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#278Chapter 270 The Lower City: A Fierce Escape! (6k)
Chapter 270: Lower District, A Desperate Escape! (6k)
"Those Sun Knights call this dangerous baptism from the Holy Relic [Coronal Illumination]."
"From that day on, these knights would forever wear white armor, and no one has ever seen the faces hidden behind their helmets again, only two balls of eternal, raging flames burning where their eyes should be."
"It is as if, from the day of their baptism, they shed their human forms and became transcendent."
Crow described, "And in fact, that is indeed the case."
"These Sun Knights who return from the brink of death are, once successfully baptized, Life-Casting Masters above level 6. Moreover, they are the elite among Life-Casting Masters, and they can form resonant combinations with other Sun Knights that multiply their combat power."
"Therefore, having two or three successfully baptized Sun Knights in each generation is already a powerful foundation for the Holy Corpse Academy. At their most glorious, they once had eight Sun Knights guarding the world simultaneously, advancing and retreating together, possessing an invincible momentum that even existences above the Life-Casting Master level dared not challenge!"
Resonant combinations? Multiplied combat power?
This description inexplicably reminded Bai Zhou of the Special Management Bureau's [Sword Bearer] units, which could coordinate to kill Extraordinary Persons of higher levels.
But—
Bai Zhou's expression was a bit strange.
The number of Sun Knights is small, and their individual existence is extremely powerful; how could they possibly be—
"An army."
Crow looked at Bai Zhou's expression and said two words succinctly.
"—I guess you thought of an army, right?"
"In fact, you are not the only one who thinks so, and the ways they resemble an army do not stop there."
Crow shook his head again: "Because the move these Sun Knights are best at is—
"A charge!"
Crow said: "Imagine that scene: two-meter-tall knights in heavy, full-body armor, like iron cans, as if stepping out of a classical story, launching a chariot-like charge down the long streets of the city, the intense light radiating from their bodies almost impossible to look at directly!"
"Furthermore, in legends, the armor on those Sun Knights also comes from the knowledge instilled by the Holy Relic. Each piece of armor is like a living thing, fused with the Sun Knight's skin, and can never be removed for life."
"It is these white armors that allow the Sun Knights to ignore most obstacles while charging."
"The evil curses of the Blood Worship Cult, spellcraft from the wild mountains, and most Rituals inclined towards corrosion and traps—all are ignored as if made of paper in the face of a Sun Knight's charge, becoming nearly ineffective."
"—Their existence is simply the nemesis of evil, fully worthy of the name Sun Knight!"
While Crow was describing it, Bai Zhou tried to imagine such a scene.
On the long street shrouded in night, a group of fully armed heavy cavalry resembling iron cans, like shining suns, lined up to launch an unstoppable torrent of charges—
Just thinking about it made one feel a chill.
"However, perhaps the name 'knight' has already explained everything—"
Crow continued: "In the Western Federation, this term refers to nobility, but it also originally referred to the attendants of Western emperors and lords."
Western Federation?
Bai Zhou blinked twice.
The Holy Corpse Academy—is it a product of the Western Federation?
"Listening to the Sea is located on the coast, very close to the Western Federation, and was deeply influenced by the Western Federation during the War decades ago."
Crow explained: "The predecessors of the Special Management Bureau and the Anomaly Investigation Bureau, the [Zero-Return Contract], were mysterious forces native to the Eastern Federation."
"And forces like the Blood Worship Cult are some kind of imported goods that came across the ocean from the Western Federation."
"As for the Holy Corpse Academy—it is not an imported good."
Crow shook his head, "The founder of the Holy Corpse Academy was a fisherman from a small fishing village in the Eastern Federation, but that mysterious relic that legend says walked out of the deep sea might have drifted over from somewhere in the Western Federation—"
"This is quite normal; in the Federal Era, East and West were compatible. Because of the novelty of their abilities, they could even gain an advantage in foreign lands. You can see organizations practicing talismans dominating in the Western Federation, and you can also see knights walking in the night of the Eastern Ruins Realm."
Hearing this, Bai Zhou nodded thoughtfully.
"So, I have an idea."
"Perhaps the baptism received by those Sun Knights of the Holy Corpse Academy is itself a kind of blessing from that relic, and the purpose of the blessing is to cultivate such [Adventurer] retainers and troops—"
"It is possible that high-sequence [Adventurers] inherently possess a quality close to royal power, capable of bestowing blessings and cultivating their own guard retainers."
As he spoke, Crow was thoughtful, "After all, as early as a thousand years ago in Rome, they had the precedent of transforming the Class Pathways of the Carthage Empire into [Beast-Blood Noble] and [War Priest] as their pathway vassals."
Invincible Sun Knights, whose starting point is the existence of a Life-Casting Master, are an vassal army of the Adventurer Path?
Bai Zhou's heart was shaken. While feeling incredulous at this speculation, he subconsciously associated it with those unfathomable Dragon Knights of the Xiluo Empire who appeared like divine soldiers.
It seems—that is not impossible?
Bai Zhou even completely agreed with the speculation that the subsequent stages of the Adventurer Path are related to royal power, not only because in reality, there is a [Ming Emperor] Zhu Yuanzhang related to the Adventurer Path, but also because he has in his hands the thorn crown, which is closely related to the Xiluo Emperor and possesses the strongest fate-casting method for Adventurers—
The [Adventurer] Pathway is called "Adventurer" at the Professional stage, and "Trial-Taker" at the Life-Casting Master stage; heaven knows what it might be called later.
Crow said that Adventurers were called Dragon Slayers at a certain stage in a certain era; perhaps after slaying the dragon, they became the new "dragon"—the new emperor.
"Of course, these are just speculations, and this speculation is even too shocking, infinitely elevating the [Adventurer] Destiny Path."
Crow shook his head again, "If even a mere vassal pathway of the [Adventurer] could be so powerful, establishing a powerful mysterious force like the Holy Corpse Academy; if such existences could appear as an organized army in large numbers—"
"—Even the Heavenly Capital has never heard of such a thing!"
"Therefore, people are always more inclined to believe that the Holy Corpse Academy deciphered its Class Pathway from that relic, and this Class Pathway is [Sun Knight]. As the name suggests, it is highly likely to be highly compatible with the [Chen] Destiny, and those with [Chen] Destiny will find it twice as easy to practice."
"Or—"
Crow's eyebrows raised slightly, "My personal deduction is that this Class Pathway named [Sun Knight] might simply be the Adventurer Path itself, just with a different name—if so, it would explain why this pathway is exceptionally powerful and can rival the Blood Worship Cult."
"In fact, that combat style of charging headlong and ignoring external obstacles is also quite 'Adventurer'."
You could just say reckless brute—Bai Zhou muttered in his heart, but he felt a surge of excitement as he listened.
As a newly promoted level 6 titled Fated Adventurer, he really could not remain indifferent after hearing all this.
Because regardless of whether this "Sun Knight" is the trump card vassal of the Adventurer Path or a disguise of the Adventurer Path itself, Bai Zhou has a hundred reasons to investigate its various secrets submerged in history.
Looking at all of Listening to the Sea, no one has more reason and qualification than Bai Zhou.
Moreover, he already knew the location of the Holy Relic Seal that could open the Holy Corpse Academy's secret treasury through the last words.
The Seven Sins Court, a place that has disappeared from Listening to the Sea for decades and is said to hide huge secrets, is a place Bai Zhou must visit!
"Actually, according to legend, after a Sun Knight is successfully baptized, they may possess the same effect as the 'Blessing of Moonlight'; in other words, they possess a certain special constitution."
"The fusion of this constitution with the special armor is perhaps the core of why they can ignore most mysterious means when charging."
Crow's eyes were exceptionally bright, "Actually, I am quite curious: if one could possess both the 'Blessing of Moonlight' and the 'Coronal Illumination', would the radiance of the sun and moon together cause a wonderful chemical reaction—just like how you created the cornerstone of the super-grade Divine Will Domain after the sun and moon shone together."
"It's just—"
Crow had just thrown out a hypothesis that moved Bai Zhou, but he quickly shook his head again: "Legends are just legends after all. The so-called 'Coronal Illumination' seems to have only appeared in the stories of the Holy Corpse Academy, just as the Holy Relic itself is just a legend of the Holy Corpse Academy that no one can verify the truth of."
"In the legends of the Holy Corpse Academy, their origin and greatest secrets all come from this Holy Relic, but at least in Listening to the Sea, no one has ever been able to verify its authenticity, and no one has ever seen what the so-called Holy Relic is."
"According to the Holy Corpse Academy's public claims, this so-called Holy Relic, the origin of the Holy Corpse Academy, was long lost in the inheritance of time."
"—But who would believe that?"
Crow sneered coldly, "Such an important thing, unless the organization perishes, how could it just be lost?"
"Either it is a fabrication that never existed, or they have hidden this thing away."
"As for the so-called baptized 'Sun Knights', people have found that low-level Extraordinary Persons of the organization also possess some characteristics of the Sun Knights—"
"So as I just said, people usually believe that the Holy Corpse Academy obtained a certain Class Pathway, and when this pathway is practiced to the Life-Casting Master stage, the external manifestation is a mature [Sun Knight]."
"Anyway, they always wear helmets and face masks, and no one knows who they were before. If they say they became Sun Knights directly after being baptized, no one can refute it."
"As for the Holy Relic, it is even more so. It is impossible for people to turn the organization's treasury inside out to verify whether this thing exists."
Turn the treasury inside out, huh—?
Bai Zhou blinked, his expression strange.
Then, he heard Crow finally summarize that old story that happened in Listening to the Sea decades ago or even earlier: "This mysterious force came and went in a hurry. It came from another city, and one day, while migrating, it passed through Listening to the Sea and found that the cultural foundation here was quite deep, but the mysterious forces were not strong, so it took root here."
"But it was somewhat unfortunate; during that time, it encountered the Blood Worship Cult, which had also traveled through various countries and finally returned to the Eastern Federation, intending to make a king's comeback for revenge."
"At that time, Tinghai City appeared calm on the surface, but in the Mysterious World behind the scenes, it was said that Level 6 or even more terrifying battles erupted every day. The chaotic faction led by the Blood Worship Cult and the orderly faction led by the Holy Corpse Academy were locked in fierce, continuous battles, with various forces contending for supremacy."
"It's just that fate plays tricks on people."
Crow shook his head, seemingly filled with emotion: "In the end, the two great hegemons of that era were both severely damaged and gradually forgotten by people. Instead, the secondary hegemonic force of that time, the local [Zero-Return Contract] of Tinghai City, became the protagonist ruling the Mysterious World of Tinghai City today."
"Which is also the common predecessor of the two major forces you see today: the Black Box Special Management Bureau and the Anomaly Investigation Bureau."
"The orderly faction hegemon from decades ago has long been ignored and unmentioned. Perhaps only their old rival, the Blood Worship Cult, occasionally remembers them. As for those even earlier, the hegemons from one or two hundred years ago, they have long since vanished from people's memories."
As Crow spoke, he seemed to carry a sense of emotion and instructional guidance: "Time does not seem to be worth much to Extraordinary Persons. Just like you, now that you have become a titled Class, you can theoretically live to be one hundred and twenty years old, and you can live even longer after becoming a Life-Casting Master."
"In the Mysterious World, people can even always see various mysterious forces claiming to have legacies spanning hundreds or thousands of years—"
"But in reality, the Mysterious World changes rapidly. Every one or two hundred years, the tides of the era roll in, and few are able to survive."
"The protagonists of those eras have all been forgotten, while those who survived were often the inconspicuous forces of the time. Perhaps not contending for the moment is the right way; under the great power of time, even the most peerless prodigy is but a skeleton."
Crow said: "Later, some relics said to be from the Holy Corpse Academy and the Sun Knights would occasionally flow into the underground black market of Tinghai City, such as a piece or two of charred armor or a bald sword hilt. Every time they appeared, it would lead people to scramble for appraisal, and then someone would treat the stories of those years as amusing anecdotes to chat about."
"Only the few old people who truly saw that era would say that those relics are all fake."
"—In a fire like the sun, the Sun Knights truly left the daylight of Tinghai City like the sun, and like the sun, they left nothing behind."
That was a story that made people sigh with emotion.
It seems that stories about knights are always like this; the glory that flourished for a time always has a tragic, miserable ending.
Just how far must one walk on the Class path to not be caught up by fate, or is it—the core and theme behind this Mysterious World is just sorrow and madness?
Bai Zhou pondered and mused, learning something new from Crow's words.
—Lying low. One must know how to lie low!
Regarding this point, the Sun Knights, who were suspected to be Adventurers, did not do well, but the Adventurers of the Trojan Civilization and the Xiluo Empire seemed to have long mastered the principle and optimized it twice over.
Adventurers who are both devious and good at lying low, yet happen to be exceptionally good at fighting when trouble arises—could this be the ultimate form of an Adventurer?
Bai Zhou seemed to have realized something.
Although that was said, in fact, Bai Zhou seemed completely unaware that he was the one most in the limelight in Tinghai City right now.
Leaving aside the savior Bai Zhou who just saved Tinghai City, just the identity he was disguising himself as had already attracted the attention of more than half of Tinghai City.
As the man ranked at the top of the official kill list and the number one on the soaring bounty list, Bai Zhou sat on the bumpy minibus, the increasingly numerous flashing red and blue lights of police sirens behind him almost merging into an ocean of light.
Then, just as the minibus was about to leave the foothills and plunge into the vast suburbs, with a "whoosh" sound!
A rocket-propelled grenade flew in from behind!
"Rocket-propelled grenade!"
Accompanied by a shrill scream, the figure of [Paroxetine] appeared behind the minibus as if flashing.
Waving her hands, red and black threads appeared between [Paroxetine]'s palms like an iron net, spreading out like a net, forcibly intercepting the rocket-propelled grenade flying with a swaying tail flame in mid-air.
"No way—" Fang Xiaoxia, witnessing this, was dumbfounded.
Can a rocket-propelled grenade be intercepted with a net?
Are you treating the rocket-propelled grenade like a fish to be scooped up?
Bai Zhou was calm, after all, he had no knowledge of rocket-propelled grenades.
However, this rocket-propelled grenade was clearly Class, or perhaps the official people might have anticipated this scene long ago.
"Explode!"
In the distance, someone spoke softly, as if giving an order to the rocket-propelled grenade in mid-air.
"Hum!"
Many light patterns bloomed on the rocket-propelled grenade, the deep blue light illuminating [Paroxetine]'s shocked face.
While shaking off the rocket-propelled grenade in her hands, [Paroxetine] flew back.
"Boom!!!!"
A small mushroom cloud exploded.
The entire speeding minibus was blown away, and the people inside fled in all directions.
"Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky, unlucky—"
Under the strange, gloomy gaze of Crow, Bai Zhou scooped up Fang Xiaoxia, tucked her under his arm, and jumped out of the window to flee, with a massive heat wave following closely behind.
In the soaring flames, the heat wave followed every person's figure; only Crow's figure remained unmoved. Even being at the core of the explosion, he was exceptionally calm, only the corner of his trench coat was gently lifted.
—Only his face seemed to have been blackened a little by the explosion.
Fang Xiaoxia was held in Bai Zhou's arms—or to be precise, tucked under his arm, her heart pounding non-stop.
The heat wave chased like a fire snake behind them; beside them were the members of the Sloth group fleeing for their lives, and further away were the pursuers speeding towards them—
Directly ahead in their field of vision, they could gradually see the suburban scenery that was completely different from Tinghai City's urban area.
Everywhere there were dilapidated buildings, like the unfinished buildings in Tinghai City's urban area. Bewitching neon lights flickered, with neon tubes wrapped around the frames of every unfinished building. The red and green lights appeared cheap and inferior, making Bai Zhou think of the rotating light poles at the entrances of hair salons in the Ruins Realm of Tinghai.
Those inferior colors fell into the muddy puddles, pool after pool; they also shone on the faces of the homeless people on the street, flickering on and off. The tattered homeless people were giggling and drawing strange graffiti at the alley entrances on the street.
Those streets were so narrow that only one or two cars could pass through. Both sides were piled with foam boxes and tin sheds, with colorful tarpaulins stretched over the sheds, flapping loudly in the evening wind.
Electric wires stretched from one building to another, tangled together in a dense mess, almost obscuring the city's sky. Occasionally, they would even terrifyingly spark, illuminating the tattooed men in torn jackets squatting below and smoking.
This place was the suburbs. Fang Xiaoxia and Bai Zhou, suspended in mid-air, both saw the blurry scenery there from afar.
Of course, there were people living and surviving here, but compared to the prosperity of the urban area, it had a completely different style. The distance of a mountain and a river divided the two worlds like a chasm.
Unlike the bustling and lively Tinghai City, and unlike the simple-folk Evening City, this place was like a deserted Tinghai City that had stopped developing halfway twenty years ago. This was a tattered city of foul water.
—This was the home turf for the homeless, a criminal paradise harboring filth.
Even in the urban area, some people simply called these suburban satellite cities—the Lower District.
"—What was that noise?" "Where did the explosion come from?"
The violent explosion made the homeless people and gang members wandering the streets bewildered and panicked, wondering which street was having a gang fight that disregarded the rules today, without even fearing that it would attract the Public Security Bureau to carry out a heavy-handed crackdown.
In a corner that no one noticed, bright moonlight leaked down through the gaps in the tangled electric wires, shining on the several black shadows that were fleeing for their lives.
They hurriedly fled from the foothills, thus plunging into the "city" in the suburbs amidst the explosion. Each mysterious black shadow was stretched long, leaping between the broken roads and the graffiti-covered buildings, like a flock of night eagles startled into flight.
Behind them, the sound of the pursuers' engines grew closer, disturbing the long-standing quiet of this place; while ahead, the darkness of the Lower District opened its arms, as if swallowing those few black shadows in one gulp.
"Is this the Lower District—"
Fang Xiaoxia, who was being tightly tucked in Bai Zhou's arms, felt like a large pillow. In the intervals of their high-speed flight, she widened her eyes, examining the scenery rapidly receding around them.
Obviously, the young girl who was born and raised in the urban area was also coming here for the first time.
She discovered that this place was not at all as dead silent as she had previously imagined. It was just that the night was exceptionally dark, the moon was particularly bright, and even the wind seemed unusually wild, making one feel that it was suitable for wandering and suitable for fleeing.
Suitable for the boy and girl who topped the Tinghai City kill list, along with their fugitive and psycho-like subordinates, fleeing for their lives in the Lower District under the moonlight!
At this moment— "Hum!" The [Sloth] Gospel in Bai Zhou's arms vibrated, transmitting an indescribable feeling to Bai Zhou.
"This is—?" Bai Zhou's expression froze slightly.
On the road of high-speed flight, he took out the Gospel, discovering that it seemed to have formed some kind of invisible connection with the surrounding environment.
Bai Zhou's heart pounded a few times, and he quickly understood what had happened.
Currently, this Gospel had only unlocked the first page's permissions for Bai Zhou. To open subsequent functions, Bai Zhou still needed to go to the Seven Sins Court to be crowned.
In other words, this Gospel currently still belonged to the previous [Sloth]. The person who was already dead.
According to the perception Bai Zhou had just received from the Gospel—this Gospel seemed to possess a unique function in guiding locations, and the previous [Sloth] seemed to have used this Gospel to—mark a location nearby.
In other words, this important location that was specially marked by him seemed to have something left behind by him inside. —An important treasure that was inconvenient to carry, or in other words, something unspeakable!
It was just that he later died too hurriedly and was never able to retrieve it.
"What is it—?" Bai Zhou carefully pondered the marking sensation transmitted from the Gospel, confirming that this Gospel had indeed been used by the previous [Sloth] to leave an important mark two kilometers nearby.
[Your predecessor marked a location; perhaps it is a hidden treasure location—] Bai Zhou agreed to head there.
#279Chapter 271 Treasure Hunt: The Safe House of the Lazy Ex!
Chapter 271: Treasure Hunt, the Former Sloth's Safe House!
The [Sloth] Gospel continued to navigate for Bai Zhou.
Bai Zhou and his group—the young man, the young woman, and their subordinate [Sloth] team—were fleeing in an orderly fashion. None of them were flustered; they all looked like veterans in this regard, possessing rich experience in being hunted.
"Turning into this alley makes it easy to shake off pursuers—heading to the rooftop opposite is perfect for exploiting blind spots."
Paroxetine, whose face was pale from internal injuries caused by the explosion, coughed every now and then while offering guidance: "The terrain in the Lower District on the outskirts is complex. The pursuers dare not rush in recklessly, and they have to worry about alarming ordinary people, so it's very easy to lose them—that's why this place is a paradise for all kinds of criminal Extraordinary Persons."
As they spoke, their figures hurried up and down. Neon tubes extended from every window and utility pole on both sides of their vision, their glaring red, green, and purple light seemingly covering the sky, as if to drown out one's field of vision.
Meanwhile, Paroxetine and the others were secretly shocked in their hearts.
They were Blood Worship Cultists, and as the famous saying went: Blood Worship Cultists are born to be hunted!
So they were long accustomed to this, and after entering the Lower District, they even felt as if they were on their home turf—
However, why were this newcomer [Sloth] and his accompanying ghost assistant also so calm and composed?
Is this the larva of the King of Desires, naturally cold and emotionless—simply a born villain! A fated criminal!
Remarkable, truly remarkable.
Indeed, just as Paroxetine had said, not long after entering the Lower District on the outskirts, the sound of car engines ceased one after another, and the police sirens stopped abruptly.
Then.
"Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh!" Dark shadows locked onto the direction of Bai Zhou and his group, following from behind, leaping and flickering between high-rise buildings, stirring up the howling wind.
On this dark, windy night, the shadows moved across the high-rises as if walking on flat ground, engaging in a silent chase, like an elegant pantomime performed under the moon.
It was hard for Bai Zhou not to be reminded of the moonlit nights when he was chased by the Black Martial Artists across high-rise buildings; that was his lost youth—
Soon, their figures passed through an intersection. Even in the middle of the night, an old woman selling roasted chestnuts was pushing a tin cart across the middle of the road, the sweet, cloying fragrance drifting far away.
The elongated shadows flashed past the electric wires above her head. Before she could react, she was knocked over by a gust of wind from who knows where.
Although she didn't know what had happened, the old woman cursed for a long time, using foul language. If one listened carefully, one would realize she was cursing the wind—and the damn heavens that didn't know what kind of north, south, east, or west wind they were blowing every day.
After a while, they reached an even narrower intersection, so narrow that the clothes on the balconies on both sides were almost touching. White undershirts fluttered in the evening breeze, resembling rows of neatly surrendered white flags or eerie ghosts.
At the intersection beneath the balconies, a few young people with red, yellow, blue, and green hair were squatting, secretly using spray paint cans to "pssh, pssh" draw something on the wall.
The sound of wind from above made them look up. At first, they saw nothing, but in the blink of an eye, as if their eyes were playing tricks on them, they saw a big-headed dwarf standing on the roof above, hands on hips, looking down at them, and then he took a deep breath: "How hardworking! Still working so hard to do bad things in the middle of the night—truly, too diligent!"
"—Where did this lunatic come from?" A yellow-haired youth instinctively stuffed the spray paint can into his pocket, looking around and whispering to his companions.
But when they looked up again, the figure of that lunatic had already disappeared, leaving only a few sharp, hurried sounds of wind breaking, with the faint sound of scolding and rebuking drifting in the breeze.
"Where's the person?"
"Are we seeing ghosts?" The young people with dyed hair looked at each other, not understanding what had just happened.
Then, in the blink of an eye.
"Splash!" A basin of cold water poured down from above, soaking the confused and terrified young people into shivering wet rats.
The window above was pushed open with a click, and a woman poked her head out and shouted angrily: "What are you yelling about in the middle of the night! Are you suffering from swine fever! You pests! Get lost!"
The young people looked up and immediately saw the woman standing on the third floor, wearing a bathrobe with hair curlers on her head, a cigarette dangling from her mouth, wearing cotton slippers, and holding an iron basin.
The iron basin looked like a foot-washing basin, only it was now empty—
"Hey, fatty!" The young people were furious. "You—"
"Clang!" The voice stopped abruptly because that large iron basin flew down from above, covering their heads and faces, and crashed onto the ground with a clang.
"Still not leaving! Hurry back and lie in your coffins, you little scumbags!"
Seeing that fierce woman clattering as she brought out another flowerpot and a kitchen knife, the young people quickly covered their heads and fled in a panic.
The buildings in this Lower District were packed tightly one against another. The deeper one went, the more ancient they felt; the older they were, the more crooked they became, looking like dilapidated, dangerous structures.
Yet, they seemed to be packed densely with people, room after room, with an architectural logic that completely failed to match the current one-unit-per-floor housing layout of Tinghai City's urban area.
Some were simply tin sheds, yet even inside those tin sheds, there was signs of life. In the middle of the night, various sounds would drift out—people arguing, cooking, playing games, and babies crying. It was very lively.
This made Bai Zhou think that if he had been fleeing here back then, perhaps he wouldn't have needed to live on the air conditioner's external unit; there would have been a high probability of finding wandering companions anywhere.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—" Their figures passed through the night. Ahead in their line of sight was a pedestrian bridge, its iron frame so rusted that its original color was long gone. The tracks under the bridge had also been abandoned for many years, with weeds growing in the gaps. The moonlight shone on the rusty tracks and weeds, casting a faint, ominous, cold light.
Paroxetine's expression suddenly tightened, and she stopped abruptly.
"What's wrong?" Sertraline and Fluoxetine looked confused, but immediately became vigilant, as if facing a great enemy.
The wind grew louder, mixed with faint, intermittent sounds of guitar tuning. Sitting under the pedestrian bridge, a man who looked like a wandering singer held a guitar, humming and shaking his head as he sang an off-key song.
"Heard of it, never seen it, twenty-five thousand li—"
In front of him was an enamel mug with a few coins in it. Seeing the [Sloth] team, whose appearances were diverse and clearly not those of normal humans, he neither ran nor hid. After singing a few lines, he muttered: "Hey, guys, stop running, leave something here."
"Life-Casting Master!" Paroxetine looked at the man as if facing a great enemy. "I think I know you."
"Many people know me." The wandering singer slowly stood up. "But that was a long time ago."
"Many years ago, a few ambitious young people got together and started a young and frivolous [Rock Club], delusional enough to go against the conglomerates. In the end, they lost miserably. Kids who wanted to be grandfathers always ended up becoming the most obedient, damn grandsons."
The unshaven middle-aged man seemed to sigh with emotion. "Fortunately, the Anomaly Investigation Bureau gave us a bite to eat, recruited us, and finally sent us here."
"—See? Once the notification comes, no matter how warm the wife keeps the bed at home, you have to crawl out immediately, running around outside in the cold wind like a grandson."
"If you're collecting a paycheck, you have to do something to show for it, don't you think?"
After saying this, with a "clang," the man gently strummed the guitar strings, then looked at the group and smiled as he spoke: "Anomaly Investigation Bureau, Lower District Office, [Rock Division] Branch Chief. Good evening to you all."
"Run!" Paroxetine said to those behind her in a focused voice. "This person is not simple. I have a trump card left to me by His Holiness the Holy Son. I will find a way to deal with this here. You go first; I have my own way to find you later!"
"—Take care of yourself then!"
The pursuers behind were getting closer. Without any hesitation, the group left Paroxetine and dove into the depths of a side road not far away, which extended into the darkness beneath the pedestrian bridge.
"Clang!" Behind them, the intense and soaring sound of the guitar rang out, and the battle with the Life-Casting Master broke out fiercely on the abandoned tracks.
Bai Zhou and his group quickly passed through this side road. The walls on both sides were covered in layers upon layers of flyers—for jobs, medical treatments, document forgery, and missing persons. The bottom layer was already illegible, with only blurry paper half-stuck to the wall, like a layer of disgusting wallpaper.
But for some reason, Bai Zhou and his group's luck seemed exceptionally bad afterward, as they ran into several High-level Extraordinarys from the [Rock Division] one after another.
Looking at the expressions of those people, they seemed surprised to run into Bai Zhou and the others; people who just wanted to slack off were forced to take action.
Fortunately, always keeping the instructions from His Highness the Holy Son in mind, Sertraline and Fluoxetine naturally prioritized Bai Zhou, agreeing on a meeting place before staying behind to cover the retreat.
Bai Zhou hurried away with Fang Xiaoxia.
"Finally—" Bai Zhou let out a sigh of relief, "Finally got rid of them."
"You wouldn't happen to have—" Fang Xiaoxia, who was still tucked under Bai Zhou's arm and almost forgotten by him, widened her eyes upon hearing this, "You didn't deliberately lead them to run into those people, did you?"
Hearing this, Bai Zhou cast an astonished look at the Little Fire Dragon, who had always seemed silly in his impression, "You are more observant than I thought."
17
The Little Fire Dragon felt embarrassed as soon as she was praised, "No, no, the bystander sees more clearly—"
Although the bystander's position was a bit odd—a sideways VIP seat—
"But, how did you manage to do all that?"
Fang Xiaoxia continued, puzzled, "And, is there some deeper meaning to this?"
How did he do it?
Even Paroxetine couldn't detect them; how did Bai Zhou know there were enemies there?
He wasn't a human radar.
Of course, it was all thanks to Crow.
There was no high-level principle involved.
It was just that the three-legged crow on Crow's shoulder, cawing as it swept across the sky, flying around in circles—after a few trips, it had located the people they were looking for.
As for the deeper meaning—
Sensing the waves of heat coming from the Gospel in his arms, Bai Zhou arrived at the depths of a small alley.
After confirming there was no one around, Bai Zhou, still carrying the girl, stopped in front of a manhole cover.
"Because—this!"
"This?" Fang Xiaoxia's eyes flickered, looking at the old manhole cover at Bai Zhou's feet, not understanding his meaning.
In the blink of an eye, the figures of Bai Zhou and Fang Xiaoxia vanished into the depths of the alley.
"Screech—"
A faint sound rang out as the manhole cover was quietly slid aside and then replaced.
It fit perfectly.
"Creak—"
In the dim light, Bai Zhou tucked Fang Xiaoxia under one arm and extended his foot, stepping onto a severely rusted ladder.
As expected, the iron ladder groaned with a few creaks and suddenly dropped half an inch, but it didn't snap.
"Splash—" Bai Zhou reached the bottom, and darkness surged in like a tide, with the sound of water lapping at his feet.
"Don't breathe yet." Bai Zhou offered a friendly warning.
Before Fang Xiaoxia could react, a pungent stench slammed into her face like a thick wall. The indescribable smell of rot and fermentation overwhelmed her, and the girl could only bite her lip hard. Tears were choked out, but she dared not make a sound in the dimness.
The walls on both sides were damp, which inexplicably reminded Bai Zhou of a monster's digestive organs.
Amidst the silent lapping of water, they could hear the occasional squeaking of rats passing by, and the pipes overhead occasionally emitted a wailing wind, which felt hair-raising in such a quiet, foul-smelling environment.
"Splash—"
In the maze-like sewers of the Lower District, Bai Zhou moved forward like an Adventurer who had stumbled into a dungeon.
The Sloth Gospel continued to navigate for Bai Zhou.
Fang Xiaoxia, tucked under Bai Zhou's arm, was jostled until she was dizzy, yet she couldn't help but sneak a peek.
"Hum—"
In the dark environment, the girl's eyes flickered with a faint red glow as she silently observed this world she had never visited before.
This underground world belonging to the sewers seemed far larger than she had imagined; some places were as wide as an underground parking lot, while others were so narrow one could only squeeze through sideways.
On the walls, one could occasionally see faded arrow markings or little stick figures drawn in chalk, remnants left behind by some wanderer from who knows how many years ago.
"Patter, patter—"
Footsteps echoed softly.
After winding through many turns, Bai Zhou rounded the eighth corner, and the view before him suddenly opened up.
In the spacious area, Bai Zhou approached a damp wall, and the Gospel on his chest reacted with unprecedented heat.
Bai Zhou set Fang Xiaoxia down and examined the wall thoughtfully. Deep within his eyes, the Heavenly Pivot spun. He tapped his knuckles against several bricks on the wall tentatively, and finally, with the Heavenly Pivot locked onto the location, he pressed heavily on a certain brick without hesitation.
"Click."
The brick sank inward with a heavy sound.
Then, under Fang Xiaoxia's shocked gaze, the wall in front of them moved with a rumble, splitting open just enough to allow one person to squeeze through sideways!
"It's just like—" Fang Xiaoxia was dumbfounded, realizing once again that following Bai Zhou truly allowed her to see all the wonders she could and couldn't imagine.
A joy like finding underground treasure welled up in her heart. Exhausting her knowledge, she stammered for a long time before finding the right adjective:
—it's just like a super agent's Safe House in the movies!"
"On that point, you're probably right." Bai Zhou nodded. After observing carefully for a while, he was the first to squeeze sideways into the narrow gap.
"I think this really is a Safe House—"
A Safe House!
Crow had taught Bai Zhou this lesson: having multiple bolt-holes is a required course for every veteran Extraordinary Person.
One of the Safe Houses Crow had left behind, containing Class equipment including a trench coat, was Bai Zhou's very important first pot of gold after arriving in Tinghai City!
—And he was still using it to this day!
So, now—
Bai Zhou pulled out his mechanical spear-gun, gave a "click," and turned on the high-intensity flashlight attached to it to inspect the situation behind the gap.
Sure enough, hidden behind this was a simple Safe House.
At this moment, anticipation couldn't help but rise in Bai Zhou's heart; it felt like an Adventurer who had been treasure hunting underground for a long time and was finally about to open a treasure chest.
One of the Safe Houses left behind by the former Sloth in the sewers of the Lower District—
Would this secret hidden deep underground in the Lower District of Tinghai hide surprises that would please him?
Finding the switch in the room, dim yellow lights flickered on, and the interior of this mysterious "Safe House" quickly came into view for Bai Zhou and Fang Xiaoxia.
This space was estimated to be about twenty square meters. The four walls were made of dry blue bricks, and the floor was covered with wooden planks of unknown origin, which didn't make a sound when walked upon.
Here, there was no stench from the sewers, only a faint smell that seemed to be a mixture of aged leather and gun oil.
Against the wall was a simple iron-frame bed, and beside the bed was a rough wooden table and a cabinet, all filled with a dazzling array of various items—
A pump-action shotgun, its barrel engraved with complex, mottled patterns that looked like special runes drawn with fresh blood—a deep knife mark was visible on the stock, showing that a single strike had once nearly split the stock in two; that must have been an exceptionally fierce battle.
There was also a revolver with a cylinder at least a size larger than a standard revolver, with two rows of brass bullets neatly arranged beside it, each bullet engraved with either eerie blue or scarlet patterns.
Besides that, there was an object that looked like a pocket watch, but when the lid was opened, one could only see a ring of dense, mysterious runes, and the hands were only half-length; a small bottle of deep red mysterious liquid, the mouth sealed with wax—
And so on and so forth.
Finally, there was a huge, hideous skull with horns like a deer hanging on the wall to the side, very much in line with the Blood Worship Cult characteristics imagined by Bai Zhou and Fang Xiaoxia.
"This is—?"
Bai Zhou withdrew his gaze from the cabinet, his attention drawn to two notebooks and a pair of mechanical gloves on the table.
The fingers of the mechanical gloves gleamed with a cold metallic light, small gears interlocked at the knuckles, and a strange dark red crystal was embedded in the palm, looking like a closed eye.
This special mechanical glove presented an overall color of interwoven brass and black iron, gleaming with a mysterious cold light under the dim yellow lamp.
"What is this—?"
Bai Zhou was interested, so he used a Ritual and divination to cast an identification spell on the glove.
Ice-cold, mysterious knowledge flooded into Bai Zhou's mind in a language consistent with his familiar cognition.
As expected, this was naturally an Class piece of equipment.
However, its effect—
Bai Zhou's expression froze slightly.
[Vulture's Hand]
["The dead do not tell tales, nor do they waste."]
[Wear it, and you can always scavenge something from the dead; if you are extremely lucky, it might be some short-lived, one-time Secret Technique or instinct.]
[Side effect: The more you scavenge, the more you will become like a greedy vulture.]
[The dead are good, but don't be greedy.]
Ch. 278 / 442
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