Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 752, Section 166: Firing
The moment Karl pulled the trigger, the fully charged 'KK' emitted a high-frequency hum, and the electromagnetic coil inside the barrel emitted a ghostly blue arc of light.

When the supersonic bullet leaves the muzzle, the air is torn apart, creating a sharp sonic boom.

Aguilar's Sianwistan reacted in a fraction of a second, forcing him to restart the Sianwistan.

A surge of nerve currents coursed through his spine like a runaway silver snake, and the burning sensation from the overclocked prosthetics spread from the back of his neck to his temples—yet even so, when facing an opponent of KK's caliber, he clearly touched the boundaries of Sianwistan for the first time.

Three seconds, at most three seconds.

After being forcibly restarted, this was the limit of his nerves' ability to withstand the accelerated state.

He knew the principle, of course: synapses melt when they transmit electrical signals under overload, like an overloaded circuit board. But when KK’s ballistic trajectory dragged a deathly rainbow across his retina, he desperately wanted this flesh and blood body to become a pure machine—to let this damned acceleration continue forever.

Yet at the same time, he was terrifyingly lucid—how could a machine need neural acceleration? Those cold alloy joints and servo motors were nothing more than puppets operating precisely according to predetermined parameters.

No, the more brutal truth is that even the most advanced titanium alloy skeletons will exhibit signs of metal fatigue under loads exceeding their critical limits.

Data is not afraid, and programs do not understand what "desperate" means. Although they also have corresponding "limit" programs, when the strain coefficient exceeds the red threshold, they will calmly execute the shutdown protocol, just like a fuse blowing on a circuit board.

His flesh and blood body is not a machine, so he can still challenge the limits of the human body—those capillaries that burst under overclocking are now exploding into tiny blood flowers on the retina.

When S. A.S.S.'s blue light flashed warningly at the edge of his vision, the oppressive feeling suddenly materialized. The unaccelerated world felt like it had been suddenly filled with tons of asphalt. His lungs contracted violently in the non-accelerated state, and the oxygen he could inhale seemed to be mixed with mercury. Even the trembling of his eyelashes felt like pushing aside a steel mountain.

The suffocating, sluggish feeling of being on the verge of death disappeared.

Aguilar's prosthetic eye was frighteningly bright; it was clearly bloodshot, something that should never have blood vessels in it.

Small beads of blood kept seeping from Aguilar's eye sockets, staining her eyes red from the edges.

Aguilar dodged the bullet fired by Karl's 'KK', which had switched to technology mode.

Kinetic weapons, smart weapons, technological weapons.

The three most common types of weapons on the market were displayed in KK's hands in a short period of time after the start of the battle, and he had indeed completely mastered the weapon.

And what follows is
As if deliberately testing the weapon's true performance in actual combat, Karl flicked his wrist, and the monomolecular wire hidden in the subcutaneous implantation slot suddenly popped out, the silver thread biting into the 'KK' interface like a live snake.

As the beep signaled the completion of the connection, the weapon, which had just undergone technical transformation, suddenly trembled, and the magazine was thrown into the air the instant the electromagnetic lock was released.

The time it takes for the magazine to trace its parabolic trajectory is calculated precisely to the millisecond: by the time the magnetic retrieval device in Karl's sleeve is fully recovered, the weapon has already undergone a secondary deformation in his palm.

Karl's thrust was as fast as a silver lightning bolt.

'KK's' gun structure disintegrated and reassembled in an instant. Modular components, like molten metal attracted by a magnet, extended and spliced ​​along the contours of his arm, eventually forming a slender, straight-line dagger—unlike traditional cold weapons with ornate decorations or curves, it was a purely mechanical creation born for killing.

The blade is woven from monomolecular threads as its core, and its surface is covered with dark blue energy patterns formed by the tidal energy core. Its shape is more like an extension of Karl's arm than a lance head.

Aguilar's pupils contracted.

——Too fast.

Even though S. A.S. was still functioning and his time perception was compressed to the limit, the speed of the thrust still exceeded expectations. Karl's movements were completely fluid, from transformation to lunge to thrust, as if he had rehearsed it a million times in his mind.

The blade tip pierced the air, emitting a high-frequency buzzing sound.

Aguilar's body instinctively leaned backward, his right hand jerking up to block the 'Death Apple' gun barrel in front of his chest— 'Clang—!!'

The sharp clang of metal colliding exploded, sparks flying.

Karl's dagger struck the 'Death Apple' wheel precisely, destroying the specially modified weapon wheel. The immense impact caused Agilar's entire right arm to go numb instantly.

His boots plowed two deep grooves into the ground, and the heels even smelled burnt from the friction. Even so, the blade tip was still slowly approaching his heart. The energy patterns reflected on his black-and-white prosthetic eye, appearing cold and glaring.

"How many times can your gun hold off?" Carl's voice was low and calm.

Before he finished speaking, 'KK''s blade suddenly deformed again—the originally straight blade split and extended out at the middle joint, and the front half shot out like a venomous snake!

Aguilar's adrenaline surged to its limit.

His S.A.R. Stein is still running, the world is in a near-slow motion, but at this speed, he can hardly avoid it.

It wasn't that his reaction was slow; rather, his body had already dodged to its limit. Under the force of the impact he had managed to block with all his might, his body was trembling and unable to move.

The tip of the split blade was less than five centimeters from his chest, and Aguilar gritted his teeth.

"Pfft!"

The dull thud of flesh being pierced.

A burst of blood erupted from Aguilar's left ribcage. The blade tip pierced through his subcutaneous armor but missed a vital spot. At the last second, he used his core strength to forcefully shift to the side, deflecting the blow away from his heart. Blood flowed down the blade and dripped onto the ground with a soft 'plop' sound.

The sensory acceleration that S. A.S ...

Karl squinted.

"A good intuition."

He praised her sincerely.

Aguilar did not answer; his breathing was heavy, but a cold smile appeared on his lips.

“You’ve forgotten something,” he hissed.

Karl suddenly noticed something was wrong—the sensation from the tip of the blade was off.

Aguilar's subcutaneous armor contracted actively, clamping the piercing blade!
The next second, the muzzle of the 'Death Apple' rose from below, pointing directly at Karl's jaw.

A typical revolver cannot fire after the cylinder is damaged because its firing mechanism is also damaged, but the 'Apple of Death' in Aguilar's hands is different.

It employs a special modification that allows it to remain fully locked even after the cylinder is jammed or damaged, meaning the cylinder and barrel are aligned. In this case, as long as the firing pin is functioning properly, it can still fire the bullet currently aligned with the barrel.

"boom!"

Gunfire illuminated their faces.

(End of this chapter)