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They say even heroes can't resist a beautiful woman. Turns out the old saying wasn't lying.
To make himself feel better, Steven chose to distract his mind.
"Okinawa belongs to the island nation. China also belongs to the island nation. We were only forced into a temporary ceasefire after a sneak attack by America. When the time is right, countless sons of our island nation will trample China underfoot…"
Boom!
Steven turned toward the sound just as nameless karmic flames erupted like a volcano.
That bastard Ampei again, standing in the rain on the street, spouting nonsense and twisting history in a public speech.
What made it worse was that quite a few island nationals had stopped to listen, even showing support.
Looks like the last lesson he gave Ampei hadn't been harsh enough.
Steven's eyes turned cold. Killing intent surged.
Cleaning up trash and purifying the air could count as a small contribution to humanity.
When they reached the parking lot, Steven told Ran Mouri and Yukiko to get in the car first.
Just as he blocked their view and prepared to make his move and erase Ampei from the world, police sirens suddenly wailed.
Waa-woo, waa-woo—
"The Silver-Haired Demon showing up is bad enough, but now the bomber's suspected to be in Okinawa too. There was even a murder at the theater. What kind of curse is this place under?"
"We're swamped. Completely swamped!"
Inspector Hyoue Kuroda stepped out of the patrol car, complaining nonstop.
Okinawa was usually peaceful and simple. The sudden appearance of legendary criminals had completely caught him off guard.
Steven watched Inspector Kuroda from the shadows, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Bang!
With a single gunshot, Ampei's head exploded. He collapsed into a pool of blood.
Instantly, the scene descended into chaos.
"Damn it, another murder!"
"Seal off the area! Question everyone on site and conduct gunshot residue tests!"
Inspector Kuroda hurriedly barked orders, trying to regain control.
The theater murder still hadn't been solved, and now another killing had happened right under his nose. His head felt like it was about to split in two.
The criminal was far too arrogant. This was almost certainly a provocation aimed at the Okinawa police.
Watching Kuroda run around in panic, Steven casually put Jogie's small handgun back into the system storage, opened the car door, slid into the driver's seat, and drove off smoothly.
The system could be annoying and shameless at times, but its auto-targeting skill was genuinely amazing.
From dozens of meters away, if he wanted to blow Ampei's head off, there was no way he'd miss.
He'd deliberately used Jodie's handgun to kill Ampei, gambling on whether he could stir up conflict between the island nation's police and the American FBI.
Weapons issued to officials all had specific serial numbers and distinctive bullets.
Even if suspicion couldn't be pinned on Jodie herself, as long as the island police investigated seriously, they'd discover that the bullet belonged to the American FBI.
Whether he'd get to enjoy a good show of dogs biting dogs depended on how competent the island police were.
Bang!
Steven was still riding his high, and with the rain affecting visibility, he failed to notice a car speeding out from a side road. The two vehicles collided.
"Are you two hurt?"
"I'm fine. Nothing feels wrong."
"I'm okay. What about you?"
Thankfully, the speed hadn't been high. None of them were injured, and the damage to the car wasn't too serious.
After confirming that, it was time to argue about who was at fault.
"Running red lights like a road killer. You think I'm easy to bully?"
Realizing he hadn't broken any traffic rules, Steven was about to get out and confront the other driver.
Before he could even open the door, the other car floored it and sped away.
Steven tried to chase them, but the car wouldn't start. He tried several times, with no response.
"What's wrong? Did the crash break something?" Yukiko leaned forward, an endless view faintly visible.
So white.
Steven lifted his head and glanced at the rearview mirror.
"Probably a minor malfunction from the collision. You two wait in the car. I'll get out and take a look."
Screech—
Before the words had fully faded, Steven was already out of the car.
"Steven, you know how to fix cars too?" Ran Mouri followed him out, thoughtfully holding an umbrella over his head to shield him from the rain.
"Yeah. I worked part-time at a repair shop in college. Picked up some basic skills."
After fusing with Wolf Bro's card, as long as he had time, he could tinker together planes and cannons. Fixing a car was nothing.
Once the Mechanical Mastery skill kicked in, it would only take a moment.
But with Ran beside him, Steven couldn't be too blatant. He had to put on an act, pretending to inspect things and stalling for time.
He needed to find a way to send her away before using the system to fix the car.
"....."