Click.

  Slayer pulled the trigger of his shotgun again.

  But this time, instead of the crisp sound of firing, there was an awkward hollow click from the barrel.

  Out of ammo.

  This Super Shotgun, which had accompanied him through years of warfare, possessed immense power, but its ammo consumption was equally staggering. After the "Meng Po Soup Carnival" just now, the last two shells had been delivered into the body of an unlucky skeleton soldier.

  Slayer frowned. He habitually reached for ammo from the dimensional pocket on his back, but grabbed nothing.

  This was the Underworld, not his Mars base. There was no UAC armory here, nor were there red ammo crates scattered on the ground.

  Although he could use his fists (there was no doubt about that), for some mobs that needed to be cleared from a distance, having no gun did reduce efficiency.

  Slayer stopped, turning his head to look at the "Mobile Warehouse" following his ass—Daoist Singularity.

  Singularity was carrying two large gunny sacks, tired enough that his tongue was practically hanging out. Seeing the Boss turn back, he immediately guarded his sacks alertly: "What? These are Soul Energy Orbs, you can't eat them! And there are no bullets either, I'm not an arms dealer!"

  Slayer pointed at the gun, then pointed at the ground.

  Scattered on the ground were several empty shell casings that had just been ejected, still steaming hot.

  Singularity paused for a moment, then understood.

  "You want... bullets?" Singularity put down the sacks, walked over, and picked up a massive brass shell casing.

  The size of this casing made Singularity click his tongue; it was thicker than an average person's wrist. This wasn't a gun; it was practically a handheld cannon.

  "No gunpowder, no primer, and no lead shot..." Singularity rubbed his chin, a glint flashing in his eyes. "But... I have Daoist magic."

  As a Celestial Court-certified Artifact Refining Master, Singularity's occupational disease kicked in. He had wanted to get his hands on this weapon full of violent aesthetics for a while now.

  "Let me see the gun." Singularity extended his hand.

  Slayer hesitated for 0.01 seconds, then handed over the shotgun that was powerful enough to blast an elephant to pieces.

  Singularity took the gun, its weight almost throwing out his back. "Good lord, what alloy is this made of? Such high density?"

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  He quickly activated his "Analysis Glasses" to scan the gun's structure.

  [Structure Analysis: Break-action double-barrel mechanism.]

  [Material: Mars Reinforced Steel (Unknown Alloy).]

  [Evaluation: Simple structure, durable. But lacks spirituality, and can only fire physical projectiles.]

  "Too primitive." Singularity shook his head, but a smile of excitement appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Using such a good base only to fire lead shot is a waste of heavenly treasures. Big Boss, give me three minutes, I'll show you a magic trick."

  Singularity sat down cross-legged.

  He pulled out a handful of the "Demon Bone Powder" (a top-tier Fire element material) he had just picked up from the sack, and a few pieces of "High-Purity Soul Energy Crystals" (the blue balls he picked up earlier).

  "Mysterious Clan of Heaven and Earth, Root of Ten Thousand Qi. Refine!"

  The multi-functional stylus in Singularity's hand danced rapidly in the air.

  He filled the empty shell casings with Demon Bone Powder; this stuff had ten times the explosive power of ordinary black powder.

  Then, he didn't load lead shot. Instead, he picked up a blue Soul Energy Crystal and, using the tip of his pen, micro-carved an extremely complex miniature array on it—[Demon-Breaking Rune].

  "The demons here are all spirit bodies; ordinary physical attacks can only disperse them, not destroy their source." Singularity muttered as he worked. "But if I enchant the bullets..."

  Finally, he stuffed the rune-carved crystal into the shell casing and sealed it.

  Two custom-made "Rune Burst Shells" were complete.

  The surface of the shell casings flowed with a faint blue light, faintly revealing a heart-palpitating fluctuation of mana.

  "Here." Singularity handed the ammo and the gun back to Slayer. "Try this. I call it... 'Physical Salvation Ammo'."

  Slayer took the ammo. He could feel the energy contained within these two shells; it was a power purer and more unstable than ordinary gunpowder.

  He expertly loaded the shells into the chamber.

  Ka-chunk. Loaded.

  Just then, from behind a giant rock ahead, a "Soul Harvester" (a semi-corporeal ghost-type demon) that had been hiding for a long time poked its head out. This kind of monster had extremely high physical immunity and usually took Black and White Impermanence half a day to beat with their Mourning Sticks.

  Slayer raised the gun, aimed.

  BANG!

  The sound of this shot changed. It was no longer a dull explosion, but a crisp roar like thunder.

  What spewed from the muzzle wasn't flame, but a blinding beam of blue runic light.

  That beam hit the Soul Harvester instantly.

  There was no flesh and blood flying.

  The moment the Soul Harvester touched the beam, it let out a scream of absolute despair, and the malevolent aura inside its body was instantly detonated by the runic power.

  BOOM!

  The Soul Harvester exploded directly into a brilliant blue firework. Not only its body, but even its soul imprint was thoroughly erased (salvaged) by this shot.

  Even the giant rock behind it was blasted with a smooth, smoking hole.

  Slayer looked at the smoking muzzle, then at the big hole in the distance.

  Although his expression was invisible, Singularity saw Slayer's helmet nod slightly.

  This was approval.

  Slayer turned to look at Singularity, reached out his hand, and pointed at the pile of Demon Bone Powder and Soul Energy Crystals in Singularity's sack.

  The meaning was obvious: More. Make more.

  Singularity smiled. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and climbed up from the ground.

  "No problem, Daddy Client." Singularity patted his chest. "As long as you have the materials, I'll roll as many as you want. Armor-piercing, incendiary, freezing... even tracking rounds, this humble Daoist can whip them up for you!"

  "The end of science is metaphysics? No, the end of metaphysics is... the Military-Industrial Complex."

  Slayer hoisted the super shotgun that had just been "consecrated" and strode forward.

  From now on, what the demons of the Underworld would face were no longer simple lead bullets.

  But Rune Tech... with magic penetration, true damage, and critical hits against spirits.