NOVEL WEB Chapter 13: Chapter 13 Bloody Charge!_1
Zero looked at the monstrous knight before him, his face as white as a ghost. His lips trembled a few times, but he could not bring himself to speak.
The red gleam gradually dimmed from the Law Knight's eyes before he turned his back and walked away.
Finally unable to hold on any longer, Zero's eyes shut and he passed out…
"Wake up, Zero! Wake up!"
Zero slowly opened his eyes, the world blurred around him as figures buzzed about.
A quick and crude treatment had been applied to his injured knee.
Squinting his eyes, he stared at his surroundings for a while before he could make out that his immediate superiors, Li Xingyue and Ye Xiaoqi, were standing in front of him with fully armed members of the Intelligence Team behind them.
Finding the strength to speak again, he bellowed in front of everyone, "Fuck this! I'm out!"
….
Through the glass, Zero was seen lying motionless in bed with eyes shut.
Li Xingyue was flipping through the pages of a report regarding Zero's claims.
"The team leader. After receiving treatment from the Apostle of our logistics team, Zero's injuries are almost healed. He can walk again after a few days of rest, just like a normal person," reported Ye Xiaoqi, elegantly dressed in her usual black suit.
"Zero's cover has been blown. We must act quickly to wrap things up," Li Xingyue said coldly, "Ye Xiaoqi, send a message to the armed unit; I need to borrow a few of their men."
"Also, inform the newcomer, Lin Xun, to report to the organization."
"Roger that!" Ye Xiaoqi acknowledged, turning and leaving.
Li Xingyue, looking at the report in her hand, murmured, "A Law Knight from a Blood Sun world was able to possess someone.... How did the Apostle accomplish this?"
"This must be investigated thoroughly!"
….
Looking at his hands, a bitter smile crossed Lin Xun's face as he sat alone in his rented apartment.
In the unfinished building, a man wearing a clown mask wanted him dead, intending to finish him off with a grenade.
To save his life, he had been forced to manifest the shell of the Law Knight again.
Somehow, Lin Xun found his mind clouded with a mysterious murderous intent, a cruel impulse filling his thoughts in the face of the clown man's attempted assault.
He naturally employed the shell skill - Bloody Charge.
And then… everything after that was a blur.
Remembering his actions at the unfinished building, fighting with all his might.
The way he moved his legs and twisted his waist when attacking with a gun, the combat stance he took up when wielding the long spear, his steps during the charge, and skills of using the crimson energy, these memories seemed innate to him.
"Muscle memory and combat skills from the shell's past life are retained in the shell, and they are readily available after the manifestation… Could anything else possibly have been left in the shell?"
The inexplicable murderous intent hadn't subsided even after killing the clown.
Seeing Zero laying defeated on the ground, he almost lost control of his actions and wished to pierce Zero's body with a spear.
"Unless it's absolutely necessary, I should refrain from easily manifesting the shell."
Lin Xun extinguished the cigarette in his hand, opened the Book of Salvation, and continued the game.
[Enter Doomsday chapter]
[Ch. 323]
[You awake in a familiar church.]
Lin Xun began to manipulate the Law Knight, heading east in the church, preparing for his daily harvest trip.
[You set off on the path to the eastern part of the church.]
[The monsters along the road on both sides have disappeared...]
A few black lines appeared on his forehead.
He still remembered on his first harvest, the yield was bountiful and the drop rate was high. On his second harvest, only a few junk items dropped, and by the third time, the drop rate came to a complete stop.
This time, there weren't even any monsters.
"Damn it! A crappy game glitching out with monsters not spawning. So stingy."
Lin Xun grumbled as he returned to the crossroads.
He was just about to head toward the metal gate to the north of the church when he suddenly noticed the mini boss on the south side, right in front of the church.
[In the south, directly in front of the church: As you gaze into the distance, at the end of a desolate road, there seems to be a monster blocking your path. Part of it peeks out from the shadows of the ruins, immensely large. As it moves, the ground rumbles and shakes, causing waves of crimson vapor to rise.]
Should he attempt to fight the boss?
Confident in the Law Knight's strength, Lin Xun decided to first test and see how strong this boss was.
[You begin to walk down the path leading south.]
[You arrive at the end of the road and finally see the massive monster hidden in the shadow of the ruins.]
[It has a body as large as a mountain ridge. Its scales are patchy and fall in places, revealing rotten and decaying flesh. Its mouth is filled with dense, hook-shaped fangs. Its fin-like limbs are muscular and powerful, and it swings its thick tail occasionally, creating deep pits in the ground.]
[You have discovered a 'Fallen Subspecies Sea Dragon'.]
[Inadvertently, it swings its long tail. The massive dragon tail comes crashing towards you.]
[You attempt to retaliate with the 'Broken Dragon Hunting Spear', but are smashed into dust without a chance to fight back.]
[You have died!]
Staring at the familiar word "dead", Lin Xun muttered:
"That's more like it."
"One can't afford to be overconfident in this hellish game."
[You are reborn in the church you are so familiar with, in the form of a Wandering Soul.]
"A Subspecies Sea Dragon... a sea dragon..."
"Could my Dragon Hunting Spear... be the key to defeating this sea dragon boss?"
As a veteran gamer, Lin Xun caught onto the important elements right away.
He opened the item bar to examine the description of the Dragon Hunting Spear once more.
[… For some reason, this Dragon Hunting Spear has split into two, leaving only a bare half of the metal spear shaft. If you could find the other half, it might restore its true dragon-slaying power.]
In the current situation, the sea dragon Boss was far above his level.
He'd have to wait until he found the other half of the Dragon Hunting Spear, or until his level increased significantly before trying again.
After being trapped in the church by a large rainstorm for a day, his soul strength in the game had restored to 2/2.
Using 1 point of soul strength to reshape the shell of the Law Knight, Lin Xun continued the game.
[In the north, behind the church: A heavy metal gate blocks the road on both ends, with a crank device to open the gate next to it.]
[You step onto the path leading north.]
[You have arrived at the front of the metallic gate.]
[Would you like to use the 'Diamond Token of Lord Fox'?]
With the token, he should be able to open the gate and advance in the game.
Lin Xun clicks 'Yes'.
[You place the token in the hollow of the crank handle, a perfect fit.]
[You pull hard on the crank, the sound of gears meshing echoing...]
[The metal gate slowly opens, revealing a forked road ahead of you.]
[At the end of the road, there is a giant castle built of boulders. The castle wall has lost its color, strange red plants writhing around the castle like the sinister claw of a demon, turning it into a gloomy prison. It seems to have become a paradise for the fallen.]
[On the left side of the road, there is a rudimentary house made of grey bricks. A few wooden poles hold up a greasy canvas canopy for a roof. Rin-tin-tin sounds of iron forging emanate from inside. It appears to be a makeshift blacksmith shop.]
[On the right side of the road, there is a pit leading deep underground. The entrance is littered with rusty shovels, pickaxes, and a broken wooden mine cart. A rusty mini railway extends into the dark and ominous pit. It may be an abandoned mine.]
[Where will you go next?]