Life Game In Other World
Chapter 509: We Will Not Die (Super Long - , Seeking Monthly Votes)

Chapter 509: Chapter 509: We Will Not Die (Super Long Chapter, Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Mr. Rhodes, who exactly is this ’Master of the Velora’?"

In the brightly lit conference room, an elderly man with neatly-dressed brown hair looked at the documents in his hand and gazed towards the man with graying hair sitting at the head of the conference room.

"Colonel Retter, this is part of the intelligence on the ’Master of the Velora,’"

A young man sitting to the left of Rhodes took out a sheet of paper with information and handed it to the elderly man,

"Based on the intelligence we got from the Research Institute, this ’Master of the Velora’ claims to be named ’Hao Yi.’ Currently, we have no information on his affiliation with any power. In the previous struggle for control of the Velora, he emerged as the final winner, seizing control of the B-level Velora."

"In fact, before this event, the only intel we had was of him killing a C-level Secret Art Mage.

"This led us to make an incorrect judgment on his power, thinking he was just a very strong and smart C-level, who obtained control of the Velora through some rules within it.

"However, after tonight, we might have to change some of the intel profiles about him."

"So, this ’Master of the Velora’ killed that B-level monster within ten seconds, is he a powerful B-level?"

The man known as Colonel Retter scanned the content of the documents, speaking with some concern.

"We cannot confirm that yet," the young man replied,

"Although our ’Psychics’ can sense some things that we ’cannot see’ through a certain ability, he only mentioned that the mutated monster might be B-level and did not say that the ’Master of the Velora’ who killed the monster is B-level. It’s also quite possible that the Master of the Velora killed a B-level by utilizing some kind of Transcendent prop.

"Unfortunately, the Psychic fell into a coma after giving out the information, and his two team members also briefly lost part of their memory, otherwise we might have been able to obtain more detailed intel."

"Let’s treat him as B-level for now. If he can kill a B-level, that proves he has the strength of a B-level."

At this time, the man known as Rhodes, who had been silent, slowly spoke up. His tone was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable authority.

"Yes, Mr. Rhodes."

The young man nodded, indicating no objections.

"Colonel Retter, please trust us, Moonlight will protect you and your family in the Empire,"

Rhodes turned his head to look at the elderly Retter, "However, the situation is quite complex now, so we need the strong support of your gendarmerie. For these individuals listed in our documents, we need your help to arrange for the gendarmerie to search for them."

"That won’t be a problem. Becoming the commander of the Rodan gendarmerie is to serve Moonlight."

Retter immediately responded as if ready to charge through fire and water at a moment’s notice.

"Of course, we all know your loyalty to Moonlight," Rhodes said with a smile, slowly rising to his feet and extending his hand, "Thank you for your trouble."

"It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. It’s my honor to work for Moonlight."

The two shook hands, and the elderly man walked out of the conference room with a smile.

"An old dog,"

A woman in a pencil skirt walked into the conference room from the side, beginning to gather the documents on the desk, "He wouldn’t do a thing without a personal promise of protection from you."

"We need such people to cooperate to protect our organization’s interests in Rodan."

Rhodes spoke slowly, then he looked at the woman in the pencil skirt, "How much longer until Anlun and Enko arrive in Eren?"

"Those gentlemen have already boarded the plane; they should arrive in Eren by tomorrow morning at the latest."

The woman in the pencil skirt replied immediately.

"Mr. Rhodes," the young man at the side quietly asked, "could those two C-level gentlemen from before also be this Master of the Velora...?"

"It’s possible, but unlikely,"

Rhodes shook his head, "Li Le was going to the airport that day, he was definitely going to meet someone from the Research Institute. It’s very likely they died at the hands of the mysterious C-level from the Research Institute."

"But we still haven’t found this mysterious C-level,"

The young man sighed, "Several directors from the field department of the Research Institute have shown their faces outside; it’s impossible for them to be in Eren recently.

"While this mysterious C-level is still unfound, and now there’s also the Master of the Velora, I wonder if this B-level’s goal could be the relic passage? If it is, do we need to seek cooperation with the World Tree?"

"Teeth will be cold if the lips are gone," the woman in the pencil skirt said, "Facing a B-level, the World Tree should cooperate with us, since they also don’t want the relic passage to fall into the hands of the Research Institute, or that Master of the Velora who operates entirely outside the rules. It’s just that we might have to concede some spots."

As she spoke, she suddenly thought of something, speaking with confusion, "There are still several days until the relics open. Why would the Master of the Velora expose himself so early? Isn’t it better to hide and then suddenly attack at the last minute?"

This question made the young man before her pause; he couldn’t think of the reason for the Master of the Velora’s actions either.

"He doesn’t care if we join forces. His actions this time were actually deliberate, allowing our people to see it. He is telling everyone that,"

Rhodes said slowly, "’He is here’."

In that instant, the atmosphere in the office grew silent; they seemed to sense a massive shadow looming over the entire city, a terror that spread its oppressive grasp.

"Let’s first arrange someone to investigate the Molt Shadow Club. Compared to that terrifying Master of the Velora, snakes hidden under our eyes should be regarded with more caution."

Rhodes spoke calmly.

"Yes."

The young man nodded in agreement.

——

"Your twenty-five lamb skewers."

The stall owner handed over a plastic bag with the roasted lamb skewers.

"Thank you."

He Ao took the lamb skewers, pulled out a banknote to pay, and glanced up at the night sky.

In his mind, a series of unfamiliar thoughts kept ringing; they were the surface thoughts of that C-level from Daybreak, filled with words like ’Hao Yi,’ ’Boss,’ and ’Club.’"

It appeared that this person had just reported recent events to the ’Boss’ through some means.

Other than that, there were no other contents in this person’s thoughts.

There was neither the next stage of the mission nor any response from the ’Boss.’

The ’Boss’ seemed to have just quietly listened to the report and then made no response whatsoever.

Cunning fox.

He Ao turned off Super Memory, severing the connection to the thoughts of the C-level individual, then took a skewer of lamb from the plastic bag and put it in his mouth.

The ’Boss’ couldn’t possibly have no reaction to the appearance of ’Hao Yi,’ after all, ’Hao Yi’ knew his deepest secrets.

The reason he didn’t reply to that C-level was probably out of fear that the C-level had been exposed and that ’Hao Yi’ had deliberately let him out to fish for him.

Of course, that was indeed the case.

The ’Boss’ was very cautious.

However, this was also within He Ao’s expectations, and he did not withdraw the mark placed on that C-level individual.

There weren’t many C-levels that the ’Boss’ could call upon, and even fewer confidants that could be sent to Rodan. Most of these people were likely to be closely related to the boss. The other party could not truly leave a C-level unused, not letting them investigate matters concerning ’Hao Yi.’ Instead, they would assign them other missions.

Amongst these tasks, there might be clues hidden about the ’Boss’s real identity and hiding place.

The water had already been muddied, now it was about following the trails left by the disturbed fish, in search of their whereabouts.

Not just the ’Boss,’ but also that mysterious Primitive Sect.

The dancing woman, although a C-level, showed too little power. Only by relying on the power of Divine Beings could she barely become that creature hovering at the edge of B-level. Such a life force couldn’t withstand the ’Oracle.’

But after He Ao had killed the creature that the woman had turned into, he hadn’t sensed any other presence nearby.

Moreover, if the Sect Leader of the Church really existed in the club, he probably wouldn’t have allowed He Ao to easily destroy the club.

That is to say, the mysterious Leader of the Primitive Church was still hidden somewhere at this moment.

Of course, He Ao also had some clues about this person’s identity.

He entered a convenience store late at night, bought a notebook and several pencils, then hailed a cab, sat in the back, and quickly sketched a portrait of the woman from memory.

The woman in the club was a C-level, and there were only so many C-levels in the main world.

He Ao took a photo of the portrait, sent it to Yang De, and asked him to help look for any related clues. He also gave a brief description of what happened that night.

It should be afternoon now in Central Earth, and Yang De quickly replied.

Yang De: [Rose, a person from the Republic of Moke in the Western Lands, a member of the World Tree. She entered a relic two years ago when she was still D-level.]

Yang De: [After the relic event ended, we lost track of her. She might have gained some opportunity in the relic to advance to C-level.]

Yang De: [Considering the information you provided, she might have been dispatched to Rodan to become a member of the intelligence organization.]

He Ao: [Could she be in charge of the World Tree’s operations in Rodan?]

Yang De: [From the intelligence we have obtained, it’s highly likely that the ’Puppeteer’ is in charge in Rodan. He is an old-school C-level of the World Tree with stronger abilities. Our intelligence personnel have checked his whereabouts again, suspecting he might have entered Rodan quite early.]

So the World Tree has been arranging two C-levels in Rodan all along.

He Ao’s thoughts raced quickly.

Based on the information left by the first victim, he had speculated that the headquarters of the World Tree in Rodan might be in the South City of Eren. When the ’Mysterious Shadow’ triggered the Advent, there was a high chance that the person in charge of the World Tree ’observed’ it.

He had calculated as if there was only one C-level in the World Tree, but now, if the World Tree had two C-levels, and if both had been in South City at that time, did they both directly ’observe’ the Divine Being itself?

Among these two individuals, one was the dancing woman, Rose, who became a ’Believer’ of the ’Mysterious Shadow.’"

And the other?

The stronger, sturdier soul ’Puppeteer’?

Would he be less tainted and impacted than Rose?

In the battle at the club just now, people from Moonlight showed up, people from Daybreak showed up, but no one from the World Tree, which had been operating in Eren City for many years, appeared.

He Ao recalled again the phrase left by the first victim, ’It has come.’

In all the ’cases,’ only the first victim died while being chased.

She seemed to be fleeing all the time.

Why doesn’t she call her organization for help?

Unless

She can no longer call for help from her own organization.

But if the entire World Tree under Eren’s control has been completely corrupted, why would she leave that transmission signal?

Who is she hinting at?

He Ao tried to put himself in the mindset of the first casualty.

The first casualty survived the observance of the Divine Being’s Advent, perhaps there were others who survived just like her.

They thought they had escaped death by a hair’s breadth, but in fact, the power of the Divine Being was still chasing them.

This "chase" might be materialized as the shadows in their dreams.

So, the first casualty was attempting to leave a mark to remind those who were still alive, telling them that they didn’t successfully escape.

Death was still pursuing them.

And since she was able to leave these signals, it proved she knew there were still living, normal people within the World Tree who could see her signals.

Under such circumstances, the intelligence from the Research Institute indicated that the World Tree headquarters in the Western Lands had not reacted to Rodan, proving that the World Tree headquarters most likely didn’t yet know the current situation in the Rodan branch.

Someone has been conveying a message to the World Tree headquarters all along.

All is well.

······

Only a few people survived, most either died or were corrupted.

The core of the World Tree in Rodan might be where the ’Mysterious Shadow’ first began to spread its power.

If this hypothesis is correct, then the current situation may be a bit worse than what He Ao had previously anticipated.

The Mysterious Shadow did not form a Primitive Church by random corruption, but instead directly converted an entire powerful Transcendent organization’s branch into its own ’believers’.

As thoughts flowed, He Ao sent another message to Yang De.

He Ao: "Minister Yang, do we have any intelligence concerning the location of the World Tree’s division in Rodan? Or information on the core members of the World Tree’s Rodan division?"

Yang De: "Our intelligence network in Rodan is too weak. Li Le may have some clues, you can ask him."

Right after, Yang De sent another message.

Yang De: "Hao Yi has appeared in Rodan, and those weird monsters have shown up. This incident will inevitably escalate. Moonlight and the World Tree might join forces, and it’s very likely that the World Tree’s C-level Transcendents will enter Rodan. Be very careful, and if it gets too dangerous, leave immediately. I will arrange for Li Le to help you escape."

The World Tree’s branch is most likely gone.

And in its place, those corrupted members of the Primitive Sect, who wouldn’t want another C-level Transcendent coming in and disturbing their ritual.

However, to eliminate Hao Yi, they might cooperate with Moonlight.

But would Moonlight feel safe collaborating with them if they knew what these people were up to?

And what about Daybreak? What would Daybreak do?

The ’Boss’ has most likely arrived in Eren and is hiding somewhere. What are his views on the Primitive Sect?

We cannot rule out the possibility of Moonlight, the Primitive Sect, and Daybreak joining forces.

But these three forces each have their own interests to pursue, and may not be able to find a suitable balance point.

If the Primitive Sect successfully summons the Evil God, it won’t care whether those below are allies or not; Moonlight’s people would likely be corrupted into monsters.

Although they don’t care about the survival of the people in Rodan, they might not be willing to give up the interests they’ve been cultivating there for so long.

Moreover, Moonlight, which controls Rodan, happens to be the weakest of the three powers; they don’t have C-level Transcendents to deploy,

There lies an opportunity to strategize.

As He Ao contemplated, he replied to Yang De with a, "Okay, thank you Minister Yang."

Yang De quickly responded.

Yang De: "Be very careful, and if you want to do anything, just go ahead and do it. The situation is complicated now. I’m going to get in touch with the director. Don’t worry, the Research Institute is always your backup."

He Ao paused for a moment, then replied, "Thank you."

He then exited the chat and sent a message to Li Le, asking if he had any intelligence on the World Tree.

By this time, the taxi had arrived at the destination.

He Ao got out of the cab and made his way back to the martial arts dojo through the alley.

It was past midnight now, and the dojo still had a dim light shining inside.

He Ao pushed open the door, just in time to see Elfia sitting in the courtyard with her eyes closed in meditation.

Seemingly hearing the sound of the door, Elfia opened her eyes and rapidly stood up, "Master He Ao, have you returned?"

"Hmm," He Ao reached out to close the door, lifted the skewer of lamb in his hand, and smiled, "How about some late-night snacks?"

"Sure."

Elfia didn’t hesitate; she returned to the inner room, grabbed two cans of Coke, and handed one to He Ao, "I don’t drink alcohol, so this is all I have."

"This is perfect."

He Ao smiled, taking the can of Coke.

The two sat in the yard, under the moonlight and starlight, and finished eating the skewers.

After they were full, Elfia yawned, wished He Ao goodnight, and went back to her room to sleep.

He Ao then returned to his room, finished the dictionary he hadn’t completed the day before, and lay down on the bed, falling into a deep sleep.

——

Soundless silence enveloped the world.

He Ao opened his eyes on the bed and sat up.

Through the window in his room, he glanced at the outside sky.

The gray overcast sky covered everything.

He slowly stood up, casually dressed, pushed open the door, and walked into the yard.

This time, the stillness of no one around persisted.

The bench in the yard stood desolate, and the trees, covered in a layer of gray, were as silent as stone statues.

He Ao looked up towards the entrance of the yard.

The tightly closed yard door was slowly being pushed open, the old gate swinging silently.

And outside the yard door, a human-shaped black shadow quietly appeared there.

It was in the midst of pushing the door open, raising its head, as though it was looking at the courtyard ahead, or perhaps at He Ao.

Its leg lifted slightly, still in a forward motion, with half of its calf already stepping through the gate.

It was coming closer.

——

Dinglingling——

The crisp sound of a cellphone ringing woke He Ao from his dream.

He stretched his hand out from under the blanket, fished out his phone, and half-squinted to answer the call.

"We received a lot of reports today, saying they’ve had dreams about a strange eerie shadow."

The voice of the gendarmerie captain came from the other end of the phone, "I had that dream, too."

"Oh," He Ao vaguely sat up from the bed, rubbed his face, "Is it a human-shaped shadow that keeps getting closer?"

"We haven’t gotten a clear description, I can’t remember my own dream clearly either. You had that dream too? What would happen if that shadow got close?"

The gendarmerie captain quickly asked.

"Nothing serious."

He Ao yawned.

Then he continued, with a relieved sigh on the other end of the phone, "You would just die."

The gendarmerie captain: ...

"Is there any solution?"

"Yes, leave South City for a while."

"That would stop those deadly dreams?"

"No, it might just make you die slower."

"..."

The gendarmerie captain paused, "So we’re definitely going to die?"

He Ao walked to the bathroom, looked at the young man in the mirror, took out a toothbrush, and started to prepare to rinse his mouth.

Meanwhile, he replied to the gendarmerie captain.

"We won’t die."

His voice was calm, yet it had a power that made one believe from the heart.

A message pop-up appeared on the phone laid on the washstand; it was an intelligence file sent by Li Le.