Book 3: Chapter 17: Attempt

“Cough, cough… So that’s what it meant. I really took it for granted!” Qin Lun coughed violently, blood dripping from his temple and painting half his face red.

The young man leaned against the dented front of the Mercedes-Benz. He felt a burning heat against his back from the vehicle. With difficulty, he controlled his muscles, using his fingers to set his broken ribs back in place. He wiped the blood from his forehead, took out some Moonlight Recovery Ointment and applied it on himself. Then, he tilted his head back and swallowed two drops of World Tree Dew. Finally, he shakily stood up.

Qin Lun had not expected to be so badly injured. Because he needed to control the steering wheel, and also to facilitate jumping out of the car, he had loosened his seatbelt beforehand. As a result, during the violent crash just now, he was thrown right through the windshield and flew out from the front of the car.

This outcome happened partly because Qin Lun had no driving experience and did not take the seatbelt in this era’s antique car seriously enough. But the most important reason was that the Shahbakh Ring, which he had placed high hopes on, did not provide any protection at all.

Fortunately, the two Blade Ashigaru also suffered severe leg injuries from the crash, making it difficult for them to move. They were also pinned by the Mercedes-Benz against a wall. Qin Lun used his FN-500 to take them down one by one from a distance. Otherwise, he would have really suffered the consequences of his own actions.

Actually, before entering the Phantom Demon World, the hints given by Shattered Starry Sky had already noted that certain equipment and items not conforming to the world’s rules would be sealed.

However, at that time, the warning only mentioned the Storage Space; it did not mention equipped items. Qin Lun also never thought that the Shahbakh Ring on his hand would fail to trigger its protective skill. Clearly, the fire elemental magic possessed by the Shahbakh Ring could not be used in this world.

“A foolproof plan almost killed me!” Qin Lun shook his head self-mockingly. He skirted around the Mercedes-Benz that was emitting white smoke and hobbled outside. He needed to get to the police station quickly to meet up with the others.

In fact, Qin Lun’s seemingly reckless action today was a plan he and Hill had discussed last night. Unlike the Reincarnators, the two of them had still not received the Otherworld Mission. They had to find a way to trigger the mission as soon as possible.

The two Apostles had already realized that the newbie team’s strength was too weak. Apart from the first survival mission, they most likely would not be able to complete any side missions, let alone hidden Plot Missions.

If these newbies were completely wiped out, or slowly came to face reality, and they still hadn’t triggered the Otherworld Mission, then their situation would become very difficult. Because by that time, the Phantom Demons might have completely taken control of Paris, making it hard to move freely.

Therefore, Qin Lun and Hill decided to take the initiative and try various actions that might trigger the Otherworld Mission. Last night, they had already determined that after daybreak, the Phantom Demons would surely descend upon Paris. This was the perfect time for their first attempt.

In the two Apostles’ plan, Lü Kuang could not die yet. Although the Phantom Demon World was definitely not some Oni Warrior game, the game plot provided by the college student could still serve as reference information. So, one of Qin Lun and Hill had to be responsible for looking after Lü Kuang. This task was given to Hill, as the priest had a protective skill that could be used on a companion.

Besides Lü Kuang, Xiao Dao was the two Apostles’ secondary cover target. The Earth Federation that Qin Lun and Hill came from belonged to the future world. They weren’t very familiar with this era’s transportation and communication technology. They needed a capable assistant, and Xiao Dao, the gangster thug, fit the requirement.

As for Liza with the baby girl and Jonathan, the two selectively forgot about them.

Liza was undoubtedly a burden. As for Jonathan, if the two Apostles weren’t there, the blond young man, who possessed both a sense of justice and logical analysis skills, would be the best leader for this newbie team. Unfortunately, with the two Apostles present, he instead became redundant.

This was also why Qin Lun and Hill had intentionally or unintentionally let Liza and Jonathan sit in the very back row of the van. The two Serial Killers simply wanted them to fend for themselves.

Compared to Hill, Qin Lun’s mission was simple. If they encountered low-level Phantom Demons on the way to the police station, he would take action to see if killing a few Phantom Demons could trigger the Otherworld Mission.

In fact, when Qin Lun saw the two Blade Ashigaru in front of the Mercedes-Benz, he knew the opportunity had come. Lü Kuang had introduced many types of Phantom Demons to everyone. Blade Ashigaru were among the lowest rank of Phantom Demons.

Qin Lun believed he could handle the Blade Ashigaru. After all, he was much stronger than these newbies. If even he couldn’t deal with Blade Ashigaru, then the difficulty of this world would be way too harsh. Although his FN-500 had poor practicality, it was, after all, a Dark Gold weapon with immense instantaneous firing power. After blasting one Blade Ashigaru away, the remaining one wouldn’t be much of a threat.

Indeed, killing the two Blade Ashigaru didn’t cost Qin Lun much effort. His injuries… were caused by the car crash!

…

“Doctor Qin, are you alright?” Seeing Qin Lun clutching his ribs and hobbling into the police station, a flicker of relief crossed everyone’s faces.

Qin Lun waved his hand, indicating he wasn’t seriously hurt, and turned to look around the police station lobby. This hall connected to the entrance porch outside. Both sides of the hall were lined with desks and filing cabinets.

At this moment, besides them, there wasn’t a single French police officer in the hall. The floor was a mess, littered with scattered documents and furniture fragments. The whole hall was in disarray. At the far end of the hall and near the staircase, there were many bullet casings and bloodstains, showing signs of the fierce battle that had taken place here.

The few available sofas in the hall had been dragged together by the group. On one of them lay Jonathan, his face pale. Liza was now sitting beside him, carefully tending to him.

“Doctor Qin, have some water!” Lü Kuang handed a cup of water to Qin Lun, then slumped dejectedly onto the floor.

The enthusiasm and excitement that had originally radiated from the college student’s face were now gone. The brief past ten-plus minutes had hit the young man like a heavy punch, finally making him realize the difference between reality and games.

Qin Lun observed everyone’s expressions, his eyes flickering slightly. He walked over and sat down next to Hill.

“Logically, there shouldn’t be this many people left here. Did you save Jonathan and Liza?” Qin Lun appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, but his lips moved subtly as he communicated with Hill.

“No, it was Xiao Dao! He seemed moved by your selflessness!” Hill’s expression was somewhere between a smile and a smirk. “Judging by your expression, it seems killing those two Phantom Demons didn’t trigger the Otherworld Mission either.”

“Hmm, in our speculation, triggering the mission by killing Phantom Demons was the least likely possibility. That’s not surprising. However, I gained another piece of information!” Qin Lun’s gaze flashed as he slipped a small, black, translucent pearl to Hill for inspection.

Phantom Demon Pearl: A special product of the Phantom Demon World, a crystal pearl formed from the residual soul after a Phantom Demon’s death. Cannot be used to replenish Soul Lifespan, but can be absorbed by Life-Taking Relics as Remnant Souls. Phantom Demon Pearls have quality differences. Those formed from Blade Ashigaru are equivalent to 5 points of Remnant Souls.

The Phantom Demon Pearl was related to enhancing Life-Taking Relics, which was crucial information. When Qin Lun entered the police station, he had thought about whether to share this information with Hill. Upon further consideration, he felt he had to tell Hill.

The two of them were like two grasshoppers tied to the same string. Hill would eventually obtain Phantom Demon Pearls too. Telling him now avoided future misunderstandings. At least before triggering the Otherworld Mission, the two still needed to cooperate smoothly.

“Can increase the Remnant Soul quality for enhancing Life-Taking Relics…” A gleam of light flashed in the Shepherd’s eyes. He fished out a cross necklace from his collar and gently rubbed it.

“Your Life-Taking Relic isn’t a weapon?” Qin Lun looked in surprise at the small cross in Hill’s hand, then frowned slightly. His Dagger of Sin was an exceptional case, but how did Hill get his cross?

“Hmm, this cross necklace was part of my transaction terms with the military. Actually, I’m quite curious about how the Federation military agreed to your dagger as a transaction condition!” Hill smiled as he looked at Qin Lun. “To get us Serial Killers to cooperate with the base experiments, each of us had the right to keep one personal item, but weapons weren’t included in that category!”

Hearing Hill’s words, Qin Lun immediately understood. The reason he didn’t have transaction terms might be related to Lin Feng.

After all, Lin Feng had wanted to get him out of the base back then to serve as a trump card in the death competition. The base personnel who knew the inside story probably knew he would be leaving the base soon, so they never even mentioned transaction terms.

Seeing Qin Lun remain silent, Hill didn’t mind and slowly said, “While you were outside, I also gained a piece of information. Take a close look at Jonathan.”

Hearing this, Qin Lun opened his eyes and scanned Jonathan on the opposite sofa from head to toe.

“Huh, you actually used a Healing Bandage on him!” When Qin Lun saw the white bandage wrapped around Jonathan’s shoulder, his eyes widened in surprise. “This will expose our identities! I need an explanation!”

A Healing Bandage cost 2000 Shattered Crystals. However, the expensive price wasn’t the main reason for Qin Lun’s surprise. Since Jonathan hadn’t died, they couldn’t let him hold others back, so healing his injuries was necessary. The problem was that the Shepherd didn’t use medicine but directly used a Healing Bandage.

Medicine and Healing Bandages were different. Medicine was taken internally; once consumed, it was gone, and Jonathan wouldn’t notice anything strange. Although the Healing Bandage looked like a medical item on the outside, it was actually an item formed by laws. Jonathan might discover something peculiar about it.

“Didn’t you say before that if we can’t trigger the mission from the Phantom Demons, then we can only start from the Reincarnators!” Hill smiled peacefully. “I know you wanted to delay that option a bit longer. However, you came back later than expected. If the strength of those Phantom Demons was beyond imagination, then implementing this plan earlier might not be a bad idea.”

“There’s a reason I came back late!” Qin Lun sighed and explained the course of the fight. The two Serial Killers looked at each other and smiled wryly.

They truly hadn’t expected that a small oversight in the details would cause a chain reaction. However, this couldn’t be blamed on Hill for being too sensitive; if it were Qin Lun, he would have done the same. Both of them were very confident in their own judgments, sometimes inevitably leading to overreactions.

“Don’t worry, Jonathan only thinks I’m a Veteran as well. I’ve already asked him to keep it secret for now; the others don’t know yet!” Hill shrugged helplessly. “And it’s not like we gained nothing. At least we confirmed the most important piece of information!”

“You mean… the conjecture that the Reincarnators also have Law Bodies…” Qin Lun’s pupils contracted, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. “In that case, our original probing plan was wrong. Given this batch of newbies’ strength, I’m afraid our Otherworld Mission cannot be obtained actively, but triggered passively…”