Chen Ke stepped through the beam of light, and the scenery around him changed abruptly, with a noise similar to the mixing of electricity and Gale hitting his ears. The green light of the hall was left behind, and by the time his feet touched the ground, he found himself in a small alley under the midnight moonlight.
Across the alley, the brightly lit billboard on the opposing building was quite striking. It depicted a very attractive beer girl in an American-style oil painting, beckoning with a tray of beers and smiling towards the gray street. Beside her, large red POP advertisement letters read, "In Opportunity City, we all drink Bush Beer."
Winter had just passed and spring was quietly arriving, the night air still carried a hint of chill.
Breathing the fresh air again, Chen Ke wasn't too excited. Although he had finally escaped from the dangerous building, the countdown timer of his life at the corner of his eye still hadn't disappeared.
Just as he had feared before, he could now only live under others' killing intent. It was manageable when he was in a building full of monsters, but how would he survive in the civilized world outside?
Would he spend his days as an outlaw in gang territories? Or try every means to join a company like Weber Spirit Production, becoming a specialized hunter of monsters as a Spiritual Ability Administrator?
Chen Ke shook his head, no, neither of these paths was what Chen Ke wanted.
He wasn't a habitual evildoer, nor did he ever find joy in intentionally harming others.
Although he didn't mind living like a "Demon Hunter" from video games, killing monsters for a living, he also didn't want to be trapped by various consortium rules and become a nine-to-five "Monster Hunter."
More importantly, Chen Ke felt that the original owner of his body was no ordinary person, skilled in various killing techniques and once possessing "Transcendent Skills." Despite such formidable skills, he was still killed by a Holy Relics dagger through his heart.
This was what Chen Ke was most concerned about—who killed him? Why? Who exactly was he? Chen Ke didn't inherit the memories of this body, so all answers had to be sought by himself.
He had a premonition that he was trapped in a conspiracy. Perhaps by finding the murderer who killed him, he could unlock the secret of the countdown to his life, and become a normal person again.
The countdown timer was still mercilessly ticking down, showing he had only 4 hours and 19 minutes left to live.
He walked out of the alley onto the main street, just as several police cars sped by, their sirens wailing and red and blue lights glaringly bright.
A kilometer away, Chen Ke saw a black office building surrounded tightly by a slew of police cars, with two black armored vehicles parked across the street. Teams of SWAT were poised and ready, a massive black machine humming loudly as it opened white slits of light in various parts of the building, with SWAT units already rushing in.
He tucked two guns into the pockets of his woolen trench coat, popped the collar, and quickly walked in the opposite direction. Although unsure of where to go, he thought it best to get as far away as possible for now.
Meanwhile, in a warm and comfortable room in Opportunity City, a man in his early fifties, dressed in a purple robe and looking quite corpulent, stared intently at the screen of his laptop. A cup of coffee, still steaming, sat next to his hand.
His name was Pankia, chairman of the Si's consortium.
Displayed on the screen was an electronic map marking a building in the Lower District of Opportunity City. If nothing went wrong, that building should have by now been completely surrounded by the County Police and the Administration Bureau.
Pankia took a sip of his coffee, "It's likely that the Administration Bureau's people are there as well…"
He glanced at the eight photos displayed beside the electronic map—six men, two women, one Black person, five White, and two Asians. Chen Ke's photo was prominently among them.
They were the eight "Holy Relics Hunters" dispatched for this operation, accurately speaking, seven. That Asian was merely a "key"...
Putting down his coffee mug, Pankia recognized a few of them. That Asian, he remembered, was called Lin Mo, who had smuggled over from the Fei Huang Republic over a decade ago...
Pankia had trained him into a qualified assassin, a lethal weapon, used by the Si's consortium to handle all sorts of "tasks" needing attention.
But Lin Mo was not irreplaceable. After all, there were plenty of people who had smuggled into the United Federation at all costs. He could train the children of those smugglers into one Lin Mo after another, to do his dirty work.
It was about time. He opened the official page of the "Opportunity City Evening News;" the effects of the Spiritual Energy outbreak from the office building in the Lower District had already been reported.
"The hunt should be over, time to take home the spoils, kids," he murmured to himself, crossing his hands, and waiting by his BlackBerry phone on the table.
"Beep beep beep... beep beep beep…"
The phone rang, Pankia raised his eyebrows, and paused for a moment.
Because the ringtone wasn't coming from his BlackBerry, but from the old-fashioned white landline phone beside the computer.
This phone could only receive calls and was connected to only one number—it was used specifically for delivering "bad news."
"You were supposed to call my mobile," Pankia said, picking up the receiver with a hopeful tone.
"Chairman, one Hunter has emerged," the operator on the other end said.
"One? Are the other six lost?" Pankia breathed a sigh of relief, seeing it was only a loss of personnel. "In the future, don't count personnel loss as bad news, just call my mobile."
"It's not that... It's the key who has come out," the operator replied.
Pankia was stunned for a second, sweat forming on his forehead.
Impossible!
The office building had already experienced a Spiritual Energy outbreak; the "unlocking action" had been completed. The Blasphemous Dagger should have tasted the blood of the sacrifices.
Moreover, the person acting as the key had to be at least a Level 1 Spiritual Ability User and had undergone a "Spiritual Energy Binding" ceremony with the Blasphemous Dagger beforehand to trigger the artificial Spiritual Energy outbreak.
In other words, the person who was the key should have died the moment the ceremony was completed.
"Did you confirm the signal?" Pankia asked urgently.
"He's still carrying the phone we provided, and he's currently on the move, trying to leave the hunting ground," the operator answered.
Inside the area of the Spiritual Energy outbreak, most civilian device signals would be blocked, but as soon as one left that area, the signals would return to normal.
Pankia glanced at Lin Mo's photo on the screen, trying to guess what exactly had happened.
A betrayal? A miracle? A mutation?
None seemed likely—the consortium's brainwashing had never failed before... Pankia couldn't figure it out.
"Should I pass this message to Grandfather?" the operator suddenly asked.
"No, I'll tell him in person," Pankia immediately refused.
Grandfather's condition was unstable now, if he found out about this, Pankia's position might be at risk.
"Continue tracking the signals of the remaining Hunters, and call me immediately if anything unusual arises. The follow-up hunting operations will proceed according to the plan…" Pankia instructed.
The person on the other end agreed and hung up the phone.
Placing the receiver down, Pankia folded his arms and paced back and forth in front of his desk, his mind swirling with countless thoughts.
"Lin Mo…"
He picked up his cell phone, browsed through the contact list, found the number saved as "B124," and after two seconds of thought, he pressed the call button.
A slight vibration came from his body. Chen Ke suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He took a deep breath. He hadn't expected to have a phone on him! It made sense, though—earlier in the building, he was too nervous and focused only on searching others' belongings without checking what he had on himself.
He fumbled on his body and felt a small cell phone in the inner pocket on the right side of his coat.
It was a Nokia 1208, a little grey plastic cell phone with a green screen.
Chen Ke immediately felt disappointed. Damn, he had been so pleased thinking about using the phone to surf the internet for information.
The cell phone kept vibrating in his hand, the caller ID showing the name "Mr. Lan Mei."
"Who is this…"
Chen Ke hesitated, unsure whether to answer or not. He didn't know what relationship he had with this person and wasn't sure what to say.
After a moment of thought, he pressed the answer button.
"Lin Mo, where are you?" the other person asked.
"…" Chen Ke didn't speak; he noted down the name "Lin Mo." It seemed that was his name before.
"Lin Mo, come on, talk. Are you in some kind of trouble?" The caller's tone was very friendly.
"…" Chen Ke speculated. The fact that the person asked for his location right away showed they were eager to find him. Then asking if he was in trouble meant this person must be related to his troubles!
"You know I'll always help you, you can always rely on me." The caller's voice was sincere.
"Miles is dead; the 'plan' ran into a hitch…" Chen Ke ventured.
He remembered the name and the so-called "plan" he heard while confronting the Black People shortly after arriving.
"That Miles, he was a good man…uh… you need some rest, Lin Mo. Go back, get some sleep, I'll take care of everything for you. Remember, 49 White Street, room 13," the caller said cautiously.
"I will," Chen Ke said and then hung up.
In just a few words, the caller had displayed three different emotions: urgency at first, pretense in the middle, and then dismissiveness after hearing about the "plan."
Chen Ke believed that his life's countdown was definitely related to this person. Finding him might be the key to stopping the countdown!
The address given at the end was currently the only clue; even if it was a trap, he had no choice but to go.
Time was of the essence. Chen Ke immediately took a taxi to 49 White Street!
Meanwhile, Pankia was deep in his own thoughts.
The voice on the phone was indeed Lin Mo's, but the tone did not match how Lin Mo used to speak. Had Lin Mo become a different person? Was it amnesia, or a side effect of some spiritual binding ceremony? Regardless, Lin Mo was no longer the person Pankia knew. He couldn't stay.
Pankia dialed another number.
"Beep beep…"
"BOSS? What do you need?"
"Slavin, there's an issue with a gun."
"Serial number?"
"B124."
"Do you need it repaired, or…?"
"Just dismantle it…"
"Location?"
"Lower District of Opportunity City, B124's hideout."
"BOSS, I've already sent the executioner. I'll notify the guardian of B124 shortly."
"Don't disappoint me."
Once again hanging up, Pankia walked to the window and peeled back the corner of the curtain. The midnight city lights were dimming, and in the dark clouds on the horizon, lightning flashed.
A storm was brewing.