This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 291: Street Interlude

Chapter 291: Chapter 291: Street Interlude

Chen Ke stopped in his tracks on the street, Raffi Road was still bustling as ever, but it felt as if something was missing. He noticed the Zio Ready-to-Wear store across the street was undergoing refurbishment—after the murder, the place must have been quickly dealt with and leased to someone else.

Chen Ke also saw someone in a blue cap distributing flyers beneath the Golden Arthur Sword Hall, which surely meant business wasn’t too good and they were working hard to attract new members.

Speaking of which, Chen Ke hadn’t visited since he became a member; all this time, changes he couldn’t see were happening in Opportunity City.

Could these changes be similar to those brought about by the Fei Huang Consortium, like Li Moyang? Chen Ke didn’t know, but one thing was certain: neither the local federal spiritual products nor the Fei Huang Consortium, which wanted to get involved in spiritual products, were solely after money. At least "the company" and Wuan Heavy Industry definitely had other schemes in mind.

From the time Chen Ke had arrived to the present, there were already plenty of puzzles, each popping up one after another. Before he could find an answer to one, the next appeared, making Chen Ke feel extremely weary, as if he were solving a never-ending problem.

But at least, there was one thing worth celebrating, and that was the fact that Chen Ke’s current lifespan limit had reached 35 hours, and he had in his possession a great soul that could extend his lifespan by another 100 hours.

He glanced at the lifespan countdown at the corner of his eye; he still had over 20 hours to squander. Now wasn’t the ideal time to use the soul, but Chen Ke was too lazy to care any longer, as the temptation of an additional 100 hours was irresistible to anyone.

He stood at the street corner, his left hand in his pocket, while An Helei’s great soul emerged in the palm of his right hand. Souls did exist in this world; it was just that no one except Chen Ke could see them.

That twisted soul appeared as a flickering flame, and within it, a pained human face emerged.

Chen Ke closed his fingers into a fist, red petals of flame spattering out through the gaps of his fingers, and a burst of orange light scattered forth. Wisps of red mist whooshed into Chen Ke’s chest.

The Sun Mark on his chest spun wildly at this moment; at first, he felt only a wheel brushing against his skin beneath the shirt, a sensation Chen Ke was familiar with, so he didn’t take it seriously.

But a few seconds later, he suddenly widened his eyes, feeling an intense pain in his chest, as if someone were stirring his heart with a knife.

Chen Ke groaned in pain, clutching his chest, his eyes bulging. His knees gave way, and with a smack, he collapsed to his knees on the spot, bending over and hissing.

"Sir... Sir? Are you okay?"

Passersby noticed Chen Ke’s abnormal state, and a blond young man came over to help.

"This guy might be having a heart attack! Quick, lay him flat on the ground!"

The blond young man, roughly Chen Ke’s age, supported his left shoulder, easing him to the ground.

"I... I..." Chen Ke wanted to say he was fine, but he couldn’t speak out. He had never experienced such pain in his chest, the agony spreading through his nerves to his viscera and the extremities of his limbs, making his whole body go limp. Now, even an infant could easily kill him.

The crowd of onlookers grew larger, and Chen Ke lay sideways on the ground, feeling as if he were surrounded by dozens of people in a circle, pairs of surprised and concerned eyes fixed on him.

"Sir, don’t talk; we are calling an ambulance for you. Damn, who has medicine?" the blond young man shouted at the onlookers.

"I do, I do! I have a heart condition too!" a fat man in a suit squeezed through the crowd, pulling out a small bottle of pills from his briefcase.

Chen Ke lay there, not only in pain but also starting to convulse, looking increasingly pitiable. He didn’t know why; he didn’t even have a heart, so why was there such pain?

He saw the blond young man unscrew the white plastic bottle, shaking five small white pills into his palm.

Could it be nitroglycerin...

"Sir, take these, the ambulance should be arriving soon," the blond young man said as he stuffed the pills into Chen Ke’s mouth.

Chen Ke had no other choice but to swallow it.

In his field of vision, the entire world seemed to be covered with a fisheye filter, everything curled into a circle, the sky turned red, and some things twinkled among the clouds.

The life countdown timer at the corner of his vision had changed from orange text to red, rising rapidly from 24 hours 32 minutes 57 seconds, up to 70 hours.

When his lifespan limit reached 100, Chen Ke’s convulsions stopped, the Sun Mark on his chest ceased spinning, and the severe pain in his chest also lessened significantly.

Chen Ke took a deep breath, tried to get up from the ground, but the blond young man beside him advised him to keep lying down.

"The ambulance is about to arrive, sir. I suggest it’s better for you to go to the hospital," the blond young man said.

"No... no need, I’m fine," Chen Ke declined, sitting up from the ground, wiping the fine sweat from his forehead, and subconsciously placing his left hand on the young man’s right shoulder.

At that moment, he noticed the young man’s movements had frozen.

The young man had a medicine bottle in his left hand and was supporting Chen Ke’s waist with his right hand, down on one knee, motionless, his eyes lifeless, staring at the ground, like a statue.

"Hey... I’m feeling better, you can..." Chen Ke said, but he suddenly realized something was off with the young man.

This motionless state was like... being paused.

The crowd around burst into cheers, celebrating Chen Ke’s turn to safety, foreigners are so emotional, three parts genuine concern and seven parts show, and no one seemed to notice the young man’s abnormality.

The life countdown timer had already maxed out at 134 hours 59 minutes 59 every second, everything returned to normal, only Chen Ke knew what had just happened.

"Hey!" Chen Ke patted the young man again, feeling some pressure in his hand, and at that moment, a line of small text appeared in the corner of his eye:

"-6 seconds, time pause ended."

The young man’s body suddenly shook, his eyes regained their luster, his expression turned to one of confusion, he looked at Chen Ke, his face bearing a surprised expression, as if wondering how Chen Ke had suddenly sat up in front of him.

"Sir... What just happened?" the young man asked.

"Nothing much, you spaced out, better return the medicine to the others," Chen Ke said, supporting himself with his left hand, using his waist to quickly stand up, and dusting off his pants.

"You’re really lucky, sir, the way you looked just now was scary," someone in the crowd remarked.

"Thank you, thank all of you, this young man is truly amazing, a true role model for us all, his actions today were like those of a superhero!" Chen Ke praised while holding the young man’s hand.

"Buddy, nicely done."

"You’re really great."

"If Opportunity City had more people like you, it wouldn’t be like it is today."

The crowd erupted into waves of cheers, everyone vying to shake hands with the blond young man, who scratched the back of his head and shook hands with others, a shy smile on his face.

Chen Ke took the opportunity to slip out of the crowd, disappearing around the next corner; meanwhile, the sound of the ambulance’s siren rose from the other end of the street.