Chapter 117: 117: Non-Human Society

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Non-Human Society

The crowd downstairs had completely surrounded the building’s first floor, each person eagerly whipping out their cellphones to snap photos of the jumper’s corpse and share them on Twitter and Facebook without delay.

Falling from over thirty floors high, the man’s body was no longer recognizably human, resembling a clump of bloody mud wrapped in clothes. Upon hitting the ground, the body had bounced and then struck the side of a nearby van, shattering its windshield.

Chen Ke also took a photo and sent it to Lester, who responded with a satisfied thumbs-up emoji.

The sudden surge and then fading of murderous intent inside the office had greatly intrigued Chen Ke, but what interested him the most was Lin Mo’s soul.

In his field of vision, Lin Mo’s soul, flickering like a lonely flame in the wind, emitted a faint white halo. Beside it, the information box displayed “Memory Sequence 0,” indicating it was ready for entry again.

Just as the soul had previously tested, syncing with Lin Mo’s past memories required the consumption of “Assassin Experiences.”

Once Chen Ke’s spirit had achieved a certain resonance with Lin Mo’s body through an assassination task, he could enter Lin Mo’s memories.

After deleting the message, he squeezed through the crowded gathering, hailed a taxi, and returned to the apartment he rented.

Once home, Chen Ke took a quick shower, changed into a bathrobe, sat on the bed, and took a deep breath as the interface of the soul appeared before his eyes.

Lin Mo’s soul was right in front of him, with the text “Sequence 0” on the list next to it flickering with a white glow.

He closed his eyes, feeling everything around him moving away at high speed. That familiar sensation of falling hit him again, and with a ‘duang,’ his whole body jolted, similar to the shock of waking up suddenly when falling out of bed in one’s sleep.

Opening his eyes, Chen Ke found himself back in 2007, in the midst of one of Lin Mo’s operations…

He was still crouching by the low wall of a bungalow, his M1911A1 in hand—no silencer fitted, but with a competition trigger and an extended magazine.

Laven was still by his side, her upper body clad in a sleeveless leather jacket and a black crop top, her legs decked in black camouflage pants and military boots. Unlike Chen Ke, Laven was armed with a Mac10 submachine gun.

The sky was overcast, a light rain drizzling down. This scene did not exist in Chen Ke’s memory; he hadn’t been here before and couldn’t tell if it was still Opportunity City.

Chen Ke groped on himself to check what equipment he had.

Under his leather jacket was a light bulletproof vest, three pistol magazines attached to the holster, a spring knife hidden up his left sleeve, and in the inner pocket, three Holy Diamonds…

Chen Ke was pleased; he took out the Holy Diamonds, wanting to see what they were, but as he focused on the diamonds in his palm, he realized no matter how hard he concentrated, the attribute interface for the Holy Relics wouldn’t pop up.

“Right… At this time, I am still Lin Mo… Lin Mo has Spiritual Energy, but no life countdown…” Chen Ke thought, noting that the countdown at the corner of his eye didn’t appear even after entering the memory.

Chen Ke didn’t know how the people from the Administration Bureau identified Holy Relics. Without the life countdown, Chen Ke himself couldn’t obtain detailed information about them.

For the first time, he found himself somewhat missing that life-threatening contraption.

“Don’t rush it, Lin Mo, take it easy. Put your Holy Relics away; it’s not time to use them yet.” Miles’s hoarse voice came, and at the same time, Chen Ke felt a pair of strong hands pat his shoulder.

“He’s always impatient, Miles, no matter where he is.” Laven turned and smiled at Chen Ke.

Chen Ke pocketed the Holy Diamonds, ejected the magazine from his handgun, and checked the ammo. With a scale and see-through holes on the side, it held a total of thirteen rounds.

“Who are we making the deal with?” Chen Ke asked.

Miles, who had intended to speak with Laven, was interrupted by Chen Ke’s question.

“People from Yasla, but don’t tell anyone else that I told you,” Miles whispered.

“Those Holy Diamonds are very valuable. There aren’t many white ones, mostly blue, but I also saw some gold…” Laven licked her lips as she spoke.

Yasla… Chen Ke noted the name of this organization.

“Does any of you know that smuggler, Hainerd… I’ve heard he’s one of them,” Chen Ke tried to extract as much information as he could.

“I don’t trust him, but he definitely wouldn’t dare to play smart with Si’s consortium. However, Yasla might be a different story…” Miles said.

“Shh, the transaction is starting,” Laven suddenly announced.

Chen Ke looked towards the dry drainage below the steps, where several agents from the consortium, in sharp suits, carried four black briefcases, negotiating with several individuals in black hooded trench coats.

Those in black hooded trench coats looked familiar to Chen Ke; he felt as if he had seen them somewhere before…

That’s right!

With Pihom, investigating the Pulito Bank, creating a false alarm, and following the S.W.A.T team’s arrival… a man and a woman…

Upon closer inspection, Chen Ke confirmed his guess: these odd figures were not from Si’s consortium but a power unto themselves.

Yasla! What kind of organization was this?

Miles patted Chen Ke on the shoulder, saying, “Come with me.”

Chen Ke looked at Laven.

“You go with Miles to the entrance, and I’ll continue to monitor the transaction. I have a bad feeling; Yasla won’t be so honest,” Laven said with a smile.

Chen Ke remained silent, gripping his pistol as he followed behind Miles, moving toward the other end of the dried-up canal.

Along the way, they kept their bodies low, as if Miles had already detected the enemy’s ambush.

“This is a test, Lin Mo. They want to see what we’re capable of. If we lose, they won’t play by the rules,” Miles said, taking the shotgun off his back and checking the extra rounds.

“So… are we going to throw down?” Chen Ke asked, surprised.

“The premise is, you have to find them first; otherwise, it’ll turn into a sneak attack,” Miles said with a smile.

At the canal outlet far from the trading spot, Chen Ke could see the river at the end. It was spring, and the water level had not yet risen to the warning line, so it just reached the entrance of the canal.

If it were summer, with increased rainfall, this canal would be filled…

“Lin Mo, see where they are,” Miles said.

“Huh?” Chen Ke was startled.

“Use that, your little trick,” Miles said, raising his eyebrows by way of reminder.

Chen Ke felt somewhat embarrassed; he didn’t know what Transcendent Skill Lin Mo possessed, and he couldn’t use Spiritual Energy either…

Even if Spiritual Energy were injected into the spine, it requires professional training to control as desired, and a Transcendent Skill also requires practice to master its use…

Chen Ke’s life countdown omitted many of the troublesome steps needed to use Spiritual Energy and eliminated the side effects on the body, but at the cost of his lifespan…

“Quick, Lin Mo, what are you waiting for?” Miles urged.

Chen Ke holstered his gun; a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

From what Miles said, he guessed that Lin Mo’s Transcendent Skill might have a radar-like effect. But without a clear memory of its use, even if his current body possessed Spiritual Energy and Skill, he couldn’t utilize it.

The inheritance of a mortal’s abilities relies on muscle memory and instinctual reaction, unlike Spiritual Energy, which is otherworldly; without memory, it can’t be passed on.

“Lin Mo, it’s too late; they’ve spotted us. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but I hope you still remember how to fight,” Miles said, readying his shotgun and keeping a wary eye on the emptiness around them.

Chen Ke also pulled out his gun, still feeling the awkwardness from before. He could hear footsteps, yet saw no one; it sounded like a woman walking past in high heels, with an arrogant step.

Suddenly, Miles forcefully pushed Chen Ke, causing him to stumble and kneel on the ground. Turning back, he saw Miles firing at the spot where he had been standing.

The shotgun was loaded with regular bullets, and Chen Ke saw the pellets pass through a semi-transparent humanoid figure without causing any harm.

“Damn it, it’s a Spiritual Body from Yasla. Use the Holy Relics,” Miles said urgently, backing away. He slung the shotgun over his back and clenched his fists in a powerful stance.

A pair of gauntlets, shimmering with blue light, materialized on Miles’s fists, as large and exaggerated as the heads of monsters, with their ferocious maws full of sharp teeth radiating red flame.

Chen Ke couldn’t clearly see the transparent figure’s position and could only guess where it was by Miles’s movements.

Miles leaped toward the semi-transparent humanoid figure and punched rapidly at the air in front, igniting it like fuel on fire, flames bursting out in a human-shaped area before him.

Miles retracted his gauntlets, looking disappointed at Chen Ke’s earlier performance, but he didn’t voice it. Instead, he frowned as if something occurred to him.

“Lin Mo, we’ve been had. Let’s hurry back to Laven,” Miles said, then without waiting for Chen Ke, he strode back the way they came.

Chen Ke sighed and, keeping his gun in hand, quickly followed suit.

When they returned to their previous location, they faced a gruesome scene.

Laven lay on the ground, only her upper torso remaining, with a piece of her spinal column exposed, blood and viscera spilled all over.

Her eyes had been gouged into bloody sockets, her nose was shorn off, and her lips and cheeks had been viciously slashed several times.

Miles shook his head and looked toward the canal below—corpses of men in Si’s consortium suits and Yasla’s traders littered the ground…

“This wasn’t done by Yasla’s people,” Chen Ke thought to himself.

Suddenly, he felt his arms weren’t responding… as if they were entangled by something.

Chen Ke looked at Miles, only to realize his head was already gone… leaving only a headless body.

“Si’s consortium vermin, and Yasla’s aberrations, all must be eradicated.”

A ethereal voice came from the sky, and Chen Ke looked up to see a woman dressed in white.

“Pop!”

Chen Ke’s head and spine were violently ripped from his body, the world around him retracting rapidly, and the words “Synchronization Failed” flashed before his eyes once more before he plunged into complete darkness.

When his vision returned to normal, the morning sunlight was scattered on the bed sheets, and Chen Ke breathed heavily, his mind still recovering from the shock of decapitation.

“Yasla… The consortium… And a third party… They don’t look like humans!” Chen Ke thought to himself!