546: Chapter 546: The Footsteps of Fear (Seeking Monthly Pass) 546: Chapter 546: The Footsteps of Fear (Seeking Monthly Pass) Sssss—
The pitch-black military boots stepped on the soft, fine dust, emitting a light yet lingering sound.
The rcenary wearing exoskeleton armor held his Gauss rifle and slowly climbed the unfenced stairs.
They took each step with caution, vigilantly observing their surroundings.
The pathfinder lights above them illuminated the decaying buildings under the dark night sky.
The silent darkness seed as if it wanted to devour everything that had fallen into it.
Click—
A faint sound ca from the deep darkness.
“Who’s there?!”
The rcenary at the front imdiately looked up and toward the direction of the sound in the darkness.
His headlamp shone out, casting light on an abandoned tal barrel.
It was a fire barrel that a vagrant once gathered around for warmth, with decaying wood scattered around it, so of which they had kicked over when they passed by.
The sound just now seed to be from the cracking of the wood.
“Huh—”
A sigh of relief ca from within the night.
The three rcenaries ford a triangle formation and continued to walk upward.
They slowly stepped onto the staircases and finally set foot on the flat rooftop.
A bright moon hung in the air, illuminating the hazy night sky, and the soldier at the front looked around, seeing the bright lights of buildings within the city; they seed to be amidst a brilliant field of stars.
This was the rooftop of the unfinished building, which had only a simple structural fra and no low walls to enclose the rooftop, making it an entirely flat area.
Gazing far into the distance, one could even make out the edge of the rooftop, which resembled a cliff under the night sky.
The three rcenaries each turned on their headlamps and began to carefully search the surroundings.
“All teams report search status.”
At this ti, a calm but forceful voice ca through the intercom on their chests.
“No target found on the first floor.”
“No target found on the second floor.”
“No target found on the third floor.”
…
“No target found on the seventh floor.”
The reports abruptly ceased; after a brief pause, the forceful voice spoke up again, “What about the rooftop?”
“Reporting,” the rcenary at the front pressed the button on the intercom.
He looked forward and said in a slowed voice, “The rooftop is being explored—”
He looked up as he spoke and glanced ahead, but his words halted midway.
His gaze was fixed on the depths of the night where not far ahead, near the edge of the rooftop, a sowhat solitary figure was standing quietly beneath the moonlight.
The headlamp of the rcenary shone on the lone figure, illuminating the blood-stained clothes and sowhat disheveled hair.
This was a refined-looking man.
That was the first thought of the rcenary at the front; the man standing there seed gentle and harmless, like a scholar deep in thought.
anwhile, the rcenary knew that this was the target he was looking for, worth ten million, an extrely dangerous and insane one.
He stopped speaking and, without hesitation, raised his Gauss Rifle, aiming at the figure in the night.
At the sa ti, two rcenaries behind him took out two syringes, fiercely injecting them into their bodies.
He Ao, standing at the edge of the rooftop, watched the rcenary who had raised his gun towards him, a smile playing on his lips.
This smile gradually lifted, like a madman from hell curling his lips.
The twisted, insane expression masked the gentleness from monts before, bringing an extre sense of oppression and madness.
The rcenary in front didn’t hesitate to aim at He Ao and pulled the trigger.
The bullet from the Gauss Rifle tore through the void, creating a violent sonic boom.
However, at this mont, the rcenary could no longer see where his bullet was heading, as a sharp blade slipped through the gaps in his exoskeleton armor, piercing his neck and blood gushing out like a fountain.
He Ao pulled out the dagger, turning his attention to the two rcenaries behind the first one, who had just finished injecting themselves with the syringes.
One of them glanced at He Ao, and his figure suddenly vanished.
‘Stealth’
The ability of a C-level Talent Sequences Assassin.
The next second, He Ao took a half step back, seemingly dodging an attack, then stabbed with his dagger into the empty air beside him.
In an instant, the previously vanished rcenary reappeared, one hand holding a knife aid at He Ao but dodged by He Ao, and the other hand clutching the chest pierced by He Ao’s blade.
The other rcenary’s body suddenly swelled, hurling a massive fist towards He Ao.
Thug, a C-level Talent Sequences.
He Ao pulled back his dagger, leaping backward, avoiding the punch.
The spot he had just been standing on was smashed into a huge hole, with concrete and broken debris flying out.
The swollen rcenary, seeing his own success, stepped forward joyously, swinging his gigantic fists at He Ao.
At that mont, He Ao also looked up at the rcenary, the sharp dagger in his hand spinning and then thrown fiercely, instantly piercing through the rcenary’s forehead.
Boom—
The massive fist ultimately missed He Ao, instead tilting forward, bringing the rcenary’s large body crashing down onto the shattered cent floor.
He Ao glanced at the dead rcenary, extending his hand to pull the dagger out from his forehead.
He had not used the power of Super mory until now, but had used the power of ‘Almsgiver’ inherent to Jess himself, relying on gathering energy in one place and his rich combat experience to achieve a triple kill.
After ascending to C-level, each use of Super mory would impose a burden on his body.
Even though Jess was a Transcendent, his physical fitness was not great, and with his ntal state sowhat problematic, the damage to his body after using Super mory was even higher than when the previous copy of He Ao, who was at D-level, used it.
Therefore, He Ao was always controlling the use of Super mory, trying to use his body’s own strength as much as possible.
The high-intensity use of Super mory in previous battles had already caused so damage to his body.
Shaking the blood off the dagger, He Ao looked at the two n who had just injected the syringes.
At this point, their bodies were decaying at an inconceivable speed.
In just a few seconds, their once powerful flesh rotted away, leaving nothing but skeletons encased in the exoskeleton armor.
He Ao briefly activated Super mory and saw that their souls had completely vanished.
The effects of Gene Potion on humans were completely different from those on animals.
In prior experints conducted by Jess, animals or exotic beasts injected with Gene Potion could temporarily enhance their transcendental powers, but the enhancent wasn’t significant, and while their corpses would decay faster post-death, they wouldn’t decay nearly as quickly.
Perhaps this was also because Jess had only experinted with F-level Gene Potions and had not conducted any over-dose experints.
What Jess had observed were rely the effects produced by low-level Gene Potions.
But these two rcenaries and the red-haired man He Ao had encountered before were using C-level or even C-level Gene Potions, temporarily elevating themselves to powerful Transcendents and even acquiring the complete abilities of corresponding Transcendents.
Upon their deaths, they showed the sa rapid decay of the body and instant disappearance of the soul.
It seed, this was the side effect of Gene Potion.
However, is this side effect only triggered upon death, or are there other conditions that could trigger it, with death being rely one of them?
These questions were no longer within Jess’s area of research; perhaps the Mysterious Person and his other laboratory might have so clues.
Through the recent combat, He Ao had gained a basic understanding of the combat capabilities of the Transcendents created by the Gene Potion.
These “Transcendents” who obtained their powers through the Gene Potion were intrinsically weaker than Transcendents who ascended normally, their strength ranging from eighty to ninety percent of a Transcendent’s typical level.
Although they had acquired complete Transcendent abilities, they did not seem to be able to wield these powers as naturally as Transcendents who ascended normally, showing a clear unfamiliarity when using them.
For example, the Assassin just now—He Ao didn’t use his Super mory, but he was still able to easily locate the opponent’s position through careful observation of his surroundings, combined with the combat experience he had accumulated from his ti as an Assassin.
This was the consequence of being inept and not fully utilizing one’s abilities.
Of course, even a bona fide ‘Assassin’ might not fare well against He Ao.
“Team Eight, can you hear ?”
The robust voice once again rose from the chest of the first rcenary who had fallen.
“Can you hear ?”
He Ao slowly squatted down and picked up the walkie-talkie.
At that mont, realization seed to hit the person on the other end of the walkie-talkie, who suddenly shouted, “Jess, are you on the rooftop?”
He Ao didn’t respond but pressed the button of the walkie-talkie and threw it down the stairwell.
Along with a series of crisp echoing sounds, his figure vanished between the stairs.
······
“The target is on the rooftop!!!”
“Inject the serum imdiately!!!”
“Seal off all the paths leading down from the rooftop!”
Noisy and rushed footsteps reverberated through the dilapidated building.
“Tighten the encirclent, maintain formation.”
A figure that looked like an adjutant stood next to the stairs on the sixth floor, swiftly directing other rcenaries to co together and rush toward the top of the building.
Several groups of three quickly passed by him; he lowered his head to look down the stairs, where another group was rapidly ascending.
“What the hell are you doing?
Got big-booty girls down there?
Move your asses faster!”
Bang—
Just then, a muffled sound ca from behind him.
He turned around to see a figure standing in the darkness.
The light from a guiding lamp spread forward, and almost simultaneously, his hands sprang into action.
The rcenaries under his command were not alone.
The only one alone was the enemy.
He pressed the button on the Exoskeleton Armor he was wearing, which had an injection feature, and it activated instantly.
Silver syringes pierced into his body, accompanied by intense pain as the powerful serum injected into his flesh.
The next second, his body swelled violently, muscle mass, like that of a coiled dragon, spreading through the gaps of his Exoskeleton Armor and causing fine cracks in the sturdy alloy components.
While the serum was injecting, his hands did not stop moving.
He lifted the Gauss Rifle he was holding, and without hesitation, fired a shot straight at the Black Shadow.
The bullet that shot out instantly pierced through the Black Shadow’s body, blowing a large hole in its chest.
No, it was a corpse!
A phantasmal image dashed out from the side, its cold luminance aiming straight for his neck.
A faint red glow enveloped the adjutant, who was unafraid; covered by the Exoskeleton Armor, he raised his arm and smashed a fist into the phantom’s body.
He Ao watched as the fist hurtled toward him, and suddenly, twisted thoughts erged in his mind, attempting to influence his will, trying to radicalize his thoughts.
This sensation was eerily familiar; he last felt it in Kaye City.
It was the ability of the “Paranoiac,” a C-level Talent Sequence from the Church of the God of Chaos.
The last ti He Ao encountered soone with this Talent Sequence was when he t the God’s Chosen, Chaos, from the Church of the God of Chaos.
That was an enemy encountered in the Vian Copy World, and at that ti, the crazed Chaos had seed so similar to Jess now.
If Jess had not always maintained a kind heart, perhaps he too might have succumbed to the embrace of the God of Chaos.
He Ao raised his dagger, instantly activated his Super mory, and without hesitation, collided it with the fist swung by the lieutenant.
The sharp dagger effortlessly sliced through the alloy of the sturdy exoskeleton armor, and as He Ao pulled the dagger downward, he severed several of the lieutenant’s fingers.
“Ah!”
The lieutenant cried out in pain, but his actions did not stop; as one fist t He Ao’s dagger, his other fist had also swung out, smashing toward He Ao’s abdon.
He Ao did not retreat but advanced, sharply contracting his stomach and turning his body to avoid being hit in the vital parts, then with great force, he drove his dagger towards the lieutenant’s neck, slicing it open.
In the final monts, the lieutenant jerked back, preventing He Ao from completely severing his head.
And at that mont, the lieutenant’s fist also struck his body.
Accompanied by a crisp sound, He Ao’s figure was sent flying into a nearby dusty wall.
“You…”
The lieutenant clutched his neck, opened his mouth to speak, but only a gurgling sound of air breaking through liquid could be heard.
He Ao stumbled to his feet, wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth, and then his figure vanished once again.
The previous attack was a little short of being fatal to the lieutenant.
This ti, the lieutenant did not dare let He Ao get close again; he held his neck with one hand and raised the Gauss Gun slung to his side with the other, starting to shoot incessantly at He Ao.
Bullets whizzed by, kicking up dust, blending into the murky night.
Everything was so silent.
The lieutenant stared into that silent darkness, the light of the guide lamps illuminating the reflective dust.
In this brief mont lasting less than a second, it felt as long as a century.
The Gauss Rifle was still charging, the lieutenant raised his hand, shifting the one clutching his throat, and pressed the intercom attached to his shoulder.
In that instant, a cold light sliced through the dust, sweeping across his unprotected neck.
…
Urgent footsteps echoed up the stairs, three rcenaries walking from the fifth to the sixth floor.
Suddenly, their steps faltered, a round object rolled down from the sky.
The lead rcenary instinctively caught it.
Bright red blood instantly splattered over him.
He lowered his head to look at the object in his arms.
The lieutenant’s eyes, frozen in the last mont of shock, stared back at him.
Then, under his gaze, the bloody flesh rapidly decayed, turning into pure white bones.
The rcenary’s hands began to shake uncontrollably.
Under the silent night sky, a voiceless fear spread through the darkness.
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