Life Dungeon Game

Chapter 804 The 'Origin' of the Wooden Sign (Long Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Two minutes ago

The small drone flew through the closed car window and landed in the driver's seat of the sedan. Lena quickly put the drone away and tossed it to the passenger seat.

Then she glanced at the rearview mirror and saw a man dressed in plain clothes, holding a walkie-talkie, walking out from a corner and standing at the somewhat dilapidated intersection, looking around as if searching for something.

On his chest, a pendant emitting a faint golden glow could be faintly seen hanging.

Lena glanced at the time on her wristband again, then leaned back in the driver's seat, her chest heaving.

The man in plain clothes in the rearview mirror had already turned around and was walking towards them cautiously and slowly.

Lena gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands and glanced sideways into the depths of the alley.

Bright lights illuminated the dark alleyway, and a dark-colored, heavily modified off-road vehicle covered with thick armor plates could be seen slowly driving from the end of the alley.

The SUV stopped about twenty meters from the entrance of the alley.

Immediately afterwards, a burly, bald man with bandages wrapped around his arms jumped out of the driver's seat of the SUV, took out a flashlight, and shone it out from the depths of the alley.

The bright beam of the flashlight shone through the exposed front of the black sedan and also faintly through the closed passenger window.

The next second, Lena, sitting in the car, gripped the steering wheel tightly and slammed on the gas pedal.

The once silent car seemed to be propelled by a tremendous force, shooting out of the darkness like a catapult.

"Catch up with that car!"

The bald man immediately ran back and jumped into the SUV, shouting loudly.

Bright lights burst out of the dark corridor, but as soon as they rushed out, there was a soft 'bang'.

A blurry figure was hit by an SUV and sent flying across the old street, crashing into a building on the other side of the street.

"What the hell is that?"

The bald man, hanging on the outside of the SUV, watched the figure fall from the wall, then shouted without hesitation, "Ignore him, keep chasing that car."

"You filthy unbeliever, do you want to die?"

Just then, the figure that had been knocked away staggered to his feet, roared, and rushed out like a gust of wind, throwing a punch at the bald man.

"What an idiot."

The bald man rolled his eyes, raised his fist, and with a whooshing sound, punched the figure in the chest.

In that instant, golden light enveloped the figure's chest, blocking the punch.

The figure was sent flying again.

This time, he seemed to finally come to his senses. He glanced at the bald man, as if realizing something, and immediately picked up the walkie-talkie hanging around his neck. "Heretical element detected! Request immediate backup! Heretic detected..."

He was only there to chase a suspicious drone, but he never expected to make such a big discovery: photos of every wanted heretic were being sent to their wristbands.

But before he could finish speaking, a cold blade of light came rushing towards him.

Golden light enveloped his entire body once more, forming simple armor, but the approaching figure...

In an instant, fine lines covered his body.

The sharp blade easily sliced ​​through the golden armor, and with a splatter of blood on the wall, the figure on the walkie-talkie was instantly cut in two.

"Hello, are you still there? Please respond if you hear me! Please respond if you hear me!"

Indistinct human voices came through the walkie-talkie.

boom--

The sturdy leather shoes crushed the pristine white walkie-talkie underfoot. The bald man swayed the torn bandages aside, sheathed his broadsword, and said, "Damn it, this is troublesome. This Lena is something else."

He leaped back onto the SUV and looked at the driver, "Hurry up and chase after her! Call out all the brothers lying in ambush around here. She can't have gone far. We have to find her before those heretics."

Shortly after the SUV left, several men in white robes rushed out from behind the intersection and stopped in front of the figure that had been split in two.

The leader, dressed in white, glanced at the blood flowing along the shattered street, then at the two newly left tire tracks, picked up the walkie-talkie, and spoke quickly.

"Heretics spotted. They are fleeing northwest, seemingly chasing something. There is a suspected Class C danger among the heretics. Requesting backup."

-

Bright lights shone into the quiet living room.

The old man standing at the door seemed to hear the commotion in the distance. He looked up, glanced towards the living room window, slowly walked to the sofa, sat down opposite He Ao, looked at the hot coffee in front of him, and gave a gentle smile.

"It seems that my 'comrades' in the church who might be able to help me have been discovered by the cult? Am I now 'isolated and helpless'?"

"Isn't it just to give us some quiet time to talk?"

He Ao opened a small white ceramic jar with a plastic clip on it on the coffee table, revealing glistening sugar cubes inside. "Would you like some sugar?"

"Then I'll thank you for the hospitality."

The old man reached out, used tongs to pick up three sugar cubes, and put them into his coffee. Then he picked up the ceramic spoon next to the coffee cup and slowly stirred it.

"When I was young, I liked to drink bitter coffee because I felt that life was always bitter. When I got older, I wanted to drink something sweet. As I got older and my friends passed away one by one, I realized that the things I used to think were difficult actually had a sweet taste."

He picked up his coffee and took a small sip.

"If the person in charge of the esoteric sect here is a smart person, after seeing the strength I just displayed, he will most likely focus on my fellow cult members outside, while I am just sending people to monitor them and wait for reinforcements from their headquarters."

"Fighting on two fronts—monitoring the powerful but not reckless, and dealing with the weak and easily victorious—can effectively maximize one's own interests."

"If that's the case, then there shouldn't be any esoteric practitioners in this building now, so it's much quieter, and you only need to face me."

"I originally wanted to choose this location so I could take care of searching the house and meeting with that mercenary lady at the same time."

“My high-profile appearance can also help my church colleagues draw attention away from me.”

"But now it seems that this has put me in a passive position."

The old man put the coffee in his hand

He put the coffee back on the table and smiled as he watched He Ao slowly take out sugar cubes from the jar. "Little guy, the coffee is good, and the plan is good too."

"but,"

He paused slightly, then asked in a low voice, "You seem quite confident that you can take care of this old geezer?"

"I don't have that much confidence,"

He Ao calmly picked up a spoon and stirred his coffee, speaking in a composed tone as if chatting with an old friend, "But things can be done by human effort."

"The saying 'Man proposes, God disposes' is quite good,"

The old man carefully examined the young boy before him. "I haven't met such a smart and courageous child in a long time. Are you interested in joining us? Perhaps this position will be yours after I pass away."

“Normally, I don’t have the idea of ​​believing in any particular god,”

He Ao picked up his coffee and brought it to his lips, saying, "It can easily affect relationships between friends."

"Do you still have friends who resolutely refuse to believe in gods?"

The old man shook his head regretfully, "It seems he doesn't quite understand the greatness of the gods."

"Perhaps, I don't know if my friends understand the greatness of the gods."

He Ao took a small sip of coffee.

It's a bit bitter because I didn't add enough sugar.

He didn't add milk; the pure coffee still had a slightly astringent taste.

"To be honest, I've been thinking about this for a while now,"

The old man reached out, picked up another piece of candy, and put it in the cup. "So how did you know I was the church leader? Through that mercenary lady? But I don't think I provided that mercenary lady with any more information."

"Oh,"

He Ao held the warm coffee cup and responded softly.

His jacket was a little oversized, and his slender fingers held the cup while his palms were hidden in his sleeves. He looked at the old man's face, which clearly showed curiosity, and after a brief pause, calmly said, "I guessed."

The old man's face stiffened.

In fact, He Ao's reasoning process is not complicated.

The 'client' who assigned Lena the task seems to have a strong connection with the Eternal Old Church, but the Eternal Old Church's superhumans who entered the inner church last night clearly did not recognize Lena.

A superhuman who can bring such a powerful supernatural item as the Radiant Corona into the inner church and exert B-level strength cannot have a low status in the Eternal Old Cult; they are very likely the top figures in Winter City.

They were unaware that someone had 'hired' Lena alone, and that Lena's mission description did not include any clauses requiring her to cooperate with them.

This proves that the 'client' who hired Lena is most likely someone of equal or even higher status than them, at least a B-level expert, so that they can bypass them to assign tasks.

Returning to Lena's mission itself, the 'client' arranged for her to 'retrieve' the remains of Iro's parents, but gave her a 'prop disc' that would almost certainly lead to her death and prevent her from completing the mission, which seems somewhat absurd.

But what if we change our perspective? What if the 'client' wanted Lena's 'mission' not to 'bring back the body'?

The client never intended for Lena to return alive. His goal from the beginning was to have Lena activate the disc and become a monster corrupted by the eternal light.

And from the disk's affinity for the radiant corona

From a psychological perspective, after Lena transforms into a monster, she is highly likely to be drawn to the 'Radiant Corona'.

Once the disc is fully activated, it will most likely have some kind of positioning or 'traction' effect, leading 'Lena' to the correct 'destination'.

Therefore, 'Lena' itself is not an 'insurance' for retrieving the remains, but rather a 'backup plan' to 'recover' the Radiant Corona in case of an accident.

However, under normal circumstances, a person at the same level would not do such a "backup plan" that might incur the hatred of their colleagues behind their backs, unless they received orders or permission from a higher-level person, or even if they themselves were a higher-level person.

Often, when key personnel are left with backup plans, it's possible that some of these key personnel are no longer trustworthy, and the plan is deliberately kept out of reach of those personnel to prevent leaks.

Based on Rockaway's experience with the Eternal Cult, we can infer the situation of the Eternal Old Cult. Since the Old Cult could plant spies within the Cult, the Cult could also have planted spies within the Old Cult.

Since last night's mission proceeded normally, it means that the traitor within the Old Church had not yet been identified at that time, but had already slipped up, and was most likely of the same level as the B-grade 'bespectacled man' from last night.

So all the 'B-level' powerhouses at the same level as the bespectacled man should be suspects? Then the matter of arranging backup plans wouldn't be left to them.

Therefore, entrusting Lena as a "backup plan" was very likely arranged directly by the bespectacled man's superior.

The only person above the bespectacled man was the 'leader' of the old church.

Of course, these were all He Ao's guesses, until he saw the old man appear at the door and tricked him, which confirmed his suspicions.

So he admitted that he was just guessing.

The old man, who was stunned by He Ao's answer, took a moment to react. He looked at He Ao and realized that He Ao did not seem to be lying.