Chapter 42 Fallen Witcher VS Superpowered Individuals 5 (Fourth Update)

Unlike the special ability users I've encountered in the past, I couldn't sense any high-quality soul aura or magical fluctuations from Zhuang Cheng. He was just like any other ordinary human being.

This level of feedback is insufficient to prove that Zhuang Cheng is truly an ordinary person. There are many strange individuals who are adept at hiding their eccentricities, and perhaps the power Zhuang Cheng possesses is one of them.

I plan to send a double to spy on Zhuang Cheng. At the same time, I also need to investigate the room on the fifteenth floor.

I don't actually believe the cave in the fifteenth-floor room is the entrance to the future; it's more likely an entrance to other dimensions. Its appearance is completely different from what a ritual array should theoretically produce, suggesting it's the result of an incorrect activation of the ritual array.

Even if it was a mistake, it was still activated. Zhu Shi will deal with the ritual array the next day, and I must figure out the reason for its activation before then.

Actually, if I could, I wouldn't even want to tell Zhu Shi about the existence of the ritual array, but I can't.

After all, it was Zhu Shi who commissioned me to investigate the fifteenth-floor room. I couldn't lie about what I saw and heard, because Zhu Shi could get information from Zhu Chang'an and Zhuang Cheng. Killing them on the spot would only bring trouble to me. As a detective from Luoshan, I couldn't refuse to request Zhu Shi to handle this strange incident; that would go against my duty and seem very unnatural.

Therefore, after submitting the application, I could only suggest that Zhu Shi delay processing the matter. After she rejected it, I suggested that she find someone else to handle it.

Strange phenomena like caves aren't really something that a combat-specialized "Black Impermanence" like Zhu Shi would be good at handling; it would be more reasonable to leave it to the "White Impermanence," who is more skilled in this area. And if the obstacle were replaced by White Impermanence, I could easily eliminate it while also obtaining high-quality souls.

However, Zhu Shi takes the dangers of strange events too seriously, and she also has an excessive sense of kindness and responsibility. She doesn't want to pass on any danger that occurs within her jurisdiction to anyone else. Similar situations have occurred several times in the past, and when I saw her expression, I knew my plans were doomed, so I had no choice but to give up.

Just in case, to ensure my alibi, I only sent out my double after meeting Zhu Shi that evening. But when the double arrived at the bottom of the fifteenth-floor room, I saw Zhuang Cheng walk out from there through the senses connected to the double.

Clearly, Zhuang Cheng, who was obsessed with the bizarre, was also interested in the room on the fifteenth floor. He'd really walked right into a trap. I immediately ordered my double to test Zhuang Cheng's skills. The double, who harbored a grudge against Zhuang Cheng, eagerly showed up.

Because I suspected Zhuang Cheng possessed strange powers, I instructed my stand to proceed with caution. He heeded my advice and cautiously probed Zhuang Cheng. However, he ultimately made the mistake of being too hasty; upon discovering that Zhuang Cheng was a fire-element user, he rushed at him without hesitation.

To say that the Stand user was reckless is something I didn't expect. Zhuang Cheng is different from most fire ability users; he can ignite his opponent with just his gaze.

Even after he revealed his power, I still couldn't sense any magical fluctuations from him... No, to be precise, I could sense that his flames possessed quite strong magical fluctuations, but he, as the source, showed no such signs.

Mana is a broad concept, encompassing both the energy necessary to cast spells and the power of the spells themselves. Even superpowers fall within the definition of mana. While the sources of mana vary widely—some are soul power, some are life force, and some are even kinetic, thermal, or electrical energy—any movement of power will inevitably produce fluctuations. It's impossible for it to be absent.

Could the source of the flames not be him, but some external object he carried? But even if it were an external object, it should have been able to be sensed by me as the source when it was activated. Those flames were like water appearing out of nowhere, leaving me completely baffled.

I can only accept it as a fact for now—a strange world is full of inexplicable things, and perhaps this is one of the attributes of Zhuang Cheng as a person with special abilities. There is no other way but to accept it.

After being hit, the Stand tried to escape using Shadow Shift, but I wanted him to continue probing Zhuang Cheng's abilities, so I forbade him from using Shadow Shift. However, he seemed to have lost control of his fear after being burned, ignoring my verbal orders and running away on foot. Originally, I wanted to force him to turn back and attack Zhuang Cheng, but then I discovered something new.

Even after leaving Zhuang Cheng's sight, the flames continued to relentlessly haunt the Stand. It took me a while to finally conclude that there seemed to be a spiritual connection between the flames and Zhuang Cheng. Although I didn't know if it was possible to extend his perception, it was certainly possible to continue adding fuel to the flames along the connection.

Unfortunately, that was all the information the substitute could glean. After Zhu Shi arrived at the battlefield, I remotely retrieved the Seed of Heart to prevent it from falling into Luo Shan's hands.

In fact, this information alone is valuable enough. Based on the overwhelming power Zhuang Cheng displayed in defeating the Stand, as long as I absorb him, it will be enough to allow the Seed of Heart to break through to the next stage.

Not long after, I received new information from Zhu Shi.

Zhuang Cheng had personally entered the cave in the fifteenth-floor room, but the entrance and exit had unexpectedly disappeared, and he almost died trapped inside.

But he found a way out of the predicament through his own efforts and survived...

-

I have experienced similar desperate situations.

Having been trapped in what seemed like an inescapable predicament myself, I can understand that fear, that despair... and the overwhelming regret that followed.

Therefore, I can understand Zhuang Cheng's feelings.

Although Zhu Shi marveled at Zhuang Cheng's calm demeanor in the face of the bizarre events over the phone, it was obvious that unless one was a complete madman, no one could remain calm in that situation. Me too, and so was Zhuang Cheng. Zhuang Cheng must have spent a great deal of effort managing his panicked emotions, and he must have struggled to suppress his lingering fear when recounting his experience to Zhu Shi.

If it were me, I would also want to show off in front of Zhu Shi. Zhu Shi is a woman who is outstanding in both appearance and figure, so it's only natural for a man to want to put on airs in front of her. If I were ten years younger, I might even have pursued Zhu Shi.

At the same time, I also greatly admire Zhuang Cheng. In the past, I couldn't even manage this level of superficial politeness.

Besides, I didn't escape danger on my own in the past either. Perhaps it was because of his confidence in overcoming difficulties that he was able to barely maintain his dignity. From this perspective, while I admire him, I am also somewhat jealous of him.

His unspoken fears are hidden beneath a facade of respectability, and perhaps I am the only one who can truly understand him.

Thinking about this, I couldn't help but feel an inexplicable sense of closeness to Zhuang Cheng.

Around midnight, I finished my surveillance work with Zhu Chang'an and went to the fifteenth-floor room again. Although there were agents guarding the area, they weren't wary of my colleague. I easily entered the room, intending to try and use the new intelligence provided by Zhuang Cheng to open the cave.

This time, however, it failed again. The magic circle itself had indeed become complete, but successfully opening the cave still required an extremely high element of luck. Zhuang Cheng's success was probably due to an additional element that he hadn't yet discovered. And I no longer had time to continue exploring, so I had to abandon this place for now.

After Zhu Shi and Zhuang Cheng arrived one after the other, I approached them as if I had just arrived, and then took Zhuang Cheng to an abandoned construction site near Xianshui University, hoping to probe more details about his abilities through the evil spirits there.

Understanding Zhuang Cheng does not mean not killing him.

I will not let this opportunity pass me by so that the Seed of the Heart can break through to the next stage.

However, it seemed that there were no evil spirits at the abandoned construction site from the beginning, so I had to switch to the second plan and summon my shadow clone to attack Zhuang Cheng and observe how he used his abilities up close.

Zhu Shi had already written and submitted a report about Zhuang Cheng that evening. Although it mentioned Zhuang Cheng's abilities, it only stated "just ordinary fire abilities," which was probably to help Zhuang Cheng keep the details of his abilities secret. When I spoke with Zhuang Cheng on the way, I showed him that I had more knowledge of his abilities than he actually did, just to probe him.

Even if he asked me how I knew those things, I had already prepared an excuse beforehand. But it seems Zhu Shi didn't ask him for credit at all; she's such a clueless girl, all my efforts were wasted.

There was only one piece of information I really wanted to gather: whether Zhuang Cheng had a countermeasure against a sneak attack from behind.

Since Zhuang Cheng can ignite his opponents with his gaze and possesses such formidable attack power, a sneak attack from behind is naturally the most effective solution. During the battle between the Stand and Zhuang Cheng, an attempt was made to launch a rear attack using a shadow strike, but it was evaded.

I couldn't tell if Zhuang Cheng was just lucky or if he genuinely sensed what was behind him. Furthermore, the shadowy thrust had changed its attack route mid-strike to avoid Zhuang Cheng's flames, shifting from an attack from behind to an attack from the left side of his feet. Perhaps Zhuang Cheng reacted because of this change.

In my combat experience, the worst thing I can do is use vague terms like "maybe." I need a definite answer. So I had one of my clones ambush Zhuang Cheng from behind, while I attacked the clone with my pistol. The latter was to prevent Zhuang Cheng from questioning why I was just watching after successfully dealing with the ambush.

This was a successful reconnaissance mission. Zhuang Cheng showed no reaction to the sneak attack from behind, and by saving his life, I increased his trust in me.

I didn't expect him to have been hiding his power in the last battle. His firepower was so strong that it could instantly obliterate my clone.

However, even with such powerful firepower, his weaknesses are still pitifully small.

The moment the blade slices into his neck, it doesn't matter whether he's holding a pistol, a cannon, or even a missile.

So, taking advantage of the moment when he turned around and let his guard down.

I manipulated part of my arm to transform into a monstrous blade, and severed his head.

Even after being decapitated, a human head can retain consciousness for several seconds.

To prevent him from igniting me with his gaze before he died, I swung the blade again and slashed into his eyes, directly shattering his brain tissue.

-

The magical energy fluctuations generated by Zhuang Cheng's battle with his clone must have attracted Zhu Shi, and she will arrive here soon.

We can't stay here any longer.

I turned around, intending to leave this place immediately.

What I told Zhuang Cheng before, "I will be transferred to another region," was not entirely a lie. I did indeed plan to leave Saltwater City after completing my breakthrough.

From now on, I will no longer be Kong, the probe of Luoshan, but the eccentric Kong Da.

However, after taking only two or three steps, I realized something was wrong.

Logically, after I kill a human, I should be able to feel their soul enter my body. This should be especially true for the souls of superhumans; the sensation should be particularly strong. But right now, I don't feel any souls being consumed at all; it's like…

It's as if Zhuang Cheng is still alive.

Just then, I felt the air behind me being heated.

The sound of burning came from where Zhuang Cheng had fallen, and the flames spread in front of me.

(End of this chapter)