Enforcer Manual
Chapter 928 - 867: Cricket One_2

Chapter 928: Chapter 867: Cricket One_2

The car stopped after a while.

This was a remote area, "Blue Eyes" and the artificial intelligence opened the automatic door after bringing the car to a halt.

No one inside the carriage spoke, the artificial intelligences signaled with their eyes for him to get out.

Vadim wanted to ask something, but when he met the gaze of "Blue Eyes," he lost his will and complied with the other’s instructions.

"Blue Eyes" wouldn’t, and didn’t need to, explain these complex relationships to the company’s "Little Mice." It had always been the company’s practice, and his mission now was to survive as long as possible in this city.

As soon as he stepped out, the doors of the carriage closed behind him.

The vehicle bearing the insignia of the Investigation Bureau sped off, leaving him alone by the roadside.

Until someone patted his shoulder.

"Hey, aren’t you their number one fugitive? They just let you go like that?"

That was a familiar voice, and when he turned around, he saw a familiar figure; Vadim blurted out, "Aren’t you—"

"Yes, you’re not seeing things. I’ve already left this city."

"Then you..."

"I took a middle way."

Compared to the indifferent and unapproachable "Blue Eyes," Vadim found this middle-aged man with unclear details much friendlier.

The middle-aged man seemed to guess what Vadim was thinking and continued, "I told you your life wouldn’t last long, it won’t be long before that thing they installed in your head will kill you, there’s no future for you with them."

"They’ve installed a positioning system in me."

Although Vadim thought the man made some sense, he had to remind him, "Our conversation is being monitored by them right now, it won’t be long before the company comes back... Your plan has already failed."

"You don’t look very smart, kid, but alright, I’ll explain it to you once more. I’m no longer here, this is a communication between consciousnesses, and with their rudimentary skills, they can’t touch this field yet."

"...Consciousness?"

"Frankly speaking, I see that you have an extraordinary talent. So, how about it, do you want to join me?"

"You just said I wasn’t very smart."

"Indeed you’re not very smart, saying you had an extraordinary talent was just polite talk, don’t take it seriously."

The middle-aged man candidly admitted what he was thinking, "Rest assured, you’re not the chosen one, such talk has long been outdated. I just haven’t found anyone else suitable in a moment’s notice, so I chose you."

Vadim and the barbecue shop owner, it was a choice between the two.

In the end, in his mind, Vadim narrowly defeated the unknown barbecue shop owner.

Of course, this was after considering that the owner had a shop to look after and wasn’t a jobless wanderer like Vadim who could roam around freely.

It turned out that sincerity is not always a trump card.

Sometimes too much sincerity can cause discomfort, and at this moment, that was exactly how Vadim felt.

If it had been him from a few days ago, he probably would have grabbed a thermal cutting blade and attacked by now, but the experiences over the past few days had made him grow a lot, especially realizing that his true capabilities in District 4 were most likely at T4 or T5 level, meaning he probably couldn’t beat any well-known passerby on the street.

The so-called "evolution" was, in the end, just bullying those nameless extras in movies.

"What if I refuse?"

"You’re asking about the consequences?"

The middle-aged man said, "There are no consequences; after all, I’m not some kind of Devil who would dismember you over something so trivial, but by doing so you’d miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s not just anyone who gets the chance to mix with me. Young man, I can see you’ve got a lot of questions on your mind. Don’t you want to know their answers?"

"...Hit the deck and protect, what’s that all about?"

Vadim suddenly asked.

He wasn’t new to this world, and he certainly wouldn’t open up to someone he had only met twice so easily. This problem had troubled him for days, "Blue Eyes" corporation hadn’t explained the principles behind it, as if even the military technology had readily accepted this change in the "rules."

"Spiritual Energy."

The middle-aged man’s explanation was too concise, leaving Vadim even more perplexed.

"Spiritual Energy?"

"If you can refine one kind of Spiritual Energy to the extreme, you can change the world. Destruction-type Spiritual Energy corresponds to Destruction, interference-type Spiritual Energy corresponds to Dominate, and then there’s Support Type Spiritual Energy... Why am I telling you this? This is not what you should be concerned with, you will never come in contact with them in your lifetime. What you need to do is adapt to the rules when they are changed."

"How do I know if what you’re saying is true or not?"

"Well, then let’s do this."

Vadim saw the middle-aged man point his finger across the street, "Try running across the street now."

Despite being filled with doubts, Vadim did as he was told.

A minute later, he returned to where he started.

A familiar sensation rose in his chest, first a brief moment of void in his consciousness, and then—

"The other side of the street looks ordinary, there’s no need to explore it now."

"From now on, no matter what you do, you will never reach the other side of the street."

The middle-aged man crossed his arms and watched with interest as Vadim tried every trick in the book to reach the other side of the street, even though he himself couldn’t remember how many outrageous attempts he had made.

Emerging from his daze, Vadim stared blankly at the other side of the street.

Everything he had experienced was too incredible. He, the underground emperor of the Fourth District, a prosthetic implantee who had completed "evolution," couldn’t even cross the street at the moment.

In that moment, Vadim finally understood why the military technology was on such high alert.

A simple thought from the man before him could potentially turn the entire city upside down.

Back when he stood in front of that strange statue at the Church, trapped in the world of "hallucination," he felt the same way; he, and seemingly the entire city, appeared to be held in the palm of an invisible giant hand.

The middle-aged man seemed to see through his thoughts and said, "You want to ask about my purpose for finding you? Well, it has to do with my personal interest. I am very fond of a game called ’Cricket Fighting Tournament,’ and I’ve been in the top three several times, but that event has been abolished for a long time, and I haven’t had the feeling of a worthy opponent for ages."

Cricket Fighting Tournament?

Another term with unclear significance, but Vadim knew that the "cricket" referred to must not be an insect or a kind of mutant creature because the middle-aged man was sizing him up as he spoke.

The middle-aged man came to a conclusion, "Although you’re ragged, a bit of sprucing up should still make you useful. Young man, it’s time to make a decision, mix with me, or continue being the guinea pig for those machines. You can choose either."

"I..."

Vadim suddenly sat up in bed, and the sky outside had already darkened.

His consciousness was still in the morning of the previous second, when he was standing by the street talking to a middle-aged man he had met twice, facing an important decision.

Then, Vadim sensed something wrong with his body.

The "Overload" system had gone offline, and all the prosthetics had fallen into a state of malfunction.

This feeling was like being duped by a scam gang, waking up to find oneself sent to a black clinic and having their kidneys stolen.

The only difference was that he didn’t feel cold or pain, on the contrary, after all the prosthetics malfunctioned, he felt a refreshing clarity he hadn’t felt in ages.

Then, Vadim felt a dryness in his throat.

As his gaze moved to the nightstand, something unexpected happened—without any movement from him, the water cup on the nightstand seemed to understand his thoughts, lifted by some invisible force, and then, Vadim felt himself connecting with that invisible force.

"Good, you have now initially mastered the basic skills of interference-type Spiritual Energy."

A voice appeared in his head.

"It’s time to sign up for the 37th Cricket Fighting Tournament, Cricket Number One."