MONSTER PARADISE

101-120

Chapter 101: The Rubbish Bin that Disappeared

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang thought the only clue he had now was the rubbish bin that disappeared.

“The third rubbish bin must have disappeared together with Lin Xin. If we find the rubbish bin, we should be able to find Lin Xin.”

Lin Huang got the security personnel to contact their leader, Chen Wei.

“Mr. Lin, we’ve received the room number of the girl in ponytails. She’s staying in Room 321 on the ninth floor. I have contacted the girl’s father and got them to wait in their room. We can go over now.” Chen Wei brought them this piece of news when he picked up the call.

“We can put that on hold first. I got another clue; a lady who managed a store around the area said there were three rubbish bins when it was around 5:40 p.m. but now, there are only two. The time the rubbish bin disappeared matched the time my sister went missing too. I’m suspecting the person who that rubbish bin also took my sister.” Lin Huang presented his theory to Chen Wei.

“I’ll come to you now to look at the video taken around 5:40 p.m..”

“Sure, I’ll get my two colleagues to stay in the area for further clues.” Chen Wei nodded.

After they hung up the call, Lin Huang rushed to the monitor room. Chen Wei had paused the video of the time which Lin Huang requested. He then played the video. The video began from the time Lin Xin threw the rubbish until the time when Lin Huang and the other two arrived at the location. There were all confused after watching the video, including Lin Huang.

“Nobody removed the rubbish bin?!” Lin Huang frowned, that was strange.

If Lin Xin disappeared with the rubbish bin, she would be taken away while she was still in the rubbish bin. Aside from the monster taming token, there’s no other storage item that could contain a living being and the monster taming token doesn’t even work on humans.” Lin Huang shook his head.

“Furthermore, who would want to purposely steal a rubbish bin full of rubbish?”

“What should we do now?” Chen Wei was as helpless as Lin Huang was.

“There are only two possibilities. One, the lady we met earlier could be lying to distract us. The other possibility would be there really was a third rubbish bin in the camera’s blind spot.”

“Please get your two colleagues to ask the other merchants if they noticed the third rubbish bin. There were a couple of people throwing rubbish at the location during the time your sister disappeared, please contact them.”

“What kind of business does the fat lady do?” Lin Huang queried.

“The fat lady has been with us for 26 years. She sells cigarette and alcohol, she was here before I joined the company, she has no reason to lie.” Chen Wei knew the fat lady very well. “She may, however, be wrong about the number of rubbish bins, that’s all.”

“Let’s ask the rest then.” Lin Huang understood the complication.

Soon the two security personnel had finished asking all the merchants around that area. Besides the fat lady, another shop owner said she saw the third rubbish bin too. Chen Wei contacted the six guests who appeared on the video. Three of them said they saw the third rubbish bin while the other two could not recall and one of them only saw two rubbish bins. The girl in ponytails was one of the six people, she could not remember how many rubbish bins there were.

“From the information gathered, there really was a third rubbish bin in the blind spot.” Lin Huang concluded. One of the guests said he saw two rubbish bins at 5:58 p.m. The guest seemed certain of his answer, he said, “Of course I remember there were only two rubbish bins. The rubbish was leaking out from both bins and it took me awhile to get my empty can in, how can I forget that?! ”

“Now the only certain clue is that the rubbish bin disappeared between 5:40 p.m. and 5:58 p.m. However, your sister’s disappearance was between 5:42 p.m. to the time when you guys arrived which was 6:23 p.m. During that period, nobody got rid of the rubbish bin.” Chen Wei sat at the workstation in the monitoring room.

“That means the person who took my sister must have used some technique that we don’t know of. He must have taken both the third rubbish bin and my sister.” Lin Huang was triggered by all sorts of theories now.

“We are out of clues…” Chen Wei shook his head and sighed.

“Let’s talk to the girl in ponytails on the ninth floor then.” Lin Huang refused to give up.

Chen Wei called the girl’s father to confirm the visit time and brought Lin Huang together with his personnel to the ninth floor of the spaceship. They rang the doorbell and the girl in ponytails opened the door.

“Daddy, we have guests.” The girl said loudly to the man sitting on the couch.

The man stood up and smiled at them, “Please come in.”

Lin Huang realized that the man was the one who glanced at Lin Xin at the floating elevator entrance, the man in the white shirt. Knowing that the man had a daughter who was the same age as Lin Xin, he let his guard down because as a parent himself, it was normal to look at other kids who were the same age as his daughter.

“Lily, please get us some tea.” The man said to the girl.

“Okay, daddy.” The girl skipped to the kitchen.

“Please have a seat. I’ll try my best to help.” The man smiled.

“There’s no need for tea, Mr. Wei. We’re here to talk to your daughter, it won’t take too long.”

As Chen Wei was chatting with the man, Lin Huang observed him. This Mr. Wei seemed to be in his 40s. He was about 1.85 meters, had fair skin and a good fashion sense. He was still wearing the white shirt with black slacks. He wore a gold frame glasses, he was a man with style.

“No offense but may I know what do you do for a living, Mr. Wei?” Lin Huang asked.

“I was a teacher, now I have my own business.” Mr. Wei replied Lin Huang.

“Why the career change?” Chen Wei was curious.

“Unfortunately, the salary was low.” Mr. Wei laughed.

“That’s true, it’s especially hard when you have a wife and a kid.” Chen Wei understood him as he was almost the same age as Mr. Wei.

“Mr. Wei, you’re here with your daughter? Didn’t your wife come along?” Lin Huang asked.

“My wife passed away many years ago, I only have a daughter now.” Mr. Wei shook his head and said.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Lin Huang did not expect that answer.

“Don’t worry about it, it has been so long.” Mr. Wei waved his hand.

Lin Huang noticed a green gem on the ring on his left ring finger but he did not ask further.

Soon, the girl in ponytails came to them with tea.

“Daddy, I brought tea.”

“Please serve the guests.” Mr. Wei nodded.

The girl placed the tray on the coffee table and served the tea to everyone. Later on, she went to the man.

“Sit down, Lily.” Mr. Wei got her to sit on his lap. Lily was obedient; she did not say a word but sat quietly.

“That’s a good girl. My daughter is almost the same age as yours.” Chen Wei admitted.

“I used to be a teacher and so I trained her too. You are most welcome to send your daughter here too; I could train her as well.” Mr. Wei seemed passionate.

“That’s too much trouble.” Chen Wei was embarrassed.

“No trouble at all, I have too much time on my hands right now. I study with her and teach her manners.” Mr. Wei said and sensed that he was getting off topic, “I almost forgot why you guys came here for. Please, do talk to Lily.”

“Daddy…” Lily seemed shy. Now that she knew they were here for her, she hid in Mr. Wei’s embrace.

“Don’t worry, we only need to ask you a couple of questions.” Mr. Wei patted Lily’s shoulder.

“Little girl, don’t be afraid. We are the security team on this spaceship and we’re here to make sure that everybody is safe.” Chen Wei said.

” She’s just a little shy.” Mr. Wei nodded to Chen Wei.

Chen Wei then showed him Lin Xin’s photo, “Have you seen this little girl before?”

Lily shook her head without an expression.

Mr. Wei who was sitting behind her hesitated and asked, “I saw this girl at the floating elevator entrance. That was more than an hour ago, what happened?”

“She’s missing. We hoped that your daughter might have seen something.” Chen Wei explained.

“Missing? Shouldn’t there be surveillance camera on the spaceship?” Mr. Wei raised his eyebrow.

“There are a couple of blind spots, the girl disappeared at one of the blind spots.” Chen Wei was embarrassed when he said that.

“Is that so, hopefully you could find her as soon as possible.” Mr. Wei did not ask further.

“Little girl, do you remember drinking on a bench at 5:40 p.m.?” Chen Wei asked Lily. Lily nodded.

“Do you remember how many rubbish bins there were?”

Lily shook her head, “I don’t remember. Two, or maybe three…”

After a couple of questions later, it was obvious that Lily did not seem to know anything about the incident. Lin Huang and the rest left Mr. Wei’s room in desperation…

Chapter 102: Who is the Culprit?!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After leaving Mr. Wei’s room, they walked towards the floating elevator. They entered the staircase; Chen Wei could not help but looked at Lin Huang.

“We don’t have anymore clues now, what do we do?”

“Please send me the video clips. I need some time to think. If I help, I’ll contact you again.” Lin Huang pressed the seventh floor in the elevator.

Soon the floating elevator arrived at the seventh floor and Lin Huang stepped out of the elevator while the rest stayed within the elevator. Chen Wei hesitated for awhile and told the security personnels behind him, “You guys head to the room and send the video clips to Mr. Lin. I’ll see the captain.

“Leader, is it really necessary to alert the captain?” The security personnels looked concerned.

“If people found out about a missing person on the Demonic Crystal Spaceship, our reputation will burn and if we do not catch the culprit, the security team is at fault. Not only would we lose our job, we might have to pay the compensation. If we did not inform the captain now, we will be in serious mess if the issue worsens.” Chen Wei knew how serious the incident was so he dared not delay any minute.

“We understand now.” The security personnels nodded while heading to the monitoring room.

There was a lady in her 30s in a high-slit black dress in the cockpit. Her half covered dress made her even sexier. Although the door was opened, Chen Wei knocked anyway. The lady turned around and gave him a sweet smile, “Team Leader Chen, it’s been awhile since you visited.”

“Captain, something happened on the spaceship.” Chen Wei was staring at her pair of fair, long legs instead of her eyes. He was embarrassed and looked at the ground instead.

“Please come in and tell me more.” The lady remained poised.

Chen Wei walked into the cockpit with his head down. He only took two steps forward; the lady in black dress stood less than one meter away from him. Her pair of fair, long legs were showing between the slit. Chen Wei then looked up and his eyes stopped at her cleavage. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes instead.

“Leader Chen, your heart is beating so fast.” The lady placed her hand on Chen Wei’s chest. He felt warmth on his chest and had a boner. He then opened his eyes and took a step back.

“Captain, we have an emergency.”

“Look at you getting all worked up. Tell me, what happened?” The lady peeked at his boner and smirked. Chen Wei tried to maintain his cool by not reacting to the sexual tension.

“There’s a missing girl on this spaceship. We have been looking for her for the past one hour.”

“What time did she go missing?” The lady asked.

“Around 5:40 p.m.”

“It is only less than an hour. How would you know she’s missing?” The lady asked curiously.

“The sister’s brother reported at six and we have checked the surveillance camera, the girl disappeared from the blind spot…” Chen Wei told her the story.

The lady frowned, “If she’s really missing and we do not catch the culprit, we will be fully responsible. Not only would we have to pay a huge amount of compensation to the brother, the spaceship will be suspended from flying. It would take a couple of months for investigation, we can only get it up and running after confirming that the spaceship is fine. Moreover, all of the staff, myself as the captain, the security team will be investigate for a long time. Things will be so troublesome. Let’s not waste anymore time, we must find the culprit!”

“The spaceship docks at Dong Xuan City at 9:20 tomorrow morning. It’s a company rule that our flight schedule cannot be delayed for even a minute so we must find the culprit by then. We cannot let any skeptical person slip away, including the brother of the girl who is missing!”

“The girl’s brother?” Chen Wei looked at the captain in doubt.

“He might be the mastermind behind all this, it is possible to he killed his sister so that he could get the compensation. Moreover, we aren’t even sure if the girl is really his sister.” The lady included Lin Huang in the suspect list.

“Understood, we will do our best to find the culprit.” The lady made sense so he included Lin Huang into his list of suspects.

Of course, Lin Huang would not know what happened in the cockpit. After he got back to his room, he received the video clips that were sent by the security personnels and played them immediately.

The first one showed Lin Xin disappearing. Lin Huang launched his boundless eyes, and looked far behind from the moment when Lin Xin walked towards the rubbish bin. He kept thinking that he must have missed something, it was impossible for Lin Xin to disappear together with the rubbish bin just like that.

He repeated the video clips three times and finally noticed one tiny unusual part. The girl in ponytails had an Emperor’s Heart Ring on her left middle finger when she was throwing the rubbish while there was no ring on her right hand. But after she threw the rubbish, Lin Huang noticed that she flicked her right hand in the blink spot, a ring appeared on her right hand. After watching that part repetitively, Lin Huang confirmed that there was an additional green ring on the girl’s right hand. However, as her hand was moving and the paused screen was blur, Lin Huang could not get a clear look on the ring. He only managed to see that the ring was green.

He contacted Chen Wei immediately. Chen Wei was just looking for Lin Huang, seeing that he called, he picked up immediately. Before he could even say a word, Lin Huang spoke nervously.

“Leader Chen, I’ve found something. Take a look at the last video clip. When the girl, Lily was throwing the rubbish, there was no ring on her right hand. But when she left, there was a ring on her right middle finger. You should have people who could get a better look of the ring, right?”

Chen Wei played the video clip immediately after he heard what Lin Huang said and fast forwarded to the part where Lily threw rubbish. It was just like what Lin Huang said.

“Xiao Wang, please get a better image of this ring!” Chen Wei paused the video and got a long haired young man to get this done.

The long haired man nodded. He then projected the image with his Emperor’s Heart Ring, downloaded the image and started editing. In less than a minute, he produced a clearer image. It was a ring with green precious stone.

“Why does this ring look so familiar?” Chen Wei tried to recall where he saw this ring before.

“Is it done?” The communication device was still on, Lin Huang spoke again.

“I will send it over to you now.” Chen Wei took a photo of the image and sent it to Lin Huang.

Lin Huang squinted when he saw the image. He recognized at an instant that the ring with green precious stone was the one on Mr. Wei’s finger.

He didn’t know how but he was sure that he was the culprit. “Mr. Wei…” Lin Huang called out his name, he was ready to kill.

Chapter 103: Rescuing Lin Xin

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

On the ninth floor of Demonic Crystal Spaceship, room No.321.

Mr. Wei sent Lin Huang and the rest of them away, smiling. After shutting the door, he turned back and looked at Lily. He seemed angry.

Lily knelt on the ground, her body trembling. “Daddy…”

“You are an idiot. You messed up!” Mr. Wei kicked her and she fell.

Lily immediately got up and tried groveling, “Daddy, please don’t be mad at me. I know it’s my fault…”

“You have been with me for so long. You should know how to handle something so simple!” Mr. Wei kept his hands behind his back.

“Daddy, please don’t sell me away…” Tears rolled down her cheeks as she pleaded, “Lily wants to be with daddy forever. Lily wants to serve you…”

“Lily, you are the best among all of my daughters. You’re the only one I keep by my side. But today, you have disappointed me…” Mr. Wei’s eyes were still cold.

“I know it’s my fault. Daddy, please punish me. Please don’t sell me away…” Lily’s face was full of tears and she quickly took off her clothes. She was so skinny and there were visible scars from her collar-bone to her ankle. These were lash marks, scalds, and scars formed when the skin was cut with a sharp object. There were injuries all over her body…

Mr. Wei gave off a scoff and swung his left hand. The emerald ring on his ring finger released a beam of green light and a green-skinned monster that was two meters long appeared.

The monster looked like a giant green worm and the diameter of its mouth was around one meter. When the giant green worm opened its mouth, it spat out of a girl.

“Please bathe her and send her to my room.” Mr. Wei said while taking off his glasses and unbuttoning his shirts.

“Daddy, let me serve you…” Lily looked nervous.

“Lily, do you want me to repeat myself again?” Mr. Wei stopped unbuttoning his shirts and stared at Lily.

Lily lowered his head while carrying Lin Xin and walked towards the bathroom.

Mr. Wei was already naked. He walked to the bedroom after folding his shirts and placed them on the tea table.

In the bathroom, Lily immediately took off Lin Xin’s clothes and threw her into the bathtub. She let the cold shower water splash onto Lin Xin’s head and Lin Xin regained consciousness at once.

When she saw her naked body in the bathtub and a young naked girl with wounds all over her body, she screamed.

“Who are you? What is happening?!” She reacted immediately.

“My name is Lily. I am my daddy’s daughter. My daddy wants you to be his daughter too. That’s why you are here.” Lily answered.

“Are you crazy? You sound forced.” Lin Xin realized that the young girl was rehearsing lines. “Contact my brother, he will save us!”

Just as when Lin Xin was opening the communication page, Lily grabbed her wrist. “Daddy said that you are not allowed to contact anyone!”

“I don’t know who your daddy is. Judging by the wounds on your body, He does not seem like a good father. Why is he controlling your life?!” Lin Xin shook the girl’s shoulders.

“I want to be with daddy forever. I don’t want to leave my daddy!” Lily shouted back.

She was completely brainwashed. Lin Xin won’t be able to convince her for now so she tried her best to quickly call Lin Huang but Lily pulled her hair and her head fell back.

“You are not allowed to call anyone!” Lily knocked Lin Xin’s head against the edge of the bathtub.

Lin Xin fainted. At that moment, the door creaked open.

Lin Huang pulled up his feet and walked into the room. When he saw the green worm monster in the room, he finally understood everything.

The worm-like monster, also known as the Formless Worm, could transform into a variety of shapes and sizes. The monster must have transformed into a dustbin and swallowed Lin Xin. Then, it was transformed into a ring and Lily took it away.

Lin Huang frowned. He could not kill the Formless Worm as he would hurt Lin Xin if she was in the worm’s body.

“Wei! Show yourself!” Lin Huang yelled, his voice echoed across the room.

Mr. Wei walked out of the room with the bedcovers wrapped around his body.

Lin Huang rushed into the room but Lin Xin was not there.

He turned back and looked at Mr. Wei, “Where is my sister.” “Bro, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mr. Wei denied.

“Ask this Formless worm to spit my sister out!” Mr. Wei’s facial expression changed.

“I have no idea where your sister is. You’re mistaken.” Mr. Wei panicked. At normal times, he would definitely choose to report to the security guard and they would come to stop Lin Huang. However, Lin Xin was in the bathroom now. If he were to report to the security guard, they would discover that. He had no choice but to play it cool.

The iron weapon on Lin Huang’s hand immediately turned into a saber and Lin Huang grabbed it.

“Stop it. It’s the Demonic Crystal Spaceship here.” Mr. Wei did not even achieve iron-level rank-1. He knew that he would not be able to defeat Lin Huang.

Lin Huang lifted the saber and Mr. Wei retreated a few steps. He stumbled over the Formless Worm and fell.

Before he could get up, Lin Huang pointed the sword at his neck.

“I said, give me my sister!” Lin Huang was ready to kill.

“I really have no idea what are you talking about.” Mr. Wei insisted.

Lin Huang made a cut and a large amount of blood oozed out from the wound. Mr. Wei yelled in pain.

Lin Huang chopped off his left arm.

“My patience is limited. I repeat once again, where is my sister!” Mr. Wei did not expect Lin Huang to be this brutal.

However, he knew that if he were to reveal where Lin Xin was, he would probably die. “I really don’t know where your sister is…”

Lin Huang slashed again, chopping Mr. Wei’s right arm off.

“I am no fool. I guess there aren’t many things left for me to chop off from your body…” Lin Huang cut through the bedcovers covering Mr. Wei’s lower body and the tip of his saber moved up along his leg and stopped at the position between his inner thighs.

Mr. Wei felt a chill shooting upwards from his lower body.

“I’ll give you three more minutes. Otherwise, this is the next part I will chop off from your body…” His saber’s tip pressed slightly and cut the part between his hip, a streak of blood to ooze out from his wound.

“Stop it. She is not in the Formless Worm. She’s in the bathroom!” Mr. Wei gave up.

“For your sake, you better be right!” Lin Huang immediately summoned Bai and commanded, “Bai, please check the bathroom.”

It was only then that, Mr. Wei knew that Lin Huang was an Imperial Censor.

Bai quickly went to the bathroom. He saw Lily sitting next to the bathtub. Bai directly carried Lin Xin out of the bathtub. Bai wrapped her up in the cloth that was beside her and walked out of the bathroom.

Lin Huang stared fiercely at Mr. Wei when he saw her come out of the bathroom.

“She is fine. Lily brought her to the bathroom to bathe her. We haven’t done that yet…” Mr. Wei tried to cook up a lie.

“Whether you have done it or not, you won’t be using this anymore!” Lin Huang’s blade sliced across his lower body. Mr. Wei yelled in pain, blood oozing out between his legs.

“Go to hell!” Mr. Wei cursed.

“If you are looking for death, I’ll help you!” Lin Huang’s saber turned into a long, black shadow and he was about to cut through his neck.

A black shadow appeared abruptly at the moment and blocked Lin Huang’s fatal attack.

“Mister, why are you so angry? Since you have rescued your sister and he has learned his lesson, what is the point of killing him?” A woman in black dressed held Lin Huang’s saber in between her fingers. She was polite.

“Who are you?”

“Mr. Lin, she is our captain.”

Chen Wei walked into the room as well. He was relieved when he saw Lin Xin in Bai’s arms. “Mr. Lin, you should know that we have our rules. You can’t kill anyone on this spaceship. He is severely injured now. Let us handle him. We have checked his background and he is involved in many crimes. He did not even achieve iron-level. The government will keep him behind bars for at least 300 years, enough to keep him until his death.”

Lin Huang kept quiet for a moment. He then raised his leg and stepped on the piece of meat that he had just cut off from Mr. Wei’s body, instantly turning it into minced meat.

He lifted his saber once again and killed the Formless Worm in front of everyone.

He ignored Xiao Hei’s notification regarding the complete set of monster card that he had obtained. He turned back and asked Chen Wei, “How about the girl with him?”

“The girl is a victim. We will send her for professional psychotherapy to erase her memories and help her start living a normal life again.” Chen Wei explained.

Lin Huang did not say anything and walked towards the door, “Bai, let’s go.”

Chapter 104: Killing Wei Shan

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The female captain licked her lips as she saw Lin Huang leave the room, “He is quite the character. I like it.

Chen Wei could not sympathize with Lin Huang for what has happened to his sister and him. He felt pity for Mr. Wei instead, as he was rolling on the ground, groaning in pain. He thought in his heart, “Mr. Lin is young but he’s a ruthless man.”

“Where’s Lily?” Chen Wei asked Mr. Wei.

“In the bathroom.” The female captain answered.

Chen Wei hurried up to the bathroom. After a short while, Lily came out with a robe on.

“Daddy!”

Just as Lily got out of the bathroom, she wanted to pounce on Mr. Wei but Chen Wei stopped her.

“Lily, he is not your dad. His name is Wei Shan. He is a human trafficker who sells and kidnaps underage girls.”

“You have been brainwashed by this rubbish. You don’t know his actual identity. You need help.” The female captain spoke gently to Lily.

“Pull this guy away. He is an eyesore to me. I’m afraid that I’ll accidentally kill him on purpose .” The female captain saw the wounds on Lily’s leg and gave a murderous stare at Wei Shan.

Chen Wei immediately instructed two people to carry Wei Shan to the clinic. He would definitely die if he lost any more blood.

The female captain then called a number and said, “Cleaner, please clean up room No.321 on the ninth floor.”

…

Lin Huang held Lin Xin in his arms and they went back to their room. He put her to bed and slowly, she regained her consciousness.

She felt dizzy as she opened her eyes and held her head tight. She was so happy to see her brother that she pounced on him.

“Brother!”

“Everything is fine. It’s fine…” Lin Huang rhythmically patted her back.

Hearing her brother’s voice, Lin Xin burst into tears.

Lin Huang did not say anything. He let her cry, her tears and mucus on his clothes.

After some time, Lin Xin was emotionally stable once again. Her face reddened, she pulled back and said, “I’m sorry, brother. I shouldn’t have walked away from you.”

“It’s not your fault. Don’t apologize.” Lin Huang rubbed Lin Xin’s head “I’ll look for a doctor to check up on you.”

After a short while, the clinic appointed a female doctor to diagnose her.

“She is fine, she is just frightened. Although she hit her head, there are no signs of a concussion. You can apply a cold pack from time to time and you should be alright in no time.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Lin Huang was relieved.

After sending away the doctor, Lin Xin sat up and said, “Brother, I’ll take a bath and change my clothes.”

“Alright. Be careful, the floor is wet.” Lin Huang nodded his head.

Lin Huang walked to the balcony and called Chen Wei.

“Mr. Lin, is there anything I can do to help?” Chen Wei answered the call very quickly.

“What time is that fellow getting off the ship?” Lin Huang asked directly.

Chen Wei kept quiet.

“After getting off the ship, what happens to him has nothing to do with you. Are you protecting him?” Lin Huang’s sentence was powerful enough.

“Alright. He deserves it. He is getting off at Dongxuan City tomorrow morning at 9.20 a.m. There will be officers from the coalition government waiting for him at the get off point. It won’t be easy for you to finish him off.” Chen Wei told him the exact time.

“I just need to know the time. I’ll plan the rest.” Lin Huang was about to hang up when Chen Wei shouted at him.

“Don’t hang up yet. Regarding Wei Shan, he has a notorious background. He has gotten away with so many crimes. He has connections with members of the royal family. He is a human trafficker. Many of the girls have become slaves and he has trained them to serve people with special fetishes. If you kill him, many people would lose their supply of women and they will come after you…” Chen Wei said.

“It is important that he dies! His survival will ruin the lives of many young, innocent girls.” Lin Huang never wanted to let Wei Shan go. He only left the room because he clearly knew that the female captain who looked like a transcendent was not going to allow him to kill Wei Shan.

After hanging up, the urge to kill grew stronger.

…

Lin Xin ate her breakfast and played Gun Master in her room. This was around 9 in the morning.

Lin Huang arrived at the deck. He was standing somewhere near the spaceship’s exit, leaning against the shipboard staring blankly at the clouds below.

When it was about 9.15 a.m., the spaceship began its descent.

Wei Shan was escorted by Chen Wei and another security guard.

His arms had been stitched up. Wei Shan grinned as he saw Lin Huang at the exit. “There is no use standing here. You will not be able to kill me on the spaceship or even after. Sending me to the coalition government is useless too. I’ll be out on bail after three days. The only thing you could do is seeing me remain at large…”

Lin Huang kept quiet and took a quick glance at him. He continued looking at Dongxuan City that was getting closer and closer.

Soon, the spaceship landed on one of the plazas in Dongxuan City. Wei Shan was sent away.

Lin Huang did not follow because he gave up on thinking of ways to kill him.

At the end of the spaceship’s exit, by the stairs, both of them handed Wei Shan to officers from the Union Government.

Chen Wei’s expression was incredulous.

“You little brat, I’ve told you before, you can’t do anything to me!” Wei Shen turned back and smiled at Lin Huang. “You must remember there is deep enmity between us. One day, I’ll sleep with your sister and send you the video…”

“That day will never come!” Lin Huang grinned.

A white-haired young man suddenly appeared behind Wei Shan like a ghost. There were two golden wings extending from his spine, turning into two sharp blades.

One of the blades penetrated through Wei Shan’s heart and a gigantic golden hook protruded from his back. He was hanging in the mid-air. The floor was bloody.

Wei Shan had not died yet. He was terrified, lowering his head to look at his chest and bloodied shirt.

The next moment, another golden blade that resembled a long sword penetrated his head from the back of his head, leaving a huge hole in his head.

“Daddy!” Somewhere near the shipboard, someone gave a shrill scream. Lin Huang saw it was Lily.

Lin Huang was not aware that there was a man in the crowd, dressed in a black suit taking photos of Lin Huang using the Emperor’s Heart Ring.

After a few shots, he walked out of the crowd and called a number, “Wei Shan has died. The one who killed him was a young man. I’ve sent you the photos. Check his background and if there is nothing special about him, kill him.”

Chapter 105: Arriving at Xiagong City

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Shan’s death was too sudden and the two personnel were not prepared to react in time. They witnessed Wei Shan’s death by a vampire and the vampire vanishing after it completed the kill.

Both of them shifted their gaze towards Lin Huang because of the rift between them. However, there was no evidence showing that Lin Huang was the murderer.

While both of them still hesitated, the Demonic Crystal Spaceship took off. They looked at the spaceship helplessly and called their superior.

…

“What? He killed him right on the street? Why would Lin Huang do that?” Yi Yeyu received a call from Yi Zheng in the middle of the night. She was furious!

“He was a human trafficker. He threatened Lin Huang’s sister on the Demonic Crystal Spaceship…” Yi Zheng told her the whole story.

“He deserves it. Lin Huang did the right thing!” Yi Yeyu would definitely stand by Lin Huang’s side.

“The main problem is that there were forces pressuring them, requesting to arrest Lin Huang as soon as the spaceship lands at Xiagong City.” Yi Zheng said.

“I guess only those human traffickers were affected.” Yi Yeyu immediately understood what was happening then.

“Yes, these people indeed fueled the situation. However, it’s a serious crime to kill someone in the foothold. There is evidence now and the situation has become a lot more complicated.” Yi Zheng was having a headache. “What worried me the most is if he were convicted, he might not be imprisoned in the coalition governments but their personal prison? If that happens, it would be better if he was sentenced to death…”

“Brother, if they catch Lin Huang, everything will be ruined!” Yi Yeyu nervously said.

“I have asked some of my friends about this. The issue won’t be solved anytime soon.” Yi Zheng shook his head.

“I’ll seek help from daddy!” Yi Yeyu immediately decided to do so.

“That’s the only way if you want to save Lin Huang but the relationship between them and our family would be even worse.” Yi Zheng sighed.

“Our relationship was never good. They are hypocrites. Why do we have to maintain a good relationship with them?” Yi Yeyu was obviously upset. “The Yi family used to live with dignity; we don’t need them as our allies!”

“But I’m not sure if daddy is willing to help out.” Yi Zheng was being realistic.

“I’ll ask daddy now.”

“It is 12…” Before Yi Zheng could say 12.30, she hung up the call.

…

At Division3, Leng Yuexin received a message while she was on her way back to the hotel to rest. She immediately called back.

A middle-aged man dressed in a blue striped suit appeared in the video call.

“Uncle Li, what happened to Lin Huang?” Leng Yuexin asked nervously.

“You asked me to pay more attention to Lin Huang before you left. I have been following his whereabouts. Yesterday afternoon he killed a person in Dongxuan City on the Demonic Crystal Spaceship. He killed a human trafficker…” Uncle Li, the housekeeper told her.

“Miss Yi, do you want to save him?”

“Yes, of course. Lin Huang has saved my life. Be it right or wrong, I can’t just allow this to happen. He’s in grave danger. To me, he’s done nothing wrong!” Leng Yuexin explained.

“But if you’re going to be involved in this matter, your dad will definitely find out.” Uncle Li reminded her.

“Let him, I’ll explain to him.” Leng Yuexin said without hesitation.

“There is something that I have to tell you. We can meddle in such matters but for matters that they’re doing the dark, it’ll be…” Uncle Li reminded again.

“Even that is not allowed! Ask Uncle Feng to go there and whoever dares stand in our way, kill them all!” Leng Yuexin interrupted Uncle Li.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll do it now.” Uncle Li hung up the call.

…

Soon, the families who were trying to fuel the situation noticed that the events surrounding what had happened were quite strange.

“Didn’t you say that there was no one supporting him? Why did the head of the armed forces from the Yi and Leng families, some of the most powerful families among the six royal families be involved in this issue?”

“It seems like we can’t kill him. Otherwise, our relationship with the Yi and Leng families will worsen. We can only kill him quietly…”

……

After Wei Shan had been killed, Lin Huang was in a good mood. What he did not realize was that his small act of killing a human trafficker left the royal families in an absolute mess.

Because of this, Lin Huang asked Lin Xin to move into his room. During daytime, she would play games while Lin Huang practiced his skills in the living room.

Lin Xin tried not to disturb her brother after she left the game cabin. Lily was sent to one of the psychotherapy agencies nearby the foothold on the second day of Wei Shan’s death.

Three days had passed and everything was peaceful. The female captain and Chen Wei did not ask Lin Huang to pay for the damage he caused on the ship. Lin Huang had accumulated about 110 card pieces of Army Attack Tactics . The time needed to complete one cycle had been shortened from half an hour to 15 minutes.

On the eighth afternoon on board the spaceship, Lin Huang and Lin Xin arrived at Xiagong City.

The female captain had a rather complicated expression when Lin Huang got off the spaceship. She mumbled, “This fellow was not supposed to have anyone protecting him. Why on earth would the most powerful among the six royal families, the Leng family and the head of the armed forces from the Li family help him?”

Lin Huang knew nothing about this. He checked into their hotel. It was a suite with two rooms. Since the incident, Lin Huang was not going to let Lin Xin out of his sight.

“It is 4.32 p.m. now and it was still too early for dinner. Show me your itinerary for this trip!” Lin Huang said.

Lin Xin showed him the itinerary she planned for their trip and explained the details to Lin Huang.

“Today is the day one at Xiagong City. I estimated that we would arrive at the hotel at 4.30 p.m. Since it’s already quite late, we are not going to visit any places today. We are going to look for some good food at a night market, somewhere near the hotel. It’s called Xia Street. Some traditional shops sell snacks there…”

Chapter 106: The Attack at Xia Street

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Xia Street was actually not the name of a street. It was the name for the night market which was located at the center of Xiagong City.

The night market was set in the middle of many crossroads, with more than 10 lanes branching out from it. The lanes were not too wide and they were very crowded at night.

The shops usually opened at five o’clock in the evening and would get livelier after dark.

Lin Huang and Lin Xin were walking from the hotel and they reached the night market at around 6.30 p.m. The sky was getting darker by then.

The hanging red street lanterns were lit up in an impressive Chinese design.

“The lanterns are so pretty!” Lin Xin squealed. It was the first time she saw such a scene and it was something new for her.

“Let’s look for some food first and walk around after eating,” Lin Huang suggested. Both of them had not had their dinner yet since they were waiting to try the food here.

Lin Huang and Lin Xin were enticed by many of the peculiar things that were there as soon as they arrived at Xia Street. Other than food, there were many interesting toys and gadgets to fiddle with, and there was even a roadshow performance.

There were a few people in the crowd who shifted their focus to Lin Huang as he walked around. Suddenly, they turned and started walking slowly towards him.

Lin Huang could vaguely sense that something strange was happening. He felt a sinister vibe coming from the people that were surrounding him. However, he could not identify from which direction it was coming from.

He then noticed that there was an apparel store located not far away from them. He pulled Lin Xin in that direction and they ducked into the shop. Almost at the same time as they entered the apparel store, he summoned Bai.

“Brother, what happened?” Lin Xin asked. She was familiar with Bai and she knew when he appeared it meant that Lin Huang was preparing for a fight.

“Nothing happened. Just choosing a shirt for Bai,” Lin Huang answered. He then chose a cloak with a cape in the apparel store and put it on Bai’s body.

It fit Bai very well and his eye-catching white hair was covered by the cape as well.

“Boss, I’ll buy this,” Lin Huang said to the shop owner, pointing at the cloak that Bai was wearing. He then paid for it and headed for the exit.

Bai did not take off the cloak after wearing it. He was completely covered by the cloak and followed Lin Huang and Lin Xin as they walked out of the apparel store.

Despite it being summer time now, there were still many people who dressed oddly in this world. No one noticed Bai wearing a cloak in the heat.

As soon as Lin Huang walked out of the shop, the group of men immediately approached him.

However, there was a beam of green light that flashed in front of them and they all disappeared.

The speed of the green light was so fast that the people around them did not even realize something strange had happened, nor did any of then notice the men had disappeared as well.

“Hmmm? Was it an illusion?” a passerby muttered in confusion from the green lights.

Walking out of the apparel store, Lin Huang felt uncomfortable. The murderous vibe that he sensed earlier had disappeared.

“This guy is quite alert. Although he is only an Iron Hunter, he is capable of sensing the deadly aura exuded by a silver-level assassin,” a middle-aged man thought to himself and grinned, standing in front of a stall nearby. He had waist-length hair and wore a green robe. He was good-looking with an eccentric personality that set him apart from the people around him. Even stranger though, nobody seemed to notice his existence despite him standing there the whole time.

Lin Huang did not let his guard down although the murderous aura that he felt earlier had disappeared. He had been on Lin Xin’s left side while Bai escorted her on her right side. Lin Xin walked between them.

“Brother, let’s go to that shop!” Lin Xin chirped cheerfully and pointed at a barbeque shop.

“Alright,” he said. Many people were already waiting in queue although the shop had just opened.

“I have reviewed this shop’s site before and it was said that its signature recipes have been passed down for more than three generations over a span of more than 50 years,” Lin Xin told Lin Huang.

“I guess the shop has quite a good reputation as the queue is so long despite it having just opened,” Lin Huang replied and nodded his head as he joined the queue with Lin Xin.

Suddenly, Lin Huang frowned right after he joined the queue. He could sense the murderous aura once again.

It was so crowded and still, Lin Huang could not determine which direction the person was coming from. He could only feel the person somewhere very close to him.

He tensed up in preparation for an incoming attack. All of a sudden, the deadly aura disappeared again.

“It is impossible that it is an illusion this time!” Lin Huang thought to himself. He was sure that the murderous aura was really there. However, he had no idea why they suddenly vanished. He had a feeling that that the people who intended to kill him were quietly being taken out one at a time.

At a corner of a building not far away from Lin Huang, a man in a suit dialed a number.

“Boss, the second team had been killed. Up to this moment, I have not discovered who the killer is yet…” As soon as the man in suit finished his sentence, a man who was in a green robe appeared in front of him, with a wide grin on his face.

“You are…” the man in suit exclaimed, stunned. Obviously, he could recognize the man in the robe.

“I would like to speak to your boss. You are not qualified enough for me to pay attention yet,” the man in green robe said with a wry smile.

“Who is that?” A person with a deep voice asked over the communication device.

“He is…” the man in the suit stopped talking immediately as a semi-transparent small green wolf appeared out of nowhere and clutched at his throat.

“Let’s meet up and you’ll know who I am,” the green-robed man said calmly once he knew the man on the line was listening.

“Sure. I would like to know who you are, troublemaker.” The boss answered after a brief pause.

“Alright. Let’s meet at the clock tower. See you,” the green-robed vigilante said.

Upon hanging up the call, the semi-transparent small wolf suddenly grew bigger, opening its mouth and it swallowed the man in the suit.

However, people that were about two meters away from them did not notice what had happened and it seemed as if the man in the suit and the green-robed man were hollowmen.

The green-robed man pointed his toe on the ground and transformed into a beam of green light. Soon, he arrived at the clock tower which was located beside Xia Street.

He raised his head, seeing that a man in a black robe was standing at the top of the clock tower. The brim of his hat shadowed his face and he could not be seen clearly.

“Oh, it’s you, Feng Zhuoran,” the black-robed man greeted him as he recognized him instantly, and sounded frightened.

“Don’t you feel hot wearing that on a summer’s day?” Feng Zhuoran asked and smiled cunningly.

“Is the Leng family going to protect this little brat?” The man in black robe ignored his question and asked.

“I’m already here. What do you think?” Feng Zhuoran shrugged his shoulders.

“What’s the relationship between him and Leng family?” The black-robed man asked.

“I wanted to ask you too. The ones who have died were just unimportant people. Although, why would a transcendent be appointed to kill an iron-level brat? Does he have a hidden identity?” Feng Zhuoran asked, scratching his chin, confused.

“So, the Leng family would meddle in this issue no matter what?” The black-robed man ignored Feng Zhuoran’s question again and asked.

“I have been instructed to kill any assassins!” He immediately activated his skill right as he finished his sentence.

He waved his sleeves and a large pack of green giant wolves appeared out of nowhere and sprang towards the black-robed man.

“Feng Zhuoran, are you trying to start a fight?” The black-robed man yelled at him. A bloody long sword streaked across the sky, making its way through the giant wolves. It then transformed into a beam of crimson light and sped off.

“He fled quickly,” Feng Zhuoran mumbled, sounding disappointed. He then waved his sleeves again and the horde of green giant wolves disappeared. He then walked slowly towards Xia Street.

Chapter 107: The True Identity

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was almost 10 o’clock at night when Lin Huang and Lin Xin went back to the hotel. Feng Zhuoran was staying at the same hotel too and his room was just next to theirs. However, Lin Huang did not notice him there at all.

When they got back to their room, Lin Xin fell asleep almost immediately. On the other hand, Lin Huang tossed and turned the whole night.

“I felt people are coming at me, twice. It is not an illusion but how could the feeling just disappear? Did someone actually kill them?” Lin Huang could not figure out what had happened. However, he did not know that he was so close to the truth. He would never have thought that it was related to Leng Yuexin who was at Division3 though.

He emptied his mind and still, he could not fall asleep. He opened the Heart Network, surfing the news updates on the web.

One of the recommended local news headlines published on the Heart Network caught Lin Huang’s attention.

“Recently, the number of cases involving murder committed in foothold No.7B61, Xiagong City has increased. A series of murders have happened in the last four days alone. The death toll stands at 16 on the first day and the total number of deaths until today is 121. Those who had been killed are ordinary people and those who are of an Iron-level. None of the bronze-levels have been killed yet. This incident attracted a great deal of the Union Government’s attention…” it read.

“It has been four days but the murderer has not been arrested yet…” Lin Huang thought. He had doubted the security system of Xiagong City for quite a while now.

Lin Huang started to feel sleepy when it was almost 12 o’clock. He then closed the Heart Network and fell asleep.

In the next room, Feng Zhuoran was sitting on the sofa and dialed a number.

After a short while, a video popped up in front of him as soon as the call was answered. The person who appeared in the video call was Uncle Li and he was the one talking on the phone with Leng Yuexin the other day.

“Dear housekeeper, good evening!” Feng Zhuoran greeted.

“How’s it going?” Housekeeper Li asked.

“It’s going quite well, I guess. I have been wearing a mask these days, there shouldn’t be any problems,” Feng Zhuoran said as he straightened his body, folding both arms across his chest.

“You sound uncertain. Did anything happening?” Li asked as he could read Feng Zhuoran’s mind by his body language.

“Yes, something did really happen. They appointed a transcendent to kill him. However, I scared him off,” Feng Zhuoran replied.

“They asked a transcendent to kill Lin Huang?” Housekeeper Li said and then frowned. “Did this problem really stem from the guy who died or does Lin Huang have some other secrets that we don’t know about?” Housekeeper Li questioned.

“We have checked Lin Huang’s background many times now. There shouldn’t be any problems. I’m guessing something was wrong with the guy who died,” Feng Zhuoran guessed. “I asked the transcendent before but he did not say anything. Seems like he was trying to hide something. The problem is more apparent now,” he said.

“I’ll try to see if I can get any more information. Thanks for your hard work,” Li said and hung up the phone immediately, catching Feng Zhuoran by surprise.

“Housekeeper Li always hangs up the phone so unexpectedly…” Feng Zhuoran said as he looked at the screen turning black all of a sudden.

He dismissed the communication page and started chatting with his friends in his chat groups. It was not necessary for a transcendent to sleep every day. Therefore, he had plenty of time.

At around 1 a.m., Housekeeper Li sent him a message.

“Something is wrong with the guy that Lin Huang killed. His dead body disappeared and all clues linked to this were destroyed,” the message read.

Feng Zhuoran frowned as he read the message. He shook his head and sighed, “Lin Huang…Ah, Lin Huang, who you are messing with…”

…

A few hours earlier, a crimson light shone into the forest. A black-robed man looked back at the sky behind him and sighed in relief.

“Fortunately he didn’t come after me!” He muttered.

He took off his hat, activated the communication page of the Heart Network and dialed a number.

“How’s it going?” A voice came from the communication device.

“Failed. Feng Zhuoran from the Leng family was there to protect him. He said that Leng family will intervene in this issue no matter what,” the black-robed man said.

“The Leng family…” The guy paused for a moment and said, “Fine, ask them to withdraw the hitmen. It would not benefit us if things get messy.”

“But how are we going to tell Mr. Huang about this?” The black-robed man asked.

“I’ll explain to him. Since the one who died was his distant relative, I think our business is more important. He asked for our help since he wanted revenge but we have tried our best. We would pay dearly if things go south…” Zheng Yuan said and hung up the phone.

The Zheng family was just a middle-class royal family in Division7. They were incomparable to the Leng family. However, he could not offend the other party as well. Things were difficult for him.

After having a video conference with a few other royal families for more than an hour, eventually they had decided to give up on their operations. As the initiator of this operation, he had no choice but to report to Mr. Huang regarding the matter.

In his room, he called his number after he closed all the windows.

The call was answered after it rang several times.

“Tell me..” a voice asked over the line. It was the sound of a man, but his age could not be identified.

“Mr. Huang, our operation to kill Lin Huang was obstructed by the Leng family…” Zheng Yuan said, and then told him everything that happened.

He kept quiet for a long while and said, “Alright. There is no need for you and the rest of them to do business in Division7 anymore.”

He hung up the phone after finishing his sentence. Zheng Yuan was really puzzled.

“What is happening?” Zheng Yuan called back once again but his number had been barred.

…

At Division2, in a castle that was beautiful beyond imagination, a 30-year-old woman in a purple dress was patting a skull.

“Shan Er, why didn’t you listen to Mummy. You said that you like the little girls and I asked Lao Huang to build such a business for you at Division7. You would have only been in charge of the things that happened behind the scenes and Lao Huang would’ve taken care of everything else. Then, you wanted to be involved in the business and I asked Lao Huang to create a fake identity for you, saying that you were a distant relative of the royalty in Division7. With them looking after you, you could’ve been a supplier,” the old woman said calmly.

“It’s fine that you wanted to be a supplier. You were born with a broken Life Wheel and you can’t use your Life Power. You know that you can’t use defensive equipment and relics. You need Lao Huang to protect you all the time. However, you always look for girls when he’s not with you and that was what caused this to happen today!” She shouted, suddenly bursting into a rage.

The eyes of the skull glowed with a blue light. Its jaw moved up and down and the voice of a man was heard. If Lin Huang was there, it would definitely have sounded familiar to him. This was because it was Wei Shan’s voice, the one he had killed.

“Mum, please help me take my revenge on him! After Lin Huang is killed, cage his spirit and make it into a Corpse Slave!” The skull shouted.

“Shan Er…calm yourself. Of course, we must take revenge but you have to be patient. The Leng family is very influential in Division7 and they are somehow related to Division3. I will attract the attention of Division3 if I get too involved in this issue. I will plan your revenge. You have to stay in this spirit fostering bottle for the next three years. Three years from now, when your spirit has become stable, I will look for the body of an undead species. You can then live on as an undead creature,” his mother explained.

“Mum, what’s your plan?” The skull asked.

“Bring her in,” the woman in the purple dress said and clapped her hands.

A girl with pigtails was brought over by a maid. She looked at the purple-dressed woman in fear.

“Lily!” The skull shouted happily.

“Daddy!” Lily immediately pounced on the skull without fear.

“Lily, your daddy will come back to life in three years, alright? Do you want to help your daddy take revenge on the one who killed him?” The purple-dressed woman smiled, looking at Lily.

“Yes!” Lily nodded his head.

“If you want to, be strong, it will be very difficult. You might even die. Are you afraid of that?” The purple-dressed woman asked the girl, with a smile.

“I’m not afraid at all!” Lily shouted and shook her head.

“Alright, I’ll send you to the Phoenix Island for one-year of training. If you are able to survive that, I’ll send you to Division7. Then, you’ll have to kill Lin Huang within one month,” the lady said. After finishing her sentence, the purple-dressed woman looked at the maid and nodded her head.

The maid left together with Lily. The purple-dressed woman patted the skull again and said, “I guess you’ll be happy to have your daughter execute your revenge.”

“Mum, you’re the one who understands me the most…” The skull said happily and his voice trembled, “Lily, please don’t disappoint Daddy…”

Chapter 108: Unknown Item

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was late at night, and the streets were bare under the moonlight. In a quiet alley in Xiagong City, a man in a black robe stabbed a drunk middle-aged man in his chest. The man did not even manage to say anything as he fell straight onto the ground. The man in the black robe pulled out his knife and pressed his hand on the dead body’s wound. His clean hand seemed to be covered by a layer of asphalt as a black liquid flowed into the wound.

Awhile later, the man in black robe removed his hand and stood up. He took off his hat and removed the skin from his face that looked like tree bark. His face then transformed to reveal a layer of human skin.

“Ahh!” A lady screamed when she saw the man in the alley. The man in black robe chased after her.

“Help! A monster is killing people!” The lady kept screaming.

After a few moments of chasing the lady, the man in black robe saw somebody approaching so he ran away. A couple of security guards who were doing their rounds blocked his way….

…

In the morning, Lin Huang was sitting at the dining table, reading the news on the Heart Network after breakfast. He saw a featured local article so he clicked on it and read it.

“Before dawn today, a security guard of Xiagong City caught a murderer. From the dead body at the location, the murderer seems to be one of the culprits of the recent murder cases in the city. The murderer’s identity and the reason for the murder are still unknown and is still under investigation…”

“Brother, what are you reading?” Lin Xin who sat across him asked when she saw him frowning at the news.

“They caught a murderer who committed a recent murder,” Lin Huang looked at Lin Xin, and then noticed that her plate was empty.

“Are you full? If you aren’t, you can have more,” he said to her.

“I’ll get some fruits,” Lin Xin said and got up to get a plate of fruits.

“Brother, why did you frown at the news just now? Isn’t it a good thing that they have caught the murderer?” Lin Xin asked curiously while eating the fruits she got.

“Nothing, I just feel that the murderer is not human but from what the news reported, the culprit they caught was a human,” Lin Huang closed the news page. Although he thought the news was strange, he didn’t want to dwell on it.

“Maybe they got the wrong guy,” Lin Xin mumbled. She trusted her brother’s instincts.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore, it has nothing to do with us,” Lin Huang said and tossed a red berry into his mouth. “It seems like the safety of Xiagong City is still unstable. We’ll explore the city during the day and come back before dark. We’ll try to end our trip around four or five o’clock and come back for dinner. Maybe we should stay in at night,” he said to Lin Xin.

“Then we would have to change our schedule…” Lin Xin said in disappointment.

“We can spread out the activities. It’ll be okay if we take our time to explore the city. You have almost two months of summer break. Excluding our travel time, you’ll have at least one and a half months of holiday. There are not that many attractions in the city center. We can finish them even if we extend our trip for just another week. Before the murder cases are solved, it’s better that we stay in the hotel at night,” Lin Huang explained.

“Alright then…” Lin Xin said, with a pout. Although she was reluctant, she accepted Lin Huang’s suggestion as she knew that it was not safe to be out in Xiagong City at night.

The both of them left the hotel after breakfast. Under Lin Xin’s guidance, they rode on the Viridian Wolf and arrived at the first attraction in the city center – the Xiagong Museum.

“The Xiagong Museum mainly features items that were excavated from the ruins. Most of them were from the ancient city back in the olden days. A couple of collections came from the Xiagong Ruins and they’re currently the centerpiece of the hall…” Lin Xin explained to Lin Huang.

Lin Huang knew about all the information she was saying as he had read them all up on the Heart Network. Since his sister seemed to enjoy being a tour guide, he listened without interrupting her. He had little interest in museums. When he was on earth, he only had one thought of museums – The items in there cost a bomb! That was why he hardly visited any museums whenever he traveled. However, it was different in this world as there were many interesting things to see. He could learn more about this world by studying the historical items in the museum.

The Xiagong Museum had free entrance admission but identity verification was mandatory. After completing their verification at the entrance, they entered the museum and realized that there were many visitors.

“Hi, are the both of you together?” A young lady in white uniform asked as she approached them. They both nodded in unison.

“If that’s the case, I can be your tour guide,” she continued.

Lin Huang knew that the tour guides here were a complimentary service but some people preferred to be on their own instead of following a tour guide. He turned to Lin Xin and asked, “Do you want a tour guide?”

“That would be nice…” Lin Xin replied as she looked around at the collections of artifacts. There were many of them and some of them were not featured on the network.

“We’ll have you join us then,” Lin Huang said as he nodded at the tour guide.

“Please follow me…” The lady led both of them along to the exhibitions.

Lin Huang had learned a lot from the tour guide. Lin Xin was curious too. She asked a lot of questions and the tour guide managed to give her detailed explanations to each and every one of them. An hour later, they finally made it to the hall. The hall was not that big and was just a little less than 300 square meters. Lin Huang saw the collection that was presented as the centerpiece once he stepped into the hall. The one in the middle caught his eye but made him squint to confirm what he saw. He walked hurriedly to the center and as he approached, his eyes widened in surprise. The both of them saw him and followed.

“What’s wrong, brother?” Lin Xin asked Lin Huang curiously.

“Nothing, I’m just curious about these items,” Lin Huang suppressed how stunned he really was. He stared at the item in the middle for a very long time.

It was a laptop. It was laid open and placed inside a transparent case. The computer screen was completely shattered and there was a hole in the middle of the keyboard that was the size of a fist. It was burnt on the sides but the keyboard buttons were still intact. He was stunned as he had never seen a computer or a laptop ever since he came to this world.

“What is this?” Lin Huang could not help but ask the tour guide. It was his first question since he entered the museum.

“These items were excavated from the Xiagong Ruins. Both items on the sides are decorations. As for the one in the middle, the archaeologists have been trying to figure out what it was but none of them know what is it for. Since nobody knows what it is, they called it the unknown item,” the tour guide explained, embarrassed that she had no answer to the first question he had asked that day.

“The unknown item…” he mumbled. Hearing the tour guide’s answer, Lin Huang could almost confirm that this laptop was brought by another traveler that came into this world.

“It seems like I have to make a trip to the Xiagong Ruins then!” He thought to himself.

Chapter 109: The Ruins of the Ancients

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang had his mind occupied with the Xiagong ruins ever since he saw the laptop at the museum. There were not many changes to their schedule during the trip. He would visit tourist attractions with Lin Xin in the foothold during the day and return to the hotel around four to five o’clock for dinner. After dinner, he would practice Army Attack Tactics until 10 at night. He would then look for information about the Xiagong ruins on the Heart Network before he slept at 12.

Five days had passed without incident. His Army Attack Tactics  skill rotation was now only 10 minutes per cycle and he had obtained 228 card pieces. He was close to obtaining 400 card pieces to upgrade to level three. There was not much information about the Xiagong Ruins on the Heart Network and the Hunter Network. All he found out was that the ruins were found more than 300 years ago when Division7 was built. Many experts had conducted some form of research on the ruins and found out that there were many things in the ruins of the palace that were not present in other places. The discoveries include decorations which were different from those that were excavated from other ruins and because of this there were various speculations about these ruins on the Heart Network. Some even speculated that the palace was built by the Gods.

Seeing that they had almost visited all the attractions in the city center, he would finally have the chance to visit the Xiagong Ruins. Lin Huang felt obliged at first but he called Yi Zheng anyway in order to get more information about the ruins. However, after the call was connected, it was cut off after two rings. Soon, Lin Huang received a message.

“I’m in the middle of something, let’s talk tomorrow.”

Lin Huang raised his eyebrow. He did not want to bother Yi Zheng, so he called Yi Yeyu instead. On the second ring, his call was picked up. Yi Yeyu was wearing a black dress with expensive jewelry on her neck. Hearing the noise in the background, Lin Huang asked, “Where are you and why are you dressed so formally?”

“Nothing much, it’s just a gathering,” Yi Yeyu shook her head and teased. “So tell me, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into again?” She continued, rolling her eyes mockingly.

“Nothing! Do I look like a troublemaker?” Lin Huang asked.

“You don’t look like it, you ARE a troublemaker!” Yi Yeyu shouted as she remembered what Lin Huang had done a few days ago.

Lin Huang did not say anything in response… Yi Yeyu was a member of royalty. It was normal if she had found out what he had done on the spaceship. As he thought about it, he realized that it must have been Yi Yeyu who covered for him as the Union Government did not pursue him after he killed someone.

“They’re calling for me. If you have something urgent, say it now,” Yi Yeyu muttered firmly. She thought what she had said earlier was rude so she changed the topic to move on.

“I wanted to ask for your help to find out more about the Xiagong Ruins. I couldn’t get anything informative with my search restrictions,” Lin Huang said, finally telling her his intentions.

“Xiagong Ruins? Many people have excavated the ruins before, why would you want to know more about it?” Yi Yeyu asked as she thought Lin Huang’s request was ridiculous.

“I just wanted to know more about it. I will be going there two days from now. The information would be helpful as I’m acting as a guide for my sister,” Lin Huang said, cooking up an excuse.

“There are professional tour guides there, I don’t understand what’s with you wanting to be a know-it-all to your sister. Alright then, I will do what I can for you after the dinner. It might come late at night,” Yi Yeyu promised him.

After the phone was disconnected, Lin Huang realized that it was 12. He did not wait for Yi Yeyu’s reply and went straight to bed. The next morning, before he got up, he saw a couple of messages on his phone. They were all from Yi Yeyu. She had sent all the information about the Xiagong ruins to him. There were many pages with pictures, so much more than what he managed to find the past few days.

“The Xiagong ruins existed in the ancient epoch, even before the old epoch? The old epoch was 30,000 years ago which meant the time the traveler with the laptop arrived was about 30,000 years ago or possibly even earlier…” Lin Huang frowned at that piece of information.

“Humans below the level of transcendents cannot live for more than 720 years. The longest a transcendent can live is 1,800 years. Although I have no idea how long a demigod can live, it’s not really possible that one could live up to 30,000 years,” Lin Huang thought, basically confirming that the transcendent had died many years ago. “About the laptop, the traveler wouldn’t bring something that was useless here, that could have been his Goldfinger. Since his Goldfinger was destroyed, his chance of survival would have been really slim…” He concluded.

Lin Huang was disappointed. He always wanted to meet someone who was like him. Although they might not be able to teach him anything, a simple chat would have sufficed to warm his heart to the life he was living in a different world. He then continued to read and found another helpful piece of information. An expert suggested that Xiagong was related to a person called Xia Hao in the Ancient Epoch. There were historical records mentioning a man named Xia Hao that appeared in the Ancient Epoch and he managed to level-up from an ordinary person to a Demigod within a couple of years.

He was called the No.1 Genius during the epoch. However, he disappeared all of a sudden. Some said he was dead while others speculated that he traveled to another world.

After reading that, Lin Huang was sure that if this Xia Hao really existed in the Ancient Epoch, he was the traveler that he was looking for. Only travelers with Goldfingers could level-up to become Demigods within a couple of years.

Yi Yeyu left a message at the end.

“I have tried to look for more information about Xia Hao for you but there isn’t much to go on. There is very limited information about the Ancient Epoch, and the restrictions are even tighter. I’ve sent you all that I’ve found,” she said.

“Thank you, I’ve received them!” Lin Huang replied Yi Yeyu’s messages right after he read them.

“Brother, wake up!” Lin Xin shouted and knocked on his door.

“Alright, I’ll be right there,” Lin Huang yelled back and then got up from his bed.

They arrived at the hotel restaurant 10 minutes later. After getting food from the buffet, they sat by the window.

“How many attractions have we yet to visit within the city center?” Lin Huang asked as he ate.

“We’re only left with one more. It can be done before noon,” Lin Xin said and asked Lin Huang right away, “Will we be staying in the city center for another few days or do we go straight to the Xiagong Ruins?”

“We will go to Xiagong Ruins tomorrow morning,” Lin Huang replied as he was in anticipation of what the ruins had to offer too.

Chapter 110: The Truth about the Murder

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After they were done with the last attraction in Xiagong City, they decided to make their way back to the hotel. It was already one o’clock in the afternoon when Lin Huang and Lin Xin reached the hotel. Just when they got into their room, Lin Huang’s Emperor’s Heart Ring vibrated. It was Yi Zheng who requested a video call with him. Lin Huang accepted the call.

“Were you looking for me last night?” Yi Zheng asked. He immediately cut to the chase once the call was connected.

“I needed your help to check something but it has been settled now,” Lin Huang replied and nodded.

“Oh, I was in the middle of something last night,” Yi Zheng explained. “I heard you’re in Xiagong City now?” He continued.

“Yea, I’ll be visiting the Xiagong Ruins tomorrow,” Lin Huang said.

“Xiagong City has been chaotic recently. I’d advise you not to stay there for too long,” Yi Zheng warned him.

“You’re talking about the murders, right? I’ll take note of that,” Lin Huang replied. He knew Yi Zheng said that out of sincere concern.

“You don’t seem to have a sense of danger. Nevermind, I shall tell you this then,” Yi Zheng said and shook his head.

“The result of the murder case that you were talking about was out this morning but the Union Government has been keeping quiet about it. Seven people who were involved in the murder have been caught in the past few days. They were humans infected by a species of parasites,” he said.

Lin Huang frowned and asked, “How is it possible that the parasites passed through the security systems at the city gate undetected?! It would have been possible in a small foothold but Xiagong City is a B-grade large foothold, the security system should be better than that.”

“I heard it’s a new type of parasite which had never been seen before. Not only that, its parasitic form is different from the rest which cannot be detected by the security systems. Fortunately, such a parasite does not seem to be contagious as the host could not spread the parasite to others just through touch or airborne means so it won’t spread all over the place,” Yi Zheng explained.

“However, the biggest issue now is that Xiagong City has hired many magicians to remove the parasites, but all have failed. This is the reason why the Union Government refused to announce the truth about the case so that an uproar can be avoided,” Yi Zheng told Lin Huang the truth. Lin Huang did not expect that to be the case. “All failed?” he thought.

“Although it will not spread, if the security system still doesn’t work, it will cause more parasites to invade Xiagong City…” Lin Huang frowned as he said. He knew how severe the issue was. “Has the Union Government came up with a plan yet?” he asked.

“There are three strategies that they are implementing right now. One is to strengthen the security system by monitoring the people who enter the city. Secondly, they will be strengthening the security in the city and lastly, they will accelerate research on the new species of parasites to develop an identification method,” Yi Zheng said while he shrugged his shoulder.

“That doesn’t solve the root problem…” Lin Huang shook his head.

“There’s nothing more they can do. Would you want them to tell all the citizens that there’s a problem with the city gate’s security system and unknown parasites have invaded the city and that there’s no way to remove them?” Yi Zheng asked and raised his eyebrows.

“It might work for small footholds, but now that it has happened in a B-grade large foothold, if the news were to spread, who would still trust the Union Government? Perhaps the people would only feel safe if they move to an A-grade foothold,” Lin Huang said.

Lin Huang shook his head. He knew that there were no other viable strategies that could be executed right now. The issue would be worse if there was an uproar among the citizens. Emotions were contagious and fear would spread like wildfire. Lin Huang recalled the days when he was on earth. Whenever people heard news about water pollution, many would rush to the supermarket to get clean water. If people heard that there were deaths caused by flu, many would stock up medication such as Radix Isatidis at the pharmacies. That was the effect spreading fear.

“Don’t stay there for too long, it would mean trouble if you were infected by the new species of parasites,” Yi Zheng reminded him again.

“I know, thank you for telling me all these. I have something in mind, but I will leave in two days after I have settled it,” Lin Huang said and nodded. Hearing such unusual news from Yi Zheng did not prompt him to leave immediately. He saw the laptop left by Xia Hao and he would not leave until he got to the bottom of it.

After the phone was disconnected, Lin Huang had his mind occupied with everything about parasites. Parasites were one of the most hated species by people in this world as most of them could infect humans. Moreover, it would be very unpredictable once they invaded the foothold.

According to the information they had on different species of parasites, they were categorized into five types.

The first one was an invasive species of parasites. The parasite would enter the host body and take control of everything. Those who were highly evolved would even pick up human knowledge as they had amazing intelligence.

The second one would be leech parasites. The parasite would release a massive amount of leech pods and those who were infected would become a host for the parasite. Such parasites could control up to tens of thousands of hosts at once. It was destructive and were usually done by plant-based parasites.

The third one would be through eggs-laying parasites. The parasite species would lay eggs into the host and use the host as food and shelter for baby parasites to allow the continuation of their offspring. Most insect parasites would usually use this method to propagate their species.

The fourth one would be soul parasites. It was rare as the parasites used a unique way to attach themselves to the host’s soul and wipe away his or her consciousness to take over their body. It could even completely inherit the host’s memories and continue to live like the host. It was almost impossible to detect.

The fifth type was an uncategorized mutated parasite. Similar to the soul parasite, it was extremely rare. From what Yi Zheng said, this case was possibly caused by invasive parasites or leech parasites. Lin Huang was not afraid of these parasites as invasive parasites could be spotted with the naked eye. As long as he was aware of it, it would not difficult to get rid of them. As for the leech parasites, they could be avoided by putting on some armor. As long as the armor prevented the host from touching the leech pods, the host would be safe.

Lin Huang did not think he would be affected but he frowned when he thought of Lin Xin, “Xiagong City isn’t safe now, it would be worse at the ruins. It seems like I shouldn’t bring Lin Xin along then,” he thought. After some hesitation, he knocked on Lin Xin’s door and told her the news that Yi Zheng told him. Lin Xin was shocked.

“Brother, let’s leave Xiagong City tomorrow morning then,” she mumbled.

“I still have to drop by the ruins to settle some stuff,” Lin Huang told her. He had come up with an arrangement for Lin Xin, “Bai will stay here to protect you. Try not to head out when I’m not here. Order room service if you’re hungry and get Bai to open the door for you,” he instructed.

“This is for you, didn’t you always want this?” Lin Huang said while he handed her the GrayEagle17 with a couple boxes of ammunition. He did not need that gun anymore.

“What about you?” Lin Xin asked.

“I have a BlackEagle33 and a monster that can fly, if I encounter any danger, I will run away, don’t worry,” Lin Huang smiled and explained.

“Must you go?” Lin Xin was still worried that something might happen to Lin Huang.

“It’s quite important, I have to,” Lin Huang nodded in all seriousness.

Chapter 111: Arriving In Xiaoxia City

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The weather was good in Xiagong City the next morning. Lin Huang had just got up, he received a notification from the Union Government.

“The murder cases that happened in foothold No.7B61 has recently have been identified. The culprits were offenders with mental illnesses who escaped from Xiagong Prison. There were 15 of them who escaped. We have managed to capture 12 of them and we are still hunting down the remaining three. Please stay calm, thank you.”

“To prevent the offenders from escaping from the city, we’re tightening the security at the four gates in the city. Please do comply. We will be increasing the patrol rounds in the city and you are prohibited to stay out after eight at night. If you must head out at night, please apply for a permit with the local government before five in the afternoon…”

“They’ve really covered up the truth!” Lin Huang thought with his eyebrows raised in surprise. The notification from the Union Government showed how severe the issue was.

After breakfast with Lin Xin, Lin Huang rode on his Viridian Wolf to the west gate. Lin Xin sent him off and went back to the hotel room with Bai. When he arrived at the west gate, there was a long queue for both entry and exit due to the screening processes done by the city soldiers. Lin Huang felt obliged but there was nothing he could do. He recalled the Viridian Wolf and queued along with everyone else. He had left the hotel right after breakfast and it was almost 10 when he got out of the gate. He did not have any time to waste for this gross cover-up of an inspection by the government. He then summoned the Alexandrian Eagle and arrived at Xiaoxia City in less than 10 minutes.

Xiaoxia City was a D-grade small foothold. Theoretically, there should not be any footholds between a B-grade foothold like Xiagong City which was merely 80 kilometers away as building a foothold required massive resources. Having a foothold at such a short distance was a waste of resources. However, due to the existence of the Xiagong Ruins, the Union Government decided to build an exclusive foothold just for the ruins. The main reason for the foothold was not merely for developing tourism but also for archaeological purposes.

Before Xiaoxia City was built, the Xiagong Ruins were surrounded by a wild zone. The archeologists who stayed there long-term would be regularly attacked by monsters. It was inconvenient for them to get supplies as they had to travel 80 kilometers away whenever they needed them. That was the reason why the Union Government decided to spend money on building a small foothold surrounding the Xiagong ruins, which was now known as Xiaoxia City. Later on, more and more archeologists left as most of the items in the ruins were already excavated. The Union Government thought it would be a waste to let the foothold be left abandoned so it was developed into a tourist spot.

The Xiagong ruins had a mysterious aura on its own. Together with the tourism publicity, it was now a hot tourist attraction. As more people were visiting the ruins and due to its geological advances being so close to Xiagong City, many moved to the city permanently. With the supportive strategies the Union Government had come up with, the small foothold continued to strive.

Entering Xiaoxia City, Lin Huang thought he was in the wrong place as the people in this D-grade foothold was similar to those in the C-grade Baqi City. He was not sure if it were the attractions that brought the tourists or was it its vicinity with Xiagong City. Once he was in Xiaoxia City, Lin Huang summoned the Viridian Wolf and entered the coordinates into his ring. They arrived at the Xiagong Ruins in a blink of an eye.

The hotel that he booked for the first night was less than one kilometer from the south gate of Xiagong Ruins. Following the map, Lin Huang found the location of the hotel. He realized that Xiaoxia City was not small at all. It was almost five times the size of Wulin Town and one-third the size of Baqi City. It was not even 10:30 a.m. when he arrived at the hotel. He thought he was too early to check it out but he then found that he was allowed to check in early at the reception itself.

The hotel was a small antique building with five floors and it had no elevator. After checking in, Lin Huang walked up the wooden stairs to his room. The stairs were old and they creaked loudly but it was clean. Lin Huang’s room was on the fifth floor in Room 505. He noticed that there were only five rooms on each floor. Excluding the first floor, there were only 20 rooms in this hotel.

“Is this an off-season period?” Lin Huang thought. It seemed strange to him as it was summer break, he assumed there would be many tourists. It was odd that this hotel which was in such great location and such limited rooms was not fully booked.

He entered the room and looked around. It was quiet and pleasant considering its age. He was satisfied with his room. It had a city view and the Xiagong Ruins could be seen from the balcony. The ruins were underground and there were no tall buildings around it. Lin Huang could see a portion of the ruins that were not covered when he stood on the balcony. After taking the moment in, Lin Huang headed out and bumped into a young couple who was staying next to his room. He headed to the first floor and saw a plump middle-aged man who was the hotel owner at the reception.

He greeted the man, “Boss, is it the offpeak season now?”

“It’s summer break now and people who visit here would usually visit Xiagong City for a few days before coming here, so business is slow. You are here early so there are still rooms available. It would be hard to get any rooms if you come three to five days from now,” the hotel owner smiled as he explained.

“Is that so…” Lin Huang thought there was some other reason that this hotel had slow business, but after the owner explained, he thought it made sense.

“Boss, I see that this hotel has been here for long. You must have been in Xiaoxia City for a long time now?” Lin Huang asked.

“I have been here for more than 20 years and this hotel has been up and running for 18 of those years,” the hotel owner said proudly and nodded.

“Do you have any tales about the Xiagong Ruins that we outsiders haven’t heard of?” Lin Huang asked, “I would like to hear about them if you know any,” he continued, politely.

“The Xiagong Ruins have always been a mysterious place and there are not many tales about it. However, since I’ve been here for so long, I have heard of one that you might like. If you’re interested, you can treat it as a story, but don’t take it too seriously, young man,” the owner said.

Lin Huang nodded as the hotel owner began to tell him the story.

“During ancient times, there was a powerful man named Xia Huang. He built an empire and the ruins were his palace. He ruled over billions of people and he was loved. One day, a disaster struck. Nobody knew what had happened and the entire empire disappeared overnight like it never existed… However, no one knew if the Xiagong Ruins were really the legendary palace that disappeared,” the owner said in a low voice.

Lin Huang was quiet as he heard the story from the owner. He nodded in satisfaction and said, “I’ve never heard of this story before, do you have more?”

“That’s all I know. The rest were just rumors on the Heart Network,” the hotel owner waved his hands while shaking his head.

“Alright then, I’m heading to the ruins now. Thank you, boss!” Lin Huang said and left the hotel. He then headed to the south gate of the ruins which was not far away.

Chapter 112: Xiao Hei’s Discovery

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Although the Xiagong ruins were a popular attraction in Division7, the admission was free. There was only one entrance to the ruins which was through the south gate. There, visitors would have to scan their identity at the entrance before entering. He was told by the hotel owner that it was the off-peak season but there were many people queuing at the entrance. It took Lin Huang more than half an hour to through it.

A lady in red uniform approached him once he entered the ruins, “Sir, do you need a tour guide?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just looking around.” Lin Huang waved his hand as he declined. He was not here as a tourist but instead, he was looking for clues left by Xia Hao so naturally, he did not need a tour guide for that. He followed the crowd, walked 100 meters down the stairs and arrived at the ruins. It was a building that was similar to the ancient city gates with three doors in the middle.

Lin Huang was listening to a tour guide talking to the visitors, “Do not be fooled by these three doors, there are actually two hidden doors on the sides. This is the first palace that has such a structure. The experts who joined the excavations said that Xiagong could be the only one…”

The building was a complete replica of the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City on earth but bigger. There was a sign on the entrance that said ‘Heaven’s Gate’. Lin Huang was sure that this Xiagong was related to Xia Hao.

After passing through the entrance, there was a drain not far away with five small bridges on top. There was a huge palace door that looked like the main passage taken by the ministers in those Qing dynasty dramas. On top of the palace door, the sign read ‘ Earth’s Gate ’. Ahead, there was a glorious hall with a sign that said ‘Xia Hall’. Lin Huang knew the majestic hall should be the main hall and proceeded to go in.

Once he entered the hall, the cracks in the ground caught his attention. The tour guide explained the cracks.

“The cracks on the ground were the result of something powerful stomping on it because it was made of sea rocks, something even a transcendent would not be able to crack…”

“Now, look at the roof. There was a hole; about a meter wide but archeologists restored it. Now, it looked no different from the original roof. This was the only damage throughout the entire ruin while the rest was in good condition…

“It seemed like something may have dropped from the roof or maybe he sensed an attack coming his way so he escaped this way…” Lin Huang looked up as he thought of the possible scenarios.

Suddenly, he heard a notification from Xiao Hei.

“Unusual energy wave detected underground. You can collect the energy to obtain new functions!”

“Are you sure?” It was Lin Huang’s first time hearing Xiao Hei asking him to obtain something.

“Confirmed! According to the detection, the unusual energy was the remaining energy from a destroyed Goldfinger belonging to someone else. You can absorb the energy to strengthen your Goldfinger.”

“Is it below where I’m standing?” Lin Huang asked.

“Yes, it’s about 3,000 meters below where you are standing.”

“Alright, I’ll need to plan this properly, I’m heading back now.” Since he had identified what he wanted, he did not want to stay any longer. He needed to plan how he was going to get it from the ground below him.

It was one o’clock in the afternoon after he got back to the hotel from Xiagong ruins. Lin Huang got back to his room and locked his door. He talked to Xiao Hei again.

“Xiao Hei, aside from the unusual energy you spoke about, what else is there underground?”

“From the waves detected, there’s a mutated monster that went through two mutations as it upgraded to silver-level.”

“What kind of monster is that?” Lin Huang asked.

“Unidentifiable.”

“Mutated twice? The only monster I have that could fight it would be Charcoal…” Lin Huang frowned. “How is the environment down there? Is it big enough for Charcoal to perform?”

“Sufficient, it’s spacious down there.”

“I’ll try to get Charcoal to fight it then.” Lin Huang was confident with Charcoal’s ability since it also went through mutation twice. No matter what, Charcoal was a true dragonkin.

He then checked the cards that he had and realized that he did not have any Transformation Cards anymore.

“I almost forgot that I’ve used all of my Transformation Cards last time. I don’t have any more to transform myself into the Specter and dive underground. Lin Huang did not know what to do.

“Xiao Hei, think of a plan!”

“You can trade for a Specific Transformation Card at the card pieces mall.”

“A Specific Transformation Card?” Lin Huang was stunned, “Do I have enough card pieces?”

“The card pieces required are the same as when you’re trading for a particular monster card. The Specter that you own is a common bronze-level rank-1 card so you will need 60 bronze-level card pieces.”

“Special notification: The effective duration of the Specific Transformation Card is only one hour.”

“To be safe, I’ll get five of them!” Two transformation cards would be sufficient for the two-way trip but Lin Huang was concerned so he got more than he needed.

“Consuming bronze-level card pieces x300, you have received Specter Specific Transformation Card x5.”

“There are too many people at the Xiagong ruins. I’ll do it when it’s later at night.” Lin Huang did not want to be discovered when he transformed himself into the Specter or he may be captured for research. The ruins were open until 10 at night, Lin Huang planned to go around 9:30 and stay there until everyone left before he carried out his plan.

He decided to take a nap. He woke up at six o’clock, had dinner and stayed in his room while waiting for the night to come. When it was almost 8:30, he heard a squeaking sound from the bed next door and screams from a woman followed. The soundproofing of rooms was poor. He shook his head and proceeded to read the news.

When it was nine o’clock, the squeaking bed stopped but the lady screamed again. Lin Huang wanted to check it out but he thought he might be overthinking. He thought for awhile and sat down again. There was complete silence next door. Soon, he heard footsteps in the corridor approaching his room. He was staying in Room 505, the last room on the left. People should not be walking to his room. He took out his BlackEagle33 and aimed at the door…

Chapter 113: Attack By The Parasites

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The sound of footsteps stopped right in front of Lin Huang’s door.

Lin Huang frowned. He pointed his gun at the door and prepared himself for a battle.

After a moment of silence, a loud knock at the door was heard.

“Who are you?” Lin Huang asked.

“Hello, it’s me,” said the voice of the boss of the hotel.

Lin Huang was relieved. Soon, he asked, still a little doubtful, “Boss, what’s up?”

“You asked me about the story of the Xiagong Ruins this afternoon. I recalled something and I guess you might not have heard before,” the boss said.

Lin Huang frowned. It was almost nine o’clock at night. It felt peculiar and he wondered why the boss would come to his room and talk about this at this hour.

“Let’s talk about it tomorrow. I’m heading off to bed now,” Lin Huang simply answered but he did not let his guard down.

There was complete silence outside the door.

No response from the boss was heard and the sound of footsteps were not present as well.

Just as he wondered what was happening, a sound was heard from the balcony. Lin Huang turned his head and he saw the man in the room next door climbing into his room.

He was naked, holding a short knife stained with blood. He kicked the glass door in and pounced on Lin Huang.

Lin Huang pointed his gun at the head of the young man and pulled the trigger without a moments hesitation.

The Life Power bullet was fired out of the gun, penetrating through the head of the man who was holding the knife. Blood splattered out of his head and the dead body collapsed instantly.

Lin Huang then heard someone unlocking the door with a key. He kept quiet and again, he pointed his gun at the door.

After a short while, the door was opened and the hotel boss entered the room. He was shocked when he saw a dead body inside the room.

“Freeze. Otherwise, I will just shoot you. In my defence, I will say you are the host of the parasites!” Lin Huang shouted and stared coldly at the hotel owner. “Now, answer whatever I’m asked, or you’re dead. What brings you here at this hour?”

The hotel boss then shifted his gaze from the dead body to Lin Huang, a wry smile on his face and said, “Master told me that he could sense something in your body and he wants it. He asked us to kill you and bring your dead body to him…”

After finishing his sentence, about 10 people hiding at the corridor rushed into Lin Huang’s room, and attempted to pounce on him.

Lin Huang turned back and ran towards the balcony. He took a leap and summoned the Alexandrian Eagle.

The Alexandrian Eagle fluttered its wings, grabbed Lin Huang mid-flight and flew off into the sky.

Lin Huang frowned as he looked below.

“Why are there so many parasite hosts here?!” He thought in a panic.

As he looked down and more than 10 of them were on the balcony of his room. They were staring at him, emmiting inhumanly loud roars. He then looked further and saw that there were more than 100 of them outside the hotel running towards him.

Despite knowing that they would not be able to catch him in the air, they still chased after him, extending their hands towards the sky and screaming.

Lin Huang suddenly thought of what the hotel boss told him just now. The master that he mentioned should be the master parasite. “The parasites control the hosts and used them to attack me because I have something in my body that it wants…” He thought.

“Xiao Hei, when you sensed the unusual energy in the ruins, could it be possible that the source of the unusual energy sensed your existence too?” Lin Huang recalled what happened in the Xiagong Ruins.

“It is indeed possible that it could sense my existence,” Xiao Hei replied.

“That being said, if you wanted to seize its energy, it would probably want to grab yours too?” Lin Huang suddenly felt that the fight Goldfinger encountered was quite intense too.

“It can’t seize my energy. However, my Will can be replaced and I’d become a new Goldfinger provided that it’s strong enough,” Xiao Hei explained.

“Yes, I understand. Basically, it can be said that the underground monster that possesses the unusual energy is a parasite. The parasites were probably triggered by the unusual energy and that was why it would order hosts under its control to attack me,” Lin Huang concluded as he finally knew what was happening.

Lin Huang immediately called the Hunter Association, seeing hundreds of people were roaring after him as he looked down below.

“Hi, may I help you?” the operator’s voice was heard.

“Listen carefully. Somewhere near the south gate of Xiaoxia City, there are hundreds of infected humans enslaved to the parasites. Please send some backup to round them up immediately to prevent more serious problems from happening. You can track my location and I’ll be right here waiting for you,” he told the operator.

Lin Huang did not want to kill them. If the hosts did not carry the parasites within them longer than a certain period of time, the parasites inside the human body could still be killed. Basically, they were still human but were just being controlled. It would be best if they were passed to the Hunter Association as they would handle it without casualties.

Lin Huang did not recall the Alexandrian Eagle as well. He knew that once he left the place, the hosts would lose their target and disappear. Then, it would be difficult to catch them.

Aside from the hosts, some of the people noticed Lin Huang hovering mid-air and started approaching him.

Lin Huang frowned and shouted at them, “Are there any hunters there? Please help control the crowd. Don’t let ordinary people come over here!

Some of the hunters noticed that the number of infected was abnormally large. They dared not go near them too, but they could carry out the order, ensuring that the ordinary people did not go near them.

Despite Lin Huang being the primary target of the infected, ordinary people would become their targets as well if they were too close to them.

After less than 10 minutes, the hunters of Xiaoxia City arrived.

The crowd dispersed quickly and the hunters began to catch the infected.

Including the boss of the hotel, they caught hundreds of the infected within five minutes.

Lin Huang ran into the crowd when the hunters were busy and entered the Xiagong Ruins once again.

The first thing he did as soon as he entered the ruins was to use the Form Changer to change the look of his face

Form Changer was the skill he obtained when he killed the Formless Worm. It was also the 10th monster skill that he obtained.

He decided to change the look of his face because he was not sure that if there were any other hosts in the ruins. The previous hosts had seen his face. Therefore, he could be easily recognized if he entered the ruins as himself.

“You have troubled me and now, it’s my turn to bring the trouble to you!” Lin Huang grinned, heading deep into the ruins…

Chapter 114: The Terrifying Parasite Species

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was 9.20 p.m. Lin Huang arrived at the Xia Temple in the Xia Palace ruins earlier than he expected.

Looking at the monitoring system which did not have a blind spot on either side and the huge crowd, he could not attack. He looked around, waited patiently for a chance.

When it was almost 9.50 p.m., a sound was heard from the speakers at each of the exhibition halls at the same time.

“Attention visitors… The Xia Palace ruins operates from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. We’ll be closing in just a moment. You may now leave the exhibition hall in an orderly fashion. Please don’t stay after the exhibition hall closes. We’ll have our cleaning staff to clean up the hall later… We hope you visit us again soon! Thank you for your cooperation, and we hope you have a good evening,” the announcer said.

Visitors were not allowed to enter the Xia Palace ruins after 9.30 p.m. Despite saying that the operating hours were only until 10 p.m., it was usually closed after 10.30 p.m. They would usually inform the visitors to leave 40 minutes in advance.

Listening to the announcement, Lin Huang immediately hid in the toilet.

Slightly after 10 p.m., there was almost no one at the Xia Temple ruins and the security staff began to sweep the venue for any hiding stragglers.

Although, it was strange that the security staff did not check any of the other places. Instead, they headed directly towards the toilet where Lin Huang was hiding.

Their footsteps became more audible in the empty exhibition hall.

Lin Huang could hear it when they were still quite a distance from where he was. He immediately used the Specific Transformation Card, transforming into a ghostly form and passed through the wall next to him.

“You don’t have to hide anymore. Your transformation might fool our eyes but our master can still sense you!” A bearded man said; he was the leader of the crowd. The crowd had now stationed itself in front of the cubicle nearest to the toilet.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang! They kicked down the door of the cubicle. They were all stunned as nobody was inside the cubicle.

The security staff exchanged glances with each other and asked, “Why is no one here?”

“Check the other cubicles now!” the bearded man bellowed the order loudly.

They kicked down the rest of the doors and still, there were no traces of Lin Huang anywhere.

“Could it be possible that our Master…made a mistake?” They looked for Lin Huang again in the small toilet and left helplessly.

“I can’t believe that Form Changer didn’t work. Luckily I have the Specific Transformation Cards with me,” Lin Huang said with a nervous smile. He slowly emerged from the wall and patted his chest in relief.

He stole a glance and realized that the people had left. Then, he came down to the ground with his ghostly form and headed towards the direction of the parasites.

After about five minutes, Lin Huang finally arrived at the entrance of an underground cave.

The underground cave did not look much like a karst [1] cave. It looked like a fault space that was formed due to movements in the fault-blocks instead.

The area was in pitch black darkness. Thanks to Lin Huang’s Boundless Vision , he was able to see without difficulty even under such circumstances.

Since he was now at the base of the toilet, he could not determine which direction to proceed. He then asked Xiao Hei for help.

“Xiao Hei, which direction is the unusual energy coming from?”

“It’s coming from the two o’clock direction,” Xiao Hei responded.

“Wait, I guess it will not be able to sense my existence in this form. But it should be able to sense yours, right?” Lin Huang asked.

“It’s only residual energy so the strength of its Will and abilities are limited. I’ve shielded my energy waves so it would not notice me beyond a distance of 100 meters,” Xiao Hei said.

“Clever!” Lin Huang said and gave it a thumbs-up.

“Thank you for your compliment but I think you’re not qualified to use that term yourself, yet.” Xiao Hei replied coldly.

“Damn! I rarely compliment you and you’re saying that I have low intellect? Do you believe that I’ll be stupid enough to turn back to Xiagong City now?” Lin Huang questioned Goldfinger.

“Do you believe that I’ll now activate all the remaining mission cards that you have?” Xiao Hei threatened in response.

“… Just great.” Lin Huang said in defeat. He had no choice but to agree with it. He could still remember those days when he had to accomplish tasks from mission cards. He had said earlier that he wanted to activate the last mission card that he had. However, he had been busy practicing his Life Skills and had forgotten about it.

“When I return to Wulin Town, I’ll use the mission card immediately!” Lin Huang said confidently. He was determined this time. However, he would always get difficult tasks when he activated mission cards at the last minute. He was afraid of mission cards now, and Xiao Hei knew his weakness.

Following Xiao Hei’s direction, Lin Huang discovered the unusual energy that Xiao Hei mentioned after a few turns. There was a giant net of vines surrounding the unusual energy.

The energy source was a big, spherical, energy-based object with a diameter of about 10 meters and released a dazzling white light like a mini sun.

The light shone on Lin Huang’s body and made him feel like his Life Power rotations became smoother. Apparently, such an energy had positive effects on human as well as the monsters. Otherwise, the vine-like monster would not entangle itself with the glowing sphere.

Lin Huang had never seen the vine-like monster in his monster guide before.

It had a blood-colored surface and each vine was roughly the circumference of an adults’ arm. However, Lin Huang could not estimate how long its length was.

It looked like a bloody giant python had tangled itself around the glowing object as if it was guarding it and the treasure belonged to itself.

Lin Huang noticed that there was a purple bloom on vines every 10 centimeters.

They looked like dandelions which were a little fuzzy. However, they were even smaller and purple in color.

The flowers were beautiful but Lin Huang frowned as he saw them.

He recognized the flowers. It was actually a cluster of parasites. Each flower contained at least a hundred leech pods and he could now see that there were more than a hundred purple flowers here.

“Only a bronze-level and it could take over tens of thousands of people, turning them into hosts for parasites. If it were upgraded to a transcendent, a B-grade foothold like Xiagong City would be destroyed…” Lin Huang thought, and shuddered.

Looking at the leech pods that were floating around in the air, he noticed them gradually float up towards a crack high up in the cavern. Lin Huang finally knew how the monster transported the parasites to the surface, infecting the people of Xiaoxia City with parasites.

Despite Xiaoxia City being only a D-grade foothold, there was still a detection system at the entrance of the foothold. The parasites could hardly enter the foothold.

Furthermore, this species was living underneath the Xiagong Ruins. Since it was at the center of Xiaoxia City, the dispersal of the leech pods was way too easy. These seeds could be transported to the ground at the Xiagong Ruins through the cracks. Despite the opening being tiny, the leech pods were completely made of Life Power and under the control of their master, changing their form and path would not be a problem. The leech pods could be spread no matter how small the crack was.

The Xiagong Ruins was so crowded during the daytime. It was a piece of cake for the parasites to live inside a host of its choice.

Moreover, this species of parasites had never appeared before and it was a new species of parasites. It could not be detected with the devices they had now. Even if the leech pods were to leave the ruins of Xiagong together with the host, it would not stop at the exits. Also, it could be dispersed out of the Xiagong Ruins along with the winds…

Lin Huang was terrified as he thought of all the possibilities and consequences. If these parasites were given sufficient time, perhaps all the citizens in Xiagong City would be infected.

“We definitely can’t have these parasites control the city!” Lin Huang said to Xiao Hei.

Upon closer observation of the surroundings, Lin Huang did not waste any more time and summoned Charcoal. Charcoal immediately pounced on the giant python-like vine.

Chapter 115: The Parasite Species Has Gone Insane

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Charcoal flapped its wings, propelling its huge body up to the upper spaces of the cave. Charcoal then darted down on the blood-colored vine with claws extended and a deafening roar.

As soon as the roar was heard, the blood-colored vine trembled a little in what seemed like fear. Soon, it entered a defensive state.

It resembled a lair infested with giant pythons. It was unwilling to let go of the energy sphere at all cost.

“Both of them are bronze-level rank-3’s and have mutated twice but, Charcoal as a dragonkin will probably be a lot stronger than the parasites!” Lin Huang thought. He was confident of Charcoal’s abilities.

As Charcoal flapped its wings and stopped mid-air upon its descent, it spat itsBlack Dragon Flames towards the vines.

Right when the vine was tainted by dragonflame, the body of the blood-colored vine turned black. It then growled from the pain it suffered and began rolling on the ground.

“Did the dragonflame just work?!” Lin Huang’s eyes brightened as the parasite seemed to be pinned down by Charcoal.

Fire element monsters were the natural enemies of most plant-based monsters, let alone a dragonkin who could spit dragon flames.

Soon, he noticed that the burned, black patches on the blood-colored vine were slowly recovering on its own. It had completely recovered at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. Lin Huang frowned.

“This monster has an abnormally fast ability to heal…” He thought.

The parasite species was completely pinned down by Charcoal at first as the dragonflame hurt it quite significantly, causing it great pain. Moreover, black scars were left on the surface of the monster even after it healed. The vine was afraid of Charcoal but was not actually injured by it.

However, as soon as the wounds had recovered, it seemed to have realized that Charcoal could do it no harm and it had become more courageous.

Charcoal had been attacking it all the while and now it was about to counterattack.

Its attack pattern was the same, as he expected. It was trying to use its vines to hit and trap Charcoal in any way it could. Charcoal easily dodged its attacks and it was not a threat at all.

Both of them entered a stalemate; Charcoal could not cause any significant damage and the defense of the blood-colored vine rendered Charcoal’s attacks useless as well. However, it had no means of retreating at all.

“If this continues, I wonder how long they would have to fight to know the results of this battle,” Lin Huang thought. He frowned, looking at the battle between them. However, he did not help to attack.

The reason why Lin Huang did not attack the vine was simple. Since Charcoal’s ability was not able to hurt the parasite at all, Lin Huang’s attack would not have any effect on it as well.

He clearly knew that once he was involved in the fight, he would instantly become the target of the parasite. If this many leech pods were released in such an enclosed space, he would have nowhere to hide. The attack would definitely hit and infect him.

Fortunately, it seemed that the parasite species did not notice the presence of Lin Huang. It did not care so much as it had to defend itself against Charcoal.

Despite Charcoal attacking the vine nonstop, the parasite did not seem to intend on leaving the place at all and insisted on guarding the spherical energy object.

Soon, half an hour had passed. Lin Huang had reached the time limit set for the transformation. His body appeared on the ground in human form.

At that moment, Xiao Hei’s voice was heard.

“We have been discovered,” it said.

“How could it be? Didn’t you say that we will not be discovered as long as we are 100 meters away from them?” Lin Huang asked as he felt it was strange that Xiao Hei could have been mistaken.

“It’s not my problem. Your aura is dissipating,” Goldfinger said to him.

Lin Huang then realized that when he appeared in his Specter form earlier, he would exude a different kind of aura. However, the effect of the Specific Transformation Card could only last for an hour. After that, his body would automatically give off his aura.

The blood-colored vine that was fighting with Charcoal seemed to have sensed Lin Huang’s existence too. It became ferocious and its counterattack became more intense.

At the same time, the purple flowers began to leave its body, hundreds of leech pods were dispersed in all directions.

Seeing this to happen, Lin Huang crushed the Specific Transformation Card immediately, transforming himself into the Specter and hid behind one of the giant rocks. He was not sure if transforming into the Specter would have any effect on the leech pods but he was not going to push his luck.

The entire space was covered with leech pods in less than a minute and they did not leave any corners empty.

Lin Huang was not worried about Charcoal as the dragonkin had various types of immunities on its own. Even if it were to become a host, it could be recalled, turning it back into a card. He could figure out ways to resolve it later.

Indeed, Charcoal was not distracted by the leech pods at all. Despite many of them getting attached to its body, they could not penetrate through its scales.

Lin Huang’s aura disappeared instantly causing the blood-colored vine to be even more furious. The leech pods were like its eyes. They covered almost the entire area and still, they found no trace of Lin Huang.

The blood-colored vine could vaguely sense the Will given off by the spherical energy object, knowing that the energy sphere wanted to own something on Lin Huang’s body with great eagerness. The blood-colored vine had always been grateful to the glowing orb and wanted to satisfy it.

It was originally a vine seed that was as small as a sesame seed and it flew into this place unintentionally. It fell on the ground somewhere near the energy orb. In less than a month, it grew into a monster with self-conscious awareness in addition to becoming a monster that had mutated twice. All these were thanks to the energy sphere.

Not only did it treat the energy sphere as a precious treasure, the blood-colored vine treated it like family, something it could count on.

This was the reason why despite encountering Charcoal – a strong opponent, it did not retreat and insisted on fighting tooth and nail until the end.

However, the human that the energy sphere needed had disappeared making it very angry.

The blood-colored vine had only one target now. However, the target’s ability was way stronger than the blood-colored vine. It would be impossible for the vine to win the battle. This had triggered its urge to become even stronger.

Once the blood-colored vine thought of this, the leech pods instantly reacted to its thoughts. The leeche pods that had completed their infection in the outside world started to absorb the Life Light of the body of the host.

This Life Light was then transfused into the blood-colored vine body through the air. Slowly, it was getting stronger.

The people at Xiaoxia City had no idea what was happening underground.

The infected people, including the hosts that were caught by the hunters began to faint due to the drastic drain on their Life Light.

Soon, Charcoal who was in the battle with blood-colored vine noticed the changes. The aura of the blood-colored vine that was originally bronze-level rank-3 was rising quickly and it was very close to silver-level.

Charcoal knew that it had to speed up the frequency of its attacks urgently. It tried to interrupt the blood-colored vine’s upgrade to silver-level.

However, the blood-colored vine had gone berserk! It still felt that the power it had was still insufficient.

“It’s not enough! I want to be stronger!” A thought suddenly resonated throughout the underground cavern.

That thought stirred up the atmosphere. What seemed like thousands of leech pods in the air drifted upwards, gushing towards the direction of the crack.

That aside, all the remaining purple flowers on the vines suddenly matured, turning into leech pods and left the body of the blood-colored vine, moving towards the crack high up in the space

Chapter 116: Charcoal VS The Parasite

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

There were countless parasites emerging from underneath the Xia Temple as they moved along. They then headed towards the south gate of the Xia Temple’s ruins and drifted away towards Xiaoxia City.

Leech pods dispersed in the air resembled purple clouds beneath the sunlight.

Those at the Xia Palace Ruins did not find this phenomenon peculiar. Instead, they opened the camera page on the Heart Network to capture this breathtaking scene but strange things began to happen. The leech pods began targeting the crowd as their hosts.

Only a small number of people noticed this and started running away.

The Life Light in the host bodies were quickly consumed and they fainted.

However, this was just the beginning. More and more leech pods drifted away from the Xia Palace Ruins towards Xiaoxia City and spread to larger areas…

Beneath the Xia Palace Ruins, the battle between Charcoal and blood-colored vine had intensified.

Charcoal eventually gave up the ranged attack using dragonflames and moved closer to the blood-colored vine after noticing the increasingly powerful aura of the blood-colored vine. Soon, they became tangled with one another.

Charcoal had a very sharp mouth claw enabling it to directly tear off a section of the blood-colored vine.

It was even more powerful when it used its dragonflame within such a short distance.

Charcoal launched consecutive attacks and caused the blood-colored vine to growl in pain; all counterattacks were useless because of Charcoal’s strong defense.

Charcoal was finally showing the immense power of the dragonkin in battle.

Its sharp claws looked like pliers made of steel. Each time Charcoal stabbed the blood-colored vine using its claws, deep gashes would be formed. Its teeth were so terrifying that whenever Charcoal bit it, the blood-colored vine’s body felt like it was being ripped into pieces.

Charcoal was a natural combat machine. It had wicked wings on its back that could cut and kill in a flash.

The blood-colored vine almost collapsed when Charcoal engaged in close combat with it. It tried to tie Charcoal with its vines but Charcoal was too powerful and broke free.

It indeed had amazing healing abilities as it healed each and every wound on its own almost instantly. As its aura grew stronger, its body gradually gave off a faint silver glow.

“We’re in trouble now. It has upgraded to silver-level…”

Lin Huang panicked when the blood-colored vine upgraded to silver-level because its abilities would become significantly stronger and Lin Huang had no idea if Charcoal could stop it.

“Xiao Hei, any idea how we can kill this parasite?” Lin Huang was worried because unless his combat ability was stronger than Charcoal’s, there would be no way to kill it.

“The cards you have now cannot solve this problem.”

“What about in the card pieces mall?” Lin Huang asked.

“The most effective card right now would be the Primary Kill Card. It can kill any creature with combat abilities below that of a transcendent.”

“Redeeming one for the first time will require one million card pieces. You do not have enough card pieces.”

“Other than that, are there any other solutions?”

“The Primary Kill Card would be your best choice. The rest would require even more card pieces and you can’t use them anyway.”

Lin Huang frowned after listening to Xiao Hei’s explanation.

“Perhaps we should retreat and come back when Charcoal and I are stronger?”

Xiao Hei heard Lin Huang mumbling and gave him a new reminder.

“This would be the best time to kill the parasites or else, you may not have a chance to kill it again.”

“How could it be? I’ve been upgrading very quickly and perhaps I can upgrade to a transcendent in a year. Charcoal could probably upgrade once too…”

Before Lin Huang could finish his sentence, Xiao Hei interrupted…

“The growth of a parasite is faster than other creatures because it feeds off of the energy of the host. Based on a research on the life cycle of a parasite, it takes them less than 20 days to grow to its current form and it needs at most two months to upgrade to a transcendent. Even after that, there’s a chance of a third of mutation.”

“It has achieved bronze-level rank-3 in less than 20 days and had been mutated twice…” Lin Huang never thought the parasite would grow this rapidly since they lived underground.

“The residual energy of the mutated species is magnificently powerful. Could it be because Xia Hao’s Goldfinger is stronger than Xiao Hei?” Lin Huang could not understand how because Xiao Hei was a complete Goldfinger and should be stronger than the residual energy from Xia Hao’s Goldfinger.

“The functions of all Goldfingers are strictly limited by rules and the host has to obey the rules as well. However, this residual energy has left its Goldfinger and existed on its own. It is no longer restricted by any rules and therefore, it had no qualms about supporting the growth of the parasite.”

Lin Huang sighed. He was a little envious.

“If its power growth is unfettered, it would eventually self-destruct. This was the first message I got when I first became independent .”

Xiao Hei sighed with emotion and Lin Huang was stunned. He then recovered from his miserable thoughts and started thinking of ways to overcome this.

“The most troublesome part about this parasite was that it has great healing abilities.” Lin Huang had changed his way of thinking and asked, “Xiao Hei, are there any cards that could suppress its healing powers?”

“No. The recovery ability did not come from its own. It gets its energy from the energy sphere. If you want to cut off its recovery ability, let me first complete engulfing the energy from the energy sphere.”

“How does it work? How long does it take?”

“I need you to push against the energy sphere for at least three minutes.”

“If I go near the energy sphere, it would kill me several times over in those three minutes…” Lin Huang lowered his head and looked at his body. He was in the form of a ghost and his physical defense power was weaker than Lin Huang’s. He would die if his Life Power was attacked.

Lin Huang eyes brightened when he glanced at it.

The base of the energy sphere was in contact with the ground.

“Can the energy sphere move?” Lin Huang asked Xiao Hei.

“No, there are only two ways to move it. The first way would be when it’s attacked by something with immense power and the second way would be if a new Goldfinger absorbs it and brings it away.”

Lin Huang was happy and quickly shared, “I have an idea. I’ll hide under the energy sphere so that I am able to touch its base from the bottom.”

Lin Huang did what he said by melding into the ground and moved towards the direction of the energy sphere.

As he got closer to the energy sphere when Xiao Hei said “It’s too near, he caught me.”

Lin Huang did not bother and continued moving forward.

The blood-colored vine was getting agitated and angry because it sensed Lin Huang and Xiao Hei below it. It began hitting the ground. Lin Huang could feel the ground trembling but continued to move towards the base of the energy sphere.

The collapse of the underground soil would not harm it because as long as his Life Power was not attacked, he would not be injured in ghost form.

Lin Huang reached the bottom of the energy sphere and gradually moved up, having his hands touch the energy sphere above of him.

Just as he touched a warm object with his palm, Xiao Hei’s shouted, “You may need to touch it for at least three minutes.”

“Alright.” Lin Huang was focused.

On the ground, the blood-colored vine predicted Lin Huang’s intentions and began attacking the ground instead of Charcoal.

Thankfully, Lin Huang was hiding directly below the energy sphere and it was unable to attack Lin Huang because of the way he was hiding and also because the ground above him was incredibly thick.

The situation got worst. The silver glow on the blood-colored vine’s body spread out all of a sudden and it was triggered, increasing its speed of upgrading to silver-level because it knew Lin Huang wanted to take the energy sphere from it.

Its abilities were enhanced and the ground collapsed due to its attack. It was now able to launch a frontal attack on Charcoal.

The number of purple flowers on its body increased after the upgrade. It seemed to have noticed that it was about to lose the energy sphere and it released all the newly grown flowers on its body so that it could increase the rate it absorbed Life Light.

At Xiaoxia City, more than 10,000 hosts were infected. The parasites absorbed their Life Light. One after another were infected, causing fear and panic in the entire foothold.

At the same time, the ground below the Xia Palace Ruins saw the upgraded blood-colored vine hoarding the Life Light, unwilling to let it go.

Lin Huang’s field of view was blocked by the energy sphere since he was beneath it. He could not see what was happening out there.

Charcoal was pressured as well it sensed its opponent growing stronger…

Chapter 117: Demonic Dandelion Vine

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As time passed, the people infected in Xiaoxia City also increased.

In less than two minutes after it had leveled up to silver-level, a shockwave came from its body and it upgraded to silver-level rank-2 and with that, its body color brightened.

Charcoal continuously attacked it but the blood-colored vine retaliated forcefully. A loud bang echoed and this time, Charcoal was blown away by the hit, smashing its head on the rock wall. Lin Huang could hear Charcoal’s growl of anger though he was unable to witness what was happening.

“Xiao Hei, how long more do you need?” Lin Huang was panicked but Xiao Hei did not answer him.

After blowing Charcoal away, the blood-colored vine went back to attacking the ground and Lin Huang underneath it. Soon, the ground collapsed. The energy sphere protected Lin Huang who was hiding right at the bottom of it.

Lin Huang was extremely nervous because he was afraid that the ground would collapse any moment.

Fortunately, the blood-colored vine stopped attacking after a short while because Charcoal attacked it after recovering from its previous attack.

Knowing that his power was reduced to absolute inferiority, Charcoal decided not to launch a frontal attack but to wrestle it instead.

Flapping his wings, Charcoal spewed fire at the blood-colored vine continuously while dodging its attacks.

The dragon flames had no effect on the blood-colored vine but the burning sensation in its body annoyed it even more. It swung its vines to stop the flames but missed.

Seemingly, the blood-colored vine had noticed that Charcoal was there to distract it from attacking the ground. It decided not to bother with Charcoal and turned the tip of its vine into a drill bit to drill into the ground.

Underground, Lin Huang was still in his Specter form. There were changes to his vision that he experienced; he was able to see through the soil as if it was semi-transparent. He was initially in an upright direction and now he was lying down, with his body adhered firmly to the base of the energy sphere.

The tip of the drill was less than one meter away from him. Lin Huang’s back was drenched in sweat. It would certainly wound him badly if he was struck by the blood-colored vine since its combat abilities were now silver-level rank-2.

Charcoal needed to get the blood-colored vine’s attention. Charcoal pounced on the blood-colored vine once again with a close attack.

Although the combat abilities of the blood-colored vine had become stronger in addition to a substantial increase in its defensive power, Charcoal’s attack was no longer as effective as it used to be. However, wounds still appeared on its body right after it was attacked by Charcoal’s sharp claws and mouth claw.

Charcoal had triggered the blood-colored vine again and it was angry. It gave up attacking Lin Huang and fought Charcoal instead.

The blood-colored vine wrapped its vines around Charcoal’s neck. Its force was now beyond what Charcoal could handle. Charcoal could not get rid of it at all and struggled using its mouth and claws at the same time.

“Warning: Charcoal encountered a fatal attack. Please recall it immediately!” A notification suddenly popped up in front of Lin Huang.

“Recall Charcoal!” Lin Huang instructed because if Charcoal died, its monster card would disappear as well. It was not easy to obtain an Epic dragonkin.

Once the instruction to recall it was given, Charcoal instantly turned into a card and returned to Lin Huang’s body.

The vines with the circumference of an adult arm transformed into a drill bit and penetrated the ground repeatedly.

“Xiao Hei, how long more do you still need? Please answer me!”

Lin Huang felt that he could not withstand the force anymore. The vine’s attack had swept away most of the ground close to him. The closest attack it made was less than 20 centimeters away from the back of his head. If the vines twisted upward a little more, it would have drilled a hole in Lin Huang’s head.

“Done!” Lin Huang could sense the warmth on his palm vanish.

The blood-colored vine growled loudly. One of its vines fell right on Lin Huang’s head. It was so fast that Lin Huang could not avoid it. At this moment, Charcoal was summoned once again and it covered Lin Huang as he ran.

The blood-colored vine’s fatal attack struck Charcoal’s on its left wing and dragon blood splattered all over the place.

Lin Huang turned back and saw the scene.

“Summon Bai!” Lin Huang ordered.

The next moment, Bai appeared in the underground cavern too.

“Upgrade him the second time!” Lin Huang instructed again. The reason why he summoned and upgraded Bai was so that they could attack the parasite together.

“Are you sure you would like to use two Advance Cards to upgrade Bai?”

“I’m sure!”

Two beams of golden light filled the air, enveloping Bai. Soon, it had completely morphed into a big golden cocoon with Bai wrapped inside.

The strange aura Bai exuded caught the blood-colored vine’s attention. As it saw a big golden cocoon on the ground, it sensed something alarming and immediately attacked the cocoon, stopping the mutation of the monster that appeared all of a sudden.

If this was an ordinary monster mutation, perhaps its attack could hinder the mutation. However, with the Advancement Card, the process would not be interrupted. Even if it was attacked by a demigod, the outcome could not be altered. The blood-colored vine’s attack was useless.

In less than one minute, the golden cocoon disappeared.

A young man with white hair appeared again in front of Lin Huang, his aura was even more deadly and dangerous. However, there was a mask on his face that covered half of his face.

“Congratulations! You have gained an Epic Monster Card – Four-Winged Blood Baron (God’s Servant).”

At this moment, the blood-colored vine launched an attack again.

All of a sudden, Bai’s eyes turned bloody and he extended four of his crimson-colored wings, turning into a stream of blood and disappeared from the ground.

He acted so fast that Lin Huang could not capture it at all.

“Charcoal, you will assist Bai to kill the parasite!” Lin Huang ordered.

The wound on Charcoal’s wing was recovering. He was born with extremely fast healing abilities.

He fluttered his wings again and spat dragon flames on the blood-colored vine repeatedly and it no longer had the recovery ability from the energy sphere.

On the other hand, four of the crimson-colored wings behind Bai had turned into four bloody, sharp blades that cut the blood-colored vine at a terribly fast speed. His body resembled a beam of bloody light, shuttling back and forth underground, cutting up multiple parts of the parasite’s body.

Although the blood-colored vine defense was astonishing, Bai’s sharp wings were more powerful than gold-rank equipment.

There were too many wounds on the vine’s body because of Bai’s wings and Charcoal attacked it from the other side. Soon, it was exhausted.

Lin Huang then noticed that the aura of the blood-colored vine rising again.

He did not know that there were more than 100,000 people infected in Xiaoxia City. Furthermore, many of them were bronze-level hunters and some were even silver-hunters.

The silver glow was constantly gushing out of the blood-colored vine’s body. This was a sign that it was going to breakthrough once again to silver-level rank-3.

When he was underneath the blood-colored vine, he emerged from the ground and transformed back into himself. He grabbed a Sword Relic and used Thunder Sword on the wound caused by Bai earlier.

Lin Huang’s lightning-fast action caught the blood-colored vine off guard. Its gigantic body was cut in half by the sharp relic but it did not die. A vine that was transformed into a drill bit fiercely penetrated Lin Huang’s stomach and came out from his waist. This strike had blown his body away causing him to hang in mid-air, making him look like bacon hanging on a hook.

Lin Huang spat out a mouthful of blood. Before he lost his consciousness, he was able to say, “Use the Healing Card…”

As soon as Lin Huang regained his consciousness, he saw that Bai and Charcoal were beside him.

“Where is the parasite?” He saw that the blood-colored vine was no longer moving.

“It’s dead?!” Lin Huang could not believe his eyes.

“Congratulations. You have gained an Epic Parasite Species Card. The parasite belongs to a new species of monster. It does not have a name. You may name it.”

“Then I’ll name it the Demonic Dandelion Vine.” Lin Huang recalled the demonic dandelion tree that he read from a novel. It was a parasitic monster too. He chose this name.

Chapter 118: Reward

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang killed the Demonic Dandelion Vine underground. As the parasite body was dying, the leech pods collapsed automatically. Ten of thousands of people and visitors of Xiaoxia City who were previously contaminated are now safe.

Lin Huang recalled Bai and Charcoal then summoned Tyrant. Since he upgraded Bai here, he thought he might as well upgrade Tyrant before the transcendents arrived.

“Upgrade Tyrant twice!” Lin Huang took out the last two Advance Cards that he had and used them. The two cards transformed into a golden glow and enveloped Tyrant. Tyrant’s gigantic body was covered by the glow like a giant cocoon.

Soon the cocoon broke, revealing a naked Sand Monster. The fats in its body cracked and fell off its body, it was now a muscular man. He was handsome and he was covered by a layer of gold armor attached to its body.

“Congratulations, you have received an Epic Monster Card – Gold Armored Genie.”

Lin Huang read its description and nodded with satisfaction. He recalled Tyrant and used a Specific Transformation Card headed to the border of southern gate underneath the ruins. He arrived at a quiet alley and transformed himself back to his original.

He walked out of the alley, it was crowded on the street. He found it odd. After asking around, he found out that the Demonic Dandelion Vine contaminated tens of thousands of people and created an uproar. Lin Huang had figured that the leech pods were absorbing Life Power when it had a tremendous increase of combat strength easier but he did not expect its parasitic ability to be as terrifying as this considered that it was only silver-level.

After walking around and listening to some rumors, Lin Huang checked into a hotel nearby. Although the battle was tough, it did not consume too much of his time. The total time that he spent underground was less than 20 minutes while the battle only lasted for 10 minutes. It was past 11 at night when he checked into the hotel, the transcendents of Xiagong City had finally arrived. There were six of them, they did not know about the parasites but they came as soon as they could when they sensed Bai and Tyrant’s presence.

When they arrived in Xiaoxia City, they were shocked to hear about the parasites. After failed attempts at searching for the two monsters, the transcendents did not leave but stayed in the city to investigate. Of course, Lin Huang was unaware of that. After he checked into the hotel, he was checking out Bai, Tyrant and the new Demonic Dandelion Vine card that he just obtained.

“Monster Card”

“Rarity: Epic”

“Monster Name: Four-Winged Blood Baron (God’s Servant)

“Type of Monster: Blood Demon”

“Combat Level: Bronze-level rank-3”

“Skill 1: Blood Spirit”

“Skill 2: Holy Power (Beginner)”

“Skill 3: Blood Sacrifice”

“Skill 4: Enhanced Regeneration (Beginner)

“Skill 5: Ultimate Speed (Beginner)

“Summon Authority: Activated”

“Remarks: When this monster is upgraded to a transcendent, the holy blood in its body will be activated and its abilities will increase tremendously”

“Card Remarks: Trainable”

“What does the god’s servant in the bracket of its name mean?” Lin Huang asked Xiao Hei.

“There’s trace amounts of holy blood in the monster’s body which explains why he has holy power in his skill.”

After hearing Xiao Hei’s explanation, Lin Huang looked at the new skills once again.

Blood Spirit was the ultimate upgrade of Blood Power for higher attack ability, the holy power came from the holy blood in Bai’s body. As for Blood Sacrifice , it would sacrifice its blood to increase its abilities temporarily. Lastly, Ultimate Speed would allow it to move at a transcendent’s speed.

After reading Bai’s card, Lin Huang then looked at Tyrant’s card.

“Monster Card”

“Rarity: Epic”

“Monster Name: Gold Armored Genie”

“Type of Monster: Genie”

“Combat Level: Bronze-level rank-3”

“Skill 1: Golden Armor”

“Skill 2: Super Robust”

“Skill 3: Super Regeneration (Beginner)”

“Skill 4: Ultimate Explosion (Beginner)”

“Skill 5: Ultimate Strength (Beginner)”

“Summon Authority: Activated”

“Card Remarks: Trainable”

Lin Huang looked at the new skills. Similar to Charcoal’s Absolute Defense ,Golden Armor was a passive skill with a defensive ability was even stronger. ForUltimate Explosion , it was a passive skill that allowed its body to utilize the ultimate explosive force while Ultimate Strength  was the ultimate form ofImmense Strength , also a passive skill.

Lin Huang then looked at the last card for the Demonic Dandelion Vine.

“Monster Card”

“Rarity: Epic”

“Monster Name: Demonic Dandelion Vine”

“Type of Monster: Parasite”

“Combat Level: Bronze-level Rank-3”

“Skill 1: Leech Pod”

“Skill 2: Total Control”

“Remarks: Monster skill has yet to be fully discovered, three more skills on the way”

“Summon Authority: Activated”

“Card Remarks: Trainable”

“Xiao Hei, there are only two skills. What’s with the three skills that are on the way?” Lin Huang could not understand that as an Epic Monster Card usually came with five skills.

“The Demonic Dandelion Vine is a new species, as it is the first generation; it only has basic skills now and would gain more skills from learning them in the future.”

Lin Huang then looked at the two skills. Leech Pod would allow the Demonic Dandelion Vine to create leech pods that it could then control and target hosts. Following that, Absolute Control gave it the ability to control the host completely.

He then looked at his Exclusive Card, there were changes on it.

“Host: Lin Huang”

“Gender: Male”

“Age: 15”

“Combat Strength: Iron-level rank-3”

“Life Seed: Sly Hands (Rare)

“Combat Skill 1: Great Sword Scripture (Sword Skill)”

“Combat Skill 2: Thunder Sword (Sword Skill)”

“Combat Skill 3: Spectral Snowsteps (Body Movement)”

“Combat Skill 4: Cloud Steps (Body Movement)”

“Monster Skill 1: Blood Spirit”

“Monster Skill 2: Form Changer”

“Monster Skill 3: Super Robust (Intermediate)”

“Monster Skill 4: Supreme Breath (Beginner)”

“Monster Skill 5: Immense Strength”

“Monster Skill 6: Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate)”

“Monster Skill 7: Absolute Defence (Beginner)”

“Monster Skill 8: Blood Hunt (Beginner)”

“Monster Skill 9: Boundless Vision (Beginner)”

“Monster Skill 10: Third Eye (Beginner)”

“Summon Authority: Activated”

“Available Number of Summons: 2”

“Remark: Passable”

Blood Power was replaced by Blood Spirit while Robust was replaced by Super Robust . Lin Huang raised his eyebrow and said, “Extract Demonic Dandelion Vine’s skill.”

“It cannot be extracted; your storage for monster skills is full. To obtain more monster skills, you would have to combine Skill Cards or delete the existing monster skills.”

“I thought I could get hundreds of skills if I accumulated hundreds of Monster Cards, I should have known there was a limit!” Lin Huang had always guessed that there was a limit but he did not know what it was. Well, he knew now.

He kept his Exclusive Card while showing off the three Epic Monster Cards he had in his hands. He was over the moon with his achievements. However, he did not forget that he owed Xiao Hei this time. He kept the three Monster Cards and smirked as he contacted Xiao Hei, “Xiao Hei, what did you get from engulfing the energy sphere?”

“Resurrection functions for cards.”

“What does this resurrection do?”

“If a Monster Card of a higher rarity dies, it can be replaced by another Monster Card of a similar or lower rarity. Rare Monster Card get two chances at resurrection. The first resurrection could replace it with a Normal Card while the second resurrection will definitely replace it with a Rare Card.”

“Epic Monster Card gets three resurrections. The first resurrection could replace it with a Normal Card while the second resurrection will definitely replace it with a Rare Card and the third resurrection, with another Epic Card.”

“Legendary card and higher would have more chances to be resurrected with the same order as the above.”

“All the replacement cards must have the same combat strength as the replaced card.”

“If the required eligibility is not met, the card will automatically disappear.”

“This sounds great!” Lin Huang was excited.

He had four Epic Monster Cards now, this new function could solve some of his concerns. Soon he recalled something important. He smirked again and asked, “Xiao Hei, I helped you get the energy sphere. Do I get anything as a reward?”

“I shall reward you 10 card draws but the kind of cards you get depends wholly on your luck, pal.”

“10 cards!” It was the first time Xiao Hei was so generous.

“Delay no more!”

Chapter 119: 10 Card Draw

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“You have completed a special mission; you get 10 card draws as a reward!”

“There are 180 cards in the card pool so you can get 10 of the 180 cards as your reward.”

“Warning: You can only select ten cards from the pool only once. Once selected, no changes are allowed!”

The cards then came to life and arranged themselves neatly in the air in front of Lin Huang. There were 10 columns and 18 rows which added up to a total of 180 cards. They were all identical; completely black with a golden question mark in the middle that looked more like a golden burning flame.

Lin Huang initially thought he could pick 10 cards from a pool of 18 cards. If that was the case, the probability of getting better cards would be higher. Now, his options were more and so, the probabilities of getting good cards were no better than a regular card draw.

“Bibbidi-Buddhadi-Boo [1], please give me some good cards! No mission cards please, I beg you!” Lin Huang pressed his palms together and said a short little prayer with his eyes closed. He then opened his eyes, took a deep breath and picked 10 rewards cards.

“This, and this…”

The remaining cards disappeared after he was done. The cards that he picked were arranged into two rows of five columns in front of him. One by one, the cards revealed themselves.

“Congratulations, you have received Epiphany Card x1, Advance Card x1, Small Destruction Card x1, Healing Card x2, Double Card x2, Provisional Transformation Card x3.”

“I got one Small Destruction Card and two Healing Cards?!” Lin Huang was over the moon, for the very first time, he actually had good luck. He remembered clearly how powerful the Small Destruction Card worked on the Sand Monsters. As for the Healing Cards, he had seen how useful it was several times. He had just used his last Healing Card earlier and now he has replenished them.

“Too bad there’s only one Advance Card. If I had two of them, I could upgrade the Alexandrian Eagle into an Epic Card.”

The four Advance Cards he obtained earlier were used on Bai and Tyrant.

He was familiar with some cards, but not all of them. He took a look at them. The Epiphany Card was completely gold with a blue brain amidst a boundless starry night at the front of the card. He turned the card around to read its description.

“Epiphany Card: Gives the user a chance for an epiphany.”

“Remarks: Consumable, it can only be used once. The effect depends on the user’s credentials and talents.”

“Good stuff!” Lin Huang was satisfied with the cards he selected. He got cards that could be used in practical situations and none of the mission card that was useless.

“My luck has finally changed for the better!” He happily kept all his cards and headed to the shower.

Maybe he was in a good mood, he had a good night’s sleep and it was after eight in the morning when he woke up. After checking out from the hotel, Lin Huang ran out of the foothold and summoned the Alexandrian Eagle to head to Xiagong City. If not for the city curfew, he would not have stayed in Xiaoxia City. However, he was not so concerned about Lin Xin. Ever since the parasites were eliminated, even if a transcendent monster were to invade a B-grade large foothold like Xiagong City, he would be able to stop it.

Lin Huang arrived at the hotel in Xiagong City at 8:30 in the morning. He opened the room door with the keycard. Lin Xin was standing at the door with a gun pointed at him.

What are you doing?” Lin Huang raised his voice.

Lin Xin then put down the gun, “I thought it’s a bad guy at the door… Why didn’t you inform me beforehand that you’re coming back?”

“I came back right after I woke up, I just realized I hadn’t told you when I was already walking over.” Lin Huang shrugged his shoulders.

“Have you settled your stuff yet?” Lin Xin kept the GrayEagle17 back into storage.

“Yes, it’s been done.” Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction.

“Let’s book the tickets back home.”

“You haven’t been to Xiaoxia City yet, don’t you want to visit the Xiagong Ruins?” It was odd for Lin Xin to change her mind.

“I don’t want to go anymore.” Lin Xin shook her head.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Huang could sense that she was upset.

“I want to go home earlier so that I could spend more time to train my gun skill.” Lin Xin explained.

“Let’s go to Xiaoxia City to see the Xiagong Ruins, it won’t take too long.”

“I still prefer to go home now.” Lin Xin shook her head.

“Alright then. Since you insist, let’s go home then.” Lin Xin was persistent.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Lin Huang asked.

“Yes, I have.”

“I’ll have my breakfast downstairs first and we’ll book the return tickets when I’m back.” Lin Huang patted her head and left.

After he left, Lin Xin resumed the video that she was watching. There was a lady on the paused screen with a sentence at the bottom.

‘If you don’t want to be a burden, you must be strong yourself.’

Lin Xin pushed the play button and proceeded to watch the entire video. If Lin Huang was there, he would definitely recognize the lady in the video. She was a celebrity gunmaster whose videos went viral online – Ou-yang Bingli.

Ou-yang Bingli was an 18-year-old who ranked 14th on the Division7 Gold Hunter Leaderboard. She was also the highest ranked female gunmaster. She had fans who loved guns, most of them were teenage fangirls below 18.

As Lin Huang was having a buffet breakfast on the second floor, he received a notification from the Union Government.

“Last night at about 10:30, a serious parasite contamination happened in Xiaoxia City causing up to 130,000 people to get contaminated with parasitic pods. An anonymous transcendent managed to kill the parasites in time and saved everyone before leaving. On behalf of the Union Government, we would like to apologize for the unforeseen circumstance. We will prevent it from ever happening again. At the same time, we would like to thank the anonymous transcendent. Although we don’t know who you are, what you did has earned our respect and we shall learn from you…”

“It seems like they have no idea what happened beneath the Xiagong Ruins. They just assumed that the parasite was a transcendent based on the contamination figures and assumed that I was a transcendent as well…” Lin Huang smiled as he shook his head. Theoretically, the most a gold-level parasite could infect would not be more than 10,000 people. The Demonic Dandelion Vine was just silver-level but it managed to infect more than 100,000 people. Perhaps it was because it had mutated twice or other unusual circumstance. It managed to mislead the Union Government to think that it was a transcendent monster. Of course, the main reason for their misinformation was because they did not see the battle between Lin Huang and the Demonic Dandelion Vine. Else, they could tell from the remaining aura in the cave that the Demonic Dandelion Vine was merely a silver-level.

After that, the Union Government sent another message.

“Around 11 o’clock last night, all of the 15 offenders who escaped prison were captured in foothold No.7B61. The security regulations and curfew have been lifted…”

“They haven’t been telling the truth since the beginning…” Lin Huang raised his eyebrow as he read the news.

After breakfast, he went back to his hotel room. Lin Xin looked at him, eyes wide opened.

“Brother, it was you, wasn’t it?”

“What is it that I did?” Lin Huang riddled back.

“The transcendent monster in Xiaoxia City, did you kill it?” Lin Xin waited for his reply.

“You’re overthinking, do I look like a transcendent to you?” Lin Huang lied because he was afraid that Lin Xin might tell her schoolmates if she knew the truth.

“But the time Bai disappeared matched the time the transcendent appeared. I don’t think it was a coincidence, brother.” Lin Xin became factual.

“I just happened to encounter some trouble at the time. It was a mere coincidence that the timing matched!” Lin Huang attempted to cover up the truth so he pinched Lin Xin’s cheeks, “Look at you, why are you thinking of such ridiculous things at this hour of the day. I’m just iron-level, if I really did bump into a transcendent monster, I would run away real fast. How can I fight it?”

“Oh…” Lin Xin’s face dropped almost immediately.

“I was looking at the spaceship schedule, there’s one tomorrow and the tickets are available.” Lin Huang then looked at Lin Xin, “Are you sure you want to be a recluse?”

“I have thought about it. Since I will be going to graduation class in September, I can always have fun after I graduate next year. I should spend time studying and training in order to get good grades next year.” Lin Xin thought of a reason to convince Lin Huang.

“You’ve grown up; it’s great that you are managing your time well.” Lin Huang patted her head, “I’ll go book the tickets now.”

Chapter 120: Order Take-Out for Me

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It took the same amount of time – eight days – to return back to Baqi City via the Demonic Crystal Spaceship. The trip was smooth-sailing. On the third day, Lin Huang managed to upgrade Army Attack Tactics  to level three. For the next five days, he trained in his room and accumulated more than 300 card pieces.

On the other hand, Lin Xin had been staying in her room to play Gun Master during the eight days. She was engrossed in the game. The spaceship arrived in Baqi City at three in the afternoon. After they got off the spaceship, they did not stay in the city and left for Wulin Town on the Alexandrian Eagle.

They had been away from home for more than 20 days. Once they got home, Lin Huang convinced Lin Xin to clean the house with him. After spending more than two hours cleaning, it was six o’clock and time for dinner. Again, after dinner, Lin Xin stayed in her room to play Gun Master while Lin Huang watched the news in the living room after he did the dishes.

The news of the parasite incident in Xiaoxia City finally came to an end. It had been more than a week since the incident happened. The truth of what really happened in Xiagong City was never discovered. Nobody knew what exactly happened beneath the Xiagong Ruins. During this period, there was nothing particularly interesting on the news in Division7 aside from the parasite incident in Xiaoxia City.

However, just as he opened the news page, he noticed one of the latest hot topics.

“Jiang You who ranked second on the Gold Hunter Leaderboard had recently leveled-up to transcendent!” The headline read. Lin Huang had heard about Jiang You but he did not know much about him. All he knew was that he had a nickname on the network, which was ‘Eternal No.2’.

There were 1,000 people on the Gold Hunter Leaderboard, most of them were on gold-level rank-3. Basically, everyone who was listed on the leaderboard had high chances of becoming a transcendent, especially those who were within the first 100. Most of them would not stay too long in their level when they reached gold-level rank-3 with most of them staying only one or two years. As it was easy to accumulate Life Power, as long as they found a suitable transcendent monster and killed it, they would be upgraded.

However, Jiang You’s story was slightly different. He had stayed in the second place on the Gold Hunter Leaderboard for seven years. There were four replacements to the champion throughout the years but he remained second. That was how he got his nickname. Many were curious, wondering why he remained at gold-level rank-3. Perhaps, Jiang You was the only one who could answer that question himself. Now that he had finally leveled up seven years later, it was a hot topic in Division7. The media had nothing to write about for the past few days so it was the perfect opportunity for them to cook something up from this topic.

“So I guess this news today had become an issue people would be interested in?” Lin Huang said in his head. After switching off the news page, he suddenly recalled having a Mission Card he had yet to activate. He had planned to activate it once he got back home. Since he had nothing much throughout the coming month, he decided to take out the Mission Card.

There same blonde lady in black maid attire on the card was still there.

“Activate Mission Card.” Lin Huang instructed.

The blonde lady stretched her body and looked at Lin Huang.

“So we meet again.” The blonde lady winked at Lin Huang. He smiled back.

“Now, let me tell you what your mission is.”

“This is your mission! Upgrade Army Attack Tactics  to level six within 30 days!”

Mission Completion Reward: Healing Card x1″

“If you fail to complete the mission within the given time, you will lose one functional card as punishment!”

“Mission announcement done. You can read more about the mission at the back of the card.”

After the blonde lady finished talking, she winked at Lin Huang again, “All the best!”

“Upgrade Army Attack Tactics  to level six within a month…” Lin Huang felt tricked by the Mission Card again. “How is that possible?!”

He had only managed to get to level three. From level three to level four, he will need 800 card pieces. He only had more than 300 card pieces on hand, which meant he would need more than 400 card pieces. That was not the worst news. He would need 1,600 card pieces from level four to level five and 10,000 card pieces from level five to level six! In total, he would need to obtain a grand total of 12,000 card pieces within a month.

Accumulating 12,000 card pieces within a month seem impossible!

“I don’t care, since the mission has been activated, it’s too late to complain now.” Lin Huang stood up and walked upstairs. He sent Lin Xin a message, “I’ll have to train Army Attack Tactics for quite awhile, we’ll be having take-out for a month…”

He then closed his door and started training Army Attack Tactics . He was on level three now and it takes 15 minutes to complete one skill cycle. Training until midnight, he only managed to obtain more than 20 card pieces. The next morning, Lin Huang woke up at six to train and Lin Xin brought him breakfast at eight.

“From today onwards, I will make myself some oats for breakfast. You don’t have to order food for me in the afternoon but please get me take-out for dinner.” Lin Huang wanted to focus on training.

“No problem, I can do that for you but… Won’t you be hungry if you skip lunch?” Lin Xin was concerned.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Lin Huang assured her.

“Alright then…”

After breakfast, Lin Huang returned to his room and trained again all the way to bedtime. He only managed to accumulate 80 card pieces that day. For the next couple of days, Lin Huang repeated the routine of waking up at six with a bowl of oat and fruits before his training. He would spend around 10 minutes for dinner at six in the evening and train until 12 before he went to bed. He spent almost 18 hours on his training each day.

On the fifth afternoon, he finally accumulated 800 card pieces and upgradedArmy Attack Tactics  to level four.

Since then, the skill rotation became even more complicated. The time he took per rotation slowed down again. Five days passed and he saw the rotation shorten to 10 minutes per cycle instead of 30 minutes. He managed to accumulate more than 100 card pieces every day. As the days passed and time shortened, the amount of card pieces he was able to obtain increased respectively.

Finally, on the 20th day, Lin Huang upgraded Army Attack Tactics to level five.”I will use the Epiphany Card as a hail mary during the last 10 days!” Lin Huang had planned this since the beginning.

He took out the Epiphany Card, took a deep breath and squeezed the card, hard. He proceeded with his training.

Indulged in the effects of the Epiphany Car, the first skill rotation took the same amount of time, which was half an hour. However, on the second cycle, it was reduced to 20 minutes while the third cycle took only 10 minutes. On the fourth cycle, it was reduced to three minutes and the fifth cycle was only one minute… The time he needed was reduced with each round. When it came to the 10th round, he managed to complete a rotation within a single second. In less than four hours, he had accumulated 10,000 card pieces and upgraded to level six.

However, the Army Attack Tactics rotation did not stop evolving. The level six skill cycle was a few times more complicated than level five. It took Lin Huang a full three hours to complete one cycle, two hours for the second one…

Seven hours later, he managed to complete a single cycle within one second once more. Eight hours later, he had finally accumulated 30,000 card pieces and upgraded Army Attack Tactics to level seven.

By then, Lin Huang had been training for more than 20 hours but the effects of the Epiphany Card went on…

The skill cycles went on automatically. After 30 hours, he had accumulated 90,000 card pieces and broke through to level eight! The effects of the Epiphany Card finally left Lin Huang.

He had no rest. Feeling satisfied, he got himself a cup of water immediately then went to bed.

When he woke up, he saw Lin Xin sitting by his bedside.

“What happened?” Lin Huang asked curiously.

“Brother, I was so scared!’ Lin Xin told him what happened.

Lin Xin had been knocking on his door to get him to eat his dinner for the past two days but he did not respond at all. On the third day, he did not respond again so Lin Xin went into his room and found out that he was in a deep sleep. She thought there might be something wrong with his body so she called 911.

“Luckily the doctor said everything is normal with your body but you went into hibernation and promised that you would wake up soon.” She was teary as she explained.

“Don’t worry, I’m alright. I was just exhausted from my training so I rested.” Lin Huang patted her head.

“Some rest? You slept for a week!” Lin Xin stared at him.

“One week? No wonder I’m starving… Xin Er, please order take-out for me, I’ll go wash up now.”

“Sure!” Lin Xin walked into the living room to order his meal.