Chapter 52: Chapter 52 I Have Social Anxiety Too

Lin Shen fired the gun, but the person he shot was not Xu Tiange, it was Elder Zhou standing next to him.

The Xu Family knew the details of the Lin Family, just as the Lin Family had an understanding of the Xu Family.

Before Lin Shen came, he had already reviewed Xu Tiange’s detailed profile.

The most outstanding talent of the younger generation of the Xu Family, not even twenty years old and already a Alloy Level Mutator.

Apart from the abundant resources provided by the Xu Family, he was also a very hardworking individual, with great prospects of becoming the new leader of the next generation of the Xu Family.

For such a family’s future hope, the Xu Family would definitely arrange top-notch protectors around him.

The fact that Elder Zhou had such distinctive features of white hair and a youthful face, was always standing by Xu Tiange, instinctively protected Xu Tiange when Lin Shen drew his gun, and his contemptuous attitude towards Lin Shen’s armed threat.

If Lin Shen couldn’t tell who was the expert protecting Xu Tiange, then he was really as dumb as a pig.

Seeing Lin Shen open fire, and seemingly missing, the muzzle deviating towards him, the derision in Elder Zhou’s eyes deepened.

If it were an attack from a Mutator, he would have used his Base Mutation powers to first shield himself with a Crystal-based Carapace.

But to him, a firearm was nothing but junk; how could it possibly hurt him, a noble Crystal-based Variant?

Elder Zhou wanted to show off, planning to pluck the bullet out of the air with his bare hands, to show Xu Tiange the strength of this loyal servant of the Xu Family.

But the moment the gun fired, Elder Zhou only felt a blur before his eyes and didn’t have a chance to react, then his brain suddenly went blank.

“Who am I… Where am I… What happened…” Elder Zhou’s brain only managed to flash these thoughts before he fell backward, stiff as a board.

In the center of his forehead, a bloody hole was spurting out red and white matter.

For a moment, everyone in the cave was petrified, Xu Tiange became like a robot, his neck turning stiffly in Elder Zhou’s direction, watching him fall stiffly, the red and white matter splattering partly onto his face.

“Elder Zhou is dead… killed by a gun… How is that possible… It must be fake… I must still be dreaming…” Xu Tiange stood there dumbstruck, as if he had lost his mind.

The laughter of the other Mutators in the cave froze on their faces, the more joyful they were just now, the more uncomfortable they felt now.

Lei Uncle was both shocked and overjoyed, hardly believing his own eyes; a single bullet took down the Crystal Base Powerhouse beside Xu Tiange, he even wondered if he was dreaming.

“What did you say just now? Where did you tell me to aim and shoot?” Lin Shen pointed the gun at Xu Tiange again.

What about Crystal Base? Without the use of Base Mutation powers, the flesh and blood body of a Crystal-based creature was still somewhat inferior.

The Pet Capsule loaded in the gun contained an Alloy-grade Black Armored Bee initially put in by Tian Xin, accelerated to speeds beyond Crystal Base’s 44, piercing the skull of a Crystal-based human was not challenging at all.

If Elder Zhou hadn’t been so arrogant, looking down on the gun in Lin Shen’s hand and used his Base Mutation power early to shield himself with the Crystal-based Carapace, it would not have been so simple for Lin Shen to kill him.

Of course, Lin Shen didn’t give him the chance. Lin Shen had been aiming at Xu Tiange from the start, and only a split second before firing did he switch his target to Elder Zhou. By then, it was too late to shield himself with Crystal-based Carapace, after all, using Base Mutation powers takes time, and that certainly couldn’t be quicker than the speed of a bullet.

Xu Tiange turned his head with difficulty, managed a forced smile and said, “Brother, it’s a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. I’m actually socially anxious, I was too nervous just now, I misspoke. Don’t take it to heart, brother.”

Xu Tiange was truly frightened, feeling the fear of being dominated by guns and bullets that humans had over two hundred years ago. Even with an Alloy Carapace to protect him, he still felt as if he was wearing nothing at all, with no sense of security whatsoever.

Elder Zhou’s corpse beside him was still bleeding, his eyes bulging in death. If a Crystal Base could be killed with a single shot, Xu Tiange did not think his bones were harder than Crystal Base’s; he also did not want to become a cold corpse at a young age, with a promising future ahead of him.

The more things a person possesses, the less they wish to leave this world so easily.

Lin Shen approached Xu Tiange, who dared not move at all, even very talentedly raised his hands, a gesture no one had used for many years.

Lin Shen walked behind Xu Tiange, the muzzle of the gun pressing against the back of his head.

“Don’t… don’t shoot… brother… we can talk it out… it was all my fault before… I apologize to you…” Xu Tiange said with a trembling voice, feeling his soul almost bursting out of his head the moment the gun touched his skull.

Wei Wufu’s method of crippling people without a word was downright diabolical, even more ruthless than Xu Tiange; who knew if the next second Lin Shen would just shoot him dead. Xu Tiange was genuinely scared, these two simply didn’t play by the rules.

“Where’s my sister?” Lin Shen said indifferently.

“What are you standing around for? A bunch of useless fools, go bring my sister here now.” Xu Tiange shouted at the other stunned Mutators below.

Those Mutators who had come to their senses hurried towards the side cave.

“Stop.” Lin Shen said coldly.

Some people stopped, but others continued to run inside.

“Bang!” Another gunshot rang out, the bullet whizzed past Xu Tiange’s head and directly exploded the head of a Mutator who was still running toward the side cave.

Everyone once again stood frozen in their tracks, and Xu Tiange was so scared he turned to stone, standing there with his legs trembling.

The moment Lin Shen fired the gun, Xu Tiange thought he was the target and felt as if his soul had truly left his body.

Now, he was even more afraid to move. At such a close distance, he hadn’t seen how the bullet had flown past. The bullet’s speed was too fast, far beyond what could be expected from a handgun.

“Brother, you tell me what to do; I’ll follow your lead,” Xu Tiange said, swallowing the nonexistent saliva in his mouth with some difficulty.

“Wei, Lei, go get our big sister out,” Lin Shen instructed Wei and Lei.

“Okay,” Wei responded and then walked toward the side cave.

“Mr. Lin Shen, rest assured, we’re going to get the boss out right now,” Lei said, filled with joy and unconsciously changing his form of address.

“You, lead the way,” Lin Shen said casually, pointing to a Mutator.

The Mutator hurriedly led Wei and Lei down the side cave, not daring to delay.

The Angel Revolver had only one bullet in it before, but not anymore. Ever since Lin Shen returned to Dark Bird Base, he had managed to get a Pet Capsule and filled up all seven chambers.

Fortunately, he had money, and the Lin Family had stock, otherwise it wouldn’t have been easy.

Lin Miao and the caravan members were all locked up with Alloy locks and confined in a cave.

Apart from Lin Miao, who appeared rather calm, everyone else’s expressions were more or less filled with unease.

They all knew that Mr. Lin Zongzheng and the other had been gone from the base before the caravan had set off. If they hadn’t returned, who could come to exchange for them? Who would dare to?

Lin Miao might have seemed composed on the outside but was anything but calm inside. Of course, she knew her two younger brothers were not at Dark Bird Base, but as the head of the family and leader of the caravan, she couldn’t be the first to break down.

“Boss, do you think Mr. Lin Zongzheng and the other will make it in time?” The young Mutator from the caravan asked, despite having asked many times before, still unable to help himself from asking again.

“They will,” Lin Miao replied calmly, without hesitation.

The young man felt somewhat reassured and leaned against the wall, taking a few deep breaths. His emotions settled a lot.

Suddenly, the stone door blocking the cave was opened, and three people walked in.

“Boss, you’ve suffered; we’re here to rescue you,” Lei, seeing Lin Miao locked and sitting on the ground, immediately teared up with gratitude as he rushed over. When had Lin Miao ever suffered like this?

The sight of Lei stirred both shock and joy among the people. Lin Miao’s heart soared with happiness, yet she still calmly asked, “Did my third or fourth brother come?”

“Boss, it’s neither of them. Mr. Lin Zongzheng and the other haven’t returned to the base yet,” Lei said as he took the keys from the guard and began unlocking the Alloy shackles on Lin Miao.

“Not them? Then who brought the Mutant Egg to exchange for us?” Lin Miao asked with slight amazement.

“There was no Mutant Egg. The person who was supposed to deliver the Mutant Egg might have encountered trouble on the way and never made it back to the base,” Lei added.

“Then why would the Xu Family release people?” Lin Miao looked puzzled at Lei. If neither her third nor fourth brothers were available and there was no Mutant Egg to exchange, why would Xu Tiange let them go?

The other members of the caravan looked at Lei, sharing Lin Miao’s confusion.

“It was Mr. Lin Shen…” Lei started excitedly.

“Mr. Lin Shen? Which Mr. Lin Shen?” Everyone was momentarily confused, unable to figure out who Lei was talking about. In their memory, Lin Shen was always the pampered one, only concerned with eating, drinking and having fun.

“My fifth brother came?” Lin Miao was the first to catch on.

She knew Lin Shen’s character well. It wasn’t strange for Lin Shen to come here when nobody else was in charge at home. What puzzled her was how Lin Shen, without a Mutant Egg, managed to persuade the Xu Family to release them, and from Lei’s demeanor and how he referred to Lin Shen, it seemed her younger brother must have done something incredible.

“Mr. Lin Shen, he’s amazing…” Lei began, his words spitting forth as he exaggerated the events that had taken place.

Everyone listened in disbelief, unsure whether Lei misspoke or they had misheard.

A handgun killing a Crystal Base Powerhouse, is that even possible? You’re supposed to tell us what happened, not recite a mythological tale.