TWD - Zomboid - Chapter 248: Handgun Lv. 8, Relative Accuracy (Patreon)

Saddler’s health pool was a little beyond what Ada had expected.

The rocket hadn’t been thermobaric, but it had still inflicted devastating damage. Yet Saddler repaired most of it within just a few breaths.

Oddly enough, after regenerating, a new layer of exoskeleton had formed over his chest.

Apparently, there was something underneath that he considered important enough to protect at all costs.

Living creatures instinctively avoid danger.

Protecting a weak point was just as instinctive.

“Ada, you saw that too, right?”

Ada nodded.

Her eyesight was excellent, and her observational skills were among the best. She had spotted the anomaly immediately.

Luke drew his Magnum and fired repeatedly at the exoskeleton.

Each impact sent fragments of bone flying.

But Saddler’s chest was heavily armored, with layer upon layer of overlapping bone plates.

Ada drew her own Magnum from behind her waist and fired at the exact spot Luke had been targeting.

The layers of bone began breaking apart.

Saddler roared in pain and swept his tentacles toward them.

“Grab on!”

Ada fired her grappling gun with one hand and shouted to Luke.

Luke immediately caught her hand, and the two shot straight into the air, swinging through an arc while never lowering their weapons.

[Handgun: Lv. 8]

[Relative Accuracy: Point and shoot. Every shot hits its mark, provided you draw faster and hit harder.]

Oh?

His Handgun skill had finally unlocked a special effect.

The next time Luke aimed, there was almost no delay at all.

He fired several shots in rapid succession.

Every single bullet struck the exact same point.

The concentrated impact punched straight through layer after layer of bone.

Ada’s expression shifted.

Luke’s shooting had gotten that accurate?

Putting a bullet through a walker’s head and landing three consecutive rounds in the exact same spot were completely different levels of marksmanship.

Even a highly trained agent couldn’t casually claim that kind of precision.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

Ada hit the ground, rolled twice, and immediately fired several more shots.

Luke didn’t even need to recover from the landing.

The instant his feet touched the ground, he burst forward and slapped an approaching villager across the face.

Crack!

The man’s neck snapped instantly.

Ada was just as agile.

Ada took over drawing the Insect King’s attention while Luke fought with a gun in one hand and the dragon-head knife in the other.

With his new ability guaranteeing his shots would land, he could practically fire with his eyes closed.

So it basically made sure he always hit the target.

Wait...

Did that apply to making babies too?

“What are you thinking about? Hurry up! His defenses are almost broken!”

Ada flew overhead, already starting to breathe heavily.

Her stamina hadn’t reached its peak yet, so a fight on this level was still pushing her limits.

Luke continued hammering Saddler’s defenses.

Saddler was enormous, and his insectoid body looked horrifying, but in games like this, humanoid monsters were usually the hardest ones to deal with.

Once you turned into a giant bug, you were basically just a bigger target.

Luke could hit whatever he wanted, however he wanted.

With his next shot, Saddler roared.

The bone armor over his chest finally shattered, exposing a writhing mass of flesh underneath that expanded and contracted with each breath.

Insects might not need hearts.

Saddler did.

That fleshy mass functioned as both his heart and his brain. Whatever the details were, destroying it would kill him.

Saddler immediately twisted his body away and resumed devouring his followers.

This time, he didn’t even spare the ones who were still alive.

“That’s the core!”

Ada fired her grappling gun into the cliff and tried to swing around for a frontal shot.

Saddler’s tentacle lashed out and struck her in midair.

Luke reacted instantly.

He rushed over and caught Ada securely in his arms.

“Cool, right, babe?”

“Very.”

Ada twisted free and landed on her feet.

A dull pain throbbed through her chest.

One of her ribs was probably broken.

“Don’t force it. Leave the rest to me.”

Ada suppressed the pain and nodded.

Then both pistols came alive, dropping every follower who tried to approach.

Luke took Ada’s grappling gun.

He had one of his own, but it was sitting in his system backpack and he couldn’t be bothered pulling it out.

This one would do.

Luke launched himself into the air.

He wasn’t nearly as graceful as Ada, but he had far more force behind him.

He crashed into Saddler like a slab of iron.

“Come on, Saddler! Stop struggling. You’re already surrounded!”

Luke drove the dragon-head knife into Saddler’s flesh and used it as an anchor to pull himself upward.

After transforming into a giant insect, Saddler had apparently invested everything into his back and forgotten about reach.

His limbs could barely get behind him.

Luke had complete freedom to move.

Soon, he reached the writhing mass of flesh.

The exoskeleton covering it was already beginning to regenerate.

But the process was noticeably slower now.

“Saddler, come on. Let’s make this easy on both of us. Stop resisting and give me a clean shot. I’ve still got important things to do after this!”

Luke raised his Magnum and went straight into a quick draw.

Then he emptied the cylinder.

What happened when seven Magnum rounds struck the core in rapid succession?

Instant destruction.

Luke didn’t miss.

The bullets seemed to find impossible angles, and no matter how Saddler tried to protect himself, he couldn’t stop what was coming.

“Aaaargh!!”

The Insect King unleashed one final agonized roar.

It was so miserable it almost sounded tragic.

The noble leader of Los Illuminados, who had always respected the elderly and cared for the young, had fought valiantly to protect his villagers from evil outside forces.

And yet, in the end, he fell beneath the enemy, his body covered in the marks of brutal abuse.

Truly heartbreaking.

With its core destroyed, Saddler’s enormous body crashed to the ground.

At the same time, his followers lost whatever had been controlling them.

Their bodies stiffened.

The green glow faded from their eyes.

One after another, they collapsed like puppets whose strings had been cut, falling completely still.

The vast coastline instantly returned to silence.

Only corpses remained, scattered everywhere, while the waves near the shore ran red with blood.

“Is it over?”

Luis and Ashley finally relaxed when the gunfire stopped.

They looked at the bodies covering the ground, then at Saddler’s motionless... insect body.

Luke walked over to Ada and scooped her straight into his arms.

Her chest was still aching.

“Again?”

Ada naturally wrapped both arms around Luke’s neck.

Her gaze softened.

The sense of security this man gave her was almost ridiculous.

“When we get back, take a few days off. You’re getting a proper vacation this time.”

Luke made the decision for her without asking.

Ada was normally fiercely independent and rarely let anyone decide things for her.

But this time, she didn’t object.

Maybe...

This wasn’t so bad.

“Too bad we didn’t get much out of this raid.”

“That girl alone makes it worthwhile,” Ada said.

“The nuclear weapons her father controls make their city-state almost untouchable. Plenty of factions are trying to get their hands on them, which means there’s plenty for you to gain from the situation too.”

“You really do know me.”

Luke shook his head.

“But even for his daughter, there’s no way he’d trade away a nuclear weapon just to get her back.”

Ada wiped a streak of blood from Luke’s face.

“Of course it won’t be that simple. But you have bargaining chips of your own.”

“Information on the pheromones produced by the individual virus alone is worth a fortune.”

“And if your team successfully develops an antidote, you’ll hold something even more valuable.”

“The key to surviving the apocalypse.”

“That’s worth more than a hundred nuclear warheads.”