Chapter 155: Bullet

Despite the clumsy Nepali, the boy understood the words clearly. His heart felt as if it might leap out of his chest.

“Yamada, go catch him,” Chiyama Genjirou ordered the gaunt man who looked almost like a drug addict.

“Yes, Chief Chiyama.”

Hearing the approaching footsteps of the man, the boy desperately wanted to run away.

But he had promised the man earlier that he wouldn’t move. Though terrified and trembling, he managed to stay rooted to the spot.

“You’d better come out quietly, or you won’t like what happens when I get angry,” Yamada said, licking his lips in a strange, nervous manner, even though he knew the boy couldn’t understand Japanese.

This man, Yamada, had once tortured five women to death. When the police raided his home, they discovered it packed with various instruments of torture, including replicas of medieval European devices.

Yamada didn’t just enjoy sex with women. What thrilled him more was watching their tortured expressions of pain and despair.

For his crimes, even death by a thousand cuts would have been too lenient. Yet Chiyama Genjirou had used his connections to get him released. Yamada, in turn, was fanatically loyal, even more so than a trained dog.

However, Chiyama didn’t rescue Yamada just for his loyalty. What he valued was Yamada’s hidden ability.

In this world, there are people born with abilities beyond ordinary comprehension. Though rare, these individuals, often referred to as espers or superhumans, possess unique powers.

Espers are extremely rare anomalies. In a city with millions of people, there might be only a handful. Unlike the frauds who parade themselves as psychics for attention, true espers never have the opportunity to show themselves in public.

For governments, espers are highly coveted, secretive resources. Once identified, they’re quickly approached by specialized organizations. After testing, those deemed valuable are forcibly recruited to serve the government. Those with less useful abilities are simply silenced and warned.

Yamada’s ability was only discovered after his arrest. When he touches someone, he can sense everything that person is currently thinking, including emotional states and mental imagery.

Although this wasn’t a particularly remarkable ability, it proved invaluable during interrogations. No matter how well someone tried to hide the truth, their thoughts couldn’t lie. This was why Chiyama insisted on securing Yamada.

Normally, Yamada’s non-combat ability wouldn’t qualify him for a mission like this. However, with most of the team busy hunting other escapees, Chiyama had no choice but to bring him along.

Finally, Yamada reached the corner where the Nepali boy was hiding.

Hearing the boy’s heavy breathing—an uncontrollable sign of his fear—Yamada felt a surge of sadistic pleasure.

Suddenly, he sensed something approaching. Reacting instinctively, he reached for his gun. But before he could draw it, a hand clamped down on his wrist with an iron grip.

At the same moment, he felt a powerful force tighten around his throat, as though an iron vice was crushing it. He tried to cry out but found himself unable to make a sound.

“Yamada! What are you doing? Can’t you even catch a child?” Chiyama Genjirou’s voice echoed impatiently. Yamada’s prolonged absence had begun to irritate him.

After a while, Chiyama Genjirou saw Yamada staggering backward out of the alley.

“Did you catch him?” Chiyama asked.

Suddenly, Yamada, showing only half of his back, collapsed to the ground, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. A figure leaped out right after him, holding Yamada’s service pistol in hand.

Having undergone rigorous training, Chiyama reacted swiftly. The moment he saw Yamada fall, he knew something was wrong.

When he noticed the gun in the intruder’s hand, he immediately dove behind a flower bed by the roadside, using it for cover.

Lei Yin gave him no chance to catch his breath. The instant Chiyama moved, Lei Yin charged forward with the gun in hand.

Chiyama had just managed to draw his pistol when a gunshot rang out. A bullet struck his exposed right wrist, the one he was using to aim.

The middle-aged man screamed in pain, dropping his weapon to the ground.

As he reached to retrieve his gun, another bullet shot out with pinpoint accuracy, striking the fallen weapon and sending it skidding several meters away.

“Damn it!” Chiyama cursed as he stood up and attempted to flee down a side street.

But by this time, Lei Yin had already closed the distance, leaving Chiyama directly in his line of fire.

With no other options, Chiyama turned to face Lei Yin and raised his left hand.

Another gunshot echoed, and the bullet flew straight toward Chiyama’s chest.

This time, Chiyama didn’t dodge—but the bullet didn’t strike his body either.

Instead, it stopped half a meter in front of him.

As if straight out of a movie, the bullet hovered in the air for no apparent reason. It wasn’t completely still; it continued spinning rapidly as it tried to push forward. However, no matter how hard it “moved,” its position remained unchanged.

Telekinesis? The bizarre sight triggered a term in Lei Yin’s mind.

This wasn’t Lei Yin’s first encounter with espers in his long journey of reincarnations. He even had combat experience against such individuals.

In the past, espers were regarded as practitioners of witchcraft and ostracized by society. Today’s situation wasn’t much different, although modern classifications of supernatural abilities were more systematic than the old notions of superstition.

When Lei Yin first met Chiyama two years ago, he knew the man was an esper but wasn’t sure what his exact ability was. Now, things were much clearer.

Lei Yin noticed the spinning bullet slowing down. It seemed Chiyama would soon have his hands free.

But Lei Yin wasn’t about to give him the chance. With two consecutive shots, Lei Yin fired two more bullets.

Just like the first, the bullets halted half a meter away from Chiyama, now forming a straight line of three spinning projectiles.

Although the result was the same, Chiyama, the middle-aged man “performing” this unnatural spectacle for Lei Yin, did not look well.

Veins bulged across his forehead, and a trickle of blood flowed from his nostrils.

“Hey, old man, it looks like your age doesn’t suit this kind of intense exercise,” Lei Yin remarked with a cold smirk.

Chiyama slowly lifted his head. Upon recognizing the man who had pushed him into such a dire situation, his face twisted in a mix of anger and shock. “So, it’s you, you bastard!”

“So, you still remember me. That means you haven’t quite hit senility yet,” Lei Yin retorted.

“You piece of shit, I won’t let you get away with this,” Chiyama snarled venomously.

He wanted to escape, but at this range, it was impossible to dodge the bullets before they reached him. All he could do was grit his teeth and hold on, hoping the spinning bullets would lose their momentum soon.

“Don’t get it twisted. The term ‘beast’ is reserved for you; I wouldn’t dare claim it. Also, like you, I have no intention of letting you go.” With that, Lei Yin fired two more shots, emptying the clip.

The phrase “one wave after another” perfectly described Chiyama Genjirou’s predicament.

Though he managed to halt the two newly added bullets, these were significantly closer to his chest than the previous ones, barely a hand’s width away.

Staring at the bullets spinning rapidly in front of his chest, varying in speed, Chiyama’s face turned pale. His expression twisted grotesquely from the sheer exertion, and blood began to seep not just from his nose but also from his ears and tear ducts, creating a horrific sight.

“Old man, be sure to greet your mother for me when you reach the underworld,” Lei Yin said as he discarded his gun and dashed forward like an arrow.

For the first time, panic flickered in Chiyama’s eyes as he saw Lei Yin charging straight at him.

When Lei Yin was just two or three steps away, Chiyama suddenly let out a loud shout. The veins on his face bulged, and the five bullets abruptly dropped to the ground.

At that moment, Lei Yin reached him.

As expected, when Lei Yin was within a meter of Chiyama, he felt as though an invisible barrier, like a wall of air, blocked him, preventing him from moving even an inch closer.

Seeing that he had finally stopped Lei Yin before the bullets became useless, excitement flashed in Chiyama’s eyes. Though his condition was dire, he believed he could still handle an ordinary opponent.

However, he was gravely mistaken—Lei Yin was far from ordinary.

To Chiyama’s shock and terror, the man continued to press forward, inching closer with a cold smirk.

As Lei Yin had anticipated, supernatural abilities were not omnipotent. Otherwise, he would have lost to a similar opponent in a past life. Take Chiyama’s telekinetic abilities: while he could effortlessly lift a kilogram with his mind, that didn’t mean he could handle a ton. Just like physical strength, there were limits to his powers.

Moreover, Lei Yin knew that such abilities, rooted in mental exertion, could not be used excessively. Once depleted, they required significant time to recover.

With Lei Yin’s internal energy fully unleashed, Chiyama could no longer suppress his approach.

As Lei Yin’s hand neared his throat, Chiyama let out another desperate cry, increasing his exertion. This sudden surge caused blood to gush even more profusely from his facial orifices, making him look even more ghastly.

This time, however, Lei Yin did not stop like the bullets. He merely paused briefly before redirecting his hand from Chiyama’s throat to his chest.

Despair filled Chiyama’s eyes. He wanted to beg for mercy, but his overexertion left him speechless. All he could do was watch helplessly as Lei Yin’s hand slowly pressed against his heart.

With a soft snap, the invisible force field around them suddenly vanished as Lei Yin withdrew his hand from Chiyama’s chest. The middle-aged man collapsed to the ground, his face frozen in disbelief.

Crouching, Lei Yin felt for a pulse on Chiyama’s carotid artery. Confirming the man was dead, he stood up.

Since reincarnating into this body, this was the most taxing battle Lei Yin had fought.

On the whole, Lei Yin didn’t have any deep grudge against Chiyama Genjirou; they simply found each other insufferable. If Lei Yin were alone, he wouldn’t care what kind of opponent he faced. However, to prevent Chiyama from targeting his current family or friends, he had no choice but to silence him permanently.

Concerned that the gunshots might attract attention, Lei Yin quickly dragged the middle-aged man—once capable of halting bullets in mid-air—back to the previous street corner.

There, he met two men who had arrived in a car to pick him up.

“Good evening, Mr. Gennai. This man is…?” The two men in suits looked surprised at the sight of the corpse Lei Yin was dragging.

“Put him in the trunk and take care of it later,” Lei Yin said, releasing Chiyama Genjirou’s body before heading toward Kitaba’s hiding spot.

The two men exchanged glances, then promptly lifted the body and placed it in the car’s trunk.

“Kitaba, it’s safe now. Come out,” Lei Yin called in Nepali toward the darkness.

After a moment, a small figure slowly emerged—it was the frightened Nepali boy.

“Wh-what about those two men?” the boy asked nervously, glancing at the two suited men a few dozen meters away.

“It’s over. Let’s leave this place quickly,” Lei Yin said as he dragged Yamada’s body back.

The boy followed uneasily.

After loading both bodies into the trunk, Lei Yin turned to the two men and said, “Take care of these bodies carefully, and make sure no one finds out. Once that’s done, take this boy to a safe place where he can rest.”

“Yes, Mr. Gennai.”

“Oh, one more thing—I almost forgot. The boy might have a tracker implanted on him. Get an expert to remove any devices from him before you take him somewhere.”

“We’ll call a specialist immediately. Please rest assured, Mr. Gennai.”

Lei Yin nodded and then turned to the boy. “Go with them. They’ll take care of you. I’ll come find you within a day or two.”

“Aren’t you coming with me?” the boy asked anxiously.

“No, I have to get back; otherwise, my friends will grow suspicious. Don’t worry—they’ll look after you,” Lei Yin reassured him.

Although the boy was reluctant to part ways, he eventually boarded the car, looking back wistfully.

As the car drove off into the distance, Lei Yin stretched and began walking slowly in the direction of the street corner.

It had been a long time since he had wandered the streets alone like this. Thoughts filled his mind as he walked.

An opponent like Chiyama Genjirou was manageable, but if several such individuals attacked simultaneously, it would be dangerous.

Though the saying goes “haste makes waste,” Lei Yin realized he needed to find a way to rapidly enhance the inner strength of this body to avoid a potential situation where he’d face a group of supernatural foes.

As he pondered, a taxi suddenly stopped in front of him.

A long-haired girl stepped out of the car.

She observed Lei Yin carefully for a moment before suddenly running toward him.

“Senpai, it really is you!” the girl exclaimed, her voice brimming with joy.

Lei Yin, lost in thought, found the voice familiar. He looked up to see a girl in a light green dress standing before him. To his surprise, it was Rumi.