Chapter 118: Chapter 95: Robert’s Legacy
At sunset.
Lu Chao, dressed in a gray hoodie with a black messenger bag slung over his shoulder, walked out of the dojo.
Faint murmurs of discussion could still be heard behind him, mostly about Shen Tianchen’s fate.
He strode on in silence, not joining any of the discussions.
Everyone has their own destiny. Whether Shen Tianchen could regain his hope in Martial Arts and return to his peak was of no importance to him.
Soon, he entered the station platform.
Amidst the whistling wind, a tram slowly pulled in.
It was nearing the end of the workday, and the car was quite crowded.
He moved like a silent rock, causing a path to subconsciously open up before him as people moved aside.
Snapping back to reality, Lu Chao found a corner to stand in.
Even though he wasn’t holding onto any of the hand rings, he stood perfectly still, not swaying in the slightest no matter how the tram moved or stopped.
Even more impressively, he was able to divide his attention, swiping on his watch to access the Patrol Department’s internal network again.
[Cyan Spirit Grass (Quantity): 0]
’Still none, huh.’
Lu Chao felt a pang of disappointment as he read the information.
He had been checking the internal network almost every day, worried someone else might get to it first.
Unfortunately, there was still no news about the Cyan Spirit Grass, perhaps because the city perimeter’s access points were sealed and travel to the wastelands was restricted.
It was a similar situation on the black market, where Zhou Qiang was keeping an eye out for him.
Shaking his head in resignation, he then entered the database and looked at a map of the Alliance Country.
[Red River: One of the largest rivers on the Alliance Country’s Eastern Continent. Flows from west to east, passing through the wastelands, Ring City, Red Maple Shelter City... reaching the eastern part of the Alliance Country.]
[Crow Valley: A location in the wastelands outside Red Maple Shelter City, approximately eight hundred kilometers from Ring City...]
[Nanyun Mountain: A mountain range from the old Xia Country, located one hundred kilometers south of Red Maple Shelter City...]
As the pieces of information flashed by, Lu Chao thought of the parchment map he had found in the wastelands.
It seemed to depict a special route through the wastelands. Although the information was incomplete, the destination appeared unusual, as if it hid some kind of ruin from the old era.
He had been so busy with his training and making medicine that he had neglected to look into it.
Now, on a whim, he decided to do some proper research.
’Looks like this place really is deep in the wastelands. It’s quite a distance.’
After a few moments of thought, Lu Chao shook his head.
The map was too fragmented; he had no idea what was actually at the destination.
Even if he could guess, given the current situation, it wasn’t a good time to risk an exploratory trip.
In the end, he put the thought aside for now and headed home.
...
「One day later.」
After finishing breakfast, Lu Chao changed into his Patrol Department uniform and left his apartment.
"Old Xu, why’d the price of your energy bars go up again?"
"Sigh, there’s nothing I can do. My stock all comes from the same supplier."
"Let me see... Holy cow, rice and oil are more expensive too! Aren’t these companies all based in the city? What does stuff happening in the wastelands have to do with them?"
"Sigh, who knows..."
Lu Chao overheard snippets of conversation as he passed by the supermarket he usually frequented.
He went inside and grabbed some high-protein energy bars from a shelf.
He glanced at the price; it had gone up by another five percent. The same was true for other daily necessities.
"O-officer..."
The middle-aged male shop owner looked at him timidly, an awkward expression on his face, as if he didn’t know how to explain.
Standing beside him at the counter was a little girl with a bowl cut, maybe seven or eight years old. She wore a pink down jacket and looked quite well-behaved, her big eyes blinking as she looked up at him.
"Your daughter?"
Lu Chao asked casually as he walked to the counter to pay.
"Yes, this is my younger daughter. My older one just graduated and is still looking for a job."
"Xiaoniao, quick, call him... big brother... no, call him uncle..."
"Big brother."
The little girl blinked. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she obediently used the different form of address.
Lu Chao smiled faintly.
Almost a year had passed.
By his calculations, he was actually only about to turn twenty.
He then paid and left.
He pocketed the energy bars and headed for the Patrol Department. Behind him, the father and daughter seemed to have finally relaxed, and he could faintly hear the sound of their laughter.
His steps were steady, but the smile on Lu Chao’s face gradually faded. He increasingly felt that the atmosphere in the city was growing oppressive.
Numerous stray thoughts rose and were suppressed as he passed through the iron gate and entered the main hall.
From time to time, patrol officers in bulletproof vests and armed with firearms hurried past him. The roar of engines was constant as patrol cars sped out of the main gate one after another.
The atmosphere in the department was unusually tense, and Lu Chao felt a flicker of confusion.
"What’s going on?"
He walked into the team office and asked Chen Xiao.
Chen Xiao was filling out a form at his desk. He glanced around before lowering his voice. "It’s been confirmed. They’re mobilizing an expeditionary force of two thousand to start, led by the Superpower Bureau and the City Defense Department. They’re heading out to the wastelands."
"A lot of corporations want a piece of the action, trying to squeeze their own people in..."
"Oh?"
Lu Chao’s interest was piqued. The matter was already common knowledge, and he had heard about it at the dojo as well.
It wasn’t just corporate giants; some martial arts dojos had also joined, planning to take this opportunity to sweep through the wastelands.
He wasn’t too surprised by this.
But what did this have to do with the situation downstairs?
"Most of the City Defense Department’s personnel have gone to the wastelands, and with incidents happening frequently in the city lately, they’re short on manpower."
"And..."
He said in a low voice, "I heard from my cousin’s husband that there seems to be some trouble in the inner ring of the city. They caught a few more members of the Rebels a few days ago."
"A lot of our guys have been urgently transferred to the inner city."
’So that’s how it is.’
Lu Chao’s confusion dissipated, but at the same time, he found it a little strange.
’The inner ring is guarded by both the Mechanical Violence Team and the Superpower Bureau to maintain order. What kind of trouble could there be?’
’Could it be that Qiu Shan’s group is about to make an appearance?’
"But there is some good news,"
Chen Xiao said suddenly, winking at him.
Lu Chao was slightly taken aback as Chen Xiao handed him a report.
"Captain Yang asked me to give this to you. You weren’t here yesterday."
"Looks like there’s been a breakthrough with the God-Worshipping Church. That Leader Yan from the Superpower Bureau was inspired by your case, found a lead, and wiped out that whole group of lunatics in one go."
As Chen Xiao spoke, Lu Chao flipped through the report in his hand.
It detailed a raid against the God-Worshipping Church, resulting in the deaths of nearly ten of the church’s fanatics and the arrest of many associated peripheral members. One of their dens had been completely destroyed.
They had also successfully rescued more than ten people who had recently gone missing.
Most importantly...
"The church leader who organized this has been killed?"
Lu Chao’s gaze sharpened, focusing on the report.
It included a photograph.
A gray-haired man in a black robe lay in a pool of blood on the deck of a cargo ship, his black mask shattered in half beside him.
His eyes were wide open, and a bloody hole in the center of his forehead clearly went straight through his skull.
’Is this the man behind it all?’
His eyes flickered as he carefully examined the dead man in the picture.
His skin was deathly pale, and he looked to be in his forties or fifties.
His face was quite gaunt and unremarkable, with no distinguishing features.
But when he thought about the strange abilities the man in the mask had used—a special power that seemed like a magical blessing—and the information from his intuition about an Elemental Demon bloodline and a High-Dimensional Demon God, he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.
’Is this matter... really over?’
...
WHOOO!!
A sinister wind blew through the half-open window, howling like a banshee.
The ancient books in the gloomy study trembled slightly, and countless yellowed pages began to flip on their own.
Amidst the RUSTLE of flipping pages...
Several candles on the desk suddenly lit themselves, burning with astonishing speed.
The dripping wax was crimson, giving it an exceptionally demonic appearance. It flowed continuously, pooling on the desk.
In the candlelight, another sheet of parchment was visible on the desk. A strange pattern, like some kind of script, was gradually being soaked by the crimson wax.
Furthermore, a figure was slumped over the desk, apparently clad in a black robe with graying hair. They had no breath or heartbeat, as if they had been dead for a long time.
Time passed bit by bit, and the sinister wind outside grew stronger.
The yellowed books in the study continued to flip through their pages, as if performing some kind of ritual.
The crimson wax on the desk also kept pooling, gradually expanding. Finally, the candles burned out, and the melted wax merged completely, forming what looked like a pool of blood congealed on the desktop.
The parchment at the center, inscribed with the strange script, was completely swallowed by the wax and vanished without a trace.
In that instant.
"Reve..."
A strange, ancient syllable echoed—hoarse and raspy, like the cry of a banshee or the whisper of a demon.
The next moment.
A crimson light flared up from the crimson wax with a HUM, illuminating half the study.
The demonic light transformed from intangible to tangible, then bizarrely drilled into the body of the black-robed figure slumped at the desk like a form of energy.
"Cough, cough!"
"Cough, cough..."
A frantic, continuous coughing erupted, giving off a morbid feeling.
The figure on the desk seemed to come back to life. A breath and a heartbeat suddenly appeared, and amidst the coughing, they slowly sat up and raised their head.
Their face was old and wrinkled, their complexion exceptionally pale and completely bloodless.
Even stranger, a demonic crimson mark had appeared on his forehead. It looked like a blooming lotus with thousands of petals, but upon closer inspection, it also resembled a thousand arms unfolding at once, tricking the eye.
It seemed to be the mark of some magical blessing. This bizarre scene lasted for a long time before the demonic magical insignia gradually faded.
Finally, as the sinister wind died down, the books in the room all flipped completely over.
His coughing finally subsided, and the gray-haired old man in the black robe slowly opened his eyes, revealing black pupils riddled with bloodshot veins.
’So close...’
He seemed to have come to his senses, a multitude of emotions flashing through his eyes.
Anger, killing intent, lingering fear, relief, unwillingness...
He had been so close to true death. If he hadn’t sensed something was wrong beforehand, arranged the ritual, and prepared a substitute to die in his place, he would have been completely finished.
But even so, the price he paid had far exceeded his expectations.
’My power...’
His expression was grim. He could clearly feel his Mana—which had been on the verge of taking the final step to transform him into a Mage—receding like a tide, plummeting until it hit rock bottom.
He had been reduced to little more than an ordinary person.
Worse, his body was suffering from the backlash of using a death substitute. His internal organs felt like they had been rearranged, causing waves of intense pain. A sore numbness and sharp stabs of pain spread through his limbs, and the nerves in his brain felt like they were tearing apart, driving him mad.
"Cough, cough..."
Instantly, the frantic, morbid coughing started again. He subconsciously took out a white silk handkerchief and covered his mouth.
Only after a dozen or so seconds did he manage to somewhat adapt to his current weakened state.
’As expected of a Martial Artist who has undergone a life-form transition...’
The bloodshot veins in his eyes grew thicker as he sat behind the desk, thinking grimly.
’The Superpower Bureau was actually willing to send a Martial Artist after me, and they really did manage to ’kill’ me.’
’My one and only death substitute, which took me years of painstaking effort to create by chance, was lost just like that in Ring City.’
’But this way, no one knows I’m still alive.’
He turned his head to look out the window. Towering buildings filled his vision, with glass-like canopies rising and falling in the distance.
’Once I retrieve the remaining sacrificial seeds, I can slowly recover to my peak.’
’And when that time comes...’
Killing intent surfaced in his eyes again, now tinged with venomous resentment.
He gazed at the view of the inner city ring, watching the hover-cars streak across the sky, and stared intently at the Ring Tower at its center.
A powerful urge for revenge and hatred welled up within him as he recalled the few words his substitute ’heard’ after its death.
"To be handed over to the Alliance headquarters soon, an item left behind by Robert."
"Heh heh..."
