Chapter 123 No Regrets
"I\'m sorry to tell you this, but you have no chance of beating Achara or Sam in accuracy or weapon control. I think even if you practised the same amount as them, you still wouldn\'t have had a chance. But you probably haven\'t even held a gun before, so there\'s no way you can possibly compete with them," taunted Zack as they made their way to the firing range as quickly as they could, almost trying to poke at Xavier with his words.
\'He\'s just so talented at everything and capable in every way that it\'d be nice to find something that he isn\'t the best at. He can\'t be adept at shooting, right? I even made sure he didn\'t have a gun license or any records of using a firing range in the past,\' Zack thought smugly to himself.
Xavier didn\'t give Zack much of a reaction, which disappointed the nerdy youth who was out of breath and struggling to keep up with his young boss. However, Zack was still glad that he had something to tease Xavier about. But for some reason, he simply smirked and became even more excited to test out his Expert Precision. He also wanted to compete with Achara and Sam, who were supposedly skilled with firearms already.
"Don\'t tell me you\'ve somehow trained with firearms as well. If you have, just how long have you lived for and what can\'t you do?!"
"I haven\'t, but I\'m pretty confident in myself. How hard could it possibly be?"
\'How hard could it possibly be?! It\'s impossible to become an expert at something straight away. Even with me, I\'ve spent hours on end on computers and learning new things to become as proficient as I am with hacking and everything else. I guess all we can do is wait and see,\' Zack thought to himself.
With that, they continued on their way and it wasn\'t much longer before they spotted a giant figure in the distance. Beside him was a quite slender figure, a pretty ordinary figure, as well as another well-built figure that one could barely recognise as a woman from a distance.
Achara had her hair in a tight bun and wore loose clothing. Meanwhile, her strong physique helped conceal her gender even more. However, Xavier had seen her that morning and had quite a lot to eye up which surprised him.
Wiping that thought from his mind with a cheeky smile, Xavier and Zack couldn\'t help but be amused by the size difference between Connor and the 3 beside him. Despite Sam\'s height and frame, as well as Karim being quite large for his age, next to Connor, they were like children.
Meanwhile, upon spotting Xavier and Zack in the distance, Achara couldn\'t help but shake her head.
"That bastard. Always showing up whenever he pleases. He\'s either absurdly early or late."
Connor and Karim laughed, nodding their heads in agreement. Sam, on the other hand, who was more reserved, smiled to himself and bobbed his head slightly.
Then, as the 2 figures running over to them got closer, even Sam struggled to hold back his laughter after seeing how out of breath Zack was. He was frantically gasping for air and covered in sweat to the point that all his bare skin gave off an unnatural gleam. Meanwhile, Xavier didn\'t even break a sweat, and his breathing was the same as it would be when one was taking a leisurely stroll.
It just served to highlight how incredible Xavier\'s physique was to the point they even doubted if he was human at times. Zack could be considered average or even slightly above average for his age in terms of his physical capabilities, especially after he started training. Before then, he would likely struggle even against a child half his age. And yet, compared to Xavier, he appeared almost crippled and the difference in stamina, speed, strength and skill was insurmountable.
Even if Xavier never trained again and Zack was to train his whole life, the chances of that gap being closed were almost non-existent. It was the same with any of them trying to reach Connor\'s strength, Sam\'s speed, or Achara\'s combat prowess. However, Xavier was somehow able to rival them in all their areas of expertise.
Now it was time to see whether Sam and Achara could have something over Xavier, in the form of firearm accuracy and handling. Meanwhile, Connor and Zack didn\'t even consider trying to compete with them, barely able to hit still targets that were 10 metres away. As for Karim, he was somewhere in between, but far from being able to rival Sam and Achara. But that didn\'t stop him from seeking to improve, and that fire in his eyes was what had drawn Xavier to recruit him in the first place.
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Paying for a private shooting range as well as an absurd amount of ammunition, the owner of the firing range was perplexed as to why ragtag youths kept showing up at his firing range. The Outlaw Gang members were consistent in their training, which included firearm training. They did their best to make sure not to use the same firing range, otherwise, they\'d draw too much attention. Despite that, there were only so many firing ranges that they could get to without wasting too much time travelling there. Thus, quite a few firing ranges were confused by their recent influx of users that certainly weren\'t in their usual demographic. Especially since they all showed up in small groups that all varied in age and size, mostly on the larger and younger side.
However, since they didn\'t cause any trouble and paid to use the firing range, the owners couldn\'t complain.
"Yeah, everything checks out. Go ahead to the shooting range C on the left. If you have any issues or questions, there\'s an attendant in the corridor that you can consult. And remember, there are security cameras, so don\'t..." he didn\'t need to finish and the abnormal group had already started making their way to the shooting range.
Despite having his doubts about whether Zack and Karim were old enough to be there without some sort of legal guardian, he didn\'t bother questioning it since their IDs checked out. Little did he know, those IDs had all been made by Zack. Even the other 3 who were of age had fake IDs as well.
One could never be too careful, or at least the nerdy youth would say.
With no reason not to accept the ID and memorising the details in case they were ever tested on them, all those in the Outlaw Gang had received one to use as they saw fit, apart from Rachel and Eddie, who were unlikely to need them.
Then, immediately upon entering, they were drawn to the firearms hanging on the walls of the small booth they had booked. Even Sam, who was usually laid back and docile, rushed to equip himself and test his aim with Connor, Karim, and Achara.
But something appeared to be bothering him...
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Hearing the gunshots, Xavier had a look of recollection on his face, remembering where it all started.
It wasn\'t long ago if he looked back on it, only a couple of weeks ago, and yet it felt like years for Xavier. So much had changed, and he had met and befriended many people.
Never in his wildest dreams did he think he\'d have so many people that he trusted and cared about that also felt the same way about him. He also never expected to see 2 women be slaughtered before his eyes by a mentally unstable one-eyed freak as well as carry over a million dollars in a duffel bag. Even fighting in the fight club was absurd, with thousands of people watching him in person and likely millions worldwide on the dark web.
And yet it was only the start and there was still so much more to accomplish.
\'Those bastards slapped my mother, then I gained the Gangster System and here I am,\' he said to himself with a mellow smile.
Back then, he was reckless enough to almost lose his life in a fight with 11 small-time thugs. Despite having considered the fact that they were armed and that it wouldn\'t be unusual for them to have a firearm, he didn\'t care. Thinking back on it, he had no regrets. If it hadn\'t happened the way it did, he wouldn\'t have been able to achieve all he had done so far.
However, he was by no means planning on allowing himself or anybody else he cared about to get hurt, as long as he could avoid it.
Believing that nobody would end up getting hurt or even killed on his journey to becoming the Greatest Gangster would be naive and stupid. However, as long as he could do something to avoid it, he would. Part of that was becoming universally capable and trusting those he had recruited so far.
And with that in mind, Xavier was eager to test himself and see if the Expert Precision lived up to his expectations.