Chapter 45: Overpowered Shopkeeper
As the police forced their way into the perimeter, the roar of gunfire grew deafening.
The situation was sheer chaos.
Fortunately, the abandoned industrial sector was secluded with no civilian foot traffic, allowing the police force to unleash full suppressive fire against the barricaded gang.
Yet, as the gunshots echoed continuously through the night air, the crowd of active gang members inside the building began to thin out at an uncanny pace.
Donape moved through the shadows of the warehouse without breaking a sweat, knocking out any thug who crossed his path. He paid special attention to those wielding heavy firepower, disabling every assault rifle and submachine gun he could find.
Overwhelmed by the intense police pressure at the front entrance, the gang members barely registered their comrades slumping to the ground. In the blinding panic of the firefight, no one had time to ask questions. Even when a few thugs tried to pick up dropped rifles from the floor, they quickly found the magazines missing and the chambers cleared. Cursing in frustration, they tossed the useless weapons aside and rushed back to the front line with simple automatic pistols.
That was more than enough for Donape. With the gang’s heavy weaponry rendered useless, the police—who were only armed with standard service handguns—were now on equal tactical footing.
Deep inside the abandoned building, tucked away in a dark, worn-down office, sat the core leadership of the Black Viper syndicate. A small, crackling campfire in the center of the room cast flickering shadows across their grim faces.
"What the hell is taking so long to break through the police barricade?!" one of the high-ranking members barked in annoyance, pacing frantically. "Can’t we just slip out through the rear exit?! Let those cannon fodder foot soldiers outside buy us time against the cops!"
"The back alley is completely sealed," another lieutenant replied grimly. "Our only shot is to scatter into the surrounding neighborhood and let luck decide who makes it out."
Infuriated, the first man turned to a short, pot-bellied man resting on a crate. Despite his squat build, the man possessed a sharp, terrifyingly cold expression that commanded absolute silence.
"Leader! Can’t you just call your connections in the city council, the prosecutor’s office, or the police department?!" the lieutenant demanded, his voice cracking with desperation. "Can’t you get those ungrateful bastards to call off this raid already?! I’m sick of running around like a cornered rat!"
Instead of receiving an answer, the lieutenant was cut off as the gang leader turned his deadly gaze onto him.
"Shut your mouth and sit down," the leader replied, his voice eerily calm. "Whining like a child isn’t going to change our situation."
The lieutenant swallowed hard and fell silent. Deep down, everyone in the room knew the truth—their master ledger of bribes had fallen into official hands during the initial raid. Any political protection they once enjoyed was dead.
There were no favors left to call in.
Exposing their corrupt partners would only lead to a bullet in the back before they ever reached a courtroom. Staying silent meant a lifetime in prison—or execution if those greedy officials deemed them too dangerous to keep alive.
After all, dead men tell no tales. Thus, relying on those kinds of twisted humans was no longer a viable option. Now, they rely solely on their hands for survival.
The heavy tension in the run-down office was thick enough to cut with a knife. The crackle of the small campfire in the center of the room was the only sound breaking the uneasy silence after the leader’s cold reprimand.
"So..." one of the lieutenants muttered, his voice trembling as he checked the slide on his pistol. "What do we do now, Leader?"
"We wait," the Black Viper leader replied coldly, staring into the flickering embers. "When the breach happens, the firefight will create maximum noise. That’s when we split up and scatter into the dark."
"A decent strategy," a calm, unhurried voice echoed from the shadowed doorway. "Though I doubt any of you will make it to the exit."
Clack.
Every gang member in the room flinched, their heads snapping toward the entrance.
Out of the deep darkness beyond the firelight stepped a single figure clad in a dark hoodie. He wasn’t holding an assault rifle, nor was he wearing tactical police body armor. He stood casually, his hands tucked loosely into his hoodie pockets, looking as relaxed as if he were taking a midnight stroll.
"How presumptuous! Which idiot authorized you to come in here?!" the frantic lieutenant barked, mistaking him for a fleeing subordinate in the dim campfire light. "Get your cowardly ass back outside and shoot those cops! This isn’t the place for you to hide!"
The men in the room naturally assumed this hooded youth was just another terrified low-ranking foot soldier ducking out of the firefight—completely oblivious to the fact that the person standing before them was the very shadow that had systematically wiped out their entire outer force.
Donape didn’t even blink. He looked at the six men who still had no idea who he was, then glanced over at the short, pot-bellied leader sitting calmly on the wooden crate.
"Time to go to sleep," Donape said smoothly, taking a slow step forward into the dim orange light of the campfire.
Before anyone could react, he closed the distance in a blur. Rather than a noisy, brute-force blow, Donape delivered a lightning-fast, silent palm strike directly to the nearest lieutenant’s solar plexus—using exact physical placement to collapse the man’s lungs instantly.
Thump.
The man collapsed silently onto the dirty floor, his breath entirely knocked out of him as his vision went dark.
For a split second, three of the men stood dazed, trying to process why their comrade had suddenly crumpled. But the remaining two lieutenants and the gang leader reacted instantly.
"You piece of shit!" one lieutenant roared, raising his gun.
"How dare you!" the other barked, firing wildly without a second thought.
BANG! BANG!
Muzzle flashes blinded the small room for a split second. But where Donape had been standing a microsecond before, there was only empty air.
Applying the fluid grace of The Path of the Heavenly Martial Arts, Donape shifted his weight. His body flowed past the bullets’ trajectory as effortlessly as water parting around a smooth stone.
Before the shooters could even process the shadow blurring past their field of vision, Donape appeared directly in front of them.
With a fast, fluid backhand, Donape struck the first lieutenant beneath the chin, rattling his brain for an instant knockout.
Simultaneously, Donape’s off-hand disarmed the second shooter’s automatic pistol, following up with a sharp upward palm strike to his jaw.
Thump. Thump.
In less than two seconds, two more high-ranking thugs crashed helplessly to the floor.
The three remaining lieutenants shrieked, backing toward the brick wall as they opened fire blindly, caring nothing for their downed comrades.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Donape didn’t use rigid blocks or explosive counter-punches.
Instead, he moved with pure, effortless evasion—yielding to every violent swing and redirected trigger pull. He glided between the remaining lieutenants like a ghost, his hands executing soft, vibrational taps against their nerves and joints.
Click-clack—Thump! Thump!
In less than three seconds, the three high-ranking lieutenants slumped around the campfire, completely disarmed and unconscious.
The crackling fire flickered again, casting long, swaying shadows across the walls.
The Black Viper leader hadn’t moved an inch from his spot. His dark, cold eyes remained fixed on Donape, watching the quiet young man calmly step over the unconscious bodies.
"You’re not a cop," the leader noted, his voice low and devoid of panic, though his fingers subtly twitched near his belt. "The police don’t move like that. You’re a trained soldier, aren’t you? Who hired you? Was it the prosecutor’s office trying to silence us?"
Donape stopped two paces away, looking at the syndicate boss with an unbothered, deadpan expression.
"Sigh. Nobody hired me," Donape replied softly. "I’m just a shopkeeper doing side quests so I can go back to running my business in peace."
The leader had no interest in entertaining Donape’s bullshit. In a flash of steel, he drew a hidden tactical dagger, stepping forward to challenge him.
Donape didn’t even flinch. He advanced in a single, fluid motion—his left hand lightly trapping the leader’s weapon wrist to neutralize the blade, while his right palm delivered a swift, backhanded slap to the side of the jaw.
Thump.
The leader’s eyes rolled back as he dropped like a sack of bricks.
"Sigh... It’s been a tiring day," Donape muttered under his breath, dusting off his hoodie. "This should do the trick."
Ding!
[Novice Quest: Enforcement Support]
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Overview: A localized, lawless element within S City poses a minor threat to public order and the quiet operation of your surrounding sector. Local enforcement officers are currently preparing a tactical intervention.
Objective: Assist the local enforcement officers in neutralizing the local wild gang threat.
Status: COMPLETED.
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Reward: [Qi Foundation (Dantian Activation)] [Description: Opens the primary Meridian Node, allowing the user to begin absorbing and storing natural energy (Qi) within the body without the need for external supplements.]
Looking at the floating blue text, Donape smiled broadly.
’I can finally cultivate to gather inner strength naturally.’
Meanwhile, outside the inner door, the heavy silence was far more terrifying than a prolonged firefight.
Jin-Man signaled his breacher, heart pounding against his ribs. Five seconds ago, they had heard a brief, muffled burst of gunfire—followed by the heavy thuds of falling bodies. Then, absolutely quiet.
He gestured toward the door, raising his tactical pistol as he prepared to point the breach.
"One... two... go!"
The door was kicked open. Jin-Man burst through the smoke alongside six fully armed tactical officers, their flashlights cutting through the haze as they fanned out into the room.
"Police! Nobody moves!" Jin-Man roared. "Hands where we can see them! Hands in the—"