「Inside the warehouse.」
Under the dim yellow light, Zhou Chen stared at Yang, his face devoid of expression.
Yang was a ss. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead, his face was a canvas of bruises, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He gasped for air, clearly having been viciously beaten and tortured.
"I never thought... you were one of them, too..."
Yang struggled to lift his gaze to him, his voice weak and breathless. "Take my advice and back out now... They’re not good people..."
In the silence, Zhou Chen shook his head. "There’s no turning back for now."
"You two know each other?" Li Xiaoxiao, who was standing nearby, asked quizzically. This was rather unexpected.
"We’ve t a few tis." Zhou Chen asked, "How did you catch him?"
"A couple of days ago, he was hunting an Illegal Ascender who had snuck into the city. He ended up accidentally trespassing on the Birdman’s territory and got caught.
Since you two know each other, I don’t need to make any introductions."
Li Xiaoxiao’s eyes darted between them. "But you two don’t look like you’ve only t a few tis."
"We’ve had a few als together. He still owes money," Zhou Chen sighed.
’If they’re acquaintances, that’s even better...’ Li Xiaoxiao’s lips curled into a mocking smile. ’Isn’t this the perfect test?’
She gave a signal with her eyes. A young man acknowledged the order, walked over to Zhou Chen, and handed him a pistol.
At this point, the nature of the test was crystal clear.
—Kill him. Kill this Star Association Operator.
Prove your loyalty to us!
"Why... Why are you working for them..." Yang coughed violently.
"For myself, of course," Zhou Chen said indifferently as he took the pistol, gently stroking its cold fra. "The Star Association can’t give what they can. I just want to survive. Is that so wrong?"
"..." Yang seed to understand. He let out a deep sigh and said no more.
A long silence descended. Everyone waited, holding their breath for Zhou Chen’s decision.
"Any last words?" Zhou Chen suddenly asked.
Yang managed a weak smile. "Looks like I won’t be able to pay you back..."
"In that case..."
Zhou Chen raised the pistol and took aim. A flicker of conflict showed deep in his eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it ca, replaced by a cold, firm resolve.
"Goodbye."
BANG.
Blood sprayed. A hole appeared in Yang’s forehead. His body gave a slight twitch, then slumped lifelessly in the chair.
Zhou Chen lowered his gaze. After a long mont, he let out a heavy breath and tossed the pistol back. He turned to Li Xiaoxiao, his eyes completely devoid of emotion, as still as a stagnant pond.
It was as if he had severed all ties with his forr self.
"Did I pass?"
"Of course," Li Xiaoxiao smiled. "Perfect score."
She took two steps forward and straightened Zhou Chen’s collar, acting like a doting girlfriend who was thoroughly pleased with the results of a little test she’d put her boyfriend through.
"We’ll let them handle things here. I’ll take you to the initiation ceremony. All your questions will be answered."
·
·
「In the secret operations team’s room.」
Yang took off the tal helt, a ss of wires dangling from it, and let out a whistle.
’Ga over.’
"Not bad. This VR ga is really sothing else."
He stood up from the recliner, stretched comfortably, and looked over at Jiang Che, who was sitting in front of a massive screen. "I don’t know how my performance was, but that kid can really act. That last scene was a textbook performance, good enough for a movie. Add the right BGM, and he’d win Best Actor this year. He might even go down in film history. Are you sure he wasn’t a drama major?"
Jiang Che took a calm sip of her coffee, quite satisfied with Zhou Chen’s performance as well. "It’s a natural talent."
"So he’s a natural-born actor."
Yang glanced at the large screen. "So he’s in, right?"
Jiang Che nodded.
She had been mulling over how Eternal Fire would conduct Zhou Chen’s final test for a long ti.
The most likely scenario was that they would make him kill soone.
Kill a good person. An innocent person.
It was the fastest, most convenient, and most effective thod.
If he harbored any kindness, he wouldn’t be able to harm an innocent person. His "disloyalty" to their cause would be exposed.
The Abyss Church has no need for kindhearted followers.
And if he did kill, Eternal Fire would see it in one of two ways.
The first possibility was that Zhou Chen still had so good in him but was forced to kill an innocent to survive. This wouldn’t be a major concern for Eternal Fire. They believed they could eventually stamp out any lingering kindness in his heart and guide him, step by step, into becoming a faithful follower of the King of Chaos.
The second possibility was that Zhou Chen was exactly as he appeared: a psychopathic Killing Maniac, twisted by his damaged Soul. He would kill indiscriminately—good, bad, or innocent—without batting an eye.
Either outco would be acceptable to Eternal Fire.
In other words, all Zhou Chen had to do to pass the test was pull the trigger.
The biggest question, however, was this: if faced with the real situation, would he actually pull the trigger?
Jiang Che wasn’t willing to take that gamble. Even though she could force Zhou Chen to obey her command at the critical mont, she didn’t want to risk it.
And just as she was puzzling over this problem, a man by the na of Yang appeared before her, seeking her approval on paperwork for a custom Advancent ritual from the Alchemy Departnt.
And just like that, a plan was born.
They couldn’t have him kill an innocent person, but an artificial one? That was another story.
First, she went to the Alchemy Biology Departnt and had them create an Alchemy Puppet modeled after Yang. Next, she had the Research Departnt implant a micro-brainwave control device and a stitched, non-sentient Soul. Finally, they infused it with Yang’s own Essence as a final layer.
And just like that, they had an Artificial Human with flesh, bone, a Soul, and Essence Fluctuation—a perfect, 100% match.
All Yang had to do was sit there and play a hyper-realistic VR ga, get his head blown off by Zhou Chen at the end, and he would receive a massive mission bonus to pay off his loans. He agreed without a second thought.
For Jiang Che, this move was still a gamble. She couldn’t be certain that Eternal Fire would use the captured Yang for Zhou Chen’s final test.
As it turned out, her gamble paid off.
’The consequences of killing a Star Association Operator are far more severe than killing an ordinary person. This would bind Zhou Chen to them that much more tightly.’
"He’s on his way to the initiation. Do we move in?" Yang asked.
Jiang Che shook her head. "The initiation will likely just be him, Li Xiaoxiao, and maybe a few small-ti grunts. It’s not worth springing the trap for that."
Just then, a luxurious villa appeared on the screen. It was in an affluent neighborhood on the waterfront, a place where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold.
"This is my place. I co here sotis to stay by myself. It’s pretty big, so if you get tired later, feel free to just head to bed, no problem."
Li Xiaoxiao linked her arm through Zhou Chen’s, reverting to her persona of a sweet, innocent young beauty. She "accidentally-on-purpose" brushed against him as they walked.
Zhou Chen remained perfectly composed, following her toward the villa.
Suddenly, he seed to sense sothing and turned his head, his gaze sweeping over a patch of green lawn in the distant shadows.
"What’s wrong?" Li Xiaoxiao asked.
"Probably just a cat. I’m being a little paranoid."
Zhou Chen pulled his gaze back and shook his head, saying nothing more. The next mont, he was speaking into his comms channel:
"I’m detecting a faint Essence Fluctuation. It’s probably the ’Gentleman’ who’s been lurking in the shadows!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers