Chapter 71: One Shot, Headshot

Lei En's shoulder burst into a spray of blood, followed by a wave of pain.

He couldn't bother checking his wound, planted his feet firmly, shielded Viola behind him, and shouted, "Don't come out from behind me."

While speaking, the female gunner fired again.

The soul gun in her hand flickered, and Lei En saw a flash; his forehead was struck with great force, causing his head to involuntarily tilt backward.

That shot wasn't an ordinary bullet but an Explosive Shell; flame and metal fragments detonated on Lei En's forehead, the violent shock making stars dance before his eyes, his ears ringing, and he nearly fainted on the spot.

"Damn!"

Lei En cursed, felt a warm stream flow from his forehead, raised his hand and felt only blood, realizing his skull had been split open; he couldn't help shouting in relief, "Good thing my steel body is strong enough, otherwise that shot would have given me a headshot!"

"Damn, I hope I didn't scar my face..."

The female gunner opposite, seeing this, was also stunned.

She knew the power of her Explosive Shell perfectly; even a steel knight couldn't withstand it, yet when it hit this man's head, it only produced a shallow wound.

"What kind of extraordinary profession is this guy, with a body so hard he can take my bullet head‑on!"

The female gunner was shocked, but didn't stop, and without hesitation fired again.

If one shot can't kill him, she'll fire a few more, aiming for the eyes. She doesn't believe even the eye's defense could be that extreme!

This time Lei En reacted instantly, realized what the gunner intended, and quickly raised both arms to shield his head and face.

With a bang, the gunfire rang again, but he found he hadn't been hit.

At the same time, a cool sensation filled his body, like flowing water washing over him; the wounds on his forehead and shoulder healed rapidly, and the pain lessened.

Lei En lowered his arms and saw a layer of water bubbles surrounding his body, like a shield.

The shield ahead rippled in large waves and blocked a red bullet.

"Lei En, are you okay?" Viola's voice sounded beside his ear, frantic; she turned from behind, saw he was fine, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She also had a water‑bubble shield on her, her eyes a deep blue, her golden hair moving without wind, exuding waves and stormy aura, her expression cold and stern, as if she had become a different person.

Lei En's Soul Eye remained open, clearly seeing Viola's current state.

Her demon soul has possessed her!

Having lived day after day with Viola, Lei En already knew her strength inside out.

As a Level‑6 Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard, Viola has two Main Souls: a primary‑stage elemental "Beike Wind Spirit" and a Mid-stage aberration "Lake Demon Spirit," both extremely rare demon souls that usually reside in a soul‑gathering tower, ready to possess and cast spells.

The "Water Shield Technique" on both of them, as well as the "Nourishing Water" Lei En received, are Elemental secrets of the Lake Demon Spirit.

These thoughts flashed through Lei En's mind.

Bang bang bang...

The female gunner never ceased her assault; her soul gun fired continuously, three bullets whistling toward the exposed Viola, striking her water shield so violently it quivered, about to burst.

Viola let out a cold snort, raised her hand and summoned a wind wall before her, instantly deflecting the bullets.

Then, four fiery silhouettes appeared around her, instantly swelling into four massive fire crows, croaking loudly.

The fire crows' wingspans were nearly two meters, blazing with fierce flames, whipping up scorching winds as they swooped toward the gunner.

During the dive, the four fire crows simultaneously exhaled a torrent of flame, sweeping across the entire deck.

The gunner had to cease firing, flipped and leapt, swiftly swapping the soul gun's magazine; with two bangs, she hit the heads of two fire crows, the bullets erupting with icy cold, freezing the two crows entirely, which then fell.

The remaining two fire crows pursued, entangling the gunner on the next level of the deck.

"Lei En, are you okay?" Viola asked again.

Lei En wiped the blood from his forehead and reassured, "I'm fine, just a little bleeding, it's okay."

Viola's eyes were filled with surprise, and even more emotion.

Just now Lei En risked his body to protect himself; she saw it clearly. In that instant she thought Lei En was certain to die, almost losing her mind, but his body was unbelievably hard, stubbornly withstanding the gunner's bullet.

She didn't know how Lei En managed it, and now wasn't the time to ask.

Viola nodded, flipped her pristine palm, revealing a pale‑blue curved short sword with a gem set at its hilt; grasping it, her soul energy recovered rapidly, and with a light tap toward the two fire crows on the deck, they instantly thawed, reignited their flames, and rose into the air.

Then, she somehow produced a bottle of potion, opened it, and drank it.

In Lei En's view, Viola's soul energy had been heavily drained, but after drinking the potion it surged instantly; first she pointed at herself, a teal aura swirling around her feet, making her steps light.

Then she produced two blue crystal cards and infused them with soul energy.

Two massive figures appeared on either side of Viola, their heavy bodies pressing the deck, which creaked under their weight.

One was a four‑meter‑tall giant, its whole body sheathed in ice, its face ferocious, long hair and braided beard frozen into icicles, and its fan‑shaped palms grasped a massive ice axe!

The other was a snow‑white giant bear, clad in thick ice armor, with a layer of white fur beneath, its massive limbs sturdy, taller than an adult, a gaping maw bristling with fangs, its small eyes filled with ferocity, roaring loudly as it emerged.

"A juvenile frost giant and an ice‑armored bear..."

Lei En stared with his eyes fixed.

Both are Mid-stage summons, not inner souls nurtured in Viola's soul‑gathering tower, but external souls summoned via soul cards.

The soul energy consumed by external souls cannot be reclaimed; if they are killed, their soul cards become useless.

A Mid-stage soul card is worth at least a thousand Gold Shields!

Lei En saw Viola summon external souls at any cost, realizing she was fully enraged. At that moment, gunfire echoed from the lower deck, followed by the clatter of two heavy objects hitting the ground, then silence.

Viola and Lei En exchanged a glance.

A Level‑4 gunner already possesses the "Phantom Flicker" Element, granting extremely fast movement and agile footwork to dodge many attacks and reduce damage; a primary‑stage fire crow can only entangle her for a few seconds, never killing her.

"I'll go deal with her."

Lei En didn't wait for Viola's objection and leapt to the next level of the deck.

A gunner's strongest point lies in the soul gun—fast, sharp, with a high attack rate; this is both their advantage and their weakness.

If the soul gun fails to pierce defense or lacks power, the gunner poses little threat.

Lei En has a steel body, now also protected by an external water shield, so he isn't afraid of that female gunner at all; to her, he's essentially an unbreakable turtle shell.

Conversely, Viola, as a Wizard, is extremely wary of gunners; a moment's lapse could be fatal. With the frost giant and ice‑armored bear guarding her, she doesn't need to intervene for now.

Lei En dropped onto the second deck, saw two frozen fire crows lying on the ground, but the female gunner was nowhere to be seen.

He had already activated the Sound of All Things.

In his ears he heard countless sound waves—wind, water, the rustle of island leaves, and a few slow breaths from the lower cabin, the yacht's servants, all apparently unconscious.

Suddenly, a faint noise came from the side porthole.

"She is clinging to the hull outside."

Lei En pretended not to notice, stepped slowly into the cabin; his war hammer and shotgun were nearby inside, and he needed to grab them first.

As soon as he entered, a soul gun reached in from the window.

Bang!

Lei En rolled on the spot, evading the bullet, rolled into a cabin corner, pulled the war hammer and shotgun from a sack, stood up, and lunged toward the porthole.

The wind beneath his feet accelerated him; in the blink of an eye Lei En reached the porthole and raised his war hammer to strike.

Boom— the fine iron war hammer smashed into the cabin wall, punching a large hole.

The female gunner was caught off guard and fell onto the lake surface.

Lei En gripped the shotgun with his left hand, shooting down at her in rapid succession; Bang Bang a few times, hundreds of tiny metal pellets streamed out, striking her body.

The female gunner's figure suddenly blurred, as if overlapping afterimages, the pellets barely wounded her. At that moment, the four fire crows circling the yacht reacted, swooped down, and spewed fierce flames at the female gunner.

Amid the splash, the female gunner fell into the lake; the fire crows, fearing water, halted their dive on the surface.

Beneath the water, the female gunner's silhouette vanished in an instant.

Lei En swiftly slung the shotgun at his waist, carried the war hammer back to the top deck, and saw Viola safe under the protection of a frost giant and an ice‑armored bear.

"She is in the water, probably beneath the ship; that's a tough problem."

Lei En said in a low voice that once in the water, his strength would be useless, his speed sluggish, and he would only be a target for the opponent.

"Leave it to me," Viola said calmly.

She stepped to the deck's edge, produced a scroll, unfurled it quickly, and infused it with soul energy to trigger the spell on the scroll.

A cold aura flashed across the lake surface like lightning; within two or three seconds the lake around the yacht began to freeze, the ripples solidified instantly, as if the world turned to ice and snow in an instant, goose‑feather snow fell from the sky, and bone‑chilling wind howled around.

The four fire crows squawked noisily, clearly uncomfortable in this environment.

Only the frost giant and ice‑armored bear beside Viola seemed more at ease.

Viola's icy aura grew stronger, frost encircling her, as if with every gesture she could instantly unleash a torrent of ice spells.

"The Five‑Ring Ice Domain Scroll, used so casually."

Lei En couldn't help but sigh; this is the spending power of the rich—Viola literally used money to boost her spell level beyond the fourth ring, a capability only a high‑level Wizard possesses.

A few seconds later, an ice patch not far from the yacht burst open, a figure leapt out and fled into the distance.

It was the female gunner.

Because the ice was slick, she couldn't pick up speed, her steps staggered, and she bore signs of freezing.

"Go," Viola ordered; the ice‑armored bear leapt from the deck, landing on the ice with a thundering crash, roaring, and chased the female gunner.

In the low‑temperature environment created by the Ice Domain Technique, the female gunner's fate against the ice‑armored bear was obvious.

Lei En didn't relax, moving closer to Viola.

At that moment, he heard an extremely faint sound from the other side of the deck, not far from Viola, slowly approaching her.

He immediately drew the shotgun at his waist and fired a blast toward that direction.

Bang!

Half a silhouette emerged early, the opponent shrouded in darkness, face masked, a pair of blades flashed before them, attempting to cleave the bullet Lei En had fired.

The shotgun fired dozens of pellets; the person's movements were lightning‑fast, yet they sliced nothing and were solidly hit.

(End of Chapter)