Life Game In Other World
Chapter 358: Flames in the Silence (Long - Please Subscribe, Bookmark, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 358: Chapter 358: Flames in the Silence (Long Chapter Please Subscribe, Bookmark, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Yet someone was faster than that dark shadow.

A flash of red sword light streaked by.

Before Yoen could even react, his face was splattered with fresh blood.

He stood rooted to the spot, his mind a complete blank.

Meanwhile, He Ao had already stepped forward, using the sword in his hand to turn over the body of the shadow that had just been slain.

It was a humanoid monster with tattered clothes and a body flushed red; its carcass was decaying rapidly.

The light from the bracelet illuminated the monster’s remaining visage, overlapping with someone in He Ao’s memory.

The artifact shopkeeper who had sold the Ancient Sword to Nell.

Shortly, the corpse had completely decayed, with specks of red light entering the body of He Ao’s sword.

These monsters were all ’crafted’ from people.

He Ao looked down at those who were unconscious on the ground.

The monster he had encountered in the corridor, knocking on doors, seemed to have also obtained items related to the Divine Being from that artifact shopkeeper.

After transforming into a monster, it found its way back to the artifact shop, abducted the shopkeeper, and took away the remaining items related to the Divine Being.

That was the reason why the artifact shop was closed.

But when He Ao visited today, the merchandise inside was neatly arranged, and the door was locked tight.

If there had been a fight inside the shop and items had been taken, the place would definitely be in disarray, and the shopkeeper, when being chased, would have had no time to lock the door.

Unless someone returned to the artifact shop after the shopkeeper had been abducted and the items plundered, tidied up the merchandise, and locked the door to reduce the likelihood of the shop being suspected.

Then, the killing of the shopkeeper wasn’t an act of vengeance by a crazed monster, but a planned ’silencing’.

Although the creature had some degree of sanity, it was not fully rational or even particularly logical.

It may not have thought of ’revenge.’

Unless someone directed its thoughts.

He Ao shifted his gaze to the items that were largely dismantled.

The monster had extracted the power related to the Divine Being and injected it into the body of the artifact shopkeeper. After the Divine Being had consumed the shopkeeper’s soul, it turned his body into a ’monster.’

These still-living people were likely materials for creating ’monsters.’

Upon death, souls dissipate immediately; to ensure that the Divine Being received the most complete souls, these people had to be kept alive and bound by nightmares.

This complex operation might not have come from the monster’s own enlightenment; there might be traces of ’guidance’ involved.

In fact, He Ao had just entered to check if the monster had hidden any dangerous contaminated objects and hadn’t expected this accidental discovery.

Although the backstage manipulator had eliminated the shopkeeper as a loose end, He Ao also gained some information about that person, like their ability to ’guide’ the thoughts of monsters.

Furthermore, if a pawn was being used well, and then suddenly silenced, there were only two possibilities: either it had been exposed, necessitating its elimination, or the plan was nearing completion, and the pawn was no longer needed and disposed of.

Considering the surprise shown by the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents upon seeing the mad monster, He Ao was more inclined to believe the second possibility.

Their plan was approaching its final step, so some fringe pawns were now unnecessary and could be disposed of.

He Ao cleaved through the remaining intact items with a single stroke, absorbing all their power into his sword.

He then activated Super Memory, turning his attention to the people lying unconscious on the ground.

As he had anticipated, their soul phantoms were covered with a layer of distorted red light.

He Ao observed the red light closely; it seemed to come directly from the Divine Being, its twisted whispers seeping into the people’s minds, pulling them into nightmares.

He Ao tried it out, hitting the energy and using the power of Super Memory, trying over and over, until he finally shattered those red lights.

The furrowed brows of the sleeping people slowly relaxed.

He Ao turned off Super Memory; the nightmare was easy to disperse, but that soul contamination was not so easily resolved.

But this was no longer He Ao’s concern.

By shattering those red lights, He Ao gained further control over the soul intervention ability of Super Memory, and his proficiency continued to increase.

At first, he could only use this ability to directly collide with the opponent’s soul, causing a brief rigidity and creating a Mental Disturbance effect.

Late, he used this ability to drive away the resentful spirits attached to Liu Nan.

Now, he could use it to shatter the intervention of weakened Divine Power.

His manipulation was becoming increasingly precise.

He Ao felt he was close to fully mastering the power of a D-class Super Memory.

Super Memory hadn’t been promoted for too long either.

"Quick, the bloodstains extend all the way inside."

Just then, some lights seemed to appear in the distance.

The voice belonged to one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who had just been surrounding He Ao.

"They’re here."

He Ao turned off his wristband flashlight, grabbed Yoen, who was still a bit dazed, leapt onto the wall behind them, and vaulted over.

In reality, it’s very difficult for local powers to control the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a direct force under the Federal Central, and to prevent it from being controlled by local powers, the Federal Central has set many clauses to prevent locals from gaining too much power.

For example, at least one-third of the agents in each regional Federal Bureau of Investigation must be transferred from other cities.

Ande, who was born and raised in Kaye City, was transferred to work in Dawn City, and Selena also didn’t seem to be a local from Dawn City.

This is to prevent the lower ranks from being controlled by local strength, to avoid a consolidated block that undermines leadership authority.

Of course, as compensation for these agents leaving their hometowns, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s treatment isn’t bad, with the recently graduated Ande earning a weekly salary of eight hundred federal coins, plus the best medical insurance.

Most Federal Bureau of Investigation agents undergo both mental and physical training from headquarters before taking their posts.

At the upper level, chiefs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are almost all appointed from elsewhere, serving four years per term, with a maximum of one reappointment, and those without promotion upon term completion will be laterally transferred to other cities.

That’s why He Ao was so surprised when he first learned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been infiltrated.

However, he felt that no matter how strong the other side was, they couldn’t possibly have infiltrated the entire Federal Bureau of Investigation; more likely, they had taken control of some middle and high-level officials who had stayed locally for longer.

The fact that those sent to assassinate He Ao came from gangs rather than the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows they do not have complete control and dare not use the Federal Bureau of Investigation to kill.

So far, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s wanted notice for He Ao, while it says it’s in pursuit of He Ao, the nature of the document is ’reward for locating an important witness’, not a warrant for a criminal.

Of course, in all the publicity, in the news, it’s called a ’wanted’ notice.

But the operating regulation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is that all warrants must be reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters, along with detailed case materials, for a federation-wide manhunt.

This rule is to facilitate the capture of criminals who escape to other cities, and to centralize local power.

To go through this process, detailed case materials are needed; a complete investigation, a warrant signed by the federal district court is required.

Even in the case of a deputy director’s murder, the procedure would take at least ten days to two weeks, and such a case would also bring an investigation team from the capital, Ains.

This case couldn’t withstand close scrutiny.

So those controlled Federal Bureau of Investigation officials simply dared not submit the warrant.

And this was He Ao’s opportunity.

No matter what, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Rock City was just a subordinate agency, subject to scrutiny and constraint from the Federal Central.

Therefore, He Ao didn’t kill the monster right away but instead led it into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s encirclement, exposing it to the view of all FBI agents.

They could deceive the rank-and-file agents by saying He Ao was a vile criminal, as his case was indeed secretive and known to a few, which allowed for manipulation of the facts.

But a real monster was something everyone had seen.

The internal affairs department within the FBI also had spies at the lower levels.

After tonight, the information about a monster in Rock City was highly likely to reach the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI might not go after the conglomerates, but it was their duty to eradicate exotic beasts and cultists.

According to the training Ande had received, the FBI had not yet fully degenerated internally.

Relying solely on He Ao to find these mad monsters scattered throughout the city would be too difficult, but with the FBI, it was a different story.

Eradicating these mad monsters would also help He Ao to complete his main mission.

So even if the FBI headquarters didn’t launch an investigation into the Rock City branch or lift the ’wanted’ status on He Ao, most of the Rock City FBI forces would be drawn into the eradication of mad monsters.

That would remove an obstacle in front of He Ao, turning it into an aid instead.

Of course, the puppet masters or the conglomerates might also block the news, preventing it from reaching the FBI headquarters.

But that’s alright, He Ao had already reconnected with Eve on the way here, and recorded the appearance of the monster and the FBI agents present with his bracelet.

These videos were now going viral on the internet.

The more people knew, the greater the pressure on the FBI from the societal level, and they would inevitably intervene.

After all, the presence of FBI agents in the video was a different concept from not knowing and doing nothing, and knowing yet still doing nothing.

In fact, the appearance of the monster was an accidental factor, and He Ao hadn’t expected to encounter such a monster at Yoen’s doorstep.

He Ao initially intended to bait the FBI into witnessing a monster, but coincidentally encountered one while looking for Yoen and decided to use it directly.

Furthermore, the monster was strong, and there were plenty of FBI agents on the scene.

He Ao, dragging Yoen with him, quickly left the original area, and finally had a moment to glance at Yoen, "So, what’s up?"

Yoen must have had a reason for signaling him with an inverted ’V’.

Yoen was startled, finally snapping out of the adrenaline of the recent fight, fragments of memories flooding his mind. He took a deep breath and whispered, "My grandmother’s been kidnapped by a gang."

He looked at He Ao with the eyes of someone bearing bad news, hesitated, then gently said, "They forced me to lead you out or they would kill my grandmother. But they don’t know that our signal meant to meet at the restaurant, I told them you’d come looking for me, so they stayed at home.

Once you went to the restaurant and found me absent, you should have known it was a trap. Although I, Yoen, am not much capable, I would never betray a friend. I’ll rescue my own family."

As he said this, he paused, suddenly realizing something, and looked at He Ao with wide eyes, "Why didn’t you go to the restaurant?"

"I guessed it."

He Ao shrugged and pulled out a piece of paper to wipe the blood from his cheek.

The plans Yoen could come up with were limited, and so were the possible situations he could encounter; guessing the truth was not difficult.

"Ah? Was my plan that easy to guess?"

Yoen was taken aback.

"Maybe you should reflect on why even stealing veggies gets you caught," He Ao chuckled, recalling when Yoen tried to swipe food from the VIP section and got beaten for it.

"That was an accident, you know that," Yoen immediately flushed with embarrassment and began to mumble to himself, "I did it on purpose, I’ve been annoyed with those people for a while. I wanted to provoke them; it’s what warriors do. This was a challenge, not theft, you don’t understand..."

He Ao smiled.

Yoen and Nell usually mocked each other when they met.

It used to be Yoen boasting while Nell listened, with Yoen taking the lead, but now He Ao was in charge.

"Let’s go."

He Ao turned and walked towards the deepening night.

"Where to?"

Yoen was taken aback.

"We’re going to rescue your grandma," He Ao said calmly, "She was taken by the Ice Wolf Gang, right?"

"That place is dangerous," Yoen kept up with He Ao’s pace, "Let me think of a strategy, I don’t want to drag you into danger."

"Following your strategy would be the real danger."

"Who do you think you’re looking down on?"

"You."

"I must come up with a foolproof plan to change your mind."

"A foolproof plan like getting beaten up for stealing vegetables?"

"I told you it was a provocation, not stealing!"

"Do you still have the Ice Wolf Gang’s contact information?"

"Yes, we’re about to head there now, I should delete it."

"Delete what? Two hundred thousand, who would refuse money that’s being eagerly offered?"

"Huh?"

The two of them walked further into the night.

After some time, Yoen said softly, "Nell, I feel like you’ve changed a bit."

He Ao paused, "What’s changed?"

Yoen scratched his head, "I’m not sure, maybe you seem more confident?"

He thought for a moment, then continued, "I feel like there is a fire inside you, a blazing fire, and maybe I should advise you against it, but if I were in your shoes, I’d also want to annihilate their entire family.

Like, if the Ice Wolf Gang really did kill my grandma, I would die to take a few of them with me."

"Didn’t you consider selling me out?"

He Ao laughed.

"I’m not stupid," Yoen spat,

"Even if I sold you out, do you think they would really let my grandma go? Would they really give me money? I’m of value because I’m your friend, not because of my own worth. In the end, in their eyes, we’re all just expendable, lives to be taken as they please.

If you were to die, my grandma and I would be next, so I’ve been ready, to kill one is not a loss, to kill two is a profit.

God is fair, everyone has only one life, my worthless life in exchange for those important people’s lives is always a profit. I haven’t made a move just because I’m figuring out the most worthwhile way to do it."

He Ao watched Yoen, the flames in the young man’s eyes no less intense than his own. Today, confronted with that terrifying monster, Yoen’s reaction wasn’t bad, merely some fear, but he always followed He Ao’s lead.

Yoen’s parents were miners and had died when Yoen was very young.

Their cause of death was the same as Nell’s father, a ’stampede accident’ in the mines.

In Rock City, there were many people like Yoen and Nell, with fierce flames in their eyes, hidden beneath a silent resignation.