Chapter 154: Your Soul is Mine Too

Chapter 154: Your Soul is Mine Too

On the envelope, besides the information about the Soulstealer, there was one final line at the very end.

"Intelligence validity period, 10 p.m. on March 2nd."

Today was March 2nd.

Lu Heng quickly glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already 9:58 p.m.

In other words, there were only two minutes left until the deadline for this piece of intelligence.

What could this mean? Why would a piece of intelligence have an expiration time? The answer was evident.

After 10 p.m., the Soulstealer would likely succeed, and once it did, an irreversible situation would arise, rendering this information useless as a warning.

Furthermore, the validity period had another implication: opening the envelope after 10 p.m. on March 2nd did not signify acceptance of the invitation.

The conditions offered by the Creator Club had not satisfied the invitees, so it couldn't be considered as an acceptance.

With only two minutes left and the Soulstealer's location unknown, it was too late to rush back.

Moreover, the Soulstealer could attack anyone nearby, not just his parents, but also Su Muyu's mother or Lin Zeyu's relatives.

There was no time to stop the Soulstealer.

If the Creator Club had provided information about the Soulstealer, it meant they knew its location and could intercept it.

The moment Lu Heng saw the validity period, he instantly understood these critical details and immediately spoke up, "I've opened the envelope. Stop the Soulstealer!"

After saying this, Lu Heng stood up, intending to rush home.

Just as he stood up, his phone rang.

He picked it up and saw a message from an unknown number: "Welcome, Agent 28."

The message included an address, and to his surprise, it was his own home address.

Lu Heng hurried home and, upon reaching his doorstep, saw a person standing there motionless, dressed in a security guard uniform from Jade Peak Lake.

Lu Heng had even seen this guard in the neighborhood before, and he looked vaguely familiar.

Now, the guard stood there, unmoving.

At the end of the corridor, another figure was present—the mysterious Agent 27.

027 raised his hand and threw out a card, which emitted a prismatic beam of light.

The beam hit the guard, and a non-corporeal Soulstealer was sucked out of the guard's body.

The Soulstealer, like a ghost, was drawn into the card and trapped.

027 retracted the card, put it in his pocket, and gave Lu Heng a calm, expressionless glance without saying a word. He then vanished from his original spot.

That look seemed to anticipate Lu Heng's action of opening the envelope.

After all, Lu Heng had just experienced what 027 had gone through not long ago.

After the Soulstealer was extracted, the guard collapsed.

Lu Heng walked over, checked the guard's neck for a pulse, and as expected, there was none.

The Soulstealer had taken not only the soul but also the life.

Lu Heng took a deep breath, picked up his phone, and called Lin Zeyu, "Send someone up to handle this. Also, gather the team; I have something important to discuss."

Ten minutes later, Lu Heng arrived at Lin Zeyu's floor, accompanied by Su Muyu.

Since Lin Zeyu had also moved to Jade Peak Lake, living in the apartment below Lu Heng's, it was more convenient to discuss matters at his place.

Lin Zeyu had already received news from his subordinates about the death of the guard and was arranging for the company to handle the bereavement process.

"What's going on here?"

As soon as Lu Heng and Su Muyu entered, Lin Zeyu urgently inquired about the situation.

The sudden death of a guard, right at Lu Heng's doorstep, was clearly suspicious, especially since there were no wounds on the guard's body.

Every detail of this incident seemed eerie.

Lu Heng turned to Su Muyu and asked, "Did you notice the guard coming upstairs?"

Su Muyu nodded, "Yes, but it's normal for guards to go upstairs."

In a neighborhood, guards indeed had free access to residential buildings and wouldn't arouse suspicion.

It was impossible to stop guards from entering, as it could lead to problems if they were prevented from responding to actual incidents.

So, this situation couldn't be prevented.

Lu Heng took a deep breath and explained, "The guard was killed by the Soulstealer. After the Soulstealer absorbs a person's soul, it can control their actions, making it difficult even for those closest to them to notice the difference. So, you understand what's happening, right?"

Neither of them was foolish; after hearing this explanation and considering that the guard had died right at Lu Heng's doorstep, the situation became evident.

"How could a Soulstealer appear here?" Su Muyu tensed up immediately, as she had been training her Scout Eagles to improve their proficiency, and they were constantly circling the neighborhood.

She could see what was happening in the area, including the guard going upstairs, but she couldn't detect anything unusual about him.

This was the terrifying aspect of the Soulstealer; even those closest to the victim couldn't tell when someone was under its control. How could she possibly notice?

"This Soulstealer likely came from Japan," Lu Heng said, though he hadn't confirmed this with Agent 27, it was unnecessary.

The previous political incident in Japan involving a Soulstealer's control of a government official, combined with today's events, led to this conclusion.

"So, this is the Japanese's retaliation?" Lin Zeyu finally understood the situation.

"Retaliation is certain, and besides that, I believe obtaining Source Essence is also one of their goals."

Lu Heng's Essence Fusion Rate had already reached 82%, not far from the 100% mark.

Others couldn't see Lu Heng's Essence Fusion Rate data, but they could make an educated guess.

Tsukakawa Shugaku had Source Essence, and so did Saito Makoto.

Combined with Lu Heng's own Source Essence, this meant there were at least three sources of Essence on Lu Heng's body.

With three sources of Essence, the Fusion Rate couldn't be low.

This implied that if there was a Mutant with Source Essence who killed Lu Heng and took this 82% Essence, they would immediately achieve Essence Fusion and attain the Second Rank as long as their original Essence reached 18%.

Such a huge temptation, who could resist?

Therefore, anyone who knew that Saito Makoto and Tsukakawa Shugaku had Source Essence would want to kill Lu Heng.

"What should we do now?" Lin Zeyu felt the pressure mounting as their opponents had started to resort to desperate measures.

Su Muyu furrowed her brows in thought for a moment, then said, "If their goal is to obtain Source Essence, it's unlikely that they would only send out Soulstealers. There must be other arrangements."

To obtain Source Essence, one needed to acquire it physically.

Even if the Soulstealers succeeded, this person would still need to come and retrieve the Essence.

So, as Su Muyu said, it was unlikely that after sending out the Soulstealers, they would do nothing else; there must be other actions planned.

Lu Heng was aware of this, which was why he had gathered the two of them.

"Yes, there's definitely something else going on today. Instead of waiting, let's take the initiative and lure them out."

"How?" Lin Zeyu asked eagerly.

"The Soulstealers' target is me. According to our opponent's plan, even if the Soulstealers can't kill me, they should at least be able to injure me to meet their expectations. So, we'll play along with their plan. I'll pretend to be injured, then call for an ambulance and go to the hospital..."

Lu Heng began to outline the plan, and after he finished, the three of them split up to carry out their tasks.

...

Ten minutes later.

An ambulance arrived at Jade Peak Lake with its siren blaring.

Lu Heng was shot in the abdomen and had several stab wounds on his back, his body covered in blood.

Su Muyu's face was filled with worry as she supported the heavily injured Lu Heng and helped him onto the ambulance.

As she lifted her leg to follow the ambulance, the doctor on board immediately raised his hand to stop her, "You can't come in. The patient has lost a lot of blood, and we need to perform a blood transfusion immediately. Others coming in might cause an infection. Find another means of transportation and head to the Second Hospital."

"Okay, please save him, please save him," Su Muyu begged, wiping away her tears.

"Rest assured, we'll do our best," the doctor said, closing the ambulance door.

The ambulance left Jade Peak Lake, heading towards the Second Hospital.

Inside the ambulance.

Lu Heng lay on the stretcher, his body covered in blood, and his consciousness was already blurry. With cracked lips, he said, "Give me a blood transfusion first. My consciousness is fading, and I can't hold on for much longer."

The doctor took out a bottle of medicine and drew the liquid into a syringe from the bottle, speaking with a hint of mockery, "Mutants do have robust constitutions. Despite such severe injuries, you're still conscious."

As he spoke, he inserted the syringe into Lu Heng's neck and pushed in the medication.

Lu Heng felt something amiss and used his last bit of strength to ask, "Why aren't you giving me a blood transfusion? What did you inject me with...?"

The doctor removed his mask, revealing the face of a thirty-year-old Japanese man.

After injecting the medicine, the doctor turned to the nurse sitting beside him, bowed deeply, and said in Japanese, "The injection is done. It's a ten-fold dose of sedative. Even a Mutant won't be able to resist, especially with such severe injuries."

Lu Heng turned to look at the nurse, a male.

Apparently, he didn't like the uniform, as he removed the nurse's cap and mask, shaking his hair.

Lu Heng recognized him instantly; this was the important figure from his past life's Soulstealer incident in Japan, the one who controlled the Soulstealers, a man named Sato Ichiro.

This Sato Ichiro was also a core member of the Sumitomo Zaibatsu.

According to the original world's timeline, half a year later, the Sumitomo Zaibatsu would control multiple Japanese politicians through the Soulstealers controlled by Sato Ichiro, thereby seizing control of Japan's political scene.

However, in the current timeline, Lu Heng shouldn't know Sato Ichiro.

So, Lu Heng's face showed confusion, "Who are you..."

Sato Ichiro exhaled, "You don't need to know who I am. You only need to know that your Source Essence will soon be mine."

As he spoke, he pointed at his own chest.

In truth, Lu Heng had already guessed his rank, and there was more than one rank capable of controlling Soulstealers.

From Sato Ichiro's appearance, there were two most likely ranks.

One was an Exorcist, and the other was a Soul Reaper.

Sato Ichiro reached out and poked Lu Heng's chest, saying, "Not just your Source Essence, but your soul... I want that too."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end