North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws

These little ones, aside from their crazed bloodlust, were good for nothing.

They hadn't noticed Dean following behind them.

Under the lead of the Black girl from before, these little ones had crossed two streets around the shady clinic and arrived at an abandoned house. They lifted an inconspicuous pile of debris, revealing an opening below, and crawled into it one by one.

As previously mentioned, Los Angeles's underground was riddled with a dense network of tunnels. These little ones came and went through here. Coupled with the cover of their skin color and age, that's why the local gangs had not detected their peculiarity.

Seeing this, Dean furrowed his eyebrows. Surface tracking and underground tracking were completely different beasts. Luckily, he knew Trace Tracking!

After a short wait, Dean checked his ammunition, gauged the timing, and walked to the re-covered opening. He lifted the covering debris, ready to first check the environment inside. Little did he know, as soon as he bent down, an intense, chilling cold enveloped his entire body, making him shiver involuntarily!

It was that familiar feeling again! But this time, the premonition was far stronger than any before! Without a moment's hesitation, Dean burst out with all his might and turned to run!

The next moment, BOOM!

Within a hundred-meter radius, it was as if an earthquake struck; flames burst through the ground's constraints, surging outwards as the earth caved in...

Dean felt a blast of hot air hit him, and sharp pain followed. His increasingly robust body was lifted into the air, wrapped in countless rock fragments and shockwaves, and slammed heavily against a distant, swaying wall!

After a long moment, he struggled to his feet, bloody and unsteady. Someone had detonated explosives in the underground tunnels! The intense concussive shock had inflicted substantial damage on Dean.

His ears rang, the world before his eyes seemed to shake, and his clothing was torn and bloodstained. His back, especially, was riddled with holes, as if someone had shot him from behind with a shotgun.

Relying on his strong constitution, Dean, still shaky, sought refuge in a safe location. However, waves of dizziness washed over him like a tide. It was his body's instinctive reaction, an attempt to use unconsciousness to recover from the adverse effects.

But Dean knew this place was not safe! The hidden enemy, capable of detonating underground explosives at a moment's notice and silencing those foolish little ones, could very well be lurking in the shadows, watching this very spot. Such madmen were ruthless and disregarded consequences. If the enemy noticed he wasn't dead, falling unconscious would be tantamount to a death sentence.

Dean clutched the wall, blood trickling from his nose. As he swayed, on the verge of losing control, he mentally commanded, Add points! He had leveled up once on the plane and hadn't enhanced himself yet! This was now his lifeline!

As Dean issued the mental command, a warm current mysteriously emerged throughout his body. Dean felt an itch deep within his internal organs, and a tingling sensation rushed to his nostrils. He sneezed violently, and blood spurted out with it.

The previously intense dizziness gradually faded as the blood left his body. Dean shook his head, which felt much clearer now, and stumbled to a corner. Pretending to be weak, he slowly sat down as if he could no longer hold on and had fainted...

「A hundred meters away, in an inconspicuous, dim room,」

A man looked at the surveillance screen, his face filled with appreciation. "Such a strong body. A shame he started investigating us, or he would have been a perfect vessel for sin."

He licked his lips. After confirming Dean had fainted, he took out a pager. "How long before the police get here?"

"You've got three minutes to evacuate," a hoarse female voice replied from the other end.

"That's enough!"

The man put away the pager, clumsily picked up the submachine gun from the desk, lit a cigarette, tossed the lighter behind him, and headed towards Dean's position.

「A breath later,」

BOOM!

Explosions and abnormal flames surged once again, plunging the once-noisy neighborhood into deathly silence. Explosions and chaos were the prevailing themes in this sinful community today.

The man knew his firearm skills were mediocre, like those of cannon fodder, so he wasn't careless. He only revealed himself when he was about ten meters from Dean, raising the submachine gun in his hand.

BANG!

The roar of gunfire erupted.

The man was startled. I haven't fired yet, have I?

The next moment, he felt a numbness in his limbs, as if bitten by a mosquito. His appendages lost control, and the submachine gun he had just raised clattered powerlessly to the ground. Along with it, the man's body collapsed.

He looked bewildered at the smoke-filled sky above him. It wasn't until a tearing agony shot through his limbs that he realized he'd been shot!

At that moment, his mind entered a strange state: sluggish yet lucid. What happened? What should I be doing now? Right... the pain! It's so painful!

As if his body was finally catching up to his senses, the man opened his mouth, about to scream out the tearing agony he felt. But then, a blood-streaked face appeared before his eyes.

Dean looked down at the man about to scream, grinned, and kicked him in the groin.

AOW!

The man's eyes bulged. Unable to bear the excruciating pain from his shattered groin, he spat out froth and blissfully passed out.

PHEW!

Dean exhaled a long breath, squatted down, and picked up the man. Sure enough, on the back of his neck, he spotted a familiar tattoo: a thorn-covered figure hanging upside down on a cross.