This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 315: Demonic Barrier

Chapter 315: Chapter 315: Demonic Barrier

If Chen Ke didn’t guess wrong, then that little boy must have been Conrad’s son, and he must have been dead for a long time.

And the worst of it was surely not just that, his wife was likely in considerable danger, too.

And how did they die? Chen Ke looked at the weeping Conrad and had pieced together an answer in his mind.

After returning from the Gulf War, Conrad developed PTSD, a disorder that made his personality unpredictable.

Whatever happened over the years, in the end, during an episode, Conrad did something terrible to his own wife and son.

This was also why Conrad became a smuggler of Holy Relics, as he was evading the pursuit of the United Federation.

The most interesting part wasn’t just this... but this sea, Chen Ke finally began to understand why the Administration Bureau had quarantined this sea.

This sea was a demonic obstruction... it could materialize the troubles, nightmares, and psychological traumas from the depths of one’s subconscious and project them onto the ship, driving a person mad.

And the most dangerous thing was... these manifestations weren’t merely illusions; they really could impact the people or things around, and the helmsman and navigator had undoubtedly perished at the hands of that little kid.

Moreover, demonic obstructions created by different people could be seen and affect others, and those planes crashing down from the sky must have been the shadows left in Conrad’s heart from the Gulf War.

For now, Chen Ke only knew these materialized demonic obstructions were filled with malice, but there might be even more that he didn’t know.

Regardless, the urgent task at hand was to bring Conrad back to normal and then see if there were any ways to dissipate the demonic obstructions.

Chen Ke also finally understood why Spiritual Vision could not see the little boy’s figure because it did not exist at all—the obstruction itself might be a kind of more advanced Illusion Technique.

Chen Ke couldn’t help but think of Bader, who also couldn’t be seen by Spiritual Vision; perhaps, the one that appeared in the garment shop was also an illusion?

Now wasn’t the time to think about this. Chen Ke snatched the picture frame from Conrad’s hands, a scarlet killing intent surged from his back, channeling a small fraction into Conrad’s body.

Conrad’s body jerked as if shocked by something, and he suddenly stood up, pulling out his large-caliber revolver from the holster on his back, his hand holding the gun trembling slightly.

"Damn it... damn it... what happened!" Conrad growled in a low roar, pointing the gun around the captain’s quarters.

Chen Ke patted Conrad’s shoulder from behind, startling him into immediately turning the gun on himself.

"+1 minute"

"+1 minute"

"+1 minute"

"+1 minute"

...

Ever since Chen Ke’s lifespan limit had increased to a certain level, it seemed that ordinary people without Spiritual Power found it very hard to pose a real threat to him.

Of course, this also depended on the Holy Relics and Transcendent Skills that Chen Ke had at his disposal.

It seemed that for Chen Ke, the lifespan limit was of great significance; it was life, it was time, it was the upper limit of Spiritual Energy, and it was also the level of power.

"You’re finally back to normal, Conrad," Chen Ke said.

Conrad looked befuddled, staring blankly at Chen Ke, and slowly lowered his gun. Then he placed a hand on his forehead, as if he were trying to remember something.

"It was an illusion, Conrad. I think I’ve found the weirdness of this sea," Chen Ke said, walking to the door of the captain’s quarters, looking out.

"I remember seeing my..." Conrad gasped for air, seemingly in disbelief of his own experience.

"Your son... Conrad, you might even encounter your wife. Let’s hope she doesn’t bring us more trouble." Chen Ke continued the conversation.

"What do you mean...?" Conrad asked, puzzled.

"The ship is now missing a helmsman and a navigator," Chen Ke said.

"What...?" Conrad paused in shock.

At that moment, a large airplane roared as it fell from the sky, crashing into the ocean about 50 meters away from the Endurance’s starboard side, causing a massive swell and exploding in the sea.

"Boom!"

The force was so strong that the Endurance couldn’t help but rock.

"What’s happening outside the window?" Conrad exclaimed, running to the window to look out, and Chen Ke noticed his expression slowly change from confusion to terror.

"Some planes are falling from the sky; I have no idea what’s happening," Chen Ke said.

"This is... this is... during Operation Night Owl... Oh God..." Conrad trembled as he leaned against the window glass.

"Indeed... Did this scene ever happen during the Gulf War?" Chen Ke frowned.

"That night we sent six B52 bombers to attack a city inland from Suss... where was I..." Conrad said.

"Alright, what happened that night?" Chen Ke asked.

He wanted to know the exact details so at least he would know what sorts of phantoms the mental chaos could transform into.

"The refugees of that city passed through our checkpoint... Chen Ke, there were no civilians in Suss, they were all test subjects..." Conrad gasped for air, as if something terrifying had occurred on that night.

"I think I understand what you’re trying to say..." Chen Ke said.

"We suffered heavy casualties, those things kept coming... impossible to kill them all..." Conrad said, leaning against the cabin wall with his heart pounding vigorously.

"Relax, Conrad, you did what you had to, tell me about the anti-aircraft guns... and the planes crashing..." Chen Ke came over to support him.

"Their regular armed forces had anti-aircraft guns set up on the rooftops of some residential buildings... they had always been camouflaged, none of us had noticed... many died that night, we had to retreat and wait for the Spiritual Energy armed forces to come support..." Conrad breathed heavily, his eyes bloodshot, indicating the psychological trauma the night had caused him.

Imagine it, throngs of civilians suddenly all using Spiritual Energy to attack you, leading to incidents like self-detonations and severed limbs... followed by watching your comrades melt into sludge beside you...

Chen Ke even felt sympathy for Conrad, who had returned from Suss Bay with PTSD, became a fugitive for murder, and was then forced into smuggling Holy Relics.

Such a dramatic life trajectory.

"I have an idea of what might come next, we need to be prepared. We have to survive and make sure not to sink the ship before we can leave this area," Chen Ke said calmly, using Spiritual Vision to see below, noticing some disturbances in the cabin.

"Can we go? I think there are some things below that need my attention," Chen Ke asked.

"I’m fine, young man, don’t you put on airs in front of me!" Conrad eased up and stood, checking the gun in his hands.

The two left the captain’s quarters and Conrad glanced at the control room, noticing two crew members on the ground.

"Who did all of this...?" Conrad asked.

"Most likely your son did it, what I saw at the stern’s crane was probably his shadow," Chen Ke explained.

"Don’t refer to that thing as my son, if I encounter it, I will take it down myself. But right now, this ship can’t be without a helmsman. I need to take the wheel here temporarily, Chen Ke, you go bring some crew members up, I need to keep this ship running," Conrad stated solemnly.

"Are you sure you want to stay here alone? If you come across your son... that little beast, normal caliber bullets won’t hurt it," Chen Ke said.

"You think these are lead bullets in here?" Conrad chuckled.

Chen Ke hmmed, as a smuggler of Holy Relics, it was not uncommon for Conrad to have some low-quality homemade Spiritual Bullets.

"That makes things easier, I won’t have to worry too much about you then," Chen Ke smiled and said before turning and heading down the stairs to the crew’s rest area.