Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 155 - 147 Imaginary Enemy 2

Chapter 155: 147 Imaginary Enemy 2

Mr. Zhu’s voice was quite calm.

"Since you never intended to give up on that girl from the beginning, don’t think about dissolving the opponent’s malice through negotiations later on. Doing so would be equivalent to handing over the initiative to someone more powerful."

He then added, "As for what I told you earlier about not killing the demon hunter of the Great Success Rank Impermanence, pretend you never heard that. You can kill if necessary—don’t show mercy to the enemy."

"What about you guys?" I asked. "If I make an enemy of Impermanence, will it affect the Zhu family?"

"You can rest assured on that front," he said bluntly. "In such a scenario, our Zhu family will make a timely cut from you. You haven’t yet pledged allegiance to the Zhu family, and outsiders are unaware of our private transactions; it’s very simple for us to remain uninvolved. Just find a place to hide. You don’t need to worry about my granddaughter; although naive, she is not foolish enough to come out and hinder you then."

Mr. Zhu’s demeanor was quite composed; although it meant distancing himself from me, I couldn’t feel any resentment, and moreover, it was what I hoped for.

Towards the end, his tone appeared deliberately relaxed, "Of course, it would be best not to end up in such a situation. With your level of power, as long as you don’t provoke Impermanence, you can do as you please in Luo Mountain."

I went along with his rhetoric, "Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that."

After a few words, my conversation with Mr. Zhu ended.

I turned and left the room, heading to the living room. Mazao was already fully prepared and waiting at the entrance.

"Let’s head out," I said.

-

Of course, I didn’t plan to flee with Mazao just yet.

I intended to move toward the direction of the "clinic" with Mazao.

The "clinic" was where the Weirdo Maker used to perform medical examinations for his creations. Although it was now empty, with Mazao’s blessing power, it should still be possible to retrieve substantial information from there. We hadn’t investigated before due to Mazao’s soul trauma, but now that she had recovered somewhat, I decided to take her there for the investigation.

In truth, I had hoped Mazao would continue recuperating at home for a while longer, ideally until I hear back from the Water Navy Xuanwu, who would let her soul greatly recover with the elixir he was preparing.

By then, I might also have to face the Flame Ability User demon hunter of the Great Success Rank who harbored hatred against me.

Although Water Navy Xuanwu was not Impermanence, he had a trump card capable of endangering Impermanence, and I needed to confront him with the same level of resolve. Through this opportunity, maybe I could also find out the extent of my full strength.

I know such talk might sound ambiguous. To know how strong I could become when going all out, I could just find a deserted place to let loose. Even if my destructive power is immense, unleashing it in an uninhabited wilderness or a desert could also be a method. My full strength wouldn’t likely blow up the entire barren area.

In fact, I had done such reckless things in deserted places before, but I felt that such levels didn’t allow me to unleash my full potential.

My flame is my Spirit, and the extent of the Spiritual Power varies with emotions. The human body can unleash up to 120% of its power in life-and-death situations, a phenomenon that should be even more evident in the realm of consciousness. The power that can be unleashed by human consciousness in mundane daily life versus in extreme crises is worlds apart.

Without an enemy that could threaten my life, without corresponding pressure, let alone 120% of power, perhaps I wouldn’t even be able to muster 80% of my strength.

It might be somewhat embarrassing to say, but it isn’t something I can decide on my will. It could also mean I lack control over my own power, which is an area where I am immature. I suppose other demon hunters—like Water Navy Xuanwu—probably don’t have this issue.

Mr. Zhu had probably considered making him the family’s support, but unlike me, Water Navy Xuanwu indeed had a feud with Impermanence. Besides, always elusive and free in legends, he probably had no interest in becoming someone’s support.

And I had different reasons. Although I hadn’t accepted the allegiance Mr. Zhu mentioned, surely to avoid affecting my friendships with Zhu Shi and Changan, upon reflection, I should have also considered Mazao’s involvement at that time.

Perhaps seeing that Zhu Shi had the power to protect himself, Changan also gradually showed potential self-protection, I might have been lax in some judgments. In reality, Mazao and I still could not casually socialize with others. We were currently interacting with Zhu Shi and others for the investigation of the apocalypse, but after this part of the "mission" concluded, I would ultimately have to keep as much distance as possible.

Needless to say, I hadn’t forgotten my promise. Should Zhu Shi and others find themselves in peril, I would definitely rush to their side.

Back to the main topic, although I didn’t want Mazao to use her power so soon, since she couldn’t stay idle, I eventually couldn’t withstand her persistence and took her to the "clinic."

The "clinic" was a necessary route for our investigation of the Human Bureau, which was our primary target in the investigation of the apocalypse.

In terms of involvement with the apocalypse, the Human Bureau revealed much more complicity than the Master of Divine Seal.

Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun received advance notifications; the former was waiting at the "clinic" entrance beforehand, while the latter arrived almost at the same time as us.

Upon seeing me and Mazao, Lu Youxun approached us proactively.

I observed him closely.

"I just heard from Zhu Shi on the phone," he said to Mazao, "that you have the ability to investigate the historical records of a designated place using consciousness, right?" He continued, "I also tried to investigate the history of this ’clinic’ using my Divination skills a few days ago but encountered anti-divination measures. Are you sure you’ll be okay?"

"No problem, probably," Mazao answered.

"That’s good..." Lu Youxun nodded and then looked at me with confusion, "Um... why are you staring at me like that?"

"It’s nothing."

In my mind, I compared his physique with that of Number One.

Number One held a grudge against Ying Lingyun, and Lu Youxun held a grudge against the Weirdo Maker—could Number One’s real identity be Lu Youxun?

Although the plot of "a member of the mysterious organization being someone I know" might seem too coincidental, with Mazao’s "coincidence trigger" around me, I couldn’t easily dismiss it just because it was too coincidental.

However, from what I observed, although Lu Youxun was also rather tall, his build was generally balanced, whereas Number One’s unhealthy skinny tallness looked quite different visually.

Setting aside his confusion for the moment, Lu Youxun then turned to Zhu Shi.

"By the way, Zhu Shi, I saw the report you filed recently..." he mentioned nonchalantly, "the real identity of the Weirdo Maker is your father, Ying Lingyun... is that true?"