The Icaro Bar had been blown into a pockmarked ruin.
Explosions had sent most of the Dasco members-dressed in thin clothes-flying through the air.
Dead.
Maimed.
Limbs scattered everywhere.
In any case, they weren't good people.
In 1938, very few gangsters were.
The toughest smuggler in the Dasco Gang, the so-called "Polar Bear" Malochevsky, was twitching on the ground.
Blood kept spilling from his mouth.
Fifteen minutes ago, after killing a Spades Gang member, he had grown careless.
Terrence, watching from outside the bar, had shot straight through his palm.
As the main person responsible for the earlier smuggling operation, his limbs were now receiving "special attention."
His pockmarked body no longer looked sturdy.
It looked like a sieve.
He wouldn't die immediately.
But the pain was unbearable.
Staring at the hooded figure holding a rifle, calmly firing one bullet at a time, he opened his mouth.
Blood spilled out.
"I beg you... kill me..."
"Kill... kill me..."
The hooded man was Terrence.
Consumed by the mindset of avenging his father, he mechanically worked the bolt.
The Mauser 98k shell casing flew out.
Reload.
He aimed at non-lethal areas and fired again.
Every shot carried his hatred.
This was the man who had led the counterattack.
The man who caused his father, Brad, to die.
Ryden didn't stop him.
A soldier who had never seen blood was not a real soldier.
Terrence was heading to a military academy anyway.
Sooner or later, he would face a battlefield.
Ryden turned his gaze to the bar.
Shattered glass.
A counter blown apart by grenades.
Dasco corpses everywhere.
Those still alive were wailing.
The Spades Gang didn't finish them off.
Killing was wrong.
Unless necessary.
Let them carry their mangled bodies for the rest of their lives.
Let that be their atonement.
As for whether they survived?
That wasn't their concern.
If they couldn't survive, they could go beg.
Why didn't they regret it when they forced innocent women?
Why didn't they regret it when they practiced usury?
Why didn't they regret it when they sold drugs?
Every Spades member remembered their boss Marlos's words:
"We're here to wash away their sins. We are the righteous ones. Don't hold grudges against the crippled."
It sounded noble.
In reality, it was pure malice.
The first and second floors were already cleared.
Most enemies had surrendered.
Some were dead.
Others had eaten a "cute" oval-shaped metal bread roll and gone to hell.
Only the third floor was still resisting.
Commendable courage.
The Spades Gang didn't rush.
Grenades were running low.
They had to save some in case the Tewa or Rens gangs interfered.
For now, they let the enemy waste bullets.
Once ammunition ran dry, they'd rush up and finish it.
Ryden held a modified pistol.
Larger than a normal handgun.
Somewhat resembling a Desert Eagle.
Additional components were attached to the barrel.
Several wires connected to a small battery.
He raised it, flipped the switch, and fired at a half-hidden metal door.
Bzzzzzt.
Electric current hummed.
Gunpowder detonated.
The bullet surged forward, resonating under magnetic force.
Guided by electromagnetism, it shot out.
Whoosh.
The 7.62mm round covered fifty meters in under 0.3 seconds.
It pierced straight through a ten-millimeter-thick reinforced iron door.
The gang member behind it died instantly.
The surrounding Spades members froze.
Even AK-47s only left dents on that door.
This pistol had gone straight through.
And killed someone behind it.
Terrifying.
Under the hood, Ryden silently recorded the data.
He fired several more shots.
Single-fire.
Burst-fire.
Stability of the electromagnetic field.
The results were good.
Very good.
The electromagnet dramatically enhanced the bullet's effect.
After three continuous shots, overheating occurred.
But the kinetic energy was sufficient.
Comparable to a professional sniper rifle.
Equivalent to certain large-caliber rounds.
And this was only a pistol.
If it were a long-barreled rifle, allowing longer acceleration?
The power would be even greater.
After finishing the test, Ryden disassembled the pistol to prevent accidental discharge.
He placed it back into his backpack.
Then he pulled out AK-47 parts.
Assembly began.
The AK's legendary reliability allowed a multi-part configuration to retain stable firepower.
Once completed, the rifle's weight doubled.
Around fifteen pounds.
Not excessive.
But handling was slightly affected.
He attached the electromagnet.
The insulated guide rail.
The battery.
Switch on.
Bzzzzzt.
The current returned.
This time, Ryden aimed at the fully sealed metal door.
Under the hood, his lips curved into a cold smile.
He pulled the trigger.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
A storm of metal erupted.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ear-splitting metal-grinding noises filled the space.
In under two seconds, the door was shredded into a sieve.
The entire door was blown off by the sheer kinetic force.
Gang members hiding behind it were killed instantly.
A second later, even the welds snapped.
The bullets didn't stop.
They tore through several more armed men behind.
Only when the rifle clicked empty did everyone snap back to reality.
They swallowed hard.
The once-intact door was gone.
The square doorway had become oval-shaped.
Nothing inside remained whole.
The room itself was riddled with ricochet marks.
If the hallway had been closer, stray bullets would have reached it.
Magnetically enhanced bullets were terrifying.
Especially when paired with an assault rifle like the AK-47.
It was a slaughter tool.
The kinetic energy per bullet was estimated at around one ton.
What did one ton mean?
Roughly the weight of a small car.
Or getting hit head-on by a motorcycle at eighty kilometers per hour.
That was one shot.
Body armor might stop the bullet.
But the transferred force would shatter internal organs.
Instant lethality.
Ryden nodded in satisfaction.
Coming here to test weapons had been the right call.
These gangs weren't innocent.
Drug smuggling alone was a capital crime.
Just like human trafficking.
Just like selling children.
They deserved to be shot.
Robbery?
You might call that being tough.
But these people?
They were heinous.
They had to die.
If they didn't-
That would be injustice itself.
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