Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 168 - 160 Soul Rebirth 1

Chapter 168: 160 Soul Rebirth 1

"Could the Chen Long be the prototype of those monsters..." Lu Youxun mused, "Your suspicion is not without reason. The monsters’ bodily enhancements are quite comprehensive, from physical strength to muscle explosiveness, from sensory perception to reflexes, and even to immune system and Magic Resistance... Such all-encompassing amplification indeed possesses the ’All-round Enhancement’ quality of the Chen Long, and even the way their bodies overload and explode after death has a similar flavor..."

After a brief pause, he still shook his head in denial, "But I still believe he is not it. The earliest appearance of the monsters was a year and a half ago, while Chen Long’s betrayal occurred two years ago. At that time, there were no signs of him ascending to the Great Success Rank.

"It’s precisely because the past me summoned ’the Great Success Rank version of myself’ with his help that I am clearer than most people. The challenge to break through the demon hunter’s limit, for both me and him, was nearly an impossible task. Even for him, such a challenge could not possibly be completed within half a year.

"The most reasonable explanation for his current achievement of the Great Success Rank is that he underwent the Human Bureau’s monster transformation... No, even with monster transformation, it should not be possible to elevate an achieved level to the Great Success Rank, but this is the only possibility I can think of.

"He did not have the power to control shadows in the past, yet now he does. This is ironclad proof of his undergoing monster transformation."

Zhu Shi continued thoughtfully, "As for the prototype, the source of the monster technology, it must be at least above the Great Success Rank. If Chen Long, who became a Great Success Rank through monster technology, is the prototype, then it would lead to a chicken-and-egg conundrum."

"So there’s another being as the prototype, and the Human Bureau currently has at least two individuals at the Great Success Rank?" I pondered while speaking.

Merely receiving monster transformation to upgrade to the Great Success Rank—if such a convenient technology could really be invented so casually, then the vast Luo Mountain wouldn’t only be able to put forth less than twenty individuals of the Great Success Rank.

However, Chen Long’s acceptance of monster transformation and his rise to the Great Success Rank is an undeniable fact. Could this phenomenon, turning the impossible into possible, also have something to do with the Divine Seal Fragment?

Although I didn’t want to attribute all unexplained matters to the power of the Divine Seal Fragment, this explanation is just too all-encompassing, and I find it really hard not to think in that direction.

"The reason Luo Mountain views the Human Bureau as one of the three major threats isn’t because they’re strong now, nor because of their potential for development, but because they largely represent the secular society’s resistance to Transcendents’ rule," Lu Youxun pondered, "If secular society possesses the technology to create Great Success Rank individuals, even if there’s just a possibility for such a rudimentary technology to emerge, Luo Mountain will absolutely not sit by idly."

Zhu Shi and Mr. Zhu seemed to have different ideas. But when it comes to the interaction between Luo Mountain and secular society, Governance Ideology and Extraordinaryism are doomed not to see eye to eye.

"Let’s not talk about that for now." Mr. Zhu changed the subject first, "Shi, as you’ve seen, our place is not just badly off, it’s downright a ruin, so where do you plan to stay tonight?"

Zhu Shi was taken aback by the question, "Where? If worse comes to worst, I’ll just find a hotel..."

"Just so happens, Zhuang Cheng’s neighbor’s house is currently unoccupied, so you can stay there for the time being," Mr. Zhu stated with an irrefutable tone.

"Wait a second, why would Grandpa know something like that? Did you go check it out beforehand?" Zhu Shi expressed her surprise, "Besides, don’t we have other properties here in Saltwater City?"

"Are you being silly, my dear granddaughter? Those houses are just there, and they must have gathered a lot of dust. How can one just move in immediately? Besides, if you live close to Zhuang Cheng, it’s convenient to communicate in case of any urgent matters, isn’t it right?" Mr. Zhu spoke earnestly, "Don’t worry, I already talked to the landlord there yesterday, and the rent is paid. You can move right in."

Zhu Shi’s mouth hung open, "To think my opinion would be disregarded..."

Mr. Zhu let out a weary sigh first, then turned to look at me, revealing a grave expression, he said, "Zhuang Cheng, this time my grandson Changan has been kidnapped. Although, as you know, I truly cannot bring myself to like my son-in-law and the demon child he had with that woman, he has already become a member of the Zhu family.

"So... I am asking for your help, to rescue him from the clutches of the Human Bureau. Please."

He bowed his head deeply.

-

Zhu Shi was about to become a neighbor to Mazao and me, which I naturally welcomed with open arms. At the same time, I also agreed to Mr. Zhu’s request. Even if he hadn’t asked, I was originally eager to rescue Changan as soon as possible.

Changan was most likely abducted by Chen Long to the Human Bureau’s secret base.

Although I am not entirely clear whether a human-demon hybrid is rare or common in the abnormal world, Changan, as a child born of a human and a Great Success demon, is definitely a rare species even among human-demon hybrids. To an organisation like the Human Bureau that indulges in human experimentation and modification, he must be an exceptional subject.

This sounds alarming, but on the other hand, even if the Human Bureau intends to harm Changan, they are unlikely to subject him to destructive experiments in the short term. However, I am utterly ignorant in the field of research and experimentation, so the accuracy of this superficial assessment is unknown.

As one of the top decision-makers of the Human Bureau, Ying Lingyun is Changan’s father. Assuming he is still alive, he probably wouldn’t commit cruel acts against a child born of a loved one—this is one of the reasons I use to persuade myself to stay calm. But regardless of Ying Lingyun’s uncertain fate, he has long been mad with power, and the theory that even a tiger won’t eat its cubs may not hold true for him. It is also difficult for me to entrust a friend’s safety entirely to the mental state of another.

Mr. Zhu left us temporarily to go collect Zhu Shi’s mother from the military hospital. While gathering details from Zhu Shi, he also confirmed the situation at the hospital by phone. Since Chen Long intended to harm the Zhu family, Zhu Shi’s mother could also become a target. Mr. Zhu hoped to place his daughter under substantial protection first, and then join us in searching for Changan’s whereabouts.

Currently, we have two leads. One is the old base of the Human Bureau.

That place is riddled with dangerous unknowns and is also where Ying Lingyun hid the fragments of the divine seal, and who knows how many hidden surveillance devices and traps are set up there. I privately relayed this information to Zhu Shi, and after listening, she asked, "You mean, although there are fragments of the divine seal there, there is no sign of my father... Could it be that he is not bound to his own divine seal fragment?"

I replied, "According to what Number One said before, it seems that only those who have been pulled into the Void Realm are considered bound to the divine seal fragment, and he probably heard this from the Master of Divine Seal in the past."

However, it’s also possible that Number One was just speaking off the cuff? It would be embarrassing if that were the case. At least in my opinion, the mechanism by which the chosen are bound to the divine seal fragments should be a specific arrangement made by the Master of Divine Seal for them.

"An abandoned research facility in the middle of nowhere, countless unknown entities lurking within, and an ultimate treasure left there..." Zhu Shi seemed to make an association, "Could it be that the old base of the Human Bureau became desolate not because of the collective space transfer as Lu Youxun mentioned, but because of some inconceivable experimental accident?"

Because of an experimental accident resulting in supernatural phenomena, which in turn caused all related personnel inside the facility to vanish from the mortal world, leaving behind intact research facilities, unsorted documents, and coffee cups and teapots still warm—It seems I’ve seen fictional stories similar to this situation before.

A typical experimental accident couldn’t possibly lead to such a sci-fi horror story-like outcome. Yet, the experiments once conducted at the old base of the Human Bureau were just like those from sci-fi horror stories, and I’ve started to wonder if the reality might indeed be as such.

The other lead is Chen Long’s severed arm.

This clue is relatively safer to investigate, and it’s also the flesh and blood left by the person who definitely abducted Changan; the direction is more precise. Both "the old base of the Human Bureau" and "Chen Long’s severed arm" would require Mazao’s retrospective investigation abilities. Without a doubt, the latter should be prioritized over the former.

I handed the severed arm over to Mazao, then joined her, Zhu Shi, and Lu Youxun to Luo Mountain’s office.

Luo Mountain has several offices in Saltwater City. In addition to dealing with paperwork, they also support Evil who fight on the front lines. Usually, there are at least two agents stationed in these places, and if an Evil is injured, they would come here for supplies and treatment. The office near Saltwater University is opposite the public security department, while the one we came to is on the edge of the city center. It looks quite desolate around, which is more in line with Luo Mountain’s secretive style.

We came here mainly to find a place for Mazao to comfortably examine the severed arm; we couldn’t let her take out a charred human arm in a place with ordinary people watching. Secondly, it was to investigate the state of my soul and see to what extent it had been damaged by the previous battle with Chen Long.

From the outside, this place looks like a real estate agency, but inside, it’s like a proper clinic. The agent stationed here took out a small mirror, had me breathe on it a few times, then left the room for a moment like a doctor who had just collected a patient’s bodily fluids.

In ancient belief, breath was associated with the soul because living people breathe and dead people don’t. It was seen as an element closely related to life and death. There are even assertions that at the moment of death, the soul leaves through the mouth and nose. Perhaps I had just collected some trace elements of my soul.

While the stationed agent was analyzing, I took the opportunity to ask Lu Youxun a question that had been on my mind for quite some time.