Chapter 15: Chapter 15
After ending his opponent’s life,
Loren did not leave immediately.
Instead, he stared at Adrian’s corpse.
Staring at the body of another psychic, he began to speak to himself in a strangely detached tone:
“What a marvelous spatial power, developed into something .”
“Looks like both your head and your luck were not very good.”
Loren slowly took off his bowler hat.
He bowed gently toward the headless corpse……
His fate would constantly remind Loren of one thing.
Powers are the root of one’s strength, not relying on external things like mecha.
Those who invert priorities always meet a miserable end.
At the same time, this was the first time Loren had faced a mecha in combat since becoming an Interstellar Hunter.
Only one thing made him feel a little regretful after today’s battle.
Loren realized that most mecha he would meet in the future would no longer bring him real combat pleasure.
He had lost a little more of life’s fun.
It turned out that Loren’s ability naturally countered these colossal war machines.
Complex, massive systems could not withstand even a slight mockery from Misfortune.
Loren rose silently and turned to leave.
His steps led him toward the Wild Dog Gang building, now a ruin.
“I hope I can find some clue here about Ms. Thia’s poor husband......”
Loren thought casually.
The process of the game mattered far more than the result.
Not long ago this building had been imposing, now it lay in rubble.
Loren stopped in front of the wreckage, feeling at a loss about where to start.
Underneath the debris flowed blood.
It was the blood of Wild Dog Gang members.
These people had died during the building’s collapse.
After Adrian exposed the hidden mecha in the basement to deal with Loren,
he cruelly chose to destroy anything or anyone that might reveal the secrets behind him.
As the building turned to rubble, the gang members inside perished along with it.
After all, a gang could be rebuilt, but secrets only have value if they are kept.
The dead keep secrets.
To cover up some truths, certain sacrifices are considered worthwhile.
Unfortunately, events went beyond his expectations.
Although he protected the true secret, he lost his life in the process.
Loren looked at the dirty, chaotic ruins in front of him and felt a headache coming on.
Having some OCD tendencies, he did not want to sift through the broken walls himself.
The cracked walls themselves weren’t filthy; what made them foul were the corpses hidden beneath and the blood flowing there.
After some internal debate,
Loren opted for a rougher method.
He closed his eyes again, sensed the power he could manipulate,
raised his left hand, and snapped his fingers lightly.
A barely noticeable flicker of light flashed across the black wings behind him.
Then, still with his eyes closed, Loren raised his revolver and fired a few rounds at the rubble with casual aim.
Aimless, without any target.
The bullets caused small explosions where they struck the ruins.
Surprisingly, most of those casually fired rounds hit the very same patch of rubble.
The successive small detonations kicked up thick dust over the wreckage.
After a little while, the dust obscuring his view settled.
Beneath that pile of debris, a safe embedded in a wall had been blown free.
The safe lay conspicuously on the rubble, drawing the eye.
Seeing the safe brought a faint curl to Loren’s lips:
He walked up and examined the safe.
The oldest encryption method: three numbered dials, one large and two small.
No biometric locks, no iris, fingerprint, or blood-energy checks.
Only the most ordinary numeric code, ancient but effective.
If someone didn’t know the code, they'd have to do a lot of fiddling to open this locked safe.
But that was for other people.
For Loren, he no longer needed someone to pick the lock for him.
Because of the explosion, the safe’s door was already half open.
So lucky? Seems I’m not far from fourth tier.
Seeing the half-open door, a thought flitted through Loren’s mind.
He reached out and easily opened the safe.
To Loren’s surprise, there were no additional items inside the safe.
No clues about the Wild Dog Gang’s hidden backers that Loren had imagined.
Only a large quantity of Spirit Stones.
A huge number of Spirit Stones.
Over a thousand glowing Spirit Stones.
They almost filled the safe.
“Nothing I wanted? Looks like I still have some way to go before fourth tier.”
Loren shook his head.
Oh well, it’s still a haul.
He withdrew his ability and folded the black wings behind him.
The raven that had long sat on Loren’s shoulder reappeared atop his shoulder.
After feeling the bird’s feathers with his hand, Loren took his little companion into his palm.
The raven perched in the hollow of his hand, peering at Loren with its black eyes and tilting its head.
Loren chuckled softly, then set the raven down on the safe.
“Be quick.” Loren instructed the raven.
At the words, the raven turned, hopped into the fallen safe, and began to eat the Spirit Stones.
Its small beak was like a bottomless pit, one stone after another.
Soon, it had devoured all the Spirit Stones in the safe.
It hopped out and flew back to Loren’s shoulder,
idly preening its now glossier black feathers.
Even after the raven returned to his shoulder, Loren still scrutinized the ruins before him.
He suspected there might be better things underneath.
Loren snapped his fingers again.
Once more, countless bullets flew from his revolver.
The ruins were subjected to another round of fierce bombardment, dust rising across the scene.
When the smoke cleared, Loren carefully scanned every corner of the wreckage.
“Still really no clues......” Loren said with some disappointment.
It seemed he’d overthought it.
Mr. Adrian, you truly were a cautious man......
Oh well, these thousand-plus Spirit Stones make it worth the trip.
Loren turned and left the site, heading away from the ruins. Read full story at novel·fire·net
When he reached a street that hadn’t been affected by the battle,
he noticed a hulking figure leaning against a heavy pickup truck, smiling as it watched him.
This familiar figure looked as if it had been waiting here for Loren.