Chapter 5: A Day in the Life of Aichi
That afternoon, inside a cheap apartment building, in room 305 of a single-person apartment.
The curtains were drawn tightly, making the room stuffy and hot, with a strange sweet smell mixed with a foul odor.
Cluttered clothes were piled on the sofa, dishes were stacked in the sink, and on a small bed against the wall, a young man with short black-brown hair was sleeping soundly. Because the bed was too small, one of his arms hung down.
Black fluid seeped into the room through the gap under the door. An eye opened within the black fluid, looking around as if surveying the surroundings. Soon, it spotted the young man in the room, sensing strong negative emotions on him—this was the target it was looking for.
The Devourer crawled up the young man's arm, then suddenly sprang up, trying to burrow into his mouth and nose.
"Whoa!"
The young man sat up from the bed, flailing his hands wildly in front of his face. When he came to his senses, he took a deep breath, but there was no foreign sensation in his mouth or nose.
"Was it a dream? Scared... scared me to death."
The young man, named Aichi, sat on the bed in a daze for a while, then lay back down to rest. Just then, a loud bang came from upstairs. Aichi sat up again, glaring angrily at the ceiling. His upstairs neighbor did who knows what every day, often sounding like they were hammering the floor.
As a servant at the "Soya Grand Hotel," Aichi needed to get plenty of sleep during the day, but his upstairs neighbor was clearly disturbing his normal life.
"That fat pig, can't he just be quiet for once?"
Aichi threw on some clothes, intending to go argue with the upstairs tenant, but considering the other's build of over 290 pounds and height of over 2.1 meters, Aichi's courage faltered, and he ultimately chickened out. Standing in front of that guy, he wasn't even in the same weight class.
"I'll let you off this time."
Aichi glanced at the kitchen knife on the shelf, thinking to himself that it was because he was in a good mood today that he spared that fat pig upstairs. He still had a gentle girlfriend; he couldn't get arrested for a murder committed in a moment of impulse. That's right, that was it. Aichi's anger subsided, and he secretly thought that he wasn't backing down because he was scared—this was being steady.
Aichi lay down to sleep again. He didn't notice that the lines of his muscles were becoming more defined, as if something was surging under his skin, making it tougher.
A few hours later.
Bang!
Another dull thud came from upstairs. Aichi sat up with a start, and after realizing what was happening, he began to tremble with anger.
'Aichi, go, kill him.'
"Who!"
Aichi looked around, but he didn't see anyone else.
'I am... the Devourer... Aichi, I still... don't know how to talk much. If you talk more, I'll learn... quickly.'
"Who are you!"
Aichi was terrified, a deep sense of loneliness and despair welling up inside him. What was wrong with him? A voice suddenly appearing in his head—could it be that prolonged lack of sleep had caused mental problems? He didn't have the money for treatment.
'I am the Devourer. I am a part of you, and you are a part of me.'
Just as the voice in Aichi's head appeared, another dull thud came from the ceiling, twisting Aichi's face with rage. He strode out of the room.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Aichi pounded on the wooden door in front of him, his movements frantic. He didn't notice that with his pounding, cracks were forming inward on the wooden door.
The wooden door was pushed open, and a bulky, tall figure stood inside. The figure wasn't fat but muscular, seemingly covered in fat, but beneath it was solid muscle.
Without a word, Aichi reached up, grabbed the burly man by the hair, and slammed his head hard against the wall.
Bang! Bang! Bang...
Blood spattered onto Aichi's face. The warmth of the blood made him jolt, and clarity returned to his eyes. He looked at his hand and at the man whose hair he was still holding, whose face was now a bloody mess.
"You, you, you, are you okay? I, I, I didn't mean it."
Hearing Aichi's voice, the burly man he was holding trembled.
"I'll... I'll take you to see a doctor."
Aichi was panicked. He never thought he would beat his upstairs neighbor half to death. Just moments ago, he thought he was dreaming.
"No need... let go of me first."
"Huh? Oh, oh, oh, I need to stop the bleeding first."
Aichi fumbled around frantically, eventually taking off his sock, putting it over the burly man's head to help stop the bleeding. The burly man's eyes were starting to roll back, accompanied by bouts of dry heaving.
"I'm... I'm so sorry."
"?"
The burly man tilted his head back slightly, his gaze filled with despair. He was sure he had encountered a lunatic.
...
Inside a car speeding down a highway, Su Xiao sat in the back seat, holding a sealed glass tube the length of a finger. Inside was a fragment of the Devourer.
The fragment had shrunk into a sphere, meaning the Devourer had found its target and begun parasitism and symbiosis. Now all that was needed was to wait for the Devourer to grow. Before long, it would provide a combat force usable three times.
Su Xiao didn't stay long in Jiaman City. He was heading to Youke City, nearly a hundred kilometers away, to temporarily become the agent of the "Organization" there. This would make it easier to complete the first part of the main quest. He couldn't take on the position of Vice Legion Commander for now.
The Alliance had blocked all maritime trade, fishing, and even tourist ships. This clearly meant something dangerous had appeared at sea, and the Alliance wanted to intercept that dangerous object with special uses. To accomplish this, they had to bypass the Containment Institution.
Su Xiao suspected that everything before had been a setup by someone. The councilman he had killed was being used.
First, someone bribed that councilman, making him deliberately extend his claws toward the dangerous objects. Then, they invited the three most powerful people from the Containment Institution to the council hall, where the councilman tried to withhold this year's Alliance funds allocated to the Institution under various pretexts.
Given the temperament of the previous owner of this identity, such a thing couldn't be tolerated. The previous owner of this identity was notoriously protective and ruthless, so he immediately killed that councilman to permanently remove this cancer.
This played right into someone's hands. A series of follow-up moves were played: first, blame was assigned to delay Su Xiao, reducing the "Organization's" efficiency by nearly half. Then the Alliance publicly announced a maritime blockade to deal with some dangerous object at sea.
Now, the internal affairs of the "Organization" were overwhelming. Dangerous objects were appearing everywhere, and with the Vice Legion Commander imprisoned, the "Organization's" situation was going from bad to worse.
"Silver Dog, has the Alliance high command had any contact with the Eclipse Organization recently?"
Su Xiao spoke, referring to the man currently driving the car as Silver Dog. Silver Dog was a member of the Fierce Dog Squad, with the ability to turn his body into metal, solidifying or liquefying it into silver. He was a natural-born Transcendent.
"According to Ears, there has been contact between the two sides recently. There are rumors that the nephew of Eclipse Organization leader Kingsley is participating in the councilor election, with high internal votes. In a few days, Kingsley's nephew might fill the vacant seat of the 12th councilor."
Silver Dog's expression remained unchanged. The only feeling he gave off was indifference, looking at everything with coldness and numbness.
"Kingsley."
Su Xiao had seen this name in the world introduction. Fundamentally, the Eclipse Organization wasn't a villain faction. Their goals were similar to the Containment Institution, just with different philosophies.
In fact, the Eclipse Organization was relatively straightforward. On the other hand, his own side—Dean Victor and Ms. Xiu Lin—were old schemers who stayed behind the scenes. Su Xiao's side was a purely violent institution. As long as they could deal with dangerous objects, any means were acceptable, except for one thing: they must not abuse dangerous objects, only contain them.
The car soon entered the city. Compared to the congestion of Jiaman City, the streets of Youke City were much cleaner, and the air quality was better. It was hard to believe the two places were only a hundred kilometers apart.
With a screech, the car stopped in front of a three-story building. This was where Su Xiao would temporarily stay—an office, publicly known as a detective agency, but actually a branch of the "Organization" in Youke City.
The first floor of the office was a storage room. Walking up the stairs beside the building, Su Xiao opened the main door on the second floor.
The room was over a hundred square meters, furnished like an ordinary detective agency. Without the lights on, it was dim even during the day.
Glancing at the pendulum clock on the cabinet, it was now four in the afternoon. Su Xiao sat down in the leather chair behind the desk and began to think about his subsequent plans. The main quest took priority, followed by the dangerous object S-002, which might be related to whether his third talent could awaken—this was very important. Finally, he needed to find the Violator.
As Su Xiao closed his eyes to rest, Silver Dog silently left the office, returned to the car, and lit a cigarette. This car was his home.
Inside the office, Su Xiao took an item out of his storage space. Facing all kinds of dangerous objects, the risks were unimaginable. Amu didn't know where he had been teleported. Baha was still within a reasonable distance, but Beini had completely lost contact. Su Xiao badly needed reliable help—someone who would never stab him in the back.
The item in Su Xiao's hand could achieve this. It could summon a member of the Tianba Clan. Whether the Tianba beauty was beautiful or not, Su Xiao didn't care. As long as she was strong enough.