NOVEL WEB Chapter 111: Nihilus?
The moment Maximilian walked out of the café, he saw a man in black armor with bloodied hands. The armor was exactly the same as the one he wore when assuming his Nihilus persona.
The man in black armor stared menacingly at Maximilian, then glanced toward the bloodied man who was receiving first aid from Pierre.
This guy… the details of the armor, at least from the outer appearance, were a carbon copy.
{Atherna… tell me you didn't activate that clone ticket,} Maximilian asked through his link.
[I didn't! What are you taking me for!? (ಠ_ಠ)] Atherna protested.
{A girlfriend who loves trolling other people,} Maximilian replied flatly.
[Excuse me! I only troll people that I like! (╬ᇂ_ᇂ)]
{Am I supposed to feel good about that statement?} Maximilian retorted.
[Of course you supposed to! (￣^￣)]
While Maximilian and Atherna were bantering, the man in black armor suddenly rushed at Maximilian with a combat knife.
Seeing the movement, Maximilian's eyes sharpened. The way this man moved—it mirrored his own techniques.
The moment the armored man arrived in front of him, he thrust the knife toward Maximilian.
Maximilian's anger surged. In his mind, the knife in the hand of this man overlapped with the figure of the murderer who had killed him in his previous life.
Guided by anger and the instincts of a Bajiquan Supreme Master—
Maximilian dodged the knife by a hair's breadth, then smashed his right fist into the man's chest armor.
Boom!
The powerful qi behind the strike shattered the outer layer of the armor and broke the man's left ribcage.
"Urgh!"
A grunt escaped the armored man's mouth as blood spurted out from inside his helmet. Fortunately for him, Maximilian's attack, though furious, lacked proper control and time to charge up, unlike when he killed the Behemoth.
As a result, he received a severe injury but not a fatal one.
Otherwise, his internal organs would've been reduced to mush.
The man crashed through several sidewalk trees, slammed into a wall, and dropped to the ground. Blood seeped from his helmet.
"F*ck," the man cursed through his voice modulator, glaring at Maximilian.
He quickly pulled out a stimpack and jammed it into his exposed chest, stabilizing his failing body functions.
Looking at Maximilian, who was slowly approaching—
The man in black armor realized… He needed to escape. He needs to run! Now.
With the stimpack coursing through his system, the man in black armor quickly stood up. His bloodied chest rose and fell heavily, pumped with adrenaline. Without hesitation, he sprinted forward, trying to escape.
But…
Maximilian's figure suddenly appeared in front of him, his body coiled like a spring, his fist charged, his posture straight and sharp like a sword.
Pow! Crack!!!
The fist rushes straight into the man's chest, but this time, he sacrifices his left arm to shield it.
Bones cracked. Muscles ruptured. Blood burst through torn skin as qi ravaged the entire limb.
"Grrrrhh—!" the man grunted in pain.
The agony of having his muscles, bones, and blood vessels torn apart from the inside felt like his arm was being fed into a shredder.
At that moment, the man in black armor stopped caring about concealing his identity. Compared to survival, secrecy could go to hell.
He raised his right arm and waved it in front of him, conjuring a wall of light to block Maximilian.
His EF ability was revealed—light manipulation.
Maximilian, faced with the glowing hard light barrier, punched it immediately. The first strike cracked it, and in the next second, he charged forward and slammed his elbow into the same spot.
BOOOM!
The light wall shattered... but it had done its job. It bought just enough time for its user to escape.
The man in black armor fired a grappling hook at a nearby building and vanished into the shadows.
Seeing the man in black armor vanish onto a nearby building—and lacking the means to pursue—Maximilian decided not to give chase and returned to the café.
Upon entering, he saw the bloodied man lying on the floor with stabilized vitals.
Maximilian recognized him immediately. It was Strauss, bearing large wounds across his chest, arm, and stomach. Multiple slashes and puncture wounds covered his arms, suggesting he had used them to block a knife attack.
"Have you called the ambulance yet, Teacher?" Maximilian asked the old butler.
"Yes, I already have," Pierre replied calmly.
Not long after, the ambulance arrived and took Strauss to the hospital. Soon after that, the police came to the café to gather information.
Upon investigation, the police discovered that the observation nest across from the café had been attacked. Everyone stationed there was killed—none survived. Evidence indicated that some fought back, and there were clear signs of a violent struggle.
The incident was considered extremely serious. Strauss was a Level 9 UEC agent, a figure holding a prestigious position within the IHB branch of Arkadia City-State.
The officer in charge of the investigation was Thomas Baker, since the café fell under his precinct.
The police reviewed the nearby camera footage and noted that the man in black armor was dressed like Nihilus—but clearly was not.
Nihilus was known to have an EF (Evolution Factor) that allowed him to manipulate shadows. This imposter, however, exhibited a completely different ability—light manipulation.
And since it's common knowledge that a person can only possess one EF, there was no way this armored man could be the real Nihilus.
As for who this man might be, only one person in all of Arkadia City-State was known to possess light manipulation abilities.
Manifesto.
But with only circumstantial evidence, the police could not jump to conclusions. They could suspect, but they couldn't accuse.
Accusing and prosecuting the number two hero of the global ranking wasn't something to be taken lightly, especially not by regular police officers. That was a job for special agents like Strauss.
And Strauss… right now, he's already in the hospital, severely injured by someone who looked like Nihilus.
Thomas questioned everyone in the café, and they recounted everything from start to finish, cooperating with the police as much as they could.
"So… according to your testimonies, you believe that the man in black armor wasn't Nihilus?" Thomas asked Maximilian, who was sitting across from him.
"I'm not guessing, Officer… I know he's not. And you've already seen the footage—I think you also know that guy wasn't Nihilus," Maximilian replied.
The questioning continued until 2 a.m. before the police returned to their precinct. Maximilian and the others in the café finally had time to rest. They closed the café and called it a day.
Today had been crazy enough for all of them.
— Meanwhile —
Inside the operating room of an underground clinic, Manifesto was undergoing surgery to save his life at the hands of an underground doctor.
He didn't dare go to a regular hospital, despite the fact that public hospitals were more trustworthy and better equipped. This clinic, often used by outlaws in the Fringe, was far inferior in terms of facilities and supplies.
But there was one reason Manifesto chose to come here: they never asked questions, no matter who you were or what your identity might be.
They took large sums of money to do one thing that normal hospitals wouldn't.
Keep their mouths shut and stay off law enforcement's radar.
Now that the doctor had opened up Manifesto's chest cavity, he couldn't help but frown. The rib bones were shattered into pieces—it was impossible to realign them properly.
Due to the use of stimpacks and the intense exertion during his escape from in front of the café, Manifesto's rib cage was beyond saving. His life was being sustained only by the effect of a stimpack and life support equipment attached to his head.
"It seems… We'll need to use a bionic rib cage. And maybe a bionic lung, too. Prep them for me," the doctor said to his assistant after examining the severity of Manifesto's injuries.
"Yes, doctor." The assistant replied and quickly went to the storage to bring out the bionic part to teh doctor.
After more than four hours of surgery, the doctor finally completed the operation. Now, all that remained was to let Manifesto rest and recover.
In the staff room, the doctor sipped his coffee while watching the news report about the attempted murder of a Level 9 UEC agent. Unbeknownst to the world, the very criminal they were talking about was lying unconscious in his clinic.
But to be fair, even if he did know, he wouldn't care. That wasn't his concern. His job was to save the man—and, more importantly, to keep his mouth shut.
— Meanwhile – Arkadia Hospital —
Oldcowboy walked down the corridor of the hospital, carrying a basket full of fruit and a get-well gift pack he'd bought from a shop inside the hospital.
He had just returned from the secret laboratory where Atlas was working to decipher the mysteries behind the anomalies he had detected.
Now that there were no major developments, Oldcowboy had grown bored and decided to return to Arkadia ahead of the others, leaving his old comrade Atlas to continue investigating the anomaly with the research team.