This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 448 The Fourth Random Analysis

Chapter 448: Chapter 448 The Fourth Random Analysis

When the bell of Big Ben struck eight times, over a dozen boys and girls climbed out of a backstreet window, each agilely extending their hands.

Some ascended to the rooftop following the wall’s protrusions, others slid down into alleys, then stealthily blended with the crowd on the streets, while the remaining children inside started the cleaning work.

According to Jacob, the children took turns stealing in shifts every three days and also switched blocks in order to avoid drawing the attention of the officers at the Administration Bureau.

But still, if they remained long enough in Langdon City, every child would eventually become a familiar face at the Administration Bureau.

However, the officers were very aware that the petty thieves scattered throughout Langdon, like eyes spread across a map of Langdon, could see and hear many secrets.

And they only stole small items like change and pocket watches from pedestrians, which did not cause much harm.

So, with just a little bribe of stolen goods and some information, Jacob and his children would continue to be tolerated by Langdon’s security system.

Chen Ke followed Jacob out of the window, watching Jacob easily climb up to the rooftop using his hands and feet, while he could only sit on the windowsill, staring blankly.

Jacob dropped down a rope, and Chen Ke grabbed it, climbing up the wall.

He was pulled onto the rooftop by Jacob and stood at the edge of the roof, looking into the distance. The cool air penetrated his bones, and Chen Ke saw Jacob exhaling hot breath.

The Taist River flowed ceaselessly; a few steamboats traveled downstream, the gray-white smokestacks had started emitting harmful gases into the sky early in the morning, and the streets were jammed with carriages that couldn’t move ahead.

Below, people were cursing; the horses lethargically breathed heavily. Indeed, even in the 19th century, there were already traffic jams.

"I take a deep breath, like smoking a cigarette. Visible black carbon ash dances in the air, surely, many in Langdon City suffer from lung diseases," said Chen Ke.

"Isn’t it normal to have carbon ash in the air? After all, there are so many factories," Jacob replied, puzzled.

"So... what do we do now?" Chen Ke asked.

Jacob put two fingers in his mouth and blew a whistle. At the same time, the children who had climbed out of the window earlier appeared from the roofs nearby.

He extended his palm to Chen Ke, who quickly understood, taking out his wallet and placing a blue Holy Diamond into Jacob’s hand.

Jacob picked up the Holy Diamond and raised it towards the children, then made a series of hand signs.

"Hmm... is this some kind of thieves’ sign language?" Chen Ke thought to himself.

The children got the message and ran off, disappearing behind chimneys and billboards on the rooftops.

"Alright, I’ve told them all the necessary information. Now, all we have to do is wait quietly," Jacob said.

"Uh... what did all those hand gestures mean?" asked Chen Ke.

"Mox, familiar, Edward, orange, report back after finding," replied Jacob.

"I saw your gestures just now weren’t very complicated... can they really contain so much information?" Chen Ke was somewhat astonished.

"I was pulling your leg. I already told them when you were asleep. Just now was just showing them what the diamond looked like and telling them to be careful," Jacob clapped Chen Ke on the shoulder and laughed.

Chen Ke shook his head. Jacob turned and walked towards the edge of the roof and suddenly jumped off.

"Damn... hey!" Chen Ke exclaimed, hurrying forward to look down, only to find Jacob crawling out of a haystack behind a carriage.

...

With nothing else to do, Chen Ke and Jacob strolled the streets. Jacob’s purpose in shopping was actually to covertly protect his children, while Chen Ke was simply killing time.

The 19th-century streets had little allure, and he never understood why there were so many people on the streets of Langdon.

People shoulder to shoulder, squeezed onto narrow sidewalks, with non-stop carriages right beside them. Some horses would defecate right where they were during a traffic jam, that foul smell mixed with coal debris in the air, assaulting the olfactory nerves while also tormenting the lungs.

Moreover, the hygiene conditions of the Langdon people genuinely troubled Chen Ke—the streets were flooded with sewage, high-rise residents threw their excrement out onto the street without a second thought, and a faint smell of feces seemed to drift in from nowhere...

He was relieved that he at least didn’t need to go down into the sewers on this trip, which would undoubtedly be more disgusting than those in Opportunity City.

As Jacob busied himself with his own affairs, Chen Ke leisurely leaned against the wall observing the people of this era. He had no interest in shopping and couldn’t be bothered to wander into any stores, especially after the two dreams from the previous night had left him somewhat confused.

Having some rare downtime, Chen Ke finally began his fourth reflection to try and clarify his situation and objectives.

First, he had lost Xu Jing. Without Xu Jing, he couldn’t return to the United Federation in the year 2009.

The task Xu Jing had entrusted to him was minor; failing to return to 2009 meant Diana and Wang Ailin were likely to die at the hands of Lin Yaying’s assassins—a scenario Chen Ke did not wish to occur.

But without An Helei’s dirge, the power of An Helei’s ashes couldn’t be exerted fully, since, without Flame Immunity, his palms wouldn’t heat up to 1000 degrees before he himself burned to death.

If he could just retrieve the Holy Diamond and combine it with the many souls he had acquired from his last battle, facing another Chen Ke, he felt he still had the potential to fight.

Moreover, Xu Jing was very likely in the hands of this other Chen Ke; after all, given Xu Jing Foundation Agent’s skills, not many things in this world could detain her, even if she came face to face with a Secret Keeper, she wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.

But, what if the situation were even more complex...?

Perhaps the other Chen Ke had already left this era with Xu Jing?

At that thought, Chen Ke found himself quite anxious and vehemently denied such an assumption.

The cycle of Fan Hede’s Great Void had completed; Chen Ke’s Life Transfer Gate could no longer access that place, nor could it warp back to the United Federation in 2009.

Even if he could use his abilities to return, based on past experiences, it would still cost him at least half a month’s time. This would undoubtedly endanger Wang Ailin’s situation.

Diana was from the Administration Bureau. Even if Lin Yaying’s people didn’t consider this, after being injected with Spiritual Energy, Diana would still have some self-protection ability, but Wang Ailin was merely a research scientist...

Only Xu Jing could take him back to the exact moment they had left.

This was ostensibly all he needed to deal with now, but the real focus, what confused him most, were the two dreams from last night.

Is this world real? Chen Ke extended his right hand, observing the palm and fingerprints that felt both familiar and strange.

He could feel his body functioning, but as well known, without a heart as a muscle pump, blood couldn’t circulate through the body; without eating and excreting, the human body couldn’t metabolize.

Such a state of death would lead the body to develop lividity, worrying about decay, muscles becoming degenerate, skin drying out, and, eventually, turning into a mummified corpse.

But Chen Ke’s condition was extremely unreasonable.

He lacked a heart, and indeed his blood did not circulate, yet areas that should be engorged still became engorged, his face still flushed when he was angry, he continued experiencing temperature changes, but he lost reactions to the cold and warmth.

Chen Ke didn’t need to breathe but could breathe voluntarily, swallowing all sorts of things, though there would be no response after they went down his throat. Yet, from multiple experiences of injuries, it seemed Chen Ke still had internal organs.

Thinking so much, Chen Ke almost wanted to dissect himself to see what was really inside. Not only was his body filled with contradictions, but this altered world also felt like it was just playing tricks.

This life countdown, on one hand, had greatly helped Chen Ke, but on the other hand, without it, Chen Ke wouldn’t have experienced all this.

"Reboot number 742," Chen Ke mumbled to himself.

All his doubts slammed into this phrase. What did this sentence represent? Chen Ke couldn’t help but fantasize.

If he truly existed only within some dream, could it be that the dream itself was what was being rebooted?

But this didn’t seem likely, as a reboot meant starting over from zero, unless those within the dream assigned a brand-new meaning to rebooting.

Yet, after the dreams ended, he was back in 19th century Langdon, and everything still continued as before.

Chen Ke looked up at the bleak gray sky. If only Wang Ailin were here.