Chapter 156: Shadow Puppet Escape

Chapter 156: Shadow Puppet Escape

Lu Heng confirmed that his Essence Fusion Rate remained at 82%, without any increase at all.

This didn't make sense.

Well, it wasn't entirely impossible, just highly unlikely.

Only one scenario could result in killing Sato Ichiro without obtaining any Essence.

That was if the Essence on his body wasn't in a free state.

In other words, he had already acquired the complete 'Soul Reaper' rank.

But was that possible? The 'Soul Reaper' was a second-rank, and very few Mutants could obtain the initial Essence of the second rank, let alone achieve a complete second-rank.

Lu Heng had killed two Mutants with second-rank Essence, Tsugawa Shugaku and Saito Makoto, and his Essence Fusion Rate had only reached 82%.

Could Sato Ichiro have reached a 100% Fusion Rate so quickly?

The likelihood was incredibly low.

Moreover, there was one crucial piece of information.

When they were in the ambulance, Sato Ichiro had said, "You don't need to know who I am. Just know that your Essence will soon be mine."

This statement clearly indicated that Sato Ichiro's primary goal was to compete for Essence.

In other words, he must have initiated an Essence Battle, and he definitely had free-state Essence on him.

Since he had free-state Essence, it should have been possible to absorb it.

However, Lu Heng's Essence Fusion Rate didn't increase, and he didn't see any prompts about absorbing Essence.

Why was that? Lu Heng crouched down, straightened Sato Ichiro's face, and examined it closely.

The body was indeed that of Sato Ichiro; there was no mistake.

If it had been a transformation skill, the effect would have disappeared after death.

Since the appearance hadn't changed, it confirmed that the deceased was indeed Sato Ichiro.

So, where had the Essence gone?

...

On the street, the ambulance's siren blared.

The paramedics were rescuing people.

Two people were pulled out of the ambulance, one being the driver and the other a doctor.

"This doctor still has a pulse. Hurry and take him to the hospital for surgery," one of the paramedics said.

"The driver also has a pulse..."

The paramedics brought a stretcher and lifted the severely injured and unconscious doctor and driver, preparing to take them to the hospital for emergency treatment.

At this moment, Lu Heng turned his head and looked at the doctor being lifted. He strode over, drew his pistol, chambered a round, released the safety, and pressed the barrel against the doctor's head.

The paramedics, law enforcement officers, and Iron Blood Investigation Bureau agents around them all exclaimed in unison, "Stop!"

Chen Lianian hurriedly shouted, "Don't shoot! He's a medical professional."

When Lu Heng had boarded the ambulance using his Shadow Clone, it was this Japanese-looking doctor who had injected him with a tenfold dose of sedative.

Such a dose would have been fatal to an ordinary person.

So, even if this Japanese doctor was genuinely a medical professional, he deserved his fate.

Lu Heng pressed the gun against the doctor's head, staring at his expression, wanting to see if he would react.

However, the Japanese doctor seemed genuinely unconscious, showing no response.

Chen Lianian took a few quick steps forward, intending to intervene, "Don't shoot. Even if this person has committed a crime, it's our job to investigate..."

Bang! Lu Heng didn't even glance at Chen Lianian and fired the gun as he was speaking.

The gunshot rang out, and the doctor's head exploded, killing him instantly.

Chen Lianian, who had just reached the side, was splattered with blood, stunned and unsure how to handle the situation.

Initially, he thought it was over.

But after Lu Heng shot the Japanese doctor, he suddenly turned and walked towards the other stretcher.

On that stretcher lay the ambulance driver.

"What are you doing!" Chen Lianian's face turned fearful, and he tried to rush forward to stop him.

Lu Heng, without turning back, approached the driver and released a Shadow Clone.

The Shadow Clone held a sword to Chen Lianian's neck, preventing him from taking another step forward.

Lu Heng walked to the driver's stretcher, pointed the gun at his head, and studied his expression.

Although the driver appeared motionless, his eyelashes trembled slightly.

Lu Heng slowly said, "Do you know why your Shadow Puppet Escape failed? You shouldn't have taken the Essence with you."

There was no mistake.

Sato Ichiro had no Essence, and the Japanese doctor had none either.

There were only three people in the ambulance: Sato Ichiro, the Japanese doctor, and the driver.

Having eliminated other possibilities, this, no matter how unlikely, was the truth.

"I can give you everything you want..."

The driver began to speak, but his words were cut short.

Bang! Lu Heng pulled the trigger, firing a shot that exploded the driver's head, splattering blood and brains everywhere.

The two paramedics carrying the stretcher, screaming in terror, and turned to flee.

[Absorb Essence, Essence Fusion Rate reaches 100%]



[Essence Fusion Complete, Rank Fusion Occurs, Promoted to Second-Rank 'Shadow Swordsman']



[Shadow Swordsman: A swordsman who traverses the shadow and material worlds, possessing complete 'Shadow Traverse' and 'Rift Slash' abilities.]



[Rift Slash: Release Essence energy, slashing out a sword beam with power to tear through space, indestructible.]

Wherever the sword light passed, it left a mark of the rift that lasted for 3 seconds. No matter could completely pass through the rift mark, and even the Shadow Traverse state couldn't penetrate it.】

As initially predicted, the Shadow Walker had indeed merged with the Swordsman, forming the second-rank Shadow Swordsman.

Due to the nature of job class fusion, the chances of encountering the same job class decreased as time went on.

Even among Swordsmen, different job classes would result in the fusion of various Swordsman job classes.

After the fusion, the Shadow Swordsman class gained a new effect for the Rift Slash skill.

When the rift sword light was unleashed, it could create a rift mark.

This rift mark essentially acted as a barrier, tearing apart any matter that attempted to pass through it.

Moreover, due to the abilities of the Shadow job class, the rift mark could even block the Shadow Traverse.

Seeing the data prompt, Lu Heng couldn't help but smile.

As he had deduced, Sato Ichiro had indeed used the Shadow Puppet Escape technique, with his soul entering the driver's body in an attempt to escape.

Unfortunately, the Source Essence he carried betrayed him.

In fact, even if it had been someone else, guessing that Sato Ichiro might have used Shadow Puppet Escape wouldn't have been enough.

After all, the Enforcement Team and the Iron Blood Investigation Bureau were already on the scene, and it was not an opportune time to take further action.

However, Lu Heng didn't care about any of that. In front of the senior inspector from the Iron Blood Investigation Bureau, he had executed the doctor and driver from Japan.

Chen Linian was now feeling a bit anxious, as the current situation was difficult to handle.

He took a deep breath and said to Lu Heng, "You need to come with me to give a statement."

Lu Heng took out a wet wipe and wiped the blood from his hands and face, his tone as indifferent as water, "I don't have time."

"Do you know what you just did?" Chen Linian's heart was filled with complex emotions.

Lu Heng was the most difficult person he had encountered in his life.

In the past six months, Chen Linian had dealt with Lu Heng on numerous occasions, even traveling to Siam to investigate the case of the Evil God's finger.

He clearly felt that Lu Heng's actions were not driven by passion but by a calm and calculated intent. The two shots that took down two people were precise and purposeful.

"What did I do? A group of Japanese assassins came to Daxia to commit murder and arson, and what has the Iron Blood done about it?" Lu Heng glanced at him with a sidelong look.

Chen Linian was left speechless.

The situation was clear to him; it was indeed Japanese assassins committing crimes within Daxia's borders, but they had kicked the iron plate and were counterattacked.

Chen Linian could only speak in a negotiating tone, "At least you need to give a statement and clarify what happened tonight."

"I don't have time. You can investigate however you want." Lu Heng finished wiping the blood, threw the wet wipe on the ground, and turned to leave.

Just then, Su Muyu and Lin Zeyu arrived, and the three of them walked side by side.

Lin Zeyu turned back to look at Chen Linian and said loudly, "Inspector Chen, it's time to investigate the Haruka Corporation. This is the third time Japanese assassins have appeared. Don't let us do all the work for you."

Chen Linian's face turned red and then pale, as this taunt hit home.

The coastal region had experienced three consecutive incidents involving Japanese assassins, each causing a huge commotion with gunshots and bombs.

The Iron Blood Investigation Bureau was indeed responsible for these occurrences.

There were other Iron Blood Investigation Bureau personnel at the scene besides Chen Linian.

His apprentice, Gao Zhiting, was also present.

This was the first time Gao Zhiting witnessed Lu Heng's Shadow Clone ability.

Lu Heng could create a clone identical to his original body.

Gao Zhiting immediately recalled the two cases from six months ago.

In the case of the abandoned factory where four people were killed, the case file mentioned that a taxi's dashboard camera had captured a figure at the crime scene, but the time of the footage proved Lu Heng's alibi, as he was back at the hotel.

In the case of the Hongda Lending Company, the surveillance cameras at the Wuliqiao Shopping Mall recorded Lu Heng and Su Muyu shopping at the time of the incident.

Both cases had solid alibis, and at the time, there were no issues.

However, now, a critical point had emerged.

Gao Zhiting's heart was pounding, as he felt he had uncovered an incredible secret. The alibis in both cases could be explained by the use of clones.

With this realization, many things started to make sense.

He quietly noted these clues in his notebook, but when a colleague approached, he quickly closed it.

He was no longer fixated on investigating Lu Heng.

In fact, he was now certain that the person who had attacked him from behind, knocked him unconscious, impersonated him, and killed Konoe Kenji at Yongxun Hospital over a month ago was also Lu Heng.

He no longer intended to pursue this matter.

In the past six months, he had encountered numerous cases.

Some cruel demons exploited legal loopholes to escape justice.

On the other hand, some people, despite not committing any evil deeds and even saving many lives, were bound by the constraints of the law.

Therefore, he recorded the clues he discovered in his notebook as a personal collection.

He gradually accepted the fact that the law maintained order, but what he sought was fairness and justice.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end