From Bullets To Billions

Chapter 730: Done My Part

It wasn’t just Skull who was surprised by the astonishingly fast rate of healing—Joe himself was completely shocked.

He knew he could take a heavy beating. Punches, deep bruises, torn muscles, and even sharp cuts across his body were things he knew he could survive where normal people might not. Yet still, there was always a grace period based on how severe the damage was before his body would fully mend itself. When Joe had looked down at his broken, dangling arm earlier, he had honestly assumed it would take at least a full day to heal.

That still would have been an insanely fast recovery time by any normal standard, but in the middle of an active brawl, losing his primary weapon felt fatal. Even so, he knew he couldn’t run. He couldn’t allow himself to turn back, which was why he had forced himself to stay in the pocket, dodging incoming strikes while trying to figure out his next move.

That was when he had felt a sudden shift occurring inside his body. He could physically feel the bones in his forearm shifting, weaving, and mending themselves back together in real time.

He had no idea what was driving this sudden leap in performance. Was it because he had taken so much punishment in his previous battles that his passive healing had simply adapted and leveled up? Maybe it was connected to his recent physical conditioning, making his core stronger. Or perhaps, in that critical moment, the sheer mental refusal to run away had deepened his determination—making the power of his Vow even stronger.

Regardless of the reason, with his arm completely healed, he was right back in the fight and able to land a clean, highly satisfying jab straight across Skull’s face.

"Hahah, I can’t believe it," Skull laughed, wiping the blood from his cheek. "You know, for a huge part of my life, I used to think that we were the monsters, and that the Black Hand was just raising a squad of freakish monsters. Now it’s become glaringly obvious that there are actual monsters out there in the world, and my guess is that you’re just like them. Well, maybe the Black Hand had a true purpose after all."

Rather than standing around letting Skull monologue to himself, Joe was fired up. His body was moving with a lightness he hadn’t felt before, and now he had discovered that his healing capacity had reached a whole new tier.

Sprinting in, Joe snapped out a lightning-fast jab and immediately bounced back out of range. Before Skull could react, Joe leaped right back in, driving two heavy strikes straight into Skull’s face. When Skull tried to snatch Joe’s lead hand, Joe had already retracted his fist back to his guard before the assassin could even get a grip.

It was clear that Joe had gained a massive surge of new confidence.

"I already told you, your weak little jabs aren’t going to do anything against this thick skull of mine!" Skull shouted, his eyes bloodshot. "You’re going to have to throw something a lot harder than that!"

Skull took a wild, sweeping kick with his leg and managed to catch Joe flush in the stomach. He followed up instantly with a heavy hook to Joe’s side, but Joe gritted his teeth and bore through the searing pain. He stepped into the impact, snapping three consecutive jabs into Skull’s jaw before backing off to take a deep, ragged breath.

The pain never actually got easier to deal with, and in a lot of ways, that was the scariest part for Joe. In most cases, people naturally forget the exact intensity of physical pain over time, which allows them to throw themselves back into danger. But for Joe, who was experiencing extreme physical trauma on a near-daily basis, not enough time ever passed between beatings. It was a constant mental war against his own instinct, which screamed at him to run away because it didn’t want to get hurt.

Joe was fighting against his own mind every single day. Getting hurt was just another obstacle he had to overcome, but his unshakeable will allowed him to push straight through it.

Joe could feel it with every single connection he made—his odds of winning this fight were steadily climbing. So, he started taking bigger risks.

Rather than bouncing in and out to reset his guard, he planted his feet to deliver maximum damage with his jabs. He snapped his lead hand forward again and again, driving his knuckles directly into the assassin’s hardened forehead. The skin ripped off Joe’s knuckles, his wrist throbbed with agony, and he was certain he was fracturing his hand bones over and over—but he refused to stop.

At the same time, because Joe was abandoning his defensive caution, Skull was able to land several heavy counters. Drawing on his Black Hand training, Skull knew the best way to slow down a relentless fighter was to tenderize their stomach, setting up a final, crushing blow to the face.

"ARGHH!" Joe roared, driving a final, desperate punch hard into the center of Skull’s face.

For the first time in the entire fight, Skull’s vision went completely blurry. He found himself wondering if he had ever been hit this many times in the head in his entire life. The answer was a clear no. As the final jab connected, the strength drained out of Skull’s legs, his body gave out, and he crumpled heavily to the stone floor, completely unconscious.

Joe stood over his fallen opponent, his own body in complete tatters as he breathed in deeply, his chest heaving. He could feel his body about to collapse the damage had built up, and due to the amount of wounds Joe imagined it would be a little while before his body was back in fighting condition.

"I did it..." Joe panted, wiping a mixture of sweat and blood from his eyes. "Max, I better get a massive bonus after this. I did my part... now the rest of you Rangers need to do yours."