Chapter 9: Foolish Acts

The morning mist had not yet fully dispersed when the sound of iron boots crushing grass blades startled the forest sparrows from the lawn.

Li En wiped away his sweat, untied his sweat-soaked cloth robe, and poured himself a cup of water.

After resting briefly on a chair, he picked up the long sword again.

The lawn, once well-maintained, was now trampled into a mess; at this moment, he had to thank his "fiancée" for her gift, otherwise he would not even have found a place to practice swordsmanship without disturbing others.

He needed power, and the "time" of the Heroic Soul was also quite limited.

He had risen before dawn; having rested twice so far, two more rounds of morning practice would be enough to finish.

And this time, it was not the basic empty-swing training.

A piece of cloth covered his eyes; the empty courtyard held nothing else.

"Hah!"

Suddenly, the steel blade began its circular dance.

Stepping forward, the brilliance of the顺势 slash lit up the courtyard; the basic combat technique that normally required months of training had already become muscle memory for him.

"Clang!"

The sound of blades colliding was actually an onomatopoeia Li En muttered from his own mouth.

And his movements were even more fluid: a retreat and withdrawal as if a giant in the void had not only blocked his slash but also counter-thrust repeatedly.

The blade of the two-handed sword was held horizontally, blocking this thrust.

The advantage of the heavy two-handed sword is that it can serve as a sweeping weapon for group battles like a windmill, and its blade can be retracted to function as a blocking iron shield.

But the "opponent" had already closed in; the two-handed sword could no longer be deployed at medium to long range, so...

"Ding!"

The sword blade dropped directly to the ground; Li En pulled the "opponent" with his left hand while raising his right shoulder.

"Ha!"

A footstep, the Iron Mountain Shoulder.

His body crashed sideways, striking the target squarely.

But the opponent in the illusion was resilient enough, still not falling.

Or perhaps it was simply that his own strength was insufficient.

Yet excellent combat experience could compensate for hardware shortcomings; from the start, Li En had anticipated this: the full-body force of the Iron Mountain Shoulder was only meant to make the opponent slightly tilt and lose balance.

The weight of a fully armored knight was also a form of power; in his imagination, the opponent was already pinned down by Li En.

Li En discarded the sword, but his right hand was now free.

"Holy Fist."

The shouting arm summoned holy power; in the struggle, he pinned the opponent while his right fist, shining with Bai Guang in his imagination, hammered repeatedly.

"Big hammer, small hammer." Among the clergy, there were Wu Seng who also served as Holy Fist practitioners, and Sul was quite skilled in this regard.

This time, the off-balance opponent was struck in the face by a surprise punch.

Unable to defend in the short term, the iron-plated glove punched again and again into the forehead, directly shattering his skull.

"Hah."

Li En removed the blindfold; his whole body was drenched in sweat.

It looked like only a few movements, a matter of ten or so seconds, yet it had drained all his physical and mental energy.

The more experienced a veteran is in such imaginary combat, the closer it gets to real battle; in real combat, the line between life and death is often drawn in just one or two exchanges, a matter of tens of seconds, yet it consumes the entire heart and soul.

He closed his eyes again, reviewing the "combat experience" just now.

"Not enough..." The hardware shortcomings were too great; such combat power might suffice for street thugs, but it was far from enough to kill a true transcendent.

He could not help but recall the dream from this morning, which was an even deeper despair.

An endless army surged forward; as far as the eye could see, it was pitch black, filled with swords, spears, and the enemy's war banners, yet the besieged Heroic Soul did not stop for a single step.

One person, one sword, that was enough.

Every sword strike carried light, instantly clearing a vast area; in the next instant, more darkness surged forward.

Boundless and endless, ceaseless and unceasing.

Disgust for the darkness of the world filled his heart, but even more was the anger at his own powerlessness to change reality.

Sul longed to roar, but reason told him that every drop of physical strength at this moment was precious.

Thus, he poured his entire heart and soul even more deeply into the sword.

Anger is my power.

The awareness of my own fragility and powerlessness is also my power.

I long to change; even if I am in boundless darkness, I long for the light. If this world has no lighthouse to illuminate the path ahead, I am willing to become that candle flame that burns out in an instant.

On the boundless black battlefield, in that fallen land like a black swamp, only a sliver of light remained, persistently wielding the sharp sword in hand.

No secret technique, no need for skill; simply pouring the intent of the heart into the sword, shouting against the unjust, against evil, against darkness...

"Break Evil..."

Silver light covered the Blade of Courage; this time, the luster was not as dazzling and blinding as before; it condensed like a mirror, as if moonlight had gathered.

Yet, for the evil ones, it was even more dangerous...

"Clap, clap, clap!"

The sudden applause startled Li En awake; he turned sharply and discovered that the policewoman Talia was actually not far away.

When had she arrived?

Talia looked at Li En with full admiration; she had witnessed the entire martial display... such movements and focus made even she, the observer, feel as if she saw every move of the "imaginary opponent."

As a veteran, she knew how much real combat experience was required to simulate something so realistically.

"Movements of a battle-hardened warrior, strength inferior even to a recruit... no, the degree of decline is already worse than a child's; he is far weaker than the day we first met."

This contradiction of a century-old veteran trapped in a disabled body made the female officer feel even more regret.

She knew that Li En at their first meeting was not at his peak either, and she did not dare imagine how powerful Li En at his prime had been. For a young man to be so powerful, how many years of torment and battlefield experience must he have endured, yet now he was panting even from a movement lasting a few dozen seconds.

"But even so, he still trains so steadfastly. Even knowing all of this will fade away—this willpower is rarer than strength itself."

Within the female officer's habitual wary gaze at people, a rare trace of heartfelt admiration appeared.

Recalling his encounters—being expelled from his family as a marriage alliance tool was already a humiliation, then being jilted, and now having lost his power—any one of these blows would be fatal, yet he always faced them with a smile.

Calm and composed, without a shred of resentment—this was simply unbelievable. Could he be some kind of saint?

"Don't you feel this effort is meaningless?"

In the end, she still asked it.

The Regression phase doomed the flesh to degenerate into inferior stone, and the professional abilities painstakingly trained were doomed to vanish like smoke.

What meaning does effort at this time hold?

The most desperate thing was not even the regression of the profession or the degeneration of the flesh, but the collapse of soul techniques and soul abilities.

Soul abilities originate from the soul, but are actually the crystallization of heart-body techniques—the core of a transcendent's evolution. Once the soul collapses, perfect restoration is nearly impossible.

"Heh, by the world's usual standards, my efforts might be meaningless. But to me, they hold quite a bit of meaning." The man's words were very calm.

"Besides, even if I can't be a knight, I'm actually quite interested in being an arcanist too—it's just starting over from scratch."

What Li En said was all the honest truth. Since he had come to a fantastical world, he was naturally full of interest in becoming a mage.

He had actually felt quite regretful before, that the soul he drew the first time was not from the arcane system.

But at this moment, the man's calm and resolute words completely shattered the female officer's mental defenses—could she herself face the end so calmly?

A simple phrase of starting over—if she herself had been so open-minded back then, she wouldn't have abandoned everything.

Even after losing everything, one can still start over. If one path is blocked, take another—even if it requires an entire lifetime, even if one may never reach the heights of the past.

If doomed to a life of setbacks, if doomed to gain nothing.

"Mm, then walk your own path and let others talk." In Talia's eyes, the man before her was walking his own path with such calm composure.

As for Li En himself, being stared at by those dewy eyes, he felt a bit embarrassed—Sister Overlord Flower, when we first met, you weren't this style at all.

He guessed the other party had misunderstood something, but this thing seemed impossible to explain clearly.

"The Tailed Case—any new leads?" This was the root reason for the two meeting early in the morning. Yesterday's case involving Will had reopened the investigation into the Tailed Case.

"Mm, confirmed—three more victims, just like Will. The corpses turned into mummies, tails gone, and at the scene there was a bloodstained silver coin. It's him, no doubt."

When it came to business, Talia instantly became serious.

Originally, she had thought that cutting down that noble son acting as the executor meant everything was over.

But now, things were clearly not that simple—the mastermind had instead become even more brazen.

"The corpse you saw was probably prepared for you."

"As expected." Li En sighed—this was a naked provocation.

Not only will I commit the crime, I'll commit it in your face; after I'm done, I'll even toss the corpse to you to admire.

Talia's face flushed red—from anger. This wasn't just a slap to Li En's face, but to the authority of the law and the face of the Dock District Police Station.

But the reality was, if not for the pressure from Li En's "fiancée," and the fact that he also counted as having some noble blood, given the ways of those decadent nobles in this city, they would do far more than intimidate a doer of good—killing outright would be much simpler.

"Can you give me more information?" Clearly, the knight before her had no intention of stopping here.

Talia shook her head. If he were a fully intact Covenant Great Knight, she would have privately given it to him long ago. Giving it to him now would be like watching him die.

"The actual number of victims is already in the triple digits—nearly a year now." But some semi-transparent things could still be hinted at.

Li En was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood.

This case, from the very beginning, was never an individual murder, but an organized industrial chain.

The noble young man who had been cut down was probably just one link in it.

"The focus is the consumers, and the person providing the technique."

Will's corpse was withered, his internal organs hollowed out. This meant not only had the corpse been desecrated by a ritual, his life force had also been plundered.

Plundering others' limbs as materials for evolution and life extension is not only a crooked path, but also requires special techniques, often originating from some evil god.

Clearly, a cultist or even an organization was operating behind the scenes, providing "ginseng fruits" for the lords.

"Truly professional." Hearing this, Talia knew Li En had grasped the key point at once. "But the situation is complicated. We've confirmed that Diego—even he doesn't have the power of an evil god, and his strength is quite ordinary."

This made Li En frown—he knew the fun had just begun.

Someone who could commit crimes silently in the Dock District shouldn't be weak.

That noble was probably just a middleman, delivering the victims' "fruits" to the noble lords.

To thoroughly resolve this case, the first step was to cut down the perpetrator, the second was to investigate the mastermind.

"Did I startle the grass? My mistake." "Su Er's" investigative experience provided the answer.

"No, no, no, that's not it. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have any leads at all right now."

"Su Er"—Li En opened his mouth, a rather rude "how can you all be so useless" was still stuffed back in.

Li En did not regret striking too quickly, nor did he look down on the low efficiency of the understaffed Dock District Police Station.

He was only surprised that with leads in hand, they hadn't investigated to the end. This was a world with supernatural powers, where the upper limit of case-solving efficiency even exceeded that of surveillance cameras.

Using the investigative thinking of Holy Oath Knight Su Er, once a lead was found, a trail of Sin-Punishment divine spells would be thrown out—guilty ones cut down directly, accomplices tracked to the end.

Won't talk? Medieval inquisitors were all skilled in torture.

That noble young man clearly had something fishy behind him—why not just raid his home? A squad of knights in one night would guarantee a clean investigation.

Even if they couldn't kill his mastermind, cutting off the front-end black hand and removing that evil god's technique would at least prevent new victims from appearing.

But now.

"Sigh." He could only sigh—the leads were already broken, the window of opportunity had passed.

This was also the root reason he had repeatedly refused the officer's recruitment. With so many districts in this city, the Dock District was not only the weakest but had several police stations, with very limited manpower, and many people with ambiguous stances, simply not worth trusting.

This suburban police station, knowing full well where the problem lay, could not continue the investigation.

"This goes against justice." Li En instinctively gripped his sword; if he were still "Soul" from the first day, he would have already rushed onto the road.

But now, as just Li En, his purity was insufficient and his strength inadequate; acting recklessly would be a waste.

Let alone entering to investigate the case; even knowing who the mastermind was, charging through the main gate was hardly possible.

He finally lowered his sword hilt, but could only sigh helplessly.

"Sigh, if only I were still a Great Knight."

He did not know, however, that a pair of beautiful eyes had been watching him the whole time, even filled with heartache.

A hero in twilight, mourning not for himself, but sighing only because justice could not be vindicated. At this moment, Talia's heart also broke; she lowered her head, too embarrassed to look at him.

From this moment on, she no longer had any thought of recruiting the man before her.

Pity him? Was she worthy? Even if he was currently at a low point, he was destined to soar to the nine heavens again, wasn't he?

No wonder he had refused her invitation several times; this "slum" police station of hers was merely a shackle restricting his development.

"Is your police station's cooperation offer still valid? I'll join."

But at this moment, it was Li En who spoke up first.

"Let's be clear first: I will not give up on this case. My current strength is insufficient, so I need to borrow the police station's power; I need intelligence support, equipment resources, and identity, and I might also bring you trouble."

"Then you must have other choices, better choices than our slum police station, such as those churches."

A former Classical Oath Knight; how could the knightly orders of those churches refuse? Even if they took him back just to display him as an antique, it would be a matter of face.

"There is no time." The calm words were the man's unshakable resolve.

His time was limited; in nine more days, the buff from the Hero Soul Card would be completely gone.

This was not just for Will either. Given the opponent's arrogant and domineering behavior, after "Soul" killed that noble, the two sides had formed a grudge, which was destined to be a death grudge.

Did he expect the opponent to let him go? Don't be silly; when cutting out evil, one must do it thoroughly; even a murderer silencing witnesses has no reason to let you live.

Letting you off now just means they will come knocking again after the heat dies down.

Taking one step further back, how stupid and naive must one be to be willing to entrust one's life and safety to a villain.

"Less than ten days."

It was best to solve this problem while the Hero Soul buff was still effective; to complete the mission within this time limit, help from the local police station was necessary, and borrowing the power of the Docks District Police Station was the most reliable option.

"No time?" Talia was a bit dazed, then recalled the murder scene, and suddenly understood.

In the female officer's eyes, it was an even more idealized scene: the victims were still increasing, and the young righteous knight hoped to eliminate this villain and criminal organization before completely losing his power, even if it meant risking his life.

An outsider, a broken degenerate, a fragile one losing his power, yet fighting desperately with the time remaining.

In his eyes, there seemed to be no trace of herself at all.

"My power will soon fade to almost nothing; I probably cannot be a police officer for the long term. The condition for my joining is to let me participate in this case." The man calmly stated his goal.

If he went and never returned?

Then he would go and never return.

"We, your officers, will absolutely not let you down!" The female officer shouted loudly, her voice also carrying the resolve to risk everything; she must protect him.

From then on, Li En, now a colleague at the police station, merely nodded silently and responded with a smile.

"I believe in you." Looking at this gentle smile, Talia, known as the Mother Rakshasa, suddenly found herself unable to look him in the eye.

Her face instantly flushed, and she turned her head again, too afraid to look at him.

Li En did not notice her abnormality; he was only surprised by his gains.

【The Hero Soul is greatly pleased; synchronization rate and satisfaction have increased significantly. Current synchronization rate: 21.6%, satisfaction: 15.6%.】

【Comprehended Evil-Cleaving Slash (Ring One Standard Version)!】

【Stare, Rage, Slash — Soul Dawon.】

At this moment, Li En was stunned; how did the synchronization rate jump two points at once, and satisfaction jump five points!

Could it be that this single decision yielded several times more than all his efforts combined over such a long time?

Why was the Hero Soul so greatly pleased? In the next moment, he understood.

"Foolish justice is indeed foolish enough, specifically picking the stupidest choice, crashing into the hardest wall."

Perhaps it was the foolish act of shattering the original plan, joining a police station with no prospects, and stubbornly fighting a serial killer organization that satisfied the Hero Soul.

If he were a bit smarter and more rational, Li En could have run away and developed in another city. But Li En chose the foolish act of stubbornly fighting, and only then did the Hero Soul finally nod, truly recognizing him.

Although a bit awkward, Li En did not dislike this foolish integrity of the Hero Soul.

What is a hero? To harm oneself to benefit what one does.

His mind recalled yesterday, the empty eye sockets of a child who died without closing his eyes.

He should still have a future...

"Since no one is here to do justice for you, let me do it." It seemed that since this world could not and would not have justice, someone ought to do something foolish.

【Detected host joining police station; host obtained Law Enforcement Identity. Detected Hero Soul recognition; Saint Oath Knight exclusive Sin-Punishment Domain loaded.】

【Detected first Hero Soul synchronization rate exceeding 20%; Hero Soul has granted host recognition; Dream Training Mode activated (this mode will trigger a series of unknown consequences, please choose carefully). Note: This mode only takes effect in dreams.】

"Justice does not need to wait; the light of the law also has shadows it cannot reach. If the innocent cannot sleep, let me do it — Soul Dawon."

Uh, a 5300-character big chapter.

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(End of this chapter)