“System Autopilot Deactivating…?” This was my first time seeing this particular message show up on the interface. I had no idea what it meant at first but after taking a look around my surrounding I realized that the System might have had something to do with all the dead bodies.

Over 20 gangsters were sprawled out on the floor with their flesh melted off their bones. I thought I was in a soup factory with humans as the main ingredient. You should have been there to see these bodies in person, it was sickening to the stomach. The raw stench of their cooked flesh attracted numerous flies from out of nowhere.

“What the fuck!”

As I was stepping over the bodies, trying to understand what had occurred while I was out, a gangster who was farthest to the back of the underground base gave off a shrieking cry that caught my attention. At a glance, I could tell that he witnessed what happened a minute ago because he looked terrified.

“What the fuck kind of monster are you?” After shouting this question in my ear, the thug didn’t stick around to hear my answer, he and some other gangsters got into the boats then started speeding away down the water canal.

“Hey, why the rush? The party is just getting started.” I called out to the gangsters to get them to stick around to entertain me some more, but they allowed their fears to get the better of them.

“I’ll give you guys a head start.” I was going to hold true to my word and allowed those desperate Red Ants to escape my tyranny, however, when I looked further down the canal and saw Rodent, Big Red and 2 other punks getting away in one of the floating vessels, I couldn’t stay steady any more.

“Rodent you traitor!” I hollered that backstabber's name hotly to let him know that I was coming for him, but first I needed to replenish my depleted Blood Bank. I ran around the space for a minute collecting enough Rubik’s Blood Cubes to increase my Blood Bank to 60%.

“This should be enough to sustain me.” When I was juiced up again, I immediately gave chase to the multiple vessels that were speeding down the canal.

These bastards were revving their engines like crazy. I had to utilize Smoke Dash twice just to get on board the closest boat. “Come here you fuckers!” My arrival made them start to leak in their pants.

“He’s on board!”

“Somebody put a bullet in that freak!”

“We’ve tried that before! He’s impervious to lead!”

“Don’t just cower and do nothing, otherwise, he’ll kill us all!”

“Come at me!” I awaited their desperate attempt to lengthen their life expectancy beyond a few seconds. These gangsters did the same old thing, trying to assassinate me with their shower of bullets. I didn’t waste resources using my Rigid Body skill to block them. Instead, I dashed to the second vessel ahead that was carrying a crate of guns that they forget to unload.

I broke through the largest box and picked up a heavy machine gun. When I felt that chunky metal weighing down my shoulders, I couldn’t help myself but release the tension and what better way to do this other than unloading the tall rounds into the gangsters?

Bam! Bam! Bam!

As the barrels began to spin, I witnessed a wild bullet storm tearing through the men behind me along with their vessel. “How do you like the taste of your own medicine?” My vociferous inquiry received no response other than the shrieking voices after the vessel went up in flames.

Boom!

The explosion of that boat caught the attention of the others ahead of it. They were 3 vessels in total speeding down the canal. The one that exploded, the one I was currently on and the one in the lead where the object of my vengeance was occupying.

Eventually, the boats transitioned out of the canal into the open seas where there was more room for escaping. The boats broke away from the straight line and began traversing in separate directions. I knew I had to act quickly if I wanted to catch up with the lead boat.

“This gun has been maxed out.” Now that there was no more ammo in the chamber, I threw down the machine gun on the floor and swiftly massacred everyone who was on board that vessel. I ran through their corpses like a lawnmower. I wasn’t even sure if I killed every single person, but they would drown for sure or get eaten by some fish with the bloody injuries I gave them.

“I’ve had enough fun squashing ants. It’s time I bleed a rodent!” With this thought of revenge festering in my mind, I ran to the very back of the vessel that was closer to the boat where Rodent, Big Red and 2 more gangsters were present.

The distance between us was 130 metres and increasing so I had not enough time to dally around. I quickly checked my status to see if the only skill I had in my arsenal that could get me there was ready.

This message was music to my ears. I jumped off the boat and quickly activated the Smoke Dash skill. I became so light and blurry that I was speeding across the water like a Jesus lizard. In no time at all, I got within audible range of my target and I could hear the trepidation sounding from their mouths.

“Holy fuck, Rodent! You were right about Smoke Pac! He’s a bloody monster!” Big Red was jittery to his core.

“I told you he was different.” Rodent supported his claim with assertive reasoning. “No regular human can move across the water like he is. That fucker is even more stylish than our lord, Jesus Christ!”

“Your lord perhaps but not mine.” Said one of the weapon dealers correcting Rodent’s statement. “The only thing I worship is pussy and this gun right here.” He aimed his gun at me with such fierceness that I felt his bullet before he even pulled the trigger.

“Can’t this shitty boat go any faster? Smoke Pac is catching up!” Shouted Rodent to the other weapon dealer who was steering the boat.

“I’m going as fast as we can. Why don’t you shut the fuck up and do something to slow his ass down. There are some big guns in the crates where you are standing. Make use of them.”

“He’s right. We can’t let that dead man feel as if he has us beat.” Big Red popped open a crate and took out a grenade launcher. As for Rodent, I saw him scurrying to the front of the boat.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

They started firing their heavy artillery at me. I did my best to shift out of their trajectory but the splashes of the water got me wet and dampened the effects of my smokes.

“I see. So water is the bane of this skill?” After I figured this out, I knew I had to get on board that vessel, otherwise, I might drown out there.

Because Smoke Dash was already active, I couldn’t use it until it became inactive then cooled down. But if this happened, then I would have lost impetus and sunk beneath the water. My predicament prompted me to check my ability window. It was then that I paid attention to the new item I gained in my inventory.

“What is this?” I didn’t have time to peruse the info log so I quickly clicked on the item. Immediately after doing this, a jumbo size cigar that was shaped similar to the rocket I absorbed appeared in my hand.

It puzzled me at first how to use it. Should I throw it forward or should I break it? These were the questions that came to mind. Next, I intuitively placed the tip of the cigar in my mouth. The end ignited automatically. As the fumes began to occupy my tainted lungs, the aperture in my chest burst open and began exuding a vast amount of crimson smoke that carried a poignant scent.

“What the fuck is happening now? I can hardly see Smoke Pac. That red mist is obscuring my vision!” Big Red was frightened to his bones. He along with the others received a double dosage of fear when I landed on the deck before them.

“Surprise to see me?” My voice sounded muffled because of the fat cig I had grasped between my lips. My sinister greeting made Big Red and the weapon smuggler dropped their weapons and retreated a couple of steps.

“Where are you going?” The moment I reached out to grab their necks, I discovered that I was grasping their spines.

“The hell? How did this happen?” I observed further and realized that the red fumes that were oozing out from my body had somehow poisoned these men with excessive cancer. A cancer so potent that it deteriorated their bodies in a matter of seconds after making contact.

After I blinked and looked below me, all I saw was a puddle of blood and melted flesh dripping off of decaying bones. This was the same for the other smuggler upfront. He had become a rotten corpse hanging from the steering wheel. The only one that escaped my gaze was Rodent.

“Where are you hiding, Rodent?” I followed the trail to the front of the boat where I saw another puddle of blood with only a rotten leg lying there. “So my cancer reached this far?”

I concluded that my revenge had been carried out on these bastards. It wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it would be mainly because I didn’t get to rip open Rodent’s chest with my bare hands. Had I known beforehand what the Devil’s Cigar was about, I probably wouldn’t have used it.

‘Inhale… exhale…’ I took one last puff of my cig before tossing it into the water.

--Info--

>> Increase smoke vapour output by 5%

--Info--

>> Increased skill points earned by 5%

>> Strength and stamina increased by 5%

>> Damage effect doubled