Secretly The Overlord

Chapter 2

Under the blanket of the night skies, the sound of a roaring engine echoed sharply in the atmosphere, heralding a sports bike that zipped through the asphalt of Delta City's street.

 Feeling the wind brushing up against his face, Henri swallowed nervously as his eyes darted towards the object strapped to his left thighs — a Small handgun!

 Before Tecca sent him and the rest of the enforcers on their merry way, he didn't forget to leave them behind a little present — a "piece" as he fondly called them.

 However unlike the Deadeye Pistol Tecca used earlier, this handgun was called a Durkie pistol and it didn't have much offensive function — Basically it's bullets were manufactured to slow down the flow of inner energies within a Practitioner's meridians.

 - In simple term, once a Practitioner was hit with one of this bullet, they would be reduced into regular humans.. at least temporarily, until the effect wore off.

 Ever since Henri started working for Tecca's gang, this was the first time he had been required to have an extra layer of protection on his person. And Tecca wouldn't risk thousands of dollars to purchase these Durkie Pistols for outsourced enforcers if he didn't suspect they would come in handy.

 "Shit!" just imagining the scene of getting frozen up before exploding into small pieces, caused a chill to creep up Henri's spine.

 He didn't want to die! Who in their right frame of mind wanted to?!

 "Alright. I got the package without any problem. Now, I just need to make the drop, get my payment and put tonight's affairs behind me--" Henri was in the process of chanting this mental mantra when.

 Click - Clack!

 With his gaze sharply snapping towards the direction of the small commotion, he sucked in sharply through the gaps of his teeth as his gaze landed on the metal box strapped to the bike.

 Except his eyes were playing tricks on him, how else could he explain how a box that was supposed to be stationary, moved a couple inches away from its regular position?!

 "Shit!" Henri had the urge to check out the problem, however his sense of reason quickly trumped whatever suicidal curiosity was about to take root in his heart.

 Never ever look into the package!

 This was a rule that Tecca didn't even need to flatly spell out. Anyone with the smallest use of their brains would be able to come to this simple understanding.

 However Henri still couldn't shake out his suspicions. The box definitely moved! Was he currently trafficking a small wide life or even something worse?

 "This will all be over soon." glancing at the GPS located on the bike's dashboard, Henri inhaled sharply when he confirmed that he was less than five minutes away from the location where he would make the drop.

...

Contrary to Henri's expectations, the drop site ended up being a dilapidated and abandoned apartment complex spanning about five stories. Rechecking the location sent to his phone, he only brought the roaring engines of his bike to a halt after carefully confirming he was at the right place.

 Glancing at the cloudy skies above him, Henri grabbed the metal box. Arriving at the main entrance of the apartment complex, Henri was just about to open the door when --

Crunch.

 The unmistakable sound of boots crushing against dried dirt drifted into his ears, causing his vigilance to increase sharply. Sensing the temperature around him suddenly plummet, Henri ignored the layer of frost that was slowly beginning to spread across the door in front of him.

 Twisting the door knob before it got completely encased in frost, Henri pulled open the door, a row of dirty stairs opening up before his eyes. Henri had only just leaped across two flights of stairs when he watched from the corner of his eyes, the area he had been previously occupying, get encased in bone chilling frost, following a loud bang.

 "Damnit! we have been made!"

 "The bastard took the stairs!"

 "He brought the package. Don't let him escape!"

 Ignoring the voices sounding from behind him, there was only one thing on Henri's mind — He needed to escape.. away from this place.

 However the next second, he ended up gritting his teeth in regret. He had been so panicked that he foolishly took the stairs — That meant there was only a single path forward; all the way up!

 "The damage has already been done!" ignoring the rapid approaching footsteps behind him, Henri leaped onto the first Mezzanine level bridging the first and second floor. Without even the smallest ounce of hesitation, his legs shot towards the next row of stairs leading towards the second floor. He had barely scaled a quarter of the stairs when he noticed one of his assailants closing the gap — already inching near the first mezzanine level.

 Gun. Gun. That's right, He had a gun!

 Thud!

 "Shit!" Henri's heart bled as he watched the Durkie pistol slip out from his shaky grip.

 Those movie directors were nothing but fakes! they made aiming at someone with a gun appear very easy and effortless!

 With his only leverage slipping out from his grasp due to a moment of carelessness, Henri realized that his previously slim chance of survival had declined by a whole half. The only way he could get out of this mess was by beating his pursuers in this game of cat and mouse.

 But even that wasn't going to be easy!

 Bang!

 Sensing a burst of searing heat closing in on him from behind, Henri just happened to reach the second Mezzanine level connecting the second floor to the third floor. With no chance of hesitation, Henri nearly sprained his ankles as he dived towards his left, his feet sweeping off the tiles like a leaping jaguar.

 Wha-- Bom!

 In less than a split second, three pellet sized bullets landed on the second mezzanine level — However as soon as they made contact with the ground, a triple burst of detonations erupted in a consequtive fashion.

 Riding his earlier momentum as well as the shockwave resulting from the detonations, Henri was like a sledge hammer as his body slammed into the door at the eastern end of the second mezzanine level, the sheer force of the collision resulting in the door flying out from its hinges — Opening up a long corridor with apartment doors lined across both sides.

 "Shit! Shit!" despite feeling his wrist nearly twisting out of shape from the unsavoury crash, Henri didn't dare let the metal box slip out from his grip like the way he fumbled the Durkie Pistol earlier.

 He wasn't so narcissistic to believe his life held any value to warrant being pursued like this. Whoever his assailants were, they were definitely targeting the package he was protecting.

 Not daring to slow down in the slightest, Henri clenched his jaws as he forged through the pain — his ankles were slightly twisted out of shape and two of his rib cages were definitely fractured after that rough crash.

 Bang! Bang! Bang!

 Henri literally felt the cold winds of death brushing after him from time to time as he did his utmost to put in a large distance between himself and his assailants, despite the series of shots fired at him from behind — Any moment of carelessness could mean his demise!

 Creak!

 Arriving at the end of the corridor, Henri pushed open the door leading to the fire escape. Ignoring the cobwebs twirling around, Henri spared no chance of hesitation as he began scaling the flight of stairs in great hurry.

..

 Bang!

 Emerging from the fire escape, Henri found himself standing atop the roofless top of the apartment complex. Despite the dimly lit atmosphere, Henri squinted his eyes as he appeared to be on the lookout for something.

 "Found you!" with a gratified smile spreading across his lips, Henri's gaze fell on the external ladder. He was just about to hurry towards its direction when --

Bang!

 Following this shot fired, Henri watched in horror as the external ladder rapidly got encased in a block of ice before shattering like fragile glass. With the back of his shirt already engulfed in cold sweat of persipation, Henri helplessly turned around.

 "P--Please don't kill me!" a shaky tremble escaped his lips as his gaze fell towards the direction of the person now blocking the exit leading towards the internal fire escape staircase.

 Despite the absence of much sunlight, Henri could tell from the other party's physique that he was a man. Despite being unable to accurately picture his assailant's facial appearance, Henri instantly recognized the object being pointed at his direction.

 A Deadeye Pistol!

 "P--Please.." Henri swallowed nervously when he heard the sound of the magazine rolling.

 And Bang!

 Without even giving a response, the other party ruthlessly released the trigger. Henri was distraught. He didn't even know the reason why he died.

 That was an obvious lie. Of course he knew. He wasn't stupid. It was said that in the moment of death, all living creatures often struggled to grab onto life — Even if it were for a fleeting moment.

 Whether it was gasping for breath, writhing on the ground or like Henri did, attempting to shield himself with the metal box he was holding .

 Bang!

 The box briefly got encased in ice before shattering apart, the residue frost creeping into Henri's bone marrows while freezing up his blood vessels. With a cold mist escaping his nostrils, the last thing Henri saw was his assailant taking another aim at him -- before he slipped right off the edge of the roof top.

 —[Congratulations!]

—[Player has successfully met the necessary requirements!]

—[Supreme Overlord System has been activated!]

While falling to his death, Henri who had already closed his eyes as he accepted his fate, failed to take notice of this virtual panel screens that popped open.