UNLOCK: I CAN SEE MY STATS

chapter 41 : the arrival... P1

The vendor stared at the first wanted poster.

“Hmmm, 59 million... he must be a vicious criminal...”

He looked up at the Marine soldiers and shook his head, adding,

“No, I’ve never seen....”

He didn’t even finish his sentence when his eyes landed on the second poster, showing a young man with a metal hook.

“F-Five hundred million!!!…”

He exclaimed in shock and fear, then quickly shook his head after calming down.

“No! Sirs, I swear, I’ve never seen this young pirate with the massive bounty…”

Then he added with a nervous chuckle,

“If I ever did meet him, I probably wouldn’t be here to tell the tale…”

“Alright, thank you for your time. Keep them,”

said one of the young Marine soldiers as she turned to leave. But she suddenly stopped and looked at a man in the corner, inspecting the shelves, seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

“Suspicious…” she thought with a frown, then raised her voice,

“Hmm, hey you, can we see your face please!?”

Marcus froze in place when he heard the Marine call out to him.

“Tch! This can’t be good…” he thought grimly, then turned stiffly and spoke with his head lowered.

“You’re really rude, young lady! How can you ask to see the face of a disfigured man who hides himself so others won’t be disgusted…”

The young Marine was startled and clumsily apologized,

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just…”

She was cut off by another soldier.

“Liana!! What are you doing? Don’t apologize…”

He glared at Marcus and said sharply, while placing his hand on his rifle,

“And you! Cut the nonsense, take off that hood, and show us your face. Otherwise…”

He didn’t finish the threat before aiming his rifle at Marcus and motioning to his comrade to be ready.

Marcus sighed bitterly at how things had escalated. With a single thought, he connected to one of the DNA codes stored in his inherited wristband library.

[Man of Lightning]

“Tsk! Is this how the Marines treat innocent civilians? You’re nothing but tyrants…” he said sarcastically, gripping his bag tightly.

He threw a stack of cash toward the confused vendor.

“For the repairs…” he muttered, then pointed a finger at the Marines.

“I didn’t want to cause any trouble… but you forced me into this.”

“Bad! Quick, fire!!”

Bang!

The bullet passed straight through Marcus’s body without a single drop of blood.

“Now… go to hell.”

RUMBLE!!

RUMBLE!!

Sparks of lightning burst all over his body, twisting like serpents.

“Lightning Pillar!!”

Zzzzt!!

The Marines leapt into action, throwing themselves heroically in front of the terrified young women. The reflection in one of the girls’ glasses showed the incoming lightning pillar.

BOOM!!

A huge part of the shopfront exploded, along with the Marines, their fate unknown. Marcus didn’t care. He apologized to the horrified shopkeeper and quickly fled before reinforcements arrived.

But he hadn’t even left the street when he felt a chill. A shiver ran down his body, confusing him,he was still mid-transformation, meaning he should be nearly invincible.

He dropped the bag, swiftly drew his sword, and spun around just in time to block the strike he had sensed with his sixth sense.

CLANG!!

The sword clashed violently against the enemy’s weapon. Marcus was pushed back by the force and looked on high alert at the attacker.

“Hmph, Captain Mori of the Marines! Just my luck…” Marcus muttered, gripping his sword tightly as he stared at the man surrounded by a swirling black dust storm.

“You really do live up to your reputation… This sense of danger… I haven’t felt it in a long time,” Mori muttered seriously, then glanced at Marcus’s weapon.

“Weird… That sword gives me a dangerous feeling…”

“But what was that earlier!? Could it be coming from this weapon…?”

“The Masked Destroyer! You filthy criminal, I’ve been searching everywhere for you!” Mori shouted angrily, staring at the masked man before him, whose hood had fallen off during the clash.

“Dust Fist!!”

Without hesitation, Mori attacked. A massive fist made of strange black dust shot toward Marcus, who responded in kind.

“Superior Lightning Pillar!!”

BOOM!!

The dust fist exploded as it collided with Marcus’s lightning. Mori’s eyes narrowed in shock.

“Impossible!! I’ve seen this lightning ability before…” As the thought passed through his mind, his body transformed into black smoke and dodged the attack.

He reformed a moment later and stared at Marcus with serious eyes.

“You!! What exactly is your ability!?”

Marcus smirked under his mask and spoke mockingly,

“Oh! I see you’re familiar with this power. Let me guess…”

He gripped his sword tighter as blue lightning started dancing along its blade. He swung it powerfully toward Mori, who released more black dust around himself.

“You’ve faced the same user before, haven’t you!?”

“Lightning Storm!!”

Zzzzzzz!

RUMBLE!!

A massive wave of destructive blue lightning shot out, slicing through everything in its path toward Mori.

“Black Dragon!!”

The black dust gathered quickly and formed a massive oriental dragon.

BOOM!!

The shockwave from the collision of the attacks shattered nearby glass and knocked over Marines who had begun surrounding Marcus and Mori in a circle.

“You!!…” Mori reformed from the dust and wiped blood from the corner of his mouth—a clear sign that he had lost that clash.

“Who are you, really!?” He had strange doubts about Marcus’s lightning powers. As far as he knew, it was impossible for two people to have identical abilities in this world.

“Probably just a similar type…” Mori thought, then raised his hand and ordered the soldiers,

“Open fire!!”

The soldiers complied immediately and fired.

BANG!!

BANG!!

BANG!!

“Bullets? Really!?” Marcus muttered with a scowl, then closed his eyes and spread his arms mockingly to welcome the bullets.

Of course, the bullets passed through him and exited from the other side without spilling a single drop of blood.

“This Captain Mori… doesn’t seem that strong.”

His thoughts were interrupted by Mori’s shocked voice.

“You!! Why do you have the same ability as that person!? Who are you!?”

“ does it matter !! "

“Tell me, what’s your goal in destroying Marine branches and killing innocent soldiers!?”

Mori yelled angrily as he stared at Marcus, whose body was full of bullet holes.

“Hmmm… man, you’re way too loud!”