John Wick - Chapter 181: Leveling Up and New NPCs (Patreon)

47 had already burned through plenty of ammunition at the armory, then fired another round of shots in the underground laboratory. By the time his two pistols ran dry during the fight outside, he realized he didn't have a single spare round left.

He glanced at the Barrett in his hands and finally understood what Nate had been thinking.

So that was why Nate hadn't used the rifle himself. He had been saving it for 47 all along. Hefting the enormous weapon onto his shoulder, 47 walked over to join him.

[Multiple Traits belonging to the host are eligible for an upgrade...]

“Do you even have to ask?”

[Upgrade in progress.]

Warm currents surged through Nate's body in wave after wave. As they washed over him, he slowly emptied an entire magazine.

Gunshots rang out in rapid succession. Each of the dead clones now had another bullet hole in the head.

Oddly, the armor beneath their skin seemed to lose much of its protective effect after death. Before, pistol rounds had barely broken the surface. Now they sank into the bodies, although they still couldn't pass all the way through.

Nate waited until the warmth had faded, then opened his System panel and walked toward the man whose legs had been shot off.

[Congratulations, Host. You have killed 18 boss-level units and earned 24,713 Resource Points.]

[Current Resource Points: 153,169/256,000]

[Iron Severing (Lv. 6 → Lv. 7): Blade damage increased from 340% to 410%. Damage against metal objects is doubled. (16/50 blades)]

[Flying Star (Lv. 8 → Lv. 9): Thrown-object speed increased from 240% to 300%. Trajectory errors are corrected within 50 meters, up from 45 meters. (4/100 thrown objects)]

[Adrenaline Rush (Lv. 3 → Lv. 4): Special Ability: gun-fu (curving bullets).

When activated, muscle strength increases by 100% instead of 80%.

Reaction speed increases by 25% instead of 15%, and time slows by 27% instead of 20% (self-acceleration).

Limit: 5 uses per day instead of 4, lasting 12 seconds per use instead of 11. (Training Progress: 0/25)]

[Resource Points spent: 3,600 + 6,400 + 900 = 10,900]

[Remaining Resource Points: 142,269/256,000]

Well, that was an unexpected bonus. [Adrenaline Rush] had leveled up too! Wonderful. He still had no idea what made this particular Trait advance, though. With so few uses allowed each day, there was no practical way to experiment. He'd have to leave it to chance.

By the time Nate closed the System panel, he was standing before Travis. 47 came over with the Barrett cradled in his arms.

Travis watched the young man who had annihilated his clone army approach. With every step Nate took, the pressure he felt grew more terrifying.

Travis had gone deathly pale. Whether the cause was blood loss or sheer fear, it was impossible to tell.

“Why, hello, Mr. Travis,” Nate greeted him, looking down with open mockery.

“Tell me something. What exactly makes you different?”

“I... I...” The man could barely get the words out. His voice was no louder than a mosquito, and he was already terribly weak.

When he failed to answer, Nate crouched and patted his cheek with the muzzle of his pistol before twisting the knife a little deeper.

“This was your grand plan for taking on the High Table? I don't think much of them myself, but this is pathetic.”

“Who made you think you could pull this off?”

Travis's face looked even worse. There was no mistaking the ridicule in Nate's voice.

He had stolen money from the ICA headquarters' accounts to develop these clones, his latest and supposedly greatest achievement. He had thought he was building an unstoppable force, something that could tear a chunk out of the High Table.

Instead, Nate had wiped them all out in less than a minute. Anger and regret churned inside Travis, and Nate's mockery pushed him over the edge. Already dangerously weak from blood loss, he passed out on the spot.

Nate was about to put him out of his misery when 47 stopped him with a helpless look.

“Oh, right. You still have questions. Go ahead.”

Nate summoned his black knife and examined it. Several small nicks had appeared along the edge. He'd grown quite fond of the weapon, so he'd have Jennifer take care of it once he got back.

Then he used it to slice into Travis's injured knee again, shortening what remained of his left leg by roughly an inch. Fresh blood trickled out.

Travis jolted upright with a shriek, only for the scream to cut off. He collapsed and lost consciousness again.

Nate had run out of ideas. In the end, he injected Travis with a Stimulant Injector. The man's eyes sprang open, and the bleeding from his wounds slowed dramatically.

Strength seemed to flood back into him. Travis stared in wonder at his injuries, then at the empty syringe in Nate's hand, a strange light in his eyes.

“What was that?”

Nate merely glanced at him. He was already regretting the injection. That thing had cost dozens of Resource Points. Why on earth had he wasted it on this guy?

Standing beside him, 47 finally asked, “Has the data used to create the clones been sent to anyone else?”

A sickly grin spread across Travis's face.

“Guess! Heh, heh... You know what? I'm not telling you! Hahahaha!”

He stared at 47's expressionless face and laughed even more wildly, the Stimulant Injector lending him fresh energy.

The piercing sound made Nate scowl.

“You're so loud you're hurting my eyes!”

He clapped one hand over an ear and pointed his pistol at Travis with the other. He was about to pull the trigger when he noticed 47 moving beside him and stopped.

This was 47's business. Better to let him settle it himself.

“BOOM!”

One shot from the Barrett blasted Travis's upper body to pieces. His shrill laughter stopped instantly, leaving what remained of him smeared across the ground.

“Ah... finally, some peace and quiet,” Nate said. “So you're not going to question him anymore?”

47 handed the Barrett back and turned toward the bullet-riddled Mercedes.

“No need.”

“Fair enough. From now on, whenever we run into clones like those, we kill every last one.”

Nate followed him, picking up the spoils as he went. These were boss-level enemies, each worth more than a thousand Resource Points!

47 stopped walking and turned around.

Nate picked up another two guns, sent everything he was carrying into his System Backpack, and spoke again.

“Don't worry. I'll help you.” He offered 47 an easy smile.

47 was silent for a moment. Then he gave Nate a long, searching look.

“Thank you.”

He went over to one of the bodies and began helping Nate gather the guns, knives, and spare magazines scattered across the ground.

Nate felt rather pleased. All that effort hadn't been for nothing. His favorability with 47 must have gone up a little.

Once they'd collected everything, they returned to the car.

The Mercedes had been built with bullet-resistant materials, but the clones had fired armor-piercing rounds. One side of the vehicle was torn to pieces, and both its windows and dashboard had been shattered.

“There's no driving this thing,” Nate said, frowning at the wreck.

After a moment of silence, 47 surveyed the area, then walked straight toward a pickup truck parked about two hundred meters away.

Nate understood his intentions immediately and hurried after him, cutting him off.

“Let's walk! Walk, okay? We can call a taxi in a bit!”

Half an hour later, the two were sitting in the back of a cab. Neither said a word, and the silence gradually grew awkward.

Nate lowered his window and looked outside. In the distance, a subway train raced along its tracks, the rumbling growing louder as it approached.

“Huh? Hang on.”

There were two people standing on the roof of the moving train. Nate focused his gaze and swept them with [Eagle Eye].

A man and a woman were up there, actually running along the top of the train as it moved.

As their outlines sharpened, Nate blurted out in surprise:

“Holy crap! Fox!”