Chapter 133:

The black wooden box was filled with a highly dense, soft substance known as Oak Mucus, harvested from the oak cultivation areas within Zion, artificially infected to contract a controllable tree disease. After infection, the oaks would produce tumorous tissues, periodically secreting a sealing, malleable, and controllable mucus; the initial mucus appeared light grey, with a translucency of 30–40%. It could be diluted or refined to create Oak Mucus for various uses. Often used to encase infectious materials, it could effectively prevent the spread of the Pathological Characteristic while catering to both “storage” and “sealing” effects. At the moment, within the concentrated and refined mucus, lay a special firearm, primarily black with silver decorations. Due to its “handgun-like grip” and “no stock” configuration, Yi Chen mistook it for a handgun at first glance, only upon closer inspection did he realize it was a portable shotgun designed with a shortened barrel, The silver outer shell at the junction of the grip and magazine was adorned with Feather Decorations and etched with the italicized word Mariano, as a whole it gave off a contradictory sensation—short and slightly heavy, portable yet extremely lethal…especially the exaggerated barrel size, which seemed capable of shattering a human body directly. The most important aspect was the active Pathological Aura emanating from the firearm as a whole. Even teacher Zede crawling on the table could detect a faint dangerous aura and even wanted to personally test the power of the gun. Yi Chen immediately recognized the origin of the weapon, “Is this! A gun made from that Sick Object?” “Correct… Designed and manufactured by the top gunsmith of our family, my father Elifayet Mariano himself, he named it The Body Breaker. After removing the Sick Object’s consciousness, the material’s activity was retained to the maximum extent, hence it emits a Pathological Aura and needs to be encased in Oak Mucus. Considering that you, William, have a liking, even an obsession, with close combat with the Patients, my father and I chose this design of a shotgun, which has the strongest short-range lethality, while deciding on the type of firearm.” “Wait a second…” Yi Chen interrupted Edmund’s introduction, “Edmund, wasn’t the Sick Object entirely awarded to you? With a Sick Object that suits you so well, wouldn’t you be able to make better use of it than me? R̃????Νö฿Еṣ You could even choose to refine it into a Pathological Crystal, obtaining the corresponding Pathological Trait. Or craft a firearm that’s more suitable for yourself like this one.” However, Edmund just shrugged, seemingly without any thought in that direction. “I’ve already received the corresponding ‘Reward’ from the mission settlement, and thus the family’s troubles were also resolved. If it weren’t for your and Miss Jin’s support and rescue, the injuries Dagbert received at the time would have robbed him of his combat capabilities, and I was completely suppressed by attribute counter. Moreover, another team also had injured members. The outcome could have been all of us dying in the factory or being forced to flee and abandon the mission. Even if we could somehow rely on luck and exhaust all means, it would be nearly impossible to achieve a ‘Capture Technique’ of such degree; most likely the target would have escaped, causing casualties in other nearby towns or cities. This object essentially belonged to you and Jin, and Miss Jin has already relinquished all rights to it on her way back to the city… Therefore, my father and I unanimously decided to craft this portable shotgun that retains the activity of the Sick Object as a ‘Gift.'” This left Yi Chen somewhat at a loss for words, feeling quite embarrassed to accept such a generous gift. “I’ve also never used a…gun.” As he spoke these words, images locked deep within his brain, secured by multiple safes, began to seep through the gaps in the locks, darkening his mind and overlaying the corresponding scenes. A rainy night, a door coated in pitch black, three security personnel lying in a pool of blood with their heads blown off, one of the corpses’ service guns was neither on the waist nor in the hands, but being held by a seven-year-old boy at the door. Although the heavy, cold handgun designed for adults caused the boy’s hand to tear at the web during the shooting, he easily killed the three. … “William, what are you doing?” A sudden prompt from the grape’s consciousness pulled him back from his memories. At this moment, he was already gripping the shortened shotgun in his hand, even assuming a shooting stance, The gun, retaining its vitality, ‘obediently’ stayed in Yi Chen’s hands, seemingly acknowledging its new master without absorbing any iron elements from his body, or firing on its own. Searᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Everyone except for Teacher Zede had kept their distance from Edmund. Their distancing was partly due to the dangerous nature of the firearm and partly because of the Death Aura emanating from Yi Chen. “I… was just recalling some past events, sorry about that.” Seeing that Yi Chen had returned to normal, Edmund approached once again, Observing Yi Chen’s standard shooting posture and his command over the living firearm, Edmund said with satisfaction, “My feeling was indeed correct, William, you do possess a talent for firearms. If you have time, you can come to my place to practice shooting.” “Alright then, I’ll take you up on that offer.” Having said that, Yi Chen agreed. Moreover, holding the grip of the gun felt very comfortable, even stimulating the secretion of adrenaline in his body, making him eager to use it to kill enemies and expel diseases. “I should probably introduce you to some information and usage of the gun, since it differs somewhat from ordinary firearms. The-Body-Breaker The total length of the gun is 419mm, barrel length is 165mm, and the weight of the empty gun is 4.01kg. The total weight is variable; through the absorption of ferrous materials to fill the ammunition, the maximum weight can reach 10.55kg. It doesn’t come equipped with ammunition, instead, it uses ‘corpse supply’. Firing at metal targets or contact with metallic objects with the gun body can obtain ammunition, with iron or rare metals derived from iron being the best. The maximum ammo capacity is [10], with two types of ammunition corresponding to two different shooting modes: 1. Buckshot, each round contains 10 pellets, spread-shot firing. The most effective range is within five meters, maximum range 50m. 2. Rifled-slug, a single spiral bullet head, heavy and large, for single-point firing. Significantly increases effective range, showing decent performance even at close distances. Effective range 250m, best within ten meters. There’s a ‘switch’ located where your thumb rests when holding the gun, which you can pull to change ammo types. Considering that most of the time you will use it for close-range shooting, William, there’s not a high requirement for accuracy. Therefore, my father transferred all the Sick Object’s Self-aiming Feature into damage amplification during its making. The damage from this firearm is quite terrifying, and it will increase with the purity and rarity of the metal used. Moreover, it has the potential for growth and development. Its true value and additional uses will need to be discovered by you, William. If you want to preserve the entire corpse of a Patient, try not to use it.” “Got it.” Teacher Zede, who had been listening to the information about the firearm, immediately became interested and suggested, “We have 21 minutes and 37 seconds left before the outing ends. Why not test the power of this gun right here? Aim at my body with the most powerful spread-shot mode, making sure all the pellets hit me, and give it a shot!” Zede excitedly stripped off his shirt, pointing his hands toward the oddly structured muscle area of his abdomen. “Sure!” As he was frequently in physical contact with Zede, Yi Chen was very clear about his teacher’s intentions, and he himself was indeed eager to test out the firepower of the gun.