This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 293 Dangerous Temptation

Chapter 293: Chapter 293 Dangerous Temptation

At 7 PM, in the Deep Anchor District.

Chen Ke wasn’t hungry but he still bought a box of pizza to nibble on slowly.

Summer was on its way, and in July, a heatwave from the inland sea would sweep through Opportunity City, like a fury that God couldn’t vent elsewhere. The evening sky blazed red at the horizon, with the sun half-submerged in the sea, the sea’s surface glittering red, as if filled with blood.

Chen Ke leaned against a wooden railing nearby, with the residential area of the Deep Anchor District behind him. Low standalone homes huddled together, five or six formed a block, with narrow roads crisscrossing among them. Vehicles passed by from time to time, and there were few pedestrians on the road.

Fishing wasn’t suitable at night; some fishing boats honked as they made their way into the harbor. Strangely, Chen Ke hadn’t been able to find Insmouth Bar on Google Maps. It sounded like a name Lucina had made up on a whim.

"As if I hadn’t read that story..." Chen Ke tossed the half-eaten pizza into a nearby trash can. It wasn’t to his taste, too greasy.

"Hey, sir, do you have a moment?" A woman’s voice came from behind him. Chen Ke turned around and saw a woman in a dark coat.

She had shoulder-length orange-red hair with golden tips, and a pair of narrow eyes with a teardrop mole at the bottom of the left one. The woman was about as tall as Chen Ke, and she just stood there, bathed in the dark red evening glow, looking at him.

For a moment, he mistook her for Diana, as she had an air of official business, but she was different from Diana in that she seemed colder and more direct.

"Um... who are you?" Chen Ke asked, surveying the details of this woman.

"I am a traveler who has lost her way," the woman said, seeming to notice Chen Ke’s restless gaze.

The collar under the woman’s neck didn’t look like everyday clothing, but it was hard to tell wrapped in the somber coat, and she had definitely had blonde hair before.

Even her posture didn’t suggest she was here for tourism.

"Don’t you have Google Maps on your phone? What would you like to ask? I still have some time," Chen Ke said with a stretch, deliberately appearing a bit lazier.

"Thank you, I wanted to ask... what year is it this year?" the woman asked with a slight frown, as if she too found the question odd.

Chen Ke didn’t reply, understanding something but not wanting to say it outright.

"It’s okay, if... if it’s bothering you, then I’ll ask someone else," the woman said.

"No... It’s fine, I’m like this when I’ve had too much to drink. It’s 2009, if I’m not mistaken," Chen Ke said with a laugh.

"Damn... off target," the woman muttered to herself.

"Huh?" Chen Ke said, confused.

The woman’s frown relaxed as if she pondered over something, then continued, "So... Have there been any strange events in the past few years?"

"What do you mean? Mass unemployment? Financial crisis?" Chen Ke asked in turn.

"No... I mean, some strange events," the woman clarified.

"Hmm... these days, strange things happen every day, people become monsters, monsters become people. Which strange events are you referring to?" Chen Ke tried to probe.

"Sir... Think back, in 2006, did you experience any strange events back then... like suddenly something appeared one day... or something like that?" the woman asked.

Chen Ke was silent for a while, thinking back to 2006. If his guess was correct, this woman was referring to that 2006...

"You know... if life goes smoothly for people, they tend to forget a lot. Nothing happened in ’06; for me, it was an uneventful year without surprises," Chen Ke shook his head.

"Are you sure?" the woman asked, grabbing Chen Ke’s wrist.

Chen Ke looked down at his wrist, and the woman quickly let go.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, so why don’t you disappear from my sight, so I can have some time to drink a few at Insmouth Bar?" Chen Ke said deliberately.

"Sorry, sir, to have bothered you," the woman said, her indifferent face flashing a satisfied smile for a moment.

The woman turned to leave, but Chen Ke stopped her.

"Hey, what’s your name?" Chen Ke asked.

"It’s none of your business, we won’t be seeing each other again," the woman said.

"Exactly, so telling me your name, you lose nothing," Chen Ke said.

The woman smiled, looked up at Chen Ke, and asked, "First you tell me your name."

"I’m... Chen Ke," Chen Ke said.

"I’m Eliza," Eliza said.

"Oh," Chen Ke responded.

"Chen Ke, enjoy your life now, it’s hard-earned," Eliza said, and then she walked off toward the end of the street.

Chen Ke watched Eliza’s retreating figure, then looked up at the sky, feeling that the world was somehow different now.

At 8:30 in the evening, after asking passersby, Chen Ke finally found the Insmouth Bar on a street that was not very busy, close to the harbor.

The bar wasn’t actually called Insmouth; it was called Fisherman’s Bar. Insmouth was just a nickname given by the old patrons playing on the Cthulhu myth.

Chen Ke wasn’t interested in those rambling horror stories, just as the area around the bar left him unimpressed.

The floor of the bar was littered with dirty fish scales and sewer water, and the stools were still wet, indicating that the patrons were mostly dockside sailors. They worked at the docks during the day, drank in the bar at night, stumbled home, and slept until dawn, in an endless cycle.

Of course, the modern-day sailor was quite different from those before the Industrial Revolution, but the fishing industry in Deep Anchor District was at the bottom of the industrial chain, and the sailors still mainly did heavy physical labor.

When Chen Ke entered the bar, a large group of sailors gathered inside. They were very strong, and most of them were bald with tattoo-covered arms.

Although it was still a bar, Fisherman’s Bar was decidedly old-fashioned. This place belonged to the working class, starkly different from the bars in the big cities. The nights belonged to them, and the rowdy, coarse language made the bar lively. Unexpectedly, Lucina actually liked this kind of place.

Chen Ke felt many eyes stealthily sizing him up, the looks filled with ill intent. These muscled bald men seemed ready to pick a fight with him at any moment, but Chen Ke knew they were all show with no real killing intent.

He approached the bar, where a black bouncer was wiping a glass so small it could only fit his thumb.

"Give me the strongest drink you have here," Chen Ke said.

No sooner had these words been spoken than the noisy voices in the pub fell silent, and everyone was looking at Chen Ke.

The black bartender glanced at Chen Ke, a look of disdain on his face, but still pulled out a black bottle from under the counter.

"This one’s on me," the bartender said with a laugh, filling Chen Ke’s small glass to the brim and handing it to him.

"Oh? Thanks," Chen Ke said, picking up the glass and pouring the contents into his mouth.

It was as if his mouth had been scorched with molten iron at a thousand degrees. Chen Ke’s eyes reddened as he clutched his mouth and started to cough—it was damn fiery! Much stronger than XO!

He leaned heavily against the bar, coughing vigorously, his eyes red as he stared at the glass in his hand. A wave of boisterous laughter erupted throughout the bar, making the atmosphere incredibly jovial.

Chen Ke had never drunk such strong liquor before and felt his mouth had lost all sensation.

Just then, the bar suddenly quieted down again, and Chen Ke heard the sound of the bar’s main door being pushed open—Lucina walked in.