Novel Full Chapter 229: Departure, Arrival, and Major Vincent
Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Departure, Arrival, and Major Vincent
Aiden’s eyes lit up instantly. He grabbed the file and began reading it carefully.
The information was incredibly detailed. It covered Liam’s entire life, right down to the hospital where he was born and the nurse who delivered him.
Aiden skimmed through it quickly. He noticed that when Liam first awakened, his job class was only Epic Rank.
Six months later, Liam entered The Abyss. For several months after that, there was zero news about him.
But once he returned to Earth, Liam grew powerful in a flash. He upgraded his professional tier all the way to Mythic Rank. At the same time, he started making contact with key figures from The Azurecloud Empire.
“Did your people find anything specific?” Aiden asked, putting the file down.
Robert answered quickly: “Since Liam came back, five talented Reclassers he contacted have gone missing.”
“My team dug deeper. We found a secret basement under Liam’s house.”
“He probably thought no one would ever find out, so he left plenty of clues. One of them was a missing talented Reclasser.”
“But now, that person is a vegetable. Their soul is broken. They can only eat, drink, and sleep. They can do nothing else.”
Robert handed Aiden some photos and documents. He also pulled out his phone and played a few video clips.
Aiden only needed a quick glance before he gasped in shock.
The photos and files showed gruesome human experiments. The videos were even worse—they showed Liam opening the skull of a talented Reclasser and performing disgusting, horrific procedures.
In the video, Liam pulled off his blood-soaked gloves and said sadly:
“The test subject #3’s brain activity is normal, showing no issues. However, the implanted Wraith failed to control the body and suffered severe damage instead…”
“So, where did I go wrong? Why did I succeed, but the other Wraiths and other human genius Reclassers failed?”
“Am I special, or is it because Liam is special?”
“No, this isn’t working. I need to try something else. Maybe… splitting my soul?”
As the video played on, Aiden’s frown grew deeper. He saw that Liam had actually made progress.
In the final clip, Liam’s eyes were filled with blood, and he spoke excitedly into the camera:
“Yes, that’s exactly it!”
“I finally succeeded! As long as I find a suitable human genius Reclasser, I can get other Wraiths—or even my own split souls—to perfectly inhabit them!”
“No, it’s not just about human geniuses. Soon, even high-ranking ministers and emperors of human nations will be under our control without anyone knowing!”
“Hahaha! Before long, I will have silently and completely taken over the entire Earth!”
The video ended.
Robert and Aiden exchanged a look, both seeing the same heavy concern in each other’s eyes.
“When was this video recorded?” Aiden asked.
Robert took a deep breath. “Six months ago.”
“After that, the recordings stopped. That must have been right after Liam… no, after Wraith Goust, finally succeeded with his experiments.”
Six months!
Aiden sighed softly. So much time had passed, and they still didn’t know exactly what Goust had done.
If things were already bad, there might be many people in the Azurecloud Empire who were already under his control.
But luckily, discovering Goust’s plan wasn’t too late yet.
Aiden sat in deep thought. Right now, it seemed Goust planned to use the Global Reclasser Exchange Tournament to control those talented Reclassers.
If he succeeded, those geniuses would eventually rise to become high-level officials and key figures in various nations. At that point, Goust would truly rule the entire Earth.
Robert watched Aiden, thinking and silent.
He knew better than to make a sound. At this moment, Robert felt incredibly lucky. He was glad he had trusted Aiden and sent a warning to Bella Lord’s students. He couldn’t even imagine what would have happened otherwise.
“If I hadn’t trusted Aiden,” Robert thought to himself, “I would live to regret it the day I learned the full truth.”
Robert looked at Aiden’s young face and felt a wave of emotion.
When Robert was Aiden’s age, he was just a student at the Reclasser University, studying and killing monsters to level up. He didn’t have the sharp insight that Aiden possessed.
Robert couldn’t help but wonder: How had Aiden spotted Liam’s abnormality in the first place? Robert was a Level 99 Great Venerable, yet he hadn’t seen a thing!
However, Robert didn’t interrupt Aiden. Instead, he quietly left the private room and stood guard at the door.
Thirty minutes later, Aiden called Robert back inside.
A few moments after that, Aiden left the room and returned to the car carriage where the athletes were.
He closed his eyes, deciding to rest for a while.
There was no perfect solution to the Goust problem yet.
Those humans under Goust’s control were like hidden time bombs scattered among the crowd.
If they weren’t handled carefully, it would certainly lead to casualties.
However, Goust didn’t know he had been exposed yet. That gave Aiden a significant advantage.
“Robert has found an expert on the soul to analyze Goust’s research,” Aiden thought. “If Goust’s split souls act independently, things will be much simpler.”
“But if they aren’t independent, we must continue to let Goust believe everything is going smoothly. Then, we just need to find the right moment to strike.”
Aiden sat deep in thought. It seemed Goust planned to use this Global Reclasser Exchange Tournament to seize control of those talented Reclassers.
Aiden wasn’t sure exactly what Goust planned to do on the front lines, but he had a general strategy.
His plan was simple: create a “reasonable accident” that made it look like Goust hadn’t been exposed yet. If Goust believed he was still safe, he would continue his plan.
This would give Robert enough time to dig deeper and find out who was under control.
This reminded Aiden of experienced hunters. When they spot a single, isolated target, they often don’t attack immediately.
Instead, they let the target lead them to the rest of the pack.
The situation with Goust made Aiden’s sense of danger grow even stronger.
The world seemed peaceful on the surface, but hidden beneath were massive threats.
There were Demons, other races from the Abyss, the Dawn Society, the Evil Demons Guild, the mysterious murals in the Miko Temple, and the Wraith named Jack…
Aiden felt that behind all of this, there was a huge, dark secret waiting to be uncovered.
Soon, staff members entered the carriage to distribute items, including teleportation scrolls.
[Teleportation Scroll: Epic RankAn epic item made from materials rich in spatial energy. It can only be used once before vanishing. By injecting a small amount of magic, you can activate the teleportation array inside. This sends the user to a specific location. However, once the array starts, it takes one full second to complete the teleport. If you are attacked during that second, the process breaks, and you must reactivate the scroll to try again.]
Immediately, the carriage filled with excited chatter.
“Whoa! This is an Epic Rank item! It’s incredible!”
“My god, everyone here is getting one of these? That’s amazing!”
“Hey, if I manage to save mine and not use it until the tournament is over, will they take it back?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Haha, if that’s true, I’ll never use it. This is an Epic Rank item! I can’t bear to waste it.”
Many competitors held their Teleportation Scrolls with trembling hands, afraid they might accidentally drop or damage such a precious item.
Victor, Jade, and others sitting near Aiden were equally excited. The only one who remained completely calm, besides Aiden, was Nellie.
Aiden took a quick glance at the Teleportation Scroll’s stats, then casually tossed it into his storage space.
While it was a nice item, it was nothing compared to the blessing of the Supreme Miko.
That blessing could teleport the user in just 0.5 seconds, which was far superior.
An hour later, at 2:00 AM, the train slowed to a stop at a crumbling, ruined town.
Aiden stepped off, followed by Victor and the others. They stood on the platform, scanning the area.
Besides them, there were many soldiers with severe injuries. Lying on the ground like cargo were piles of bodies, unmoving and still.
Even in the thick darkness, you could see the hollow, lifeless look in the soldiers’ eyes.
The air was thick with a terrible stench—a mix of sweat, rotting flesh, and coagulated blood.
It was so bad it made people’s stomachs turn.
When two soldiers carried a corpse past the group—so mangled it was unrecognizable as human—one of the contestants bent over and retched.
“Heh, you young kids think coming to the front line is a vacation? You don’t want to live, do you?”
Not far away, a soldier who had lost his right arm and right eye took a long drag from his cigarette and blew out a large smoke ring. He shouted loudly.
Around him, a group of six or seven injured soldiers were gathered. Most were sitting on the ground, pointing and laughing harshly at the boy who was vomiting.
“Kid, this isn’t a school field trip. You should just go home.”
“Yeah, once you’re actually in the battlefield, there won’t be time to regret it.”
“These weaklings must be those ’Geniuses’ from the Global Reclasser Exchange Tournament?”
“You care about them? Bet most of them will wet their pants the moment they see a real Demon soldier.”
Just then, a young man in the uniform of an Elephant Empire officer walked over with a frown on his face.
The moment he appeared, the lazy injured soldiers scrambled to their feet. Their faces twisted with tension and fear as they shouted:
“Major Vincent!”
Vincent nodded. He surveyed the contestants, his eyes finally locking onto Aiden.