Chapter 50

Mali took a deep breath, pressed the shotgun stock against his right shoulder, and aimed at the Lizardman rushing at the very front, but didn't rush to fire.

Instead, he waited for the target to run a few more steps, until the distance between them was shortened to fifty or sixty meters, and only then did he pull the trigger.

Accompanied by a "Bang!" and the white smoke erupting from the muzzle, the Lizardman charging in front and its companion, who was only half a step away, fell to the ground together.

Mali's body also tilted back slightly under the force of the recoil.

A shotgun is a very suitable close-quarters weapon for beginners.

Take the Type 97-2 Shotgun in his hand, for example; it was loaded with 18.4mm lethal shells, each containing 22 lead pellets with a diameter of 6mm.

After the bullet flew out of the barrel, the wad would disintegrate at a distance of about 10 meters, after which the lead pellets inside would scatter toward the target, with a spread diameter of 155cm at fifty meters.

This meant that even if the shooter didn't aim that accurately, the scattered pellets still had a very high probability of hitting.

And if the enemies were standing relatively close to each other, it was very likely to result in a multi-hit situation like the one just now.

Two companions suddenly falling caused no small shock to the remaining Lizardmen, but by this time, the other three Lizardmen were already less than thirty meters away from Mali.

One of them raised the spear in its hand, preparing to throw it.

Seeing this, Mali quickly pulled the pump; accompanied by a "Click!", the empty shell was ejected from the side, and the next bullet was already chambered.

He pulled the trigger again, and the Lizardman holding the spear also fell to the ground in the smoke.

Having taken out three enemies in succession, the pressure on Mali eased quite a bit, and his mood wasn't as tense as it was at the beginning.

Although these monsters on the Leiwateleisi Dalu looked fierce and menacing, they were, in the final analysis, still flesh and blood.

And as everyone knows, firearms are always exceptionally persuasive against flesh and blood.

However, these Lizardman bandits were indeed different from those fence-sitting Goblins; even though Mali had already taken down three, the remaining Lizardmen not only didn't flee at the sight of the wind, but were instead thoroughly provoked into a murderous frenzy.

The two Lizardmen who were originally guarding Bani and the other two also abandoned their prey waiting to be slaughtered and rushed toward this side together.

And their target was very clear: it was Mali!

With the intelligence of those Lizardmen, they might not understand why their companions suddenly fell, but the instinct of a beast made them lock onto the source of the threat at the first moment.

—They wanted to avenge their companions!

But this actually suited Mali's wishes; the optimal shooting distance for the Type 97-2 Shotgun was within sixty meters, which was why it was called a close-quarters weapon.

If these Lizardmen had turned and run now, although Mali also brought a sniper rifle, with his marksmanship, he really had no confidence in hitting a long-distance moving target, and he would have had to go back to the Truck to get the rifle.

Now that they were swarming up, it actually made things simpler.

Mali kept pumping and aiming to fire.

The Type 97-2 is a pump-action shotgun; every shot requires ejecting the shell and chambering the next, but the rate of fire is actually not slow, especially in the hands of well-trained special police.

Mali's hand speed was a bit worse, but it was enough to deal with a single-digit number of enemies.

He fired five shots in eight seconds; one shot missed, but he still took down six Lizardmen.

The magazine capacity of the Type 97-2 is 5 rounds, but considering that one bullet can be chambered in advance, there should be one last bullet left in the barrel at this time.

And in front of Mali, only the Lizardman riding the wild boar remained.

The latter imitated the appearance of a human knight, tucked the lance at its side, and kept kicking the wild boar with its lower legs to launch a heroic charge!

The distance between the two was less than forty meters; Mali aimed at its body, but then he encountered a bit of trouble: the shotgun in his hand actually jammed at this moment.

The empty shell from the previous bullet jammed the pump, making it impossible to push or pull to chamber the next round.

However, Mali didn't panic; he threw the shotgun in his hand directly to the ground, grabbed the Type 05 Silenced Submachine Gun hanging around his neck, and unleashed a burst of fire at the wild boar charging toward him.

He fired more than thirty bullets in one breath.

Wild boar hide itself is very tough, and wild boars love to rub against pine trees to coat their bodies in thick pine resin, then roll in the mud to give themselves a layer of natural armor.

But facts proved that this layer of armor was of no use in the face of this level of firepower.

Even though not all these bullets landed on it—about a quarter missed—even so, it still ended its life without suspense.

The wild boar crashed to the ground, and the Lizardman knight on its back was also thrown out.

Mali didn't waste words; without waiting for it to crawl up from the ground, he emptied the remaining dozen or so bullets in the magazine into its head.

Doing so was undoubtedly a bit wasteful, and Mali realized this only after he finished firing.

But considering this was only his first battle, this small mistake was not unacceptable.

Afterward, he pulled out the pistol at his waist and fired two more shots at the other two Lizardmen nearby who weren't completely dead yet.

Ensuring there were no more threats around, he then lowered his head to pick up the shotgun he had just thrown aside, took out the empty shell jammed inside, wiped the gun body, reloaded, and engaged the safety.

After finishing these things, Mali turned his head to look back and found that Meilisha and the others were still staring at him in a daze.

They clearly hadn't recovered from the shock just now.

Among them, Xia'er and the old alchemist were fine; the adventurer siblings, Huodun, and Renee had all heard the half-elf girl recount the Trial by Combat in Zhandou Castle.

The story of Mali using the power of thunder to sanction the lying guards, however, hearsay was ultimately not as shocking as seeing it with one's own eyes.

Not to mention that the shotgun and submachine gun were much more intense in terms of spectacle than the Type 92 Pistol.

It was originally agreed that everyone would deal with those Lizardmen together, but in the end, Mali had solved them all by his own strength.

Did such a fierce person really need them to guard him?

At this moment, everyone couldn't help but have the same question Xia'er once had.

When Mali was putting away his weapons, he also realized that the planned team coordination hadn't been practiced at all.

He had originally wanted to leave two Lizardmen for Weier and the others to gain some experience, but those Lizardmen rushed too fiercely, and even if he wanted to go easy, it was difficult.

Moreover, the new weapons in his hands clearly also shocked Weier and the others, leaving them stunned like wooden chickens.

In a mature team, such a one-against-four situation usually rarely happens, but given Mali's current marksmanship, plus the area-of-effect damage characteristic of the shotgun, perhaps not rushing up was actually the most correct choice for them.

Mali hadn't considered these things before, but only had a vague outline, and this was precisely the significance of practical drills.

Discovering problems early is always better than exposing them at a critical moment.