Mr. Death in the Steam World

"Hey, Mr. Marcus, don't you feel the fog coming up around us?"

Moen nodded. As the night deepened, a thicker fog rose from somewhere.

Suddenly, a cat's paw came from behind. Moen, carrying Phils on his back, couldn't dodge in time and had to take the blow with his arm.

"Oh? The sneak attack failed. That speed... You guys figured out the rabbit's abilities? Impressive!"

Amidst the mist, a cat's face with an exaggerated smile slowly emerged, like an eerie lantern.

Moen put down the still-shaken Philse and his hand was already on the gun handle.

"This... Mr. Cat, we don't think we've seen you before?"

If the opponent continues to attack, he doesn't mind activating his reaper form to prepare for battle.

However, judging from these words, the other party clearly knows White Rabbit.

"Oh no, no, no, outsiders, I just wanted to see how good you are."

"That White Rabbit guy asked me to 'take care' of the late guests, so I can't refuse."

"So you've finished 'taking care' of me now?"

Moen's tone was anything but relaxed, and he deliberately made the sound of the bullet being chambered very loud.

"Oh, don't be nervous, don't be nervous."

The cat's face spun in the air, and its tail emerged from the mist, swaying slowly.

"Well then, let me introduce myself. My name is Cheshire Cat, the manager of Wonderland Night, responsible for cleaning up those restless creatures at night."

"A restless fellow?"

The Cheshire Cat clapped its hands, and then footsteps echoed from the mist not far away.

"As time went by, our fairyland gradually decayed, and the Queen fell ill and began to have nightmares."

"When night falls in Wonderland, her nightmares materialize and roam the land, and my job is to clean them up."

Fearfully, Phils hid behind Moen, who narrowed his eyes, ready to fire at any moment.

The Cheshire Cat paused, then its smile widened.

"But I'm a little tired today, so you can take my place."

Before the words were even finished, its face suddenly disappeared into the mist.

"Wait—!" Phils reached out to grab it, but only grabbed a handful of wet, cold liquid.

Just then, the first monster emerged from the fog.

That was a playing card—no, it should be said that it used to be a playing card.

It resembled the Hearts Guard in the book, but now the card was torn apart, leaving only half of its body.

Grayish-white tendrils sprouted from the broken edges, wriggling like blood vessels.

The guard image originally drawn on the card has been distorted and deformed, with its facial features out of place, its mouth split to the base of its ears, revealing two rows of jagged sharp teeth.

It has no legs, but crawls on the ground using its tentacles, yet it is incredibly fast.

"This is... the Queen's nightmare?" Phils murmured.

Moen remained silent, simply raising his gun, aiming, and pulling the trigger.

Gunshots ripped through the night fog.

The bullet blasted a hole in the card, and with a hiss, the thing instantly turned into gray-black powder and disappeared without a trace.

Harvesting progress: 0.8%

"That's it...?"

Moen raised an eyebrow, but before he could even feel happy, more screams came from all directions.

From the mist, one tattered playing card after another crawled out.

Moen pulled the trigger repeatedly, the muzzle flashes leaving short trails in the mist.

The first, the second, and the third shattered instantly, but the fourth dodged the bullets and pounced from the left.

He dodged to the side, using "Meow's Swiftness" to narrowly avoid the gaping maw, and with a flick of his wrist, smashed it away with the butt of his gun.

The monster was still in the air when it was instantly burned to ashes by the flames.

Moen looked in surprise toward the source of the flames. Phils was raising her hands, and fireballs were flying out of her palms.

Rarely seeing Moen, she was surprised and said with a grin:

"Is it strange? You don't think I'm only good at studying, do you? Practical experience counts for credits too, you know!"

She chatted with Moen while launching fireballs, and even so, the accuracy of her fireballs was incredibly high, and their power was not weak.

Moen remembered that he had initially categorized Phils as part of the academic faction, just as his opinion of Phils's combat abilities began to change—

As expected, Phils had an accident.

Although her fireball attacks were fierce, perfectly embodying the art of suppressing firepower, the cost was also enormous – a huge drain on her mana.

Before long, only a few sparks could be generated in her palm, and she lost her fighting ability.

"I knew you were unreliable!"

Without Phils's help, Moen had to bear pressure from two sides at the same time, and suddenly became a bit flustered.

Although he could barely manage to attack both sides at the same time with his skills, as time went on, he discovered a very serious problem.

He ran out of bullets.

Before this operation, he asked Professor Pip for several hundred bullets, thinking it would be more than enough.

But now, facing seemingly endless nightmare monsters, a few hundred bullets are just a drop in the ocean.

Now that Phils's magic is depleted and he doesn't have enough bullets, his only hope is—

Harvesting progress: 100%

Harvesting death brings blessings.

[Target: Nightmare Card of the Queen of Hearts]

Three orbs of light appeared before his eyes. Two of them were white, while only one was faintly green. His eyes lit up, and he grabbed the green essence.

"Dear Notebook, your owner is in grave danger. Could you please provide a useful extract?"

He had only uttered the phrase silently in his mind, but unexpectedly, he heard the female voice that had appeared during the battle of the Other Shore Flower:

"Of course, my master~"

[Fight to Sustain (Green): Your weapon automatically replenishes one use each time you kill a hostile creature (regular weapons only)]

[Introduction: Using war to sustain war, sustain war, sustain war, sustain war, sustain war!]

This effect is practically tailor-made for the current situation!

Overjoyed, Moen fired three shots in quick succession. After the three Nightmare cards turned to ashes, he had actually only used the first bullet.

The thought of how many bullets and how many pounds this ability could save him in the future made him want to hum softly.

With the ammunition planning no longer a concern, Moen's marksmanship became noticeably more aggressive, and gradually, Nightmare Card's offensive was even forced to retreat.

No way, who can fire a gun for hours on end and still use a revolver like a Gatling gun?!

Moen grew increasingly excited as he killed, practically chasing after the Nightmare Cards, leaving Phils, who was silently recovering her mana behind him, completely bewildered.

As dawn broke, the remaining Nightmare Cards vanished into mist the moment they came into contact with the sunlight, leaving only powder scattered on the ground and a panting Moen.

Phils cautiously poked Moen, as if afraid that he had been possessed by something.

"Um, Mr. Marcus, are you alright?"

Moen put the revolver back in his pocket, let out a long sigh, and plopped down on the ground.

Even he was exhausted from such a high level of combat intensity.

Just then, a blur appeared in mid-air, and the Cheshire Cat's face reappeared. Phils quickly stepped in front of Moen to block him.

She held out her palm and pointed at the Cheshire Cat:

"I'm warning you, if you come any closer, I'll unleash a fireball!"

The Cheshire Cat shook its head, its shock still barely concealed.

He originally just wanted to test the two people's strength and was prepared to quit while he was ahead, not actually let them die in the nightmare.

This girl's abilities are barely passable, but this man...

Perhaps, their chance has truly arrived!