This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!

Chapter 44: Chapter 044 +1 Year

The eerie white-clothed monster moved, slowly drifting towards Chen Ke.

The entire corridor also began to change gradually. The four sets of glass double doors and the surrounding walls melted away like a faded crayon drawing on a canvas.

The space returned to its original state, and Chen Ke realized he had been standing in an office all along. When he had first stepped out of the elevator, the corridor he was in was indeed real, but that shove had pushed him into an illusion.

The stone walls within the doorframe were nothing more than an illusion technique. It’s just that the illusion was so lifelike, it had tricked his brain and made his body feel physical sensations.

Now, the white-clothed monster was standing by the glass door of the office, leisurely drifting towards him. Strangely enough, Chen Ke couldn’t feel any killing aura from it.

The monster’s body slowly became thin and transparent as if it was about to dissolve into the air, followed by the surrounding scenery once again slowly morphing into the appearance of the illusory corridor.

...

The grey-black corridor illusion spread from beneath the white-clothed monster’s feet, slowly covering the office floor and walls. As the monster became more transparent, the scope of the illusion’s cover grew larger and more realistic.

Chen Ke understood, this monster had no means of attack—itself was the illusion. His prior accidental shot with the Punishment bullets had temporarily shattered the illusion, but now, it was unfolding the illusion once more.

“I’ve seen it all before.”

Chen Ke raised his M1911A1 and pulled the trigger at the white-clothed monster that was about to vanish, the bullet accurately hitting the monster’s head.

Even though the monster was physically immune, the Punishment attribute of the bullets could still inflict damage. As the bullet passed through the monster, it emitted a burst of white light resembling Holy Light, before burrowing into the wall behind the creature.

The burst of light instantly sheared off half of the monster’s head. There was no blood, no other fluids, or tissues flew out, just the monster’s form trembling violently in mid-air, then slowly disintegrating into white light dust, scattering on the floor.

The partially mutated surroundings instantly reverted back to normal. The corpse of the dog at Chen Ke’s feet ceased its twitching, and a few steps away on the floor, the white-clothed monster had turned into a pile of powder, resembling cigarette ash.

He looked doubtfully at the pistol in his hand.

Even with attribute dominance, surely the Punishment bullets shouldn’t be this powerful? Since the Administration Bureau had rated this monster as an A-level threat, it should mean this type of monster is difficult to handle.

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If one could easily exterminate all monsters with specifically targeted bullets, why would investigators even need to bother with classifications? Is it just to artificially lower their salaries?

That wasn’t logical.

Chen Ke holstered his gun, thinking that the Flame Bullet he had used to shoot the dog should have been the normal power level. Even with attribute dominance, it shouldn’t be possible to end the fight with just one shot…

This was no longer an issue of bullet performance. For some reason, Chen Ke felt it was abnormal.

At that moment, he felt the mark over his heart start to spin again. Could he open the gate and leave now? Chen Ke glanced at the Teleportation Gate’s cooldown time; there were still 3 hours and 42 minutes left…

No, this time the spinning of the mark brought a different sensation.

Chen Ke unbuttoned his shirt and looked at his chest. The eerie vortex mark was moving counter-clockwise!

He even felt an inexplicable pulling sensation, as if something from somewhere was grabbing him and dragging him back.

“What the hell…”

Chen Ke buttoned up his shirt and stepped out of the office. The scattered A4 papers still bore the marks of burning and some black ash remained on the floor.

The elevator’s floor indicator was stuck on the 9th, indicating that as soon as he had entered the elevator, he had fallen for an Illusion Technique, mistaking the button for the 9th floor as the 1st.

He wanted to take the elevator down, but Chen Ke hesitated for a moment and instead decided to take the safety passage. He fired two shots with the Spiritual Ability Pistol, not surprising that the Administration Bureau was already on the way, perhaps they had already arrived.

He would have to play hide and seek with them in this building and wait four hours before opening the Teleportation Gate to leave.

As he was thinking this, heavy breathing and hurried footsteps came from the safety passage. He stowed away his M1911A1 and gripped the PPQ.45 in his hand, hiding behind a wall to observe.

The yellow double doors “bang” open, and two disheveled figures tumbled in—it was Yang Xiao and Sleery.

As soon as Yang Xiao entered, he immediately turned back to bolt the double doors shut, apparently to evade something.

“Hey, you two?” Chen Ke came out from the corner, calling out in greeting.

The two of them jumped in shock, almost simultaneously drawing their guns on Chen Ke.

“+1 minute”

“+1 minute”

“+1 minute”

“+1 minute”

…

“Holy shit, it’s Lin Ke!” Yang Xiao exclaimed with surprise, then quickly grew tense again, looking back at the door behind him. Sleery also lowered her gun, leaning against the wall to rest.

“What are you guys hiding from?” Chen Ke asked, puzzled.

Yang Xiao’s hair was disheveled, his face and clothes were splattered with blood, but it definitely wasn’t his own. He looked panicked, as if he had just seen something he shouldn’t have.

Sleery was far worse off than Yang Xiao—a nasty cut on her thigh was so deep that the bone was almost visible, the wound flesh turned inside out, filling her boot with blood. It was a pitiful sight. Three slashes extended from her belly button to her waist on her toned abdomen. Her face was pale, pressing her hand against the wound at her midsection while she gasped for air against the wall.

Considering his own recent experience, Chen Ke deduced that there was some problem with the Black Box Space. These two people had also encountered a creature far beyond a D-level threat, but unlike himself, who had managed a double kill, they were not as lucky.

Moreover, judging by the two people’s condition, Chen Ke couldn’t help but look down on Yang Xiao.

If Sleery lacked strength, then Yang Xiao was just a coward. As a man, he actually let a woman get so severely injured—it was obvious that during the monster encounter, it was Sleery who had fought the creature alone, while this son of a bitch Yang Xiao must have been hiding somewhere.

“I don’t know why, but the monsters in this Black Box Space have exceeded the D-level category. They’re not something that investigators of our level can handle,” Sleery leaned against the wall and said.

“Does this happen often?” Chen Ke asked.

“This sort of thing should never happen—you should go ask the Administration Bureau,” Yang Xiao shook his head.

“What about the other investigators? I haven’t run into any thus far,” Chen Ke asked further.

“I don’t know, the internal communication device is down; it seems like something is interfering,” Sleery pulled out a device resembling a mobile phone, pressed a few buttons, and the device emitted static noise.

“Are you… okay? That’s a lot of blood…” Chen Ke looked at Sleery with concern.

“Won’t die, but my attractiveness must have plummeted,” Sleery said with a bitter smile.

She could still make jokes, which meant she wasn’t in grave danger.

Chen Ke then stopped fussing over Sleery, and looking towards the emergency exit’s opposite door, he asked, “What kind of creature were you guys hiding from just now? One that floats? Or a dog?”

Yang Xiao’s face turned pale at once, asking Chen Ke, “You’ve also encountered that kind of dog?”

Chen Ke pinched his chin, without telling them that there was a dog’s corpse in the next office.

“Yes, it had venom on its body, and its mouth was slit into three parts…” Chen Ke briefly described.

“It seems we haven’t encountered the same thing…” Sleery said with a smile.

Chen Ke glanced at Sleery.

“That thing had no lower jaw, but you need to be careful of its claws, otherwise, you’ll end up like me… Ow… It’s kind of painful…” Sleery winced.

Okay, a new species, a dog that fights with claws… What other strange things could there be? Bring it on, let me have a look, Chen Ke thought to himself.

“Since that’s the case, has there been any activity from the Administration Bureau’s end?” Chen Ke probed further.

“Didn’t you get the emergency evacuation signal?” Yang Xiao asked Chen Ke, taking out a brick-style communication device with an extendable Y-shaped antenna.

“A few minutes ago, the Administration Bureau notified all investigators to head to the campfire area and standby, saying something strange had happened here… The door leading outside has disappeared…” Yang Xiao said.

“That happened after you entered the elevator…” Sleery added.

Chen Ke looked at Yang Xiao, then at Sleery, unsure of what to say. He knew the situation was very strange, but in four hours, he would be able to open the Life Transfer Gate. He wasn’t worried about being trapped inside with no way out and no way in for others, which meant that it wouldn’t be so easy for someone from the Administration Bureau to come in looking for him. For now, he was as calm as an old dog.

On the other hand, Yang Xiao and Sleery, being D-level rookies, were freaking out. Sleery especially looked like she couldn’t hold on much longer—with bloodless lips and a ghastly pale face, she was clearly suffering from severe blood loss.

After thinking it over, he decided to first take the two of them to the campfire area, which was comparatively safer.

“Let’s head… Ow!” Just as Chen Ke began to speak, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He braced himself against the wall, clutching his chest through his clothing, he could feel the mark spinning rapidly.

Suddenly, a string of characters appeared in the corner of his eye, astonishing him.

“+1 year”

“Lifespan has reached the limit”

“+1 year”

“Lifespan has reached the limit”

“+1 year”

“Lifespan has reached the limit”

“+1 year”

“Lifespan has reached the limit”

…

Chen Ke had never seen a monster’s murderous aura extend his life for a year! He looked around; there were no monsters to be found, nothing at all—what was happening…

“Lin Ke? What’s going on? Don’t scare me…” Yang Xiao, seeing Chen Ke looking alarmed, also became tense.

“Shh! Don’t talk!” Chen Ke shouted.

The Killing Aura Vacuum on Chen Ke was passive; it could absorb killing intent, which meant the monster could find him and was coming for him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sensed the killing aura.

But now, he saw no creature.

And he couldn’t believe that a creature that could extend his life by one year was the same one Yang Xiao and Sleery were avoiding. How terrifying would such a creature have to be? If Sleery had even been touched by it, she would probably have been torn in half, not just injured to this extent!