Chapter 272: Challenging Cain

The biggest trouble was solved in an instant.

The shackles hanging over everyone's hearts vanished.

Without a doubt, the people at the Investigation Bureau of the Freedom Federation had used many methods to ensure these top assassins would obey their arrangements.

And without a doubt, they all knew in their hearts that they were abandoned pawns.

Now, this trouble was solved.

Logically speaking, this should have been the greatest difficulty of this mission.

Just like in all games that disgust players, when the player climbing the tower thinks they are leading the assassins to kill those nearly impossible-to-kill super targets... and is filled with a sense of accomplishment—

Bang, the true evil activates the detonator, and your teammates—who are neither fully good nor evil, yet flesh and blood, and have shared life and death with you—have their heads explode.

You might survive by luck, but the developer will ask you—was it all worth it? Are you having fun?

In fact, from the moment he began examining the mission, Wen Xishu had thought of various possibilities; he felt the most likely one was what he had guessed.

Of course, are these assassins good people? Not necessarily, but if they were villains, villains in the absolute sense, then they would have no weak points, nor would they be able to be used as tools.

Abandoned pawns are often those whose humanity has not yet been extinguished.

In a normal game flow, solving Zoe without triggering the detonator would certainly be very difficult; Wen Xishu could imagine that he might have to exhaust all his efforts.

But now, with the power of the Underworld Master, he had done it easily. Without any pressure, this round felt even more like... "fish-frying" to Wen Xishu than the Weirdness Competition.

When Wen Xishu said those words, the assassins, now free from worries, were all stunned.

After a long while, Cosmos Igor bowed his head to Wen Xishu:

"Thank you very much for saving my family."

Cannon also said:

"This is much more terrifying than infinite ammo. You Longxia people are truly scary, but thank you very much; I owe you my life."

Shadow no longer appeared illusory and transparent; he reached out his hand:

"No need to wear a collar. I have changed from a dog into a human. Thank you for giving me a chance to be a person."

Canon said:

"I am an extremely wicked assassin. In the assassin world... I symbolize evil. That Cosmos, there are quite a few guys in the assassin world who claim to be righteous and specialize in taking jobs to kill villains."

"But I am the villain in their eyes. I don't understand, why did you save me?"

Night Demon also said:

"Like Canon, because of the night, it seems everyone likes to view me as an outlier. I will repay your great kindness with my life, but we... don't know each other, right?"

Wen Xishu did not answer this question immediately.

Because he suddenly received something long-awaited.

[When true freedom arrives, they can finally decide to complete a grand assassination in this world where humans cannot be humans and monsters are everywhere. Congratulations, you have obtained the Invitation Letter: Epic-level Assassination.]

Wen Xishu was in a bit of a dilemma.

How to put it, the quill the Grim Reaper gave him doesn't actually kill real people; it kills obsessions. Because this thing can only be used in the Land of Obsession.

In other words, the Grim Reaper actually gave him power comparable to a god, just to tell the world of obsession—you obsessions in a Schrödinger's death state of neither living nor dying, I can kill you too.

This is a warning. A warning to the world of obsession, that is, the Weird Tower, not to bring its business into the Underworld.

Without a doubt, the Underworld Master, that crow, is truly strong. This item gives Wen Xishu a feeling of being a GM.

But—only limited to the Weird Tower.

If he really gets the invitation letter and enters the Desire Tower, he will be facing real saviors. And it's not just the saviors; even the Investigation Bureau and the Collapse-bringers might be enough for Wen Xishu to handle.

"I have to think of some tricks. And after entering the Desire Tower, it's returning to a node in history. They met me in the world of obsession and had their collars removed, but that didn't happen in history."

"If I don't have the Death Quill... how am I supposed to make Zoe remove the collar?"

Wen Xishu understood that if he continued to take action in the Weird Tower, everything that followed would go very smoothly.

The invitation letter is in hand, which is a good thing, but this time, Wen Xishu intends not to activate the invitation letter yet.

"Considering the appearance of the invitation letter, I have to conduct an experiment."

Zoe went to get busy erasing the criminal records of several assassins. Wen Xishu had already used the Colorful Quill to write down Zoe's death.

But he suddenly wanted to test whether he could change the method of death before Zoe died.

So Wen Xishu began to write some content again, right on his own palm. He needed Zoe to come to the armory again.

Wen Xishu was just trying; he wasn't sure if it would succeed.

But soon, Zoe did indeed come to the armory again, as if she had lost her way; after walking into the armory, she immediately left again.

Several assassins were a bit confused; they only saw the Ultimate Assassin King writing and drawing, not knowing what this Assassin King was trying to do.

But Wen Xishu was very excited.

"That's right, it's feasible. As long as Zoe is not dead... then I can continuously stack commands to delay Zoe's death... and, before Zoe proceeds to death, I can revoke the commands she hasn't completed yet."

"If I can do this, I might really be able to head to the Desire Tower."

Wen Xishu gave Zoe quite a few commands; these commands... were enough to delay Zoe's death until the end of the mission.

Among these commands, there were also some key operations, such as—Zoe's weak point, Zoe's fatal weakness, as well as the structural map of the entire Investigation Bureau branch, the route map, the insurance settings of the detonator, and a detailed explanation of how to disarm the detonator.

Zoe would provide all these things.

Of course, this doesn't guarantee that the trip to the Desire Tower will go smoothly.

Wen Xishu also doesn't know what will happen in the Desire Tower. The gap between real history and the world of obsession can sometimes be very, very large.

After finishing all this, Wen Xishu said:

"Perhaps many people think the two of you are evil, but everyone here, I imagine, has killed people, and so have I."

"What's more, what awaits us next is the apocalypse. An apocalypse where monsters are everywhere and humans don't act like humans."

"You all possess special abilities; have you never thought about the meaning of these abilities' existence?"

Canon said no more, but there was a look of gratitude in his eyes.

Cannon said:

"Actually... I just want to pull off a big job. Honestly, although I don't like being collared, I really want to try and see if I can kill these saviors."

"These people are said to be the ones who can turn the tide in the apocalyptic era. These guys who are high and mighty like gods... can they be—"

"Pulled down from the altar by people like us."

Cosmos also became interested at this moment:

"Regardless of good or evil, regardless of right or wrong, not even counting life or death, just a pure contest?"

Cannon nodded:

"That's right, that's exactly what I mean. Don't you think it's great?"

Shadow said faintly:

"Ah, I suddenly feel... this really seems to be a very interesting thing."

They don't realize they are obsessions, but their obsessions originate from reality.

Perhaps in reality, they really did clash with those greatest existences, but in the end, it was terminated because of the detonation.

"A hearty duel? I don't know what the Ultimate Assassin King thinks. If you are going, then I am willing to be the vanguard," Canon said.

Night Demon said:

"Who are you inclined to deal with?"

Wen Xishu naturally had no reason to refuse. He wasn't sure how he would perform in the Desire Tower, so naturally, he had to do everything in the Weird Tower to the extreme.

"I also really want to kill with you all, regardless of right or wrong, just for the thrill of it."

"So why don't we discuss who to kill."

Without a doubt, Longxia, Xiong Su, the Lionheart Kingdom, the Island Nation... the saviors of these countries are all very powerful.

They also don't think they really have the life to defeat all the saviors.

Especially that one from Longxia, who is said to be able to fuse with others.

Igor also knew very well that the one from Xiong Su was not simple either; the savior of the Firmament Project was a guy who could control storms.

At this time, people did not yet have the concept of sequences. In the eyes of the assassins, the superpowers of these saviors were Alpha-level, while they were Beta-level or Omega-level. Night Demon said:

"I want to have a contest with that one from the Lionheart Kingdom. It is said that the Lionheart Kingdom's plan is to make everyone a blood-thrall of the savior."

"One city has already been infected, and that city indeed has no traces of apocalyptic erosion. In that city, people live and work in peace, and the apocalypse has not affected them."

"All the reports say so, but... is it really like that?"

"After humans become vampires, are they really the same as before? Is this really the best strategy to deal with the apocalypse?"

"I really want to see for myself."

Cannon said:

"Since that's the case, then we'll act together."

Shadow also raised his hand:

"Although I am useless, I think my stealth will help you all."

Cosmos said:

"Vampires are indeed hard to die from accidents, but my abilities are not just that simple."

"My arts may not be useful against vampires, but even without arts, I am slightly proficient in fists and kicks," Canon chuckled.

Soon, the group had a direction.

They were going to challenge the savior of the Lionheart Kingdom, the founder of the Bloodline Project, Cain.

They were all curious about what exactly this legendary vampire had transformed the Lionheart Kingdom into.

Wen Xishu was the same; Wen Xishu could even use the Colorful Quill to know some intelligence that only "saviors" would know.

The Lionheart Kingdom's Bloodline Project was probably the work of some constellation; at least Wei Ping'an had revealed that the Long Yin Project was the work of Aries and Libra.

Although the Ark Project and the Long Yin Project are the most famous, Wen Xishu felt that perhaps the Lionheart Kingdom's Bloodline Project could also offer a glimpse into some of the secrets of the Three Towers War.

Everyone did not delay; after selecting their respective weapons, they opened the door behind the weapon room that led to the next scene.

The world behind the door was an entirely different realm. Wen Xishu was not surprised by this; it was just a traditional trick of the Trick Tower.

Once this door was opened, it meant the game had begun.

The players likely could not return through this door with the group of killers. But this was a world of obsession, and Wen Xishu was not afraid.

Never mind Cain; even if Jesus came, he would kill him all the same.

……

……

Lionheart Kingdom, Crystal City.

This city, hailed as the city liberated from the apocalypse, was the last refuge of humanity.

But to Wen Xishu, it did not feel like that at all.

The sunlight was a cold, gray-white filter, sifting through thick leaden clouds and falling onto the empty streets. No hoofbeats, no wheel ruts, no footsteps.

It was like a dead city here.

Even in the eighteenth-century Lionheart Kingdom, the sky would not be this gloomy. It looked like night was about to fall, yet the sporadic sunlight falling through cast the city in the hue of an impending rainstorm—a hazy gray.

The cobblestone road was lifeless, each stone like a tombstone embedded in gray mud. The tightly shut windows on both sides were draped with heavy curtains, deep black or dark red, absorbing all light; Wen Xishu had a very uncomfortable feeling.

This place loathed light.

He could imagine that such heavy curtains and deep black and red tones were enough to absorb all light.

How dark must it be inside the houses?

This was a world-famous city, and in Wen Xishu's past life, many people loved the British style. This city was undoubtedly British in style.

But it was daytime now, and the Crystal City in the daytime... was actually this dilapidated.

The clock tower's hands were frozen stiff. In the center of the square, the bottom of the dried-up fountain held a few withered leaves with curled edges. The entire city was like a huge, intricate etching, with cold, hard lines and heavy shadows.

Wen Xishu did not like such a gloomy place, but he had no way back; just as he had guessed, the door would not appear until the "Savior" was killed.

"What's going on? This is clearly a... dead city? It looks like no one has lived here for a long time." Cannon was very surprised.

But Night Demon said:

"It is daytime now. Perhaps that saying is correct."

Canon asked:

"What saying?"

As he asked, he bit his own blood, seemingly preparing some kind of spell.

Night Demon looked around:

"They are like me. No... I am better than them; I can move during the day, the light does not weaken me, and the night strengthens me."

"But the Blood Clan is different; the Blood Clan seems to be... weakened by light, and they only move at night."

Night Demon looked at the sky:

"Three hours and fifty minutes until nightfall."

Cosmos sarcastically remarked:

"It looks like it has experienced a true apocalypse here. If the Blood Clan really abandoned the daytime... then can this project truly be considered saving humanity?"

Wen Xishu said:

"Since there is nothing to do for now, and this city seems to have no living people, why don't we check these houses?"

Wen Xishu pointed to a very ornate but sufficiently gloomy and old house; if he renovated it, it could probably be used to film a detective movie, like the house where that detective on 221B Baker Street lived.

Soon, the group headed toward this house.

The door was locked, but for the killers, it was no obstacle; Canon soon picked the lock:

"You know, I am keen on arts, and the art of theft is also an art."

Canon pushed the door open.

The air was stagnant like aged tomb soil, carrying a faint, fishy sweetness mixed with dried roses, old book pages, and some indescribable scent similar to a damp, cold stone cave.

Canon felt as if he had entered a tomb that had been sprayed with air freshener.

On the floor of the foyer, thick dust had accumulated. Beside the foyer, there was a dressing mirror, but the mirror was blurred beyond recognition...

The dust made the figures of Wen Xishu and the others reflected in the mirror look very distorted.

The light in the house was very faint; it was only because Canon opened the door that light shone in.

Just as Canon tried to close the door, Night Demon suddenly said:

"Don't! Don't close the door."

Canon stopped. The door was not completely closed, leaving a crack.

The light in the crack was like a snake.

Because the door had nearly closed, the entrance to the living room appeared pitch black.

The sunlight exhausted its strength as it pierced into the foyer, unable to reach the depths of the darkness.

Canon intended to open the door, but this door... seemed to have suddenly gained consciousness, or perhaps it was pushed by some eerie force.

Suddenly, the entire door slammed shut.

Absolute darkness spread.

Canon wanted to open the door, but he found that he did not touch the doorknob; he had touched something extremely cold.

The texture felt like tree bark, but also like human skin.

Night Demon seemed to have sensed something and shouted:

"Canon! Watch out! It's right in front of you!"

Everyone was shocked; they had not sensed any aura at all and had no idea what was going on.

Gulp.

The sound of blood being swallowed came, and the horror in the darkness bit into Canon's neck in an instant.

(End of this chapter)