Chapter 115: Mine Template

The target appeared, and Gao Ning didn't waste any time.

The windows of the castle-like structure swung open, revealing a bristling array of cannon barrels. Having spent over a month wandering through America with hundreds of gang subordinates in tow, Gao Ning had certainly not come away empty-handed. While passing through a city notorious for its poor security, he had kidnapped several bartenders and pried the names of two arms dealers from them. He subsequently seized their armories, acquiring not only a vast supply of standard firearms but also a cache of rocket launchers—though they were merely conventional models. A pleasant surprise, however, was a 75mm grenade launcher complete with 12 rounds; with warheads weighing five kilograms each, the destructive power was self-evident.

To highlight this prize, Gao Ning had specifically reserved a spot at his brow, extending the barrel directly from there. The windows below were packed with dense rows of gun muzzles. Beyond the "Chicago Typewriters" wielded by his gang henchmen, there were the various soldiers he had summoned, each armed with assorted weaponry and ready to pull the trigger at a moment's notice.

As Gao Ning’s gaze sharpened, the guns and cannons fired in unison.

*Thump!*

With a dull report, the warhead—the size of a cigarette butt—instantly expanded to the thickness of a human leg, drilling straight into the crater and detonating. Fire erupted, smoke swirled, dirt flew, and shockwaves radiated outward. The scene was obscured by a shroud of dust, enveloping Dark Alessa entirely. Yet, from the moment she appeared, the Red Alert interface had marked her position. Though invisible to the naked eye, Gao Ning could always sense her location.

The gunfire never ceased. A torrential storm of metal mixed with electrical discharges scoured every direction. Gao Ning’s body was the castle; by opening the windows, he could fire in all directions. No matter from where an enemy appeared, they would be instantly shredded by the metal storm. Sensing Dark Alessa closing in, Gao Ning decisively knelt, his legs morphing into treads, propelling him forward.

The barrage paused slightly, and a massive tangle of barbed wire lunged out like a living creature. Like the tresses of Medusa, every strand was a lethal serpent. The wire rapidly coiled around Gao Ning, attempting to drag him into the void. Yet, no matter how hard they struggled, they could not impede him in the slightest. While he might appear to move and act normally during his daily life, that was merely the unique ability of the Castle-Castle Fruit. Having consumed the Devil Fruit, Gao Ning had fundamentally become a castle. Where others saw the body as a mere vessel, for Gao Ning, his body was a fortress of brick and stone. For mere wire to drag away an entire castle was nothing short of a fantasy.

Dark Alessa seemed to realize that these tactics were useless against him. The monsters she summoned were equally ineffective; the torrent of the metal storm tore everything to shreds, whether it was the hulking Pyramid Head or the distorted skin-monsters. If they dared to show themselves, they were shredded in the next second. Even the most agile ghosts, if lucky enough to reach Gao Ning, would simply vanish without a trace or explanation. This left Dark Alessa utterly perplexed.

Seeing the enemy closing in, Alessa decided to change her approach. She suddenly charged. Gao Ning remained expressionless, and the roar of guns resumed. However, while the metal storm could handle monsters, it had no effect on Alessa, who was born of dark will. Flashing forward like a teleport, she lunged at him. Just as Gao Ning prepared to raise his palm, Alessa slammed into his chest.

A prompt from the Red Alert interface popped up: [Target detected. Recycle?]

Gao Ning did not hesitate, clicking "Yes" immediately. A flash of white light followed, and Alessa, wearing a look of bewilderment, vanished into thin air. The surrounding space suddenly shuddered, and the pitch-black night receded like a tide. In the blink of an eye, it was daylight again. The surroundings were once again shrouded in white fog, and before him lay the bombed-out, smoldering ruins of the church. The barbed wire had vanished, leaving only a massive, deep crater in the ground—the result of the repeated grenade explosions, with pools of molten steel glowing like magma gathered at the bottom.

[Mission Reward: Ore Refinery Building Template]

Gao Ning’s spirit surged with excitement; he had finally obtained the ore refinery. From now on, he would never have to worry about money again. He looked up at the sky; Silent Hill remained, seemingly unaffected by Dark Alessa’s disappearance. Had he only killed a clone?

He considered searching beneath the church. Although he had forgotten which room the burned Alessa was imprisoned in, it had to be down there somewhere. Dark Alessa and the girl named Sharon were, in truth, merely split personalities of the burned Alessa. Under normal circumstances, this would be a case of dissociative identity disorder, but Alessa had possessed powerful psychic abilities since childhood. After enduring unjust treatment, the resentment in her heart had triggered those powers, not only manifesting the vengeful Dark Alessa but also splitting off the last remnants of her kindness into Sharon, sending her into the real world to seek the maternal love she had been denied. Meanwhile, the original Alessa had become a severely burned, vegetative patient, left motionless in a hospital bed. Strictly speaking, the original Alessa was the greatest treasure of all.

Gao Ning felt a spark of ambition—what if he sacrificed the original Alessa? But before the thought could fully form, a familiar mechanical voice echoed in his ears.

"Mission complete. Forced return in ten seconds!"

Gao Ning asked in surprise, "Isn't there supposed to be a 24-hour buffer? Why the forced extraction this time?"

No one answered his query. A few seconds later, a flash of white light enveloped him, and Gao Ning vanished.

His vision blurred for a moment, and the scene shifted. Gao Ning sat on one side of the sofa, while Liang Bing sat on the other, her expression slightly dazed, as if she hadn't fully regained her senses. After a while, she looked up, let out a soft sigh of relief upon seeing Gao Ning, and said, "Finally back."

"I saw the kill notification. Nice work."

Liang Bing shook her head. "Just lucky. They weren't prepared, and in that enclosed space, the number of dogs in the town was limited. Otherwise, that creature's strange ability would have been impossible to kill! By the way, I have to apologize. After I killed that dog, the female ghost was so enraged she started slaughtering people throughout the town. The soldiers from the training camp were wiped out in just an hour. She didn't stop there, turning her rage on the civilians, throwing the town into chaos and drawing Max out. Before I returned, the two of them were tearing everything apart!"