The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

"Back off!"

Zheng Kui did not hesitate at all.

He retracted his fist, stepped back, and fully opened the pressure relief valve of his exoskeleton. Like a swift skimming the water, he darted back to the side of his brothers who were slowly retreating into the company or nearby buildings, just past the edge of Mike's missed claw blade.

Mike was extremely excited. The penetrating wound in his right shoulder had stopped bleeding. In the short time Zheng Kui had to retreat, he had already caught a company brother who was lying in ambush in a nearby house and had no time to retreat.

"Pfft..." The right hand, which was already extremely weak, lashed out with its claws. The steel claws with pipes hidden on the side spewed out steam, instantly tearing apart the flesh that had already been cut open.

Blood gushed out of the wound in large quantities, making for a particularly gruesome scene.

At the same time, his gaze was not on the brother he had pinned down; his eyes were fixed on the street, where the blood-stained silver teeth were pointed.

Behind the steam car door, where the hydraulic rod had been broken by a bullet, the two amber halos moved forward one step.

But those weren't eyes; they were beams of light tearing through the fog.

"Crack..." The extremely sharp claws pressed down on the car frame, leaving a white mark on the steel.

A steam hound with a torso riveted from cast iron and cold-rolled steel sheets, limbs forged from steel, military-grade hydraulic joints, and steam pipelines, slowly extended its claws outwards.

Military fox-type steam hound, technical equipment directly under the Royal Army Steam Equipment Research Division.

It is nearly two meters long, with a shoulder height level with an average person's chest, and weighs 320 pounds, or nearly 150 kilograms.

Relying on wireless signal transmission, it issues simple commands and has more than fifty preset combat modes. The biting force of the hydraulic jaws is enough to completely crush the femur of an adult male within 0.5 seconds.

"Holy crap...Are these guys insane?"

In the shadows inside the car, after the first hound stepped out, two, then three.

Finally, all four steam hounds activated the amber fog lights one by one amidst the exhaust sound of the steam cylinders.

A brief silence fell over the crowd as the brothers slowly retreated into the building, paying their respects to Harold's great-grandmother.

The steam-powered equipment they acquired was for police use; it was only permitted for civilian use by special organizations in exceptional circumstances.

However, steam-powered hunting dogs like these are strictly prohibited items. They are also very rare and strictly controlled equipment, even within the military.

Even if these hunting dogs are covered in wounds and have missing modules or armor, they are likely second-hand or defective products discarded from somewhere, which are still extremely fierce weapons.

Standing at the company entrance, Mr. Chen, whose brothers were hiding behind him as he entered the company, was enveloped in the biting cold wind.

After seeing these things, his lung disease seemed to worsen.

However, as steam slowly rose from the hunting dog, Boss Chen merely waved his cane gently, turning and retreating into the company as he said:

"superior."

………………

Meanwhile, in an abandoned building near the company, a bolt-action rifle swayed back and forth, but ultimately, the back of a thug's head could not be found.

These guys are shrewd. The streets of Whitechapel are complicated. The main thing is to identify key locations. There are plenty of places where they can completely hide.

Especially after the appearance of the Steam Hound, the company brothers retreated into the building, and the bunkers and shops on the nearby streets were exceptionally empty. The only targets that could be sniped were those few extremely heavy, bulletproof iron lumps.

"Tap tap tap..." The footsteps of about ten people slowly approached the rooftop from inside the abandoned building.

This is an abandoned apartment building. The structure, including the stairs and rooms, is still intact. You can't go to the roof, so you can only snipe from the rooms on the top floor.

They had already identified the sniping spot, and upon arriving, they promptly took cover outside the room.

"This old guy might have a handgun at hand; he's a very good shot. You have to protect your head when you go in. But he's old and slow, so he only has one magazine at most."

These men leaned against the dilapidated door, clutching pistols and daggers in their hands.

Without hesitating for long at the door, the leader turned around, decisively walked to the door, and kicked the wooden door hard.

The gun barrels of a large number of thugs around the house were also pointed at the inside.

"Bang!" The wooden door was kicked open hard by a pair of hard-soled boots.

But at the same time, another gunshot rang out, even louder!

Suddenly, a large ball of flame spewed out from inside the door, and a large number of projectiles pierced through the door panel, carrying countless wood chips and air distorted by the flames, directly hitting the thug who kicked the door.

The thug's flesh and blood exploded and splattered everywhere, and then he was blasted away by the violent impact.

"!??!" The thugs outside the door were stunned into silence by the loud gunshot and the blood splattered on them.

Before they could react, they heard a clang.

Two metal can-like objects rolled out of the door, tumbled slightly in the hallway, and then began to hiss...

Thick, grayish-white smoke began to billow violently, covering most of the corridor on this floor in the blink of an eye.

"Not good!" Several thugs who were close to the door rushed towards it. The thick smoke had already obscured most of their vision. If they didn't act soon, they wouldn't be able to find the people inside.

Inside the door, at that moment, came a crisp, mechanical clicking sound: "Click-clack."

"Bang!" Another large ball of flame, carrying countless high-temperature metal projectiles, directly shattered half of the thug's body at the door, and injured several other thugs around him as well.

"Ah!!!" Several thugs who had fallen to the ground let out chilling screams in the thick fog.

The thick fog gushing from the two metal canisters was still slowly spreading, beginning to drift towards both sides of the corridor.

The thugs on both sides were immediately terrified and retreated helplessly, and began firing into the fog without regard for their companions.

"Bang bang..." Scattered gunshots echoed in the corridor.

But then, from within the fog, came a crackling sound.

"Bang!" On one side of the corridor, another thug was beaten to a bloody pulp.

In addition, countless stray bullets flew out and hit the rear, immediately suppressing the crowd.

Amidst the smoke, Zhang Chang'an, wearing thick cowhide goggles with brass frames and polished orange lenses, held a pump-action shotgun and flashed a healthy smile at the crowd.

[Lighthouse Tactical Eyepiece]: Utilizes polarized mica sheets to enhance light filtering, allowing for clear vision of close-up objects in fog. Special equipment.

The frames have ventilation holes and are specially treated to withstand strong light.

Combined with Zhang Chang'an's unique eagle-eye four-color vision, he was fearless even when moving through smoke.

What he just used was a [Smoked Herring Portable Smoke Stick], a three-inch copper tube with a pull ring, filled with a mixture of whale oil tar and saltpeter. When lit, the smoke it emitted not only had low visibility but also a strong odor.

Of course, the most important thing is the Winchester M1887 in his hand, a famous lever shotgun, one of the standard weapons of the tough guys in the West.

However, few people know that Browning, the weapons designer who later created the M1911 pistol, once suggested that the company design the gun as a pump-action mechanism.

This suggestion, though unsuccessful, led to the creation of the future M1893 pump-action shotgun.

By this time, prototype models had already been produced and had entered Chamberlain's warehouse, where he had extensive connections, and ended up in his hands.