Life Game In Other World
Chapter 573: To the Friend Over There (Happy New Year/Large - for Monthly Pass)

Chapter 573: Chapter 573: To the Friend Over There (Happy New Year/Large Chapter for Monthly Pass)

Vincent Street No. 15.

This was an abandoned industrial building.

He Ao got off the taxi, bid farewell to the driver, and stared at the building.

Most of the doors and windows of the building were broken, and only a few of the surrounding buildings still had lights on. Even the streetlights by the road were shattered.

He had just searched, and this area had been designated for inclusion in Vitland’s new industrial district planning for demolition; most of the businesses and residents around had already moved away.

He Ao didn’t directly enter the abandoned industrial building but raised his wristband to take a look.

The signal bar on the wristband displayed an ’×’.

There was no signal here.

Theoretically, within the Fortress City, there was no place without a signal.

In the Federation, which highly relied on intelligence and automation, the communications consortium had almost covered every spot with signal transmitters. In places without a signal, unmanned buses and taxis couldn’t operate, and various intelligent robots would strike.

Even in some chaotic slums, like the Zarote Area where Scavengers lived, with less use of automated machinery and smart devices, the communications consortium still maintained the weakest signal coverage there.

Of course, it wasn’t because the communications consortium had a sudden burst of charity and wanted to make a loss.

Even though there were just a few, the Zarote Area still had exchanges with the outside world, including communication with cleaning companies and the use of some automated machinery.

And in order to recover costs, the communications service fee in the Zarote Area was much higher than in other areas.

With fewer users, the consortium relied on increasing the average revenue per user to make a profit.

So, people in the Zarote Area used the worst network and paid the highest communications service fee in the whole of Vitland.

Of course, this was naturally a result the Consortium Alliance could boast of. They could confidently claim to have laid out the communications network to every corner of the Fortress City, allowing users to use their services with ease.

He Ao put down his wristband and looked at the abandoned building in front of him.

This location was not remote. Even in a demolition area, the range was not large. Even if all nearby signal bases were dismantled, the weaker signal from other nearby bases would still spread over.

Therefore, the only reason for the absence of signal could be that someone nearby was using a signal jamming device.

He Ao took out the bone axe and wooden box wrapped in cloth.

Then he took out the ultra-strong rope he’d bought near Vitland University after leaving home, tied it into two loops, and secured the bone axe and wooden box separately on his back.

This rope was made of some kind of strong fiber with high toughness and could easily support a bone axe weighing several hundred pounds without any problem.

He Ao tested it, and both the bone axe and wooden box could easily be removed from the rope loops. Only then did he fully secure the rope around his body.

After freeing his hands, he looked around the abandoned industrial building once again.

It was past midnight, and everything was pitch-black around him, especially compared to the brightly lit commercial district not far away, which made this area seem even darker.

But this didn’t affect He Ao’s vision; he activated Super Memory, and his gaze swiftly scanned the surroundings.

Soon, he found some clues in the details.

At the entrance of the building, on the broken windows and the concrete walls, there were many smooth cuts as if sliced by an extremely thin blade.

This was the damage caused by Heish’s thread-like weapon.

It proved that Heish had just been here, fighting someone.

Inside the building on the first floor, a few drops of blood dripped on the ground, not long ago. This battle had happened not long before.

The time He Ao spent taking an expedited taxi here was roughly thirteen minutes, plus the two minutes of waiting. From the moment Heish sent the location to when He Ao arrived, it took a total of fifteen minutes.

The blood on the ground had not yet dried, the battle must have taken place just about fifteen minutes ago.

That is to say, Heish encountered some kind of fierce battle just before or after sending He Ao the address. It was uncertain whether the blood on the ground was hers or from the person who attacked her.

He Ao shut down his Super Memory and stepped into the building.

The night around him was eerily silent.

This deserted industrial building was already close to the North Vitland District. Plus, He Ao had already been walking from North Vitland toward the Plante District, so it did not take him long to get there after receiving Heish’s address.

But fifteen minutes, for a powerful Transcendent, is long enough to end some battles.

The more he entered the building, the more details presented themselves before He Ao’s eyes.

At the entrance of the building, there were many footprints. It seemed quite a few people had run into this building, but the total number should not be more than ten.

Moreover, these footprints were chaotic, indicating that they did not have the strict discipline of the professional mercenaries He Ao had encountered before. Even if there was some level of professionalism, it was not high.

He Ao looked down, gazing at these footprints.

Most of the footprints were from wide leather shoe soles, apparently belonging to some tall, hefty men.

And among these wide footprints, there was a light, steady one with slender small footprints.

These should be Heish’s footprints, her feet were not big, about 230 millimeters in length, so they were easily distinguishable.

Compared to the other chaotic footprints, hers were clearly methodical, indicating that at least when she arrived at this mall, her emotions were still relatively stable.

Judging from the mixed closeness of these footprints, Heish and the owners of the chaotic footprints were together, they were a team.

These footprints continued deep into the lobby on the first floor of the building, as if they were hiding from something.

He Ao turned to look behind him.

There was nothing on the ground behind him, as clean as if nothing had ever walked over it.

He pondered for a moment and then activated Super Memory.

Under the perspective of Super Memory, some small areas on the ground behind him looked slightly different from the rest became visible.

Those were the footprints of a person, so light that they seemed to leave no trace at all.

These footprints were not continuous; some were already covered by the dust blown by the night wind. Even with the help of Super Memory, He Ao could only barely make out that there might have been a footprint in a certain area.

This person’s movements were as light as the wind.

Unlike the panic of Heish and her companions, this person’s strides were regular, showing that he was not in a hurry and was leisurely pursuing Heish and the others.

This was a combatant Transcendent, at least C-level.

He Ao withdrew his gaze and continued forward.

Signal jammers had been installed around this building, clearly to prevent Heish from contacting the outside world. It seemed that the opponent had intentionally ’herded’ Heish and others near here.

The footprints along the way became more and more chaotic.

Then, just past a makeshift partition wall that was only half-intact, He Ao discovered the first body.

It was a man dressed in a black suit, tall and burly like a bodyguard, with a tiny wound piercing his heart, a fatal blow.

Judging by his footprints, which were not with the main troops, he must have been completely panicked, trying to flee the other way, but ended up getting killed first because he was alone.

The assailant was ruthless, leaving no chance for survival, not even allowing the blood to splash outside the area hidden by the half-wall.

A few steps past this body was where He Ao had just seen the dripping blood outside.

The bloodstains emitted a faint white glow, surrounded by the footsteps of Heish and the pursuer who was after them.

It appeared that a struggle had taken place here. Heish’s metal wires could attack from a distance, but seeing how close their footprints were, it seemed the pursuer had managed to get in close.

The weapon that pursuer seemed to be wielding must have been some kind of thin sword for close combat.

In close quarters, Heish’s advantage of long-range metal wires couldn’t be utilized, and the limited space would instead restrict her attack movements.

He Ao examined these footprints and the traces left by the metal wires, reconstructing the battle scene in his mind.

Heish had initially planned to use her metal wires to hinder the pursuer’s approach from afar, controlling them for a distance attack, but the pursuer easily dodged all her attacks.

No traces resembling those of a thin sword were found around, proving that the attacker had easily countered Heish’s offense, closing the gap between them.

He Ao stood where their final footprints were, imagining their most recent movements.

In the brief clash of blades that followed, the pursuer, having closed the distance, aimed a stab at Heish’s left heart, which she narrowly dodged. Ultimately, the sword’s edge grazed Heish’s upper left arm, and fresh blood splattered out, falling to the ground.

He Ao looked at the bloodstains on the floor; their shape and direction were all as he had anticipated.

He completed this mental simulation in a very short time, almost instantaneously concluding his reconstruction of the entire fight, having paused for only a few seconds before the bloodstains.

Then he lifted his head, gazing at the footprints ahead of him. The chaotic tracks gathered together, distancing themselves from Heish’s and heading deeper into the building.

It seemed that Heish had decided to cover for these people, intentionally staying behind to buy them time.

He Ao followed the footprints, which led deeper into the building. Here, he found more bloodstains and signs of Heish’s struggle with the pursuer.

Heish’s situation didn’t look good. She had not managed to shake off the pursuer easily, retreating while fighting, and her injuries were accumulating.

The pursuer didn’t seem to intend to kill her but was constantly wearing down her strength.

Eventually, the shaky footsteps came to a sudden halt at the abandoned fire escape stairs.

He Ao walked to the entrance of the stairs, crouched down slightly, and picked up a black object from the floor, which had been crushed.

It was a bracelet, a crushed bracelet.

The inside of the bracelet was completely damaged, unable to be activated.

From its shape, this was Heish’s bracelet.

The walls around were filled with a large number of scratches, and the rusty iron handrails were cut through, with shattered steel fragments scattered across the stairs. Just looking at the ruinous scene was enough to imagine the intensity of the battle that had ensued here.

Between the gaps in the stairwell, among the rusty steel, the walls carved open by a thin sword were splattered with blood shining with a white radiance.

In this battle, Heish had sustained serious injuries and paid a heavy price, but ultimately, she had managed to escape from the pursuer and fled to safety.

He Ao continued up the stairs to the second floor of the building.

The disordered footprints of those Heish had covered for were running around in panic, aimless in their escape.

On the second floor corridor, He Ao once again saw a body, that of a black-suited bodyguard.

He knelt on the floor, his body leaning back against the wall.

His face displayed panic, fear, and a pleading expression.

A small wound pierced through his skull.

It seemed he had attempted to surrender, but the pursuer, toying with them, was unwilling to accept his capitulation.

He Ao moved forward, encountering several more bodies.

These were mostly ones who had attempted to surrender, but each had been fatally stabbed by the pursuer.

By this point, He Ao had realized that the powerful antagonist was not in a hurry to kill Heish. Rather, like a cat that had caught a mouse but wasn’t immediately devouring it, they were toying with Heish and those around her.

Bit by bit, bringing them fear and despair.

However, if the opponent really had this mindset, it was highly likely that Heish was still alive.

She must be hiding somewhere right now.

He Ao briefly activated Super Memory, his gaze sweeping over all the surrounding spaces.

——

Enormous cockroaches scuttled across the old, pitch-black cutting board.

A middle-aged man, dressed in a black suit and with neatly styled hair, was curled up inside a low and gloomy cupboard.

Pristine moonlight spilled through the already shattered window onto the dirty floor of this old kitchen.

A silhouette blocked the moonlight, casting a long shadow on the floor.

The shadow inched forward, moving past the cupboard doors behind which the two of them were hiding.

The man held his breath, peering through the gap in the cupboard door to see the dim shadow that blocked the moonlight, his body slightly trembling.

In front of him was a woman with auburn short hair wearing denim sportswear and a small jacket.

Her clothes were mostly tattered, her pale skin and fierce wounds exposed to the silent night.

The man could not see the woman’s condition clearly, but he knew her injuries were serious. Shaking, he watched her, completely unsure of what to do now.

The woman simply placed her index finger on her lips, signaling him to be quiet.

The shadow at the door slowly moved forward and finally completely left the front of the cupboard door.

The pristine moonlight once again covered the clean floor.

The man, peering through the gap, observed the bright glow, still slightly tense, holding his breath as if afraid the shadow might double back.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

The bright moonlight remained still, as if the shadow had finally gone away.

At that moment, the man finally took a long breath of relief.

And just then, a dim shadow descended from above, covering the upper half of the cupboard door.

The man was startled and looked towards the dim shadow.

It was an upside-down head, leaning against the cupboard door, eyes bloodshot, peering through the gap in the cupboard door at the man.

He had found the man was also looking at him.

He cracked a smile, revealing a row of teeth that gleamed white under the moonlight.

A bone-chilling coldness crawled up the man’s spine, a deep abyss-like fear enveloping his entire body.

Thud... Thud...

At that instant, a delayed, sluggish knocking sound slowly began.

Then, a refined and gentle voice followed,

"To the friend leaning over the cabinet and peering down, please don’t stick your butt up too high. It’s quite unseemly."