Torn City: The Almighty System

To Arms

Lincoln’s eyes were filled with killer’s intent.

If someone wanted to kill him, then he would retaliate in full force.

Johnny had interfered before and prevented him from doing anything.

Now though?

He would never have imagined that there would be such trouble.

"What a freaky coincidence!" Lincoln smiled as he looked at the young policeman. "I bet you guys could use some help. Tell me, where is the fight taking place?" Lincoln asked straightforwardly.

"Near the train station. You will know it when you get there! But you’ll have to be careful, they’re armed with guns and explosives!"

Carl knew what Lincoln was capable of, so he did not turn down his offer to help. He just gave Lincoln a courtesy warning before quickly running off to catch up with Johnny.

[Sub Mission Unlocked: Crazy Marx]

[Sub Mission: Marx was forced into despair after wrongfully underestimating you, but he will certainly not go down easy! You have chosen to be on the side of the police, so you should be hurrying to the train station!]

The unexpected Sub Mission was good news for Lincoln.

He had a reason to make a move now.

He picked up the [Viper-M1] box and quickly left the police station, disappearing into the night fog.

.....

The train station was extra busy that day.

A body had been discovered in the morning, and the man responsible for the murder had been caught in the afternoon along with a pickpocketing gang. Now there was also a gun fight going on there.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The loud, harsh sound of gunfire had scared away the civilians in the area, who had hidden under their beds to get out of harm’s way.

However, hiding did nothing to calm them down.

Their shivering bodies betrayed them.

Boom!

The loud explosion almost scared the civilians to death.

Even the policemen confronting Marx and his men trembled as they held on to their firearms.

"Goddamn it! Where did they get guns and explosives?" the Deputy Chief Officer Cooper shouted as he took cover behind a sturdy, concrete wall to reload his gun.

His men could not provide him with an answer, which infuriated him even more.

He found a better way to release his rage, though. Cooper leapt out of cover and fired the gun in his hand, the muzzle flashing nonstop.

After the shots, a scream came from the other side of the rooftop, followed by someone falling down from the roof.

"I’ll teach you sons of bitches some manners!" Cooper shouted loudly.

The accurate shot of the Deputy Chief Officer had lifted the spirits of his men, who came out of cover one after the other and started to fire back.

It did not have much of an effect, though.

Dozens of guns were fired at the same time, but other than one of Marx’s men getting hit on the arm, no other shots had found their target.

"You morons! Aim properly, will you? Are you knobheads blind?" Cooper scolded them after witnessing the disappointing results.

His body was slim but fit, and his roar almost covered the gunshots.

"Aaarhhhhgh!"

They heard a scream as another one of their enemies fell from the rooftop.

"Nice shot! Who was it?"

After his fierce scolding, a smile finally formed on Cooper’s face. He turned his eyes to his men, who were trying to see who had fired the shot. He definitely would not mind having a good shooter on his team.

All he got from his men though was blank faces.

Bang!

Another shot was fired while he was looking at his men.

It was followed by a scream and someone else falling to the ground.

"Deputy, there!" an eagle-eyed policeman had spotted a figure slowly emerging from the darkness.

"Lincoln?"

Cooper was shocked by Lincoln’s sudden appearance.

"Carl told me you needed help!" Lincoln greeted the Deputy Chief with a smile.

Following Carl’s instructions, when Lincoln had gotten near the train station, he had followed the sounds of gunshots and explosions and located the exact spot of the fight.

It had not been far from the train station.

Marx and his men were winning.

They had occupied a deserted two storey building and used it as their fort of defense. The height of the building made the underground thugs stand out.

The subtle light of the moon showed them the location of the policemen beneath them.

On the other side, the policemen had taken cover behind a building on the other side of the street. Every time the policemen fired, their location was exposed to the thugs.

Lincoln had already seen about five injured policemen, and the remaining policemen were trying hard not to get hurt. They extended their hands behind their cover and shot blindly at their targets. The results were obvious.

If Marx’s men didn’t suck at handling guns, the policemen would have had their heads blown off by now.

That was still not the point, though. The point was that Marx’s side had explosives.

Not the normal kind of explosives that were made of powder, but homemade explosives made of cowhide and mixed with glass shards and iron pallets. The explosions they caused were similar to a weak hand grenade’s explosion.

Lincoln had witnessed firsthand the power of homemade explosives.

A shop that had been caught in an explosion had had its big wooden gate and frame blasted high up into the air.

If Lincoln had been within the explosion range, he knew that he would not have been able to get away. He would have certainly gotten hurt badly, or even died in the process.

Marx seemed like he had an unlimited supply of homemade explosives.

His men were sparing no expenses, throwing them out one after the other, forcing the policemen into an uncomfortable defensive stance.

After watching that scene, Lincoln tried to be more careful.

He did not approach the building where Marx was holding his defense. It was across a wide street and the rooftop was occupied by six or seven thugs. Considering their high-ground advantage, unless Lincoln could become invisible, he could not have gotten into the building unnoticed.

That was why he had appeared in front of Cooper instead. He wanted to help their team dissolve the situation.

According to his memories, he and the Deputy Chief Officer had an awkward relationship that was characterized by subtle hostility. However, Cooper’s position as Deputy Chief Officer undoubtedly meant that he had the principles of a policeman.

At Lincoln’s sudden appearance, Cooper said, "We don’t need amateurs here-"

Bang! Bang!

Before Cooper could finish his sentence, Lincoln’s [M1905] and [Viper-M1] fired simultaneously, producing another scream and a falling sound at the building across the street.

Despite the broad street between the two buildings, his V Rank [Intuition] allowed Lincoln to easily spot the men on the other side.

If you added that to his Master Level [Firearm (Light Firearm)] skill, Lincoln could not have missed a shot if he tried.

If his firearms and grenades had matched the current year and there had been no 50% decreased firepower, +1 second reloading speed, +30 seconds sniper rifle reloading speed restrictions, Lincoln was confident that he could have wiped every one of Marx’s men off that rooftop within ten seconds. That was also the reason he had chosen to team up with Cooper.

Cooper had good shooting skills. That was why he had been promoted to Deputy Chief Officer and been tasked with arresting Marx.

Because of that, Cooper was well aware of Lincoln’s earlier shooting abilities.

Lincoln was currently handling two different guns, one of them a calvary firearm, and firing them almost simultaneously. Such gun skills already exceeded him, probably even exceeded the best shooter in the military.

Although he did not like Lincoln, Cooper had to admit that his shooting skills were great. He was even better than him. Actually, a lot better than him.

But that still did not mean that Cooper had to comply with such an amateur.

The stubborn officer had always considered such detectives a disgrace to the police force.

"Hmmph!" Cooper shrugged coldly.

He quickly reloaded his gun and prepared to shoot again.

Before he could leap out and fire though, he was pulled back by Lincoln and sent rolling backwards.

BOOM!

The sudden explosion shocked Cooper.

He knew that if Lincoln had not pulled him back, he would have ended up in pieces.

He naturally wanted to thank Lincoln for his help, but his stubbornness prevented him from opening his mouth.

While Cooper was still struggling with his conflicting emotions, Marx’s men started firing again.

The sudden increase in casualties on the other side did not scared them at all and still unwilling to back down.

Quite the contrary, they retreated back inside the building and under their safer cover, they started to retaliate using meaner methods.

Fuses were lit up one after the other, and homemade bombs were thrown from the roof. It was like it was snowing flowers.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The continuous explosions lit up the night sky with noise and flashes.

The policemen, who had been ready to charge, turned back and took cover again.

Marx’s men, who had retreated into the building, came out on the roof again and started to fire down at the retreating policemen.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of gunshots hit a police officer.

"TAKE COVER!" Cooper shouted to his men, noticing that there was a man down.

He naturally wanted to rush out and save his men, but someone had beat him to it.

It was Lincoln.