This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 334: A Change of Face

Chapter 334: Chapter 334: A Change of Face

Chen Ke left the coffee shop, intending to hail a car to the Spiritual Ability Research Institute, when he suddenly realized he was still wearing the clothes of a sea smuggler, which were all soaked, so he had left them on the boat.

The streets of Manhattan were bustling. Even though it wasn’t the central business district, the sidewalks were crowded with people and the streets were lined with cars forming a long queue, slowly inching forward at the red light.

Many of the buildings on the street were old 1980s-style constructions, but well-maintained. Looking down the street to the end, one could see more impressive buildings in the distance.

It was June, and the summer in the Western world came slightly earlier than in the East. The United Federation was a Northern Hemisphere country, with summer mainly concentrated in June, July, and August, and the temperatures were somewhat higher.

On the street, many white women in cool clothes could be seen, along with some Black men holding basketballs. Across the way, some children were playing ball. This street-side scene alone let Chen Ke feel the vitality of the city.

Speaking of which, Chen Ke didn’t find the summer here particularly unbearable because it was a dry heat, not damp and sticky. Before he crossed over, he had lived in a city by the Yangtze River, where once summer arrived, it felt like one was coated in a layer of oil...

He checked his life countdown. To ensure the ship had docked smoothly, Chen Ke had consumed twice the usual amount of time. Including the expenditure during the fight, he had just over 20 hours left of life.

He stretched out his hand and rotated his shoulders, pretending to practice his grip strength. Then, he crushed a soul, and in an instant, his life limit was immediately restored to full and expanded to 156 hours.

He still had 32 souls left. Originally, from the 2006 timeline, he had obtained 42 soul pieces and had used 6.

These 42 soul pieces could altogether increase the life limit by 168 hours while his original life limit was only 20 hours the first time he had used these souls.

That meant, if he used the remaining 36 souls together, his total life span could extend to as much as 188 hours.

His current limit was 156 hours, indicating that the 32 souls remaining could still provide an extra 32 hours of life.

These souls were all small pieces, each adding one hour; he had already used all the larger pieces.

While increasing the life limit, souls could also restore one’s current, diminishing life to full capacity, so the best opportunity to use them was when one was nearing running out of time and couldn’t absorb any more killing intent.

Time to change clothes!

Chen Ke took out his wallet to check his cash, still having over two thousand.

His money was all in offshore accounts, which weren’t convenient to access because in 2009 the United Federation didn’t have a very convenient online payment solution; it mostly relied on credit cards.

Chen Ke didn’t have an official job in the United Federation and all his documents were forged, so he couldn’t get a credit card. He could only use prepaid cards even for a phone card.

Furthermore, the offshore account supported only wire transfers, not cash withdrawals. Aside from the annoying fees, the money could only be used in limited places, such as buying houses, cars, or firearms... Accessing his money was indeed quite troublesome.

"I’m so rich... and yet hardly ever spend any of it," Chen Ke muttered to himself.

It seemed he couldn’t be extravagant with suits anymore. He needed to keep some liquid cash for emergencies. He still needed to change clothes, so he started looking for some budget clothing stores on the streets.

Coincidentally, right next to the coffee shop was the largest discount clothing chain in the United Federation: Bob’s Stores.

Chen Ke pushed the door open and entered the small store. Although it was a discount store, the interior was still quite neatly decorated, and the clothes hanging on the racks were very simple but complete.

With the onset of summer, Chen Ke of course needed to switch to seasonal clothing. Although he was not affected by the temperature, it would be odd for others to see him dressed inappropriately.

He picked out an olive green work pant, a pair of brown hiking shoes, and a blue crew-neck sweatshirt.

However, he couldn’t hide the holster through this outfit, so he had no choice but to wear a black zip-up sports jacket additionally.

Counting the brand-new underwear and socks... all these items cost him 200 union coins.

Chen Ke, dressed in new clothes and carrying a paper bag full of old clothes, walked out of the store and turned into the barbershop next door.

Chen Ke had managed his facial hair himself, essentially shaving everything clean, but he couldn’t handle his hair which had been wildly growing for two months.

He wanted to change Lin Mo’s hairstyle into his own. Back on the ship, seeing his own Phantom had profoundly moved him.

Chen Ke didn’t know if he really wanted to return to his original world. If there was a chance, would he choose to go back?

He couldn’t say for sure. The countdown of life seemed tailor-made for this world, where only in this place full of mysterious creatures could he absorb killing intent, collect souls, and prolong his life.

Returning to the peaceful year of 2018, what would he do? Thinking of this made him agitated, but he had more important things to deal with at the moment, so he set aside these thoughts!

"Master, give me a trim," Chen Ke took a seat.

"No problem," the Black barber nodded and swayed.

About ten minutes later, Chen Ke’s medium-length hair was gone, replaced by a neat short haircut. It wasn’t as flowy as before but was much tidier.

He walked past a box, tossed the paper bag in his hand into a trash can, zipped down his jacket halfway, hailed a taxi, and got in.

He had expected the Spiritual Ability Research Institute to be a grand and stately academy, but when the car stopped in front of a twelve-story office building in motion, Chen Ke thought the driver had made a mistake.

"Uh... are you sure this is the Spiritual Ability Research Institute?" Chen Ke poked his head out of the car window and curiously looked at the building on the street side.

The building was located in the center of Manhattan, inconsistent with Wang Ailin’s description of being in the Queen District, and no matter how one looked at it, it seemed too dilapidated compared to other buildings nearby.

As a global frontier in spiritual energy research, it was hard to imagine the United Federation’s Spiritual Ability Research Institute being so shabby.

"This is the research institute building, sir," the driver said.

"Isn’t it supposed to be in the Queen District?" Chen Ke asked.

"That place you mentioned? Oh... that’s a restricted area. Unless you’re a researcher or have a military background, it’s completely impossible to get in," the driver explained.

"Is that so..." Chen Ke was skeptical but paid and got out of the car.

He stood in front of the building, looking up at the rooftop. The building exuded a ’70s outdated feel, showing no indication that it belonged to a research institute.

He took out his mobile phone and sent a message to Wang Ailin, explaining the situation.

Not long after, he received a reply.

"I forgot to tell you, you have to leave visitor information at the office now and fill in an invitation code to be sent by a special vehicle to the research institute, sorry I’ve been very busy. Remember my number, 0451."

Chen Ke pocketed his phone and walked into the building.