BANG!

Lady suddenly took a hit in her chest, which showed signs of indentation, but no hole appeared.

The material of the pistol was still harder than that of a car.

"That hurts!"

Lady cried out and looked outside the window. Some buildings with their lights turned off were shrouded in darkness, making the lit areas even brighter.

Where did the bullet come from? She couldn't figure it out.

"Truly terrifying," Mayers thought. He realized that the tranquilizer rounds were ineffective and immediately said, "Use Armor Piercing Bullets!"

Hawkeye didn't hesitate. This was something they had already agreed upon: if tranquilizers didn't work, they would use Armor Piercing Bullets.

Killing her didn't matter. She wasn't the only Superpower User. The key was to ensure compliance.

Hawkeye quickly aimed at Lady's head and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

An Armor Piercing Bullet hit Lady's head, piercing straight through her fair forehead and leaving a dark cavity. The impact caused Lady's neck to snap instantly.

Her head dangled, swinging behind her back.

She staggered backward a few steps and almost fell to the ground.

She wasn't a normal person. Despite such heavy damage, she maintained her vitality and roared, "Bastard, who the hell are you?"

Unable to see Koichiro Motomura, she kept firing bullets aimlessly forward with her fingers.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT! Objects on the desk were swept away by the hail of bullets, and holes appeared in the walls.

Koichiro Motomura was trembling with fear, hiding below.

Hawkeye, watching from afar, couldn't maintain his composure.

What kind of monster is this? Her head was blasted open, her neck is as floppy as noodles, yet she's still alive—is this what a Superpower User is like?

This thought sent a surge of excitement through Hawkeye.

As a sniper, he was accustomed to observing targets from a distance, then pulling the trigger and killing them.

But the woman in front of him was different from those he had killed before; she was a Superpower User.

Having killed so many people, this was his first encounter with a Superpower User.

This encounter brought back the thrill of his first kill. He felt no hesitation.

He pulled the trigger for the third time.

This shot hit Lady in the thigh.

Lady, unable to keep her balance, fell to the ground. The bullets spraying from her fingertips skimmed along the floor, hitting Koichiro Motomura's right foot.

"AH!" he screamed. In agony, Koichiro leaped onto a chair and fired at Lady on the ground, roaring, "You monster, go to hell!"

Several shots failed to kill Lady. Instead, they helped her locate Koichiro's position. She raised her right hand and fired in the direction the bullets were coming from.

Koichiro Motomura took several shots to the chest and fell backward.

Another BANG! An Armor Piercing Bullet ripped through most of Lady's right elbow. Her forearm went limp, and the bullets fired from her fingertips all struck her own body, making a DING! DING! sound.

"Damn it!" Lady roared in rage.

Aozawa canceled the Superpower he had applied to Lady.

Lady quickly reverted to a damaged pistol.

"Go outside to the parking lot and wait," Aozawa instructed.

The car-person turned and left. By the time it reached the parking lot below, Aozawa had also canceled its Superpower, and it reverted to a van.

The van's door had obvious bullet holes.

Both the van and the pistol have their limits, after all, Aozawa thought. He realized that the situation with Koichiro Motomura had been a deliberate trap set for him. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a sniper shooting at them from a kilometer away.

Trying to ambush me? Well, let's see what they've got.

「...」

"The woman turned into a gun?!"

Witnessing this, a flicker of astonishment crossed Mayers' face. Then, a sudden realization hit him, and he exclaimed excitedly, "That's quite a terrifying Superpower indeed!"

Hawkeye, positioned below, didn't share the sentiment. Instead, he used a syringe to draw urine from a catheter, removed it, and said calmly, "We've been exposed. The enemy is likely advancing on our position. Execute Plan B."

"The tranquilizer rounds were ineffective, and the Armor Piercing Bullets also had no effect?" Hidden Wolf asked, surprised.

Mayers smiled. "Like I said, the woman turned into a gun. It seems the enemy's Superpower is to turn guns into puppets that obey their commands. Ah, I wonder if it's Dio. If it is, then we're in danger."

"Why do you say that?" Hidden Wolf asked. He still didn't grasp the full extent of their situation.

"Because if it were me, none of you would escape."

An alluring voice spoke from behind Hidden Wolf. A chill shot through him, his pupils dilated, and he instinctively swung his dagger backward.

The air split with a HISS, like a Viper striking.

Yet, no one was visible behind him.

Cold sweat beaded on Hidden Wolf's forehead. Usually, others despair when I ambush them. Today, I'm the one experiencing it. His limbs grew cold, his fingertips so frigid it felt as if frost could form on them.

"Are you Dio?"

Mayers, far from fearful, appeared intrigued as he stared at the blond man who had suddenly appeared. He was tall, just as the data described, with skin so pale it was almost transparent.

Contrasting with his imposing stature was an air of allure.

To describe a man with sharp, distinct features and a muscular physique as 'alluring' would normally seem unfitting. Yet, in my mind, such a word is perfectly fitting for Dio, Mayers thought.

"A pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Mayers Fro. This is my teammate Hawkeye, and that one is Hidden Wolf. We're all here on a mission to capture you. The higher-ups are very curious to know if Superpowers can grant immortality."

Compared to his relaxed demeanor, Hawkeye and Hidden Wolf appeared extremely tense. One aimed his gun at Aozawa, while the other gripped his dagger, leg muscles tensed, seemingly ready to pounce if the situation turned.

Aozawa paid no mind to their tension, instead studying Mayers.

I remember Phoenix Academy Maggie mentioning that a coroner named Mayers confirmed Dio's Superpower User identity. This was something even that detective, Emily, couldn't do.

"You're indeed different from normal people," Aozawa said, "but you still have to die."

A flicker of surprise showed in Mayers' eyes. So he's heard of me? He didn't ask, however. Spreading his hands, he said, "I've heard you're a Messenger of Justice, so you shouldn't kill innocent people."

"How can people like you, who skulk in the underworld, be considered innocent?" Aozawa retorted.

"That's quite discriminatory," Mayers shrugged. "At the end of the day, I'm just a coroner. I've never laid a hand on the living. If you want to kill someone, you can kill those two beside me; they're rotten to the core. I chose them as teammates hoping they could shield me from harm."

"You bastard!" Hidden Wolf's face darkened.

I don't expect Mayers to live or die with me, but he didn't have to stab me in the back like that!

Hawkeye wasn't one for idle chatter. At such close range, he didn't need to aim carefully; he just pulled the trigger.

BANG! The Armor Piercing Bullet tore through the air at supersonic speed, hitting Dio.

Then, it was gone.

Literally gone. The Armor Piercing Bullet vanished upon contact with Dio's body.

Hawkeye had never encountered anything like this in his life. He stood there, dumbfounded. Where did my bullet go?

A flicker of interest crossed Mayers' face. "Is this a Superpower related to space? Or did you disintegrate the Armor Piercing Bullet to a degree invisible to the naked eye?"

"I'm under no obligation to inform you," Aozawa replied unhurriedly.

Behind Aozawa, Hidden Wolf crept closer with his usual stealthy steps. He was unaware that, thanks to Aozawa's Catalyst Induction ability, no one could approach him from behind unnoticed.

Just as Hidden Wolf lunged to stab Aozawa in the kidney, invisible Telekinesis directly clutched his heart.

A sudden, sharp angina-like pain made Hidden Wolf buckle immediately, his grip on the dagger loosening.

CLANG! The dagger fell to the ground. He paid it no mind, clutching his chest and crying out in pain. His renowned pain tolerance became a mockery in that instant.

Aozawa used Telekinesis to scrape the surface of Hidden Wolf's heart.

"AAARGH!" Hidden Wolf screamed, collapsing to the ground, motionless.

"Ah, I know this one!" Mayers clapped his hands, his face wreathed in smiles, looking utterly relaxed. Inwardly, however, his mood was grim; he simply never showed panic in front of others.

His brain raced. How do I get out of this? I don't think a few words will convince Dio to spare me. Still, dying here might also prove Dio isn't as rigidly principled as he claims. That's actually quite interesting... The thought flashed through Mayers' mind.

Hawkeye's composure finally broke. "You monster!" he yelled, his forefinger pulling the trigger.

Suddenly, a gray filter seemed to overlay the entire space.

Aozawa watched the Armor Piercing Bullet speeding towards him and used Telekinesis to redirect it.

Time resumed its flow.

The Armor Piercing Bullet reversed course and blew Hawkeye's head apart. The sniper rifle he was holding clattered to the ground.

"Superpowers truly are enviable. How many do you possess in total?" Mayers continued speaking, not caring if Aozawa responded. It was a way to keep himself as relaxed as possible and to project an air of harmlessness.

Aozawa glanced at him and used his Hypnosis Ability. "Tell me, have you ever killed ordinary people?"

Mayers subconsciously replied, "Previously, to conduct dissection experiments, I designed situations that led to the deaths of three people."

The words left his mouth, and he inwardly reeled. Something's wrong. When did I become so honest? This must be Dio's Superpower at work!

Aozawa continued, "Who ordered you to ambush me here?"

"No one. I set the ambush here myself because I believed you might make a move on Koichiro Motomura."

"Who hired your team?"

"The person who hired me is Sumitomo Taisei from the Sumitomo Group."

Once again, Mayers replied truthfully, a hint of resignation in his eyes.

Human intelligence is truly useless against Superpowers, he thought. I originally believed my talent for lying could help me feign innocence and deceive Dio. Looking back, I was too naive. Superpowers don't adhere to logic at all. No matter how skilled I am at lying, Dio's Superpower makes it impossible for me to do so.

"You don't need to be afraid." A smile touched Aozawa's lips. "Since you're so curious about Superpowers, I'll let you experience one for yourself."

He decided to use the Power of Enlightening on Mayers. Let's see if different people react identically when Enlightened, or if their responses will vary.