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Chapter 56: Acting Against the Wind
🕑 Added 2024-05-24 16:12:30 +0000 UTCWest City Military Base, Barracks No. 7.
After a night of electrical therapy, Mike yawned as he got up from the bed. The Evolved were in a deep meditative state during their sacred ritual, which could essentially replace sleep. The officer's quarters had a very comfortable environment, like a luxuriously renovated apartment from 500 years ago, with even underfloor heating to prevent any disturbance during their night-long cultivation.
The cancer pain still flared up regularly, forcing him to maintain a high intensity of cultivation. He covered his throbbing head, but in truth, after becoming Evolved, his pain tolerance had increased significantly - his former self would have been in agonizing pain by now.
His life energy had accumulated to 75%.
His divination progress had also reached a plateau.
"There are 7 divination chips left, so I can attempt to advance next."
As he stood up, Mike felt an electric current coursing through his body.
Suddenly, he noticed a young girl sleeping on the bed opposite him. Her long black hair was singed and charred.
It was the result of the electrical therapy he had undergone the night before.
"Shit."
Mike quickly found a pair of scissors and cut her hair, so that when she woke up, she would find herself with short hair instead of charred locks.
That's when Mike noticed the scattered papers around her.
They were drawings.
"Did she have another episode last night?"
Mike picked up the drawings and took a look. He was taken aback.
The first drawing depicted thick blood vessels like vines covering every corner of the streets, extending deep underground. A massive fleshy object, like a heart, pulsed as if about to explode. Embedded within were countless Necro Cult acolytes in white robes.
The second drawing showed a burning city shrouded in smoke. The massive sacred light pillar in the city center was shattered, the ground soaked in crimson blood. People were dyed in the blood, dying in agony. A radiant silhouette was torn to pieces, withering like a lotus flower.
The third drawing showed the aberrant tide surging forth as the holy light barrier collapsed.
"What the hell, is this for real?" Mike turned to look at the sleeping girl. "Can she foresee the future?"
If this was the future, then Avalon City was about to face a catastrophic disaster.
"Isabelle? Isabelle?"
Mike tried to shake the girl awake, but she wouldn't rouse. He checked her breathing and pulse, which were very weak.
She was fine yesterday, but what happened is that she's fallen ill again!
Alarmed, Mike quickly brought her to the military base's medical ward, where a highly skilled priest team claimed they could pull someone back from the brink of death.
The priests immediately ran a full-body examination on the young girl. Their equipment was like a pair of opposing translucent mirrors - simply place the person inside and their bodily data would be displayed through the scanning light.
Mike wasn't worried about anything being found, as she was already a military supply item and must have gone through countless checks before.
"Her physical condition seems fine, but the brain damage is quite severe. Does she have some kind of illness? This is more like a congenital defect that's only recently manifested. We'll give her medication, but in this case, we still recommend finding a replacement caregiver."
The priest handed Mike a brain scan report and some drugs to treat brain injuries. Honestly, Mike couldn't make heads or tails of the report.
Looking at the various bottles and cans of medication, he still felt uneasy. He felt this wasn't just simple brain damage, but rather the cost of the witch's abilities. Or perhaps a lingering aftereffect from previous captivity and experimentation.
This had Mike stumped, as his knowledge of the supernatural was very limited. The boasts he made yesterday now came back to haunt him - what an embarrassment.
With no other choice, he could only seek help from someone else.
"Time to go ask Williams..."
Clueless, Mike brought the young girl back to the dorm and changed into his imposing military officer uniform before heading out. As he passed by Noah's Organization's machine factory, he heard a familiar shout.
"Mike, you're back!"
It was Eric, dressed in a red robe but looking rather disheveled, his hair in an explosion of spikes and his face blackened with gunpowder.
"Mike, save me!"
Eric was being chased by a group of mechanics, like a game of eagle-catching chicks.
Mike saw this scene and felt puzzled as if he had traveled back two days earlier.
"Crazy!"
Tired of dealing with these two idiots, Mike turned and left.
At the entrance of the military base, the beautiful woman in the motorcycle uniform was already waiting for him on her bike.
"Can't you just ride a bike to the Heresy Tribunal yourself?"
Rose was angry when she saw him, "Do I have to get up early every morning to pick you up?"
"It's an honor for you to be responsible for picking up and dropping off an esteemed corporal like me."
Mike scoffed, "And aren't we like father and daughter? You should be filial."
Rose angrily said, "Pah, we're more like mother and son."
"Then you should come pick me up even more."
"You have no shame."
"Less talk, just drive."
"Oh..."
The Heresy Tribunal was unusually busy today, mainly because they had to interrogate more than 30 Remnants from the Deceased Department all at once. This workload was no joke, and the judges had been working through the night.
It was said that Damon still hadn't come out of the interrogation room.
No wonder Rose had such a grudge.
Mike brushed past the busy judges and went straight to the top-floor office.
Overnight, Williams seemed to have become more haggard, with increasingly dark eye circles. There were bottles and cans of medicine scattered on the desk, along with a cold cup of coffee.
Seeing someone come in, he quickly collected all the medicine and looked up.
"You're here?"
He waved his hand, "Have a seat."
Mike asked suspiciously, "Are you alright?"
Williams looked more like a terminally ill patient than Mike.
Afraid that one day he'd suddenly collapse and die.
"Don't worry about me, I'm just a bit tired."
Williams said calmly, "The mouths of these Deceased Department Remnants are very tough. Trying to extract all the legends and secrets about Holy Mountain from them is not something that can be resolved quickly."
"Their hidden secrets are very important."
Mike reminded, "They also have special methods to deal with Aberrants."
"I know, I've already interrogated that out of them."
Williams replied.
Mike sincerely admired this guy, he was indeed efficient.
"However, after I obtained that frequency, I also tried to strike them, but I couldn't get the same effect as them. Have you heard of the saying that people who sing out of tune don't have a problem with their voice, but with their ears?"
Williams lightly tapped the table, with a rhythmic sound echoing in the room, from soothing to compact, all in one breath.
Mike found it familiar, but it was a bit different from what he had heard at the time.
Anyway, his Dark Matter did not react at all.
"I used to be a very famous performer in Celestia City."
Williams answered, "So it's not my problem, but theirs. I think it's either their ear structure is different, or their brain's comprehension ability is subtly different from ordinary people. Therefore... only the Remnants of the Deceased Department can strike that kind of rhythm."
"And this frequency is quite strange. Depending on the individual differences, some can only strike a short section, while the tribal leaders can strike two to three sections."
He paused, "According to their accounts, the more coherent and persistent the rhythm, the stronger the impact on the Aberrants. If it's just a few sections, it's not very useful."
Mike fell silent, this was indeed a problem.
It's just a matter of whether Isabelle can strike out enough frequency.
As a so-called witch, perhaps she has extraordinary talents.
However, the witch is now unconscious.
"It's a headache."
Mike suddenly noticed the painting on the wall behind him.
It was a picture of a woman in red clothes, with black hair flowing, her profile blurred.
She stood in the snow, her gaze seeming to look through the painting at him, a fleeting glimpse.
The painting technique was nothing short of divine, perfectly capturing that ethereal and alluring quality, especially the faint yet piercing gaze.
"Who's this?"
Mike asked, "Your dream girl?"
Williams looked at him expressionlessly, "This is the portrait I sketched based on all the clues so far. The founder of the Necro Cult, the one who escaped from Holy Mountain."
Clearly, since learning that the origin and history of the Necro Cult was related to Holy Mountain, he had been particularly concerned about this matter, working through the night to gather clues in an attempt to find the mastermind behind the scenes.
Mike was shocked, "With just these few clues, you can sketch out such a portrait?"
Williams shook his head, "Profiling mainly relies on the accumulation of vast experience, which then sparks inspiration and intuition. It does follow a certain logic, but it's quite unbelievable to an outsider."
Mike directly slapped a portrait in front of him and said seriously, "Before you go after the leader of the Necro Cult, can you first help me catch this beast? "
This was the young man he had seen in the laboratory, the one who had conducted long-term experiments on the witch.
He must know something.
"The high-level members of the Necro Cult are superior to the Fallen Chancellor."
"The Fallen Chancellor, is that the one you killed?"
"Yes, this guy is right in the city, we need to capture him as soon as possible."
Williams suddenly clasped his hands, resting them on the bridge of his nose, and gazed intently at him.
"You seem quite anxious about this matter."
He suddenly asked, "Is there a reason for that?"
"This is the downside of going up against a smart person."
Mike sighed, also knowing this guy had strong insight, and spoke frankly, "Well, my sister has run into a bit of a problem, and this guy might know something. Of course, if you were skilled in medicine and could understand this thing, it wouldn't be such a hassle."
He took out the girl's test results.
Williams glanced at them, silently pushing them back towards him.
Mike shrugged.
"This is not a normal brain injury."
After a moment of silence, Williams said, "Since this is your secret, I won't ask you about it. After all, with your personality, when you can't handle it or need me, you'll be honest with me."
Mike let out a sigh of relief.
After all, Isabelle is a witch, so it's best to keep it hidden.
Although Williams seems like a good person, he also remembers Lisa's warning.
"The problem is, today is not a good day for action."
Williams suddenly said, "The High Priestess is going to the city center today to perform a ritual to communicate with the essence of the Kabbalah Tree of Life and replenish the lost divine power. During this process, she will be in her most vulnerable state, and the entire city will be under the highest level of lockdown."
He reminded me, "If we act rashly, it will be like going against the wind. Don't forget, the people behind Ron are still watching from the shadows. Although I suspect they're essentially just trying to cover up the Necro Cult incident due to factional struggles or fear of being implicated... but they didn't expect the Necro Cult to grow stronger, to the point where they can no longer contain it."
This speculation was indeed reasonable.
If that's the case, those people would probably try to shift the blame onto them again.
That would be disgusting.
"Not today then?"
Mike was a bit troubled, not knowing if his niece could hold out.
Williams glanced at the frown on his brow, and suddenly remembered the similar expression the lieutenant colonel had once shown when he was sick, his gaze a little hazy.
"I just said it's not suitable, but that doesn't mean it's impossible."
He said calmly, "Come on, I'll help you find him."
Mike was surprised, "You're confident?"
"As long as he's still alive."
Williams lit a cigarette and puffed out the smoke.
