Chapter 3149: Thousand Faces

York City, Relief Street.

Most people walking on this street are couples. The entire street is closed to vehicle traffic. Shops along the street have placed tables and chairs out on the street, and parasols are also set up.

Several men and women are sitting at a table. Some of them are wearing hooded cloaks, while others are simply shirtless, revealing their bronze-colored, sturdy upper bodies.

"It's been a long time since I joined such a comfortable squad. You three better not cause any trouble."

The bronze-skinned, sturdy man speaks half-jokingly. His aura is very bold; he is most likely a Tank.

"Sure thing."

A short-haired woman speaks. Whether it is her tone or pitch, it makes one wonder if she is mocking someone. Her name is Shelley, a contractor from Apocalypse Paradise.

"Recently, things in Garman City have been getting more and more chaotic. It's already been over ten days since we entered the Alliance Star. Calculating the time, this world's progress should be ending soon. It's time to start the carnival."

A man wearing a white suit speaks. He maintains a gentle expression on his face, but beneath this gentleness, a hysterical madness is suppressed.

"Warlock, don't go crazy."

The short-haired woman, Shelley, shows vigilance in her eyes. The suit-wearing man she calls Warlock is from Reincarnation Paradise. If the other party weren't a Mage, she would never have agreed to let him join this squad.

"Rumors, this is a slander against our Reincarnation Paradise. Let me tell you, actually, the contractors of Reincarnation Paradise are relatively normal; only a small portion are crazy. What kind of look is that? Believe me, if you had ever been to Reincarnation Paradise, you would definitely believe my words."

The Warlock, whose professional inheritance is Mage, argues based on reason. In reality, his code name is Warlock.

"We believe you. We haven't fought in a World Conquest War; we are all idiots, okay?"

The sturdy man's words make the Warlock want to quibble... or rather, explain a few more sentences. But at this moment, the man in the hooded cloak sitting beside him stands up. His gaze sweeps across the street, and his expression begins to turn ugly.

"Assassin, what kind of nerve are you having again?"

The short-haired woman, Shelley, looks at the man in the hooded cloak opposite her. She has always been vigilant toward this person; she even feels that this person is more dangerous than Warlock.

"Three, there is an unfortunate thing I must tell you."

The hooded man sits down and grins. He continues: "Actually, I am a Rule-Breaker."

"Damn it."

"Don't joke."

"A Rule-Breaker, really?"

The reactions of the sturdy man, Shelley, and Warlock are all different. Among them, Warlock looks at the hooded man with a strange gaze.

The hooded man doesn't care about this point. He smiles and continues:

"I am a Rule-Breaker from Reincarnation Paradise. It just so happens that there is a Hunter from Reincarnation Paradise in this world. Guess who he is."

"Don't beat around the bush. Say what you have to say."

Although the sturdy man doesn't know what is happening, he has already started preparing to run.

"Who is hunting you?"

As an Eighth-Tier contractor, the short-haired woman, Shelley, is no stranger to Rule-Breakers, Hunters, Battle Angels, and the like.

"Three, I have some business, I'm leaving first."

Warlock stands up. Through the hooded man's words, he deduces many things, for example, who the Hunter on their side in this world is.

Warlock's footsteps are hurried. Before long, he disappears at the end of the street, having slipped away.

Only three people remain at the square table by the street. The sturdy man and the short-haired woman, Shelley, look at each other and decide to leave immediately. If it weren't for the worry that the hooded man who just revealed his identity might suddenly attack, the two of them would have left long ago.

"Since you are a Rule-Breaker, there is no need to cooperate..."

The short-haired woman, Shelley's words are only half-spoken when the hooded man opposite her suddenly raises his hand and slaps the table, as if a smoke bomb had exploded.

"Not good!"

The Tank-type sturdy man jumps backward repeatedly. The smoke filled with crystal shimmer appears quickly and dissipates even faster, lasting only 0.5 seconds before dissolving into the air.

The Tank-type sturdy man looks closely. Beside the broken table and chair fragments, two Shelleys are standing. Seeing this, the Tank-type sturdy man sneers disdainfully; it's just a disguise or transformation ability, a mere parlor trick.

The Tank-type sturdy man's eyes turn pitch black. After some observation, he is dumbfounded. This doesn't seem like a disguise ability; there really are two Shelleys.

The Tank-type sturdy man no longer hesitates and turns to slip away, leaving only the two Shelleys staring at each other.

"You..."

"You..."

"Don't mimic my speech."

"Don't mimic my speech."

"I have no grudge against you, don't harm me!"

"I have no grudge against you, don't harm me!"

The two Shelleys point at each other, then both show anger in their eyes. They both make a move to turn and flee, but stop at the same time; fleeing now would mean taking the blame.

The two stare at each other for a moment, then both grit their teeth and leap toward each other. Back-to-back, Shelley A speaks:

"Did you notice? The pedestrians on the street aren't startled. Look at the sky, how could there be a peregrine falcon in York City?"

Shelley A narrows her eyes; she is very concerned about the peregrine falcon circling high above.

"Can't you just be my brother? Don't harm me, I'm just a salted fish who drifted all the way to the eighth tier; I can't block your enemy at all."

Shelley B is about to cry. She is very innocent; she is the real Shelley, and behind her is the hooded man; the other party has turned into her appearance.

"Oh, I know, you like to eat yogurt pudding, you keep yourself clean, but often you..."

Shelley A speaks with a smile, her gaze fixed on the peregrine falcon above.

"Brother, stop talking, I beg you."

Shelley B is in despair. She has already discovered that the monster behind her can not only turn into her appearance but even has her memories. This is... what a terrifying ability.

"I'm fleeing to the east, you flee to the west!"

The hooded man who transformed into Shelley shouts, then disappears with a 'pop', leaving Shelley alone. She is completely stunned.

In just an instant, all the pedestrians on the street stop their footsteps, and pairs of eyes look at Shelley.

Click, click~

Folding saw blades with wooden handles pop open, the saw edges flashing with cold light. Every pedestrian holds a folding saw blade in one hand and a short shotgun in the other, staring fixedly at Shelley.

The gazes of dozens, no, hundreds of transcendents are focused on Shelley. As someone who just reached the eighth tier not long ago and made a great determination to come to a fully open world, she feels she cannot bear this current enthusiasm.

As a contractor from Apocalypse Paradise, Shelley is considered a little rich woman; she does have items for fleeing, but if she moves a finger now, she will immediately be blasted into a hornet's nest.

At this life-and-death moment, Shelley's brain cells are almost burning up. She recalls every detail before, even everything since entering this world. Suddenly, she recalls a post in the World Contact Platform. She had flipped through it when she was bored. This was a post from a big shot named Xianji over ten days ago. Part of the content was: 'You are the Hunter, I am the Rule-Breaker.'

And this sentence was said to Bai Ye of Reincarnation Paradise, the notorious, Head-Severing Night!

Bai Ye, Hunter, Rule-Breaker/Hooded Man—these pieces of information spin rapidly in Shelley's mind.

Shelley no longer hesitates. She shouts: "I am Bai Ye's fri..."

Bang!

Shelley feels a heavy blow to the back of her head. Just as she is about to fight back, a cold gun barrel is pressed against her forehead.

"Where is that person from just now?"

As Xili the Skinny Monkey speaks, he tightens his finger on the trigger, the short shotgun in his hand on the verge of firing.

"I really don't know."

Shelley is both angry and aggrieved. She is a typical case of having terrible luck, or rather, the moment she met the hooded man—no, it should be the moment she met the Rule-Breaker, Thousand Faces—she was destined to be unlucky.

Thousand Faces is Su Xiao's hunting mission target, Rule-Breaker No. 14023. Thousand Faces is known to have two characteristics: super speed and the ability to transform into others.

This transformation ability must have relatively harsh prerequisites.

This transformation is not a disguise, but a 100% change, even capable of stealing part of the memories of the target being transformed into.

As for why Thousand Faces is in this squad, this is the seventh squad he has planned to scam since entering this world. The previous six squads have already been quietly eaten clean by him.

Both sides of Relief Street are blocked. Xili, in the middle section of the street, looks up at the peregrine falcon, Horus, in the sky. Horus hasn't left, which means the target is still in the vicinity, possibly disguised as one of them. Thinking of this, Xili half-crouches on the ground, pressing one hand to the ground, seemingly sensing something.

The hundreds of members of the Institution around are all motionless. They are doing this on purpose; the enemy can disguise, and moving positions rashly would only add to the chaos.

No one ordered them; they are doing this consciously, which shows the average quality of the Institution members.

An Institution member wrapped in bandages from head to toe by the street shifts his gaze. He only glances at Xili before immediately moving his gaze away.

Xili senses for a moment, spits out a 'tch' in his mouth, and stands up with a gloomy face.

"The target escaped. This scene is really like the 'Scarlet Duchess Incident' 8 years ago."

After Xili says this, he is silent for a few seconds. He is giving other Institution members time to react. Dangerous Object S-026 (Scarlet Duchess) can disguise as anything. This matter is widely circulated within the Institution. 86 Institution members died that time. Besides the casualties of this matter, the method to deal with Dangerous Object S-026 is also circulated within the Institution.

No one speaks. Seven seconds pass. Xili makes a 'chi' sound in his mouth; this is done by using the gap between his back teeth in coordination with his lips to blow air.

Almost at the same time, all the Institution members on the street raise their right hands. Among them, an 'Institution member' standing in front of a clothing store, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, is a moment slow in his movement.

"Heh~"

Xili reveals a smile like a lunatic and raises his hand to fire a shot at the bandaged man. He is certain that this is the enemy.

Bang, bang, bang!

Short shotguns fire one after another, scorching red metal fragments flying everywhere. The bandaged man suddenly disappears from where he was, leaving behind a deafening sonic boom.

Clap, clap!

Electric arcs spread at the street corner. Over a dozen layers of lightning nets appear. In the surging lightning, a human figure can vaguely be seen.

At this moment, all the Institution members on the street open their mouths. They use their thumbs, wearing special metal rings, to press against the teeth of their upper jaws. A subtle vibration sound is transmitted from their teeth to their cochleae. This is a form of self-protection.

Dong~

A sound wave spreads. Xili rolls his eyes. The ring pressing against his teeth vibrates even more strongly. Even with self-protection means, the feeling of being affected by the 'Magnetic Back-Vibration' is quite sour and refreshing.

The figure in the lightning lets out a miserable howl; this person is Thousand Faces. As the sound wave sweeps past, phantoms appear around his body; this is water molecules being stripped away by the high-penetration vibration.

Thousand Faces, with electric arcs surging all over his body, falls to the ground. He supports himself with one hand and vomits a large mouthful of blood with a 'wow'.

Ding, ding~

Two ankle rings attach to Thousand Faces' ankles. He clearly feels as if he is carrying a thousand pounds of weight. This is not the point; the point is that these two ankle rings are adsorbing toward the ground, seriously affecting his fleeing speed.

Thousand Faces' whole body is numb. Just as he waits for this numbness to recede so he can escape, in an alley dozens of meters away, several Institution members pull a piece of dark green thick cloth off a tall object. That is shockingly a main cannon of a steel warship.

Boom.

The main cannon fires. At such a close distance, the shell reaches Thousand Faces' eyes in an instant.

Thousand Faces flies backward, crashing into the light wall behind him. The shell, with its tip pressed against his neck, explodes.

Dong!

Firelight engulfs Thousand Faces. When the firelight recedes, Thousand Faces has already disappeared.

One kilometer away, on an empty street, the blood-covered Qian Mian fled with long strides. His speed was restricted; the shackles on his ankles were manufactured by the Institution four years ago to deal with the dangerous object S-049 (The Formless One).

Qian Mian looked up at the peregrine falcon in the sky, certain that this thing was tracking him. Using short-range escape items was useless, and as for long-range escape items, they required at least 5 to 6 seconds of channeling time, or pre-set coordinates. He did not have that kind of long-range escape item that could be used instantly with pre-set coordinates; obtaining such items required luck.

Qian Mian ran on. The narrow, long street was deserted, and the apartment buildings on both sides were terrifyingly quiet. Suddenly, Qian Mian stopped in his tracks; at the end of the street, a figure was standing there.

Upon seeing the appearance of the person blocking his path, Qian Mian's heart went cold. It was Bai Ye from Reincarnation Paradise. He had previously paid no attention to this hunter, even treating the other party as if he didn't exist.

Qian Mian stared straight ahead, the corner of his eye twitching, and he cursed under his breath, "Damn it!!"