This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!-Chapter 58 - 0 Paradox

Chapter 58: Chapter 058 Paradox

“What?” Parker was taken aback, frowning as he looked toward Chen Ke.

Chen Ke didn’t speak; instead, he carefully examined Parker, seeking any detail that might be inconsistent with his memory, hoping to find an explanation for himself.

The Parker in front of him was wearing the exact same clothes as when they had met in the West Gold Building, the only difference being that they were slightly dirtier, with his pant legs and shoes covered in white dust, and his blue shirt sticky with mud and sweat stains. Even the M1911A1 in his hand had some paint chipped off.

Chen Ke and Parker had only met once before, and Parker’s first impression on him at the West Gold Building hadn’t been memorable, so even now, Chen Ke couldn’t pinpoint what was different.

Demeanor? Tone? Small gestures? Chen Ke didn’t know Parker enough to discern what might be off through these details.

The simplest method would, of course, be his own ability to automatically recognize strange things in his field of vision, but so far, there were no labels or pop-up information around Parker, who seemed just like an ordinary person.

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However, Chen Ke, who always believed seeing is believing, couldn’t convince himself logically or from common sense that this man before him was the same Parker who had been mauled by a pack of dogs.

“Where have you been? And you changed into a new set of clothes…?” Parker countered.

“You’ve got me confused, Parker, I don’t even know how to answer you,” Chen Ke said, crossing his arms and cocking his leg.

“You’ve confused me too, buddy; I don’t even know your name,” Parker said.

“My name is Chen Ke, and I am a special agent from the Spiritual Ability Administration,” Chen Ke responded.

“Oh… oh… the Administration Bureau… but when we first met, you didn’t seem like…” Parker sounded skeptical.

Chen Ke picked up the Fire-igniting Broadsword beside him, and with a thought, the cold blade burst into flames, resembling a torch.

Although Parker was an investigator and had read about Holy Relics in books, he had never witnessed one in person, so his expression looked like he was watching a contemporary magic trick.

“Did it just… light up like that? Is this the power of a Spiritual Ability User?” Parker said thoughtfully, as he watched the broadsword burning fiercely.

“Alright, enough of the show; tell me, what exactly happened when those man-faced dogs were surrounding you?” Chen Ke extinguished the sword, returning the blade to its cold steel form without any traces of being scorched.

Parker began to recount his own experience, but the story he told diverged greatly from what Chen Ke had witnessed.

After he had been dragged down from the first-floor lobby’s reception desk by the man-faced dogs, what happened next contradicted Chen Ke’s own experience.

“…I yelled at you, saying I need to reload, and right after I said that, I got dragged away by the man-faced dogs. But you didn’t even try to save me!” Parker said, gesturing with his hands.

The story then took a turn. Parker hadn’t been bitten by the man-faced dogs; rather, upon hitting the ground, he immediately rolled away, evading the attack, and not only that, he reloaded his magazine and single-handedly fought off the pack of man-faced dogs.

“Where… where was I then?” Chen Ke asked in surprise.

“Damn I’d like to ask you that—where did you go? If you’re a special agent from the Administration Bureau, why didn’t you just whip out that fancy sword of yours in the first place?” Parker’s tone carried some blame.

“I swear to you, what I experienced was nothing like what you are telling me…” Chen Ke said, eyeing the gun in Parker’s hands.

There were indeed no bite marks on Parker’s body, whereas in Chen Ke’s experience, Parker had been severely mauled…

“Whatever you say, you better have a good reason. And I saved you again, so now you owe me twice,” Parker declared.

“How did you even get here anyway? This place is quite far from Opportunity City,” Chen Ke asked, arms crossed.

Without a Teleportation Gate, who would even know that such a place existed in the world?

Parker shrugged his shoulders, revealing an elusive smile, and said, “You’ve asked the right person… I entered Opportunity City building from this side…”

After he finished speaking, he revealed a sinister smile.

Chen Ke’s pupils dilated instantly, and his hand unconsciously touched the hilt of his sword. What exactly was Parker?

It seemed that seeing Chen Ke’s reaction, Parker realized he hadn’t made himself clear and quickly raised both hands in a “calm down” gesture.

“It’s not what you think, Chen Ke! Let me finish!” Parker hurriedly said.

“Don’t scare me; when I get agitated, I might kill anything…” Chen Ke’s hand didn’t leave the hilt of his sword, and he even thought about drawing his gun.

Parker hurriedly began to explain that he was initially carrying out a routine D-level Black Box Space sweep, a routine task for investigators.

“That was another D-level Black Box Space, which had been open for many years, belonging to Si’s consortium,” Parker said.

“Go on…” Chen Ke’s ears perked up at the mention of Si’s consortium.

It was supposed to be a routine D-level investigator’s day, but that day, something happened in that D-level space, causing a cascade effect…

Similar to Chen Ke’s experience, the monsters inside the Black Box Space quickly breached the confines of D-level, and although it wasn’t as exaggerated as the West Gold Building, it was still perilous for a D-level investigator like Parker.

“A B-level monster latched onto me, and I kept running. And guess what? Just right in front of me, a rift of light opened!” Parker gestured vividly.

“Sounds really unfortunate, huh?” Chen Ke echoed while pondering what this rift of light was. It seemed like the first time he fled the West Gold Building, he had also jumped into a rift of light to reach the alley outside…

“That unstable, random passage, who knows where it might take you. But with a B-level monster chasing me from behind, I had no choice but to jump in…” Parker said.

Chen Ke nodded, and then Parker came here through the rift of light.

It seemed the cascade effect not only reopened a door on the other side but also randomly opened several temporary small doors during the process…

“Yeah, you know, I got stuck here… Until one day, another rift of light appeared in front of me…” Parker spread his hands.

“Wait, wait… One day? Parker, how long have you been here?” Chen Ke asked in surprise.

“The first time I entered, it was fifteen days ago… Then through the rift of light into your building, then separated from you and came back, it’s also been about twelve days…” Parker shrugged.

So, Parker had been here almost a month? Chen Ke felt a sweat drop slide down his forehead. He hadn’t found any signs of fire-making or cooking nearby; how had Parker survived this month…?

“How did you get back here from the building?” Chen Ke asked.

“At that time, in order to find you, I searched floor by floor and saw the Teleportation Gate on the sixth floor…” Parker explained.

“Then you just went in? You knew that gate wouldn’t take you out of the building.” Chen Ke spread his hands.

“Of course I knew, but in the whole building, other than that Teleportation Gate, there were no other doors, and I heard a very terrifying sound. I definitely didn’t want to stay with whatever made that sound,” Parker said.

A terrifying sound?

“What sort of thing?” Chen Ke asked.

“I don’t know; I feel if I had seen it, I would have been doomed. Its voice could be heard even through the headphones, constantly repeating something about owing it a soul… If I hadn’t jumped into the gate then, I would have definitely lost my mind. And I thought you might have jumped in too, possibly even been taken by that thing,” Parker said.

Chen Ke knew what that thing was.