Chapter 288: The Races in Fantasy and Epic Films

Inside the single room on the east side of the inn.

Leon threw his travel bag on the floor, turned on the central air conditioning, drew the curtains, turned around, and while taking out his agent-exclusive phone to operate, he also searched every corner.

Following procedure and professional habit, after ensuring there were no surveillance or eavesdropping devices in the space he was in, Leon then sat at the head of the bed to rest a while.

Looking at the simply decorated room that overall resembled an eighties or nineties motel, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

But the holographic projection device on the ceiling told Leon that it was now the 2020s of the twenty-first century, and he was also on the Forest Green Star, which is 470 light-years away from Earth.

He relaxed a bit.

Leon operated his phone, wrote up the information he had investigated into a report, uploaded it to the company, and shared it with his subordinates scattered at the frontier outposts.

After chatting with the driver, and based on several decades of investigative experience, the Kirahani tribe is not simply 'acting erratic'.

Although even now, there are still many demon-faced beasts (Kirahani tribe) attempting to restore the Covenant Empire, but they have an extreme 'PTSD' towards humans, especially towards OriginalBody and Astate.

Therefore they only dare to roam back and forth within the former territory of the Covenant Empire, basically not daring to set foot in human territory.

Only a tiny fraction of radical elements, seeking to 'improve their lives' and driven by vengeance, have evolved into pirate organizations that occasionally launch small-scale raids on the frontier outpost star zone.

The result is either annihilation or being crippled and driven away.

Looking at the name of the frontier outpost star zone alone tells you the garrison forces are only strong, not weak; moreover, there is John, whose combat prowess among OriginalBody is top-notch, and the Sparta Corps, which excels at both offense and defense and is skilled at small-team cooperation.

Furthermore, within the star zone, a total of 20% of the reserves from various legions have been deployed, a proportion far higher than that of other star zones.

In that light, the demon-faced beasts that came half a month ago were purely here to deliver themselves to death.

This is somewhat strange.

Moreover, those demon-faced beasts retained large numbers of ground troops, carrying supplies and armored vehicles, and fled to places like Burtun, which are rainforest-covered or have complex terrain, colonial planets.

This makes Leon feel that the demon-faced beasts' actions appear to be a radical suicidal revenge, but in fact they are attracting the attention of human military and intelligence agencies.

Or perhaps within the star zone there is something worth the demon-faced beasts desperately seeking and excavating.

Therefore, Leon specially marked his various speculations and viewpoints in the uploaded report.

Immediately after.

Having put away his phone, Leon opened the zipper of his travel bag and deactivated the biological safety of a plasma grenade.

He then zipped it back up, got up, placed the travel bag inside the wardrobe, tidied up his clothing, and only then left the single room.

Outside the room.

Outside the room, it is a corridor with the same sense of era; Leon went through the staircase at the end to the hall, and also responded with a smiling nod to the boss behind the reception desk who said, 'Little brother, are you going out for a stroll?'

Arriving outside the inn.

The city where Leon is located has already welcomed the evening of Burtun; lights of various kinds along the streets turned on, and holographic projections of various colors also surged forth.

However, this sultry weather did not become cool with the setting of a star; the temperature remained steady around 38°C.

Furthermore, the pedestrians on the streets did not decrease with the approaching night; on the contrary, the city named Budapeini has just begun to enter a 'normal' state.

Nightlife is the main theme of Budapeini or the entirety of Burtun.

As the innkeeper said, Leon is indeed preparing to go out for a stroll, after all, information and clues won't come knocking on their own.

Walking along the street toward the easternmost part of Budapeini, as he drew closer to the junction between the city and the rainforest, Leon noticed that the crowds were becoming even more bustling.

In groups of three or five, one can tell at a glance that they are gang members.

But this group of people did not swagger or act arrogantly; they walked normally, did not provoke trouble, and avoided drawing the attention of patrolling peacekeepers.

When Leon turned the corner, passed through the alley, and arrived at one of the streets the driver had mentioned earlier, filled with pink lights and holographic projections, he also saw men and women wearing heavy makeup and flamboyant attire, standing in front of various bars and nightclubs to solicit customers.

Water that is too clear holds no fish.

Leon, who has lived for a century, still understands this principle well: to eradicate it completely, one must remove the 'impurities' from human nature.

Whether it can be removed aside, if it truly were removed, whether it could still be called 'human' would be a huge question.

Having lived a long time.

Leon sometimes also considers some 'philosophical questions,' but most of the time they are self‑inflicted worries, so he gradually becomes too bothered to dwell on them.

At this moment.

"Little brother~." A woman wearing a purple miniskirt and red high heels approached Leon, speaking in a sultry voice:

"Would you like to come in for a drink~? There's a discount today~."

Upon hearing that,

Leon turned his head to size her up, then looked up at the bar where she worked, seeing that it was one of the largest establishments on this street.

He then went along with it and said, 'Sure, looking at your face, I'll spend a bit.'

"Thank you, sir~!"

Upon receiving the affirmative reply, the woman's face lit up instantly; she led Leon into the bar, all the way to a spacious hall with the air conditioning on, which was also extremely noisy and dim.

"~! ~!" The explosive music blasted into his ears.

At the front of the hall was a live band; people sitting nearby followed the rhythm, involuntarily nodding and shaking their legs, drinking heartily with their companions or with the woman's coworkers.

Servers weaving between the seats carried trays to deliver drinks and snacks.

Moreover, there were bars on both sides of the hall, providing service to those who came alone or did not want to spend extra money to reserve a table.

At the hall's entrance.

The woman lightly hooked Leon's left arm, pointed to the empty seat beside the band, and said, 'Little brother, do you want to sit there, or…'

As she spoke, she also pointed to the upstairs private room connected to the hall above and below, equipped with soundproof floor-to-ceiling windows, and asked in an even more sultry tone, 'How about there?'

"I'll go there." Leon, however, pointed to the bar on the right, indicating he had no intention of reserving a seat or a private room.

Upon hearing that,

"…"

The woman's smile froze; she obviously hadn't expected Leon to be so direct and blunt.

Having realized she wouldn't earn more commission, the woman immediately withdrew her hands that had been holding Leon's left arm, her smile no longer as 'sincere' as before, and said:

"Well, Zhu Xiaoge, have a good night; I still have work to do, so I'll be leaving now."

After speaking, the woman left without looking back.

Leon glanced at the woman's back, shrugged indifferently, walked to the bar, sat down, ordered a low‑proof cocktail, and began observing the patrons.

Next to him were two elites who were only drinking and chatting, while most people were ordinary—some white‑collar workers unwinding after work, others young folks gathering with friends.

There were no signs of extra‑dimensional corruption.

Moreover, the vaccine developed by the Plague Institute was finished twelve years ago, and nine years ago a version targeting elites and the Iron‑Blood Clan was completed.

In theory, the vaccine can effectively block demonic whispers from the extra dimension; only demons using tangible physical means could cause corruption.

That's one reason elites can live within human society; as for the absence of the Iron‑Blood Clan, it's simply because their numbers are extremely scarce.

He observed for a moment.

Seeing no notable anomalies, Leon settled the bill with the bartender and left the unremarkable bar.

As he exited, the woman hawking customers at the door marked him in her mind with a "stingy" label.

Afterward, Leon wandered the pink‑and‑red‑saturated block for nearly three hours.

Although such a mixed‑crowd district usually yields the easiest underground intel on a city or colony planet, this time Leon returned empty‑handed.

Finally, at the eastern edge of the block, he gazed at the starry sky that had fully slipped into night and gave a slight shake of his head.

Looks like his luck was a bit off this time.

Leaving the block, Leon planned to wait until after tomorrow to contact the local intelligence agency and formally commence the investigation.

However.

Leon had just left the block, not far away, when he encountered a woman on the opposite side of the street wearing ultra‑short denim shorts and a white hoodie, the hood pulled up, walking opposite to him.

A hoodie in 38 °C heat?

Even though it was a light, breathable hoodie, and some people wear similar gear during the day for sun protection, this was night…

Regardless, she still caught Leon's attention.

His intuition told him the woman was suspicious.

He pretended to walk a few steps, then turned his head with peripheral vision and saw the woman turn right and vanish at the intersection.

Seeing this, he immediately turned, hurried to the intersection, mingled with the crowd waiting at the red light, and kept an eye on her movements.

When the green light flashed.

Leon used the pedestrians as cover, crossed the crosswalk to the other side, maintaining a safe distance from the woman.

He, tailing her, cautiously followed for about half an hour until they reached a block that merged completely with the rainforest.

Here the buildings are generally low, allowing trees to easily shade the whole block; the area is also more humid and stifling, with even the starry night obscured by dense foliage.

At the same time, due to the proximity to the rainforest, simple powered armor units began appearing, manned by UNSC elite army squads patrolling in teams to guard against roaming ghost‑faced beasts launching ambushes.

Occasionally, a. 50 cal pulse machine gun‑armed "Warthog" or a 25 mm gauss cannon‑equipped, hover‑tech troop carrier would pass the street heading deeper into the rainforest.

Leon continued to follow.

It wasn't long.

The woman turned right again, slipped into an inconspicuous alley, and briefly vanished from Leon's sight.

But he didn't quicken his pace, maintaining his speed, and at the moment he passed the alley mouth, he glanced casually inward.

He saw the woman about to emerge from the alley and also saw the far end of the alley, which appeared to be the warehouse area used for storing building materials when the block was first established.

Waiting until he fully passed the alley mouth.

Leon counted a few seconds in his mind, then turned into the now‑empty alley, quickened his stride, and sprinted to the far edge.

He peeked briefly.

After pinpointing which warehouse the woman entered, Leon immediately took out his operative‑grade phone, shared his location with the local intelligence agency, and, using senior‑officer clearance, submitted a support request.

Leon's move was essentially gambling on his sixth sense, since no concrete evidence existed yet.

But having dealt with nearly a hundred anomalous phenomena and demonic incidents, he was confident the woman was definitely up to something.

Moreover, even if his judgment erred, it wouldn't conflict with the support request; it would simply count as early contact and cooperation with local colleagues.

Prepare.

Leon tucked away his phone, lifted the hem of his loose shirt, drew a laser pistol from his quick‑draw holster, secured the safety with his right hand, then left the alley and gradually approached the warehouse.

He arrived at the warehouse's edge.

Leaning against the wall, Leon used his left hand to pull a headset from his tactical pack at his lower back, put it on, then retrieved a rubber‑eraser‑sized metal box.

He thumbed open the sliding cover, set the metal box on the ground, and with his forefinger and thumb extracted a sub‑centimeter black‑ant‑shaped reconnaissance robot.

He snapped the cover shut and stowed the metal box.

Leon took out his phone again, operated it single‑handed with his left, and sent the "ant" scurrying across the floor.

The screen displayed the ant's viewpoint.

Next.

Under Leon's control, the reconnaissance robot began climbing the wall, entering the warehouse interior via exhaust fans and ducts.

It continued crawling for a stretch.

The phone screen showed the footage the ant captured, letting Leon again observe the woman and a group of presumed companions.

In the clutter‑filled central warehouse, there were six "people" in total.

Regarding appearance, some had long hair that could cover the ears, while others, like the woman, wore hooded, highly breathable hoodies.

Their facial and bodily features were extremely close to human females, appearing about twenty years old, except one "female" who seemed more mature.

Leon described them as human‑like females because the "woman" he was tracking relaxed her guard before her companions, lifted her hood, and revealed slender, unusual ears.

Their appearance resembled the elves he had seen in epic fantasy movies during his vacation, whose looks are close to human.

They had pretty faces and slender builds.

However, Leon was not fooled by their appearance and thus did not relax his vigilance.

Immediately after.

The covertly monitoring and listening ant transmitted the elves' conversation through the earpiece into Leon's ear.

All he heard was that the woman tailing him, the youngest of them, was speaking in a non-human language to the elves, saying something.

Her tone and demeanor seemed to be sharing intelligence; apparently the other party was using features similar to human appearance to covertly infiltrate Pu'erdun for reconnaissance.

These days his spiritual sense has been lacking, but at last another type of Spirit Clan has appeared.

(End of chapter)