Chapter 32: Holwig
In front of the Alchemy Tower, a carriage marked with a double-headed eagle emblem stood still—the standard vehicle of the Sunwatchers.
The door's lock had been forcibly broken, left slightly ajar.
Zhou Ning closed his umbrella and stood at the steps, tilting his head to listen. From above came the sound of intense fighting—thuds and thumps echoing down from the upper floors of the tower.
This was definitely the place.
Without hesitation, Zhou Ning folded up his umbrella and reached out to push the door open.
The fighting grew more intense. Just as Zhou Ning was about to head upstairs, a sudden crashing sound erupted overhead—a wooden railing splintered with a loud crack. A figure smashed through the stair banister and tumbled down, managing to regain balance mid-fall with a roll and landing in a half-kneeling position before Zhou Ning, almost like offering a ceremonial bow. Then, with sharp alertness, the figure raised a gun and pointed it at Zhou Ning.
"Who are you?"
Even in the dim light, Zhou Ning recognized him immediately. That familiar deerstalker cap, that familiar face—Li Tie. It was Sherlock. Zhou Ning raised both hands in a cooperative gesture and smiled.
"Should I say 'No need for formalities'? Or would 'Surrender now' be more fitting?"
Sherlock also recognized Zhou Ning at that moment. If he had a negative emotion tracking system, Zhou Ning would've seen a +1000 spike above Sherlock's head. He rolled his eyes and was about to respond when his expression suddenly changed. He shouted, "Get down!"
Bang!
A muffled blast rang out. From the empty staircase above, a transparent air bullet shot downward with a high-pitched whine.
Zhou Ning instinctively leapt backward. A loud thump followed as the projectile blasted a deep crater into the ground.
"What the hell?"
While Zhou Ning was still processing what had just happened, more air bullets started firing from the upper floor. There was no visible shooter—only sharp sounds and instinct to rely on.
The air hissed again nearby. Zhou Ning dove left without hesitation, his movements elusive and quick, streaking through the shadows like a ghost.
Dirt exploded behind him, bullet holes riddling the ground in a tight cluster.
"There's someone up there who can turn invisible. He's the murderer we're after. We completely underestimated him—he's already killed two of us."
A flicker of regret appeared on Sherlock's face, but he didn't stop. As he explained, he fired two shots toward the staircase.
Bang! Bang!
Wood chips flew from the staircase railing, two fresh bullet holes appearing side by side. Whether they hit or not, the entire Alchemy Tower fell into an eerie silence again.
Unnervingly silent.
"An invisibility ability?"
Zhou Ning's expression turned serious. In Apocalypse, there were indeed superpower-based classes. Such abilities could be triggered either through superpower serums or various bizarre inheritances. Some were incredibly hard to counter.
But invisibility? That felt ridiculously overpowered.
Just then, an intense wave of danger surged up Zhou Ning's spine. Goosebumps crawled across his back, and his face changed. He instinctively bent backward.
The air shimmered. A transparent air bullet appeared right behind him, shooting forward and knocking his semi-high top hat to the ground, a neat hole now punctured through its center.
Had he reacted a second later, his skull might've been pulp.
Nearby, Sherlock reacted swiftly too. He flung a gray powder into the open space behind Zhou Ning.
"Thunder!"
A dark thundercloud instantly gathered above the floor. Lightning and thunder erupted in the confined space.
That was a meteorologist's tactic…
Zhou Ning recalled that meteorologists in the game could manipulate localized weather to create advantageous combat environments. They were skilled in close combat, firearms, and spellcasting. They were essentially weather-based fighters, and their forecasting skills made them invaluable on wilderness expeditions.
As the thundercloud churned, Zhou Ning heard footsteps quickly retreating—someone was trying to flee into the open space behind them.
On his skill bar, Gun-Fu: Deadly Rhythm began to glow faintly.
Zhou Ning felt his mind slip into a strange state—an indescribable sensation, as though he could grasp everything happening around him.
He abruptly stopped his backward lean, twisted his torso, and a revolver with an ivory grip silently appeared in his hand. With a flourish, the gun spun once in his grip.
He steadied his hand, adjusted his aim by instinct, and fired toward a corner of the empty ground.
The preloaded skill activated instantly.
Ripple Shot!
From Sherlock's point of view, his eyes widened in shock. What the hell was that?
He saw a blazing bullet burst from Zhou Ning's gun with a fiery roar. The air around it rippled, the space itself tearing open like fabric.
A grunt rang out from the corner, and a splash of blood sprayed into the air.
A figure flickered into view—a young man wearing a monocle, staring in disbelief.
Hit! Sherlock's senses confirmed it. Heart racing, he quickly raised his gun and fired alongside Zhou Ning.
Click!
The young man's figure shattered like glass, breaking into fragments.
"Mirror Image Technique…" Zhou Ning muttered to himself.
Moments later, in a more distant corner, the air began to ripple again. A barrage of invisible air bullets fired toward them. Sherlock cursed and dove for cover without hesitation.
Zhou Ning, however, didn't stop moving. Like a predator, he launched himself in another direction.
"Watch out!" Sherlock called. With his keen senses, he could feel at least two air bullets along Zhou Ning's path—but then fell silent.
Because Zhou Ning dodged them flawlessly, as if he could see them.
In one fluid motion, he twisted, raised his gun, and fired at the open ground ahead.
His skill bar lit up again—Rapid Pursuit now active.
Clang!
A flaming bullet curved midair, striking something with a screech of metal. The next second, a dagger clattered to the ground.
Zhou Ning pushed off with one foot and sprang forward again before even landing.
Behind him, Sherlock chanted in deep, archaic Lerican:
"Frostbind!"
Gray powder scattered as the ground ahead suddenly iced over, revealing two distinct footprints.
Zhou Ning didn't hesitate. While charging forward, he raised his gun and fired directly at the footprints.
A sharp scream rang out. A figure rolled across the ground, finally revealing itself—a grotesque creature covered in gray scales.
Its head was swollen and misshapen, barely human. Slimy mucus oozed from its scales.
Clutching its injured side with one hand, it raised the other and stammered:
"W-wait… I… I just want to live…"
Zhou Ning didn't wait for it to finish. He raised his gun and fired coldly.
The flaming bullet burst through its skull. Bone and brain matter splattered across the floor in a mix of gray and green.
Zhou Ning looked down at the corpse and shook his head. "No. You don't."
In the game, monsters like this had long since lost all trace of humanity.
A system prompt appeared:
[You have killed Holwig Gai. You gained 2800 XP.]
[B-Rank Mission "Alchemical Phantom" completed. You gained 50,000 XP.]
[You obtained a rare item: Goethe's Alchemy Manual ×1. Claim now?]
"No." Now was not the time.
After the monster died, Zhou Ning knelt and picked up a thick notebook from the ground.
[Common Item: Holwig's Diary.]
Zhou Ning opened the diary as Sherlock, holding his wounded side, quickly walked over and stood behind him to read along.
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