Life Game In Other World
Chapter 549: Fear under the Nightfall/Promotion (Super long - for monthly votes)

Chapter 549: Chapter 549: Fear under the Nightfall/Promotion (Super long Chapter for monthly votes)

"You’ve sustained such severe injuries, the one who should be afraid isn’t me."

The officer held a curved saber, his gaze fixed on He Ao’s face, obscured by disheveled locks of hair.

The surrounding mercenaries also watched the two men in the midst of battle, their guns aimed at He Ao, yet they did not fire again.

At such a close distance, their reaction speed was not as fast as He Ao’s, and no one knew if they would end up like the recently killed "lucky one," lifeless on the ground after firing.

The officer glanced at the mercenaries beside him, aware of their hesitation, but he didn’t order them to shoot. Instead, he gripped the curved saber in his hand, his body suddenly spinning, and he charged forward to slash at He Ao.

The curved saber traced a trajectory in the air like a round moon, cleaving toward He Ao’s face with terrifying force.

It was a simple method of wielding a blade, accumulating power through spinning to increase the inertia of the saber, thereby enhancing the power of the chop.

The officer’s move harnessed the full force of his body, and it was extremely swift.

He Ao, with injuries on his back hindering his movement, was too late to dodge. He could only raise his dagger, slightly bend his legs, and channel all his strength, aligning his wrist, waist, and legs to confront the slash.

Bang—

Accompanied by a crisp, piercing sound, He Ao’s body compressed downward, his feet sinking into the floor beneath him.

However, he didn’t fully absorb the attack. Instead, he tilted his dagger blade and concentrated his force in his arms, suddenly vibrating them to guide the curved saber along the tilt of the dagger toward one side, changing the direction of the officer’s applied force.

At the same time, He Ao’s body leapt away in the opposite direction to where the saber’s chop direction had been altered.

The officer immediately pulled back his saber, following closely behind.

In the process of leaping away, He Ao passed a small, upright street lamp. His sharp dagger instantly severed the source of its illumination.

With a soft bang, the surrounding light dimmed noticeably.

The street lamp was snuffed out.

The officer, who was closely pursuing He Ao, hadn’t anticipated an attack on the street lamp. The suddenly dimmed light momentarily affected his vision.

And in that brief moment of impairment, He Ao, standing in front, rapidly turned and thrust his sharp dagger toward the officer’s heart.

The officer abruptly shifted his body and retreated, yet he was still grazed by He Ao’s dagger across the chest. He Ao then rolled forward, separating himself from the officer just before the curved saber could strike him again.

Blood spilled onto the dimly lit ground from their bodies, though it was uncertain whether it belonged to He Ao or the officer.

The officer watched He Ao’s retreating figure, but this time he did not immediately give chase as he had before.

While the attack did not hit any critical points, He Ao’s sudden turn and life-risking strike had startled him. Although he had managed to block it, he was uncertain if he could continue to do so; He Ao had indeed threatened his life.

His brief hesitation allowed He Ao to widen the gap once more and destroy another makeshift street lamp.

The recent engagement also alerted He Ao to the officer’s wariness; he knew that if he wasn’t close enough to the officer, he couldn’t deliver a fatal blow.

The brightness around them grew increasingly dim.

By this moment, He Ao’s form had drawn closer to the surrounding mercenaries. Those holding guns watched He Ao approach, involuntarily retreating half a step in the dim light.

The courage that had come with the bright light seemed to be swallowed by the returning darkness.

The officer took all this in and looked behind the mercenaries, shouting loudly, "Act now!"

Strong figures suddenly leaped out from the crowd. These were mercenaries injected with gene potions; most had just come in from outside and had not experienced the recent slaughter in the darkness. They harbored less fear toward He Ao.

They eyed He Ao’s shadow beneath the faint light, hesitating slightly, but they were obviously more ferocious than the mercenaries gathered around, like hungry wolves eying their fierce prey.

Their hesitation was not because the prey was formidable but because they were not hungry enough.

"Ten million as a reward to whoever kills the target! A bonus also for taking a limb!" the officer declared without hesitation.

It was like a hunter tossing bait at his trained hounds.

The mercenaries no longer hesitated, pouncing fiercely at He Ao, and even those who had been somewhat fearful raised their gauss rifles.

In an instant, towering figures obscured the space around He Ao.

The abrupt gunfire became a thunderous music under the silent night sky.

These gene potion-injected mercenaries had Talent Sequences like ’Thug’ and ’Assassin,’ and some seemed to be ’Martial Artists’ and ’Champions.’

Without exception, all these Talent Sequences were more combat-oriented, indicating that the Mysterious Person’s research was focused on how to create more efficient killing machines.

He Ao weaved through these gene potion-using mercenaries.

Even though these mercenaries were only C-level, and the powers gained from the gene potions were not as authentic as the original Talent Sequences, a pack of hungry wolves could still overpower a fierce lion.

Especially a lion that was grievously wounded.

The cost-free usage time of Super Memory had passed, and the twisted, insane thoughts inherited from Jess echoed in He Ao’s mind.

On the periphery, mercenaries kept firing sniper shots.

Under such a siege, the number of wounds on He Ao’s body continued to increase.

The Gene Potion, invented by Jess, had become the weapon used to kill him.

He Ao cut through throat after throat with a sharp dagger, no longer knowing how many times he had repeated the motion, his body seemingly numb.

The blood, coagulating incessantly, dyed his torn suit a dim crimson.

Several times he broke through the encirclement, reaching the mercenaries at the back who fired sniper shots, severing their bodies.

More and more corpses lay on the ground, some decaying into skeletons, while others stained the earth red with blood.

One by one, the simple street lamps were shattered in the battle, and the steps of darkness returned bit by bit to this desolate building.

He Ao sent a mercenary who had used a ’Thug’ Gene Potion flying out of the crude window, and under the bright moonlight, accompanied by dazzling flashes of light, the mercenary’s body was penetrated by an automatic laser sniper cannon from outside.

Unbeknownst to when, the targeting parameters of the outside laser cannons had been set to attack anyone attempting to jump out of the building.

In the silent darkness below, the facial recognition system had lost its effect, and these terrifying weapons could only perceive life through thermal imaging devices and attack indiscriminately.

The officer standing not far away watched everything with an indifferent gaze, beside him the last street lamp still standing, its light bringing a faint glow to this area.

He did not participate in the attack on He Ao, merely watching everything quietly.

As the last Assassin who approached He Ao was pierced by He Ao from the void, the corpse thrown to the ground like a piece of torn cloth, finally, no one dared to take a step forward, and no one dared to shoot at the blood-soaked figure again.

Ten million is a lot, but only the money in hand is real.

He Ao looked at the scene in front of him, showing a smile.

His bloodied cheek revealed pearly white teeth.

The mercenaries surrounding him instinctively took a step back.

Then, He Ao slowly lifted his foot and stepped towards the last lit area.

The crowd gradually retreated, making way for him.

Halfway, he stopped, extended his hand, and picked something up from the ground.

But in the moment he bent down, a sharp hook knife pierced through his body.

"It’s over."

The officer watched the blood-covered body, watched as the sharp knife’s point pierced through the back, and blood sprayed out.

His expression was calm, with only a slight sense of relaxation from the departure of fear from his face.

"Why haven’t you made your move yet?"

He Ao picked up two spherical objects from the ground, straightened up, and handed the objects to the officer in front of him.

Instinctively, the officer reached out to catch the two spheres, "Thank—..."

He began to speak, then felt something was amiss. He looked down at the objects in his hands, which were two grenades with the safeties removed.

At this moment, he was holding the grenades’ pins, and he had to keep a tight grip on them to prevent them from detonating.

Of course, he could also throw them immediately, and without hesitation, he raised his hand.

But before he could toss the grenade, he felt his thoughts freeze.

Mental Disturbance!

Then, He Ao, impaled by the hooked knife, took a step forward, the knife piercing deeper into his body, but now he was close enough to the officer.

He raised the dagger in his hand and swung it down fiercely. In the moment the officer was stunned, the blade suddenly pierced the officer’s heart.

"Were you waiting, or were you... afraid?"

He Ao released the dagger, stepping back, slowly pulling his body from the knife.

The officer opened his mouth but spoke no words, as He Ao’s dagger had pierced his energy hub, and his life was rapidly ebbing away.

Now he finally understood that He Ao had been waiting for him to make a move, waiting for him to get close, and then at the closest moment, to kill him.

This madman!!!

His gaze stayed on He Ao, watching as He Ao reached into his bosom and pulled out a Mithril Test Tube filled with yellow liquid.

The seed of fear had been planted in the officer’s heart the moment He Ao killed the short mercenary, taking root and sprouting, which was why he had hesitated and retreated.

And now, at this moment, fear finally filled his eyes completely.

He Ao’s body slowly shifted a few steps, his back against the last streetlight pole, he reached out, pinching towards the last gleam of light.

BANG——

Accompanied by a slight sound, the whole world plunged into darkness once again.

POP——

That was the sound of a test tube cork being pulled out, followed by the sound of liquid being swallowed.

All the mercenaries remained still, with no one even turning on the headlamps on their foreheads, as a terrifying silence enveloped the darkness.

Fear spread through the darkness, cloaking every person’s body.

[Talent Sequence 111: Terrorist]

[Advancement Ritual: In the depths of darkness, bring fear to those walking in the night, ignorant of what lurks.]

The officer’s body lay back, rotting in this silent darkness, and the two grenades he held lost their restraint and exploded with a bang.

BOOM——

The fierce flames became the only light besides the moonlight, lighting up the silent darkness and illuminating He Ao’s blood-stained cheeks.

Just as he had anticipated, the more and the stronger the people who felt fear during the ritual, the better were the effects of the ritual.

Those who generated fear were not questioned about life or death, but the spread of fear must not be interrupted.

Until everyone around was dominated by fear, the ritual was complete.

A shadow in the darkness was blown away, accompanied by a sharp whistling as it flew.

He Ao reached out, took a step forward, and firmly caught the shadow.

It was the dagger he had just plunged into the officer’s body, which had been blasted out by the explosion.

He lowered his head, taking a glance at the dagger still coated with fresh blood.

The silent night was becoming clear in his eyes, as if he was gaining the ability to see in the darkness.

The blade of the dagger had several notches from the recent collision, and most of the edge had become rolled, it could still kill a D-level Transcendent, but it was no longer capable of inflicting a fatal injury on a C-level.

He Ao put away the dagger, turned around, and walked step by step towards the staircase.

The surrounding mercenaries watched his figure through the hazy moonlight, making way for him.

The blood that had covered the ground had long flowed down the unobstructed stair entrance, staining each and every step.

He Ao stepped down these blood-soaked stairs, his silent footsteps echoing in the empty darkness.

The surrounding mercenaries hesitated for a moment, then slowly followed He Ao’s footsteps downward.

They only wanted to maintain this distance; they dared not get too close to He Ao, nor too far away.

Soon, they reached the first floor.

Outside the wide, unobstructed entrance, several heavy laser sniper cannons were mounted on off-road vehicles, standing there solemnly.

The cold muzzles of these cannons automatically turned, aiming at He Ao who was approaching the door.

These laser sniper cannons had been set to lock on automatically and attack anyone leaving the building.

The surrounding mercenaries maintained their silence; clearly, they did not control these laser cannons.

He Ao stared at these laser sniper cannons and stretched out his hand, his hoarse voice emerging, "Gun."

All the surviving mercenaries shuddered, and after a moment’s pause, one of the mercenaries tremblingly handed over his Gauss Rifle to He Ao.

He Ao raised the gun, his gaze piercing through the silent night, aiming at the nearest laser sniper cannon.

This Mercenary Corps used common equipment on the market, the laser sniper cannon was produced by the Yiwis Space System Company, model XD-5, a lightweight sniper cannon made cost-effectively, and it was plentiful on the market.

When Vian researched the Adam Exoskeleton Armor, they had also acquired some for study.

This model of sniper cannon had a design flaw; to save cost, and reduce size, its energy cells and control board were placed too close to each other, and the energy circuit design was not safe.

Which meant that hitting the right spot could short circuit the energy of the sniper cannon, causing it to explode and directly destroy all core devices.

He Ao watched the laser sniper cannons outside quietly, and pulled the trigger.

Accompanied by a crisp sound, the bullet left the Gauss Rifle, penetrated the armor of the off-road vehicle, penetrated the armor of the sniper cannon, and entered the sniper cannon’s energy cell accurately.

BOOM——

The fierce flames suddenly exploded, lighting up the night under the moonlight.

Gauss Guns required a few seconds of charging time after each use.

He Ao promptly discarded the Gauss Gun in his hand and reached out again; in the next second, a Mercenary swiftly handed him a new Gauss Gun.

At that moment, He Ao didn’t seem like the target being hunted by these Mercenaries; rather, he more resembled a commander issuing orders to them.

He Ao raised the gun, aimed at another laser sniper cannon, and without hesitation, fired again.

Then, without any hesitation, he discarded the Gauss Gun in his hand.

As a violent explosion rang out, a new Gauss Gun was handed to He Ao without any delay.

And with each gunshot, the laser sniper cannons capable of launching attacks at the main gate exploded one by one.

Amidst the astonished and fearful looks from the Mercenaries, He Ao dropped the last Gauss Rifle, walked through the burning flames of the sniper cannons, and slowly made his way back onto the street.

The enormous power from the Secret Medicine surged wildly within his body, transforming it.

Sizzle—

Accompanied by a harsh screeching of brakes, a black luxury sedan going at high speed came to a halt in front of He Ao, leaving a trail of dark tire marks that stretched for over ten meters.

With a soft click, the window of the black sedan slowly rolled down, revealing Heish’s face with her wine-red short hair. Then, the front passenger door automatically opened.

"Get in!"

Heish glanced at He Ao, who was covered in blood, and said quickly.

Without any hesitation, He Ao got into the sedan.

The black sedan closed its doors and sped off, passing the charred remains of a black off-road vehicle now reduced to a frame.

Heish glanced out the window, then looked at He Ao, "Are you crazy? If I was any later, would I have had to take you straight to the crematorium? I don’t have the money to buy you a grave."

"I’ve already bought a grave, at Inwit Cemetery."

He Ao leaned against the passenger seat, managing a strained smile.

"Because the view is nice there?"

Heish floored the gas pedal, and the black sedan raced through the night-shrouded streets.

But she received no response.

She glanced over with the corner of her eye and noticed that He Ao was absentmindedly clutching a blood-stained pendant on his chest.

Jess had bought that grave plot long ago, right next to his wife’s and close to his parents’ graves.

"Don’t die in my car, it’s brand new. I only have a few cars, and one already blew up today."

Heish’s eyes returned to the road as she muttered softly.

"Don’t worry," He Ao watched the road ahead, "my end isn’t here."

He paused for a moment. "Did they catch that person?"

"They did, locked up in my base now,"

Heish focused on the road, taking a sharp turn, "But you have to be alive to see him."

"Then it depends on whether the private doctor you know is reliable."

He Ao leaned back in his seat, stabilizing himself, and chuckled.

"That guy’s pretty skilled, but he’s very expensive. Be prepared for a major expense."

Heish replied calmly.

"If I die, does that mean I don’t have to pay for medical expenses?"

He Ao said with a light laugh.

"If you still have the energy to joke, you can’t die that easily."

Heish took a sharp turn into a run-down alley, "But if you really die, I won’t compensate your medical expenses."

This time, she did not receive a response from He Ao.

Her hands stiffened on the wheel for a moment. She turned her head, looking beside her, and noticed He Ao had closed his eyes.

Her eyes dropped to the hand that He Ao clutched the pendant with, and to the slight rise and fall of his chest.

It was then that she finally breathed a sigh of relief, controlled the car system to buckle He Ao’s seatbelt, then turned her head back and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

The black sedan sped along the dilapidated road.