Chapter 45: Red Lotus Witchbow (2/2)
The man on the mountain looked up, “I don’t know.”
The youth’s gaze turned icy, “What? You don’t know? Then why are you here?”
“I’m hiding from people,” the figure said indifferently.
The student landed on the mountain and walked towards the figure, “2300 combat level, that’s quite impressive. But you don’t have a gadget, are you a native?”
The person turned around to look at the man, “Can you do me a favor? I need you to help me post something on the network.”
“Post what?” the student grew suspicious.
“Just that you spotted the criminal,” the figure smirked.
“Why?” the student was startled and immediately went into a defensive stance, but the next moment, he felt all strength leaving his body. This man was only showing 2,300 combat level before, but now he was releasing insurmountable energy that completely overwhelmed him. His gadget rang out endlessly to inform him that this was a Melder-level battle technique.
“Thank you,” the figure said faintly before turning around and walking away.
A few minutes later, the network on Earth exploded with activity. Everyone received an alert that the escaped criminal had Melder-level strength and was hiding in northern Europe, and that message ended with a request for assistance. Many didn’t believe it at first—it made no sense to publicize the location of this trial’s mission—but Eddy and the others who’d fought the criminal before looked through the details about the criminal’s appearance and certified its authenticity. Many students raced towards Europe immediately.
Within Beijing, Lu Yin and the others were caught off guard, “The target’s position was leaked? Something doesn’t seem right.”
Jeraldine explained, “Not all students care about the trial’s mission; everything that happens over the course of their stay can affect the result. Win/loss records count, and publicizing the information might be worth some points as well.”
Lu Yin looked at Eddy, “You fought the criminal before, how strong is he?”
Raas’s capture had turned Eddy into a well-behaved captive. He replied obediently, “He’s very powerful. Even with little star energy, any Explorer’s control and understanding of their battle techniques is difficult to match with numbers. A dozen of us attacked him together, but he instantly killed five and escaped.”
“The poster mentioned that the criminal has Melder-level strength; is that true?” Jeraldine asked.
“Not when we confronted him, or we would’ve run away.”
Lu Yin muttered something under his breath. The whole situation seemed suspicious; someone who could escape to the Outerverse from the Innerverse would not be careless enough to let a passing student notice him and post information.
“Quick, look at this. Some students are nearing northern Europe.” Jeraldine cried out and everyone gathered to watch the local network.
Three students flew over to the location of the message, two from the first batch and one from the second. While they arrived at the same time, the former were afraid to even approach the latter.
“Where’s the criminal?!” the stronger student shouted, while the other two started looking around. However, a dull thud suddenly rang out as the duo fell to the ground; it wasn’t long before the student from the second batch join them. Only when they had all fallen did a man slowly walk over, his steps seemingly gentle yet releasing an indescribable pressure that caused them all to tremble. The trio raised their heads to look up at the figure, but all they could see was a silhouette in ring armor towering over them with an expression of content. Although the streak of white amidst his thick black hair made him look rather odd, he gave off a sinister vibe.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Qingyu, the one you refer to as the criminal on the loose,” the man said with a faint chuckle. The three students trembled as they watched an explosion of star energy that caused them all to pass out immediately. Qingyu looked to the vast horizon with eyes filled with longing as he muttered to himself, “Four is nowhere near enough.”