Alone in his room, Mike realized: all fear stems from insufficient firepower.
When he was in Devil's Kettle, Mike had played with a shotgun on his family's estate for a while. His Level 2 shooting skill was enough to hit targets at close range.
The problem now was where to find a large-caliber firearm.
Although Texas has a fierce folk custom, not every household hides firearms. And because of the danger of firearms, control is very strict, and ordinary people simply cannot access them.
After thinking it over, Mike called Lina.
Mike figured that Lina's family, owning such a large ranch, was the most likely to possess defensive weapons.
He had only intended to probe, but to his surprise, Lina gave Mike a pleasant surprise.
After noon, at the hottest time of day, a girl wrapped very tightly, carrying a long black bag, found Connie's door and knocked.
"You are... Lina..." The door opened, and Connie recognized the beautiful girl in front of her. She warmly invited, "Come in and sit, rest for a bit—"
Lina was carrying dangerous goods, and she seemed very reserved about Grandma Connie's enthusiasm, constantly glancing behind her.
She looked as if she were a thief.
Connie saw Lina's nervous expression and greeted, "You're here for Mike, aren't you? I'll go call him right now."
In Connie's eyes, the girl's strange outfit and nervous expression must mean she had secretly snuck out of her house to meet Mike.
With an aunt's smile, she felt she had grasped the girl's intentions.
"Mike— Come out, someone's looking for you!"
In his room, Mike also heard the commotion at the door and walked out.
Seeing Mike, Lina's expression relaxed, as if she had found her backbone.
Connie saw all the changes in the girl's expression. She surveyed the two young people in the room a few times. Then, she suddenly realized: "Oh, Grandma almost forgot, I still have to go to the bowling alley today. Mike, I'm leaving the house to you..."
Saying that, she picked up her sun hat and sunglasses from the coat rack, then turned and winked at Mike before leaving the house gracefully.
"Phew—"
It wasn't until Connie's figure disappeared that Lina let out a heavy sigh; she had been too nervous.
Then, she took the long backpack off her back and unzipped it: "Mike, I found what you wanted. It was hidden in my father's storage room..."
Lina's family ranch didn't actually need weapons. The double-barreled shotgun in the package had been collecting dust in the storage room for a long time.
While Lina was introducing the weapon, Mike took a few steps forward and hugged her from behind, his nose catching the girl's unique scent.
This was more like it. Compared to the stench on Selena, the fresh scent on the girl right now was a pure enjoyment for Mike.
"No... Mike..." Lina said shyly, "I need to go back quickly, otherwise, it won't be good if my mother finds out I snuck out."
"Lina, you know what? You truly smell wonderful..." Mike praised.
At the same time, Lina resisted slightly twice, and finally chose to give in.
"Not... here..." Lina's soft voice sounded very comfortable.
"Okay—" Mike carried the girl and strode back to his room.
Because she was in a hurry, this time, Lina was even more proactive than yesterday.
More than half an hour later, Lina wrapped herself up tightly again and left Grandma Connie's.
...
During his break, Mike integrated several light clusters into his body.
Then, he unexpectedly found an additional skill in the system's skill bar.
[Holy Gun Lv1 (66/100)]
Then, Mike, having recovered, quickly went to the living room and brought the long package back to his room.
Inside the package was an old double-barreled shotgun. It weighed less than two kilograms, and the grip and barrel showed slight wear, but it did not affect its use.
The 18mm caliber was enough to demonstrate the power of this shotgun.
Even the fiercest beast probably couldn't withstand a single round of its firing.
As the saying goes: before a shotgun, all beings are equal.
After familiarizing himself with the weapon in his hand, Mike felt confident. If he had had this thing earlier, he wouldn't have chickened out at all.
...
Time flew by, and it was Monday.
Due to the inter-school football game schedule, the Medford High football team had to play an away game this time.
With the farewells of their schoolmates, the football team members and cheerleaders boarded the bus and embarked on their journey to other high schools.
The information collected by George showed that although this round's opponent was a public high school, their strength was not very strong.
Moreover, to be safe, George also arranged a dual-core tactic before the game started.
The quarterback as the fortress, the running back as the spear.
Mike's tactical position was elevated in this game.
Of course, Mike did not disappoint George; he helped Medford High achieve another big victory with his excellent performance.
In the following days, the football team members, who had achieved two consecutive victories, were warmly treated by all the students in the school.
Among them, due to Mike's handsome appearance and the elevation of his tactical position, the school even hung a giant poster for him.
This was just on the surface; privately, who knew how many girls were collecting candid photos of Mike during games.
And the negatives of these photos were jointly launched by Mike and local reporter Jack.
This action not only enriched Mike's wallet but also allowed Jack to earn a lot of extra money, which was a win-win.
With this trend, even boys in the school who hadn't paid much attention to Mike before now enthusiastically approached him to get close when they saw him.
For a time, Mike's popularity at school reached its peak, surpassing the "Queen Bee" of The Plastics and becoming the most popular person in the entire school.
...
This morning, during training, Mike approached George.
"Coach, I'd like to ask for one class period to go to chemistry class," Mike said.
In fact, after Mike's physique reached 160, the ordinary training intensity made it difficult for him to achieve qualitative improvements.
Instead of wasting time on the field, Mike planned to go to the chemistry lab to get some strong corrosive liquids like strong sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid to make aqua regia.
Mike thought that corrosive physical attacks should give the Vampire a surprise.
However, in George's opinion, Mike should intensify his training now to prepare for next week's third consecutive win.
Nevertheless, considering Mike's contributions to the team in the two games, George still chose to give him a backdoor.
After getting the coach's permission, Mike went to the changing room, changed into his casual clothes, and went directly to the chemistry lab.