"Don't mind it, driver, don't mind it. It's like this near scenic spots. The meter's running, we'll take our time, no rush, no rush." I tried to soothe the driver while wondering whether Lucas had already made it to Zhejiang University.
If Lucas went to Zhejiang University, and I went to Thunder Peak Pagoda, would Chloe have to fight him first?
Or should I go to Zhejiang University, deal with Lucas, and then head to Thunder Peak Pagoda?
No, no. What if Lucas went to Thunder Peak Pagoda after all? If I arrived late, Chloe would be in trouble...
The thought of Chloe made me laugh bitterly at myself.
Snap out of it, Marcus! You've already broken up! You're the ex-boyfriend! What's the rush? She might think you're desperate to get back together. Do you want to go work part-time at a Japanese convenience store or something...
No, no. I needed to play it cooler.
In the midst of my thoughts, I didn't notice a pedestrian approach the taxi. The driver rolled down the window, and they exchanged a few words.
Click. A faint but unmistakable sound of the doors locking.
I poked my head out to check the situation. The road ahead was just as immobile. Traffic showed no signs of easing.
"Driver, if it's really not going to work, let's settle the fare. I'll get out and walk—"
The driver's hoarse voice drifted from the front:
"Sure, sure."
"But first, tell me this."
"Do you know where Chloe Chen is?"
My brow furrowed. I tried to push the door open, but it was locked from the inside.
The driver whipped around. His face was contorted, as if possessed. His hands were wreathed in that same viscous purple substance, reaching for my shoulder.
I dodged sideways, but the backseat of a taxi left little room to maneuver.
The driver's first grab missed, but he was already throwing his whole body at me.
Shit, nowhere to hide!
In a panic, I yanked the necklace off and gripped it in my palm.
"Osiris's Sky Dragon! Open up for me!" I chanted the embarrassing incantation like a madman.
BOOM!!!
Amid the endless river of cars, the roof of one taxi was blown clean off. I vaulted onto the car frame with Ama-no-Murakumo in hand, leaping across rooftops in rapid succession.
Countless hands stretched up from below, grabbing at my feet. It was genuinely terrifying. What was Lucas's Abandoned Object? How could its range be this massive? The entire city was infected!
While grumbling, I noticed that the road ahead was blocked. At the end of the traffic jam stood a double-decker tourist bus, and dozens of infected people were already dancing manically on the open-top deck, waiting for me to fall into their trap.
I glanced behind. A number of agile infected had already climbed onto the vehicles, closing in step by step.
Trapped front and back, with no way through below.
The only option was up!
I steadied my breathing and started my approach run.
I sprinted toward the precipice ahead, accelerating with everything I had.
Just as I reached the edge of the traffic and was about to plummet into the sea of people, I drove the Ama-no-Murakumo deep into the road surface. The light sword, powered by everything I had, extended into a roughly three-meter pole. Using the momentum, I vaulted into the air and sailed onto the second-floor platform of a nearby skyscraper.
"Heh. You think a bunch of zombies can catch me? Not in your dreams."
I was still congratulating myself when I noticed the people in the hallway all turning to stare at me with terrifying, vacant eyes.
Run!
---
At the same time, twenty unusually muscular infected—clearly different in build from the ordinary people on the street—stood in two flanking lines. They were all top-tier athletes from nearby sports universities or police academy students. Powered by their Abandoned Object, they'd literally smashed through the iron lock of the hidden compartment with raw physical force.
Lucas entered the hidden room atop Thunder Peak Pagoda like a king ascending his court, surrounded by his horde. He saw Chloe lying still on the bed, blood dripping steadily from the wound on her wrist.
"One step closer to four hundred million..." Lucas thought, walking toward Chloe.
Five steps. Four steps...
At just three steps away, Lucas suddenly halted, as if sensing something.
He noticed the small golden hourglass on the table. The unassuming little object was radiating power as formidable as his own Abandoned Object.
"No rush. I have plenty of time. Let it stay—it'll draw in the bigger fish."
Lucas opened his left palm. The familiar purple mist swirled from his hand, rapidly filling the room.
If you looked closely at the mist, you could see fleeting images within it—all the scenes from his daily nightmares. The agonized mother. The twisted faces of self-loathing. Like stills from a film, endlessly replaying within the fog.
Meanwhile, within three steps of Chloe, a golden protective shell enveloped her like an egg. The purple mist could not penetrate it.
No... it was penetrating.
Under the mist's constant abrasion, the barrier was shrinking, millimeter by millimeter...
---
Smash through the window. Hit the ground. Roll. Dodge. Summon the sword. Pole vault. Smash through another window.
I leapt between buildings like Spider-Man. The infected seemed to share intelligence—no matter where I went, the moment I entered a building, the infected inside would swarm toward me in an instant.
During my escapes, I observed several infections up close. Their primary method of attack was skin-to-skin contact through their hands. That purple substance would transfer from their fingertips to the next person.
So I wrapped my coat tightly around myself, pulled up my hood, and minimized exposure at the neck, ankles, and wrists.
I had to admit—having Ama-no-Murakumo made daytime combat infinitely easier.
This sword didn't just cut through walls like butter; it could extend and retract, with a maximum reach of about five meters so far. It handled beautifully.
Most importantly, it continuously supplied me with my Abandoned Object's energy. Without it, with my pathetic couch-potato stamina, I'd have collapsed from exhaustion after a few kilometers even without infected blocking my path, let alone playing parkour across buildings.
After considerable effort, I finally made it to the base of Thunder Peak Pagoda. Though the infected had spread across the entire city, for some reason it was eerily quiet here. When I pushed open the door, even its closing echoed through the tower.
"You're too slow! Get up here!" Chloe's voice rang out from above.
I was overjoyed. This meant I'd managed to arrive before Lucas.
I climbed to the top and pushed open the hidden door. "Let me tell you—there's no standing room outside, they're everywhere. This Lucas is seriously bad news. Come with me, let's go."
Chloe's eyes glistened with tears as she threw herself into my arms like a homing bird. If not for the generous cushion of her chest, I might have ended up with fractured ribs.
"What took you so long? The whole area below is full of those things—half-human, half-ghost. I was so scared..."
I looked down at her little head and smiled involuntarily, reaching out to ruffle her hair.
"My fault, my fault. Next time the superhero will arrive faster, I promise."
"While you were gone, I had a really strange nightmare."
"Hmm? What kind of dream?"
"I dreamed you died, with a sharp dagger plunged into your belly, just like this..." Chloe traced the spot on my stomach with her finger, "right here, stabbed right through, intestines spilling out."
"What a pretty picture..."
Something felt wrong. I shoved the "Chloe" in my arms away.
But it was too late. A dagger veined with purple mist had already been buried in my abdomen.
"Who are you?" I pressed my wound and demanded through gritted teeth.
"I'm what's in your heart—just given physical form through a certain ability. Rather than asking who I am, you might want to ask yourself why, upon seeing your old flame, the first thing that came to mind was such a grisly image."
Purple mist covered "Chloe's" body like cursed markings. Behind her, the walls of Thunder Peak Pagoda began to haze over. This wasn't the real Thunder Peak Pagoda—this was a boundary set by Lucas.
Worst of all, the wound in my abdomen was hemorrhaging badly. I could feel my consciousness beginning to blur. I couldn't even stand steady anymore.
I finally realized that even though my body had been enhanced, my willpower was still that of an ordinary person. Under the searing pain, I couldn't activate Ama-no-Murakumo at all.
Was this the end?
Fighting my way here from Beijing, all the way to Hangzhou—and this was the best I could manage.
I just couldn't help wondering—how was the real Chloe doing right now?
With that thought, I plunged into a boundless dream.
It felt like being a person dying of exhaustion, sinking into a bed draped with a dozen layers of coral fleece. A fire crackled beside me, and a kettle of black tea burbled on the stove. Outside, snow fell in impossibly large flakes, day and night, without end.
After an indeterminate time, I heard someone whispering in my ear:
"You're finally here. I've been waiting for you for so long..."
"How are you going to make it up to me, Marcus?"
---
Seventeen
I opened my eyes and saw yet another hale-and-hearty Chloe standing before me, hands on her hips, lips pouted in irritation, as if annoyed that I'd taken too long to die.