Zhou Ning:
"Thunder!"
In an instant, a black thundercloud gathered in the empty space, and lightning and thunder began to flash within a small area.
This was the Meteorologist's method... In Zhou Ning's impression, they could always use various means to change the local Weather, creating various favorable combat conditions for them. They were also skilled in close combat, shooting, and spellcasting. Simply put, they were a profession that fought around the Weather, and they could also accurately predict Weather changes during wilderness adventures.
As the thundercloud gathered in the air, Zhou Ning heard the sound of Jump away in small steps from behind him. Someone was probably trying to evade the thundercloud in the empty space behind.
In the skill bar, [Gunfight Technique · Fatal Rhythm] had already faintly lit up.
Zhou Ning vaguely felt his mind suddenly enter a strange state. This was an indescribable, unique sensation, as if he felt everything was under control.
He forcefully stopped his backward lean, twisted his waist, and an ivory-handled revolver silently appeared in his hand, spinning once.
Gripping the gun handle, he deflected the muzzle, aimed at a corner of the open space by feel, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The skill, which had long been brewing, activated immediately.
Ripple Shot!
At this moment, Sherlock, who was not far behind him, opened his eyes wide in shock. What was that?
From his perspective, he only heard a 'bang' as a bullet, enveloped in raging flames, suddenly shot from the muzzle. Around the bullet, space was torn open like ripples.
A muffled groan came from a corner of the open space, and a spray of blood bloomed.
The outline of a young man wearing a monocle appeared, looking over here in astonishment.
It hit! Sherlock keenly caught this point, his spirits lifted, and he quickly joined Zhou Ning in shooting at the young man.
Crack!
The young man's figure was hit, first cracking, then shattering into pieces, breaking apart like a mirror.
"Mirror Image..." Zhou Ning murmured.
A moment later, the air in a more distant place began to vibrate again, and countless air bullets shot towards the two of them. Sherlock cursed angrily and rolled away without hesitation.
On the other side, Zhou Ning, also facing the air bullet attack, showed no intention of stopping. Instead, he charged out in another direction like a leopard!
"Be careful!" Sherlock shouted. With his keen sense, he could feel at least two air bullets on Zhou Ning's path forward, but he quickly closed his mouth because as Zhou Ning charged forward, he seemed to see them, dodging the air bullets as smoothly as flowing clouds and water. Then he deflected his gun and pulled the trigger at the open space diagonally in front of him.
In the skill bar, the icon for [Rapid Pursuit] also began to flash.
"Clang!"
A flaming bullet shot out with a roar, deflecting in the air. With a grating metallic clang that made one's teeth ache, something heavy seemed to be knocked away, followed by a 'clatter,' and a dagger fell to the ground. Zhou Ning took a step back, then pushed off the ground with his right leg, and his body, still airborne, leaped forward again.
Behind him, Sherlock's low voice sounded, a spell chanted in the ancient faric language:
"Frost!"
A spray of gray powder scattered, and on the ground diagonally in front, a thick layer of frost suddenly formed, and two footprints instantly appeared on the ground.
As Zhou Ning charged forward, he unhesitatingly raised his right hand and pulled the trigger at the location of the footprints.
A sharp shriek rang out, and a figure rolled on the ground, reappearing. However, what emerged was a monster covered in gray scales.
It had a swollen and hideous head, only vaguely resembling a human. Mucus flowed down its scales, constantly dripping. It clutched the wound on its ribs with its left hand, extended its right hand, and said in an indistinct tone:
"No, wait, wait, I just want to live..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ning raised his right hand and coldly pulled the trigger.
The flaming bullet precisely pierced the monster's head, instantly shattering it into pieces. Grayish-white brain matter and green mucus flowed all over the ground.
Zhou Ning looked at the monster's corpse and shook his head, "No, you don't."
In the game, monsters like this had basically lost all humanity.
A prompt popped up: [You killed Holwig Gay. You gained 2800 experience.]
[B-rank quest [Alchemy Ghost] completed. You gained 50000 experience.]
[You obtained a rare item, Goethe's Alchemy Handbook X1. Do you wish to claim it?]
"No." Now was not the time to claim it.
After the monster died, Zhou Ning bent down and picked up a thick notebook from the ground.
[Common Item: Holwig's Diary.]
Zhou Ning opened the diary. Sherlock, clutching his injured ribs, quickly walked over and stood behind Zhou Ning to read it with him.