America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

Chapter 143: The Jersey Devil and Seraphina's Arsenal

"You said this is your manor?"

Parking the car in front of a closed bronze iron door, Li Xiaoen looked around and couldn't help but turned back and asked in disbelief.

The truth is, the place they are in now is too desolate and uninhabited. The surrounding area is full of greenery with vines and tree branches growing wildly. The only place with a little human civilization is the white two-story mansion in the distance that can be seen through the hollow of the iron gate. The decoration style of the mansion is classical, with a bit of the old-fashioned simplicity of the old times.

Even on the current mobile phone navigation map, the location cursor is currently in an unmarked green area - following Seraphina's instructions, he turned onto a branch road on a country road called Leektown Spur. The road was rarely traveled and he passed through a dense underbrush before arriving here.

"Yeah, what's the problem?"

Seraphina reached into the large bag of potato chips in Mary's arms and grabbed a handful of chips. She picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, chewing it with a crisp sound. "Oh, yes, I forgot to call Uncle Henry to open the door."

As she spoke, Seraphina tried to pick up her phone, only to find her hands were covered in potato chip crumbs. She arched her back toward Sufeier and said, "Sufeier, please call Uncle Henry for me."

"You should have thought of this earlier."

Sufeil's brows furrowed slightly, and he responded helplessly, picking up his phone and dialing quickly.

She really couldn't stand the damp and cool air in the jungle, and it felt much better when she entered the manor which had been cleared into a flat land.

"Are you all not surprised?"

Seeing Sufei and Mary in the back seat looking calm, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and looked at Victoria beside him. He finally found a sense of resonance in the girl's curious gaze around her.

"Victoria, is this your first time here too?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Victoria looked over and nodded. "You need a shooting range to practice with your gun. Naturally, Seraphina's house is the best place for that."

"Ha ha……"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen smiled strangely, pointing to the endless jungle around him that was deserted and stretched as far as the eye could see, shaking his head and sighing, "It fits, it fits perfectly. In a place like this, even if someone were to be killed, no one would see or hear it."

"If you didn't know, you might think this was some vampire count hiding in the woods to avoid human detection."

"You have a good imagination."

Victoria rolled her eyes at the boy's serious boasting. "I believe you can create a work more imaginative than Kafka's Metamorphosis."

"Thank you for the compliment, Victoria."

Li Xiaoen nodded and sighed, "Unfortunately, I don't have any plans to develop in the direction of literature. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"Do not."

After refuting it, Victoria turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, a disaster has been avoided in the world of literature."

"Heyheyhey, Victoria, aren't you going too far?"

Li Xiaoen quickly spoke up, one hand on the steering wheel, "I could write very good essays in middle school."

"is it?"

Victoria pursed her red lips and smiled. "I don't believe it. When you have time, why don't you write an article yourself about our trip? Just a short one will do."

Li Xiaoen: "..."

He hasn't written a narrative essay or travelogue for a long time. When he was in high school, he always wrote argumentative essays based on the college entrance examination requirements. Can such a high score be considered good literary talent?

Li Xiaoen felt strange in his heart and waved his hand, "We'll talk about it later, when we have time."

"Humph……"

Victoria snorted in laughter when she heard this. She didn't say anything, but just smiled at the young man silently. The meaning was self-evident.

As expected, he shouldn't have mentioned such things as literary talent to this girl who loved classical literature.

Li Xiaoen felt helpless and looked over at those smiling eyes. "Victoria, do you know the Jersey Devil?"

"what is this?"

Victoria frowned and looked at the young man with caution. Whenever this happened, the other party would always find various methods or words to tease her.

"You don't know, let me tell you."

Although he didn't know that the other person, an American, didn't know about the legend of New Jersey, Li Xiaoen didn't think much about it and murmured, "It's a two-legged ungulate flying creature, 1 to 1.8 meters long, covered in black hair, with a horse-like head, deep red eyes, and bat-like wings. It often haunts the pine peatlands of southern New Jersey."

"Yes, it's our area."

After laughing twice, Li Xiaoen continued, "I read several victims' stories online. The demon likes to prey on pretty girls."

"You still have this habit?"

The first part of the story seemed reasonable, but Li Xiaoen's last part made Victoria smile strangely. "Could this urban legend be written by someone who got rejected by a girl and then got angry and embarrassed?"

She had only just arrived in America two months ago. Britain and America share the same cultural origin, and she didn't know much about these local American legends. However, Li Xiaoen, a Chinese student, knew more about them than she did.

It felt like I was being scolded in a roundabout way.

Li Xiaoen muttered to himself and explained, "I learned this from some movies I watched when I was learning English."

"I'm copying the Wikipedia introduction, but please indicate the source, okay?"

Just as he finished speaking, Sufeier's cold and contemptuous voice came from behind the car, "Also, don't add other fabricated things for your own dark purposes, and mix lies with the truth."

"Oh……"

Victoria nodded in sudden realization and looked at the young man next to her mischievously, "I think Sufeil is right. What do you think, Sean?"

"..."

For no apparent reason, we were besieged again.

Li Xiaoen's mind was working rapidly. Just as he was about to speak, Seraphina behind him interrupted him impatiently.

"No matter if it's fake or not, if you dare, take the bullet. No creature can withstand one bullet. If there is, then take two!"

"Add one condition: hit the vital point."

Avoiding the intriguing gazes of Victoria and the other two girls, Li Xiaoen looked back and saw Seraphina sitting in the back seat, her hand raised high, tightly gripping a silver-white pistol. He couldn't help but be stunned.

"Seraphina, do you carry a gun?"

"I just brought it today. Is there a problem?"

Seraphina nodded, but frowned as she looked over.

"Did I say anything to stop it?"

Li Xiaoen really didn't know what to say. He was really troubled by the idea of ​​these girls being together. It would be better to be alone with them and defeat them one by one. Shaking his head, Li Xiaoen reached out his hand to the other party: "Seraphina, can you lend me that gun?"

"you want?"

Seraphina glanced at the pistol in her hand and gave a mischievous smile, "Please call me sir!"

Is there something wrong with his attitude towards those girls?

Li Xiaoen immediately deflated, withdrew his hand and fell into deep thought.

"Sean, how are you thinking about it?"

Seraphina refused to give in. She held back her laughter and patted Li Xiaoen on the shoulder. "Actually, I'm your superior since I taught you how to shoot."

Without following the other party's suggestion, Li Xiaoen silently turned around and looked forward, and finally saw a four-wheeled car with a fully open sunroof driving out of the white villa.

"I have to teach you anyway, but you won't even call me 'sir'?"

Seeing that she was ignored by Li Xiaoen, Seraphina pushed his shoulder in dissatisfaction.

"Serafina..."

The car drove to the iron gate, and a tall and strong middle-aged man with scabbed scars on the corners of his eyes came down from it. He shouted, and Seraphina quickly withdrew her hand.

"The gun in your hand."

The man's aura was somewhat serious and heavy. While opening the iron gate, he made another sound, asking Seraphina to put the gun back obediently. This scene made Li Xiaoen open his eyes wide.

"Suphir, Mary, Miss Victoria..."

Only now did the man nod and greet the other girls, then looked over and said, "This is..."

"Li Xiaoen, you can call me Xiaoen."

The other party only addressed Victoria in a rather formal and polite manner. Li Xiaoen, with subtle thoughts, got out of the car, introduced himself, and extended his hand. "I'm a classmate of Seraphina's. She brought me here because she wanted to practice shooting."

"Henry, Seraphina's uncle."

Henry looked up and down in surprise at the young Chinese man who was taller than him, and stretched out his hand.

When the two hands were clasped together, the first feeling was as rough as sandpaper, and then there was a slowly increasing force tightening around them. Li Xiaoen couldn't help but frown and hold up his palms to resist.

Without having time to think any more, the man took the initiative to let go of his hand, raised his hand and patted Li Xiaoen's shoulder. A smile finally appeared on his old-fashioned face. "Young man, you have a good physique, but you need to exercise more."

Is this a temptation?
Li Xiaoen thought to himself, smiled and nodded in response.

Driving into the manor under the other party's guidance, Li Xiaoen and his companions just looked around curiously at the scenery and facilities inside when Henry said goodbye and drove away alone in an off-road vehicle.

"Ah—free at last..."

Seraphina howled loudly towards the sky, and the others looked at each other in confusion.

"Uncle Seraphina is the head of their security training camp. He's usually quite strict with everyone and everything."

Seeing Li Xiaoen and Victoria looking over curiously, Sufeier explained, "Henry has never liked Seraphina getting too involved in military and security matters."

"Is this a protection for her?" Li Xiaoen raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Logically speaking, the thinking of the head of a family from the military or a security company would not be so pedantic that he would insist on his daughter breaking away from the family business and becoming a vase.

"They want Seraphina to pursue a career in business." Sufeier looked at Li Xiaoen meaningfully.

"I see."

Li Xiaoen nodded seriously, and couldn't help but look at Su Feier and several other rich girls.

Being able to gain a foothold in the capitalist empire of America and even reach such a high position, the head of their family is naturally not a fool. While maintaining the original industrial foundation, they will take the initiative to seek development in other industries and fields in order to stabilize the family status and even go further.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows. Even rabbits understand this principle, so there is no way these cunning people will not understand it.

Seraphina's family is a family that has transformed from a violent industry to a business, what about Sufir's?
Li Xiaoen pondered in his mind, and suddenly remembered that the other party had asked him to invite Professor Sedgewick. His guess was correct. The Sufeil family's industry should be a traditional industry, and high-tech new industries such as computers are just seeking upgrading and development.

Thinking of this, Li Xiaoen looked at Sufeier with some inexplicable meaning. The girl was stunned for a moment when she met his gaze, and turned to look at the flat grassland outside the mansion.

This proud American lady seemed to have specifically explained to him the situation of her class.

"Sean, come on, I'll take you to see something nice!"

At this moment, Seraphina pulled his shoulder and led everyone into the mansion, through a spacious and bright hall, and to a locked room.

They weren't the only five people in the manor. In the first-floor living room, a middle-aged man in a black suit and three young women in maid outfits stood quietly waiting. Outside, on the lawn, he could vaguely see several figures coming and going, tending to the various facilities.

It was more like Serafina's uncle Henry's house than her own.

Li Xiaoen thought to himself, or maybe it was a base for their family to train security personnel?
His eyes were still on the maids in the living room. He heard the sound of a door unlocking behind him, and Li Xiaoen turned around to look.

The door was opened, revealing a dazzling array of firearms neatly displayed inside. Li Xiaoen couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Ha ha……"

Satisfied with Li Xiaoen's look, Seraphina raised her chin proudly, "Here we have pistols, pocket pistols, rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, grenades, howitzers, military daggers, brass knuckles, etc. You can try any one of them."

"What the hell..."

Li Xiaoen walked into the room and looked at the rows of shelves inside. Then he suddenly realized that it would be more appropriate to call this an armory rather than a room.

He even saw things like rocket launchers and anti-tank mines.

"Isn't your family security?"

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but look at Seraphina, "Are these things useful?"

Compared with other countries, security companies in the "free country" of America are undoubtedly more dangerous. It is natural that they involve dangerous firearms, but rocket launchers and other weapons are obviously only encountered in wars and armed conflicts.

"I generally don't use it, so I bought it specifically for my collection."

Seraphina showed a proud expression. "You can try it if you want. I'll have someone teach you how to use it."

"Forget it then."

Li Xiaoen shook his head and refused. He might be a little curious, but this curiosity could only be satisfied when conditions allowed in the future.

It's not like he's going to the battlefield the next day, so it's useless for him to get in touch with these things that are unique to war now. It would be better for him to concentrate on studying pistols first, which is more suitable for his current situation.

"Seraphina, is there a Desert Eagle?"

Li Xiaoen turned his head to look at Seraphina, his eyes burning with passion.

(End of this chapter)