Carrying the corpse and the black briefcase in his hand, which had caused more than one murder, Xia De did not stay long in the city but went directly out of the city and into the mountains.
For safety, he did not choose to go directly to the ruined tower where the basement connected to the hidden space.
Instead, after deviating from the main road into the mountains, he found a small clearing in the forest.
After confirming that no one was around, he put on the Moonlight ring, activated Silent Moonlight to prevent any unexpected situations, and then restored the corpse:
“Soul Echo.”
As the Miracle was used, a cold wind blew through the mountain forest in the evening, and the sun, which had already begun to fall behind Sicar Mountain in the distance, became even more coppery.
It seemed like a pack of wolves was howling higher up in the mountains, but listening closely, it sounded more like the wind blowing through the treetops.
In the quiet forest under the setting sun, Xia De stood by the corpse with a frown, watching as the spiritual fragments, summoned by the Miracle, appeared above the corpse.
Strictly speaking, the spiritual ability of Soul Echo was not to retrieve a complete soul, but merely fragments, similar to echoes.
Therefore, the soul that appeared at this time was weaker than a normal soul, but because of this, they would lose a part of their memories…
“Directing Death.”
A cold gray light appeared at his fingertips, and Xia De's hand touched the surface of the soul fragment.
He closed his eyes, and scene after scene flashed before him.
Although still incomplete, the sequence of images basically confirmed Xia De's conjecture.
The deceased, who was shot on the fourth floor of the hotel a week ago, the businessman with two pistols, and Professor Higgins himself, were all members of Gray Gloves.
Although not as high-ranking as Gray Headed Eagle, their level was still quite high.
The purpose of the three being dispatched here was merely to obtain the briefcase.
But they had no idea what was inside the briefcase.
In the fragmented memories, there were also some common password patterns and passphrases used by Gray Gloves, but these were constantly changing, so they were not very significant.
And the most crucial final delivery location was actually the Gray Gloves headquarters in Weilandale City, the capital of Carson Rick, a small gray house located next to the Royal Palace.
This indicated that obtaining this “cargo,” which was acquired by the Duchy of Set, conveyed information through Gray Headed Eagle, and assisted by three top agents, was an order directly issued by the leader of Carson Rick's spy organization, Gray Gloves, or even the Royal Family itself.
“What exactly is in the alley?”
Xia De looked at the briefcase he had thrown beside the corpse.
The box was not heavy; it was even lighter than the four all-metal banknote printing plates in his basement.
“Could it be compromising photos of Larus III, the Fire-Jumping King?”
He thought while standing in the mottled tree shadows, but such gossip didn't seem that important:
“Or is it evidence of treason by Leia's other siblings?”
But the descendants of the Cavendish Family shouldn't have so many who wanted to betray the country:
“Or is it blueprints for new weapons?”
This was quite possible.
“Why did you fight among yourselves?”
Because of the effect of Directing Death, the soul in a state of ignorance was dissipating after “awakening.”
Before Professor Higgins's soul completely disappeared, Xia De asked again, as the answer was not seen in the previous scenes.
“Because of betrayal.”
Professor Higgins's voice was very dull, and it sounded like it came from a great distance:
“Shameful betrayal.
One wanted to deliver this briefcase directly to a superior, and the other wanted to deliver it to His Royal Highness Samuel Anjou.”
Samuel Anjou was the eldest prince of the Carson Rick United Kingdom in this era.
Xia De knew this person, not because he cared much about foreign news, but because Carson Rick only had three princes and two princesses in total, unlike Delarion, which had a double-digit number of direct descendants.
“Is that the reason for the infighting?”
Xia De felt a bit amused:
“So what about you? Who did you want to deliver this briefcase to?”
“Her Royal Highness Margaret Anjou.”
This was the second princess of Carson Rick, and she was planning to visit Tobesk City in the autumn or winter as a return visit after Leia Cavendish represented the Cavendish Royal Family in visiting the United Kingdom in the Summer.
“Haha~”
Xia De chuckled dryly, truly unable to understand how the upper echelons of Gray Gloves managed to gather these three people and have them team up to complete the mission.
“Are you mocking Princess Margaret?”
Professor Higgins's soul asked, seemingly misunderstanding the reason for Xia De's dry laugh.
“Of course not... wait? How are you speaking on your own initiative?”
He looked at the soul in surprise, only to see that the soul, which was originally disappearing as white light dots, was actually solidifying as if time was reversing.
An unknown white mist poured down from the top of the corpse's head, causing a ghastly green light to appear in the soul while endowing it with the element power representing “whisper.”
“Damn it, the soul is transforming into a ghoul.
It's the Level 0 relic Between Life and Death affecting it! I knew I should have brought it back to Tobesk before communicating with it.”
But this was also something Xia De could not have foreseen.
Iluna only said that after the earthquake, local ghouls would become stronger and more terrifying; she didn't say that local ghouls would appear more easily.
“I am not mocking the beautiful, kind, innocent, and honest Princess Margaret Anjou!”
Xia De quickly said loudly, hoping this would stop the soul fragment's ghoul transformation process, but he didn't expect that these words would make Professor Higgins's soul even more violent:
“Ah!”
A piercing scream seemed to tear through his eardrums.
If Xia De hadn't used Silent Moonlight in advance, it would probably have startled a large flock of birds in the forest:
“If you don't listen to advice, then I will make you listen!”
He retreated to create distance, and at the same time, gently drew a line in the air with his right hand, an arc of light striking forward.
But upon hitting Professor Higgins's spirit body, it only left a terrifying wound, instead of directly slicing the spirit body into two halves as usual:
“So, the strengthening of ghouls means stronger defense.”
Xia De thought to himself, putting the extract on his tongue, then took a step back and disappeared from his original spot.
Then, holding the sword with both hands, he stabbed from behind the fully transformed spirit body.
Clang!
Silver light particles scattered.
The Moonlight Greatsword actually struck a translucent, ghastly green light shield on the ghoul's back.
The light shield wrapped around the ghoul's back like half an eggshell.
Even when pierced by the Moonlight Greatsword, it only showed spiderweb-like cracks and completely repaired itself before the second sword, summoned by 【Blade of Disordered Time】, could strike:
“Isn't this kind of enhancement a bit too exaggerated?”
He truly realized how terrifying the impending disaster in Middelburg was.
The ghoul roared at the sky.
Under the influence of the white mist from the Gap, the whisper element almost corroded it beyond human recognition.
Its limbs were completely inverted, and black hands directly pierced out from inside its spirit body.
Even Xia De couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle seeing this scene.
He was not afraid of this enhanced soul, but of the power belonging to the Gap, the power Between Life and Death that should not have appeared:
“A ghoul of this level is almost equivalent to a Ring術士 below Four Ring.”
Centered around the roaring soul, the forest grass completely withered, and even he was shaken back.
The white mist blurred his vision, and within the white mist, carrying large shadows and ghastly green airflow, the soul stretched out its hands towards Xia De.
And that translucent light shield also deformed closely against the spirit body, giving Xia De no chance to break through its defense.
“Great Sin Chains should be able to penetrate defenses made of soul power, but I don't want to make this soul even more insane.”
So, his left fist, wearing the Mind Crystal Ring, struck out forcefully, but it once again collided with that light shield, though it was not entirely without effect.
The combined effect of Soul Echo, Mind Blast, and Directing Death made this strike almost produce a sonic boom in the air.
Although the attack power was blocked by that shield, the violent ghoul, like a cannonball, drifted towards the forest behind, along with the white mist, green smoke, and the black faces wrapped around its body.
