Life Game In Other World
Chapter 657: The Swordsmith (Super Long - , Monthly Ticket Request)

Chapter 657: Chapter 657: The Swordsmith (Super Long Chapter, Monthly Ticket Request)

He Ao placed the briefcase in the arms of Jia Xi beside him, and his figure suddenly vanished, only to appear in the blink of an eye in front of the monster tossed into the corner of the alley.

At that moment the monster had just fallen to the ground, dizzily sprawling there without having gotten up, when He Ao stood in front of its head, fiercely lifted his right leg, tip of the foot surpassing the shoulder, legs forming a ’1’ shape vertically, then suddenly chop down.

BOOM—

Along with a loud bang, the monster’s triangular head was hammered back onto the ground, shattering the already pitted cement surface again and scattering shards of cement.

The originally dazed monster fell back into some sort of stupor.

He Ao stepped on the monster’s skull, raised the cane in his hand, and glanced at the monster’s body.

This monster’s body was covered with fine and hard scales, and its energy gathering point was under the thick scales, located at the very depths of its body.

The cane in He Ao’s hand was a blunt instrument; though it had a pointed end at the bottom, it wasn’t sharp enough, and Divine Sense could only enhance the cane’s original texture and strength, but not its sharpness.

In such a situation, one could either use brute force to attack the same spot multiple times, directly puncturing the monster’s body with the cane to shatter its energy gathering point, or attack at high frequency to cause internal damage to the monster through the transmission of force.

But no matter which method, the consumption of strength would be great, and the time taken would be prolonged.

Even though Cito’s body could now withstand Super Memory with the advancement of Martial Arts, if Super Memory were used for too long, it would still have a substantial impact on He Ao’s condition.

And just as He Ao took that brief moment to ponder his tactics, YiXiya at the mouth of the alley seemed to have also spotted He Ao’s difficulty. Her hand, which was already close to her waist, suddenly seized the object at her back and threw it, "Old man, catch the knife!"

The neatly folded Butterfly Knife cut through the air, making a sharp noise as it cleaved through it.

He Ao didn’t turn back; he just reached out his hand,

BANG—

He caught the Butterfly Knife flying through the air with perfect timing.

At the same time, he withdrew his foot that was stepping on the monster’s head.

And at that moment, the monster also recovered from its dazed state and slowly raised its head.

He Ao, holding the cane, gave a thumbs-up to YiXiya behind him.

Then he leapt into the air, the elegant Butterfly Knife unfolding in his hand, revealing a blade sharp as a night’s fangs.

ROAR—

The monster let out a fierce roar, attempting to impale He Ao’s airborne body with the spike atop its head. However, at that moment, it was too late for He Ao, who had already jumped onto its back and, going with the motion, plunged the unfolded Butterfly Knife down.

The sharp blade instantly pierced through the monster’s scales and into its flesh.

Nice knife!

This time He Ao didn’t even cover the blade with his Divine Sense.

Yet, the knife easily pierced the mighty armor of the C-level monster.

In fact, when He Ao used this knife to kill Vite last night, he had already felt it was a fine blade, but he hadn’t expected it to be this sharp.

With the intense pain from the stab wound, the monster violently shook its body, trying to throw He Ao off its back.

He Ao followed the rhythm of the monster’s shaking, blade downwards, and with momentum, sliced through more scales, making a larger wound. Purple blood flowed from the monster’s body.

At the same time, He Ao’s other hand holding the cane, now covered with Divine Sense, plunged fiercely into the wound that had been sliced open.

The polished cane, as if piercing tofu, forcefully stabbed into the monster’s flesh, puncturing its deepest energy core.

In that instant, the monster’s body, previously shaking violently, stiffened, its head raised high dropped down, crashing onto the ground.

He Ao slowly pulled out the cane, its handle having penetrated into the monster’s body. He didn’t deactivate his Super Memory at that moment but continued to monitor the body of the monster.

A giant, twisted shadow, as though numerous souls were stitched together, loomed over the monster’s body—apparently, this was the monster’s ’Soul’.

Under He Ao’s watchful eye, the soul did not dissipate slowly as a normal death would warrant, but instead suddenly contracted, as if gripped by an invisible hand, and then pulled upwards, disappearing into the void.

In the depths of this void, something "took" the monster’s soul away.

At this moment, however, He Ao had no time to ponder this phenomenon, for as he watched the monster’s soul, he also fiercely hurled the butterfly knife he had drawn from his hand.

As the ethereal soul was "taken away," a black drone suddenly burst out from another alleyway.

It was equipped with a small laser cannon which had already gathered a glow, and the automated targeting turret aimed its muzzle at YiXiya, who was standing by the roadside.

YiXiya quickly spotted the drone, and seeing the light gathering at the muzzle, she subconsciously pushed Jia Xi away from her side.

Her beautiful eyes widened gradually, pupils constricting.

Her Talent was not in defense, and if the laser cannon’s strike had hit a vital spot, she would not have lived long, even if she did not die on the spot.

Boom—

The anticipated jet of laser did not materialize; instead, the knife’s light, carrying the sound of a sonic boom, pierced through the flickering muzzle and the drone’s energy core, and in the dimly lit sky, it sparked a shining burst of flames.

As the explosion occurred, He Ao had already moved in front of Jia Xi, who was pushed by YiXiya, caught Jia Xi with his hand, and lifted his walking stick to hit a piece of the drone, sent flying by the blast, away like a baseball, which crashed against a nearby wall with a bang.

He Ao glanced at Jia Xi in his arms, who obviously had been quite frightened by the recent spectacle, her eyes wide and expressionless, seemingly still in shock,

"Take a deep breath."

He Ao spoke in a low, gentle tone.

It wasn’t until He Ao’s voice reached her ears that Jia Xi snapped back to reality, taking a deep breath, sniffling slightly, clutching her suitcase, and looking up at He Ao with a voice choked with sobs,

"Grandpa, I’m all right, I’m not scared."

Then she lowered her head to glance at the drone debris on the ground and took another deep breath.

"Glad you’re okay."

He Ao reached out and gently patted his granddaughter’s head, then led Jia Xi toward the still-shaken YiXiya.

At that moment, the butterfly knife was stuck in a roadside lamp post, with the entire blade buried in it, leaving only a small section of the handle exposed.

This was the result of He Ao controlling his strength, and the drone absorbing part of the force.

If He Ao had thrown the knife with a bit more force, the butterfly knife would have pierced the entire lamp post, flying across the street and shattering the glass of the shop opposite.

He Ao let go of Jia Xi’s hand, took a light step, and jumped into the air, grabbing the small exposed section of the knife handle.

Then with his other hand, he used the crook of his walking stick on the lamp post for leverage, and following that, the hand holding the knife handle slowly exerted force, pulling the butterfly knife out of the lamp post.

His body then descended, landing on the ground.

At the same time, his gaze swept the surroundings.

Despite the loud noise just now, there were barely any people around at this time, only a few shopkeepers who had been minding their own stores were drawn over by the explosion and cast curious glances.

He Ao flipped his palm, folded the butterfly knife back, and handed it to YiXiya, "Your knife."

It was at this time that YiXiya finally snapped out of her daze. She looked up at He Ao, "Please wait a moment."

Then she immediately turned around, faced the oncoming crowd, took out a badge from her clothing and flashed it, "Federal Bureau of Investigation, special security drill, please keep a safe distance to avoid accidental injuries."

She then took out several small devices from her pocket, turned her head to He Ao, "These are laser barricades,"

She pinched her hand and a laser grid projection appeared in front of her, "May I trouble you to help deploy them?"

"Sure."

He Ao nodded and took the small devices.

And Jia Xi too had come back to her senses, excitedly taking a laser grid and started deploying it together with He Ao and YiXiya.

Soon, the three of them set up a laser isolation band in the vicinity.

"I’ve already contacted my colleagues, and they’ll be here shortly; we might have to wait a bit."

YiXiya patted her chest, then wiped the cold sweat off her forehead.

It was only now that she had the chance to take deep breaths, "This is the second closest I’ve been to death in my life, the last time being just last night."

"It seems that you are their target."

He Ao glanced at the people isolated outside the band, turned his back on the crowd, and casually said.

"That should be the case," YiXiya sighed in relief, "but as you said before, the more agitated they are, the more crucial the thing I’ve found must be."

"Your Federal Bureau of Investigation is?"

He Ao asked with some confusion.

"Temporary agent, not on file,"

YiXiya smiled and took out her badge to show He Ao, "We don’t get paid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, nor are we subject to their deployment. The Kajet Consortium has made one of these badges for all the higher-ranked employees in the Pollution Cleaning Department, so that we can conveniently make use of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s reputation to get things done."

He Ao glanced at her badge.

This badge was somewhat different from the one Ande had as a formal employee; it had only a simple Federal Bureau of Investigation emblem, YiXiya’s photo, her name, and a temporary number, looking exceptionally bare.

"Do you have a cooperative relationship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation?"

He Ao inquired.

"Yes, in fact, cleaning up Polluted Monsters across cities should be the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, the local FBI in these small cities probably doesn’t even have a single C-level agent, unable to cope with the Polluted Monsters, an endeavor that is dangerous and offers little reward."

YiXiya explained, "I heard that the Kajet Group found a way to settle things with the Ains side, gaining special authorization from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that allows the Pollution Cleaning Department to deal with the Polluted Monsters independently, without FBI interference."

"Of course, the Polluted Monsters we clean up are counted as part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s ’performance’."

Not spending money, not making an effort, and still gaining performance credit, this does sound like a ’good deal’.

But what this reflects is the FBI partially delegating their authority, effectively being replaced by the Pollution Cleaning Department to a certain extent in their duties.

Naturally, within the dozen cities under the jurisdiction of the Pollution Cleaning Department, the Kajet Group has effectively achieved direct control over the cities or indirectly through alliances with local consortiums.

In such cases, the Kajet Group is completely capable of blinding the eyes and deafening the ears of the local FBI branches.

So for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, they actually didn’t have much choice; by delegating authority to the Pollution Cleaning Department, at least they would be privy to some information reported by the department, even some intelligence on the Polluted Monsters.

But in terms of actions, the Kajet Group has crossed some boundaries.

In the majority of consortium-controlled cities, the Federal Bureau of Investigation still maintains its normal functions, of course, the consortium could find ways to turn a blind eye.

But other than the Kajet Group, He Ao hadn’t heard of any other consortium that had forcefully coerced the Federal Bureau of Investigation into ceding a portion of their power.

As a super consortium that has risen to the top twenty in the Federation in recent decades, the Kajet Group always exhibits ’dominance’ like that of an emerging consortium.

"Has this ’cooperation’ been going on for a long time?"

He Ao casually asked.

"Not long, it seems to be a matter of the past two years,"

YiXiya pondered briefly, "Originally, the actions of the Pollution Cleaning Department were all out in the open, operating under the guise of being a security company hired by the Kajet Group. But in such circumstances, our actions were inevitably hesitant. Later on, I don’t know how the group managed to settle with the Ains side, allowing us to directly act in the name of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

"It seems that the Kajet Group truly values the Pollution Cleaning Department,"

He Ao spread his hands, handing the butterfly knife back to YiXiya, "Your knife."

YiXiya looked at the neatly folded butterfly knife in He Ao’s hand, took it slowly, and with a smile glanced at Jia Xi beside her, "Actually, this knife was forged by my grandfather."

He Ao looked at her in surprise and said softly, "This is one of the best knives I’ve ever seen."

"Thank you,"

YiXiya looked down at the knife in her hands,

"When my grandfather was young, he studied under a wandering master bladesmith, but my great-grandfather tricked him into coming back home halfway through his apprenticeship to get married and start a business.

"When he got old, he often mocked himself as a ’half-baked’ bladesmith, even though by that time he had become a renowned master of cold weapons. Many Transcendents sought him out to forge weapons for them, and my Talent Sequence was one of the rewards he received for his craftsmanship.

"I am his youngest granddaughter. By the time I was born, he was already quite old. After he turned sixty, he stopped forging weapons for others and spent most of our family’s wealth on materials to tinker with at home.

"I was young then, and my parents were often away, so I was mainly raised by him. He said he wanted to create a true Transcendent ’sword’."

YiXiya flipped the butterfly knife in her hand, carefully inspecting the intricate patterns on it,

"He spent a long time and used up all the materials he had bought to finally make this butterfly knife. He said he wasn’t skilled enough to make the best sword, so he had to settle for making a smaller knife instead.

"This knife still didn’t meet his expectations, but he knew it was his limit.

"The handle of this knife is 23.5 centimeters long, the blade is 20.5 centimeters, making it a total of 44 centimeters in length. It has two forms,"

YiXiya flipped the butterfly knife in her hand, revealing the blade that reflected the chilly light,

"The first form is the butterfly knife, capable of unfolding and retracting the blade, and the second form,"

YiXiya reached for a hidden lever on the handle, and two pins popped out from the base of the handle, "can be attached to a custom metal rod via these pins to form a gun or a spear.

"My grandfather said he originally wanted to make a metal rod that would go with the butterfly knife, but he passed away before he could start on it."

She looked up at He Ao and continued,

"Before my grandfather died, he gave me this knife. His teacher once said to him, ’A good weapon in the hands of a good person can save countless lives, and in the hands of a bad person, it can harm countless people. A bladesmith’s happiest moment is when he forges a good sword and then entrusts it to the right person.’

"My grandfather said he was a half-baked bladesmith, so he did not have a sword, only this small knife,"

YiXiya retracted the pins at the bottom of the handle and folded the blade back into the handle, extending the butterfly knife towards He Ao, "so he asked me to help find the right owner for this knife."

"This is a good knife, of considerable worth,"

He Ao did not take the butterfly knife but spoke softly, "And I may not necessarily be the right person you’re looking for."

"Actually, Mister, when I saw you last night and you returned the knife to me, I felt that you might be the ’right person’ my grandfather was looking for,"

YiXiya smiled, instead of directly persuading He Ao, she went on,

"Before that, I always thought that ’K’ might be the right person, but he is too mysterious. I’ve been looking for him for over a year without tracing his whereabouts. Fortunately, I met you,"

YiXiya turned to look at He Ao, "Mister, I think you are the ’right person’ who is most suitable for this knife. You can bring out its greatest power and lead it down the right path—besides, you saved my life twice. Doesn’t that count as ’considerable worth?’"

He Ao still did not take the knife.

"Mister, do you know why my grandfather left this knife to me?"

YiXiya glanced at He Ao, then at Jia Xi, "Because he thought that among all his children and grandchildren, I am the only one who would honor his last wish to hand this knife to the ’right person,’ rather than keeping it for myself or selling it for a good price."

She gazed at He Ao, "Mister, this was my grandfather’s last wish and the legacy he passed down to me, hoping that I would uphold it. And right now, you need this knife even more than I do."

"I also don’t know how much longer I will be able to use this knife,"

He Ao finally took the knife, and looking at YiXiya, he unfolded the butterfly knife, scrutinizing the blade in his hands, "When I no longer need this knife, I will contact you."

"Okay."

YiXiya nodded lightly, knowing this was as far as she could go.

She stretched, exhaling deeply, and looking at He Ao, she smiled, "I feel like a stone that’s been weighing on my heart for over a decade has finally been lifted in this moment."

Then she raised her wrist, checked the information on her bracelet, and turning to He Ao she said, "Mister, my colleagues will be here soon. I asked them to bring the box with the black market account device too."