The male supporting character was actually myself.

"Twenty years from now, it's not impossible that I would be living in this world with a different identity and appearance."

"Pfft!" Li Chengze almost spat out blood, looking at him as if he'd seen a ghost. "Twenty years ago you were a different person, and then for some reason your soul was pulled out, cleansed, and stuffed into the body of an eight-year-old child? Even science fiction wouldn't dare to make something like that up, right?"

Jiang Chen shrugged, smiled, and pointed out the window. "Look, a genuine Soul Eater is helping the security team with basic combat training. There are many, many life forms in the universe that are more advanced than humans. Isn't this science fiction that's already becoming a reality?"

"If your guess is true, then you must be very special!" Li Chengze slammed his hand on the table and concluded, "You are definitely the chosen one, no doubt about it!"

"The bug I encountered in the virtual world was some kind of guide. He said I'd been ripped off terribly," Jiang Chen said slowly, rubbing his temples. "Although that guy was always vague, I think being ripped off meant my soul being split apart..."

Li Chengze immediately let his imagination run wild, "Could it be... that you were originally the chosen one, the savior selected by the world's will, but for some reason you were betrayed by the people around you? After all, if you're really that powerful, the only person who could betray you is the one you trust the most. Then your soul was split in two, one part had its memories wiped off and was stuffed into an eight-year-old body to become Jiang Chen."

The other part might be the most crucial core, impossible to whitewash or erase, so it's been temporarily suppressed! Aren't there often stories in mythology about powerful beings being suppressed? It's just that the person who framed you didn't expect that even without your memories, your soul would still be powerful, and you'd retain the obsession to save the world!

"Hmm, the person next to me..." Jiang Chen's mind flashed back to the image of the somewhat blurry girl he was holding hands with.

"Where will the other part of your soul be suppressed?"

"Perhaps finding the city where I lived more than 20 years ago might provide some clues."

.........

The new security team was very efficient. The senior personnel Jiang Chen needed arrived at the security team headquarters quickly and began to draw up the images he could remember based on his description.

Two days later, Li Chengze stood with his arms crossed, looking solemnly at the completed drawing. "Is this what you originally looked like? Did they draw it accurately?"

“Almost identical, like a photo printed out of my mind!” Jiang Chen squinted at another portrait of a girl with a slender figure and a slightly blurry face and teased, “Mine is a little better, after all, it has an accurate description.”

This drawing was particularly difficult; even I couldn't clearly see the face, only a vague outline. The accuracy of the reproductions is very high, almost identical to what I've seen before. Two experts even used computers to create several realistic simulations based on the blurry images.

However, these streets look very old; I wonder if we can still find the exact locations after all these years.

A confident smile appeared on Li Chengze's face. "Don't worry, if it existed, we'll definitely find it!"

He then pointed at Jiang Chen's portrait and joked, "The guy who changed your body wasn't very fair. This one was way more handsome than the current one! If it were me, I wouldn't be happy either. Why would they change a perfect body into an 80-point one?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengze suddenly froze, turned to look at Jiang Chen, and whispered, "You mean... if we really find the truth, and find the mastermind behind the soul-body swapping, are we capable of resisting the technological means they possess? What if we could master this soul-body swapping technology..."

"If it's true; if we can find it. No one except you and me can know that this technology exists, otherwise the world will break the delicate balance and go mad. But the good news is that I can achieve immortality by converting my soul and body, so I don't have to worry about the Horcruxes going out of control and the whole world being invaded by the army of Soul Eaters after I die of old age."

Chapter Seven: The Fallen Predator

They can actually communicate!

Jiang Chen was incredibly shocked, followed by a flood of questions. However, he couldn't understand its language at all, so he could only suppress his excitement and pretend to be nonchalant as he continued to play with the pen in his hand.

They are clearly visitors from outer space, so why can they understand our language?

If you haven't specifically studied it, even foreigners wouldn't be able to easily understand and communicate with you, right?

Could the Soul Eater be a higher-level life form?

Or perhaps they possess some kind of talent that allows them to decipher their own language?

"Can you still understand what I'm saying now? If you do, lift your head." To test his suspicions, Jiang Chen deliberately gave the command to the Soul Eater in a foreign language.

The other person obediently raised their head and nodded slightly to indicate that they understood.

It has been used in several languages, and without exception, it has been able to deliver commands with great precision.

“You can understand me, but I can’t understand your language. We need to find a way to communicate in the most basic way. Maybe we can even cooperate.” Jiang Chen’s smile was harmless, but it made the other person shiver.

He continued to offer tempting conditions, "You should understand your situation very well now. You can't escape, and you can't win a fight. If you can cooperate with me amicably, I can provide you with a lot of that kind of soul energy."

If we cannot cooperate well, then I'm very sorry.

Anyway, there are so many like you out there. Just grab them one by one and ask; surely some smart ones will be willing to cooperate for a win-win situation. I don't have much patience; I can only give you ten seconds to consider. Cooperate and you'll live to enjoy the delicious food of the soul every day; don't cooperate and you'll die immediately.

Feeling the threat of death, the Soul Eater clearly went through a fierce internal struggle during the time it took the other party to slowly count down to ten.

In the end, greed and fear defeated it. The huge hood lowered to indicate its willingness to submit, and then it pointed to the pen in its hand and made a writing motion.

"You can even write our language?" Jiang Chen was incredibly shocked and handed over the paper and pen.

However, the other party drew many random symbols on the paper that seemed to have no pattern, which were clearly the language of the Soul Eaters.

Jiang Chen: ...

It can understand what it hears but can't write it; it can't read the symbols and can't understand what it hears, so it can only...

He had someone bring him elementary school textbooks and then squatted in front of the cage, teaching the foreign invaders the most basic literacy skills, starting from the numbers one through five.

Fortunately, the other person wasn't unintelligent and successfully learned simple spelling in less than a week.

"We are wanderers in the universe, also known as fallen predators."

“My name is Prop, and I am an advance guard under General Senuel.”

"The Fallen Predators will search for planets with life energy in the vast universe, break through the world's barriers, invade and plunder soul energy to strengthen themselves."

"I have only been a few soldiers since my birth, which is about twelve years in your time. I am just the lowest-ranking vanguard, so I don't know much about the situation."

"I've heard that every planet with life energy has a powerful savior."

"There are special teams in the army responsible for dealing with the Savior. It's all top secret. I don't know how to do it. Once the Savior is gone, the whole world will be ours."

"We will complete the looting as quickly as possible, and then move on to the next position."

"Plunder is a very strategic thing, and usually the world's barriers are difficult to break through. Since my birth, the great army has been trying to find ways to deal with your world."

"I think you must be the savior of this place..."

"The corrupt predators rely entirely on energy to survive. We are usually the most oppressed at the bottom, needing to pass a lot of the energy we obtain from hunting to those above us. The highest-ranking beneficiaries are the generals. Sometimes, when energy is scarce, the lower-ranking predators will kill each other..."

"We were born in the darkest place in the universe, which is called the Mother Nest."

"I don't know where I came from or why I came here, nor do I know the location of the mother nest. I was just led into General Seror's army after I was born, and I know nothing else..."

As Jiang Chen flipped through Prop's crooked handwriting, fragments of the mission world kept flashing through his mind.

Plundering the world's energy...this is somewhat similar to the setting of a hero world;

As for the system of transmitting energy from the lower levels to the upper levels, he was also familiar with it—it had been specifically tested in the Star-Level Assessment Competition!

So, it seems the world background and character settings in the main system were just something the script team messed up? Did they even reference Fallen Predator?

Jiang Chen paused for a moment before realizing the astonishing truth from the brief message, and hurriedly asked, "Are there many planets in the universe with advanced life forms like humans?"

Prop nodded, then wrote in a crooked hand: "I heard it from my predecessors, after all, I'm still a very young person. After my master dragged me into this world, this was the first time I'd ever truly eaten."

Our clan can maintain its state for hundreds of years by relying solely on its own energy. Eating once can replenish a lot of energy, and if we get enough energy from eating, we can even advance in rank.

Based on the rate at which my master supplies souls, it won't be long before I advance to a low-level ***. If I return to my clan, I can become a commander's deputy.

Some specific words are obviously incomprehensible to both languages, but fortunately, they are only a very small number and do not affect communication.

Jiang Chen was very excited.

Humans are indeed not alone! In the vast universe, there are many other planets like this one, many of which also face invasion by predators…

Unfortunately, Prop was too young. After his birth, he joined the army to attack this world and never went to other parts of the universe, let alone point out where there were other advanced life forms.

Having learned enough, Jiang Chen asked Prop to teach him the language of the Fallen Predators using written communication.

“It’s not that I’m unwilling to teach my master,” Prop tilted his head and slowly wrote, “it’s just that our vocal frequencies are different from humans. We use our own language to communicate with soul sound waves.”

After all, in our lowest state, we have no physical body; we are just a ball of energy enveloping our soul core. Only when we become a great figure like a commander can we condense a part of our body. But the principle of vocalization is the same: using soul sound waves in the universe is the most effective way to communicate.

The black cloak is merely a materialized manifestation of energy, used to distinguish identity and strength, and therefore cannot emit ordinary sound waves through the vibration of the throat and vocal cords of the body like its master.

"To learn our language, the master must first learn to receive and emit sound waves with their soul."

Soul sound waves?

This is a technical job!

After many attempts, Jiang Chen even organized a training course to have Prop personally teach the method of generating soul sound waves, but none of the security team members were able to succeed.

"They're different species, so let's not force it, shall we?" Seeing that he was so engrossed in this, Li Chengze said helplessly, "The head office has heard about you setting up a Soul Eater to teach the new security team members every day. You'd better keep a close eye on things so that they don't get out of control and cause any panic."

Jiang Chen spread his hands and smiled slyly, "A kid who has never eaten since birth and is always exploited is now following me. He'll have plenty to eat and drink and won't have to suffer any mistreatment. Prop isn't that stupid; he understands his situation very well, so he won't cause trouble."

Even assuming the worst, if I really caused any trouble, do you think anyone would dare to touch me now?

Li Chengze: ╮(︶﹏︶)╭

That's true. Now you're the ancestor, the god. Who dares to mess with you?

"I, using your powerful name and influence, successfully reformed the security team. The previous agreement remained unchanged, and a large sum of money was even added. You also found a Soul Eater traitor to study their situation. Everything seems to be going well, but I still have a feeling..."

Li Chengze frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "I have a vague feeling that something is wrong. Do you think there might be some extreme guys who want to assassinate you and then destroy the whole world?"

"There are such brainless extremists?" Jiang Chen looked up at him in surprise, then smiled and waved his hand, saying, "You don't need to worry about that. With Horcruxes, the person who can kill me hasn't been born yet. On the contrary, I'm more skeptical of some of the information Prop gave. I need to find a way to capture another Soul Eater to verify the information."

"Still catching them?! Wouldn't it be difficult to control two at the same time for an extended period?"

"The difficulty isn't controlling them, but rather that something's gone wrong outside the world barrier. Those Soul Eaters are lined up neatly and a bit far from my Soul Weapon. I can 'see' them but can't catch them, which is very frustrating."

I haven't seen that kind of commander Propp mentioned again. If we had the chance to capture one, we could definitely get more information!

Li Chengze pushed up his black-rimmed glasses helplessly. "So what's your plan next?"

“We must learn how to receive and transmit soul sound waves. I have a feeling that if we can learn to receive and transmit soul sound waves, we can take the first step in controlling our own souls. Maybe…” He didn’t finish his sentence.

Perhaps we can find Xiaobai again in that virtual world through her soul...

Jiang Chen changed the subject, saying, "But we have to put that aside for now; I need to find a place."

"Where is it? Do you remember the approximate geographical features?"

The scene reflected in the large bronze mirror flashed through Jiang Chen's mind. He frowned slightly and described, "Judging from the clothing and style, it seems to be from about twenty years ago. It's a place with a strong southern flavor. I can only give a general description. You'll need to find a few experts for me: two to draw portraits and one to draw street scenes."

"Of course, I'll arrange for someone to come over right now." Li Chengze tapped a few times on his phone and then asked, "May I ask what exactly you're looking for?"

A complicated expression appeared on Jiang Chen's face. "I can't say for sure myself, but it should be related to my past."

"Before? More than twenty years ago? How old are you this year, brother?"

"I'm twenty-five this year, but don't forget that my memories start from when I was eight. Let's make a bold assumption: I didn't live through the first eight years of my life, so my actual age is only seventeen."

"Twenty years from now, it's not impossible that I would be living in this world with a different identity and appearance."

"Pfft!" Li Chengze almost spat out blood, looking at him as if he'd seen a ghost. "Twenty years ago you were a different person, and then for some reason your soul was pulled out, cleansed, and stuffed into the body of an eight-year-old child? Even science fiction wouldn't dare to make something like that up, right?"

Jiang Chen shrugged, smiled, and pointed out the window. "Look, a genuine Soul Eater is helping the security team with basic combat training. There are many, many life forms in the universe that are more advanced than humans. Isn't this science fiction that's already becoming a reality?"

"If your guess is true, then you must be very special!" Li Chengze slammed his hand on the table and concluded, "You are definitely the chosen one, no doubt about it!"