Life Game In Other World
Chapter 426: ’Off Work and Back Home’ (Super Long - , Asking for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 426: Chapter 426: ’Off Work and Back Home’ (Super Long Chapter, Asking for Monthly Tickets)

He Ao activated his Super Memory, his body flashed, and he vanished from his spot in an instant.

At the same time, he lifted the short knife in his hand, slashing towards the man’s heart.

Bang——

Accompanied by a crisp sound, He Ao’s figure retreated flying and landed not far away.

A half-blade with a whistling sound of cleaving the air spun past, burying itself into the cement ground next to him with a ’thud’.

"C-level?"

The man was holding a slender short sword with a split blade, looking at He Ao, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, "But your aura is extremely unstable, is this your ability? Or have you used some kind of Transcendent item?"

He Ao glanced at the half of the short knife left in his hand, the cut smooth and neat as if naturally formed. He looked again at the slender short sword in the man’s hand.

It was a good sword.

"Like this sword?"

The man smiled while looking at He Ao, his expression somewhat fierce, "Kill me, and the sword is yours."

With that, he charged at He Ao again, "Whether it’s a Transcendent ability or some Transcendent item you used, you’re going to die here today."

Though tall and apparently brutish, like a blacksmith, his movements were agile and graceful, like dancing with the wind, and in a flash, he was right in front of He Ao.

Of course, gracefulness didn’t mean weakness. His sword cut through the void, bringing a violent whistling sound right to the front of He Ao.

His movement reminded He Ao of Luo Luo.

The next second, He Ao stepped back and to the side, circling past the incoming short sword, then leaning slightly forward, the tipless half of the short knife in his hand stabbing towards the man’s heart.

"You try to stab someone with a knife without a point? Don’t you know C-levels are different from ordinary people? Can this broken knife break through my defense?"

The man roared with laughter, "I thought you were smart, turns out you’re just another fool."

Mocking with his mouth, his body’s movements were not slow. He sidestepped, dodging He Ao’s short knife, and drew his sword across towards He Ao’s neck.

His dodge wasn’t complete, just simply avoiding the vital points. Confident that the short knife couldn’t harm him, he prepared to trade blow for blow, to ’bump into’ the short knife, in exchange for He Ao’s life.

However, as his attack changed, he faintly saw the calm smile on He Ao’s face, as if everything was under control.

He Ao’s half knife slid from his left chest to his right chest, and then, as if a sharp blade were cutting through tofu, it effortlessly cut through his flesh and stabbed into his body.

In that instant, all his movements froze in place, and his short sword, which had almost reached He Ao’s neck, lost its driving force, with only inertia carrying it forward.

He Ao let go of the knife handle, stepping back a few paces to dodge the strike.

"How did you... do that."

Bright red blood flowed from the man’s chest, he felt all the energy in his body lose control in an instant, frantically tearing at his flesh.

He didn’t wait for He Ao’s response; after uttering those words, his life had already completely ended. His huge body toppled forward, falling to the ground with a dull thud.

He Ao stepped forward, taking the short sword tightly held in the man’s hand, "Thanks."

This was the first time He Ao had heard someone request to be killed and then offer their weapon as well.

What a strange request.

Actually, the man was not weak. His physical strength should be over five hundred, stronger than He Ao when activating Super Memory, and his movements were agile with decent combat skills.

If it had been a normal fight, he wouldn’t have been killed by He Ao so easily. To a great extent, he died due to his ’underestimating the enemy’ and ’arrogance’.

A regular metal alloy blade naturally couldn’t pierce his skin, but a blade covered with Divine Sense was different.

In fact, this time He Ao also had the idea of experimenting. After his Martial Arts entered C-level, his mastery of Divine Sense deepened, becoming more intuitive, so he wanted to study the capabilities of Divine Sense as well.

When he was at D-level, the ’Qi’ of Martial Arts could enhance his weapon, allowing him to break through C-level defenses. Now the even more potent Divine Sense should have the same effect.

Indeed, the inclusion of Divine Sense significantly enhanced the weapon’s strength, but the consumption was also astonishing.

Compared to the energy used to monitor the enemy’s energy flow, it was much more.

Therefore, a handy weapon was very important.

However, what He Ao hadn’t expected was that before he even mentioned it, this enthusiastic brother had already offered to give him the weapon.

It had been a long time since he had met someone so generous.

Oh, now it seemed he was the older one.

So, it was a generous younger brother then.

He Ao lifted the short sword in his hand, twirling it to create a beautiful sword flower in the air.

This sword seemed to be specially crafted.

It was more like a flattened, two-edged ’dagger’ than a sword. It was much more slender than any sword He Ao had held before, with two shallow blood grooves on the blade to facilitate bloodletting when stabbing into a body.

The blade was slightly longer than the silver short swords He Ao was accustomed to using, but it weighed less.

He Ao waved it, feeling that it wasn’t as comfortable in his hand as his previous silver short knife.

He flicked it with his finger.

Whirr——

The clear sound of the sword rang in his ears.

The texture doesn’t seem as good as the silver short sword either.

He Ao roughly estimated that this sword was likely inferior to the silver short sword, but slightly better than the standard alloy sword equipped for Adam Type-2 by Vian.

It should still be okay against C-level, but against higher levels, it might prove inadequate.

However, since it was a gift from an enthusiastic young brother, he didn’t have any reason to complain.

He Ao shut off his Super Memory, squatted down, and took the smart bracelet off the left hand of this considerate young brother.

This bracelet had network access and wasn’t subject to shielding restrictions.

But the bracelet had facial and iris recognition, which made it impossible to unlock.

However, He Ao didn’t intend to unlock this bracelet.

He pushed up on the screensaver interface, and an emergency contact interface popped up.

Such smart devices always have numbers that you can dial directly without unlocking, such as some emergency contacts, and, for instance...

He Ao placed his hand above the ’Call Police (Federal Bureau of Investigation)’ button.

"Hello,"

Just as he was about to lightly press it, a voice came from the direction of the elevator, "May I ask what you are intending to do?"

He Ao looked up to see a man walking towards him, slowly and with a smile. The man was dressed in formal wear and leather shoes, sporting gold-rimless glasses.

Behind him, a fully armed mercenary squad followed.

"To call the Federal Bureau of Investigation," He Ao shrugged his shoulders. "I suspect this place is involved in illegal detention and cross-city organ trafficking, and is threatening my life and safety, as well as my health. Too dangerous, I’m scared and need rescue."

The man with rimless glasses glanced at the corpse on the ground still oozing blood, then at He Ao, who stood beside the body unscathed, and his smile momentarily stiffened on his face.

But he recovered quickly, almost instantly regaining his composure, and said with a soft apologetic smile, "I am Reid, the director of this Research Institute. There might be some misunderstanding here..."

"What misunderstanding?"

He Ao looked ’confused’ at the bespectacled man, but his hand movements didn’t stop.

He knew there was a surveillance camera not far behind him which ’just happened’ to capture the content displayed on his bracelet.

So it was very clear to the other party what he was doing.

Of course, his positioning was deliberate, allowing the other side to see his bracelet’s screen without making it seem too conspicuous.

"Actually, it’s like this..."

Reid slowly began to speak.

——

"So, you’re just a regular Research Institute and these mercenaries are just regular security guards. The reason for all these weapons is because your research carries a high level of danger, hence the need for protection against mishaps?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"These volunteers are also completely safe, the operating room isn’t for surgeries but for in-depth physical examinations for the volunteers? The organs in the operating room are just models?"

"Yes, that’s correct."

The room suddenly went quiet.

The expression on He Ao’s face clearly conveyed his thoughts, ’Do you think I’m an idiot?’

At the moment, they were in a conference room on the second floor next to a window, through which the street outside could be seen indistinctly.

He Ao had requested this location. He had tested the glass; it was just regular bulletproof glass, which he could shatter with his short sword in an emergency to jump out.

Reid, on the other hand, sat at the farthest position opposite him.

Reid was also a Transcendent, albeit only D-level. Clearly, he wasn’t the type of Transcendent meant for combat.

The C-level Transcendent that He Ao had killed was probably the strongest combatant in the Research Institute.

Clearly, Reid was afraid of He Ao.

He was not only afraid of He Ao himself but also fearful of the smart bracelet in his hands.

"Mr. Pete, listen to my explanation. This really is a misunderstanding..."

Taking a deep breath, Reid prepared to repeat the justifications he had already spun.

He wasn’t truly seeking to explain to He Ao; he was simply trying to buy time for the people they had called to arrive.

If He Ao ran off, it would be the best outcome.

He wouldn’t need to worry about a terrifying and vastly threatening Transcendent in the Research Institute anymore, and he could then define the incident as a case of burglary and murder, reported to the Limen City Police Department, employing the city government’s power to apprehend He Ao.

But this guy surprisingly didn’t run at all and was even preparing to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In reality, He Ao calling the Limen City Police Department wouldn’t have troubled him, for he could easily deal with local forces.

But the Federal Bureau of Investigation was not so easy to handle, particularly when the person calling was a powerful Transcendent.

Limen City was close to the Federal Capital Ains City and was one of the cities directly under the jurisdiction of the Federal Central. It was also one of the areas where the Federal Bureau of Investigation held the most sway.

The monumental Federal Bureau of Investigation was deeply rooted with intertwined power structures, making it very difficult to manage.

"Alright, let’s assume, just assume I believe your story."

He Ao directly interrupted Reid’s words, smiling at him, "But put yourself in my shoes, consider the situation from my position, what do you think I should do now?"

Reid was taken aback, he quickly understood that the other party was giving him a way out, waiting for him to make a demand.

At this moment, he suddenly grasped the meaning behind the saying "appearances can be deceiving." The man in front of him, who appeared somewhat dull and honestly-faced, was actually as cunning as the Devil.

However, as long as there’s room for negotiation, that’s good.

The other party had killed their most powerful warrior and destroyed their equipment, and now he was expected to offer compensation terms.

Reid’s hand, which was under the table, grabbed the wooden table leg, squeezing five holes into it, but his upper body, above the table, remained upright with a gentle and amiable smile still on his face,

"Mr. Pete, how about this,"

he watched He Ao’s expression, "We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to you tonight, as compensation, how about we give you an additional four weeks’ allowance as compensation for emotional distress?"

He Ao didn’t speak, only raised his wristband.

Under the table, Reid’s hand grasped the table leg once more, "Like this, you see, we compensate you with a year’s allowance, fifty-two weeks a year, allowance calculated at the highest rate of three thousand per week, totaling one hundred and fifty-six thousand federal coins, you see, leave a bank account, and we can transfer it to you immediately."

"Not in a hurry,"

He Ao raised his own wristband, displaying an electronic agreement. The reason he had followed Reid down to the meeting room was that there was a communication signal here, allowing his wristband to connect to the network.

While Reid was making up excuses, He Ao had already contacted the lawyer he previously worked with to help draft a compensation agreement for emotional damage.

When Reid saw the agreement, his face darkened for a moment.

If he signed this, he couldn’t accuse He Ao of extortion.

Ultimately, both parties affixed their electronic signatures to the agreement and notarized it with notary software.

The agreement specifically stipulated that Reid needed to provide a copy of the surveillance footage from the operating room, the corridors, and the rooftop to He Ao.

In case Reid started trouble in the future, He Ao could use these videos as evidence of self-defense.

As a condition, He Ao agreed not to leak these videos or disclose what he saw and heard in the Research Institute to anyone else, and Reid promised not to send anyone to attack He Ao.

In the end, Reid provided He Ao with the videos, but added codes to prevent copying or recording; of course, he also knew that such measures couldn’t really restrict He Ao.

The purpose of this agreement was to define the nature of the incident; both parties chose not to publicize it.

He Ao wouldn’t expose the secrets of the Research Institute, and the Research Institute wouldn’t pursue the matter that just took place.

In the end, both sides shook hands with a smile, He Ao received the transaction, Reid escorted him to the entrance of the Research Institute, and the two waved goodbye warmly as if they were both very satisfied with the outcome.

"Mr. Reid, the quality of your conference room table isn’t very good, you should get a sturdier one."

He Ao said softly to Reid with a smile before leaving and then turned to walk into the depths of the road.

Reid’s expression darkened as he watched He Ao disappear at the end of the road.

When He Ao’s figure had completely vanished, Reid’s sunken cheeks returned to calm contemplation in an instant.

"Send a few who are good at disguising, to follow him."

He looked calmly at the nearby Mercenary Officer.

"Understood."

The officer raised his wristband and operated it for a moment, then looked up at Reid with confusion, "Mr. Reid, are we just letting him go like this? Even after signing such an agreement?"

"Can you defeat Mano?"

Reid glanced at him calmly.

"No, I cannot."

The officer shook his head.

"Put together, we wouldn’t last a few moves against Mano," Reid said calmly, "yet Mano was killed effortlessly in two moves by him. The one who really controlled the entire situation just now wasn’t us, but him."

"I see."

The officer nodded as if he’d had a revelation.

"There’s no need to play dumb or act tough in front of me," Reid looked at him calmly, "your flattery isn’t very good."

The officer chuckled, "No choice, just making a living. After all, smart people like you, Mr. Reid, who see things clearly and don’t like to hear flattery, are too rare in this world."

Reid looked up at him and said nothing.

The officer asked softly again, "So, we are just letting him go like that?"

"He acted like someone who accidentally got involved in this incident, but this may very well be his deliberate disguise; I wouldn’t exclude the possibility that he comes from Welme or another consortium."

Reid contemplated for a moment, his expression calm, "Either way, he has seen inside the Research Institute and even opened the box, he knows too much, he shouldn’t be left alive."

He turned to the officer, "When is Shadow returning?"

"He will arrive tonight."

The officer nodded gently.

"Contact the office for me, I want all personal information on this Pete," Reid turned and walked into the Research Institute, "My money, one must survive to spend it."

······

Half an hour later, the police from Limen City arrived.

This was the person Reid had been waiting for.

If He Ao contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, then they could get in touch with the police department in Limen City.

Although it was difficult to deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, they could first have the Limen City Police Department take over the case.

As a matter of practice, unless a significant clue was discovered, or the local police actively invited them, the Federal Bureau of Investigation wouldn’t intervene in cases that were handled by local police.

This was tantamount to blocking the method He Ao used to threaten them, and after the arrival of the municipal authorities, they could control He Ao under the name of the Limen City Police Department, making him afraid to act rashly.

Unfortunately, He Ao left before the police arrived.

Having already signed an agreement with He Ao at this point, Reid had nothing much to say, and quickly sent off the police officers from Limen City with just a few words.

----

In a dark alley not far from the research institute, He Ao, after making sure he had completely shaken off his pursuers, leaned heavily against the wall.

Long-term use of Super Memory had nearly sapped all the energy from his body, and his forced movement through sheer willpower had further exhausted him.

At this moment, as he slightly relaxed, a massive wave of fatigue swept over him like mountains and seas, almost causing him to lose his ability to stand.

He leaned against the wall, allowing himself to rest for a moment.

The main reason he had signed the agreement with Reid was to prevent Reid from using the power of the municipal government against him.

His personal information had been recorded when signing the commitment. If he had simply killed his way out, then Reid and his team would have had the grounds to have local forces issue a warrant for him.

So he didn’t leave immediately but instead prepared to call the police, feigning the role of a victim, with his bracelet in hand.

The research conducted by the institute was definitely not legal and would not stand up to scrutiny.

His reason for choosing to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation was to avoid easily corrupted local forces as much as possible; the threat of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was more effective.

Indeed, after He Ao expressed his intention to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Reid clearly panicked.

The pace was then in He Ao’s hands, and he even managed to obtain some surveillance footage.

These videos could not only prove He Ao’s innocence, but also serve as one piece of evidence against the institute’s illegal experiments.

When He Ao easily acquired these videos, he knew that Reid had the intent to kill him.

However, this was within his expectations; given the institute’s reckless disregard for human life, the only reason they hadn’t killed He Ao was that they couldn’t defeat him.

He Ao had shut down the overt path of using the municipal government to arrest him, forcing them onto the path of assassination.

In the institute, all of He Ao’s identity information was recorded.

In fact, He Ao was exposed; any excessive behavior would be documented and could even lead to legal proceedings.

Although He Ao was confident he could make a case for self-defense in court, the trial process was simply too time-consuming. Even if he were bailed out, his freedom would still be restricted, which was not conducive to him completing his mission.

So unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to go through this process.

Assassination, on the other hand, was quite the opposite.

Assassination followed the rules of the underworld. He Ao could dispose of the assassin without the scrutiny of surveillance and crowds.

Besides, Pete’s body was too weak, and He Ao urgently needed to acquire transcendent powers to enhance his combat abilities to complete his mission.

The fastest way to gain transcendent powers was through Talent Sequences.

He had the formulas for Secret Medicine for the Warrior pathway up to C-level, but it required venturing outside the city into the wilderness to gather materials for several days to advance, and the wilderness near Limen City might not have Blood Spiders.

Apart from concocting Secret Medicine by himself, was there a faster way to acquire transcendent abilities?

There was.

Seizing someone else’s Talent Sequences.

The C-level he had killed at the research institute couldn’t be taken away directly due to the many watchful eyes above, and such blatant killing to seize Talent Sequences might even attract the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This was probably one of the reasons why Reid was unwilling to have the Federal Bureau of Investigation get involved.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation didn’t care about your past; the corpses of Transcendents they came across were theirs.

He Ao regained some strength, pushed himself off the wall, and slowly made his way to the street corner.

The Assassins sent by Reid were most likely C-level.

And these ’deliveries’ that had come to him, due to their secrecy, were at He Ao’s disposal.

Also, based on He Ao’s experience, the location of each Copy World’s opening was, more or less, indicative of hints related to the main mission.

This mission was to find and destroy the ’Fountain of Youth.’ Since He Ao could find no clues in the mission description, he had to test the waters at the ’spawn point,’ hoping to discover some leads.

Reid was the live bait that He Ao had intentionally tied to the fishing line.

As long as he was alive and manipulating situations, he would keep drawing bigger fish to He Ao.

First, see if he could encounter a suitable Talent Sequence. If not, a trip outside the city, though time-consuming, was not a big deal.

He Ao called a taxi and got in.

However, there was another matter he needed to take care of now.

He glanced at his watch; it was already nine in the evening. It was time for him to ’get off work and go home.’