Lord of Prayer - Chapter 227 - 167: Investigation, Part 2
Chapter 227: Chapter 167: Investigation, Part 2
“Alchemy is quite amazing, isn’t it?” Zhou Chen smiled at her.
“Can I learn it?” Li Xiye asked.
“Something like this depends on talent. I can teach you when I have time.” Zhou Chen got on his motorcycle and pulled a bank card from his pocket. It contained the prize money from the competition.
He handed the bank card to Li Xiye and said, “Help me deposit all this money into the World Bank account we opened before. Don’t make it a fixed-term deposit this time; just let it collect interest as a demand deposit. If you’re short on cash in the future, you can withdraw from it.”
“Huh?” Li Xiye took the bank card, surprised. Before she could say anything, Zhou Chen twisted the throttle, shot out of the garage on his motorcycle, and sped away.
The motorcycle’s engine didn’t make a single sound; it was completely silent. Zhou Chen had specially set up a soundproofing Matrix to prevent the noise from revealing his location.
Li Xiye watched his receding figure, then looked down at the bank card. ’What a strange person…’
The dog barked in agreement.
“Do you think he’s trying to hit on me?” Li Xiye asked the dog.
The husky gave her a look of disdain.
“Otherwise, why would he casually toss me a hundred million and tell me to spend it whenever I’m short on cash? Even for an Ascender, he shouldn’t be *that* rich, right?”
The husky continued to look at her with disdain, as if to say, ’You think you’re worth that much?’
“Tsk…”
Li Xiye clicked her tongue in annoyance. “You need to go on a diet. No meat for the next three days.”
“…” The husky immediately wilted.
Just then, Li Xiye’s phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket and saw it was a call from her other best friend, Guan Yao.
“Xiao Ye, come save me! Those bitches from before have me cornered in a KTV!”
“The ones from Number Seven High?”
“Yes, them! They’re banging on the door! Hurry up and bring people to rescue me!”
Li Xiye frowned. “Just hang on, I’m coming right now. Send me your location!”
With that, she grabbed a baseball bat that was leaning in the corner of the garage.
On the overpass, Zhou Chen sped along on his motorcycle like a flaming arrow, piercing through the thick night.
He was headed to a suburb of Hong City, thirty kilometers away, where Antonio’s men had previously found traces of the Blood Race.
Coincidentally, when Zhou Chen compared the town’s location to the map in his Spiritual World, he discovered that one of the four remaining cursors was located in that very town. If he wasn’t mistaken, it should be the old mansion the Blood Race members had entered.
As for the other three cursors, he had also used a satellite map to determine their corresponding real-world locations.
One was inside the Hong City Star Association, another in the International Financial Mansion, and the last was in a residential complex in the city center.
Zhou Chen decided to first head to Nankou Town, thirty kilometers away. The Blood Race had been there, which meant there were definitely clues. If he was lucky enough to run into a few members of the Blood Race, he might be able to interrogate them for useful information.
Besides, if he went too late, any clues there might be destroyed or taken by the Blood Race.
As for the Star Association… he did have a Star Association Operator’s ID on him, but it was from sixty years in the future. The current systems might not recognize it, and he’d probably be arrested as a spy.
Besides, if he were to go to the Star Association, he would definitely have to tell them about his journey through time to use their Power to find the truth.
From the very beginning, this had been the best option. The Star Association possessed the greatest Power in the World. Who knew how much black-ops tech was hidden in the R&D department at headquarters—they even had the Any Door. Maybe they even had something like a time machine that could send him back to the future.
But the crux of the problem was the classic butterfly effect issue for time-traveling Transmigrators.
If he had told the Star Association about his journey through time sixty years ago, then sixty years later, the Star Association should have given him a warning, or at least some kind of hint. That would have given him more confidence and allowed him to solve problems more quickly.
But the Hong City Star Association hadn’t contacted him. They hadn’t even given him any feedback on his report about the Blood Race and the Crimson Sect.
Therefore, Zhou Chen figured that, historically, he must not have contacted the Star Association. If he went to them now, it might trigger the butterfly effect and change the timeline from this point on…
Of course, this was just his speculation. There might be other possibilities, but Zhou Chen felt it was better to act cautiously. He would look for clues elsewhere first. If he really couldn’t find any information, he would go to the Star Association as a last resort.
The scenery on both sides blurred past. As Zhou Chen sped along, lost in thought, his eyes suddenly widened.
On the map in his Spiritual World, the cursor that had been in a residential complex in the city center had started to move. Its speed and trajectory were incredibly strange. One second it was in the city center, the next it had jumped to the North District, and then it zipped over to the South District, performing a series of illogical, high-speed leaps.
’What the hell…’
Zhou Chen was stunned. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. Logically, a cursor represented a person or an object, and under normal circumstances, it should be impossible for it to move at such an incredible speed.
The only things he had ever seen move this fast were the Godslaying Weapon, Tang Ling, after activating her spatial-leap module, and the Abyss Monarch – Purgatory Fire Demon she had fought.
’A Tier Four might also have this kind of Rapid Speed, but to dart around the city so brazenly… Do they think the Star Association is just for show? Is it an Ascender, or something else?’ Zhou Chen calmed down and began to think, dividing his attention to keep an eye on the cursor.
Ten minutes later, the cursor was still darting erratically around Hong City but had not left its borders. Now, its speed had slowed, and it was only jumping around a nearby area, sometimes remaining still, sometimes moving again.
’How strange…’
Zhou Chen really wanted to go and see what on earth it was, but he had already arrived at Nankou Town. Since he was already here, it wouldn’t be right to turn back now. Besides, there were clues here too.
Unlike the brilliantly lit Hong City with its rich and colorful nightlife, Nankou Town was utterly silent late at night. Only a 24-hour convenience store cast its light onto the street, its clerk playing on their phone out of boredom. All the other buildings were hidden in deep, lightless Darkness, and there were no pedestrians or vehicles on the main road.
Zhou Chen rode his motorcycle to a large shopping mall, found a parking area, and left the bike there. Then, he took a mask from his pocket, put it on, and proceeded to the old mansion on foot.
He walked along at a leisurely pace and soon arrived at a residential area. He narrowed his eyes slightly.
An Ascender’s perception told him that a dark aura was present up ahead.
—a Dark Barrier constructed by the Blood Race!
A Dark Barrier could twist the perceptions of normal people, infinitely reducing the presence of the area it shrouded. Even if people walked right past it, they wouldn’t notice anything was there. It could also serve defensive and warning purposes.
’A day ago, Antonio’s men saw a Dark Barrier here, and there’s one now… Could it be that the Blood Race didn’t find any useful clues before, so they have to come back and search every night?’
Zhou Chen muttered as he drew closer, remaining vigilant for any eyes watching from the shadows.
It was nighttime, when the Power of the Blood Race was at its peak. They could transform into bats and hide on branches, eaves, windowsills, and in every dark corner, secretly watching everything.
’If the thing here is really important to the Blood Race, then barging in isn’t a good idea. They might have sent a powerful High Level Blood Race member… Huh?’
Just as Zhou Chen was contemplating how to approach, the Dark Barrier suddenly dispelled on its own. A few bats flew from the eaves of the old mansion toward the moonlit sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
’Did they sense me? No, they left on their own… Did they give up because they couldn’t find any clues?’
Just in case, Zhou Chen made a wish to know the location of any nearby Blood Race members and discovered that they were truly gone. Not a single one was left.
’A perfect opportunity…’
