This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 389: Severing the Past

Chapter 389: Chapter 389: Severing the Past

"God... I also encountered something that claimed to be a god in a sewer once... It’s dead now," Chen Ke said indifferently.

The camera lens in the sky made a clicking sound, and the protective cover on the lens retracted a bit, as if it was focusing on Chen Ke.

"I remember now, you’re the guy who helped Ms. Harlowin in the last world. Hmm... It’s quite rare, you must either be an investigator or someone from the Administration Bureau," the camera said.

It extended more of its body from the clouds, and Chen Ke saw a blue shirt collar tucked under that metallic head.

"It doesn’t sound like you’re afraid of the Administration Bureau," Chen Ke said with a shrug.

"I am a deity, and deities do not fear humans, especially when you are now in my domain," the camera spoke with some pride in its voice.

"The way you talk sounds just like a villain who’s about to bite the dust... Can’t you be a bit more creative?" Chen Ke said, looking at the camera.

"Say what you will, whether your body is as tough as your mouth, we will find out. But before that... I’m curious why you would come here?" The camera did not get provoked but instead mocked Chen Ke.

"My purpose has nothing to do with you. If you just like taking pictures... why not just stay up in the sky and quietly watch?" Chen Ke said.

"Oh, I like more than just taking pictures, little one. You don’t really think that I’m going to just watch you move step by step like you’re playing a game and do nothing, do you?" the camera asked with a laugh.

"Wouldn’t that be nice? In another 10 years, watching live streamers play will be a very popular form of entertainment," Chen Ke said.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about... but let me tell you what I find entertaining. I want to watch you suffer, watch you bleed, watch you die, and then endlessly repeat!" The camera’s lens cover closed to a slit.

"Even by the standards of a camera... you are quite twisted... Aren’t you afraid that killing me will bring trouble from the Administration Bureau?" Chen Ke said.

He tried to intimidate the camera with the identity of someone from the Administration Bureau because from the conversation so far, it seemed like there was a person behind this camera.

"They will not come looking for you, nobody will. You’ll die in a photograph, and then countless new yous will be generated. I can turn you... into my new NPC..." The camera said with a laugh.

Chen Ke instinctively thought of the white-suited female assassin.

Perhaps this lady was also here investigating but ended up killed by the camera, and her duplicates became NPCs in the photographs...

That meant there was a difference between becoming an NPC after dying in a photograph and those created by photography...

"I have no intention of becoming your NPC. How do you plan to deal with me, huh? Stay up there and take photos, or come down and fight me one-on-one?" Chen Ke said.

"Oh dear, you lack imagination. A deity does not physically touch humans, what you have to defeat is yourself..." The camera said, and then began to snap photos of Chen Ke with click after click.

As the camera’s shutter continued to press, the world began to crumble, buildings shattered into blocks of concrete, and the sky turned white with the flash.

Blinded by the sequence of flashbulbs, Chen Ke could only lower his head and look at the ground, and at the same time, dozens of dark shadows appeared in the sky, slowly landing around him, encircling him.

"Little one, I hope you’re sturdy enough to bring me more pleasure before dying..." The camera said with pride, but its tone changed mid-sentence.

Chen Ke looked around; the shadows all looked like him, truly like him, not like Lin Mo. They were wearing plaid pajamas, barehanded, with a bird’s-nest hairdo, and charged at him in a way that looked quite comical.

That was exactly his appearance the night before he transmigrated, lying in bed.

"What the hell is all this crap!?" Anger and confusion filled the camera’s voice, and it was clear that this was not the result it had hoped for.

Chen Ke’s own physique was that of a 24-year-old office worker, naturally no match for the professional assassin Lin Mo, but he also had his Spiritual Power, making it not difficult to deal with these things.

However, as he looked at his original self, he still felt uneasy about striking down these clones, even though he knew they were just duplications.

"What exactly are you?" The camera seemed to have never seen such a situation before, it too was slightly surprised.

Chen Ke summoned the full set of An Helei’s Elegy armor and shouldered the Moonlight Greatsword.

These duplicates of his original body weren’t particularly frail, but in the presence of Lin Mo’s muscular physique, they were hardly worth mentioning.

As these abominations lunged toward him, crying out, "I want to go home! I want to go home!"

"Ah... shut up! You weaklings!" Chen Ke swung his greatsword, cutting down these insincere beings, as if he was eradicating his past.

Go back? Chen Ke had contemplated such questions countless times, but clearly, it was unrealistic.

Setting aside whether there was a way to return or not, what would he do after going back? The world Chen Ke knew was one without Spiritual Energy, without oddities; burdened with a killing countdown, what place would he have upon his return?

Perhaps he could be a mercenary, forever lurking in war-stricken lands, but that wasn’t what he wanted.

Two months in Opportunity City, having undergone so many events, Chen Ke was no longer his former self.

Crying and shouting about going home, only retreating in the face of adversity, procrastinating on intended deeds until tomorrow, only able to offer a foolish smile when scolded by a boss – this Chen Ke, today, perished under the moonlight.

It was destiny that chose him, giving him a second chance to seize it all.

Chen Ke bisected the last of his duplicates, and by then, the streets were rivers of blood.

Harlowin burst out at that moment, cursing madly at the camera in the sky: "Felipe! You piece of shit! You’ve taken everything from me! Give it back to me now!"

Chen Ke called back his Holy Relics and grabbed Harlowin’s arm, saying, "It’s time to leave, Ms. Harlowin, I need your photograph!"

"I... I don’t have any photographs," Harlowin said, confused.

"No, you do, you just don’t know it," Chen Ke said.

"You can’t win, this is my world! Do you think I’d let you find me? Forget it!" The camera shouted, then its lens emitted a white light so bright that Chen Ke could not look directly at it; he had to shield his eyes with his hand.

"Click!"

A shutter sound with an echo filled the heavens and the earth, turning the world blue, and everything came to a halt.

Time had stopped... The camera had this trick up its sleeve, but obviously, it had no effect on Chen Ke.

But Harlowin was frozen in her confused state, even her flowing white hair was suspended mid-air.

"Hehehehe... No matter who you are, as long as you can’t find that photograph, you will never be able to leave. Without Harlowin, you cannot succeed. You’ll just stay in this photograph forever!" The camera boasted smugly, its large head slowly fading into the clouds.

The fractured space-time did not heal; the streets at his feet were intact, but all around, broken cement chunks remained, the whole setting subdued in a static blue tone, while beyond the rubble lay a mysterious, cosmic void.

The camera was right, if he didn’t find a new photograph, Chen Ke could only be trapped here. Moreover, with the surroundings destroyed, there was no way to return through the advertisements at the station.

The duplicates created by the camera a moment ago caught his attention; Chen Ke’s own duplicates were not in Lin Mo’s form, but in his original form.

This meant the camera saw his soul’s origin, not the transmigrated exterior.

This camera was, so far, the only thing capable of exposing his transmigrator identity. It must not be left behind!