Lord of Prayer

Chapter 231: Chapter 169: Intelligence 2

Zhou Chen frowned, unable to figure out the reason. He decided to wait until morning and ask her directly.

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“Boss, I think something’s wrong… No, something’s very wrong. Please, just answer me. I’m all alone and terrified…”

In a narrow, dark alley in Hong City, Yang hid behind a dumpster, his Nth attempt to contact the outside world having failed.

He sighed in resignation. It was the second day since Zhou Chen’s disappearance, and he was being hunted all over the city.

The same night Zhou Chen presumably time-traveled, a group of mysterious people showed up at his door. Fortunately, Yang was sharp and had prepared for such a contingency, allowing him to slip away safely. But those people clung to him like maggots on a corpse.

It wasn’t that Yang hadn’t considered going to the Star Association for help, but the frustrating part was that the Hong City Star Association had put him on a wanted list for some unknown reason. And it wasn’t just any list—he was classified as a high-risk target, wanted dead or alive.

It was outrageous!

Sure, he’d once been an assassin for Omega, but he’d washed his hands of that life long ago. Now, he was a gold-medal Operator for the Golden Bamboo Star Association. The Hong City Star Association had absolutely no reason to issue a warrant for him. And yet, reality was just that surreal. He’d been inexplicably framed for colluding with Abyssal Cultists and was now wanted city-wide.

And to make matters worse, the wanted notice had alerted his ex-girlfriend to his presence in Hong City. Now she was sure to come looking for trouble.

Worst of all, the mysterious group hunting him had placed a vicious Curse on him that caused all nearby electronic devices to fail. He was completely cut off from the outside world, unable to even call Jiang Che for help.

He was trapped in Hong City, isolated and helpless. If it weren’t for his formidable skills, he’d be dead by now.

Now, all Yang could do was pray for Jiang Che to arrive as soon as possible. With the Secretary to the Jinzhu City Special Operations Team’s chief missing in Hong City and a gold-medal Operator out of contact, Jiang Che was bound to make a trip over. When she did, he would be saved. He wouldn’t have to worry about his life anymore.

But the crucial question was, when would Jiang Che get here?

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Yang’s eyes darted. He grabbed his backpack, rose, and swiftly moved toward a dark corner of the alley. His figure vanished silently into the thick night, like a fleeting Ghost.

A few seconds later, a group of disguised, mysterious figures entered the alley. They searched everywhere, not even sparing the stinking dumpsters, but ultimately found nothing.

“Fuck, he got away again.”

“Doesn’t matter. The Curse is still on him. As long as he can’t remove it, we’ll find him sooner or later.”

“Speaking of which, isn’t the C-220 Bloodthirsty Chainsaw Sword supposed to be with that guy Zhou Chen?” a chubby figure asked. “Why did the divination doll say it’s on this guy? It doesn’t look like he’s managed to contain the Bloodthirsty Chainsaw.”

“Who knows? It’s none of our business,” a dark, wiry man said coldly. “Our job is to get back the Bloodthirsty Chainsaw. Don’t forget the name of our association—the Chainsaw Murder Aficionado Association. The Bloodthirsty Chainsaw is our spiritual symbol. We must retrieve it!”

The voices mingled with the wind, drifting on the breeze. A wisp of Essence traveled a great distance, reaching Yang’s ears on the rooftop.

His expression darkened. He opened Zhou Chen’s backpack and looked at the Bloodthirsty Chainsaw inside.

Fucking ’Chainsaw Murder Aficionado Association’!

’These guys are after the C-220 Bloodthirsty Chainsaw Sword!’

’Fuck, why didn’t this thing travel back in time with him? It’s nothing but trouble…’ he grumbled. ’Good thing he left behind two Forbidden Objects that don’t need to be contained to be used…’

The C-027 Blindfolded Sunglasses and the C-093 Soul-Shocking Copper Whistle.

With two usable Forbidden Objects in hand, Yang’s confidence grew slightly.

But the moment he remembered he was still wanted by the Star Association, his expression soured again.

’Maybe… I should just go and apologize to Christina?’

’The worst that could happen is I get stabbed a few times. That’s still better than being hunted all over the city, constantly hiding.’

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At eight in the morning, Zhou Chen came downstairs for breakfast. Hearing a CLANGING and BANGING from the garage, he went over to take a look.

A black car of some unknown make was propped up on a jack. Li Xiye, lying on a mechanics creeper, had slid underneath it. The noise had come from a wrench and a hammer falling to the floor.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Chen asked.

“Ah, you’re awake,” Li Xiye’s voice came from under the car. “My buddy used the nitrous boost while racing yesterday and told me there seemed to be a problem with the brakes, so I’m fixing them.”

She seemed to have been at it for a while. Soon, she pushed herself out on the creeper, her face covered in beads of sweat.

Perhaps because she was at home, she was only wearing a black athletic tank top, revealing a slender waist and impressively toned abs. She had on a pair of loose shorts and slippers, and a sheen of sweat on her neck and stomach made her look especially vibrant and youthful.

“That medicine you gave me worked wonders. The wound healed completely overnight.” She held up her arm to show him. Last night, it had been a large scrape, but now her skin was smooth, without a single mark left.

“Good, as long as it worked.” Zhou Chen leaned against the workbench. “I found some clues last night. There are a few things I want to ask you.”

“Me?” Li Xiye paused, wiping the sweat from her face with a towel. “What about?” she asked, puzzled.

“Have you ever heard of an Eternal Life Machine?” Zhou Chen asked, getting straight to the point.

“Eternal Life Machine?” Li Xiye took a few sips of water, and then something clicked.

“I think Howard mentioned something about an Eternal Life Machine.”

“Howard?”

“Yeah, he’s a distant relative of mine. He’s American, a total bookworm, the type who only cares about research. I saw him a few times from a distance at family gatherings. After college, he joined the Star Association’s R&D department and studied under a very prestigious mentor. But two years ago, he suddenly showed up in Hong City and said both he and his mentor had been kicked out of the R&D department.”

Li Xiye continued, “I was just starting high school at the time and was really interested in Extraordinary Studies and Mysticism. Since Howard came from the Star Association’s R&D department, he knew a lot of stories about the Extraordinary Realm, so I used to visit him often to hear them.

“He’d tell me about things like the Dreamwalker program, some unspeakable beast sleeping at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the ’Eternal Flame Core’ project, or some of the more interesting Restricted Areas… Oh, right!”

She suddenly smacked a fist into her palm, eager to tell another story. “Speaking of Restricted Areas, did you know there’s a ’gender-swap’ one in Africa? The moment you step inside, your biological sex instantly flips. Men become women, women become men… And! In South America, there’s one that…”

“Hold on, hold on. Let’s stick to the Eternal Life Machine for now,” Zhou Chen quickly cut in.

“Oh, right. He did tell me about the Eternal Life Machine. He said that he and Professor Charles had stumbled upon the Eternal Life Formula by accident and wanted to build a machine that could grant immortality to all of humanity. But everyone else in the R&D department thought they were crazy. The higher-ups approved their research at first, but after a long time with no results, they drastically cut their funding. That, combined with ridicule from their colleagues, led them to leave the R&D department and go independent.”

“Even though Howard’s an American, he’s still technically a member of our Li Clan. And you know how it is—a lot of people get scared of dying as they get older. So, the elders of the Li Clan decided to fund their research.

“I haven’t really seen Howard in the past year. Their research seems to be in a really intense phase… If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten about the whole thing.”

“Professor Charles…” Zhou Chen murmured the name to himself.

“Professor Charles is a really nice person. And I think their intentions are good—they want to free humanity from sickness, old age, and death. My grand-uncle died from a terminal illness, and he was in so much pain at the end. Then you have all the poor families who can’t afford treatment when they get sick and can only wait to die.”

Li Xiye scratched her head. “Charles and Howard were so passionate when they told me about it. Their eyes just lit up. I guess it must be their lifelong dream.”