[Special profession discovered β Believer. Believes in oneself. No advancement requirements.]
"Beat the faith right out of it?" Su Chen scratched his nose in bemusement. "Held out for that many days, though. Respectable."
After a moment's hesitation, Su Chen chose to advance.
"Worshipping yourself β wonder what kind of ability that grants."
This advancement produced virtually no physical change. Only a panel notification appeared.
[Believer advancement complete. Professional ability acquired β The Faithless: can disguise as other believers.]
[Currently available disguise: Believer of Black Buddha. Once disguised, you will gain new professional abilities. Acquire additional believer professions to unlock further disguise options.]
'It can do that?'
Su Chen marveled again. "Now this is an interesting profession."
Curious, he activated the disguise immediately.
[Believer (Believer of Black Buddha) β Master: Black Buddha. As a Believer of Black Buddha, you can faintly sense the presence of other Black Buddha followers and certain objects associated with Black Buddha.]
"That easy?" Su Chen frowned, then felt a distinctly odd coolness atop his head. He reached up β and recoiled. "Where did my hair go?!"
He rushed to the bathroom mirror. He'd transformed completely β bald, with the signature black vertical eye branded on his crown.
"My hair!" Su Chen scrambled to cancel the disguise. In an instant, his hair was back to normal.
"It really is a disguise..." He exhaled with relief. Then the implications cascaded through his mind. "This gives me another life-saving card. If I ever run into real Black Buddha followers, I can just become one of them."
"Wait β these cults treat the rank-and-file as cannon fodder. Becoming 'one of them' isn't necessarily a good thing."
He switched back to Believer of Black Buddha mode, carefully attuning himself to the sensation. His head snapped toward the southwest, eyes narrowing with surprise. "Something in that direction... it's pulling me."
He hadn't expected the feeling to be this visceral.
"Should I...?" The gears turned behind his eyes.
When night fell, he donned the Shadow Evasion Cloak, latched on the metal visor, and let tendrils of wind envelop him. Shadow of the Hidden Wind activated. Mental Shielding engaged. Even under direct light, his presence nearly vanished.
He slipped out the window and hid nearby, waiting. No one came looking.
"Did Zhang Hongbo not station anyone here, or did my concealment fool them?"
Su Chen frowned. A few flickers of movement later, he dissolved into the night.
Following the pull, Su Chen traced it to a nondescript house in the Outer City.
But he didn't rush in. He didn't switch to Believer of Black Buddha disguise to infiltrate, either. He simply probed from the perimeter, confirming the direction.
Then he pulled out his wristband and carefully contacted Fatty Sun.
"Yes, I'm sure..."
"Take a team. Don't say it was me β just say it came through your own channels..."
After ending the call, he suppressed his presence and lingered at the outer edge, watching.
"Sensing Black Buddha followers and related objects..." Su Chen mused quietly. "Not all the followers would be gathered here. Whatever drew me in β it's probably an object."
An hour or two later, Supervision Department airships descended silently in the distance. Fully armed Supervision Guards fanned out. Leading them were Fatty Sun and Patrol Division Chief Qin Cheng.
But before the formation was even set, Fatty Sun's face contorted. Dark figures β like fleas β came swarming out of the target building, scattering in every direction.
"They've been tipped off!" Sun Tai's expression went black. He made the call instantly. "Move! Kill, don't capture!"
BOOM!
Every ounce of fat on Sun Tai's body rippled as he launched forward with shocking speed. He and Qin Cheng rocketed straight toward the strongest hostiles.
Su Chen watched from a distance. 'There's still a mole inside the Supervision Department. Low-ranking, though β the heads-up came late.'
"But..." His gaze tracked toward a different direction entirely.
Qin Cheng and Sun Tai were chasing the strongest runners, but Su Chen could feel it β the thing pulling him wasn't in their direction at all.
It was heading the opposite way.
"Clever." Su Chen's lips curved. He ghosted after it in silence.
The target moved slowly, weaving through the most desolate corners of the Outer City. Su Chen caught up quickly, knocking out several 1st-tier Supervision Guards along the way.
Whoosh!
A shadow dropped down. The Black Buddha follower clutching a metal case halted, glaring at Su Chen with cold suspicion.
Su Chen pulled off the Shadow Evasion Cloak, revealing his telltale bald head. The other man's hostility melted away. "One of us, then. Did the Priest send you?"
'Priest?' Su Chen's expression flickered. He deliberately lowered his voice and nodded. "That's right."
"The holy relic is inside. You can probably feel it. Here β take it."
The man handed over the metal case without an ounce of doubt.
'The feeling of being trusted is wonderful,' Su Chen thought. He accepted the case.
A casual flick of his wrist. Blue wire sang through the air. A head hit the ground. Its pupils dilated slowly.
"I wonder what's in here?" Su Chen examined the case briefly and was about to toss it into his Storage Space when he stopped cold.
He raised his eyes toward the far end of the dark alley. Two figures stood there.
"The Priest sent others?" one of them said, sounding puzzled.
Su Chen's heart kicked. That voice β he knew it far too well. Zhou Xian.
'This is bad.' He hadn't anticipated Zhou Xian showing up, let alone this quickly.
"Hand it over." Zhou Xian extended his remaining hand, his tone casual. The headless corpse at his feet wasn't enough to raise an alarm.
The follower at his side was already confirmed β the newcomer was one of them. As for killing a fellow cultist? Inside the Evil God cults, that was perfectly routine.
"The Priest sent us too," the escort explained helpfully. "This friend is quite strong. Better if we carry it."
"Understood." Su Chen kept his voice low, walking toward them step by step. Only as he drew close did he notice β Zhou Xian was missing an arm. His life force was feeble. The wounds hadn't healed.
'His build looks... familiar.'
Zhou Xian's brow creased. He watched the approaching figure and reached for the metal case.
Su Chen extended it toward him β but inside his skull, psychic energy was already surging into a needle, driving toward its target with vicious force.
WHAM!
Pain exploded through Su Chen's head. His mental spike slammed into what felt like a stone wall. The gap between their tiers was too vast; Zhou Xian's mental resilience was immense.
But the man was gravely wounded.
"Hm?" Zhou Xian felt something like a pinprick β a split-second daze. By the time he regained himself, the Azure Cable was already lashing toward his face, sheathed in roaring wind, blindingly fast.
"You dare?!" Zhou Xian's face twisted in fury. Lightning arced through his pupils. Searing bolts erupted from the surface of his body.