"Screw your gavel!"
The leader stopped paying attention to this crazy kid; he just wanted to leave this godforsaken place as quickly as possible.
He yanked the car door open and prepared to drag the hostage inside. "Everyone back off! Or else..."
And in that blink of an eye.
"Whoosh!!"
A brilliant ball of orange-red flame erupted without warning from the tip of that unassuming "wooden stick," instantly crossing a distance of several meters!
"What?!"
The leader was pale with shock, subconsciously raising his gun to fire.
However, at the very instant his finger was about to pull the trigger, a strange, immense force suddenly acted upon his pistol!
The leader felt the gun in his hand being pulled and deflected by something, forcing him to fire his bullets into the sky.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the hostage man wearing glasses burst with an incredible will to survive. Making a split-second decision, he rolled on the ground and sprinted toward Rick and the others.
The next second, that ball of orange-red flame landed lightly on the leader's body.
"Whoosh—Boom!"
Accompanied by a hair-raising sound of combustion, an incredible scene unfolded:
That small cluster of flame actually expanded hundreds of times in the blink of an eye, engulfing the leader entirely in raging fire!
"How... how is this possible?!"
The nearby lackeys hadn't even reacted to what happened before they were terrified by this logic-defying instant combustion, stumbling back with faces full of horror.
"What's going on?! How did he suddenly catch fire?!"
"Ahhh!!"
An agonizing, shrill scream immediately echoed over the auto repair shop, making everyone's skin crawl.
The leader instantly turned into a massive human torch, rolling frantically on the ground!
The intense burning sensation caused him to lose all capacity for thought on the spot. His hands flailed wildly in the air, attempting to extinguish the flames that clung to him like maggots on a bone.
This scene happened too fast, too shockingly.
"What... what is this?!"
The surrounding thugs who had originally wanted to resist were completely frightened witless, their eyes nearly bulging out of their heads.
They watched with their own eyes as a flash of fire shot from the child's hand, and then their boss turned into a fireball out of thin air, as if cursed by a demon.
"Judgment! They can actually judge us!"
One cowardly thug dropped his gun on the spot, clutching his head and screaming as he tried to flee.
On Louis's side, everyone was also deeply shaken.
Merle's mouth was open wide enough to fit a fist, and Daryl slightly lowered his crossbow, staring at the blaze with a look of shock.
Only Rick remained focused.
The moment he saw the fire light up, a flash of bewilderment first crossed his eyes.
magic?
No.
In a flash, he remembered certain things Carl had mentioned to him before, and his brain immediately connected the dots.
Then, having understood, he didn't give anyone time to react, transforming that bewilderment into a tactical opportunity.
"Do it!"
Rick roared, being the first to raise his gun.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots accurately took down two thugs who were still dazed.
The others were also jolted awake by the gunshots. Relying on their combat instincts, they quickly followed up, and dense firepower instantly covered the remaining enemies.
A few seconds later, the gunfire ceased, and the battle was completely over.
Except for the leader on the ground, who had already burned to a crisp, there wasn't a single enemy left standing in the entire auto repair shop.
Everyone's gaze eventually converged on the child standing in the shadows, looking down and fiddling with a wooden stick.
Normally, everyone should now immediately disperse to check for casualties, clear the scene, scavenge supplies, and then quickly evacuate.
But at this moment, no one moved.
The fire that had appeared out of thin air just now was so shocking that even the smell of charred flesh permeating the air couldn't divert their attention.
Everyone's thoughts were currently entirely on that unassuming "wooden stick."
Rick looked at the expressions of everyone around him, as if they had seen an alien. He opened his mouth, intending to explain something.
But before he could speak, Glenn, who was closest to Louis, could no longer suppress his curiosity and stepped up to Louis.
"Louis! That just now was..."
Glenn pointed at the still-smoking leader, then at Louis's hand, speaking incoherently, "Was that what I think it was? I mean... a fireball? magic?"
"Yeah."
Louis very calmly flicked his wand, then turned to look at Glenn and nodded solemnly.
"That's right, it's magic. I just learned it recently."
At this point, he even looked up and glanced around at the dumbfounded crowd, asking with an innocent face:
"Do you guys want to learn?"
Shane also wanted to rush up and demand an explanation; this was completely beyond his scope of understanding.
But just as he took a step, he saw Rick's expression.
Rick was neither shocked nor confused; instead, he had a look of hesitation, even tinged with a bit of helplessness.
Shane paused. His years of partnership and rapport with Rick made him realize there was a trick to this, and Rick knew the inside story.
So he forced himself to swallow the questions at the tip of his tongue and chose to wait and see.
But while he could hold back, someone else couldn't.
"What the hell?!"
Merle stared with his uneven eyes, looking as if his worldview had shattered. "Are you serious, kid? There really is damn magic in this world?"
He looked at Louis, then at the wooden stick, and his gaze immediately became fervent. "We can learn it too? You sure?"
"Of course."
Louis nodded seriously, his tone certain. "As long as you master the trick, anyone can learn it."
"I can teach you right now."
As he spoke, he directly handed the still-warm "wand" to Glenn beside him.
"Here, you try first."
Glenn hurriedly took the wooden stick as if he were holding some rare treasure, his hands shaking with nervousness.
"Can I... can I really do it? I don't have any relevant experience..."
"Don't be nervous, just follow my lead."
Louis, like a strict mentor, began to guide him seriously:
"Step one: stand up straight and turn sideways toward the target."
"Like this?" Glenn immediately puffed out his chest and raised his head, striking a standard shooting posture with a solemn expression.
"Right. Step two," Louis continued to bullshit, "take a deep breath, focus all your attention on the tip of the wand, and imagine a ball of fire burning there..."
Glenn took a deep breath, staring wide-eyed at the tip of the wooden stick, his face turning red from holding his breath.
Everyone around them watched this scene with bated breath.
Even Merle, who was questioning his life just a moment ago, couldn't help but crane his neck, staring with a greedy face, afraid of missing any key detail.
"Don't worry, everyone will get a chance."
Louis glanced at Merle, then pointed to an extremely hidden small protrusion on the wand's handle. "Step three, and the most critical step—"
"Press this switch firmly."
Click.
Glenn pressed it subconsciously.
"Whoosh!"
Accompanied by the slight sound of rushing air, a ball of orange-red flame erupted from the tip of the wand again. The flame shot out over a meter, nearly singeing the eyebrows of Merle, who had leaned in to watch the show!
"Holy shit!" Merle jumped back in fright.
"..."
Glenn looked at the fire-spitting "wand" in his hand, then at the button he had pressed, and the expression on his face instantly fractured.
All anticipation turned into a blank stare at that moment.
"A... a switch??" he asked incredulously, his voice cracking.
"Yeah."
Louis shrugged and explained with an innocent face:
"It's nothing complicated, just a simple little trick. As long as there's a battery and it's filled with flash paper, you press the switch, the paper ignites, and the fireball shoots out."
"I originally planned to make it for Carl and the others to play with. I didn't expect it to come in handy early today."
Louis spread his hands. "After all, I haven't learned the real 'Incendio' yet, so I had to use science to substitute for magic first."
"How is it? Useful, right?"
The crowd was speechless, feeling as if their emotions had been toyed with.
"Hoot hoot!"
Only Robin the owl on Louis's shoulder was very supportive, hooting twice and flapping its wings as if in complete agreement.
"Wait, that's not right, is it?"
Recovering from his shock, T-Dog pointed at the charred corpse not far away and raised a question:
"Even if that's the case, how could such a small flame cause such a massive effect?"