Old days, dice and investigator's manual

Bullets? From where—outside the window, yes, Carlo was looking out the window just now, someone aimed and fired from there…

Isaac's thoughts swirled in this frozen moment, and the image of two dice appeared before his eyes, spinning and then stopping.

35. Verification successful.

The frozen time began to flow slowly, like cream gradually melting, and everything was playing out in Isaac's eyes.

A bullet shattered the window and entered, the shattering of the glass stretching out as the bullet slowly advanced towards Sherwood.

Isaac was able to move, although his movements were still slow, as if he were underwater, but compared to the slowed-down spacetime around him, his movement speed was much faster.

He glanced at the ebony cane in his hand, and Carlo's voice rang out: "Use this. The blade has been crafted, so deflecting bullets won't be a problem. Just treat it like playing baseball."

What is baseball...? Isaac pressed the latch, pulled it out the instant the mechanism loosened, and swung his arm sideways.

The sword traced a silver line as it swept towards the slowly advancing bullet. Upon contact, the sword emitted a sharp hum, like a tuning fork being struck.

The next moment, time and space returned to normal.

The glass shattered and exploded, the metal clashed with a sharp shriek, and a reaction force was transmitted, causing Isaac's arm to go numb from the shock.

The bullet, after being struck, deviated from its original trajectory and embedded itself in a bookshelf not far from Sherwood.

Sherwood hadn't even reacted when he saw the window suddenly shatter, and the taciturn number one robber swung a sword hidden in his cane with lightning speed, followed by a muffled thud from a book on the bookshelf.

He saw the bullet holes in the bookshelf, paused for a moment, then realized what had happened, and his face turned ashen.

Carlo grabbed Sherwood by the collar, pulled him up, and dragged him towards the living room. Sherwood was still yelling, "Who's trying to kill me...?"

"Since you don't even know it yourself, just shut up."

Sherwood wanted to say something, but Carlo simply turned him around to face the wall, then pressed the back of his head, making Sherwood's face make intimate contact with the wall.

"Hmm!"

Isaac followed him out of the study. The living room was dark, and the only light coming from the study's gas lamp was a halo of light emanating from the door, but it was still blurry.

The gunman failed with his first shot, and he wondered if he would pursue him... Just as he was thinking this, the living room window suddenly shattered.

Something climbed in through the window. Isaac squinted, and in the dim light, he could only make out a human-shaped outline.

The field of verification has reappeared.

"Looks like we'll be in close combat. Let's leave the lights off, so we don't become targets for the gunmen outside. Hmm, can Isaac Lessing temporarily improve his vision in the dark? Check score 60."

The phantom image of the dice appears: 28. Check successful.

With the inspection completed, Isaac's vision brightened again, though not as much as when the lights were on, but the entire living room became barely clear.

He saw the true face of the dark figure, which was wrapped in black strips of cloth, with only the joints exposed, and even the mouth, nose and eyes were completely covered.

"Can he move even with his eyes covered?" Isaac thought this must be no ordinary assassin.

"The shrouded zombie attacks by tracking the spiritual aura of the living; it can see you without eyes," Carlo said.

Isaac felt a chill; the skeletal zombie seemed to have locked onto its target and was moving in their direction.

The zombies' movements appeared stiff and unsteady, but they were actually quite sharp. They wielded axes as weapons and pounced in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that he didn't have time to draw his gun and aim, Isaac simply stepped forward. The zombie's axe blade swung down with a whoosh, but he dodged to the side and then thrust at the zombie's body wrapped in strips of cloth.

The sword tip pierced the torso of the shrouded zombie, feeling resistance, but failed to penetrate the strip of cloth, leaving only a dent on the surface.

The walker swung its axe at him again, but Isaac held the staff sheath in his other hand in front of him to block the attack. He then kicked the walker's knee, stepped back to create distance, and glanced at the tip of the sword.

The sword's sharpness was not the issue; the real problem was that the shroud's toughness far exceeded his expectations.

"Stop poking it. The cloth wrapped around that thing has been specially treated. Besides, to deal with this kind of zombie, you need to destroy the integrity of its body and make it unable to move. You can pok it until dawn and you still won't kill it," Carlo said. "Chop it."

Isaac scanned the zombie's body. The thing was wrapped in strips of cloth of unknown material, with almost no exposed parts. Fortunately, there were gaps at the joints that revealed grayish-white skin, which should be a "starting point".

The walker charged again, swinging its axe. Isaac dodged backward, the axe blade slicing through the air. Taking advantage of the walker's missed attack, he discarded the sheath of his staff in his left hand and grabbed the walker's wrist.

The sword felt dry and hard to the touch, like holding a piece of dead wood. Isaac tightened his grip, swung the sword, and slashed at the gap in the cloth strip at his elbow.

The sword cut through the shriveled flesh, got stuck in the bone, and only severed half of it.

The zombie exerted its strength, trying to pull its gripped wrist back. The force was astonishing; if Isaac hadn't been prepared, it would have almost broken free.

This thing looks shriveled, but it's surprisingly strong... Isaac steadied himself and swung his sword at the wound again.

This time it cut solidly through the flesh and bone. Isaac loosened his grip, and the walker's forearm, along with the axe it was holding, fell to the ground. There was no blood at the cut, and the grayish-white tissue was exposed.

Without weapons, the threat was significantly reduced. Isaac had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the walker stop attacking and turn to run towards the window, seemingly having received an order from its controller.

Isaac reacted quickly, lunging forward and slamming his shoulder into the walker's back, knocking it to the ground.

After the walker fell to the ground, it was still struggling, its other arm flailing wildly. Isaac, who was pressing down on it, simply stabbed the arm through the elbow joint with his sword, pinning it to the ground. Then, with a twist of his wrist, he pried open the joint and severed the arm as well.

The zombie, having lost both arms, writhed on the ground like a maggot in a state of impotent rage, no longer posing a threat.

Isaac took a breath and pulled the sword that was nailed into the wooden floor.

This sword is quite useful. It didn't break even after repeatedly slashing bones. It didn't break even after the last strike. I wonder who Carlo had it made.

At that moment, he noticed a figure standing outside the living room window.

The man seemed surprised that the battle inside the house had ended so quickly. He only came to his senses when he saw Isaac looking over and raised the gun in his hand.

"Can Isaac Lessing dodge the incoming bullets? Check score 80, Dexterity bonus 12, final score 92... Oh, such a high success rate?"

The phantom image of the dice appears: 48. Check successful.

Time slowed down a few seconds as before, but Isaac's movements were unaffected. He sprang to his feet, bullets flying past, but he didn't pause. He pressed himself against the wall by the window to avoid possible follow-up shots.